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Battle Of Tarawa Essay

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The Battle of Tarawa in 1943 marked the first time that the US faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Over the course of four days, the 2nd Marine Division lost over 3,000 men to the heavily defended coastlines of Tarawa Atoll. Even though the Battle resulted in an American victory, it caused Naval and Marine Corps leaders to reevaluate traditional amphibious assault doctrine. While the principles of simplicity and offensive were followed, the principles of surprise and maneuver were not, which resulted in the mass casualties and lessons learned at Tarawa. In 1943, the United States began its main offensive against the Japanese. Guadalcanal had been taken from Japan with relatively few losses, and Admiral Nimitz was …show more content…

Due to a neap tide, the water level had fallen below four feet, which was the draft of a Higgins boat. As a result, the incoming Marines became stuck on the reef, forcing them to wade 500 to 1,000 ashore under heavy Japanese fire. With the Higgins boats stuck on the reef, only the Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) “Alligators”, made it ashore. Within ten minutes, the LVT’s had landed over 1,500 Marines, who were now facing very heavy fire from the Japanese defenders. Over the course of the day, the Marines worked toward clearing the first line of Japanese defenses, destroying bunkers and communication lines all while facing fire from machine guns and enemy snipers. With the beachhead secure, the US managed to land some more Marines and 14 M4-A2 Sherman medium tanks. That night, the Japanese continued firing on the American positions, but did not launch a counterattack. However, many Japanese did sneak through the Marine’s lines and hid in the wrecked LVT’s, waiting in ambush for the next day. Altogether, 5,000 Marines had landed in the first day, 1,500 of which were casualties. The second day, the United States continued its assault of Tarawa Atoll. Facing stiff resistance from machine gun nests and pillboxes, the Marines called in airstrikes and naval bombardment, causing the Japanese to slowly lose ground. With supporting fire, the Marines were able to push forward with relatively few losses. By the end of the first day,

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