The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Marshall Islands (original) (raw)

| The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |

graduate

Digital relief map of Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands comprise two parallel chains of atollsextending some 800 miles (1300 km) from southeast to northwest. They lie 2200 miles (3500 km) southwest of Hawaiiand contained the easternmost Japanesebases in 1941. As a result, Kimmel’s attention was riveted on this island group as war approached, rather than to the north, from which the Pearl Harbor attack would come.

The Marshalls include numerous excellent anchorages, but an astonishingly small land area totaling just 70 square miles (180 km2). The average elevation is is just 7' (2.1 meters) with a maximum elevation of 34' (10 meters). However, this was enough for a handful of airfields. The population was about 10,000 natives and 490 Japanese in 1935.

Japan had seized the Marshalls from Germanyduring the First World War, and retained control after the war under a League of Nations Class C mandate that forbade any military fortification. When Japan withdrew from the League, she retained control of the islands and refused to allow foreigners to visit the area. This led to rumors that the islands had been heavily fortified, but in fact nothing but airfields and seaplaneramps had been constructed prior to December 1941. The Japanese could not come to a decision whether to make the Marshalls their outer line of defense or to abandon the Marshalls and concentrate on fortifying the Marianas. As a result, neither was adequately fortified when the American Central Pacific offensive swept west.

The administrative center of the Marshalls was at Kwajalein, but there were also significant facilities at Maloelap,Wotje, and Jaluit.

February 1942 Raids

American carrierforces struck at the Marshalls on 1 February 1942. The operation was the brainchild of King, who put strong pressure on Nimitzstarting on 2 January 1942 to take the initiative rather than use his carrier task forces defensively to cover his main base at Hawaii and the sea lanes to Australia. McMorris developed plans for a strike against the Marshalls by Brownwith Task Force 11 (Lexington) on 14 January and the Gilberts by Halsey with Task Force 8 (Enterprise) on 17 January while Leary'sTask Force 14 (Saratoga) covered Oahu and Fletcher's Task Force 17 (Yorktown) covered a reinforcement convoy to Pago Pago. Still wary of running such risks, Nimitz ran the plan past Pye, who recommended that the raids take place afterFletcher was finished escorting his convoy. The plans had to be further reshuffled when Saratoga wastorpedoed and heavily damaged on 11 January 1942.

The plan that was finally adopted called for Halsey to make a daring penetration of the Marshalls and launch his aircraft from a point practically within visual range of the north part of Wotje. The bulk of Halsey's aircraft would strike Kwajalein while Spruance led a cruiser bombardment of Wotje and a third cruiser struck at Maloelap. Further south, Fletcher would simultaneously launch strikes against Jaluit, Mili, and Makin in the northern Gilberts. Because intelligence showed the Japanese carriers were moving south of Truk, Brown was assigned to make a preliminary raid on Wake while the door was ajar. King was anxious for the raids to take place as soon as possible, to be driven home, and the carriers to then rapidly withdraw so that they could prepare to counter the Japanese move south.

Brown's raid had to be cancelled when his oiler, Neches, was sunk by a submarine on 23 January 1942 and no other oiler could be made available on time. However, the other raids went forward.Enterprise and Yorktownboth refueled at midnight on 29 January 1942 and then made their final approaches the next day and night, crossing the international date line to reach their launch points early in the morning of 1 February. Halsey's force came within a very narrow margin of detection on 31 January when a Japanese snooper came within thirty miles on radar but failed to detect the force. Thus complete surprise was achieved by both task forces.

Fletcher's force ran into very poor weather, with overcast and squalls, but he was able to launch 17 SBDsand 11 TBDs against Jaluit and 14 SBDs against Makin and Mili. The Makin strike damaged gunboat Nagata Maru (2900 tons) and destroyed two seaplanes, while the Mili strike found no worthwhile targets. The Jaluit strike encountered horrible weather and several planes never found a target, and the remainder inflicted only light damage on transport Kanto Maru (8900 tons). Eight aircraft were lost, but Fletcher's destroyerscreen was able to rescue four aircrew. Japanese search aircraft soon located Fletcher's force (though one was shot down within sight of Yorktown) in spite of the terrible weather, but there was no counterstrike. Fletcher was considering lingering another day in hopes that the weather would improve enough for another strike against Jaluit when he received a recall order from Halsey.

Halsey had encountered better weather and had accordingly had greater success. Fifteen ships were claimed sunk at Kwajalein and there was extensive damage to shore facilities at Wojte and Maloelap. Actual damage was three small auxiliaries sunk, two old warships and four transports damaged, and fifteen planes destroyed, at the cost of six of Halsey's fighters, light damage from a bomb hit on cruiser Chester, and very slight damage to Enterprisefrom a bomber that barely missed crashing into her flight deck. Impressed with the ferocity of the Japanese counterstrikes, Halsey decided a speedy withdrawal was in order.

The raids inflicted only moderate damage. However, the raid provided valuable combat experience to the American air groups, bolstered Allied morale, and badly shocked the Japanese. Yamamotoquietly pulled Shokaku and Zuikakuback to Japan, but the remaining four Japanese carriers continued operations to the south. Nimitz decided that the raids had given him sufficient breathing space to send Saratogato the West Coast for repairs and to recall Yorktown and Enterprise to Pearl Harbor for much-needed refit and reprovisioning.

Operation FLINTLOCK

When the time came for the U.S. Navy’s central Pacific offensive, Nimitzdisregarded the almost unanimous recommendation of his staff and struck directly at Kwajalein in the heart of the Marshalls. This turned out to be a brilliant move, one of the finest examples of "hitting ‘em where they ain’t" in the war. The Japanese were expecting an attack on one of the outer atolls first and were caught by surprise. U.S. air power from Kwajalein was able to isolate the Japanese garrisons on the other atolls, leaving them to wither on the vine. However, these garrisons did not surrenderuntil ordered to by the Emperorin August of 1945.

Allied order of battle, Operation FLINTLOCK

| Pacific Fleet (Nimitz) | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | noreferrer">Spruance) | | | | | | | | | TF 51 Joint Expeditionary Force (Turner) | | | | | | | | TF 52 Southern Attack Force (Turner) | | | | | | | | Southern Landing Force | Carrying 7 Division (Corlett) 21,768 men | | | | | | | Destroyer Transport Group | | | | | | | | APD OvertonADP Manley | | | | | | Advance Transport Unit | | | | | | | | APA ZeilinAPA OrmsbyAP President PolkAPA WindsorAKA VirgoLSD Ashland | | | | | | Tractor Unit 1 | | | | | | | | 8 LSTs | Carrying 708 Amphibian Tractor Battalion in LVTs | | | | TG 52.5 Southern Transport Group | | | | | | | | Transport Division 6 | | | | | | | | APA Harris APA Fayette APA Harry LeeAPA LeedstownAKA CentaurusLSD Lindenwald | | | | | | Transport Division 18 | | | | | | | | APA MonroviaAPA J. Franklin BellAPA PierceAPA FelandAKA ThubanLSD Belle Grove | | | | | | Tractor Unit 2 | | | | | | | | 8 LSTs | Corps reserve | | | | TG 52.6 Control Group | | | | | | | | 3 SC2 LCC | | | | | | TG 52.7 Destroyer Screen | | | | | | | | DD John RodgersDD HazelwoodDD HaggardDD FranksDD SchroederDD HaileyDMS ZaneDMS Perry | | | | | | TG 52.8 Fire Support Group (Giffen) | | | | | | | | Unit 1 | | | | | | | | DD McKeeDD Stevens | | | | | | Unit 2 (Giffen) | | | | | | | | CA MinneapolisCA New OrleansBB IdahoBB PennsylvaniaDD BaileyDD FrazierDD HallDD Meade | | | | | | Unit 3 (Griffin) | | | | | | | | BB New MexicoBB MississippiCA San FranciscoDD ColahanDD MurrayDD Harrison | | | | | | Unit 4 | | | | | | | | DD RinggoldDD Sigsbee | | | | | LCI(L) Unit | | | | | | | | LCI(L) Division 15 | | | | | | | | 6 LCI(L) | | | | | | LCI(L) Division 13 | | | | | | | | 6 LCI(L) | | | | | TG 52.9 Carrier Support Group (Davison) | | | | | | | | CVE Manila Bay | | | | | | | | 9 TBF-1 Avenger3 TBF-1C Avenger16 FM-2 Wildcat | VC-7 | | | | | CVE Coral Sea | | | | | | | | 4 TBF-1 Avenger6 TBF-1C Avenger2 TBM-1 Avenger5 FM-1 Wildcat9 F4F-4 Wildcat | VC-33 | | | | | CVE Corregidor | | | | | | | | 3 TBF-1C Avenger8 TBM-1 Avenger6 FM-1 Wildcat3 F4F-4 Wildcat | VC-44 | | | | | Destroyer Screen | | | | | | | | DD BancroftDD CoghlanDD CaldwellDD Halligan | | | | | TG 52.10 Minesweeping and Hydrographic Group | | | | | | | | Unit 1 | | | | | | | | AM RevengeAM PursuitAM Requisite1 LCC | | | | | | Unit 2 | | | | | | | | 4 YMS1 LCC | | | | | TG 52.11 Southern Salvage Unit | | | | | | | | AT TekestaATF ArapahoATF Tawasa | | | | | | TG 51.3 Southern Defense Group | Carrying elements of 3and 4Army Defense Battalions | | | | | | | DE Duffy4 LSTs | | | | | | TG 51.4 Southern Garrison Group | Carrying elements of 3and 4Army Defense Battalions, 13,325 men | | | | | | | DE Burden R. HastingsDE Lehardy5 merchantmen | | | | | TF 53 Northern Attack Force (Conolly) | | | | | | | | TG 53.9 Initial Transport Group | | | | | | | | APA SumterAPA CallawayAPA WarrenAPA William P. BiddleAKA AlmaackLSD Epping Forest | | | | | | | Raiding Unit | | | | | | | | APD Schley | | | | | | | Transport Screen | | | | | | | | DD RemeyDD MacdonoughDMS Hogan | | | | | | LST Unit 1 | | | | | | | | DD La Vallette6 LSTs with LCTs aboard3 LSTs2 SC | | | | TG 53.3 Minesweeper Group | | | | | | | | DMS PalmerAM ChiefAM HeedAM Motive4 YMS | | | | | | TG 53.4 Northern Landing Force (Schmidt) | 4 Marine Division, 20,778 men | | | | | | | Preliminary Landing Group (Underhill) | | | | | | | | Combat Teams 23, 24, and 251 SC | | | | | TG 53.5 Northern Support Group (Oldendorf) | | | | | | | | Fire Support Unit 1 (Kingman) | | | | | | | | BB TennesseeBB ColoradoCA Louisville CL MobileDD MorrisDD Anderson | | | | | | Fire Support Unit 2 (DuBose) | | | | | | | | BB MarylandCA IndianapolisCL Santa FeCL BiloxiDD MustinDD Russell | | | | | | Fire Support Unit 3 | | | | | | | | DD PorterfieldDD Haraden3 LCIs | | | | | | Fire Support Unit 4 | | | | | | | | DD HopewellDD Johnston | | | | | | Fire Support Unit 5 | | | | | | | | DD Phelps6 LCIs | | | | | TG 53.6 Carrier Group (Ragsdale) | | | | | | | | CVE Sangamon | VF-37 and VC-37 | | | | | | | 12 F6F-3 Hellcat9 SBD-5 Dauntless4 TBM-1C Avenger6 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVE Suwannee | VF-60 and VC-60 | | | | | | | 12 F6F-3 Hellcat9 SBD-5 Dauntless7 TBM-1C Avenger2 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVE Chenango | VF-35 and VC-35 | | | | | | | 12 F6F-3 Hellcat9 SBD-5 Dauntless5 TBM-1C Avenger4 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | Carrier Screen | | | | | | | | DD FarragutDD MonaghanDD Dale | | | | | TG 53.10 Main Attack Detachment | | | | | | | | APA DuPageAPA WayneAPA ElmoreAPA DoyenAKA Aquarius | | | | | | | Transport Division 28 | | | | | | | | APA BolivarAPA CalvertAP La SalleAKA AlcyoneLSD Gunston Hall | | | | | | Transport Screen | | | | | | | | DD FletcherDD HughesDD ElletDMS StansburyDMS Hamilton | | | | | | LST Unit 2 | | | | | | | | DD Aylwin6 LSTs2 SC | | | | | TG 53.12 Northern Salvage Group | | | | | | | | AT MatacoAT ChickasawAT Molala | | | | | | TG 51.5 Northern Defense Group | Carrying elements of 15 Marine Defense Battalion | | | | | | | DMS Long 5 LSTs | | | | | | TG 51.6 Northern Garrison Group 1 | Carrying elements of 15 Marine Defense Battalion, 10,885 men | | | | | | | DE Harold C. ThomasDE Wileman4 merchantmen | | | | | | TG 51.7 Northern Garrison Group 2 | Carrying service units | | | | | | | DE Sederstrom2 merchantmen | | | | | | TG 51.1 Reserve Force | | | | | | | | APA Leonard WoodAPA Arthur MiddletonAPA HeywoodAP President MonroeAK Electra | Carrying 22 Marine Regiment reinforced (Watson) | | | | | | Transport Division 30 | Carrying 2 battalions of 106 Regiment | | | | | | | APA NevilleAPA CusterAP WhartonAK Mercury | | | | | | Reserve Transport Screen | | | | | | | | DDMcCord DD Trathen DD HeermannDD HoelDD StembelDD DeweyDD Hull | | | | | TG 51.2 Majuro Attack Group (Hill) | 1595 assault troops | | | | | | | CAPortland | | | | | | | APA CambriaAPD KaneAPD Schley1 LST | Carrying a battalion of 106 RegimentCarrying reconnaissance party, V Amphibious Corps | | | | | | CVE Nassau | VC-66 | | | | | | | 14 FM-1 Wildcat5 TBM-1C Avenger4 TBM-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVE Natoma Bay | VC-63 | | | | | | | 12 FM-1 Wildcat6 TBM-1C Avenger6 TBM-1 Avenger | | | | | | Attack Group Screen | | | | | | | | DD BullardDD BlackDD KiddDD ChaunceyDMS Chandler | | | | | TG 51.8 Fast Carrier Force (Mitscher) | | | | | | | | TG 58.1 Carrier Task Group 1 (Reeves) | | | | | | | | CV Enterprise | | | | | | | | VF-10: 32 F6F-3 HellcatVB-10: 30 SBD-5 DauntlessVT-10: 16 TBF-1C Avenger | | | | | | CV Yorktown | | | | | | | | VF-5: 37 F6F-3 HellcatVB-5: 36 SBD-5 DauntlessVT-5: 18 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVL Belleau Wood | | | | | | | | VF-24: 24 F6F-3 HellcatVT-24: 8 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | BB Washington (Lee)BB MassachusettsBB Indiana (Davis)CL Oakland | | | | | | | Screen | | | | | | | | DDC.K. Bronson DDCotten DDDortch DDGatling DDHealy DDCogswell DDCaperton DDIngersoll DDKnapp | | | | | TG 58.2 Carrier Task Group 2 (Montgomery) | | | | | | | | CV Essex | | | | | | | | VF-9: 36 F6F-3 HellcatVB-9: 34 SBD-5 DauntlessVT-9: 19 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CV Intrepid | | | | | | | | VF-6: 37 F6F-3 HellcatVB-6: 36 SBD-5 DauntlessVT-6: 19 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVL Cabot | | | | | | | | VF-31: 24 F6F-3 HellcatVT-31: 9 TBM-1C Avenger | | | | | | BB South Dakota (Hanson)BB AlabamaBB North CarolinaCL San Diego (Wiltse) DD Owen DD Miller DD The Sullivans DD Stephen PotterDD Ickock DD Hunt DD Lewis HancockDD SterettDD Stack | | | | | | TG 58.3 Carrier Task Group 3 (Sherman) | | | | | | | | CV Bunker Hill | | | | | | | | VF-18: 38 F6F-3 HellcatVB-17: 31 SB2C-1 HelldiverVT-17: 20 TBF-1C Avenger | | | | | | CVL Monterey | | | | | | | | VF-30: 25 F6F-3 HellcatVT-30: 9 TBM-1C Avenger | | | | | | CVL Cowpens | | | | | | | | VF-25: 24 F6F-3 HellcatVT-25: 9 TBF-1C Avenger | | | | | | BB Iowa(Hustvedt)BB New JerseyCA WichitaDD IzardDD CharretteDD Conner DD BellDD BurnsDD BradfordDD Brown DD Cowell DD Wilson | | | | | | TG 58.4 Carrier Task Group 4 (Ginder) | | | | | | | | CV Saratoga | | | | | | | | VF-12: 36 F6F-3 HellcatVB-12: 24 SBD-5 DauntlessVT-12: 18 TBM-1C Avenger | | | | | | CVL Princeton | | | | | | | | VF-23: 24 F6F-3 HellcatVT-23: 9 TBF-1 Avenger | | | | | | CVL Langley | | | | | | | | VF-32: 22 F6F-3 HellcatVT-32: 9 TBF-1C Avenger | | | | | | CA Boston(Thebaud)CA Baltimore CL San JuanDD MauryDD CravenDD GridleyDD McCallDD DunlapDD FanningDD CaseDD Cummings | | | | | | TG 50.15 Neutralization Group (Small) | | | | | | | | CA ChesterCA PensacolaCA Salt Lake CityDD Erben DD WalkerDD Hale DD AbbotDMS PrebleDMS Ramsay | | | | TF 57 Defense Forces and Land-Based Air (Hoover) | | | | | | | | AV CurtissAVP MackinacAVP Casco | | | | | | | TG 57.2 Strike Command (Hale) | | | | | | | | 11 and 30 Bomber Groups | | | | | | | | 72 B-24 Liberator | | | | | | 41 Bomber Group | | | | | | | | 64 B-25 Mitchell | | | | | | Fighter-Bomber Squadron 531 | | | | | | | | 24 A-24 Dauntless | | | | | | 45, 46, and 72 Fighter Squadrons | | | | | | | | 75 P-39 and P-40 | | | | | TG 57.3 Search and Patrol Group (Merritt) | | | | | | | | VP-53: 12 PBY-5A CatalinaVP-72: 12 PBY-5 CatalinaVP-202: 12 PBM-3D MarinerVB-108: 12 PB4Y LiberatorVB-109: 12 PB4Y LiberatorVB-137: 12 PV-1 VenturaVB-142: 12 PV-1 VenturaVD-3: 6 PB4Y-1 LiberatorVS-51: 6 SBD-5 DauntlessVS-65: 6 SBD-5 DauntlessVS-66: 6 SBD-5 DauntlessVMSB-151: 18 SBD-5 DauntlessVMSB-331: 18 SBD-5 Dauntless | | | | rel="noopener noreferrer">Lockwood) | | | | | | | | | Truk Patrol | | | | | | | | SS PermitSS SkipjackSS Guardfish | | | | | | | Ponape Patrol | | | | | | | | SS Seal | Sunk | | | | | | Kusaie Patrol | | | | | | | | SSSunfish | | | | | | | Eniwetok Patrol | | | | | | | | SSSearaven | | | | | |

References

Evans and Peattie (1997)

Morison (1948, 1951)

Comment on this article