battle of saipan casualty list battle of saipan casualty list

The U.S. Navys decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) and its successful defense of the major base located at read more, Beginning in the summer of 1943 during World War II (1939-1945), U.S. forces in the Pacific launched Operation Cartwheel, a series of amphibious assaults aimed at encircling the major Japanese base at Rabaul, on the island of New Britain in the southwest Pacific. However, American intelligence services had greatly underestimated Japanese troop strength on Saipan. The Battle of Saipan was fought June 15 to July 9, 1944, during World War II (1939-1945) and saw Allied forces open a campaign in the Marianas. This force was the main naval fire support for the seizure of the island and consisted of 7 older battleships, 11 cruisers, and 26 destroyers, along with destroyer transports and fast minesweepers. Each state list is alphabetical divided by the casualty type, including wounded and recovered. By 16:15 on 9 July, Admiral Turner announced that Saipan was officially secured. Vice Admiral Chichi Nagumo[a], The bombardment of Saipan began on 13 June 1944 with seven modern fast battleships, 11 destroyers and 10 fast minesweepers under Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. Interested in participating in the Publishing Partner Program? 30 Martin, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. On April 1, 1945Easter Sundaythe Navys Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. Both battle and non-battle dead and missing are This left the Japanese holding the Philippines, the Caroline Islands, the Palau Islands, and the Mariana Islands. Although bases in the Marshalls lay fewer than 1,500 miles away, the islands desolate landscapes could not support any kind of large-scale mustering of men and materiel. Image courtesy of US Navy. 26 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 98; Rottman, World War II, 378. Saipan in the Mariana Islands was the next objective in the Central pacific drive that involved Carolina Marines. Naval bombardment of the island had started two days earlier on the 13th, and had some effect in terms of weakening the Japanese defenses, but no amount of shelling could shake the Japanese soldiers' resolve. [25], More than 1,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide in the last days of the battle to take the offered privileged place in the afterlife, some jumping from places later named "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff". Fighting became especially brutal and prolonged around Mount Tapotchau, Saipans highest peak, and Marines gave battle sites in the area names such as Death Valley and Purple Heart Ridge. When the U.S. finally trapped the Japanese in the northern part of the island, Japanese soldiers launched a massive but futile banzai charge. "?+H(0;D\'u dm?@&k_30y? [ It is estimated that between 800 to 1,000 civilians died by suicide during the month-long battle of Saipan. However, it was the civilian casualties that stunned American troops. Betio Island was three hundred acres, or the size of the Pentagon building and parking lots, and it was the centerpiece . Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 9th of June some of the events you will find here, please use the following link where you will find more details and all other events of this day . Saipan had a significant Japanese civilian population. A hole in the ground provided the only cover. Roosevelt. 21 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 9394. For the Americans, the victory was the most costly to date in the Pacific War: out of 71,000 who landed, 2,949were killed and 10,464wounded. The [Japanese] are coming after us, Spruance said, and they were bringing with them 28 destroyers, 5 battleships, 11 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 9 carriers (5 fleet, 4 light) with somewhere near 500 aircraft total.28. The American Memorial Park on Saipan commemorates the U.S. and Mariana veterans of the Mariana Islands campaign. Realizing he could no longer hold out against the American onslaught, Saito apologized to Tokyo for failing to defend Saipan and committed ritual suicide. Home. to CZIVA. His objections were routed through formal channels as well as bypassing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appealing directly to Secretary of War Henry Stimson and President Franklin D. The 18,000 U.S. Marines sent to read more, The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. The 27th Division of the New York National Guard suffered heavy losses during the World War II battle for the Pacific island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas where the Japanese were determined . The worst scenes played out atop the cliffs at the islands northern tip. The Navys involvement bookended the operation: naval vessels and personnel ferried Marines and Soldiers to the beaches and then, after ground combat was over, took leading positions in the administration of the occupation. 1 - BY NAME 1941-45, CABOT On the morning of June 15, 1944, a large fleet of U.S. transport ships gathered near the southwest shores of Saipan, and Marines began riding toward the beaches in hundreds of amphibious landing vehicles. Over the course of two days a total of 37 warships . to Part 1 - by NAME: POW/MIA 25 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 98. Political leaders came to understand the devastating power of the long-range U.S. bombers. 29,000 casualties: 24,000 KIA. Fighting with fanatic resistance, nearly the . U.S. casualties totaled 3,400 dead, and Japanese deaths were 27,000 troops and 15,000 civilians. [citation needed], The Mariana Islands had not been a key part of pre-war American planning (War Plans Orange and Rainbow) because the islands were well north of a direct sea route between Hawaii and the Philippines. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Fulfilling Our Nation's Promise. This allowed MacArthur to keep his personal pledge to liberate the Philippines, made in his "I shall return" speech, and also allowed the active use of the large forces built up in the southwest Pacific theatre. The invasion surprised the Japanese high command, which had been expecting an attack further south. American commanders decided to make the first Mariana landing on Saipan, the largest of the Mariana Islands. These, plus the fields of sugarcane, made taking and holding ground particularly slow going.32. The U.S. was then able to use Saipan as a strategic bomber base from which to attack Japan directly. Omissions? After having failed to stop the American landing on Saipan, the Japanese army retreated to Mount Tapotchau, the mountain peak that dominates the island. to CZIVA. Gabaldon, who was raised by Japanese-Americans, used a combination of street Japanese and guile to convince soldiers and civilians alike that U.S. troops were not barbarians, and that they would be well treated upon surrender. Casualties arranged in Organized Japanese resistance ended on July 9. The campaign on Saipan had brought many American casualties, and it also heralded the kind of fighting which would be . Total U.S. combat casualties in the war against Japan were thus 111,606 dead or missing and another 253,142 wounded. U.S. commanders reasoned that taking the main Mariana IslandsSaipan, Tinian and Guamwould cut off Japan from its resource-rich southern empire and clear the way for further advances to Tokyo. The amphibian tractors were not functioning as planned. 18 Oral testimony of William VanDusen, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. Around 24,000 were killed, 5,000 committed suicides, 921 were taken as prisoners of war, and among the 22,000 . but the Japanese were determined to fight to the last man. "[23], At least 25,000 Japanese civilians lived on Saipan at the time of the battle. Fortunately for the Americans, the Japanese had not succeeded, either, in their efforts to repulse the invaders. The nicknames given by the Americans to the features of the battle "Hell's Pocket", "Purple Heart Ridge" and "Death Valley" indicate the severity of the fighting. Cf. 31 Rottman, World War II, 376; Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 92. to Part 1 - by NAME: Part In preparation, troops received training in rudimentary Japanese.5, Air raids began in February 1944, when the Navys Fast Carrier Force destroyed some of the islands docks. 3 By Greg Bradsher Enlarge Adm. Mineichi Koga. ), 26. In the end, almost the entire garrison of troops on the island at least 29,000 died. [29] During the war, his commanders had requested that he receive the Medal of Honor for his actions; however, his initial award was the Silver Star. Research, development, and procurement made that a long-term prospect. The standard method of clearing suspected bunkers was the use of high-explosive and/or high-explosives augmented with petroleum (e.g., gelignite, napalm, diesel fuel). "Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan." The Japanese [were] jumping from the cliffs at Marpi Point, remembers Lieutenant VanDusen, who watched the scenes from aboard Twining: We could see our men in their camouflage uniforms talking to them with loudspeakers, trying to convince them that no harm would come to them, but obviously this was to no avail.40. Then the Americans landed nearby, and the Dela Cruz familys ordeal really began. . The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. Located 750 miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of read more. We were close, Lieutenant William VanDusen remembers: Heavier ships were firing over our heads onto the beach. 29-P1000 made available online by Hyperwar. The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. 46 Castro, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. Two of the Dela Cruzs daughters died in a bombing. See Kirby, War Against Japan, 429. [24] Although some of the soldiers wanted to fight, Captain ba asserted that their primary concerns were to protect the civilians and to stay alive to continue the war. Questions or concerns? The BATTLE OF IWO JIMA: On 19 February 1945, Marines landed on Iwo Jima in what was the largest all-Marine battle in history. Marine General Holland M. Howlin Mad Smith (1882-1967) was given a plan of battle and ordered to take the island in three days. to US Navy Casualties, WW2. STATES MARINE Ben L. Salomon, Pvt. For days, Sailors had been watching the action on the shore from Sheridans decks. %PDF-1.6 % The Marine Corps suffered over 23,300 casualties. Battleships, destroyers and planes had pounded key targets in pre-assault bombardments, but they had missed many gun emplacements along the beach cliffs. The Battle of Saipan lasted from June 15 to July 9, 1944. Victory at Okinawa cost more than 49,000 American casualties, including about 12,000 deaths. The Mariana Islands were a strategic location as American capture of th. ), 49. Fighting their way through rugged jungle terrain, Marines finally won control of Mount Tapotchau by the end of June. He was awarded the Purple Heart and was given a medical discharge with the rank of private first class in 1945.[22][importance?]. The memorial consists of a 12-foot rectangular obelisk of rose granite in a landscaped area of local flora and a 20-foot tower to the north . ), 1920. In 1943, Allied forces began a long series of Pacific battles against the Japanese. In Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan, author John C. Chapin, a Marine on Saipan, described the chaos around him that morning, with its bodies lying in mangled and grotesque positions; blasted and burned out pillboxes; the burning wrecks of LVTs [landing vehicles] ; the acrid smell of high explosives; the shattered trees; and the churned up sand littered with discarded equipment.. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The logistical demands of the invasion of Saipan were dizzying. In May, American forces also bombed Marcus and Wake islands, also in the Marianas, to secure the approach to Saipan in June. Landing on the island's west coast, American troops were able to push their way inland against fanatic Japanese resistance. Cf. Early Life. The element of surprise was the main factor in casualties being so low. There was a rumor at that time that the Japanese were going to throw all the Chamorros in a big hole and kill them. ), 18. 29 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 111. The Battle of Okinawa. The read more, The Battle of Midway was an epic clash between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy that played out six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Gus Widhelm of Scouting Eight. The Battle of Guadalcanal, also known as the Guadalcanal Campaign and code-named Operation Watchtower, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. The Costs of War. Furthermore, many of Saipans citizens were Japanese, and the loss of Saipan marked the first defeat in Japanese territory that had not been added during Japans aggressive expansion by invasion in 1941 and 1942. 6 Oral testimony of Marie Soledad Castro, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. On April 1, 1945, more than 60,000 soldiers and US Marines of the US Tenth Army stormed ashore at Okinawa, in the final island battle before an anticipated invasion of mainland Japan. However, Holland Smith had not inspected the terrain over which the 27th was to advance. In the early 1960s the absence of speed limit indications on Dutch motorways saw serious accidents on the rise, so the Rijkspolitie (State police) was tasked with finding a suitable vehicle for high-speed patrol. [clarification needed] The reports had a devastating effect on Japanese opinion; mass suicides were now seen as defeat, not evidence of an "Imperial Way". 34 Oral testimony of Sister Antonieta Ada, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. The Battle of Tarawa was fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II from November 20 to November 23, 1943. "The Campaign in the Marianas" Annex 3 to Enclosure A, Henry I. Shaw, Jr., Bernard C. Nalty, and Edwin T. Turnbladh, Central Pacific Drive, vol. If you have any questions about these collections, please contact the Archives at (703) 784-4685 or history.division . Holland Smith said: "It was the decisive battle of the Pacific offensive [] it opened the way to the Japanese home islands. With Saipans airfields soon to be operational (as well as those of Tinian and Guam, which the Americans would surely get in due course) and with Japanese air power having been all but eliminated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, there was no protecting the home islands from aerial bombardment.54, Adam Bisno, PhD, NHHC Communication and Outreach Division, June 2019. There were flares being dropped by Japanese planes. Earlier that day, Twining had added to the melee when her guns hit a large ammunition dump on shore, as VanDusen describes it. Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff, along with a number of surviving isolated Japanese fortifications, are recognized as historic sites on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. PFC Guy Gabaldon, of Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, was credited with capturing more than 1,000 Japanese prisoners during the battle. 120 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<132B5D2159DFC14F800E7FA24CBE4310>]/Index[92 64]/Info 91 0 R/Length 123/Prev 126934/Root 93 0 R/Size 156/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream ), 162. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was launched. ), 158. States Lists (na, from National Archives) According to one Japanese admiral: "Our war was lost with the loss of Saipan. Skip to main content (Press Enter). It was fought during the Pacific War of World War II, in the seas surrounding the Philippine island of Leyte from 23 October to 26 October 1944 between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. But after Tj failed to shuffle his Cabinet due to excessive internal hostility, he conceded defeat. The Battle for Saipan. He holds degrees in history and war studies from Oxford University and London University. [25] On 18 July, Tj again submitted his resignation, this time unequivocally. 2 - by DATE. Cabrera, 27. The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June - 9 July 1944. On June 18, American troops continued to spread out across the island even as their offshore naval protection departed to head off the Japanese Imperial Fleet that had been sent to aid in the defense of Saipan. Two U.S. Marine divisions began landings in the southwest of the island on June 15; they were joined two days later by an Army division. The Japanese attempted to repel or . 17 As Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 95, explain, Officers rounding up troops amid the confusion of the landing made their presence felt and in so doing became targets for snipers.. The subsequent invasion occasioned a refugee crisis on the island and, soon, some of the most harrowing experiences any civilian would face in the course of the war. When it happened, in June and July 1944, the conquest of Saipan became the most daringand disturbingoperation in the U.S. war against Japan to date.1 And when it was over, the United States held islands that could place B-29 bombers within range of Tokyo. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. November 1943. [33] From this point on, Saipan would become the launch point for retaking other islands in the Mariana chain and the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. In response, Japanese aircraft attacked Saipan and Tinian on several occasions between November 1944 and January 1945. 5,000 suicides. She was very weak and could hardly talk. We have 5,219 casualty profiles listed in our archive. The date was 9 July, more than three weeks since the start of the invasion.41 Now began the work of tending and processing the prisoners, both civilian and military. The list also includes 14 U.S. Defense . Essentially, it was a valley surrounded by hills and cliffs under Japanese control. Combat Art Galleries: Amphibious Operations, Marines in Action, Saipan, 16 June 1944: View of wrecked amphibian tractors (LVT) and other debris on one of the invasion beaches one day after the initial landings (USMC 88365), DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. Escolastica Tudela Cabrera remembers when Japanese soldiers arrived at our cave with their big swords and said if anybody went to the Americans, they would cut our throats.38 Threats like these, which happened in the context of the apparent impossibility of reaching safety, prompted entire families to commit suicide, as U.S. Marines and Soldiers reported.39. Subsequently, Marines headed straight into exploding bombs and streaming gunfire. The island became the first B-29 base in the Pacific. In wave after wave, the Japanese overran parts of several U.S. battalions, engaging in hand-to-hand combat and killing or wounding more than a thousand Americans before being repelled by howitzers and point-blank machine-gun fire. We felt that the Americans were God-sent.46, The invasion of Saipan was horrific. It mentioned the near total loss of all Japanese soldiers and civilians on the island and the use of "human bullets". cit. Department of War created these lists. . cit. Admiral Shigetar Shimada, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), saw an opportunity to use the A-Go force to attack the U.S. Navy forces around Saipan. . They were pretty flimsy buildings, recalls Martin, with corrugated tin roofs and . As a fully Japanese adult civilian, she had to remain in the Japanese section. Their armor was not heavy enough to withstand the barrage from Japanese artillery, and their agility on rough ground proved lacking.16 Troops scattered in several directions as hilltop snipers tried to pick them off one by one. The cliffs are also part of the National Historic Landmark District Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island, which also includes the American landing beaches, the B-29 runways of Isley Field, and the surviving Japanese infrastructure of the Aslito and Marpi Point airfields. The role Tinian was to play in the war did not end, however, with its capture from the . Black-and-white photographs, captured by Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, show the everyday horrors for the U.S. soldiers fighting Japanese forces on the Mariana Island of Saipan in 1944. "[citation needed] At dawn of 7 July, with a group of 12men carrying a red flag in the lead, the remaining able-bodied troops about 4,000 men charged forward in the final attack. But the resulting battle of the Philippine Sea was a disaster for the IJN, which lost three aircraft carriers and hundreds of planes. Just under 3, 000 Americans were killed and more than 10, 000 were wounded. They had prepared effective beach defenses, which caused the attacking Marines significant casualties, but the U.S. troops still managed to fight their way ashore. The list also shows next of kin address. 37, No. Direct The cost of this campaign was great: over 16,500 casualties, including almost 3,500 killed. Many were killed in the fighting, but thousands more committed suicide, along with many soldiers, rather than come under the control of the Americans. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. open at the sides.43 Drainage, especially from the privies, was of serious concern.44, An inmates experience of Camp Susupe, as it was called, depended largely on his or her ethnicity, gender, and combat status. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. So VAC purchased 30 Canadian Ronson flamethrowers and requested that the Army's Chemical Warfare Service in Hawaii install them in M3 Stuarts, and termed them M3 Satans. Corrections? By 8 June, a great assemblage of Navy ships arrived in the Marianas region from various points in the east, from Majuro in the Marshalls to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.8, Having hobbled Japanese air forces in the region by 11 June and, in the two days before D-Day, bombarded Saipans coasts, conducted risky but invaluable reconnaissance, and blown up parts of the coastal reefs, the Navy was now ready to land American personnel on the island.9, Before dawn on D-day, 15 June, Sailors prepared a grand breakfast for the Marines of the 2nd and 4th Divisions, and then it was time to board the amphibian tractors.10, Fifty-six of these vehicles proceeded in lines of four toward the eight beaches that had to be stormed. With the capture of Saipan, the American military was now only 1,300mi (1,100nmi; 2,100km) away from the home islands of Japan. cit. The battle of Saipan is also tragic for it's huge civilian losses. If you would like to make a contribution to help to complete the database, please contact bill.beigel@ww2research.com, with thanks! Saito had expected the Japanese navy to help him drive the Americans from the island, but the Imperial Fleet had suffered a devastating defeat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944) and never arrived at Saipan. While the battle officially ended on 9 July, Japanese resistance still persisted with Captain Sakae ba and 46 other soldiers who survived with him during the last banzai charge. On June 15, 1944, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II (1939-45), U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of the strategically significant Japanese island of Saipan, with a goal of gaining a crucial air base from which the U.S. could launch its new long-range B-29 bombers directly at Japans home islands. On 16 July US forces began the bombardment of the nearby island of Tinian as a prelude to the successful Battle of Tinian (24 July-1 August). . When it ended, at least 23,000 Japanese troops were dead, and more than 1,780 had been captured.47 Nearly 15,000 civilians languished in U.S. custody.