Posted on Feb 1, 2018
SELECTED SCENES FROM RAID ON THE GILBERT AND THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
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The Marshalls-Gilberts Raids of 1942: America’s Pearl Harbor Payback
American President Franklin Roosevelt spoke words that would last for decades, for centuries when he decreed that December 7, 1941 would forever be a day that lived in infamy. On that sleepy early morning, the United States found its military planes, ships, soldiers, sailors and airmen under attack from Japanese forces – forces that struck from the air, the sea, and seemingly every possible direction.
Caught completely unaware, the U.S. military scrambled to save its outpost at Peal Harbor, but the damage left in Japan’s wake was great. Although the U.S. regrouped and developed its most powerful weapon, the atomic bomb, to defeat Japan in the years that followed, those bombings were not the only attacks conducted in the name of retaliation by American forces.
On February 1, 1942, the United States launched its very first act of retaliation against the nation of Japan for the surprise attacks committed at Pearl Harbor: The Marshalls-Gilberts raids. A series of tactical air and naval attacks conducted in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, these strikes were planned and carried out against the Imperial Japanese Navy. An effort that was undertaken in the hopes of causing damage like that of the Pearl Harbor attacks on this newest enemy.
Though the Japanese inflicted great destruction upon the American Navy resting quietly along the shores of Oahu, the U.S. intended to reinstate its powerful position as a world leader by striking Japan in multiple aircraft carrier attacks.
The Attacks Begin
At the time of the raids, the Japanese kept both naval and air forces in the Marshall and Gilberts Islands, commanded by Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue and Rear Admiral Eiji Goto. Under the command of Vice Admiral William Halsey, Jr., the United States warships carried out two separate raids, each one led by a separate carrier-designated task force.
The aerial attacks, charged to Task Force 17 and led by the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, launched its attack from the deck of the aircraft carrier the USS Yorktown. These airmen aimed their attack upon the small islands of Jaluit, Mili, and Makin (later known as Butaritari). As the airmen flew above these Japanese-held locales, launched from the deck of the Yorktown, rained damage down upon the enemy’s naval posts – by the raid’s end, three Japanese aircraft were destroyed.
However, the U.S. itself felt the impact of the raid, as three planes and a floatplane were shot down by the Japanese. The military effort was considered a moderate success; no great damage was caused, and no irreparable harm was inflicted upon the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The second of the two raids was conducted by aircraft of Task Force 8, which was directly under the command of Vice Admiral Halsey himself. Taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, these American forces carried out air attacks on the islands of Kwajalein, Wotje, and Taroa – and shared results similar to the first raid performed by Task Force 17.
Both cruisers and destroyers fired on the islands, the bombing raids and shelling of three of the Japanese naval garrisons sank three warships, damaged others, and destroyed 15 enemy aircraft.
Unfortunately, in a manner similar to that of the first raid, the U.S. forces were not lucky enough to escape damage. In response to the American attack, the Imperial Japanese Navy hit and damaged the USS Chester with the use of an aerial bomb. Additionally, six planes that took off from the Enterprise were shot down when Japanese fighters took off to fend off the U.S. raiders. Upon completing their assigned tasks, the U.S. Task Forces 8 and 17 immediately left the Marshalls-Gilberts Islands, leaving the Japanese to recover.
More Battles Followed
Although it appears at first glance that the U.S. made little military advancements in its first strike against Japan after Pearl Harbor, history does not decree that America and its forces failed. According to Admiral Chester Nimitz, who accompanied the efforts of the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids in early 1942, the attacks were executed exactly as planned.
Though these raids held little long-term impact, and left the Japanese only slightly worse off than before the raids, the United States considered its efforts both planned and carried out as hoped. Because, as Admiral Nimitz remarked, it was anticipated that the U.S. forces would have to make almost blind attacks on the Japanese forces at Marshalls-Gilberts Islands due to limited intelligence data.
While the Americans quickly retreated and pulled their forces from the Japanese-occupied area, this military maneuver was planned well ahead of time. The U.S. did not retreat because it did not leave the damage anticipated in its wake, nor because it failed to inflict the same destruction as the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor.
Instead, the two island raids struck Japan with great surprise – after Japan planned its total decimation of American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, the enemy nation did not think the U.S. would be able to regroup and reorganize so quickly after those December attacks. So, when Japan’s leaders discovered there was one flaw in their attack – all of the U.S. aircraft carriers were out at sea, not waiting in Oahu during the events of Pearl Harbor – they forgot just the impact of the American Navy.
Japanese leaders presumptively assumed that the U.S. would retreat inward, seeking to defend its precious and few remaining naval resources for many months.
Instead of assuming a defensive stance, the United States rose from the midst of Japan’s havoc. While the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids did not gain any territory, any political advancements, nor any significant destruction against Japan’s navy, it did increase the morale at home among Americans.
The public itself felt proud and restored, believing its military and government was capable of fighting back against Japan soon after Pearl Harbor’s horrors. Attacking even this small of a Japanese outpost gave U.S. military forces crucial experience combating the enemy nation and its air tactics – and taught the Japanese just how weak their defenses in this island area were.
It was the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids that showed the Imperial Japanese Navy, and Japan itself, just how quickly the Americans could rebound despite the devastation caused on December 7th.
However, it was the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids that also brought the Japanese and U.S. into battle again in future days; those quick and sudden small attacks led to the crucial Battle of Midway only a few months later.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor.html
http://www.pacificwar.org.au/Yorktown/Marshall_Gilbert.html
http://www.cv6.org/1942/marshalls/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshalls%E2%80%93Gilberts_raids
Additional video footage :
https://youtu.be/_GyId2PILY0
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc wayne LTC Wayne Brandon @ ltc frank LTC (Join to see) @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ Capt tom Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ sra christopher SrA Christopher B. @ msg andrew MSG Andrew White SSG Robert Webster SSG David Andrews @ sgt randy Sgt Randy Wilber @ sgt david SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski @ cpl dave CPL Dave Hoover PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 Tony Holland Alan K.
American President Franklin Roosevelt spoke words that would last for decades, for centuries when he decreed that December 7, 1941 would forever be a day that lived in infamy. On that sleepy early morning, the United States found its military planes, ships, soldiers, sailors and airmen under attack from Japanese forces – forces that struck from the air, the sea, and seemingly every possible direction.
Caught completely unaware, the U.S. military scrambled to save its outpost at Peal Harbor, but the damage left in Japan’s wake was great. Although the U.S. regrouped and developed its most powerful weapon, the atomic bomb, to defeat Japan in the years that followed, those bombings were not the only attacks conducted in the name of retaliation by American forces.
On February 1, 1942, the United States launched its very first act of retaliation against the nation of Japan for the surprise attacks committed at Pearl Harbor: The Marshalls-Gilberts raids. A series of tactical air and naval attacks conducted in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, these strikes were planned and carried out against the Imperial Japanese Navy. An effort that was undertaken in the hopes of causing damage like that of the Pearl Harbor attacks on this newest enemy.
Though the Japanese inflicted great destruction upon the American Navy resting quietly along the shores of Oahu, the U.S. intended to reinstate its powerful position as a world leader by striking Japan in multiple aircraft carrier attacks.
The Attacks Begin
At the time of the raids, the Japanese kept both naval and air forces in the Marshall and Gilberts Islands, commanded by Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue and Rear Admiral Eiji Goto. Under the command of Vice Admiral William Halsey, Jr., the United States warships carried out two separate raids, each one led by a separate carrier-designated task force.
The aerial attacks, charged to Task Force 17 and led by the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, launched its attack from the deck of the aircraft carrier the USS Yorktown. These airmen aimed their attack upon the small islands of Jaluit, Mili, and Makin (later known as Butaritari). As the airmen flew above these Japanese-held locales, launched from the deck of the Yorktown, rained damage down upon the enemy’s naval posts – by the raid’s end, three Japanese aircraft were destroyed.
However, the U.S. itself felt the impact of the raid, as three planes and a floatplane were shot down by the Japanese. The military effort was considered a moderate success; no great damage was caused, and no irreparable harm was inflicted upon the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The second of the two raids was conducted by aircraft of Task Force 8, which was directly under the command of Vice Admiral Halsey himself. Taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, these American forces carried out air attacks on the islands of Kwajalein, Wotje, and Taroa – and shared results similar to the first raid performed by Task Force 17.
Both cruisers and destroyers fired on the islands, the bombing raids and shelling of three of the Japanese naval garrisons sank three warships, damaged others, and destroyed 15 enemy aircraft.
Unfortunately, in a manner similar to that of the first raid, the U.S. forces were not lucky enough to escape damage. In response to the American attack, the Imperial Japanese Navy hit and damaged the USS Chester with the use of an aerial bomb. Additionally, six planes that took off from the Enterprise were shot down when Japanese fighters took off to fend off the U.S. raiders. Upon completing their assigned tasks, the U.S. Task Forces 8 and 17 immediately left the Marshalls-Gilberts Islands, leaving the Japanese to recover.
More Battles Followed
Although it appears at first glance that the U.S. made little military advancements in its first strike against Japan after Pearl Harbor, history does not decree that America and its forces failed. According to Admiral Chester Nimitz, who accompanied the efforts of the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids in early 1942, the attacks were executed exactly as planned.
Though these raids held little long-term impact, and left the Japanese only slightly worse off than before the raids, the United States considered its efforts both planned and carried out as hoped. Because, as Admiral Nimitz remarked, it was anticipated that the U.S. forces would have to make almost blind attacks on the Japanese forces at Marshalls-Gilberts Islands due to limited intelligence data.
While the Americans quickly retreated and pulled their forces from the Japanese-occupied area, this military maneuver was planned well ahead of time. The U.S. did not retreat because it did not leave the damage anticipated in its wake, nor because it failed to inflict the same destruction as the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor.
Instead, the two island raids struck Japan with great surprise – after Japan planned its total decimation of American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, the enemy nation did not think the U.S. would be able to regroup and reorganize so quickly after those December attacks. So, when Japan’s leaders discovered there was one flaw in their attack – all of the U.S. aircraft carriers were out at sea, not waiting in Oahu during the events of Pearl Harbor – they forgot just the impact of the American Navy.
Japanese leaders presumptively assumed that the U.S. would retreat inward, seeking to defend its precious and few remaining naval resources for many months.
Instead of assuming a defensive stance, the United States rose from the midst of Japan’s havoc. While the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids did not gain any territory, any political advancements, nor any significant destruction against Japan’s navy, it did increase the morale at home among Americans.
The public itself felt proud and restored, believing its military and government was capable of fighting back against Japan soon after Pearl Harbor’s horrors. Attacking even this small of a Japanese outpost gave U.S. military forces crucial experience combating the enemy nation and its air tactics – and taught the Japanese just how weak their defenses in this island area were.
It was the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids that showed the Imperial Japanese Navy, and Japan itself, just how quickly the Americans could rebound despite the devastation caused on December 7th.
However, it was the Marshalls-Gilberts Raids that also brought the Japanese and U.S. into battle again in future days; those quick and sudden small attacks led to the crucial Battle of Midway only a few months later.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor.html
http://www.pacificwar.org.au/Yorktown/Marshall_Gilbert.html
http://www.cv6.org/1942/marshalls/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshalls%E2%80%93Gilberts_raids
Additional video footage :
https://youtu.be/_GyId2PILY0
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs @ @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc wayne LTC Wayne Brandon @ ltc frank LTC (Join to see) @ maj william Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ Capt tom Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ sra christopher SrA Christopher B. @ msg andrew MSG Andrew White SSG Robert Webster SSG David Andrews @ sgt randy Sgt Randy Wilber @ sgt david SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski @ cpl dave CPL Dave Hoover PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 Tony Holland Alan K.
Posted in these groups: 
WWII World War Two
Military HistoryNational Archives and Records Administration
World History
Aircraft Carriers
WWII World War Two Military HistoryNational Archives and Records Administration World History Aircraft Carriers
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 9
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We were focused on short term wins which would boost morale in our military forces and among the people of the USA as well as with our allies in 1942 SGT John " Mac " McConnell
All the while we were focusing on ramping up our equipping and training to be able to field a force capable of engaging and defeating the Germans priority] and Japanese [secondary yet critical]
The selecting of targets in early 1942 was risky because the Japanese had domination of the sea lanes and with their carriers much of the air space.
Later that year we engaged the Solomon Island [Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bougainville, etc.]. In November 1943 we moved against the Gilberts [Tarawa [Betio] and Makin atolls]. 31 January-3 February 1944, we assaulted Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Images: 1943-11 Gilbert islands Tarawa and Makin; 1943-11 SBD VB-16 over USS Washington; 1944-01-31 Kwajalein Marshall Islands; 1942- Peak of Japanese expansion
"Many of World War II’s greatest battles were fought at sea, making naval technologies crucial to all sides. Many kinds of ships, such as battleships, submarines, and aircraft carriers, had been used in previous wars, but the global nature of World War II made naval battles especially important. These vessels ranged from heavily armed warships to numerous support craft such as fuel ships and troop landing boats. Of all the ships used in the war, aircraft carriers were the largest.
An aircraft carrier is a ship whose primary purpose is to bring airplanes closer to distant battle areas. Since most World War II aircraft had a range of just a few hundred miles, it was necessary to bring the aircraft to the battlefront, and using a ship to do so made a lot of sense in the Pacific where much of the fighting took place on islands and coastal areas.
The first true aircraft carriers were built by the Japanese in the 1920s. Japan remained an innovator in aircraft carrier design and construction during the years leading to World War II, operating nine of them by 1941. Their largest carriers of the war were the Akagi and Kaga, each capable of launching over 90 aircraft. The Allies, however, also had extremely effective carriers. British ships, such as the Ark Royal and the Eagle, and American ships, such as Yorktown and Enterprise, each carried 100 aircraft or more. The largest aircraft carriers, such as the Enterprise were over 800 feet (245 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide, and carried almost 3,000 crewmembers.
The first aircraft carriers had evolved from ordinary naval ships, which were fitted with landing strips built on their decks. By World War II, however, most aircraft carriers were designed for this purpose from the beginning. Small aircraft were usually stored below the deck and taken to the landing strip on elevators. Because the strip was short, a catapult (usually a piston-type device driven by steam from the ship’s boilers) helped launch the craft into the air. U.S carriers used a hook on the bottom of the plane to catch a wire, strung across the deck, which helped bring the plane to a halt. A central control tower located to the side of the landing strip housed advanced radio communication and radar equipment used to keep in touch with aviators and track both friendly and enemy craft. Although the airplanes carried on these ships were not large enough to sink the larger “capital” ships (such as battleships) at the beginning of the war, rapid improvements in carriers led to their becoming the major offensive naval weapon by 1945.
The effectiveness of large aircraft carriers was demonstrated early in the war, when dozens of Japanese fighters and bombers, launched from aircraft carriers, decimated the U.S Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in late 1941. In May of 1942, aircraft from Japanese and U.S carriers battled at the Coral Sea, the first naval conflict where the opposing ships did not make contact. This battle resulted in the sinking of the Lexington. The Japanese Navy also took heavy losses, most notably at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. There they lost four carriers and hundreds of airplanes—its naval power declined steadily after that. By contrast, ship production in the U.S accelerated dramatically in 1944 and 1945, when dozens of aircraft carriers (and other ships) were completed. Most came too late to make a major difference in the war, and many ships on order were cancelled at the end of the war in mid-1945."
http://ethw.org/Aircraft_Carriers_in_World_War_II
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SGT Robert George SP5 Mark Kuzinski SP5 Robert Ruck SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT (Join to see)
All the while we were focusing on ramping up our equipping and training to be able to field a force capable of engaging and defeating the Germans priority] and Japanese [secondary yet critical]
The selecting of targets in early 1942 was risky because the Japanese had domination of the sea lanes and with their carriers much of the air space.
Later that year we engaged the Solomon Island [Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bougainville, etc.]. In November 1943 we moved against the Gilberts [Tarawa [Betio] and Makin atolls]. 31 January-3 February 1944, we assaulted Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Images: 1943-11 Gilbert islands Tarawa and Makin; 1943-11 SBD VB-16 over USS Washington; 1944-01-31 Kwajalein Marshall Islands; 1942- Peak of Japanese expansion
"Many of World War II’s greatest battles were fought at sea, making naval technologies crucial to all sides. Many kinds of ships, such as battleships, submarines, and aircraft carriers, had been used in previous wars, but the global nature of World War II made naval battles especially important. These vessels ranged from heavily armed warships to numerous support craft such as fuel ships and troop landing boats. Of all the ships used in the war, aircraft carriers were the largest.
An aircraft carrier is a ship whose primary purpose is to bring airplanes closer to distant battle areas. Since most World War II aircraft had a range of just a few hundred miles, it was necessary to bring the aircraft to the battlefront, and using a ship to do so made a lot of sense in the Pacific where much of the fighting took place on islands and coastal areas.
The first true aircraft carriers were built by the Japanese in the 1920s. Japan remained an innovator in aircraft carrier design and construction during the years leading to World War II, operating nine of them by 1941. Their largest carriers of the war were the Akagi and Kaga, each capable of launching over 90 aircraft. The Allies, however, also had extremely effective carriers. British ships, such as the Ark Royal and the Eagle, and American ships, such as Yorktown and Enterprise, each carried 100 aircraft or more. The largest aircraft carriers, such as the Enterprise were over 800 feet (245 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide, and carried almost 3,000 crewmembers.
The first aircraft carriers had evolved from ordinary naval ships, which were fitted with landing strips built on their decks. By World War II, however, most aircraft carriers were designed for this purpose from the beginning. Small aircraft were usually stored below the deck and taken to the landing strip on elevators. Because the strip was short, a catapult (usually a piston-type device driven by steam from the ship’s boilers) helped launch the craft into the air. U.S carriers used a hook on the bottom of the plane to catch a wire, strung across the deck, which helped bring the plane to a halt. A central control tower located to the side of the landing strip housed advanced radio communication and radar equipment used to keep in touch with aviators and track both friendly and enemy craft. Although the airplanes carried on these ships were not large enough to sink the larger “capital” ships (such as battleships) at the beginning of the war, rapid improvements in carriers led to their becoming the major offensive naval weapon by 1945.
The effectiveness of large aircraft carriers was demonstrated early in the war, when dozens of Japanese fighters and bombers, launched from aircraft carriers, decimated the U.S Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in late 1941. In May of 1942, aircraft from Japanese and U.S carriers battled at the Coral Sea, the first naval conflict where the opposing ships did not make contact. This battle resulted in the sinking of the Lexington. The Japanese Navy also took heavy losses, most notably at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. There they lost four carriers and hundreds of airplanes—its naval power declined steadily after that. By contrast, ship production in the U.S accelerated dramatically in 1944 and 1945, when dozens of aircraft carriers (and other ships) were completed. Most came too late to make a major difference in the war, and many ships on order were cancelled at the end of the war in mid-1945."
http://ethw.org/Aircraft_Carriers_in_World_War_II
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SGT Robert George SP5 Mark Kuzinski SP5 Robert Ruck SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT (Join to see)
Aircraft Carriers in World War II - Engineering and Technology History Wiki
Many of World War II’s greatest battles were fought at sea, making naval technologies crucial to all sides. Many kinds of ships, such as battleships, submarines, and aircraft carriers, had been used in previous wars, but the global nature of World War II made naval battles especially important. These vessels ranged from heavily armed warships to numerous support craft such as fuel ships and troop landing boats. Of all the ships used in the...
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These are great historical footage. thanks for the share SGT John McConnell
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