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Battle of Saipan
Part of World War II, Pacific War
LVTs heading for shore on 15 June 1944. USS Birmingham in foreground; the cruiser firing in the distance is USS Indianapolis
Date 15 June 1944 – 9 July 1944 Location Saipan, Mariana Islands Result American Victory
Combatants
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders
Richmond K. Turner Holland Smith	Yoshitsugu Saito † Chuichi Nagumo †
Strength
71,000	31,000
Casualties
3,426 killed 13,160 wounded	24,000 killed 5,000 suicides 921 prisoners

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 1944 to 9 July 1944. The American 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions and 27th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Holland Smith defeated the 43rd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army commanded by Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito.

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. This brought the Allies up against the main Japanese defense line in the Pacific: the Caroline Islands, Palau Islands and Mariana Islands.

Navajo codetalkers played a key role in directing naval gunfire onto Japanese positions.

The Allies embarked on two campaigns to break this line: General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area command advanced through New Guinea and Morotai toward the Philippines. Admiral Chester Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command attacked the Mariana Islands. The selection of the Marianas as a target was influenced by the introduction of the new B-29 Superfortress long-range bomber. If the Marianas were in Allied hands, then Tokyo would be well within its range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km).

The Japanese were expecting an attack somewhere on their perimeter—though an attack on the Caroline Islands was thought most likely. 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.

Map showing the progress of the Battle of Saipan

Red Beach 2 at 1300 hours

Marines take cover behind a M4 Sherman tank while cleaning out the northern north end of the island of Saipan. July 8, 1944

A Marine talks a terrified Chamorro woman and her children into abandoning their refuge

Bombing of Saipan began on June 13, 1944. Fifteen battleships were involved, and 165,000 shells were fired. Seven modern fast battleships delivered 2,400 sixteen-inch shells, but to avoid potential minefields fire was from a distance of 10,000 yards or more, and crews were inexperienced in shore bombardment. The following day the eight pre-Pearl Harbor battleships and eleven cruisers under Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf replaced the fast battleships but were lacking in time and ammunition. ^[1]

The landings began at 07:00 on June 15, 1944. More than 300 LVTs landed 8,000 Marines on the west coast of Saipan by about 09:00. Eleven fire support ships covered the Marine landings. The naval force consisted of the battleships USS Tennessee and USS California. The cruisers were USS Birmingham and USS Indianapolis. The destroyers were USS Norman Scott, USS Monssen, USS Colahan, USS Halsey Powell, USS Bailey, USS Robinson and the USS Albert W. Grant. Careful Japanese artillery preparation—placing flags in the bay to indicate the range—allowed them to destroy about 20 amphibious tanks, and the Japanese strategically placed barbed wire, artillery, machine gun emplacements, and trenches to maximize the American casualties. However, by nightfall the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions had a beachhead about 6 miles (10 km) wide and 1/2 mile (1 km) deep ^[2]. The Japanese counter-attacked at night but were repulsed with heavy losses. On June 16, units of the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division landed and advanced on the Aslito airfield. Again the Japanese counter-attacked at night. On June 18 Saito abandoned the airfield.

The invasion surprised the Japanese, who had been expecting an attack further south. Admiral Toyoda Soemu, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Navy, saw an opportunity to use the A-Go force to attack the U.S. Navy forces around Saipan. On June 15, he gave the order to attack. But the resulting battle of the Philippine Sea was a disaster for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which lost three aircraft carriers and hundreds of planes. The garrisons of the Marianas would have no hope of resupply or reinforcement.

Without resupply, the battle on Saipan was hopeless for the defenders, but the Japanese were determined to fight to the last man. Saito organized his troops into a line anchored on Mount Tapotchau in the defensible mountainous terrain of central Saipan. 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. The Japanese used the many caves in the volcanic landscape to delay the attackers, by hiding during the day and making sorties at night. The Americans gradually developed tactics for clearing the caves by using flamethrower teams supported by artillery and machine guns.

The operation was marred by inter-service controversy when Marine General Holland "Howling Mad" Smith, unsatisfied with the performance of the 27th Division, relieved its commander, Army General Ralph C. Smith.

By July 7, the Japanese had nowhere to retreat. Saito made plans for a final suicidal banzai charge. On the fate of the remaining civilians on the island, Saito said, "There is no longer any distinction between civilians and troops. It would be better for them to join in the attack with bamboo spears than be captured." At dawn, with a group of a dozen men carrying a great red flag in the lead, the remaining able-bodied troops—about 3,000 men—charged forward in the final attack. Amazingly, behind them came the wounded, with bandaged heads, crutches, and barely armed. The Japanese surged over two battalions of American troops, killing or wounding 650 of them. But by 16:15 on July 9, Admiral Turner announced that Saipan was officially secured.^[3] Saito, along with commanders Hirakushi and Igeta, committed suicide in a cave.

A U.S. Marine retrieves a living baby from a cave full of corpses. June 1944.

Many hundreds of Japanese civilians committed suicide in the last days of the battle, some jumping from "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff". Efforts by U.S. troops to persuade them to surrender instead were mostly futile. Widespread propaganda in Japan portraying Americans and British as "devils" who would treat POWs barbarically, deterred surrender.

In the end, about 22,000 Japanese civilians died. Almost the entire garrison of troops on the island—at least 30,000—died. For the Americans, the victory was the most costly to date in the Pacific War. 14,111 Americans were killed, wounded, or missing in action out of 71,000 who landed.^[4]

Isley Field, filled with B-29 bombers. Mid 1945.

PFC Guy Gabaldon, a Mexican-American from Los Angeles, California, is officially credited with capturing more than 1,000 Japanese prisoners during the battle. PFC 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. For his outstanding bravery, Gabaldon received a Silver Star, which was upgraded to the Navy Cross ^[5].

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. In 1998, efforts were re-initiated to secure the Medal of Honor for PFC Gabaldon.^[6]. The effort is still ongoing ^[7]

As a result of the Japanese defeat in the battle, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo fell from power. Immediately after the news of the defeat reached Tokyo, Tojo was relieved as head of the Japanese Army; and on July 18, 1944, Tojo and his entire cabinet resigned. ^[8]

After the battle, Saipan became an important base for further operations in the Marianas, and then for the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Bombers based at Saipan attacked the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands and Japan.

Japanese Army Captain Sakae Oba held out in the mountains with forty-six men until he surrendered on December 1, 1945.

• Battle of Saipan order of battle

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Battle of Saipan

1. ^ U.S. Army in World War II: Campaign in the Marianas, Ch. 5. United States Army. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
2. ^ "Selected June Dates of Marine Corps Historical Significance". This Month in History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on 2006-06-07.
3. ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945, Random House, 1970, p. 516
4. ^ John Toland, ibid, p. 519
5. ^ Burlas, Joe (September 24, 2004). "Pentagon salutes military service of Hispanic World War II veterans". Army News Service. Retrieved on 2006-03-24.
6. ^ Burbeck, James (1998). "An Interview with Guy Gabaldon". War Times Journal. Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
7. ^ PFC Guy Gabaldon, WWII, The Pacific. America USA. Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
8. ^ Hoffman, p. 260.

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• Jones, Don (1986). Oba, The Last Samurai. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-245-X. 
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• O'Brien, Francis A. (2003). Battling for Saipan. Presdio Press. ISBN 0-89141-804-0. 
• Petty, Bruce M. (2001). Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War. McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-0991-6. 
• Rottman, Gordon; Howard Gerrard (2004). Saipan & Tinian 1944: Piercing the Japanese Empire. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-804-9. 
• Sauer, Howard (1999). "Torpedoed at Saipan", The Last Big-Gun Naval Battle: The Battle of Surigao Strait. Palo Alto, California: The Glencannon Press. ISBN 1-889901-08-3. - Firsthand account of naval gunfire support by a crewmember of USS Maryland.

• Chen, C. Peter. "The Marianas and the Great Turkey Shoot". World War II Database. Retrieved on 2005-05-31.
• Saipan -- a 2nd Marine Division pamphlet describing certain expected features of the invasion and combat, including the presence of a large civilian population.
• Breaching the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan (Marines in World War II Commemorative Series)
• Banzai charge in Saipan: Gyokusai (Japanese) Suicide for the Emperor?
• Hoffman, Major Carl W., USMC (1950). Saipan: The Beginning of the End. USMC Historical Monograph. Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on 2005-12-19.
• U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Western Pacific. CMH Pub 72-29, U.S. Army Center of Military History (2003). Retrieved on 2004-11-03.
• Woo, John (Director). (2002) Windtalkers [Feature-length film]. (Filmed in Hawaii and southern California): Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).