The
Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the
Pacific campaignThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the
Marshall IslandsThe Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. This nation of roughly 62,000 people is located north of Nauru and...
. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the
battle of TarawaThe Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the second time the United States was on the offensive , and the first offensive in the critical central Pacific region.It was also the first time in the war that...
, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up a stiff resistance though outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the United States, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of
PeleliuPeleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
,
GuamGuam is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. The island's capital is Hagåtña...
, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the United States.
Geography
Kwajalein Atoll is in the heart of the Marshall Islands. It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km) southwest of Honolulu,
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
at . Kwajalein is the world's largest coral atoll as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islets, it has a land area of 1,560 acres (6.33 km²) and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, measuring 324 square miles (839 km²) in size.
The two most significant land masses are Kwajalein Island in the south, and the linked islands of Roi-Namur in the north.
By the start of World War II, the Marshalls (
South Pacific MandateThe was the Japanese League of Nations Mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:...
) were already an integral part of the Japanese perimeter of defense. Its facilities were being utilized as outlying bases for submarines and surface warships, as well as for air staging for future advances being planned against
ElliceEllice is a former provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1979 and eliminated in 1989.The riding was located in west-central Winnipeg, in the area of the future Minto and St. James ridings....
, the Fiji Islands, and
SamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa , is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and Savai'i...
.
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
After the
capture of MakinThe Battle of Makin was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 20 November to 24 November 1943, on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.-Japanese invasion and fortification:...
and
TarawaThe Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the second time the United States was on the offensive , and the first offensive in the critical central Pacific region.It was also the first time in the war that...
in the
Gilbert IslandsThe Gilbert Islands are a chain of 16 atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of the Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert...
, the next step in the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
's campaign in the central
PacificPacific Ocean Areas was the major Allied military command in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War, and one of two United States commands in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the U.S...
was the
Marshall Island chainThe Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. This nation of roughly 62,000 people is located north of Nauru and...
. These islands had been
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
colonies until
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, when they were assigned to Japan in the post-war settlement as the "Eastern Mandates". The islands had become a mystery since the Japanese closed them to the outside world. It was presumed the Japanese had built illegal fortifications throughout the islands, however the precise extent of any such fortifications was unknown. To the Japanese, regarding them as part of the "outer ring" of Japanese territory held prior to 1941, this assault would be the first on what the Japanese regarded as Japanese soil.
The strategic importance of the Marshalls had been identified as early as 1921 in
Plan OrangeWar Plan Orange refers to a series of United States Joint Army and Navy Board war plans for dealing with a possible war with Japan during the interwar years. The plans were begun informally in 1919 and formally adopted by the Joint Army and Navy Board beginning in 1924...
— the American interwar plan for a possible conflict with Japan. The Marshalls were a key step in the island-hopping march to mainland Japan.
After the loss of the
Solomon IslandsThe Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. Together they cover a land mass of 28,400 square kilometres . The capital is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal.The Solomon Islands are believed to have been...
and
New GuineaNew Guinea, located north of Australia, is the world's second largest island. It became separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. The name Papua has long been associated with the island...
in 1943, the Japanese command decided that the Gilbert and Marshall Islands would be expendable. They preferred to fight a decisive battle closer to home. However, at the end of 1943, the Marshalls were reinforced to make their taking expensive for the Americans. By January 1944 the regional commander in Truk, Admiral
Masashi KobayashiMarasmi Kobayashi was a Japanese military commander. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1906 and the Imperial Japanese Naval College in 1917, with a specialty in Navigation. He lived in the United States between 1925 to 1928, serving as assistant naval attache...
, had 28,000 troops to defend the Marshalls, but he had very few planes.
Japanese planning and preparations
Actual defenses on the Marshalls, however, were never very substantial or heavily manned. After nearly 10 years of construction, fortifications on the Marshalls were considerably inferior when compared with Tarawa, which had been turned into a fortress in less than eighteen months.
In addition, less than half of the troops stationed in the Marshalls were combat trained, the rest being support and labour troops with little or no combat training. It was not until after the Japanese position in the Solomons and
New GuineaNew Guinea, located north of Australia, is the world's second largest island. It became separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. The name Papua has long been associated with the island...
began to deteriorate that Imperial Headquarters made plans to strengthen the Marshalls. In fact, by September 1943, the Japanese High Command had written off the Gilberts and Marshalls as lost, deciding that the areas should be to used to fight a delaying action while a new defense perimeter was created from the
Banda SeaThe Banda Sea is the sea of the South Moluccas in Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
through the
Caroline IslandCaroline Island or Caroline Atoll , is the easternmost of the uninhabited coral atolls which comprise the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean....
and the Marianas Islands. Additionally, combat units were ordered to the Marshalls from the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
,
ManchukuoManchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Dynasty of China...
, and the homeland, with additional air power to be flown in from both the homeland and nearby Truk.
The 6th Base Force, under command of Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama, and headquartered on Kwajalein, was the principal defense force of the islands. Akiyama, however, had his men spread out over a very wide area, mostly concentrating on the defense of those atolls (Jaluit,
MilleMili Atoll is an atoll of 92 islands in the Ratak Chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 6.15 mile² the second largest land area after Kwajelein, but it encloses a much smaller lagoon of 294.7 mile² . It has more land than most...
, Maloelap, and Wotje) that were never considered vulnerable to American attack. Those reinforcement troops 2nd Battalion/1st Amphibious Brigade under Captain (Naval) Aso (nine Type 94/97 Tankettes
two companies of
Type 2 Ka-MiThe was the Imperial Japanese Navy's first amphibious tank. The Type 2 Ka-Mi was based on the Imperial Japanese Army's Type 95 Ha-Go light tank with major modifications, and was a capable armoured fighting vehicle on both land and at sea...
Amphibious Tank (as
SNLFSNLF can refer to:*Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces*Sandinista National Liberation Front...
Kwajalein Tank Detachment) finally arrived and were quickly dispersed by Akiyama, mainly to the outlying atolls.
Kwajalein was to remain undermanned, underequipped, and unprepared for the assaults being arrayed against it. Overall Japanese strength on these islands numbered approximately 8,000 men, of which less than half were considered combat effective. On Kwajalein proper, the troops were made up mostly of labour forces, a good number of those being Koreans. On
Roi-NamurRoi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
, the troops were mostly JNAF land personnel who had little ground combat training and who were underequipped for such a function.
The defense system on the islands was mostly in line, with little or no depth. Although some fortified areas existed, none were as extensive or well armed as those of Tarawa. In addition, there were several defenses that mostly concentrated on any assault coming from the ocean side; no coastal defense artillery had been placed on key islets guarding passages to the lagoon, and there was little or no use of mines. Despite shortfalls, efforts to strengthen ground defenses continued. Still, Akiyama's greatest defense remained his aerial offensive capability. He had well-manned air bases on
Roi-NamurRoi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
, Maloelap, Wotje,
MilleMili Atoll is an atoll of 92 islands in the Ratak Chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 6.15 mile² the second largest land area after Kwajelein, but it encloses a much smaller lagoon of 294.7 mile² . It has more land than most...
and Eniwetok, detached
Chitose-Places:*Chitose, Hokkaido, a city on the island of Hokkaidō*Chitose River, a river on the island of Hokkaidō*Chitose, Ōita, a small village located in Ōno District, Ōita Prefecture-Aviation:*New Chitose Airport, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area...
and 653th Air Corps Mitsubishi A6M fighters with the nearly complete
Mitsubishi G3MThe Mitsubishi G3M was a Japanese bomber used during World War II, mostly against the Chinese.-Design and development:...
and G4M bomber base in Kwajalein. In addition, he had some
Nakajima A6M2-NThe Nakajima A6M2-N Navy Type 2 Rufe Interceptor/Fighter-Bomber is a single-crew float seaplane based on the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Model 11.-History:...
and
Mitsubishi F1MThe Mitsubishi F1M was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. Between 1936 and 1944, 1,118 were built. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Observation Seaplane"...
detached in seaplane bases on
Burton- Canada :* Burton, British Columbia* Burton, New Brunswick* Burton, Ontario* Burtons, Nova Scotia* Burton, Durham Region, Ontario* Burton, Parry Sound District, Ontario* Burton, Prince Edward Island* Lac-Burton, Quebec* Burton Lake, Saskatchewan- England :...
, Jaluit, Wotje,
MajuroMajuro , population 25,400 people , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Built on an atoll of 64 islands, the Majuro Atoll, Majuro has a port, shopping district, hotels, and an international airport...
, Taongi, and Utirik.
During the month of November, however, both
USAAFThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
land-based and U.S. Navy
carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
-based bomber attacks, in conjunction with the American assault on the Gilberts, had destroyed 71 of Akiyama's fighters and bombers. Reinforcements flown in from the homeland and Truk replenished most of his losses, but he could expect little additional help in the future. The Japanese war industry was falling far short of needed production, affecting all branches of the armed services, including the Japanese Carrier Air Arm, which had long since retreated from the Central Pacific. In fact, the 32 planes flown from Truk were the last of the carrier aircraft left behind following that retreat. Akiyama was therefore not expected to defeat his adversary but rather to delay the
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
forces advance while exacting the greatest possible toll upon them.
U.S. planning and preparation
Expecting the U.S. to attack the outermost islands in the group first, most of the defenders were stationed on
WotjeWotje Atoll is an atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Wotje's land area of 3.16 sq mi is large and the main island is one of the widest in Marshall Islands. The islands enclose a lagoon of 241.06 sq mi .In 1999, the population of the...
,
MilleMili Atoll is an atoll of 92 islands in the Ratak Chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 6.15 mile² the second largest land area after Kwajelein, but it encloses a much smaller lagoon of 294.7 mile² . It has more land than most...
,
MaloelapThe Maloelap Atoll is an atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of ....
, and
JaluitJaluit Atoll is an atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of ., the population of the islands of Jaluit Atoll is 1,669....
to the east and south. Indeed, the original American plan called for a cautious series of steppingstone attacks starting in the eastern Marshalls. The Japanese troop dispositions were revealed to the Americans by
ULTRAUltra was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of encrypted German radio communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources...
decryptions of Japanese communications, and Admiral
Chester NimitzFleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, USN was a five-star admiral in the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet , for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas , for U.S...
decided instead to bypass these outposts and attack the Kwajalein Atoll directly, knifing into the very heart of the Marshall Islands. The operation was given the code name
Operation FlintlockOperation Flintlock was the campaign against the Marshall Islands in the Pacific campaign of World War II, from January to February 1944. The operation involved the invasions of Kwajalein and Eniwetok atolls....
.
There were two main objectives: The linked islands of
Roi-NamurRoi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
in the north, and Kwajalein Island at the south end of the atoll. The 4th Marine Division under Major General
Harry SchmidtGeneral Harry Schmidt served as Commanding General of the Fourth Marine Division during the Marshall Islands campaign and the Battle of Saipan, and as Commanding General of the Fifth Amphibious Corps during the battles of Tinian and Iwo Jima, during World War II...
was assigned to Roi-Namur, and the Army's 7th Infantry Division under Major General
Charles H. CorlettCharles H. Corlett , nicknamed “Cowboy Pete,” was a major general in the U.S. Army who commanded troops in both the Pacific and European Theaters during World War II. He led the attack on Kiska in 1943 and commanded the 7th Infantry Division in the taking of Kwajalein in 1944...
would make the assault on Kwajalein.
To ensure the success of the operation, sea and air superiority were necessary. Accordingly, on January 29, 1944, U.S. carrier planes attacked the Japanese airfield on
Roi-NamurRoi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
, destroying 92 of the 110 Japanese planes in the Marshalls.
Staging through
Baker IslandBaker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about ) southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Baker is...
airfield Rear Admiral John H. Hoover's Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" of the Seventh Air Force, quickly set their sights upon their targets. In the beginning, the most important were
MilleMili Atoll is an atoll of 92 islands in the Ratak Chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 6.15 mile² the second largest land area after Kwajelein, but it encloses a much smaller lagoon of 294.7 mile² . It has more land than most...
, the Japanese base closest to the Gilberts and Maloelap, the most powerful enemy bases threatening the upcoming operations. Mille was the subject of several attacks through the month of November, causing considerable damage to installations and high losses of aircraft for the Japanese. But Mille remained the only base within fighter reach of the Gilberts, and the defenders managed to keep the facilities there operational and reinforced with aircraft. Following the
capture of TarawaThe Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the second time the United States was on the offensive , and the first offensive in the critical central Pacific region.It was also the first time in the war that...
and through December 19, 106 B-24s dropped a total of 122 tons of explosives on Mille's airbase. The largest of those raids came on December 4 when 34 B-24s pulverized the atoll in conjunction with carrier-based bombing raids of other parts of the Marshalls. On December 18, renewed strikes were initiated against enemy targets on Mille with land-based A-24 Dauntless dive bombers and Bell P-39 Airacobra making their debut in the Marshall air offensive. Japanese losses for the day amounted to ten fighters (four on the ground) and four damaged. Other aircraft types participating in the offensive included
B-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
and
Curtiss P-40The Curtiss P-40 was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. It was used by the air forces of 28 nations, including those of most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war...
Warhawk.
In addition, it was necessary to take another atoll in the eastern Marshalls —
MajuroMajuro , population 25,400 people , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Built on an atoll of 64 islands, the Majuro Atoll, Majuro has a port, shopping district, hotels, and an international airport...
. Majuro is 220 miles southeast of Kwajalein and could serve as an advanced air and naval base as well as safeguard supply lines to Kwajalein. Majuro was very lightly defended and only the
V Amphibious CorpsThe V Amphibious Corps was a formation of the United States Marine Corps and was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions during World War II. They were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa and Saipan in 1944...
Marine Reconnaissance Company and the 2nd
BattalionA battalion is a military unit of around 1000-1500 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...
, 106th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division were employed in the capture of Majuro. The island was taken on January 31, 1944, without any U.S. casualties.
Battle
The U.S. forces for the landings were Rear Admiral
Richmond K. TurnerAdmiral Richmond Kelly Turner served in the United States Navy during World War II.-Early life and career:...
's 5th Amphibious Force, and Major General Holland M. Smith's
V Amphibious CorpsThe V Amphibious Corps was a formation of the United States Marine Corps and was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions during World War II. They were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet and were notably involved in the battles for Tarawa and Saipan in 1944...
, which comprised the
4th Marine DivisionThe 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It is the ground combat element of the Marine Forces Reserve and is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana and has units throughout the United States.- Mission :...
commanded by Maj. Gen.
Harry SchmidtGeneral Harry Schmidt served as Commanding General of the Fourth Marine Division during the Marshall Islands campaign and the Battle of Saipan, and as Commanding General of the Fifth Amphibious Corps during the battles of Tinian and Iwo Jima, during World War II...
, the 7th Infantry Division commanded by Maj.Gen.
Charles H. CorlettCharles H. Corlett , nicknamed “Cowboy Pete,” was a major general in the U.S. Army who commanded troops in both the Pacific and European Theaters during World War II. He led the attack on Kiska in 1943 and commanded the 7th Infantry Division in the taking of Kwajalein in 1944...
, plus the 22nd Marine, 106th Infantry, and the 111th Infantry regiments. The 4th and 7th Divisions were assigned to the initial landings at Kwajalein, while the 2nd Battalion of the 106th was assigned to the simultaneous capture of Majuro Atoll. The rest of the 106th and the 22nd Marines were in reserve for Kwajalein, while awaiting the following
assault on EniwetokThe Battle of Eniwetok was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought between 17 February 1944 and 23 February 1944, on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.-Background:...
, scheduled for three months later.
The 7th Infantry Division began by capturing the small islands labeled Carlos, Carter, Cecil, and Carlson on January 31, which were used as
artilleryArtillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
bases for the next day's assault. Kwajalein Island is 2.5 miles (4 km) long but only 880 yards (800 m) wide. There was therefore no possibility of defence in depth and the Japanese planned to counter-attack the landing beaches. They had not realized until the battle of Tarawa that American amphibious vehicles could cross coral reefs and so land on the lagoon side of an atoll; accordingly the strongest defences on Kwajalein faced the ocean. The bombardment by
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
s, B-24 bombers from Apamama, and artillery on Carlson was devastating. The U.S. Army history of the battle quotes a participant as saying that "the entire island looked as if it had been picked up 20,000 feet and then dropped." By the time the 7th Division landed on Kwajalein Island on February 1, 1944, there was little resistance; by night the Americans estimated that only 1,500 of the original 5,000 defenders were still alive.
On the north side of the atoll, the 4th Marine Division followed the same plan, first capturing islets Ivan, Jacob, Albert, Allen, and Abraham on January 31, and landing on
Roi-NamurRoi-Namur is an island in the northern part of the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.Occupied by Japanese forces prior to World War II, it was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944....
on February 1. The airfield on Roi (the eastern half) was captured quickly, and Namur (the western half) fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a
satchel chargeA satchel charge is a demolition device, primarily intended for combat, whose primary components are a charge of dynamite or a more potent explosive such as C-4 plastic explosive, a carrying device functionally similar to a satchel or messenger bag, and a triggering mechanism; the term covers both...
of high explosives into a Japanese bunker which turned out to be a
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
warhead magazine. The resulting explosion killed twenty Marines and wounded dozens more. Only 51 of the original 3,500 Japanese defenders of Roi-Namur survived to be captured.
Aftermath
The relatively easy capture of Kwajalein demonstrated U.S. amphibious capabilities and showed that the changes to training and tactics after the bloody battle of Tarawa had been effective. It allowed Nimitz to speed up operations in the Marshalls and invade Eniwetok Atoll on February 17, 1944.
The Japanese learned from the battle that beachline defenses were too vulnerable to bombardment by ships and planes. In the campaign for the Mariana Islands, the defense in depth on Guam and
PeleliuThe Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, taking place between September and November 1944 on the island of Peleliu. The U.S...
was much harder to overcome than the thin line on Kwajalein.
External links