Gilbert Islands

The Gilibert Islands are a chain of atolls southwest of Hawaii and just north of the equator. There are hundreds of islands in the chain, all small, with a total land area of just 275 square miles. Their population was quite small and under British control in 1941. The Japanese seized the principal atolls in the group, Makin and Tarawa, within a few days of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Operation GALVANIC. In November of 1943 the Allies recaptured Makin and Tarawa. In proportion to the size of the force involved, the recapture of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the United States, costing the lives of 1100 Marines. The Makin invasion was much less costly on land, but at sea the escort carrier Liscombe Bay was sunk with great loss of life.

Allied order of battle, Operation GALVANIC

Pacific Fleet (Nimitz)
	5 Fleet (Spruance)
		Assault Force (Turner)
			TF 52 Northern Attack Force (Turner)
				TG 52.1 Transport Group				Carrying 165 Regimental Combat Team and 105 Battalion Landing Teams, 27 Division (Smith)
					APA Leonard Wood APA Neville APA Pierce APA Calvert AKA Alcyone
					LSD Belle Grove			Carrying LVTs and 193 Tank Battalion
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Mustin DD Kimberly DD Burns DD Dale
				TG 52.2 Fire Support Group (Griffin)
					Unit 1
						BB New Mexico BB Pennsylvania
						Cruiser Division 6 (Griffin)
							CA Minneapolis CA San Francisco
						DD Dewey DD Hull
					Unit 2
						BB Idaho BB Mississippi CA New Orleans CA Baltimore DD Maury DD Gridley
					Unit 3
						DD Phelps DD Macdonough
				TG 52.3 Air Support Group (Mullinnix)
					CVE Liscombe Bay			Sunk
						16 FM-1 Wildcat 12 TBM-1 Avenger
					CVE Coral Sea
						16 FM-1 Wildcat 12 TBM-1 Avenger
					CVE Corregidor
						16 FM-1 Wildcat 12 TBM-1 Avenger
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Morris DD Hoel DD Franks DD Hughes AM Revenge
				TG 54.4 Makin LST Group 1
					DD Dale 3 LSTs, each carrying an LCT.
			TF 53 Southern Attack Force (Hill)
				TG 53.1 Transport Group				Carrying reinforced 2 Marine Division (Smith)
					Transport Division 4
						APA Zeilin APA Harry Lee APA William P. Biddle APA Arthur Middleton APA Heywood
					Transport Division 6
						APA Harris APA J. Franklin Bell APA Ormsby APA Feland
					Transport Division 18
						APA Monrovia APA Doyen APA Sheridan AKA Thuban AKA Bellatrix AKA Virgo LSD Ashland AP La Salle
						Destroyer Screen
							DD John Rodgers DD Sigsbee DD Heermann DD Hazelwood DD Harrison DD McKee DD Murray
				TG 53.2 Minesweeper Group
					AM Requisite AM Pursuit
				TG 53.4 Fire Support Group (Kingman)
					Section 1
						BB Tennessee CL Mobile
						Destroyer Division 27
							DD Bailey DD Frazier
					Section 2 (DuBose)
						BB Maryland CL Santa Fe DD Gansevoort DD Meade
					Section 3
						BB Colorado CA Portland DD Anderson DD Russell
					Section 4
						DD Ringgold DD Dashiell
					Section 5
						CA Indianapolis DD Schroeder
				TG 53.6 Air Support Group (Ragsdale)
					CVE Sangamon
						9 TBF-1 Avenger 9 SBD-5 Dauntless 12 F6F-3 Hellcat
					CVE Suwannee
						9 TBF-1 Avenger 9 SBD-5 Dauntless 12 F6F-3 Hellcat
					CVE Chenango
						9 TBF-1 Avenger 9 SBD-5 Dauntless 12 F6F-3 Hellcat
					CVE Barnes
						22 F6F-3 Hellcat
					CVE Nassau
						22 F6F-3 Hellcat
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Aylwin DD Monaghan DD Cotten DD Cowell
				TG 54.5 Tarawa LST Group 1
					DD Bancroft 3 LSTs, each carrying an LCT.
			TF 50 Carrier Force (Pownall)
				TG 50.1 Carrier Interceptor Group (Pownall)
					CV Yorktown
						VF-5: 37 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-5: 36 SBD-5 Dauntless VT-5: 18 TBF-1 Avenger
					CV Lexington
						VF-16: 37 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-16: 36 SBD-5 Dauntless VT-16: 18 TBF-1 Avenger
					CVL Cowpens
						VF-25: 24 F6F-3 Hellcat VF-6: 12 F6F-3 Hellcat VC-25: 10 TBF-1 Avenger
					Battleship Division 6 (Hanson)
						BB South Dakota BB Washington
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Nicholas DD Taylor DD La Vallette DD Izard DD Charrette DD Conner
				TG 50.2 Northern Carrier Group (Radford)
					CV Enterprise
						VF-2: 36 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-6: 36 SBD-5 Dauntless VT-6: 19 TBF-1 Avenger
					CVL Belleau Wood
						VF-24: 26 F6F-3 Hellcat VF-6: 12 F6F-3 Hellcat VC-22B: 9 TBF-1 Avenger
					CVL Monterey
						VF-30: 24 F6F-3 Hellcat VC-30: 9 TBF-1 Avenger
					Battleship Division 6 (Davis)
						BB Massachusetts BB North Carolina BB Indiana
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Boyd DD Bradford DD Brown DD Fletcher DD Radford DD Jenkins
				TG 50.3 Southern Carrier Group (Montgomery)
					CV Essex
						VF-9: 37 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-9: 36 SBD-5 Dauntless VT-9: 18 TBF-1 Avenger
					CV Bunker Hill
						VF-18: 36 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-17: 32 SB2C-1 Helldiver
					CVL Independence
						VF-22: 16 F6F-3 Hellcat VF-6: 12 F6F-3 Hellcat VC-22: 9 TBF-1 Avenger
					Cruiser Division 5 (Small)
						CA Chester CA Pensacola CA Salt Lake City CL Oakland
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Erben DD Hale
						Destroyer Division 96
							DD Bullard DD Kidd DD Chauncey
				TG 50.4 Relief Carrier Group (Sherman)
					CV Saratoga
						VF-12: 37 F6F-3 Hellcat VB-12: 24 SBD-5 Dauntless VT-12: 19 TBF-1 Avenger
					CVL Princeton
						VF-23: 24 F6F-3 Hellcat VT-23: 9 TBF-1 Avenger
					Cruiser Division 2 (Wiltse)
						CL San Diego CL San Juan
					Destroyer Screen
						DD Stack DD Sterett DD Wilson DD Edwards
			TF 57 Defense Forces and Land-Based Air (Hoover)
				AV Curtiss AVP Mackinac AVP Swan
				TG 57.2 Striking Group (Hale)
					90 B-24 Liberator
				TG 57.3 Search and Reconnaissance Group
					VP-53: 12 PBY-5A Catalina VP-72: 12 PBY-5 Catalina VB-108: 12 PB4Y Liberator VB-137: 12 PV-1 Ventura VB-142: 12 PV-1 Ventura VP-3: 6 F-7 Liberator
				TG 57.4 Ellice Islands Defense and Utility Group (Merritt)
					4 Marine Base Air Defense Wing
						90 fighters 72 scout bombers
					Inshore Patrol Squadrons 51, 65, 66
						24 observation aircraft
					Air Transport Squadron 353
						12 transport aircraft
	Service Groups (Calhoun)
		Service Squadron 8
			AO Schuylkill AO Suamico AO Neches AO Neshanic AO Platte AO Tallulah AO Neosho AO Cimarron AO Tappahannock AO Pecos AO Sabine AO Guadalupe AO Lackawanna
			Escort Division 26
				DE Wintle DE Cabana DE Dempsey DE Duffy
			Escort Division 28
				DE Greiner DE Stadtfeld DE Dionne
			AH Relief AH Solace
		Mobile Service Squadron 4
			AD Cascade AO Sepulga AR Vestal ARB Phaon AGS Sumner ARS Clamp ATF Ontario ATO Kingfisher ATF Arapaho ATF Tawasa AN Elder 2 yard tugs 2 yard minesweepers 5 subchasers 2 coastal transports
	Patrol Submarines (Lockwood)
		Truk Patrol
			SS Thresher
			SS Corvina					Sunk
			SS Apogon
		Oroluk Patrol
			SS Sculpin SS Searaven					Sunk
		Kwajalein Patrol
			SS Seal
		Jaluit Patrol
			SS Spearfish
		Wotje-Mili Patrol						Lifeguarding
			SS Plunger
		Nauru Patrol						Weather station
			SS Paddle
		Tarawa Patrol						Abemama occupation force embarked
			SS Nautilus
	Garrison Groups
		TG 54.6 Makin LST Group 3
			DD Caldwell 5 LSTs carrying 2 LCTs.
		TG 54.8 Makin Garrison Group						Carrying 7 Garrison Force
			DE Whitman DE Wileman 4 merchant transports
		TG 54.7 Tarawa LST Group
			DD Coghlan 9 LSTs carrying 2 LCTs.
		TG 54.9 Tarawa Garrison Group
			DE Lehardy DE William C. Miller AP President Polk AK Jupiter 2 merchant transports
		TG 54.10 Abemama Garrison Group 1
			DE Charles R. Greer DE Harold C. Thomas AP President Monroe 3 merchant transports
		TG 54.11 Abemama Garrison Group 2
			DE Burden R. Hastings 4 LSTs carrying 3 LCTs. 1 merchant transport

References
Morison (1951)

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