The Conquering Tide

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The Conquering Tide Page 78

by Ian W. Toll


  Japanese G4Ms armed with aerial torpedoes fly through antiaircraft bursts to attack the American fleet off Guadalcanal on August 8, 1942. Note the skilled wave-top approach.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, in late August 1942. This aerial view looks northwest, with the Lunga River and Ironbottom Sound in the background. Bomb and shell craters pockmark the entire area.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Wreckage of a SBD scout bomber on Guadalcanal, still afire after being destroyed on the ground by a Japanese air attack.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 24, 1942. This photograph, taken from the island veranda of the Enterprise (CV-6), recorded the third of three bombs to strike the carrier in a huge Japanese dive-bombing attack.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  South Pacific command conference on USS Argonne at Noumea, New Caledonia, on September 28, 1942. From left to right: Major General Richard K. Sutherland, chief of staff to General MacArthur; Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, CINCPAC; Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, COMSOPAC; and Major General Millard F. Harmon, USAAF.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Battle of Tassafaronga, November 30, 1942. A wounded man is evacuated from the torpedostricken cruiser Minneapolis, flagship of Rear Admiral Carleton H. Wright.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  U.S. amphibious troops transfer into landing craft for the landing at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, November 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  An LST transports troops of the 1st Marine Division to a landing on Cape Gloucester, the western extremity of New Britain, in December 1943. Note the wealth of supplies and munitions loaded into trucks and jeeps on deck.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Marines encounter rough surf as they wade ashore unopposed at Cape Gloucester on December 26, 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  The Gato-class submarine Wahoo (SS-238) is launched at Mare Island, California, February 1942.

  Courtesy of Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.

  The newly commissioned Wahoo gets underway in the Napa River, July 1942.

  Courtesy of Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.

  Richard O’Kane, executive officer, and Dudley “Mush” Morton, captain of the Wahoo.

  Courtesy of Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.

  The Japanese destroyer Harusame struck by an audacious “down the throat” torpedo shot in Wewak Harbor, northern New Guinea. Photograph taken through the periscope of the Wahoo, January 24, 1943.

  Courtesy of Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.

  Preliminary design plan for the Essex-class aircraft carriers.

  U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

  USS Essex (CV-9), underway in May 1943. She was the first in a new class of powerful fleet carriers that would spearhead the advance into the western Pacific. A squadron of SBD scout bombers (lacking folding wings) are parked aft on the flight deck. Amidships, with wings folded, are F6F Hellcat fighters and TBF torpedo planes.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Marines advance across a devastated landscape on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, November 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Hangar deck of the Yorktown (CV-10), circa October–December 1943. Ordnancemen are working on bombs among several parked F6F Hellcats. In the background, a movie is being screened for their shipmates.

  U.S. National Archives.

  A Hellcat prepares to launch from the Yorktown during Operation GALVANIC, November 1943.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  A Hellcat crash-lands on the Enterprise during Operation GALVANIC, November 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Combat Information Center (CIC) of the Lexington (CV-16) during a carrier raid on Japanese bases in the central Pacific, November 1943.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  Lexington Hellcat pilots (VF-16) are briefed by the squadron’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Paul D. Buie, during Operation GALVANIC, November 1943.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  VF-16 pilots exult after massacring a formation of enemy planes headed for Tarawa, November 23, 1943. Fourth from right is Lieutenant (jg) Ralph Hanks, who has just become an “ace in a day” by shooting down five Zeros in one flight.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Crewmen catch up on their sleep during a lull in the action. Photo taken on the flight deck of the Lexington during Operation GALVANIC, November 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  A wounded aviator is lifted from his aircraft after returning to the Saratoga (CV-3) from a raid on Rabaul, November 1943.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Soldiers of the army’s 7th Infantry Division attack a Japanese blockhouse on Kwajalein Island, February 4, 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance (center) and Admiral Nimitz (right) tour Kwajalein on February 5, 1944. They are accompanied by a brigadier general (left).

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  “The thousand-yard stare.” A combat-weary marine is hoisted aboard a transport in Eniwetok Lagoon in the Marshall Islands.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Troops of the 163rd Infantry Regiment storm the beach on Wadke Island, Dutch New Guinea.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Commander Task Force 58, with his chief of staff, Commodore Arleigh A. Burke. Photo taken in spring 1945.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  A basketball game in the forward elevator well of the USS Monterey (CVL-26). The jumper on the left is Lieutenant Gerald R. Ford, an athletics officer and future president of the United States. Circa June–July 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19, 1944. A Hellcat recovers aboard the Lexington.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  A Curtiss SB2C Helldiver enters the Yorktown’s landing pattern, circa June–July 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Army reinforcements wade ashore on Saipan, June or July 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  A marine discovers a Japanese family hiding in a cave on Saipan, June 21, 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  SB2C Helldivers return to the Yorktown after a raid in the Marianas in early July 1944.

  U.S. National Archives.

  Admiral Spruance and Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, USMC, at a flag-raising ceremony at Smith’s headquarters on Saipan, marking the end of organized Japanese resistance on the island, July 10, 1944.

  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

  INDEX

  Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text

  Page numbers in italics refer to maps.

  Abe, Hiroaki, 69, 77

  Abe, Zenji, 450, 482, 483–84

  Adachi, Hatazo, 224

  Adak Island, U.S. airfield on, 227

  Admiralty Islands, 235, 242, 456

  King’s proposed Allied offensive in, 223–24, 232

  Advance Force, Japanese, 69, 77

  African Americans:

  and Espiritu Santo base, 15

  in San Francisco, 247–48

  Afrika Korps, 97

  Agano, 413

  A-Go battle plan, 447, 449, 451, 459

  Aikoku Maru, 407

  Ainsworth, Walden Lee “Pug,” 233

  Air Command Solomons (AIRSOLS), 222–23, 231, 236, 237, 238, 419, 420

  aircraft carriers:

  changing tactics of, 387

  Combat Information Centers in, 369, 371, 387

  conservative deployment of, 373

  CVEs, 301

  Essex-class, 301–2, 313, 328, 428

  in
GALVANIC, 340–42

  Japanese night attacks on, 373

  in Marshall Islands campaign, 373–74

  new methods for resupply of, 387

  strategic role of, 59, 60

  vulnerability of, 59

  see also specific ships and task forces

  Aircraft Central Pacific, 333

  Air Group Five, 330

  Akagi, 9

  Akigumo, 153

  Alabama, 478

  Alameda Naval Air Station, 246

  Alamo Force, 240

  Albacore (submarine), 484–85

  Aleutian Islands:

  air war in, 226–27

  Japanese forces in, 225–31

  Japanese supply convoy for, 228

  submarine warfare in, 227, 229

  Allied conference (August 1943), 436–37

  Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), 218

  Allies:

  Casablanca conference of, 10, 307–11

  Germany-first strategy of, xiii, 10–11, 93, 94, 127–29, 307–8, 310–11

  London conference of, 95

  Quebec conference of, 235

  unconditional Japanese surrender demanded by, 537

  Washington conference of (1942), 95

  Washington conference of (1943), 312

  Amatsukaze, 76, 78

  Amchitka Island, 227

  Americal Division (U.S. Army), 134

  amphibious warfare, 17–18

  interservice rivalries and, 8–9

  marines’ experience in, 17–18, 322

  amtracs (LVTs), 347, 348, 351, 364, 390, 391–92, 400

  in Tarawa assault, 335

  Anderson, George W., 329

  Anderson, USS, 153

  Annapolis, see Naval Academy, U.S.

  antiaircraft fire, radar-directed, 369

  antisubmarine warfare (ASW), Japanese inattention to, 259, 282–83

  Anzai, Hitoshi, 524

  Aoba, 41

  Aola, Guadalcanal, xxiv, xxv, xxvii

  Apamama, 342

  Apra Harbor, 511, 512, 513, 516–17, 518, 519

  Arakawa, Hiroyo, 115

  Arashio, 225

  Arawe, New Britain, 240

  Archibald, Katherine, 248, 249

  Argenlieu, Georges Thierry d,’ 200

  Argonaut, USS, 251

  Argonne, USS, 125, 197, 199

  Ariyama, Sachi, 532

  Arizona, USS, 289, 290, 292

  Army, U.S., 500

  in interservice rivalries, 5–9, 158

  methodical tactics of, 395–96, 499

  see also specific units

  Army Air Forces, U.S. (USAAF), 6–7, 20, 56, 438

  exaggerated claims of, 158

  and Germany-first strategy, 127–28

  Navy rivalry with, 227, 324

  promotions in, 324

  Arnold, Henry “Hap,” 56, 125, 223, 324, 434, 438, 441

  Germany-first strategy backed by, 127–29, 157–58, 159

  King and, 437

  Arnold, Jackson D., 490

  Asahi Shinbun, 527, 529, 535

  Ashford, Bill, 198

  Ashizuri, 453

  Aslito Airfield, 467, 468, 498

  Associated Press, 97

  Astoria, USS, 46, 47–48, 51–52, 53

  Atago, 147

  Atlanta, USS, 155, 162, 165

  Atlantic Ocean, German wolf packs in, 278

  Attu Island, 417

  Japanese forces on, 225–30

  U.S. assault on, 229–30, 444

  Auckland, New Zealand, 12

  Austen, Mount, Guadalcanal, 26, 138, 175

  Australia, xxiii, 13

  distrust of authority in, 215

  MacArthur in, 215–16

  sports as obsession in, 212

  Australia, U.S. servicemen in, 209–10

  in Brisbane riots, 214–15

  strained relations between civilians and, 213–15

  warm welcome given to, 212

  women and, 210–11, 213

  Australia, HMAS, 39, 43

  B-17 Flying Fortresses, 100, 223

  B-24 Liberators, 342

  B-29 Superfortresses, 307

  Backus, Paul, 478, 495

  Badoglio, Pietro, 444

  Bagley, 52

  Bak, Michael, 364

  Baker Island, 342

  Baldwin, Hanson, 97, 98

  Ballale Island, 157, 203, 205

  Ballantine, Robert, 99

  Ballentine, John J., 328, 329

  Baltimore, 410

  banzai charges, 504–6, 510

  Barbey, Daniel E., 239

  Barton, 163

  Bataan Peninsula, Philippines, xxi, 141

  “Bat Team” fighters, 374–76, 463

  battleships, Iowa-class, 386–87

  Beach, Edward L. “Ned,” Jr., 278

  Beaurepaire, Frank, 213

  Beaver, Floyd, 152, 245

  Becker, Adolph E., Jr., 516–17

  Belleau Wood, 301, 405, 463, 478, 494, 495–96

  Benhaum, 169–70

  Betchik, Tony, 141

  Betelgeuse, 53

  Betio Island, 338, 345, 364, 367

  Japanese fortifications on, 320, 321–22, 334, 343, 345–46, 358, 362–63

  Japanese troop strength on, 345

  naval and air bombardment of, 343–44, 346

  rebuilding efforts on, 361

  U.S. landings on, 346, 348–49

  Biak Island, 456, 462

  Japanese determination to hold, 454–55

  Bierer, Bion B., 48

  Bismarck, Battle of the, 225

  Bismarck Archipelago, 11, 235, 242, 418

  Blair, Clay, 278

  Blanchard, J. W., 484

  Blandy, William H. P. “Spike,” 282

  “Bless ’Em All,” 212

  Bloody Ridge, Battle of, 106, 121, 130

  Blue, USS, 43, 45

  Bluefish, USS, 453

  Bluegill, USS, 453

  Board of Information, Japanese, 526, 527, 532

  Bode, Howard D., 43, 46, 57

  Bogese, George, xxviii

  Boise, 135

  BOLERO, Operation, 95, 96

  Bombing Squadron 10, 404

  Bond, Roger, 340, 387

  Bonefish, 453

  Bonin Islands, 449

  Bonis, 235

  Bonnell, Lieutenant, 243

  Book of Five Spheres (Musashi), 188

  Borneo, oil fields on, 282, 285, 416, 448

  Bougainville Island, xvii, 13, 30, 37, 76, 99, 157, 184, 203, 205, 224, 232, 233, 238, 262

  Buka Airfield on, 62

  coastwatchers in, 157

  Japanese troops on, xxv, 235

  U.S. landings on, 236, 340

  Bougainville Strait, 263

  Boulier, Kenneth A., 205

  Boyington, Gregory “Pappy,” 408

  Bradlee, Ben, 501–2

  Briggs, Laura, 247

  Brisbane:

  MacArthur’s headquarters in, 217

  New Farm Wharf in, 264–65

  1942 riots in, 214, 265

  Brisbane Courier-Mail, 214, 215

  British Empire, racism in, xx

  Brooke, Alan, 10, 95–96

  central Pacific offensive opposed by, 307–12

  Brown, Julian, 198, 199

  Browning, Miles, 198, 200–201

  Bryan, Joseph, III, 323

  Buell, Harold, 105, 191, 305, 386, 463–64, 490–91, 492, 494, 495

  Buin, Bougainville, xxv, 62, 157, 179, 203, 206, 234, 235, 419

  Japanese airstrip at, 122

  Buka Island, xxvi, 37, 38, 157, 235

  Buka Passage, xxv, 37

  Buna, 220

  Bunker Hill, USS (CV-17), 328, 405, 530

  Bureau of Aeronautics, U.S. Navy, 301, 304, 305, 323

  Bureau of Ordnance, U.S. Navy, 255–56, 277, 278, 279, 281–82

  Burke, Arleigh “31-Knot,” 233, 236, 389, 476–77, 479, 494

  appointed Mitscher�
�s chief of staff, 436

  Burma, 418

  bushido, 186–87, 507

  Butaritari Island, 320, 361–62

  Cabot, 405, 478

  Cactus Air Force, 71, 103, 166, 222, 458

  daily missions of, 135–36

  in dogfights with Japanese, 100–101

  Enterprise and Saratoga squadrons in, 82, 103, 105

  Japanese troop transports attacked by, 167–68, 172–73

  night missions of, 104

  October 13–14 decimation of, 140

  reinforcements for, 102–3, 135

  see also Marine Aircraft Group 23

  Cairo Allied conference (November 1943), 437, 438

  Calhoun, C. Raymond, 162

  Calhoun, William L., 198, 333, 440

  California, USS, 291, 292

  Callaghan, Daniel J., 22, 160, 161

  in Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 162, 164

  Camp Cable, 209

  Canberra, HMAS, 45–46, 51, 53

  cannibalism, xviii, 191

  Canton Island, 124, 144, 342, 389

  Cape Esperance, 164, 178, 184

  Cape Esperance, Battle of, 135

  Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 240

  Cape Moira, Bougainville, 206

  Cape St. George, New Ireland, 41

  Cape Torokina, Bougainville, 235, 236

  Carney, Robert B., 146, 201, 222, 232, 440

  Carney Field, 190, 242

  Caroline Islands, 116, 312, 449

  Carpender, Arthur S., 218

  carrier bombers, Japanese, 470

  Carrier Division 1, Japanese, 419, 448, 473, 482

  aircraft of, 420

  Carrier Division 2, Japanese, 486

  aircraft losses of, 420–21

  aircraft of, 419

  Carrier Division 3, Japanese, 473

  CARTWHEEL, Operation, 224, 241, 313

  air campaign in, 231, 236–39

  Bougainville landings in, 236, 340

  Emirau Island landings in, 242

  Green Islands landings in, 240, 242

  leapfrogging strategy in, 232, 240, 242

  morale and discipline problems in, 231–32

  naval battles in, 233–35, 236–37

  New Britain campaign in, 239–40

  New Georgia campaign in, 222, 231–32

  Rabaul bypassed in, 232, 235, 240

  Casablanca conference (1943), 10, 307–11

  CATCHPOLE, Operation, see Eniwetok, Battle of

 

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