Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43
    US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43
    US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43
    Ebook268 pages1 hour

    US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43

    By Gordon L. Rottman

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The outbreak of World War II set in motion a massive expansion of the United States Marine Corps, leading to a 24-fold increase in size by August 1945.

    This book is the first of several volumes to examine the Corps' meteoric wartime expansion and the evolution of its units. It covers the immediate pre-war period, the rush to deploy defense forces in the war's early months, and the Marines' first combat operations on Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville. It focuses on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Divisions (MarDivs) and the provisional 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Brigades (MarBdes).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateFeb 20, 2013
    ISBN9781472801562
    US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43
    Author

    Gordon L. Rottman

    Gordon L. Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He served in the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969–70 and subsequently in airborne infantry, long-range patrol and intelligence assignments before retiring after 26 years. He was a Special Operations Forces scenario writer at the Joint Readiness Training Center for 12 years and is now a freelance writer, living in Texas.

    Read more from Gordon L. Rottman

    Related to US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43

    Titles in the series (30)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Carriers at War

      Apr 5, 2022

      Carriers at War
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Slaughter At Sea

      Mar 16, 2021

      Slaughter At Sea
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Men Poured In A Deadly Volley

      May 7, 2021

      The Men Poured In A Deadly Volley
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Island Fortress

      May 23, 2023

      Island Fortress
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Homegrown War Games

      Jul 31, 2018

      Homegrown War Games
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Colin Powell

      Dec 3, 2019

      Colin Powell
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Target Acquired

      Aug 4, 2020

      Target Acquired
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Always Forward

      Aug 9, 2022

      Always Forward
      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack

      Sep 7, 2021

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Long Walks

      Mar 1, 2022

      Long Walks
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ursula And Elna

      May 7, 2021

      Ursula And Elna
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Long View

      Dec 21, 2021

      The Long View
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Bloodiest Day

      Aug 15, 2023

      The Bloodiest Day
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Battle Of St Vith

      Feb 26, 2020

      The Battle Of St Vith
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Wwi taking On The First Tanks

      Sep 1, 2022

      Wwi taking On The First Tanks
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘La Jeep’

      Jun 9, 2022

      ‘La Jeep’
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fabulous Four-tons

      Mar 11, 2022

      Fabulous Four-tons
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Dr. Gatling’s Wonder Weapon

      Dec 25, 2018

      Dr. Gatling’s Wonder Weapon
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      In The Ranks

      Jan 22, 2018

      In The Ranks
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Hard-fought Victory

      May 23, 2023

      Hard-fought Victory
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sabre Ace Race

      Oct 27, 2020

      Sabre Ace Race
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43

    3/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43 - Gordon L. Rottman

      measurements

      Introduction

      The US Marine Corps (USMC) was a component of the Navy Department: it was not a component of the US Navy (USN) as is often assumed. In World War II the Navy Department was responsible for the USN, USMC, and US Coast Guard, which was transferred from the Treasury Department for wartime service. The Major-General Commandant of the Marine Corps, Thomas Holcomb, was promoted to lieutenant-general in January 1942, and the title became simply Commandant of the Marine Corps.

      The USMC was subdivided into two broad organizations: the Fleet Marine Force (FMF); and the Shore Establishment plus Headquarters, Marine Corps (HQMC) in Arlington Annex, Navy Department, Washington, DC. The FMF contained the Corps’ operating elements: ground combat, aviation, service, and most training units. The Shore Establishment included Marine Corps schools, supply depots, recruiting stations, recruit training depots, and guards assigned to Marine barracks and detachments guarding naval bases, stations and depots, both in the States and overseas. Marine detachments aboard aircraft carriers, battleships, and cruisers were essentially company-sized units that were part of the ship’s company and organic to the Fleet.

      In September 1939, at the beginning of World War II in Europe, there were 18,000 Marines, about the same size as the New York City Police Department. The war set in motion an expansion of the Corps, and its modest reserves were soon mobilized. The day Pearl Harbor was attacked the Corps contained 65,981 personnel (roughly the same number of Marines that would be wounded in the war). At this point the FMF contained seven infantry regiments, two artillery regiments, seven defense battalions, and 10 assorted aviation squadrons, all greatly under strength, though thousands of recruits were undergoing training and would soon begin arriving at units. Less than four years later in August 1945, when the 4th Marines landed in Tokyo Bay, there were 485,833 Marines in two amphibious corps, six divisions, large numbers of combat support battalions and service units, and five aircraft wings with 132 aviation squadrons (reduced from a peak of 145 in September 1944), supported by a large Shore Establishment.

      The strategic situation, late-1943, at the beginning of the Allied offensive. In August 1943, the Solomon Islands were the primary focus of early South and Southwest Pacific operations. The boundary line between the two commands was longitude 159 degrees East passing though the center of Santa Isabel Island and the Russell Islands (both of which are in the Solomon Islands.) The Solomons were occupied by the Japanese in stages between March and May 1942.

      The Corps had increased its strength 24-fold. Its capabilities and organization had grown accordingly. It had absorbed huge numbers of personnel along with new concepts, tactics, weapons, equipment, and types of unit while maintaining its unique esprit de corps and securing its place as the premier amphibious assault force.

      The purpose of this and subsequent volumes is to provide a study of the Marine Corps’ meteoric wartime expansion and the evolution of its units. This book covers the immediate pre-war period and follows Marine units through their first combat operations in the Philippines, and in the South and Southwest Pacific, namely Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville, as well as their rush to deploy defense forces in the war’s early months. It focuses on the 1st, 2d, and 3d Marine Divisions (MarDivs) and the provisional 1st, 2d, and 3d Marine Brigades (MarBdes). The 4th MarDiv was raised in 1943, but since it did not see combat until 1944 it will be addressed in the second volume. This second volume will also discuss the organization of III and V Amphibious Corps in 1944 plus actions in the Central Pacific: Tarawa (actually occurring in late-1943), New Britain, Roi-Namur, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Tinian. The third book will cover the organization of the 1st Provisional MarBde and 5th and 6th MarDivs, the final and brutal battles on Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; the latter two being the Corps’ largest battles. Marine Corps Aviation, and Marine raider and parachute units, will be the subject of future planned volumes in the Battle Orders series.

      A 3d Defense Battalion 90mm M1A1 AA gun set-up on the area cleared for the Cape Torokina Airfield, Bougainville.

      Combat mission

      The Marine Corps was, and is, first and foremost an amphibious assault force. It is not intended as a second land army, as critics sometimes claim. It was tasked with four primary missions on the eve of World War II:

      1. Maintain a mobile force in immediate readiness as a part of the US Fleet for use in operations involving shore objectives.

      2. Maintain Marine detachments as part of the ship’s crew on carriers, battleships, and cruisers.

      3. Provide garrisons for safeguarding of navy yards and stations at home and outlying possessions of the United States.

      4. Provide forces for the protection of American lives and property abroad.

      The first mission essentially described the coming war in the Pacific. While significant US Army forces, alongside Australia and New Zealand, fought in the Pacific, the Marine Corps, with the exception of very minor elements, served solely in the Pacific.

      World War II saw the Corps evolve into a complex force operating in a joint land, air, and sea environment. It became a strategic force with missions ranging from the mundane (remote island defense, navy base security, ceremonial duties) to the exotic (clandestine special operations, amphibious reconnaissance, the training of native troops). But first and foremost it was an amphibious assault force eventually capable of landing a corps of combined-arms troops supported by its own air arm and logistics.

      The Marine Corps was comparatively small compared to the US Army. The Army contained almost 8,300,000 personnel in May 1945, of which over 1,800,000 were in the Army Air Forces. In the Pacific Ocean Area and Southwest Pacific alone there were almost 650,000 troops in three field armies, five corps, 22 divisions (out of 89), seven numbered air forces, and massive service forces. The Marines fielded two amphibious corps, six divisions, four aircraft wings, and modest service forces in the Pacific. The Marine Corps’ contribution far outweighed its size. Ninety-eight percent of Marine officers and 89 percent of enlisted men served overseas while the other armed services averaged 73 percent. Of the Army divisions in the Pacific, 18 conducted 26 major amphibious operations. The six Marine divisions conducted 17 major landings along with a number of regimental and battalion landings.

      Another traditional mission for the Marine Corps was to man ships’ detachments. Future ships’ Marines at the San Diego Sea School learned basic seaman duties. They were also trained in damage control, and security measures when in port, formed landing parties, and manned secondary and anti-aircraft armament.

      The development of the Marines Corps’ role

      The Marine Corps traces its origins back to 1775 as soldiers of the sea, to serve as sharpshooters, ship’s guards, and landing parties. In 1798 they were charged with any duty on shore as the President, at his discretion, may desire. The post-Spanish–American War United States found itself responsible for overseas possessions and economic interests reaching around the globe. Marines were increasingly called upon by the State Department to perform duty beyond the seas protecting these. The Advance Base Force (ABF) was established in 1913 to provide a force of Marines capable of seizing and defending advance naval bases, and development of the Corps’ amphibious capabilities began. During World War I four regiments served in France alongside the Army. A total of 14 Marine regiments were raised during the Great War, mainly serving in Central America and the Caribbean. The ABF became the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force in 1921. The Corps’ principal role from the turn of the century until the mid-1930s was that of foreign intervention. Marines kept the peace, and in some cases for long periods, virtually ran the country, in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and elsewhere, as well as maintaining a long-term presence in China. In December 1933 the FMF was established. The basic concept of the FMF was to provide a standing force integral to the Fleet that could seize, secure, or defend naval bases. This required a self-contained force with offensive ground combat units, defense units, aviation, and service elements capable of conducting joint operations.

      A Marine recruit zeroes his .30-cal. M1903 Springfield rifle. Adopted by the Marine Corps in 1908, the ’03 Springfield was retained by the FMF into 1943 when it was replaced by the .30-cal. M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle. The Corps prides itself in its marksmanship and the fact that every Marine is a rifleman first.

      Preparation for war: doctrine and training

      The US Navy had long prepared for an island-hopping war in the Pacific under War Plan ORANGE. As far back as the end of World War I Japan was assumed to be the most likely opponent. Operations Plan 712-H, Advanced Base Operations in Micronesia, published in 1921, envisioned a Navy and Marine campaign to seize the Caroline, Marshall, and Palus Islands heralding Operations CATCHPOLE and FLINTLOCK of 1944. War Plan ORANGE was replaced by the RAINBOW-series of war plans in 1939, which guided the Marine Corps’ training and mobilization plans in the period leading up to 1941.

      The Higgins boat

      Prewar Navy landing craft design was ineffective, being based on barge and whaling boat designs. The Marines were limited to powered whaling boats, which lacked ramps, were of limited capacity, and exposed the crew and passengers. There was little capability of landing artillery and vehicles. Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans, LA, developed a series of landing craft imitating Japanese versions with bow ramps. His designs influenced wartime beaching craft with bow ramps. These shallow-draft vessels had high gunnels and sufficiently powerful engines to allow them to un-beach themselves. Early versions of the 36ft landing craft, the LCP(R) and LCV, began to be replaced by the LCVP in November 1942. They could carry 36 troops or 8,100 lbs of cargo or a light artillery piece. Over 23,000 were built.

      In 1927 the Joint Army and Navy Board recommended that the Marine Corps be given special preparation for the conduct of amphibious warfare … because of the constant association with naval units. Development of a formal joint amphibious doctrine, experimentation with techniques and equipment, began with the establishment of the FMF in 1933. A series of Fleet Training Exercises (FLEX) were conducted from 1935

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1