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Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (硫黄島の戦い, Iōtō no Tatakai, Iōjima no Tatakai; 19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.
The Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of tunnels. American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery, and enjoyed complete air supremacy provided by USN and Marine Corps aviators throughout. The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.
Unique among Pacific War battles involving amphibious island landings, total American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese, with a ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some only captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. Most Japanese were killed in action, but it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within various cave systems on the island after most major fighting ended, until they eventually succumbed to their injuries or surrendered weeks later.
The invasion of Iwo Jima was controversial, with retired Chief of Naval Operations William V. Pratt stating that the island was useless to the Army as a staging base and useless to the Navy as a fleet base. The Japanese continued to maintain early-warning radar capabilities on the island of Rota, which was never invaded by American forces. Experiences with previous Pacific island battles suggested that the island would be well-defended and that seizing it would result in significant casualties. Lessons learned on Iwo Jima served as guidelines for American forces in the Battle of Okinawa two months later and the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland.
Joe Rosenthal's Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag at the summit of the 169 m (554 ft) Mount Suribachi by six Marines became a famous image of the battle and the American war in the Pacific.
After the American capture of the Marshall Islands and the air attacks against the Japanese fortress island of Truk Atoll in the Carolines in January 1944, Japanese military leaders reevaluated their strategic position. All indications pointed to an American drive toward the Mariana Islands and the Carolines.[citation needed] To counter such an offensive, the IJA and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established an inner line of defenses extending generally northward from the Carolines to the Marianas, from there to Japan via the Volcano Islands, and westward from the Marianas via the Carolines and the Palau Islands to the Philippines.[citation needed]
In March 1944, the Japanese 31st Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was activated to garrison this inner line. (Note that an army-sized unit in Imperial Japanese military doctrine was about the size of an American, British Army, or Canadian Army corps.)
The commander of the Japanese garrison on Chichi Jima was placed nominally in command of IJA and IJN units in the Volcano Islands. After the American conquest of the Marianas, daily bomber raids from the Marianas began to strike mainland Japan in Operation Scavenger. Iwo Jima served as an early warning station that radioed reports of incoming bombers back to the home islands, allowing Japanese air defenses to prepare for the arrival of American bombers.
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (硫黄島の戦い, Iōtō no Tatakai, Iōjima no Tatakai; 19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.
The Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of tunnels. American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery, and enjoyed complete air supremacy provided by USN and Marine Corps aviators throughout. The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.
Unique among Pacific War battles involving amphibious island landings, total American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese, with a ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some only captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. Most Japanese were killed in action, but it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within various cave systems on the island after most major fighting ended, until they eventually succumbed to their injuries or surrendered weeks later.
The invasion of Iwo Jima was controversial, with retired Chief of Naval Operations William V. Pratt stating that the island was useless to the Army as a staging base and useless to the Navy as a fleet base. The Japanese continued to maintain early-warning radar capabilities on the island of Rota, which was never invaded by American forces. Experiences with previous Pacific island battles suggested that the island would be well-defended and that seizing it would result in significant casualties. Lessons learned on Iwo Jima served as guidelines for American forces in the Battle of Okinawa two months later and the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland.
Joe Rosenthal's Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag at the summit of the 169 m (554 ft) Mount Suribachi by six Marines became a famous image of the battle and the American war in the Pacific.
After the American capture of the Marshall Islands and the air attacks against the Japanese fortress island of Truk Atoll in the Carolines in January 1944, Japanese military leaders reevaluated their strategic position. All indications pointed to an American drive toward the Mariana Islands and the Carolines.[citation needed] To counter such an offensive, the IJA and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established an inner line of defenses extending generally northward from the Carolines to the Marianas, from there to Japan via the Volcano Islands, and westward from the Marianas via the Carolines and the Palau Islands to the Philippines.[citation needed]
In March 1944, the Japanese 31st Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was activated to garrison this inner line. (Note that an army-sized unit in Imperial Japanese military doctrine was about the size of an American, British Army, or Canadian Army corps.)
The commander of the Japanese garrison on Chichi Jima was placed nominally in command of IJA and IJN units in the Volcano Islands. After the American conquest of the Marianas, daily bomber raids from the Marianas began to strike mainland Japan in Operation Scavenger. Iwo Jima served as an early warning station that radioed reports of incoming bombers back to the home islands, allowing Japanese air defenses to prepare for the arrival of American bombers.