Battle of Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima
Part of the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater (World War II)

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken on Mount Suribachi
Date19 February – 26 March 1945
(5 weeks)
Location
Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan
24°47′N 141°19′E / 24.78°N 141.32°E / 24.78; 141.32
Result American victory
Belligerents
 United States  Japan
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength
  • 110,000 (all branches)
  • 500+ ships
  • 20,933[2]
  • (13,586 Army, 7,347 Navy)
Casualties and losses

Main battle phase:[3]
6,821 dead
19,217 wounded
2 captured
2,648 fatigued
137 tanks destroyed[4]
28,698 total

Post-battle phase:[5]
15 killed
144 wounded

Main battle phase:[3]
17,845–18,375 KIA/MIA
216 prisoners

Post-battle phase:[6]
867 prisoners
remainder killed, died, or dispersed[a]

The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.

The Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of tunnels.[b] The American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery and had complete air supremacy provided by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators throughout the battle.[8] The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.

Unique among Pacific War Marine battles, total American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese, with a ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese.[9] Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured only because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled.[c] Most of the remainder were killed in action, but it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within various cave systems on the island after most major fighting ended, until they eventually succumbed to their injuries or surrendered weeks later.[3][6]

The invasion of Iwo Jima was controversial, with retired Chief of Naval Operations William V. Pratt stating that the island was useless to the Army as a staging base and useless to the Navy as a fleet base.[10] The Japanese continued to maintain early-warning radar capabilities on Rota island, which was never invaded by American forces.[11] Experiences with previous Pacific island battles suggested that the island would be well-defended and result in significant casualties. The lessons learned on Iwo Jima served as guidelines for American forces in the Battle of Okinawa two months later, as well as for the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland.

Joe Rosenthal's Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag at the summit of the 169 m (554 ft) Mount Suribachi by six U.S. Marines became a famous image of the battle and the American war effort in the Pacific.[12]

  1. ^ Morison 1960, p. 68.
  2. ^ Garand and Strowbridge, "History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II" vol. IV, "Western Pacific Operations" (1971) p. 458, note 26. Retrieved 2/5/2024. Also see Senshi Sosho vol. 13, "Army Operations in the Central Pacific (pt. 2): Peleliu, Angaur, and Iwo Jima." p. 415 (Japanese)
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Burrell83 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Survey of Allied tank casualties in World War II" Archived 17 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Technical Memorandum ORO-T-117, Department of the Army, Washington D.C.,Table 1.
  5. ^ Robertson, Neimeyer & Nash 2019, p. 39.
  6. ^ a b Toland 2003, p. 669.
  7. ^ Garand & Strobridge 1971, pp. 455–456.
  8. ^ Carriers Hit Tokyo!. Universal Newsreel. 19 March 1945. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  9. ^ Burrell 2006, p. 2006.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Newsweek_Pratt_19450402 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rota was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Landsberg, Mitchell (1995). "Fifty Years Later, Iwo Jima Photographer Fights His Own Battle". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007. Landsberg, Mitchell (1995). "Photographer FiGhts Life-Long Battle Over Famous Flag- Raising Photo". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 6 October 2022.


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