The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Attu (original) (raw)

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Attu (173.174E 52.939N) is an island near the western end of the Aleutianschain, some 740 miles west of Dutch Harbor and just 650 miles from Paramushiro in the Japanese-controlled Kuriles. It is about 38 miles (61 km) long and 14 miles (23 km) wide. Like most of the Aleutians, it is mountainous and barren, with a maximum elevation of 3084' (940 meters) towards the west end of the island. The few beaches are narrow and steep and there are numerous offshore rocks and strong currents. There are, however, some small protected anchorages, at Holtz Bay, Chichagof Harbor, and Massacre Bay. Massacre bay was named for the frequent slaughter of seals by hide hunters that took place here early in the century; it would prove an ill omen for the coming battle. The only inhabitants were 39 Aleuts and an elderly white couple serving as schoolteachers at the village of Chicagof.

Attu's garrison in early 1942 consisted of a fewweather observers with a single pistol between them. Japaneseforces under Omori Sentaro seizedthe island on 7 June 1942, during the Midwayoperation, in order to extend the Japanese defense perimeter beyond the Kuriles. When the Japanese presence was discovered a few days later (bad weather had hindered air reconnaissance), American reinforcements were rushed to Alaska. However, Marshallrecognized that the horrible climate and utter lack of facilities in the Aleutians meant that the Japanese were unlikely to mount a major effort any time soon, and American resources were needed elsewhere.

The Japanese considered Attu a secondary base and put their main force on Kiska. The Attu garrison was withdrawn in September 1942 as an unnecessary diversion of resources, but it was ordered back on 29 October in response to the American landings at Adakand elsewhere, which seemed to indicate to the Japanese that the Americans were considering an invasion of northern Japan from the Aleutians.

The American reconquest of Attu (Operation LANDCRAB) was finally mounted in May of 1943, following the victory at the Battle of the Komandorski Islandsin March. The original target of the operation was to be Kiska, but a lack of shipping led the planners to shift the objective to the less heavily garrisoned Attu. The invasionforce was built around 7 Division (Albert Brown), with 4 Regimentin reserve; was supported by land-basedaircraft; and was escorted by the battleships Pennsylvania,Idaho, and Nevada and escort carrier Nassau. The Provisional Scout Battalion, a handpicked special force, made the first landing from submarine in the early hours of 11 May 1943. The main landings took place a few hours later at points north and south of the Japanese base at ChicagofHarbor. Brown's plan was for the Scouts to clear the pass above Chicagof, then join with the north and south pincers to box the Japanese in and push them into the sea.

All the landings were initially unopposed, but the 2350 defending Japanese (organized around 303 Independent Infantry Battalion) were well dug in on the ridges surrounding their base, and the invasion quickly bogged down. This led to Brown's relief by Kinkaid. There is reason to question the fairness of this action. Brown had been training his division for action in North Africa when it was reassigned to the Attu campaign with but three month's notice. Kinkaid later admitted that he would not have relieved Brown had he had better information on conditions on the ground. The American forces finally cleared the ridges around Chicagof on 29 May. The remaining Japanese staged a suicide charge that night, which chanced upon a portion of the American line whose defenders had just been pulled back for rest and recovery. A unit of engineershurried to meet the Japanese charge, stopping it below what would thereafter be known as Engineer Hill. The surviving Japanese killed themselves with grenades, bringing an end to the campaign.

The Americans took just 28 prisoners, none of whom were officers. American casualties totaled 3829, of whom 549 were killed and 1148 wounded. The remaining casualties were mostly from cold weather or disease. Only in the battle of Iwo Jima would the Americans suffer a greater proportion of casualties to the number of troops engaged.

The Attu invasion was an early example of the leapfrog strategy. Attu was located west of the larger Japanese base at Kiska, which the Japanese evacuated after losing Attu.

Following the invasion, American airfield engineers concluded that the uncompleted Japanese strip at Chicagof was poorly sited, and began construction of a new strip on Massacre Bay. This was ready by 8 June 1943.

U.S. order of battle

| North Pacific Force (Kinkaid) | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | | TG 16.1 Shore-Based Air Group (Butler) | | | | | | TU 16.1.1 Air Striking Unit (Butler) | | | | | | 28 Composite Group | | | | | | 8 B-24 Liberator24 B-25 Mitchell | | | | 404 Bombardment Squadron | | | | | | 8 B-24 Liberator | | | | 21 Bombardment Squadron | | | | | | 8 B-24 Liberator | | | | 406 Bombardment Squadron | | | | | | 6 B-25 Mitchell | | | | 343 Fighter Group | | | | | | 50 P-38 Lightning50 P-40 Warhawk | | | | 111 Squadron (RCAF) | | | | | | 16 P-40 Warhawk | | | | 14 Squadron (RCAF) | | | | | | 12 P-40 Warhawk | | | TU 16.1.2 Air Search Unit | | | | | | VB-135 (Amchitka) | | | | | | 12 PV-1 Ventura | | | | VB-136 (Adak) | | | | | | 12 PV-1 Ventura | | | | VP-62 (Adak) | | | | | | 10 PBY-5A Catalina | | | | VP-61 (Amchitka) | | | | | | 10 PBY-5A Catalina | | | | AVP CascoAVD GillisAV TealAV AvocetAVD Hulbert | | | | TG 16.2 Alaska Sector Escort and Supply Force (Reeves) | | | | | | DD KingDMS LambertonDM RamsayCorvette DawsonCorvette VancouverPG CharlestonAM OrioleATO TatnuckAM AnnoyATF UteAN BuckeyeAN Eucalyptus4 LST8 LCT(5) | | | | | TG 16.3 Motor Torpedo Boat Group | | | | | | Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 13 | | | | | | 11 PT | | | | TG 16.5 Submarine Group | Carrying the Provisional Scout Battalion | | | | | SS NarwhalSS Nautilus | | | | | Submarine Division 41 | | | | | | SS S-18SS S-23SS S-28SS S-34SS S-35SS S-38 | | | | Submarine Division 52 | | | | | | SS S-30SS S-32SS S-33SS S-40SS S-41 | | | | TG 16.6 Southern Covering Group (McMorris) | | | | | | CL RaleighCL DetroitCL Richmond CL Santa FeDD BancroftDD CaldwellDD CoghlanDD FrazierDD Gansevoort | | | | | TG 16.7 Northern Covering Group (Giffen) | | | | | | CA WichitaCA San FranciscoCA LouisvilleDD BalchDD HughesDD MustinDD Morris | | | | | TG 16.8 Attu Reinforcement Group | Carrying 32 Regimentless a battalion | | | | | AP U.S. GrantAP David W. Branch AP President FillmoreAP ChirikofAP Richar March HoeAP Joseph HenryAP Kenneth A.J. MackenzieAP David W. Field | | | | | TG 16.9 Tanker and Service Group | | | | | | AO BrazosAO CuyamaAO PlatteAO TippecanoeAO GuadalupeAO NechesAD MarkabAD Black Hawk | | | | | TG 16.10 Shemya Occupation Group (Copeland) | Carrying 4 Regiment and 18 Engineer Regiment | | | | | AP St. MihielAP William L. Thompson AP North CoastAP AlaskaAP YukonAK Franklin Macveagh | | | | rel="noopener noreferrer">Rockwell) | | | | | | | TG 51.1 Support Group (Kingman) | | | | | | BB NevadaBB PennsylvaniaBB Idaho | | | | | CVE Nassau | | | | | | 26 F4F-4 Wildcat3 F4F-3P Wildcat1 SOC-3A Seagull | | | | AVD Williamson | | | | | Destroyer Squadron 1 | | | | | | DD Phelps | | | | | Destroyer Division 2 | | | | | | DD FarragutDD HullDD MacdonoughDD MeadeDD EdwardsDD Abner ReadDD Ammen | | | TG 51.2 Transport Group | | | | | | APA HarrisAPA ZeilinAPA HeywoodAPA J. Franklin BellAPD KaneAP PeridaDD DeweyDD DaleDD MonaghanDD Aylwin DM Sicard DM Pruitt | | | | | TG 51.3 Minesweeper Group | | | | | | DMSPerry DMS Elliot DMSChandler DMS Long | | | | | TG 51.4 Landing Force (Brown) | | | | | | 17 Regiment1 battalion from 32 Regiment 78 Coastal Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft)1 battalion from 50 Engineer RegimentScout Company and Reconnaissance Troop, 7 Division | | | |

Japanese order of battle

Attu Garrison	About 2500 men
	North Chishima Coast Defense Infantry
	303 Independent Infantry Battalion
Naval Communications Unit

References

Garfield (1965)

Morison (1951)

Rottman (2002)

United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1946; accessed 2011-8-22)

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