battle of saipan casualty list

5", United States Army Center of Military History, "Selected June Dates of Marine Corps Historical Significance", The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 19361945, Battle of Saipan The Final Curtain, David Moore, Japan's renegade hero gives Saipan new hope, When Soldiers Kill Civilians: The Battle for Saipan, 1944, "NHL nomination for Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island", "Pentagon salutes military service of Hispanic World War II veterans", "The Marianas and the Great Turkey Shoot", Breaching the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan, 18 images depicting the surrender of the famous "hold-out" Japanese forces under the command of Captain Oba in December 1945, Small Unit Actions: The Fight on Tanapag Plain; 27th Division 6 July 1944, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Saipan&oldid=1141410797, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 23:07. Battle of the Philippine Sea . 40 VanDusen, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. 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. This list of Marine Corps casualties - those who died or were killed - is compiled from: USMC Casualty Cards (mc), American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC or bm), POW/MIA Accounting Agency (pm), and ; States Lists (na, from National Archives) sites. The WW2 Casualties Database is a work in progress and a huge undertaking. Thomas A. Baker, all posthumously. The results: conflicting tactics, conflicting expectations, and serious confusion.4, Adding to the complexity of the operation, a sizeable Japanese population lived on Saipan. Eleven fire support ships covered the Marine landings. 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. Worse still, General Hideki Tojo (1884-1948), Japans militaristic prime minister, had publicly promised that the United States would never take Saipan. 268-269, there were 3,144 U.S. servicemen (both Army & Marine Corps) who were killed or died of their wounds and 10,952 that were wounded in action. The battle for Tinian was over in nine days. In 1943, Allied forces began a long series of Pacific battles against the Japanese. The worst scenes played out atop the cliffs at the islands northern tip. The final major battle occurred on the night of 6-7 July. 5,000 suicides. 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). From there, several thousand troops carried out a suicidal night charge on July 67, killing many Americans but also being wiped out themselves. In the campaigns of 1943 and the first half of 1944, the Allies had captured the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea. When U.S. forces stormed the beaches of Saipan on June 15, 1944, 800 African-American Marines unloaded food and ammunition from landing vehicles and delivered the supplies under fire to troops on the beach. National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawai'i; Contributed by Ivy Hoffman Mentored by Mrs. Erin Sullivan Cab Calloway School of the Arts 2021-2022 . Since the fall of the Marshall Islands to the Americans a few months earlier, both sides began to prepare for an American onslaught against the Marianas and Saipan in particular. [16] The Japanese counter-attacked at night but were repelled with heavy losses. 6: The Twentieth Century, edited by Peter Duus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 362; Alan J. Levine, The Pacific War: Japan versus the Allies (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995), 121; Kirby, War Against Japan, 43032. Japanese military personnel, too, opted for suicide, rather than face execution at the hands of their own compatriots for attempting to surrender to the Americans. The Japanese were forced to retreat further north, marking the turning point in the Battle of Saipan. The naval force consisted of the battleships Tennessee and California, the cruisers Birmingham and Indianapolis, the destroyers Norman Scott, Monssen, Coghlan, Halsey Powell, Bailey, Robinson, and Albert W. Grant. However, Holland Smith had not inspected the terrain over which the 27th was to advance. "[23], At least 25,000 Japanese civilians lived on Saipan at the time of the battle. We never found his body, she continues; like so many, he just disappeared.7, In May, there were strikes on Marcus and Wake Islands to secure the approach to Saipan. . The deadliest battle in WWII, Dnieper, had 1.58 million casualties. On July 9, when Americans declared the battle over, thousands of Saipans civilians, terrified by Japanese propaganda that warned they would be killed by U.S. troops, leapt to their deaths from the high cliffs at the islands northern end. 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 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. 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. U.S. casualties totaled 3,400 dead, and Japanese deaths were 27,000 troops and 15,000 civilians. 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. . ), 158. 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. The Saipan battle began with a naval bombardment on June 13, 1944. The 1st and 2ndBattalions of the 105th Infantry Regiment were almost destroyed, losing well over 650killed and wounded. On 15 June, he gave the order to attack. By early July, the forces of Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito (1890-1944), the Japanese commander on Saipan, had retreated to the northern part of the island, where they were trapped by American land, sea and air power. On 16June, units of the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division landed and advanced on the airfield at sLito. 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. Photo: Corp Angus Robertson/US Marines. Finally, 22,000 Japanese, Okinawans, Koreans, and Chamorro civiliansas well as those of mixed ancestryhad fallen victim to murder, suicide, or the crossfire of battle.48, The Americans suffered 26,000 casualties, 5,000 of which were deaths.49, Yet the American victory was decisive. 13 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 94; Rottman, World War II, 376. cit. Both sides suffered a lot of casualties, and this battle was deadly. 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. for source abbreviations. To safeguard this veritable armada, he ordered that transports and supply ships clear the area by nightfall and head east out of harms way.27, Spruance had good reason to worry, not necessarily about the beachheads, which appeared to be secure before D-day-plus-1 had ended, but about the First Mobile Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Gus Widhelm of Scouting Eight. They became trapped under their own house until Japanese soldiers, in search of a defensible position, pushed them out into the open. Every thing would have to come from great distance over perilous waters. However, the suicidal maneuver failed to turn the tide of the battle, and on July 9, U.S. forces raised the American flag in victory over Saipan. The Marines were bringing in prisoners even before we got there, he says, and in the beginning, everybody was kept under guard no matter if they were Japanese, Korean, or Chamorros, the term for indigenous islanders. Specifically, the memorial honors the 24,000 American Marines and soldiers who were killed and wounded recapturing the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam during the period June 15, 1944, to Aug. 11, 1944. If you would like to make a contribution to help to complete the database, please contact bill.beigel@ww2research.com, with thanks! 31 Rottman, World War II, 376; Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 92. The battleships delivered 2,400 16in (410mm) shells, but to avoid potential minefields, fire was from a distance of 10,000yd (9,100m) or more and crews were inexperienced in shore bombardment. 38 Oral testimony of Escolastica Tudela Cabrera, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. Moreover, the Chamorros, as well as people of mixed ancestry, Japanese troops, and Korean combatants, who had been drafted into the Japanese forces, now held differing legal status with respect to the laws of war and the United States.42 Among their many tasks, Martin and his fellow Navy and Army officers had to distinguish among prisoners, some of whom held more than one status at once. "RT @WWIIMemorial: Burial at sea for a casualty of the battle for Iwo Jima, taken on board USS Hansford while she was evacuating wounded men" Around 24,000 were killed, 5,000 committed suicides, 921 were taken as prisoners of war, and among the 22,000 . Thirty-thousand Japanese personnel, with their artillery, held their fire as the tractors gained the reefs and arrived in the lagoon.11, And then, with a deafening roar of Japanese artillery, it became clear that the preparatory bombardment of the shoreline defenses, which had started at dawn, had not done enough.12 These installations were hidden well in Saipans coastal topography, which featured high ground within range of the lagoon and the reefs, a natural obstacle to U.S. vessels and a natural focal point for Japanese fire.13, Deadly complications besieged U.S. forces all at once. To reinforce and supply their garrisons, they needed naval and air superiority, so Operation A-Go, a major carrier attack, was prepared for June 1944. 3, History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Philip A. Crowl, Campaign in the Marianas, vol 9., United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 23:07, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island, Generalissimo of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, Maritime Heritage Trail Battle of Saipan. "Report on Capture of the Marianas" Enclosure K part D. These figures are incomplete since data could not be obtained from all ships. For the United States, around 2,949 people were killed, and 10,364 were wounded. 37 Vaughan, in Saipan: Oral Histories (op. 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. 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.. 1 - BY NAME 1941-45, CABOT From the Marianas, Japan would be well within the range of an air offensive relying on the new B-29 with its operational radius of 3,250mi (5,230km). The Japanese had been pushed into a small pocket in the northern most part of Saipan. However, it was the civilian casualties that stunned American troops. Political leaders came to understand the devastating power of the long-range U.S. bombers. Without resupply, the battle on Saipan was hopeless for the defenders,[original research?] Since the fall of the Marshall Islands to the Americans a few months earlier, both . The landings[15] began at 07:00 on 15 June 1944. 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. Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos, Impact on American Public and Broader War, Extraordinary Heroism and Conspicuous Courage, Operation Torch: Invasion of North Africa, African Americans in General Service, 1942, "USS Robin": When the CNO Needed a Royal Navy Carrier, Landings at Salerno, Italy: Operation Avalanche, Naval Air Strikes Against German Shipping: Operation Leader, Operation Shingle: Landing at Anzio, Italy, Gamble at Los Negros: The Admiralty Islands Campaign, Evacuation by Submarine: USS Angler in the Philippines, Securing New Guinea: Operations Reckless and Persecution, Exercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, Defeating the Sharks: The Capture of U-505, Pearl Harbor Ablaze Again: The West Loch Disaster, Operation Neptune: The U.S. Navy on D-Day, U.S. Navy Vessels in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Port Chicago Disaster: Leadership Lessons Learned, Operation Forager Continued: Landings on Guam and Tinian, Operation Dragoon: The Invasion of Southern France, Operation Stalemate II: The Battle of Peleliu, "Calmness, Courage, and Efficiency": Remembering the Battle of Leyte Gulf, The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of "Taffy 3", "Taffy 3" Presidential Unit Citation and Other Awards, United States Navy War Instructions, 1944, The Japanese Hell Ships of World War II, Battle of Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipients, Navy Nurses Behind Enemy Lines in the Philippines, Battle of Okinawa: Historic Overview & Importance, A Kamikaze Attack on New Mexico, Fifth Fleet Flag: A Photo Essay, A Ceremony for the Fallen: Aftermath of a Kamikaze Attack, Admiral Spruance Recounts Kamikaze Attack on His Flagship, New Mexico (BB-40), On the Verge of Breaking Down Completely: Combat Fatigue off Okinawa and the Destruction of USS Longshaw, Investigating Okinawa: The Story Behind A Kamikaze Pilots Scarf, The Most Difficult Antiaircraft Problem Yet Faced By the Fleet, Victory in Europe: Germany's Surrender and Aftermath, Homeward Bound World War II Ends in the Pacific, ENS Allen W. Bain and Minneapolis (CA-36), LCDR Joseph W. Callahan and Ralph Talbot (DD-390), LT Albert P. Scoofer Coffin of Torpedo Ten, MAtt1/c Leonard R. Harmon and CDR Mark H. Crouter of San Francisco (CA-38), CDR Frank A. EricksonFirst Helicoptar SAR, LCDR Bernard F. McMahon and Drum (SS-228), LTJG Melvin C. Roach, Guadalcanal Fighter Pilot, CDR Joseph J. Rochefort and "Station Hypo", Chief Machinist William A. Smith and Enterprise (CV-6), LCDR William J. He had been in command of the Japanese naval air forces stationed on the island. Battle of Saipan, capture of the island of Saipan during World War II by U.S. Marine and Army units from June 15 to July 9, 1944. Cristino S. Dela Cruz, an islander who later joined the U.S. Marines, remembers the day, on the eve of invasion, when Japanese troops confiscated his familys house in Garapan. [citation needed], United StatesUS Fifth Fleet The loss of Saipan stunned the political establishment in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. The Japanese fought ferociously, holding out in caves and other fortified positions. The campaign that resulted in the most US military deaths was the Battle of Normandy (June 6 to August 25, 1944) in which 29,204 soldiers were killed fighting against Nazi Germany . It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The attacks, which continued for 15 hours, killed more than 650 Americans. 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 . . And to do so would expose one to the real danger of murder at the hands of Japanese forces, who forbade surrender on pain of death. For the empire of Japan, the casualties were heavier. 11 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 9495. 3 By Greg Bradsher Enlarge Adm. Mineichi Koga. General Yoshitsugo Saito had hoped to win the battle on the beaches but was forced to switch tactics and withdraw with his troops into the rugged interior of Saipan. The facility exploded with a tremendous cloud of smoke and flame.18, Japanese resistance proved far greater than anticipated, not least of all because the latest intelligence reports had underestimated troop levels.19 In reality, troop levels, in excess of 31,000 men, were as much as double the estimates.20 For at least a month, Japanese forces had been fortifying the island and bolstering its forces. [17], By 6 July, the Japanese had nowhere to retreat. The U.S. 2nd Marine Division, 4th Marine Division, and 27th Infantry Division . Both battle and non-battle dead and missing are 21 Heinrichs and Gallicchio, Implacable Foes, 9394. cit. I saw my Japanese mother only once after my arrival in Camp Susupe, says Antonieta. With the capture of Saipan, the American military was now only 1,300mi (1,100nmi; 2,100km) away from the home islands of Japan. . For unit abbreviations, NPS Photo. 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 cit. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. The list also includes 14 U.S. Defense . cit. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. No further mention of Saipan was made following the final battle on 7 July, which was not initially reported to the public. Lieutenant j.g. cit. By the end of the day, some 20,000 troops had established a beachhead on Saipan; however, the U.S. had suffered approximately 2,000 casualties in the process. Initially, as the battle started, Japanese accounts concentrated on the fighting spirit of the IJA and the heavy casualties it was inflicting on American forces. 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. I screamed hysterically.37, To many civilian families, neither surrender nor survival were available. Some of these troops were Koreans drafted into the Japanese forces. Omissions? That area was all in flames because the Japanese had a lot of storage tanks there, remembers Marie Soledad Castro, then a young girl resident on Saipan and whose father was a dockworker.6 The raids continued. The following is a list of the casualties count in battles or offensives in world history.The list includes both sieges (not technically battles but usually yielding similar combat-related or civilian deaths) and civilian casualties during the battles. The battle of Saipan came at a high price, over 30,000 Japanese died in the battle, for the Americans it was the most costly battle in the Pacific war to that date. 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. Kirby, War Against Japan, 429. "Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan." [23] Oba's holdout lasted for over a year (approximately 16 months) before finally surrendering on 1 December 1945, three months after the official surrender of Japan. 3: The Decisive Battles (London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1961), 431. Early Life. We have 5,219 casualty profiles listed in our archive. His entire cabinet resigned with him. In intensive fighting, U.S forces gradually drove the Japanese defense from their nearly impregnable position in the heights. The Japanese surged over the American front lines, engaging both Army and Marine units. In the end, almost the entire garrison of troops on the island at least 29,000 died. The operation was marred by inter-service controversy when Marine General Holland Smith, dissatisfied with the performance of the 27thDivision, relieved its commander, Army Major General Ralph C. Smith. Harris Martin. Although the price for victory was high, the seizure of Saipan was a highly significant step forward in the advance on the Japanese home islands. 37, No. The American invasion of the Japanese stronghold of Saipan in the western Pacific was an incredibly brutal battle, claiming 55,000 soldiers' and civilians' lives in just . The U.S. was then able to use Saipan as a strategic bomber base from which to attack Japan directly. [13], While not part of the original American plan, MacArthur, commander of the Southwest Pacific Area command, obtained authorization to advance through New Guinea and Morotai toward the Philippines. Planners had to see to it that 59 troopships and 64 LSTs could land three divisions worth of men and equipment on an island 2,400 miles from the base at Guadalcanal and 3,500 miles from Pearl Harbor.2 These challenges aside, Navy, Marine Corps, and Army leadership anticipated a quick campaign based on intelligence they were receiving about enemy troop levels on Saipan. On July 9, the U.S. flag was raised in victory over Saipan. [clarification needed] The reports had a devastating effect on Japanese opinion; mass suicides were now seen as defeat, not evidence of an "Imperial Way". but the Japanese were determined to fight to the last man. Oba's resistance was so successful that it caused the reassignment of a commander. CORPS CASUALTIES. ), 51; in the same volume, cf. 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. Landing on the island's west coast, American troops were able to push their way inland against fanatic Japanese resistance. [36] However, after Tj's resignation on 18 July, an accurate, almost day-by-day, account of the defeat on Saipan was published jointly by the Army and Navy. The old battleships, commissioned between 1915 and 1921, were trained in shore bombardment and were able to move into closer range. [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". Home. The bloodiest single day in the history of the United States military was June 6, 1944, with 2,500 soldiers killed during the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day. These articles have not yet undergone the rigorous in-house editing or fact-checking and styling process to which most Britannica articles are customarily subjected. According to the USMC Historical Division Monograph titled Saipan: The Beginning of the End by Major Carl W. Hoffman (1950) pp. Despite the heavy resistance they faced, 8,000 Marines managed to reach the shore that first morning. 5/9/1945- Okinawa, Japan: Eleven Okinawa civilians who were huddled in this hillside cave were rescued when a passing Marine patrol heard a baby crying. to US Navy Casualties, WW2. 2 - by DATE. The Battle of Tarawa was fought November 20-23, 1943, during World War II (1939-1945) and saw American forces launch their first offensive into the central Pacific. Fighting their way through rugged jungle terrain, Marines finally won control of Mount Tapotchau by the end of June. See Kirby, War Against Japan, 431. Essentially, it was a valley surrounded by hills and cliffs under Japanese control. 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. This got easier to decipher at dusk when the tracers came out, according to Lieutenant j.g. At this pivotal juncture in the operation, Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, USMC (V Amphibious Force commander), Admiral Raymond Spruance (Fifth Fleet commander), and Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner (amphibious and attack forces commander) conferred nearby.25 In response to conditions on the ground, they postponed the invasion of Guam so that the Marine division tasked with conquering it could be diverted to Saipan. The news of the 22 February 1941 raid of 427 Amsterdam Jews made a deep impression on the Amsterdam population.

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