In my last post I talked about the boom and bust economy of Saipan. However, I should have called it the post-war boom and bust, since I did not talk about the pre-war economy. If I included the pre-war history, I could have mentioned the sugar boom during the Japanese colonial period. As I mentioned in the last blog, the League of Nations gave the Mariana Islands to Japan after WWI. As the Japanese took control, a young Japanese businessman, Matsue Haruji - with a masters degree in Sugar Chemistry from Louisiana State University (obtained in 1905) - conducted a survey of Saipan and concluded it was perfect for sugar plantations. Thousands of men were shipped in to clear the jungle landscape and plant sugar cane. It was so successful that in 1930, he expanded to the southern neighbor island of Tinian, and then further south to Rota. By the time WWII began, the sugar industry of the Marianas made up 60 percent of Japan's South Seas revenue!
I find this economic story quite interesting for several reasons. First, it touches on the topic of the book How Asia Works, which laid out an argument for how the economies of Japan, Korea and China advanced, while others with similar potential have stagnated in poverty. One of the author's key arguments was that these nations imported not just products, but industries. In this case, Matsue was educated and worked in the American Sugar industry before bringing that knowledge back to Japan to expand the industry in his home country.
Secondly, it reminded me of the book Imperial Cruise, which tells the story of President Roosevelt's cruise to Japan in 1905 (the same year Matsue was in the US earning his degree). During that cruise and based on America's Asian policy, Japan was encouraged to expand its territory. Similar to America's belief that we had a 'Manifest Destiny' to expand our nation westward from sea to shining sea, the American government partnered with the Japanese in Asia and promoted the same idea of westward expansion. This policy would lead to the expanding empire of Japan, which in turn led to the Pacific campaign of WWII. Remember, we were a trade partner with Japan up to the point when we cut off our oil trade, which lead to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. What a tangled web we weave.
So, America is drawn into the war with the attack on Pearl Harbor and also has to fight the war on two fronts: Pacific and Europe. In Europe, America honed their war-fighting skills by fighting their way across north Africa. Churchill called this the 'soft underbelly of Europe, and it gave the allied war machine a place to 'practice' establishing beach heads, running logistical support, and fighting campaigns across the ground. At the same time, it forced the German war machine to divert forces and resources to the southern front, ahead of the allies main effort at Normandy. People always remember Normandy and often forget the African campaign, even though 400,000 soldiers were killed or injured in 3 years of fighting in Africa. In addition, the southern campaign continued into Italy were another two million were killed, but Normandy is is the battle that marks the turning point during the war in Europe so the northern front is the one we tend to focus on.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, a similar series of battles led up to the decisive Battle for Saipan, which is often referred to as the Normandy of the Pacific. During the preceding island landings, the Navy and Marines honed their beach landing tactics and prepared for Saipan. However, Saipan was different than many of the previous battles for three key reasons. First, it was a larger island than many of the previous atolls, which meant a larger more entrenched land force, and a longer drawn out battle to take the island. Second, the previous battles were often either primarily naval battles (Midway) or land battles (Tarawa), but the attack on Saipan would also trigger the largest Naval "carrier-to-carrier" battle in history! And third, Saipan was the first Japanese 'territory' to be taken, AND the first island close enough to allow the US to establish land bases for B-29 bomber runs into mainland Japan. The fact that it opened up the mainland to attack and was in the center of Japan's Pacific empire - which allowed the US to cut off many of the occupied islands we had 'hopped over' - made Saipan the decisive point in the Pacific campaign.
Now the stage is set, and on 13 June 1944 - a week after the Normandy invasion started - the battle for Saipan begins on the opposite side of the globe. The Japanese force of 30,000 has been preparing for this battle with bunkers, caves, and even employing the local children to help build a new runway (which is now part of Beach Road). On the American side there's a force of 71,000: two Marine Divisions, one Army Division, and 15 Naval battleships that conducted a pre-invasion bombardment with 165,000 shells!
The island has few suitable beachheads, so the Japanese had a pretty good idea where the American forces would land. In addition, they had a commanding 360 degree view from the top of the central peak of Mount Tapochao. They also knew that they held the decisive territory for the motherland, and were prepared to defend it to their death. Lastly, before the battle even began, they knew that their Navy would support them with reinforcements.
As expected, the US forces attacked the southwest beaches where the terrain was much flatter inland, and an offshore reef break gave way to a shallow sand filled lagoon. Although Japanese preparation ensured heavy losses during the initial attack, the Marines established six mile long beachhead by nightfall on the 15th. Some of the American tanks lost in the beach landing, still sit in the lagoon with only their turrets poking out above the surf, (If you google images of Saipan, one of the tanks will show up in the first few results.)
The Japanese expected the attack on Saipan, however they did not expect US forces to 'hop' over so many islands in order to attack Saipan. Despite the surprise, the Japanese saw this as an opportunity to defeat the US Navy in a decisive battle and ordered a naval counterattack on the 15th as well. On Saipan, after a Japanese counterattack that night, the Marines woke up to find the Navy had abandoned them in order to meet the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. This carrier-to-carrier battle also became known as the great turkey shoot, with over 1700 aircraft involved, and the decisive battle Japan had envisioned swung decisively to the Americans. The Japanese lost 3 of 5 carriers, 2 oil tankers, and around 600 of 750 aircraft. The US only had one battleship damaged and 123 aircraft lost. For the Japanese, this defeat meant they would not be able to reinforce their forces on Saipan.
The second night after the beaches were secured, the Japanese staged a counter attack with their largest tank attack in the Pacific. The attack was intended to cut off the beachhead by rolling down the flank of the US forces, just south of the city of Garapan along what is now Beach Road. In the end the tank attack failed, as burning tanks helped silhouette the advancing tanks making them easier targets in the night. Today, a destroyed Japanese Tank sits at the sight of the battle on top of one of the old battle-scarred beach bunkers.
After the tank battle, the Marines pushed inland, the Army division turned south to take the airfield, and the Marines 'swung like a gate' to the north to prepare for the arduous fight up along the central spine of the island. Some of the heaviest losses took place during the push north in places nicknamed Purple Heart Ridge, Hell's Pocket and Death Valley. Eventually, the enemy was pushed all the way to the north end of the island, and the Japanese made one final and unsuccessful counter attack. before beginning to commit mass suicide by jumping off an inland cliff, now known as Suicide Cliff, or into the sea from a point known as Bonsai Cliff. Unfortunately, Japanese propaganda, and over 20 years of Japanese rule led many natives and Japanese civilians to follow the soldiers over the edge.
In the end 29,000 Japanese soldiers perished, 5000 of which were suicides, and 22,000 civilians, most of which were suicides. The US had 3,426 killed and 10,000 wounded. The entire battle took 24 days and ended on the 9th of July. However, a small band of Japanese continued harassing attacks and escaped capture for another 17 months! They were led by Captain Sakae Oba and did not surrender until after the war was over.
After Saipan was secured the Americans immediately set their sights on the island of Tinian to the south. It was attacked on the 24th and secured by the first of August, 1944, followed by Guam, the last Mariana island to be taken by US forces. The other 13 Mariana Islands were essentially cut off and ignored, as were any Japanese and native people that inhabited them. Shortly after Saipan and Tinian were secured, the existing airstrips were repaired and additional airstrips were built to begin attacks on mainland Japan. A year later, on 6 August, 1945, the Enola Gay took off from one of those airstrips on Tinian and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, speeding the end to the war.
I find this economic story quite interesting for several reasons. First, it touches on the topic of the book How Asia Works, which laid out an argument for how the economies of Japan, Korea and China advanced, while others with similar potential have stagnated in poverty. One of the author's key arguments was that these nations imported not just products, but industries. In this case, Matsue was educated and worked in the American Sugar industry before bringing that knowledge back to Japan to expand the industry in his home country.
Secondly, it reminded me of the book Imperial Cruise, which tells the story of President Roosevelt's cruise to Japan in 1905 (the same year Matsue was in the US earning his degree). During that cruise and based on America's Asian policy, Japan was encouraged to expand its territory. Similar to America's belief that we had a 'Manifest Destiny' to expand our nation westward from sea to shining sea, the American government partnered with the Japanese in Asia and promoted the same idea of westward expansion. This policy would lead to the expanding empire of Japan, which in turn led to the Pacific campaign of WWII. Remember, we were a trade partner with Japan up to the point when we cut off our oil trade, which lead to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. What a tangled web we weave.
So, America is drawn into the war with the attack on Pearl Harbor and also has to fight the war on two fronts: Pacific and Europe. In Europe, America honed their war-fighting skills by fighting their way across north Africa. Churchill called this the 'soft underbelly of Europe, and it gave the allied war machine a place to 'practice' establishing beach heads, running logistical support, and fighting campaigns across the ground. At the same time, it forced the German war machine to divert forces and resources to the southern front, ahead of the allies main effort at Normandy. People always remember Normandy and often forget the African campaign, even though 400,000 soldiers were killed or injured in 3 years of fighting in Africa. In addition, the southern campaign continued into Italy were another two million were killed, but Normandy is is the battle that marks the turning point during the war in Europe so the northern front is the one we tend to focus on.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, a similar series of battles led up to the decisive Battle for Saipan, which is often referred to as the Normandy of the Pacific. During the preceding island landings, the Navy and Marines honed their beach landing tactics and prepared for Saipan. However, Saipan was different than many of the previous battles for three key reasons. First, it was a larger island than many of the previous atolls, which meant a larger more entrenched land force, and a longer drawn out battle to take the island. Second, the previous battles were often either primarily naval battles (Midway) or land battles (Tarawa), but the attack on Saipan would also trigger the largest Naval "carrier-to-carrier" battle in history! And third, Saipan was the first Japanese 'territory' to be taken, AND the first island close enough to allow the US to establish land bases for B-29 bomber runs into mainland Japan. The fact that it opened up the mainland to attack and was in the center of Japan's Pacific empire - which allowed the US to cut off many of the occupied islands we had 'hopped over' - made Saipan the decisive point in the Pacific campaign.
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| Map of the Pacific Front. The red dotted line marks the furthest extent of Japanese occupation before US forces began to push them back starting with the Battle of Midway. The Mariana Islands, and Saipan, lie almost directly in the center of the occupied south Pacific and are within B-29 range of mainland Japan, making the battle for Saipan a decisive point in the Pacific Campaign |
Now the stage is set, and on 13 June 1944 - a week after the Normandy invasion started - the battle for Saipan begins on the opposite side of the globe. The Japanese force of 30,000 has been preparing for this battle with bunkers, caves, and even employing the local children to help build a new runway (which is now part of Beach Road). On the American side there's a force of 71,000: two Marine Divisions, one Army Division, and 15 Naval battleships that conducted a pre-invasion bombardment with 165,000 shells!
The island has few suitable beachheads, so the Japanese had a pretty good idea where the American forces would land. In addition, they had a commanding 360 degree view from the top of the central peak of Mount Tapochao. They also knew that they held the decisive territory for the motherland, and were prepared to defend it to their death. Lastly, before the battle even began, they knew that their Navy would support them with reinforcements.
 |
| View looking south from Mt Tapochao. The International Airport sits on the same site as one of the Japanese airfields, and was a major objective during the initial attack. The US forces were using the airfield within a week of taking it. Then the US forces, turned north to attack up the spine of the island. |
As expected, the US forces attacked the southwest beaches where the terrain was much flatter inland, and an offshore reef break gave way to a shallow sand filled lagoon. Although Japanese preparation ensured heavy losses during the initial attack, the Marines established six mile long beachhead by nightfall on the 15th. Some of the American tanks lost in the beach landing, still sit in the lagoon with only their turrets poking out above the surf, (If you google images of Saipan, one of the tanks will show up in the first few results.)
The Japanese expected the attack on Saipan, however they did not expect US forces to 'hop' over so many islands in order to attack Saipan. Despite the surprise, the Japanese saw this as an opportunity to defeat the US Navy in a decisive battle and ordered a naval counterattack on the 15th as well. On Saipan, after a Japanese counterattack that night, the Marines woke up to find the Navy had abandoned them in order to meet the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. This carrier-to-carrier battle also became known as the great turkey shoot, with over 1700 aircraft involved, and the decisive battle Japan had envisioned swung decisively to the Americans. The Japanese lost 3 of 5 carriers, 2 oil tankers, and around 600 of 750 aircraft. The US only had one battleship damaged and 123 aircraft lost. For the Japanese, this defeat meant they would not be able to reinforce their forces on Saipan.
The second night after the beaches were secured, the Japanese staged a counter attack with their largest tank attack in the Pacific. The attack was intended to cut off the beachhead by rolling down the flank of the US forces, just south of the city of Garapan along what is now Beach Road. In the end the tank attack failed, as burning tanks helped silhouette the advancing tanks making them easier targets in the night. Today, a destroyed Japanese Tank sits at the sight of the battle on top of one of the old battle-scarred beach bunkers.
 |
| Destroyed Japanese tank on top of a battle-scarred bunker. Soldiers wrote that during the nighttime battle the burning tanks would silhouette the tanks that were still advancing making them easy targets. |
After the tank battle, the Marines pushed inland, the Army division turned south to take the airfield, and the Marines 'swung like a gate' to the north to prepare for the arduous fight up along the central spine of the island. Some of the heaviest losses took place during the push north in places nicknamed Purple Heart Ridge, Hell's Pocket and Death Valley. Eventually, the enemy was pushed all the way to the north end of the island, and the Japanese made one final and unsuccessful counter attack. before beginning to commit mass suicide by jumping off an inland cliff, now known as Suicide Cliff, or into the sea from a point known as Bonsai Cliff. Unfortunately, Japanese propaganda, and over 20 years of Japanese rule led many natives and Japanese civilians to follow the soldiers over the edge.
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| East side of Suicide Cliff. Bonsai cliff is on the horizon where the ocean meets the land. |
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| Bonsai Cliff - Even if a person survived the fall, they had no way of getting out with miles of cliffs in both directions and heavy currents pulling them out to sea. |
In the end 29,000 Japanese soldiers perished, 5000 of which were suicides, and 22,000 civilians, most of which were suicides. The US had 3,426 killed and 10,000 wounded. The entire battle took 24 days and ended on the 9th of July. However, a small band of Japanese continued harassing attacks and escaped capture for another 17 months! They were led by Captain Sakae Oba and did not surrender until after the war was over.
After Saipan was secured the Americans immediately set their sights on the island of Tinian to the south. It was attacked on the 24th and secured by the first of August, 1944, followed by Guam, the last Mariana island to be taken by US forces. The other 13 Mariana Islands were essentially cut off and ignored, as were any Japanese and native people that inhabited them. Shortly after Saipan and Tinian were secured, the existing airstrips were repaired and additional airstrips were built to begin attacks on mainland Japan. A year later, on 6 August, 1945, the Enola Gay took off from one of those airstrips on Tinian and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, speeding the end to the war.
Fascinating; a real gripping read; you really brought it alive for me, thank you. This isn't really related but I just read about this oceanic feature near you tonight: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21716891-entrenched-nasty-chemicals-abound-what-was-thought-untouched-environment
ReplyDeleteHey, glad you liked it. I heard about the Mariana Trench on NPR this week as well. Pretty interesting and depressing at the same time. It seems the oceans are silently suffering much of the damage from our environmental abuse.
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