USS Tarawa (LHA 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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The story of one of the bloodiest battles. Before November 20, 1943, the name of TARAWA was known to only a few. Three days later that name, and the name of Betio beach- head, went around the world like the flash from an exploding shell. Today those names stand for the first sea-borne assault on a de- fended atoll. They will continue to endure as monuments of unsurpassed hero- ism of the reinforced Second Divi- sion of the United States Marine Corps. For two dragging weeks the crowded transports had been zig- zagging through the blue waters of the South Pacific, and for the Ma- rines aboard it had been two weeks of weary monotony. They were headed for one of the bloodiest bat- tles in Marine Corps history, but they did not know that then. They did not even know where they were going. At the end of these two weeks, on November 14, 1943, they found out. Tarawa . . . The Marines rolled the strange name off their tongues and repeated it to one another. In their wildest speculations, none had ever said the name Tarawa. Six days later the first assault Battle of Tarawa Page 16 was landed. Nine days later the bloody battle was history. Betio beachhead lies at Tarawa ' s southwestern end. It is somewhat smaller than New York City ' s Cen- tral Park. With a length of two and a half miles and only 800 yards across at its widest point. Over a period of 15 months the Japanese did a sound job of perfect- ing their defenses for the Gilberts, and the heart of their efforts was little Betio. The pillboxes for the automatic weapons, and even the ri- flemen ' s pits, were scientifically constructed to withstand heavy bombardment. Guarded by these defenses was a landing field that gave the Japanese a position nearest to our travel routes from San Fran- cisco to Hawaii and Australia. It was our first major obstruction on the road to Tokyo. In addition to Japanese-made defenses, there was a treacherous coral reef, and the tides. Three months before D-Day, a guard detail was posted before the door of a room on the third floor of the musty old Windsor Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, where the Second Division made its head- quarters. This room was called K Room. Admirals, generals, colo- nels and naval captains came to this room. Fresh data stamped Secret and Ultra Secret piled up on the desks in K Room. The task confronting these men was peculiarly difficult. For the first time in military history, a strongly defended coral atoll was to be stormed and taken from the enemy. It was a case of precedents having to be created, not followed. Previously, American troops landed on the least strongly held areas on the large land masses. This could not be done at Tarawa. The maps of K Room in the old Windsor Hotel showed every

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? 1 1915 •ft in • ' :-: Norfolk, ■■- u ' -::: J •eiaf c July 15. Tarawa then deployed to t : Western Pacific Ocean, taking it t Pearl Harbor, Saipan, Yokosuka, E ;ebo and Okinawa. It also operated € :ensively in the vicinity of the I irianas Islands. After more than 16 months of op- e itions outside of the San Diego a :a, Tarawa conducted a world c use on September 28, 1948. The r in-o-war made port calls in Pearl I irbor, Tsingtao, China, Hong 1 ng, Singapore, Republic of Cey- 1 , Bahrain, Jidda, Greece, Turkey, ( ete, and then headed west through t ; Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Its voyage ended at the Nor- folk Naval Shipyard on February 21, 1949. On June 30, 1949 Tarawa was placed out of commission and was berthed with the New York Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On October 1, 1952 Tarawa was reactivated from its brief 18 month retirement in response to the Korean War. It was redesignated as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-40), but never was called to the battlefront. It served as a replacement for the 6th and 2nd fleet carriers who were dispatched to the war zone. In December 1954, it entered Bos- ton Naval Shipyard for repair work. While in the shipyard, it was con- verted to an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft carrier. In January 1955, Tarawa was redesignated as CVS-40. For the remainder of its ca- reer it served the Second Fleet by conducting barrier patrols against the growing Soviet submarine fleet. Tarawa was decommissioned and placed in reserve in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it remained un- til the late 1960 ' s. On October 3rd, 1968, it was sold to the Boston Metals Corporation for scrapping. above: An aerial view of USS Tarawa (CV-40) underway north of the straits of Messina, Sicily. left: USS Tarawa (CVA-40) conducing exercises with Navy blimp XZSG-4 in the Atlantic Ocean. CVA-40 Page 15

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installation the Japanese had built. This was the first problem to be solved. Next was the problem of the reefs. The information as to the depth of water over the reefs was in- conclusive. General Smith and his staff did know that part of the reef was exposed at low tide. Their re- ports told them that during the peri- od of neap tide, a maximum of three feet or less of water, even at high tide might be experienced. So they could not be sure that even at high tide they could get landing boats to the beach. Even with the best breaks there would not be much time to bring the landing force ashore. The span of high tide was only four hours. There were other factors which they knew added to the natural bar- rier of the reef. These were underwat- er o bstacles which the enemy had built, which were certain to stymie the ordinary landing boat. General Smith and his staff considered the amphibious tractor as a possible an- swer. Before committing himself to such a plan, General Smith decided to test them. Every conceivable un- derwater obstacle was erected, and live ammunition was fired at the amphibs as they moved through and over obstacles to the beach. The results of this rehearsal satisfied him that amphibian tractors could cross fringing coral reefs and that medium tanks could be disembarked from LCTs on the edge of such a reef. When morning came, the first day of November 1943, the landing craft moved to sea. On the morning of D-Day, troop officers read this message, from Gen- eral Smith, to their men: A great offensive to destroy the enemy in the Pacific has begun. American air, sea and land forces, of which this divi- sion is a part, initiate this offensive by seizing Japanese atolls in the Gil- bert Islands whi ch will be used as bases for future operations. The Battle of Tarawa The task assigned to us is to cap- ture the atolls of Tarawa and Ape- mama. Army units of our Fifth Am- phibious Corps are simultaneously attacking Makin, 150 miles to the north of Tarawa. Early this morning combatant ships of our Navy bombarded Tarawa. Our navy screens our oper- ations and will support our attack tomorrow morning with the greatest concentration of aerial bombardment and naval gunfire in the history of warfare. It will remain with us until our objective is secured and our defenses are established. Garrison forces are already enroute to relieve us as soon as we have completed our job of clearing our objectives of Japanese forces. I know that you are well trained and fit for the tasks assigned to you. . . . You will decisively defeat and destroy the treacherous enemies of our country; your success will add new laurels to the glorious tradition of our Corps. Good luck, and God bless you all. Battle of Tarawa Page 17