Chapter 869: American Johnston Atoll invasion, the American Empire strikes back
Chapter 869: American Johnston Atoll invasion, the American Empire strikes back
Leased by the Territory of Hawaii in 1909 the Johnston Atoll was transformed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’ Executive Order 6935 in 1934, which put control under the 14th Naval District, Pearl Harbor, in order to establish an air station. By 1935 US Navy's Patrol Wing Two had finished construction for seaplane operations and enlarged the atoll’s landing area. Buildings and boats were erected on the nearby Sand Island as well and a 3,600 feet (1,100 m) seaplane landing area was blasted into the coral reef. Flights from Hawaii to Johnston took place as operation training and the Navy further enlarged the area for new constructions. By 1939 civilian constructors had began building on Johnston Island and Sand Island as well and a squadron of airplanes, as well as patrol planes with tender support were stationed their. The dredger lagoon was excavated and used as additional parking area for airplanes, creating a 2,000-foot (610 m) causeway, as well as seaplane landings one 11,000 feet (3,400 m) by 1,000 feet (300 m) and two cross-landings each 7,000 feet (2,100 m) by 800 feet (240 m) and dredged to a depth of 8 feet (2.4 m). Barracks for up to 400 men were build including mess halls and an underground hospital, that would hold out the longest during the later Japanese Invasion. Taken by the Japanese shortly after their victory and capture of Midway to push forward as a base from were to cover the Hawaii Invasion some in the Imperial Japanese Navy Admiralty dreamed about, the Japanese brought their own radio station to replace the damaged American one, repaired the water tanks for self-sufficiency of their local garrison as best as possible and added an additional 10 acres (4.0 hectares) of parking for their fighters and bombers to use Johnston Island and Sand Island in the Johnston Atoll for addition bomber and fighter planes of theirs, including two seaplanes, four midget submarines and further defenses they would build up. Feeling secure that the submerged corals reef in the North and West would be prevented American attacks from the back, they stacked most of their defenses to the east and south of both islands.
In the End Sand Island, targeted by the American Blue Beach and Yellow Number One and Yellow Number Two invasion forces had three covered weapon emplacements, two searchlights, seven additional weapons from guns to artillery, two observation towers, a fire- and communications trench, while Johnston Island had a radar, eight covered weapon emplacements, five observation towers, five searchlights, 18 regular gun and artillery emplacements. Both also had some tents while the Japanese plan for further excavations, Earth covered structures and tank traps of sorts had not been able to be finished before the American counterattack and invasion. This was partly thanks to the constant spy and bombing flights carried out from nearby Hawaii that put the Imperial Japanese Navy Garrison on the Johnston Atoll in an immensely defensive position and only increased as heavy bombing of 180 tons for a week right before the invasions took place. The Johnston Atoll defenses were further pounded by American cruisers, similar to how the IJN had done in Midway before as pre-assault fire support, followed by an intense bombardment by four battleships and four heavy cruisers. In the End the Japanese defense despite some local strong-points and heavy resistance gave in to superior American numbers and firepower, leading to 4,863 Japanese and Korean casualties, as well as 27 captured Japanese and 138 captured Korean soldiers and laborer, as well as 27 planes and 16 tanks being destroyed, most fighters and light tanks. The Americans on the other hand had lost 1,021, especially thanks to grinding close-quarter fights for every inch of the island, a horrifying show of what would come the closer they would truly get to Japan later on. While the Americans quickly tried to rebuild the Johnston Atoll to support their own push deeper into the central Japanese Pacific Defense Perimeter, the Japanese, as before with the Doolittle Raid were concerned that their nearby Navy forces at Midway had not been able to react in time, mostly because local isolated bases lacked the fuel for frequent daily, 360 coverage of the surrounding sea area for massing of enemy fleet and invasion forces. This proved to the Imperial Japanese High Command and their Supreme Commander Yamamoto, that the original plan of a defensive perimeter tactic and strategy that had worked perfectly against the Imperial Russian Navy in the Japanese Sea might be a little to ambitious when scaled up to roughly one quarter of the planet across the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean for the IJN to cover.
Leased by the Territory of Hawaii in 1909 the Johnston Atoll was transformed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’ Executive Order 6935 in 1934, which put control under the 14th Naval District, Pearl Harbor, in order to establish an air station. By 1935 US Navy's Patrol Wing Two had finished construction for seaplane operations and enlarged the atoll’s landing area. Buildings and boats were erected on the nearby Sand Island as well and a 3,600 feet (1,100 m) seaplane landing area was blasted into the coral reef. Flights from Hawaii to Johnston took place as operation training and the Navy further enlarged the area for new constructions. By 1939 civilian constructors had began building on Johnston Island and Sand Island as well and a squadron of airplanes, as well as patrol planes with tender support were stationed their. The dredger lagoon was excavated and used as additional parking area for airplanes, creating a 2,000-foot (610 m) causeway, as well as seaplane landings one 11,000 feet (3,400 m) by 1,000 feet (300 m) and two cross-landings each 7,000 feet (2,100 m) by 800 feet (240 m) and dredged to a depth of 8 feet (2.4 m). Barracks for up to 400 men were build including mess halls and an underground hospital, that would hold out the longest during the later Japanese Invasion. Taken by the Japanese shortly after their victory and capture of Midway to push forward as a base from were to cover the Hawaii Invasion some in the Imperial Japanese Navy Admiralty dreamed about, the Japanese brought their own radio station to replace the damaged American one, repaired the water tanks for self-sufficiency of their local garrison as best as possible and added an additional 10 acres (4.0 hectares) of parking for their fighters and bombers to use Johnston Island and Sand Island in the Johnston Atoll for addition bomber and fighter planes of theirs, including two seaplanes, four midget submarines and further defenses they would build up. Feeling secure that the submerged corals reef in the North and West would be prevented American attacks from the back, they stacked most of their defenses to the east and south of both islands.
In the End Sand Island, targeted by the American Blue Beach and Yellow Number One and Yellow Number Two invasion forces had three covered weapon emplacements, two searchlights, seven additional weapons from guns to artillery, two observation towers, a fire- and communications trench, while Johnston Island had a radar, eight covered weapon emplacements, five observation towers, five searchlights, 18 regular gun and artillery emplacements. Both also had some tents while the Japanese plan for further excavations, Earth covered structures and tank traps of sorts had not been able to be finished before the American counterattack and invasion. This was partly thanks to the constant spy and bombing flights carried out from nearby Hawaii that put the Imperial Japanese Navy Garrison on the Johnston Atoll in an immensely defensive position and only increased as heavy bombing of 180 tons for a week right before the invasions took place. The Johnston Atoll defenses were further pounded by American cruisers, similar to how the IJN had done in Midway before as pre-assault fire support, followed by an intense bombardment by four battleships and four heavy cruisers. In the End the Japanese defense despite some local strong-points and heavy resistance gave in to superior American numbers and firepower, leading to 4,863 Japanese and Korean casualties, as well as 27 captured Japanese and 138 captured Korean soldiers and laborer, as well as 27 planes and 16 tanks being destroyed, most fighters and light tanks. The Americans on the other hand had lost 1,021, especially thanks to grinding close-quarter fights for every inch of the island, a horrifying show of what would come the closer they would truly get to Japan later on. While the Americans quickly tried to rebuild the Johnston Atoll to support their own push deeper into the central Japanese Pacific Defense Perimeter, the Japanese, as before with the Doolittle Raid were concerned that their nearby Navy forces at Midway had not been able to react in time, mostly because local isolated bases lacked the fuel for frequent daily, 360 coverage of the surrounding sea area for massing of enemy fleet and invasion forces. This proved to the Imperial Japanese High Command and their Supreme Commander Yamamoto, that the original plan of a defensive perimeter tactic and strategy that had worked perfectly against the Imperial Russian Navy in the Japanese Sea might be a little to ambitious when scaled up to roughly one quarter of the planet across the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean for the IJN to cover.
Iceland at the moment is still Allied controlled.