thedrifter
12-22-03, 10:22 AM
Issue Date: December 22, 2003
The Lore of the Corps
Wake defenders repulsed first assault by Japanese
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
Just days after the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Marines defending Wake Atoll accomplished something the Japanese never could during the war: They repulsed an enemy amphibious landing.
It was Dec. 8 on Wake — still Dec. 7 at Pearl Harbor — when the Japanese made their intentions against the tiny island known with a bombing raid that went on for three days. Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion — 450 in all — and approximately 1,000 civilian construction workers on Wake endured continuous air attacks and braced for the inevitable Japanese surface assault.
Steaming toward Wake was Japanese Rear Adm. Sadamichi Kajioka’s invasion force of three cruisers, six destroyers, two destroyer transports, two transports and two submarines. Aboard the ships a substantial landing force prepared for combat.
Buoyed by Japanese successes thus far in the war, Kajioka’s fleet approached Wake confidently. In the predawn hours of Dec. 11, Kajioka positioned his forces offshore as the Wake garrison readied for battle.
Maj. James Devereux, commanding the Marines, passed word that shore batteries were not to fire until he gave the order, and his four F4F Wildcat fighters would wait for his order to take flight. The Japanese began bombarding Wake and set a fuel-dump fire, but caused little other damage.
Meanwhile, the Japanese ships drew closer, infuriating the Marines who waited impatiently for the order to fire. Eventually, Kajioka’s flagship, the cruiser Yubari, drew within 4,500 yards of Wake. Devereux wisely kept his guns silent, lulling the Japanese into a false sense of security.
At 6 a.m., Devereux sprang his trap.
Two 5-inch guns commanded by 1st Lt. Clarence Barninger opened fire on the Yubari. Its first shot missed the cruiser, but the Marines quickly reloaded and slammed four shells into the ship. The Japanese ship fled, belching smoke and fire.
A Japanese destroyer rushed forward to assist the stricken Yubari but was subjected to the same fate as the cruiser. Barninger and Battery A smashed the enemy ship’s forecastle with a 5-inch shell, forcing it to turn toward open sea.
Elsewhere on the island, 2nd Lt. John McAllister and the Marines of L Battery bracketed the destroyer Hayate, hitting the ship with two shells. A secondary explosion broke the destroyer’s back and it went down quickly. Within minutes, Battery L hit another destroyer, a transport and a cruiser, forcing each to withdraw.
A third battery, 1st Lt. Woodrow Kessler’s Battery B, scored a hit against a destroyer at an amazing distance of 10,000 yards. The destroyer pulled away.
With much of his task force ablaze, Kajioka ordered a retreat, but the Wake defenders weren’t finished. Devereux ordered the four Wildcats airborne, and the fighters swooped down upon the fleeing ships. The aircraft, belonging to Marine Fighter Squadron 211, attacked the ships with machine guns and bombs.
Over the course of two hours, the Wildcats flew 10 sorties, further damaging the Japanese ships. The aircraft scored hits on two cruisers, a destroyer, a destroyer transport and a transport. Capt. Hank Elrod, who later would die in the campaign and be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, placed two bombs into the already burning destroyer Kisaragi. The ship slipped beneath the waves in minutes.
A Japanese bombing raid of 30 aircraft later that day also met with little success. Three enemy aircraft went down before the guns of VMF-211 pilots, anti-aircraft crews on the island shot another out of the sky, and three aircraft flew away trailing smoke.
During the battle, the Japanese suffered two destroyers sunk, six others heavily damaged and the cruiser Yubari was forced to return to Japan. Japanese personnel losses were conservatively estimated at 700 dead. American losses were four slightly wounded Marines.
Japanese troops at last stormed the island Dec. 23. Despite taking heavy casualties, Japanese forces wrested control of Wake from its vastly outnumbered defenders. Devereux, his Marines and the surviving civilians would spend nearly four years in captivity.
The writer is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-1553967.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
The Lore of the Corps
Wake defenders repulsed first assault by Japanese
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
Just days after the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Marines defending Wake Atoll accomplished something the Japanese never could during the war: They repulsed an enemy amphibious landing.
It was Dec. 8 on Wake — still Dec. 7 at Pearl Harbor — when the Japanese made their intentions against the tiny island known with a bombing raid that went on for three days. Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion — 450 in all — and approximately 1,000 civilian construction workers on Wake endured continuous air attacks and braced for the inevitable Japanese surface assault.
Steaming toward Wake was Japanese Rear Adm. Sadamichi Kajioka’s invasion force of three cruisers, six destroyers, two destroyer transports, two transports and two submarines. Aboard the ships a substantial landing force prepared for combat.
Buoyed by Japanese successes thus far in the war, Kajioka’s fleet approached Wake confidently. In the predawn hours of Dec. 11, Kajioka positioned his forces offshore as the Wake garrison readied for battle.
Maj. James Devereux, commanding the Marines, passed word that shore batteries were not to fire until he gave the order, and his four F4F Wildcat fighters would wait for his order to take flight. The Japanese began bombarding Wake and set a fuel-dump fire, but caused little other damage.
Meanwhile, the Japanese ships drew closer, infuriating the Marines who waited impatiently for the order to fire. Eventually, Kajioka’s flagship, the cruiser Yubari, drew within 4,500 yards of Wake. Devereux wisely kept his guns silent, lulling the Japanese into a false sense of security.
At 6 a.m., Devereux sprang his trap.
Two 5-inch guns commanded by 1st Lt. Clarence Barninger opened fire on the Yubari. Its first shot missed the cruiser, but the Marines quickly reloaded and slammed four shells into the ship. The Japanese ship fled, belching smoke and fire.
A Japanese destroyer rushed forward to assist the stricken Yubari but was subjected to the same fate as the cruiser. Barninger and Battery A smashed the enemy ship’s forecastle with a 5-inch shell, forcing it to turn toward open sea.
Elsewhere on the island, 2nd Lt. John McAllister and the Marines of L Battery bracketed the destroyer Hayate, hitting the ship with two shells. A secondary explosion broke the destroyer’s back and it went down quickly. Within minutes, Battery L hit another destroyer, a transport and a cruiser, forcing each to withdraw.
A third battery, 1st Lt. Woodrow Kessler’s Battery B, scored a hit against a destroyer at an amazing distance of 10,000 yards. The destroyer pulled away.
With much of his task force ablaze, Kajioka ordered a retreat, but the Wake defenders weren’t finished. Devereux ordered the four Wildcats airborne, and the fighters swooped down upon the fleeing ships. The aircraft, belonging to Marine Fighter Squadron 211, attacked the ships with machine guns and bombs.
Over the course of two hours, the Wildcats flew 10 sorties, further damaging the Japanese ships. The aircraft scored hits on two cruisers, a destroyer, a destroyer transport and a transport. Capt. Hank Elrod, who later would die in the campaign and be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, placed two bombs into the already burning destroyer Kisaragi. The ship slipped beneath the waves in minutes.
A Japanese bombing raid of 30 aircraft later that day also met with little success. Three enemy aircraft went down before the guns of VMF-211 pilots, anti-aircraft crews on the island shot another out of the sky, and three aircraft flew away trailing smoke.
During the battle, the Japanese suffered two destroyers sunk, six others heavily damaged and the cruiser Yubari was forced to return to Japan. Japanese personnel losses were conservatively estimated at 700 dead. American losses were four slightly wounded Marines.
Japanese troops at last stormed the island Dec. 23. Despite taking heavy casualties, Japanese forces wrested control of Wake from its vastly outnumbered defenders. Devereux, his Marines and the surviving civilians would spend nearly four years in captivity.
The writer is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-1553967.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: