Plans for Offensive Against Japanese

In planning for this eventuality, crease bases in the Marianas were essential in order to accommodate the in the raw B-29 Superfortress, a U.S. bomber that was just originatening to be fabricate in early 1944 and which had a flying range compeer to the distance from Saipan, Tinian and Guam to Japan and back. The B-29's normal range was 2,850 miles at 358 m.p.h. with a 20,000 ton carrying capacity at 32,000 feet. The capture of the island of Saipan thus became crucial in the preparations for this massive invasion.

The assault on Saipan began on June 15,1944, approximately a week after the invasion of Europe. An armada of 535 ships carrying 127,570 U. S. military personnel (two-thirds of whom were Marines of the 2nd and 4th Divisions) converged on the island. The ships of the invasion force carried 40,000 opposite items to support the assault - everything from toilet paper to government-issue coffins. A star supply ship carried enough food to feed 90,000 armament for one month. Navy tankers transported the gigantic quantity of petroleum products necessary to support the invasion. Aircraft alone consumed over 8 one thousand thousand gallons of melodic phrase fuel during the battle, while the aircraft carriers burned more than 4 million barrels of fuel.

Seven American battleships and 11 destroyers shelled Saipan and Tinian for 2 age before the landings, firing 15,000 16-inch and 5-inch shells at the isl

The ratio of battle dead was 9.5:1 during the 24 days of fighting. Place names given the rugged Saipan terrain such as Death Valley, Purple Heart Ridge and Harakiri gulch testified to the bitter fighting. One of the most lamentable events of the battle for Saipan baffling the mass suicide of hundreds of families, many of whom jumped to their deaths from the high cliffs at the island's northmost point. This tragic event could not be stopped, despite efforts by Americans and indigenous Saipanese using loudspeakers to try to convince the Japanese that grant would be shameless and harmless.

The main invasion force get along 4 miles of beach at Chalan Kanoa. Twenty-eight U. S. tanks were destroy the origin day alone.

The Japanese positioned colored flags in the lagoon to mark the range of the landing force and to register their howitzers on the invaders from locations behind Mount Fina Susu, and their shell fire rained down on the advancing American force every 15 seconds in a deadly cauldron of exploding steel. By nightfall of the first day, the Second Marine Division had sustained 2,000 casualties. The fighting go along until July 9th, when organized resistance on Saipan ceased. When the fighting ended, American losses on Saipan were double those suffered on Guadalcanal. Of the 71,034 U. S. troops landed on Saipan, 3,100 were killed, 13,100 wounded or missing in action. Out of the 31,629 Japanese on Saipan, approximately 29,500 died as a result of the fighting, and wholly 2,100 prisoners survived. Fighting between the Japanese and the Americans was by no mode completely mechanized; while ships, aircraft, artillery, and tanks inflicted the largest amount of damage to the combatants, a great deal of the fighting was hand-to-hand. Besides machine guns, flak throwers, rifles, and pistols, deadly skirmishes were fought with bayonets, swords, bamboo spears, clubs, stones and fists.

ands along with 165,000 other shells of other caliber. To even begin to com
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