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Today marks the end of organized fighting on the island of Saipan. Located in the central Pacific on the northern end of the Marianas Island chain, it was one of the larger islands in the chain, at about 55 square miles. It was vital to U.S. forces because, at 1,400 miles from mainland Japan, it was within the flying range of America’s latest (and largest) bomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. And so, just nine days after the largest amphibious assault in history took place off the shores of Normandy, another massive assault took place as the Marines landed on Saipan.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Navy was looking, as they had been since early 1942, for a way to destroy the American fleet. With a significant portion of the U.S. fleet committed to the Saipan landings, this was the opportunity they desired. However, as we have already seen, the subsequent engagement in the Philippine Sea was a disaster for the Japanese, which not only terribly cripped their Navy, but guaranteed that Saipan would not be resupplied or reinforced. It was only a matter of time.
On one hand, the Saipan garrison, comprising 31,000 Japanese soldiers, fought with great tenacity, almost to the last man against the 70,000+ U.S. troops trying to take the island. On the other hand, their leaders used the forces at their disposal with utter foolishness, wasting thousands of lives in the fruitless slaughter of banzai charges.
And on July 9, 1944, resistance had ended to the degree that Admiral Raymond Spruance and General Holland Smith declared Saipan secure. Of course, there would be small pockets of the enemy to mop up. Indeed, one small group of soldiers under Captain Sakae Oba would hold out until December of 1945!! But organized fighting was over.
Estimates vary depending on the source you read, but Army and Marine deaths exceeded 3,200 in the fighting, with more than 10,000 wounded. More than 24,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in combat, about 5,000 more committed suicide, and fewer than 1,000 were taken prisoner.
And like some of the other island conflicts, the non-combatant citizens of Saipan suffered horribly. Many grenaded themselves and their families, having been conditioned to believe that U.S. soldiers would subject them to unspeakable torture and death. July 10th would see a mass suicide by hundreds of civilians who hurled themselves off the 265-foot cliffs at Marpi Point to the rocks below.
In U.S. hands, Saipan would serve as the primary launching pad for B-29 raids against mainland Japan as well as a staging area for the invasion of the Philippines.
Recommended Reading: D-Day in the Pacific – The Battle of Saipan - I’ve got a couple really good books about Saipan, and Goldberg’s was the first that I read.
