Battle of Saipan | Description & Facts | Britannica (2024)

World War II [1944]

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Written by

Donald Sommerville Donald Sommerville is a writer and editor specializing in military history. He holds degrees in history and war studies from Oxford University and London University.

Donald Sommerville

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Date:
June 15, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Location:
Northern Mariana Islands
Saipan
Participants:
Japan
United States
Context:
World War II

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Battle of Saipan, capture of the island of Saipan during World War II by U.S. Marine and Army units from June 15 to July 9, 1944. The U.S. was then able to use Saipan as a strategic bomber base from which to attack Japan directly.

In mid-1944, the next stage in the U.S. plan for the Pacific was to breach Japan’s defensive perimeter in the Mariana Islands and build bases there for the new long-range B-29 Superfortress bomber to strike the Japanese homeland.

Two U.S. Marine divisions began landings in the southwest of the island on June 15; they were joined two days later by an Army division. The joint Japanese army and navy garrison had some 27,000 men. They had prepared effective beach defenses, which caused the attacking Marines significant casualties, but the U.S. troops still managed to fight their way ashore. General Yoshitsugo Saito had hoped to win the battle on the beaches but was forced to switch tactics and withdraw with his troops into the rugged interior of Saipan.

World War II Events

Holocaust1933 - 1945 Invasion of PolandSeptember 1, 1939 - October 5, 1939 Battle of the AtlanticSeptember 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945 Dunkirk evacuationMay 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940 North Africa campaignsJune 1940 - May 13, 1943 Battle of BritainJuly 1940 - September 1940 Vichy FranceJuly 1940 - September 1944 the BlitzSeptember 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941 Battle of CreteMay 20, 1941 - June 1, 1941 Operation BarbarossaJune 22, 1941 Battle of MoscowSeptember 30, 1941 - January 7, 1942 Pearl Harbor attackDecember 7, 1941 Battle of Wake IslandDecember 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941 Pacific WarDecember 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945 Bataan Death MarchApril 9, 1942 Kokoda Track CampaignJuly 1942 - January 1943 Battle of StalingradAugust 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943 Warsaw Ghetto UprisingApril 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943 Operation Fortitude1944 Normandy InvasionJune 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944 Battle of SaipanJune 15, 1944 - July 9, 1944 Operation BagrationJune 23, 1944 - August 19, 1944 Cowra breakoutAugust 5, 1944 Operation Market GardenSeptember 17, 1944 - September 27, 1944 Battle of the BulgeDecember 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945 Yalta ConferenceFebruary 4, 1945 - February 11, 1945 Battle of Iwo JimaFebruary 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945 Battle for Castle ItterMay 5, 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiAugust 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

The Japanese fought ferociously, holding out in caves and other fortified positions. Slow progress led to a quarrel between the U.S. Marine commander, General “Howlin’ Mad” Holland Smith, and the army divisional commander, but gradually the Japanese were confined in a small area in the north of the island. From there, several thousand troops carried out a suicidal night charge on July 6–7, killing many Americans but also being wiped out themselves. Organized Japanese resistance ended on July 9. Saipan had a significant Japanese civilian population. Many were killed in the fighting, but thousands more committed suicide, along with many soldiers, rather than come under the control of the Americans. U.S. casualties totaled 3,400 dead, and Japanese deaths were 27,000 troops and 15,000 civilians.

Donald Sommerville

Battle of Saipan | Description & Facts | Britannica (2024)

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