The Palaus are located at west end of
the Caroline
Islands
and some 470 miles (540 km) east of the Philippines.
They were discovered by Europeans in 1543 and went successively through
Spanish and German hands before
coming under Japanese control
following the First World War.
There are several large islands in the group, of which the largest
is
Babelthuap.
There was a large phosphate
deposit on Angaur
(producing about 110,000 tons per year during the war) and bauxite
deposits throughout the
group (producing about 94,000 tons per year). The Japanese
had built
an airbase at Peleliu
and
improved the anchorage at Kossol
Roads by the
time war broke out. The anchorage served as the mustering
point for 4
Surprise Attack Force and as a submarine
base.
In 1941, there were
about 30,000 Japanese
civilians here, most of
whom emigrated during the 1920s and 1930s. There
were also
about 5,000 Melanesians,
whose lot had improved sufficiently under the
Japanese
that they were fairly loyal to the Emperor
Hirohito. Most lived on Angaur.
The initial garrison of some 5000 naval troops was
reinforced by 14 Division (Inoue) in May 1944.
During the HAILSTONE raids of 17-18 February 1944, the
main Japanese fleet was forced out of Truk
and retreated to Palau. Because of the proximity of the islands to Hollandia, New Guinea, Pacific Fleet
launched a second series of raids on 30 March-1 April 1944 to cover MacArthur's invasion of Hollandia.
Three carrier groups
sortied from Majuro on 22 March
1943, along with two support
groups, and sailed on a roundabout course south of Truk. However, the Americans failed to avoid
detection, being sighted by a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft
on 25 March. Spruance
responded by hastening the attack timetable, ordering his destroyers to refuel from the
support group on 28 March and racing in to attack Kossol Roads two days
ealier than planned. This was not enough: Forewarned, the Japanese
fleet was again able to
make
good its escape. The Americans did sink a number of merchant ships,
and Musashi
was torpedoed and lightly damaged by Tunny. The operation was
marked by the first use of aerial mines
by carrier aircraft,
78 of which were laid by a specially trained squadron of Avengers and succeeded in
trapping over thirty merchant ships in the anchorage.
Subsidiary strikes were directed at Yap and Woleai
during this raid.
The islands of Peleliu and Angaur and the anchorage at
Kossol Roads were invaded by the Allies
in September 1944 at
great cost in life. The
remainder of the Palaus were bypassed.
Climate Information:
Temperatures: Jan 80, Apr 81, Jul 81, Oct 81
Rainfall: Jan 23/11.7, Apr 21/10.4, Jul 26/15.2, Oct 22/13.1 == 135.6" per annum
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
