Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands comprise two chains of atolls extending from southeast to northwest.  They lie 2200 miles southwest of Hawaii and contained the easternmost Japanese bases in 1941.  As a result, Kimmel’s attention was riveted on this island group as war approached, rather than to the north, from which the Pearl Harbor attack would come.

The Marshalls include numerous excellent anchorages, but an astonishingly small land area totaling just 70 square miles.  However, this was enough for a handful of airfields.  Japan had seized the Marshalls from Germany during the First World War, and retained control after the war under a League of Nations mandate that forbade any military fortification.  When Japan withdrew from the League, she retained control of the islands and refused to allow foreigners to visit the area.  This led to rumors that the islands had been heavily fortified, but in fact nothing but airfields and seaplane ramps had been constructed prior to December 1941.

American carrier forces struck at the Marshalls on 1 February 1942 but inflicted only moderate damage.  However, the raid provided valuable combat experience to the American air groups and badly shocked the Japanese, who nevertheless declined to redeploy any significant forces from their Southeast Asia offensive.

The administrative center of the Marshalls was at Kwajalein, but there were also significant facilities at Maloelap, Wotje, and Jaluit. When the time came for the U.S. Navy’s central Pacific offensive, Nimitz disregarded the almost unanimous recommendation of his staff and struck directly at Kwajalein.  This turned out to be a brilliant move, one of the finest examples of “hitting ‘em where they ain’t” in the war.  The Japanese were expecting an attack on one of the outer atolls first and were caught by surprise.  U.S. air power from Kwajalein was able to isolate the Japanese garrisons on the other atolls, leaving them to starve.  These garrisons did not surrender until ordered to by the Emperor in August of 1945.

Allied order of battle, Operation FLINTLOCK

References

Miller (1991)

Morison (1948, 1951)

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