What would a liberation of Wake look like if it were launched in late 1943, early 1944. Given which path to Japan that is taken, obviously the island can be bypassed. But let's assume national pride demands American soil to be retaken. What sort of resistance could Japan put up so far from home? Would it be like the battles in the Marshall's or Tarawa? How many soldiers or special naval landing troops did they have there? And what would the Navy and Marines throw at them?
Liberation of Wake, 1943?
- Thread starter The Kiat
- Start date
Wake was not a major defense bastion, like Betio, Saipan, Guam, Pelieu, ect... so the asault would not have been on the scale of those. It was distant from Oahu, so in 1943 (and it would have had to be after October 1943) it would have logistically difficult for the fleet, and had some vulnerability issues for the fleet. Nothing fatal, just a trickier set of problems and potiential casiualties.
Post liberation is where it gets hairy. Wakes distance from Oahu, and relative proximity to Japanese bases makes it a major pain to support until intermeadiate bases are captured.
Post liberation is where it gets hairy. Wakes distance from Oahu, and relative proximity to Japanese bases makes it a major pain to support until intermeadiate bases are captured.
I think I'm going to run with this. Hopefully it won't come off sounding like it's something out of PTO or PTO II. What follows is the prelimnary outline. As always, useful criticism is welcome.
Operation Kaleidoscope
Liberation of Wake, 1943
Prelude
Despite thee dawn of October 29, 1943, seeing a clear, blue sky over the Central Pacific, the sound of not-so distant thunder rolled across the troop transports. In the hour before the dawn, Private Henry Ruen, watched as the Navy’s spectacular fireworks display ground to a halt. For the past two days a number of battleships, cruisers and destroyers bombarded the three islands of Wake Atoll. The day before saw the last of the carrier-based bombers pound the island.
After two days of rolling thunder, Ruen was convinced that nothing could be left standing on the island, much less alive. Even if the day was full and the smoke blown out to sea he was not likely to see much from far out to sea. Only now that the sun was preparing to rise would he and his unit in the 10th Marine Regiment board their landing craft and approach the battered island.
Like so many replacements, he was nervous, not knowing what to expect. He looked to the veterans in his squad for any advice. Too many veterans of the Pacific War offered the same council; keep you head low, get off the beach as quickly as possible, etc. He frowned at the advice. Given the size of Wilkes Island, he was be hard pressed to get off the beach. Too many of these tropical and semi-tropical atolls were nothing but beach.
Some of his fellow replacements watched the dying bombardment, breathing sighs of relief. They spoke of how easy this job would be. “There won’t be a Jap alive on the island.” “It’s going to be a cake walk.” These were some of the calmer declarations. Next to Ruen stood Sergeant Pete Malikowski, watching the bombardment with an expression that was less than eager. As a veteran of Fiji, the Solomon’s and the failed invasion of Queensland, Malikowski’s view was slightly jaded.
He and the other NCOs knew exactly what to expect. As with each landing, he hoped and prayed that the shelling killed most of the enemy, though he put little stock in Navy marksmanship. Somewhere on Wilkes, the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force waited in bunkers and pill boxes for the leathernecks to step foot on the island. Unlike the replacements, who had their young minds bombarded by propaganda painting the Japanese as buck-toothed savages with Coke bottle glasses, he was well aware that they were facing a cunning and determined foe. He respected his enemy almost as much as he hated them.
“What do you think, Sarge?” Ruen asked, gesturing towards the beach. “Will it be all that easy?” While he did not relish the idea of being shot at, Ruen would not like to think he came all this way only to have the enemy all dead before he could join the fight.
Thinking back on the liberation of Fiji, Malikowski laughed bitterly. “Don’t worry, Ruen. There’ll be plenty of Japs left for us.”
Operation Kaleidoscope
Liberation of Wake, 1943
Prelude
Despite thee dawn of October 29, 1943, seeing a clear, blue sky over the Central Pacific, the sound of not-so distant thunder rolled across the troop transports. In the hour before the dawn, Private Henry Ruen, watched as the Navy’s spectacular fireworks display ground to a halt. For the past two days a number of battleships, cruisers and destroyers bombarded the three islands of Wake Atoll. The day before saw the last of the carrier-based bombers pound the island.
After two days of rolling thunder, Ruen was convinced that nothing could be left standing on the island, much less alive. Even if the day was full and the smoke blown out to sea he was not likely to see much from far out to sea. Only now that the sun was preparing to rise would he and his unit in the 10th Marine Regiment board their landing craft and approach the battered island.
Like so many replacements, he was nervous, not knowing what to expect. He looked to the veterans in his squad for any advice. Too many veterans of the Pacific War offered the same council; keep you head low, get off the beach as quickly as possible, etc. He frowned at the advice. Given the size of Wilkes Island, he was be hard pressed to get off the beach. Too many of these tropical and semi-tropical atolls were nothing but beach.
Some of his fellow replacements watched the dying bombardment, breathing sighs of relief. They spoke of how easy this job would be. “There won’t be a Jap alive on the island.” “It’s going to be a cake walk.” These were some of the calmer declarations. Next to Ruen stood Sergeant Pete Malikowski, watching the bombardment with an expression that was less than eager. As a veteran of Fiji, the Solomon’s and the failed invasion of Queensland, Malikowski’s view was slightly jaded.
He and the other NCOs knew exactly what to expect. As with each landing, he hoped and prayed that the shelling killed most of the enemy, though he put little stock in Navy marksmanship. Somewhere on Wilkes, the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force waited in bunkers and pill boxes for the leathernecks to step foot on the island. Unlike the replacements, who had their young minds bombarded by propaganda painting the Japanese as buck-toothed savages with Coke bottle glasses, he was well aware that they were facing a cunning and determined foe. He respected his enemy almost as much as he hated them.
“What do you think, Sarge?” Ruen asked, gesturing towards the beach. “Will it be all that easy?” While he did not relish the idea of being shot at, Ruen would not like to think he came all this way only to have the enemy all dead before he could join the fight.
Thinking back on the liberation of Fiji, Malikowski laughed bitterly. “Don’t worry, Ruen. There’ll be plenty of Japs left for us.”
Fearless Leader
Donor
Great work! Just a minor quibble though...I wonder if the Americans might opt for a different invasion site than Wilkes Island. Unlike the Japanese, the Americans won't have the luxury of land based air cover (unless you count B-17's/24's from Midway). Without that key factor, given that most of the defenses are on the southern shores of the island, might an invasion of the North coast of Wake make more sense? The weather might in fact be more favorable and they're not facing substantial problems from the reef either.
If the Americans invade from the North they'll be able to station their supporting vessels well away from Japanese land based aircraft and face much weaker Japanese resistance.
If the Americans invade from the North they'll be able to station their supporting vessels well away from Japanese land based aircraft and face much weaker Japanese resistance.
They'll be hitting all three, with obvious the bulk of the Division landing on Wake Island and focusing on taking the airfield and facilities. Smaller detatchments with secure the other two islands and eliminate the Japanese. At least that's the plan in my head and on a scrap of paper so far.
Fearless Leader
Donor
Why disperse though? If they land on Wake and seize the airfield and cisterns the other islands will collapse within a few days.
Is the US doing this instead of the upcoming Gilbert Islands campaign or is it in addition to? I like this thread but your timing is a little odd. Things are reaching a crisis point around Rabaul with Japanese reinforcements flowing in and Halsey begging Nimitz for more carriers with Nimitz holding back the main strength of the fleet for the invasion of the Gilberts scheduled in three weeks.
I know about the timing. I was looking up in my library the naval order of battle for Tarawa. That one is much larger than the force I'm sending at Wake. And yes, for the moment I plan on having the navy strike Wake instead of the Gilberts. For the moment. Whether or not the Gilberts will be taken or bypassed isn't relevent to the single battle I'm focusing on. It's also a completely different WWII inspired partly on playing PTO (while trying not to look like it). Quite a bit of my fictional histories are inspired by grand strategy games.
To the point, I have only a carrier and three light carriers allocated for retaking Wake, along with fewer battleships and cruisers than would have been thrown at Tarawa. From what I've been able to dig up, about 4000 Japanese were garrisoned on the island, divided between army and SNLF.
The story of Wake’s liberation began on December 23, 1941, when the Major James Devereux surrendered the garrison to what he believed was an impossible position. The US Navy’s attempt to reinforce Wake failed, leaving the island to become the Alamo of the Pacific. Let there be no mistaking; without outside aide, that was precisely what the island would have become. Even with a loss ratio of close to seven-to-one, the Japanese would inevitably kill every single defender on the island. To spare his men certain death, the Major placed their lives in the mercy of the enemy, and enemy that was not feeling overly merciful after their first invasion attempt was thwarted.
American forces revisited the island early in 1942, when a carrier task force bombed the island, destroying some enemy aircraft on the ground, killing several soldiers and damaging facilities. A second raid hit in November of the year, causing significant more damage, inlcuding sunk transports and more than four hundred soldiers dead. In response, the Japanese commander, Captain Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered that the civilian prisoners on the island be put to death. Since the surrender, they were utilized as forced labor, repairing the damage to the island’s facilities after the invasion and American air raid.
Initially, Wake was to by bypassed on the long road to Tokyo. The Navy preferred a Central Pacific route that would take them through the Marshalls and Gilberts on the way to the Marianas. Given the heroic defense of the island by its Marine defenders and the fact that it was American territory, the US Marine Corps lobbied for the island to be recaptured. Stories circulated through the Corps that Sakaibara executed the Marines on the island after they surrendered. It was as false as most scuttlebutt; they were transferred to prison camps in Japan where they were put to work for the duration of the war.
The island must be taken back for pride and payback. The Marines went as far as to play the nationalist card, asking whether or not it would be better for American blood to be spilt retaking American soil or British possessions. The Army believed it was a waste of resources. General MacArthur demanded the marines and ships projected to the liberation of Wake be transferred to his theater, insisting the island could be bypassed. He was a poor opponent for he made similar demands on a planned invasion of the Philippines over that of Formosa partly on the grounds of nationalism and pride.
In fairness, there is a distinct difference from the Commonwealth of the Philippines and an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific. Still, there was a great deal of public support in evicting the Japanese from all American soil, no matter how insignificant in the census. There was also intelligence, faulty as it may be, that Japan was developing Wake into an advanced submarine base as well as dredging the lagoon to create an anchorage for larger ships. It was seen at the time as a threat to already tenuous supply and communication lines across the Pacific, a threat that would not be tolerated.
American forces revisited the island early in 1942, when a carrier task force bombed the island, destroying some enemy aircraft on the ground, killing several soldiers and damaging facilities. A second raid hit in November of the year, causing significant more damage, inlcuding sunk transports and more than four hundred soldiers dead. In response, the Japanese commander, Captain Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered that the civilian prisoners on the island be put to death. Since the surrender, they were utilized as forced labor, repairing the damage to the island’s facilities after the invasion and American air raid.
Initially, Wake was to by bypassed on the long road to Tokyo. The Navy preferred a Central Pacific route that would take them through the Marshalls and Gilberts on the way to the Marianas. Given the heroic defense of the island by its Marine defenders and the fact that it was American territory, the US Marine Corps lobbied for the island to be recaptured. Stories circulated through the Corps that Sakaibara executed the Marines on the island after they surrendered. It was as false as most scuttlebutt; they were transferred to prison camps in Japan where they were put to work for the duration of the war.
The island must be taken back for pride and payback. The Marines went as far as to play the nationalist card, asking whether or not it would be better for American blood to be spilt retaking American soil or British possessions. The Army believed it was a waste of resources. General MacArthur demanded the marines and ships projected to the liberation of Wake be transferred to his theater, insisting the island could be bypassed. He was a poor opponent for he made similar demands on a planned invasion of the Philippines over that of Formosa partly on the grounds of nationalism and pride.
In fairness, there is a distinct difference from the Commonwealth of the Philippines and an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific. Still, there was a great deal of public support in evicting the Japanese from all American soil, no matter how insignificant in the census. There was also intelligence, faulty as it may be, that Japan was developing Wake into an advanced submarine base as well as dredging the lagoon to create an anchorage for larger ships. It was seen at the time as a threat to already tenuous supply and communication lines across the Pacific, a threat that would not be tolerated.
An attempt to sketch out an order of battle. If some of the ships look like they should have been in the Gilberts, you are correct. In this scenario, Wake was initially favored over Tarawa or Makin.
United States Order of Battle
2nd Marine Division
-2nd Marines
-6th Marines
-8th Marines
-10th Marines
-2nd Tank Battalion
2nd Amphib Tractor Battalion
United States Navy, TF 52
Air Support Group
-CV Saratoga
-CVL Belleau Wood
-CVE Sangamon
-CVE Nassau
Fire Support Group 1
-BB Maryland
-BB Colorado
-CA New Orleans
-CL Oakland
-CL San Diego
-DD Stack, Stern, Wilson, Edwards
Fire Support Group 2
-BB Tennessee
-BB Indiana
-CA Chester
-CA Pensacola
-CA Sacramento
-CL San Juan
-CL Tacoma
-DD Evans, Hale, Kidd, Bullard
Battleship Division 6
-BB Washington
-BB South Dakota
Cruiser Division 8
-CA Vallejo
-CA Portland
-CA Indianapolis
-CA Baltimore
-CL Santa Fe
Destroyer Division 11
-10 DD
Destroyer Division 12
-9 DD
Transport Group
-APA Leonard Wood
-APA Neville
-APA Pierce
-APA Calvert
-AKA Alcyone
-LSD Belle Grove
Japanese Order of Battle
Air Defensive Group
-20 Vals
-26 Zekes
SNLF
-1987 naval personnel
Imperial Amry
-2017 soldiers
Korean Laborers
-858 workers
Naval Assets
-DD Yukikaze
- 3 I-type submarines
-4600 ton cargo ship
-4100 ton cargo ship
-2 mine layers
United States Order of Battle
2nd Marine Division
-2nd Marines
-6th Marines
-8th Marines
-10th Marines
-2nd Tank Battalion
2nd Amphib Tractor Battalion
United States Navy, TF 52
Air Support Group
-CV Saratoga
-CVL Belleau Wood
-CVE Sangamon
-CVE Nassau
Fire Support Group 1
-BB Maryland
-BB Colorado
-CA New Orleans
-CL Oakland
-CL San Diego
-DD Stack, Stern, Wilson, Edwards
Fire Support Group 2
-BB Tennessee
-BB Indiana
-CA Chester
-CA Pensacola
-CA Sacramento
-CL San Juan
-CL Tacoma
-DD Evans, Hale, Kidd, Bullard
Battleship Division 6
-BB Washington
-BB South Dakota
Cruiser Division 8
-CA Vallejo
-CA Portland
-CA Indianapolis
-CA Baltimore
-CL Santa Fe
Destroyer Division 11
-10 DD
Destroyer Division 12
-9 DD
Transport Group
-APA Leonard Wood
-APA Neville
-APA Pierce
-APA Calvert
-AKA Alcyone
-LSD Belle Grove
Japanese Order of Battle
Air Defensive Group
-20 Vals
-26 Zekes
SNLF
-1987 naval personnel
Imperial Amry
-2017 soldiers
Korean Laborers
-858 workers
Naval Assets
-DD Yukikaze
- 3 I-type submarines
-4600 ton cargo ship
-4100 ton cargo ship
-2 mine layers
One CV is not enough. Despite the ruined air groups the Japanese CV still have some potiential. Plus if they do sortie you have a chance to sink them. So, have eough CV on hand to both protect the invasion force, and strike out if the opportunity presents.
That can be taken two different way. 1) Increase carriers in the task force, which is sound advice. Or 2) the Japanese aircraft on the island could inflict unexpected damage and convince the Navy that one carrier, one light carrier and two escort carriers are not enough. It could be a hard lesson learned, not quite Peleilu level but a lesson nonetheless. I could take that path but it stands to reason the lesson would have been learned by 1943.
It is a very different Pacific War, as the allusion to fighting on Fiji suggests.
Specifically who was concerned and why. While I have some familarity of the South Pacific campaigns pinnining this down eludes me.
Thx
Halsey was concerned - the gathering of Japanese cruisers at Rabaul was seen a significant threat to the Empress Augusta Bay landings on Bougainville. He considered sending Saratoga and Princeton to be putting both carriers at extreme risk but a necessary risk. He even said that he had to try really hard to not think about the fact that his son was serving on the Saratoga.
TFSmith121
Banned
The thing about Wake is that it doesn't really
The thing about Wake is that it doesn't really lead anywhere; if one wants to occupy the Marshalls or Gilberts, coming west from Oahu, Wake is very much off the obvious route, and the available land for bases is much better in the Marshalls or Gilberts than Wake. Other than as a cable station, possession of Wake does not accomplish a lot in the early Twentieth Century.
Likewise, coming east from the Marianas, Wake is not that attractive since the Japanese were already in the Marshalls.
The national pride element is possible, presumably, but after Attu and Kiska - which were within the Territory of Alaska, after all; Wake was just an insular possession, like Johnston or Palmyra - I don't see that as a huge issue. If the US POWS were still on the island, I don't know if that drives a "rescue them" or a "keep them out of the line of fire" sort of policy, honestly.
It's sort of like Christmas-Keeling or Ocean and Nauru; once one side or the other has possession, what does one do with it?
If the goal is just to "widen" or "thicken" the defenses of the Marshalls (for either side) than the obvious strategy would be to blockade it into surrender once Kwajalein and Eniwetok were secure and built into bases, along with the rest of the necessary atolls in the Marshalls, although that raises the issue of why not Wotje, Jaluit, and all the rest?
The Central Pacific offensive planners were as ready to "hit the Japanese where they ain't" as in SoWesPac, actually.
Best,
The thing about Wake is that it doesn't really lead anywhere; if one wants to occupy the Marshalls or Gilberts, coming west from Oahu, Wake is very much off the obvious route, and the available land for bases is much better in the Marshalls or Gilberts than Wake. Other than as a cable station, possession of Wake does not accomplish a lot in the early Twentieth Century.
Likewise, coming east from the Marianas, Wake is not that attractive since the Japanese were already in the Marshalls.
The national pride element is possible, presumably, but after Attu and Kiska - which were within the Territory of Alaska, after all; Wake was just an insular possession, like Johnston or Palmyra - I don't see that as a huge issue. If the US POWS were still on the island, I don't know if that drives a "rescue them" or a "keep them out of the line of fire" sort of policy, honestly.
It's sort of like Christmas-Keeling or Ocean and Nauru; once one side or the other has possession, what does one do with it?
If the goal is just to "widen" or "thicken" the defenses of the Marshalls (for either side) than the obvious strategy would be to blockade it into surrender once Kwajalein and Eniwetok were secure and built into bases, along with the rest of the necessary atolls in the Marshalls, although that raises the issue of why not Wotje, Jaluit, and all the rest?
The Central Pacific offensive planners were as ready to "hit the Japanese where they ain't" as in SoWesPac, actually.
Best,
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Wake is 1500 miles from Guam and 1200 miles from Truk. Nominally within range of the LB-30, particularly if they trade bombs for fuel. Not sure if that is enough to make it worthwhile. Obviously any missions would be unescorted and I doubt Wake can support a large enough force of bombers to seriously invest those bases.
TFSmith121
Banned
Wake Atoll is pretty small - there's only so much one
Wake Atoll is pretty small - there's only so much one could do with it, and whatever airfield space is available/can be built is probably going to be filled with defensive aircraft and their support...
I mean, it's still possible the US would do it, but once the island is taken, it pretty much becomes Baja Kiska...
Best,
Wake Atoll is pretty small - there's only so much one could do with it, and whatever airfield space is available/can be built is probably going to be filled with defensive aircraft and their support...
I mean, it's still possible the US would do it, but once the island is taken, it pretty much becomes Baja Kiska...
Best,