Battle of Wake Island

Two more air raids followed in the following days. The main camp was targeted on 9 December, destroying the civilian hospital and the Pan Am air facility. The next day, enemy bombers focused on outlying Wilkes Island. Following the raid on 9 December, the four antiaircraft guns had been relocated in case the Japanese had photographed the positions. Wooden replicas were erected in their place, and the Japanese bombers attacked the decoy positions. A lucky strike on a civilian dynamite supply set off a chain reaction and destroyed the munitions for the guns on Wilkes.[22]

Late on the night of 10 December 1941 the submarine USS Triton operating south of Wake, fired 4 torpedoes at what is thought to be Japanese destroyer in the landing invasion fleet destroyer picket line that was going to arrive at Wake that morning of the 11th.^[25]

After an unsuccessful Japanese landing attempt on 11 December, there would be air raids most days by G3M "Nells" and/or flying boats, with the F4F Wildcats and anti-aircraft batteries trying to defend. Meanwhile, back at Pearl Harbor a plan was developed to resupply Wake and evacuate the civilian contractors.^[26]

First landing attempt (December 11)

Early on the morning of 11 December, the garrison, with the support of the four remaining Wildcats, repelled the first Japanese landing attempt by the

The Japanese invasion fleet for the 11 December assault included the light cruisers

In the early morning hours of 11 December the Japanese fleet moved with in range and began shelling the island around 6 a.m. The island was already on alert by morning because Cunningham had been informed the Japanese were trying to jam radio communication during the night. Prior to the landing assault, Cunningham had been working with Pearl to try to get the civilians away, but of course Pearl Harbor had lost so many ships in the Pearl Harbor attack that there were fewer resources available for a relief mission. Because of the concern over radio jamming, Wake was able to send up four serviceable F4F Wildcats on patrol before the invasion fleet arrived.[25]

After Japanese ships were spotted Commander Cunningham ordered that the guns hold fire until they got into closer range.^[27] The US Marines began firing at the invasion fleet with their six 5-inch (127 mm) coast-defense guns as they approached the island.^[28]

"Battery L", on Peale islet, sank Hayate at a distance of 4,000 yd (3,700 m) with at least two direct hits to her magazines, causing her to explode and sink within two minutes, in full view of the defenders on shore. Battery A claimed to have hit Yubari several times, but her action report makes no mention of any damage.^[2] The four Wildcats also succeeded in sinking the destroyer Kisaragi by dropping a bomb on her stern, where the depth charges were stored, although some also suggest the bomb hitting elsewhere and an explosion amidships.^[29][30] Two destroyers were thus lost with nearly all hands (there was only one survivor, from Hayate), with Hayate becoming the first Japanese surface warship to be sunk in the war. The Japanese recorded 407 casualties during the first attempt.^[2] The Japanese force withdrew without landing, suffering their first setback of the war against the Americans.

Later in the day, the Japanese conducted an air raid of 17 G3M2 "Nell" bombers, of which, between the defending F4F Wildcats and anti-aircraft, they claimed 2 shot down and 11 damaged. The invasion fleet returned to the Japense-controlled Marshall Islands, and preparations for the Wake relief mission continued in Hawaii. During the battle, one Wildcat had been hit by fire, which, although landing safely, rendered it unserviceable. This left three Wildcats available for air patrols.^[25]

After the initial raid was fought off, American news media reported that, when queried about reinforcement and resupply, Commander Cunningham was reported to have quipped, "Send us more Japs!" In fact, Cunningham sent a long list of critical equipment—including

The next day, 12 December 1941, began with a bombing raid by Kawanishi H6K Type 97 "Mavis" which was shot down by a Wildcat; later in the day, 26 G3M2 "Nell" attacked. Wake defenders shot down one Nell and damaged four, although there was some damage to a building and an AA gun. News of the battle reached the USA mainland, which unfortunately broadcast in new reports that the garrison on Wake island was "very small"; on Wake they could hear this broadcast, which was a bit disconcerting that their size was revealed, and there was no resupply yet.^[32]

A Wake resupply mission was under planning but was held back by the availability of ships. Finally, a Navy War planning officer made a breakthrough; they realized that if they converted a seaplane tender (which was available) and the people on Wake took no possessions, they could squeeze everyone into it, even 1500 people. So work to prepare the seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8), which had survived the Pearl Harbor attack, got underway in Hawaii. A way to provide air and sea protection for the transport would have to be worked out, though.^[32]

PBY visit and carrier strike (December 20–21)

A PBY Catalina flying boat arrived on December 20, 1941, with a delivery of mail, and when it left, one marine was sent away on orders because he was required on Midway, thus, Lt. Colonel Bayler became the last person to leave Wake Island before its loss.^[33] The PBY Catalina was very exciting for the military and civilians on the island, especially those hoping for an evacuation; indeed, the PBY carried secret orders to begin the evacuation of civilians. The orders for the Wake commander were to prepare most of the contractors for evacuation and also to let him know what equipment was going to be supplied by the relief mission, such as a radar, ammunition, and additional personnel. This also allowed the Wake Island staff to provide a detailed account and paperwork for the battle that had been occurring. The PBY was refueled and took off the next morning of December 21, 1941, with one additional passenger.^[34]

The Japanese intercepted radio transmissions from the PBY, which caused them to move the second landing attempt forward one day. On the morning of 21 December, the second and larger invasion fleet departed their base in the Marshalls, and the carrier group accelerated. The carrier group came within range of Wake on December 21, 1941.^[34]

On December 21, 49 aircraft attacked Wake, striking from a Japanese carrier group consisting of the Hiryu and Soryu .^[35] After the raid, a F4F Wildcat was launched to try to follow the carrier planes back to their base, and the Wake commander also notified Pearl of the attack. There was an additional air raid later that day, with 33 G3M2 Nells striking Wake, and this killed a platoon sergeant and wounded several others; these came from the Japanese base on Roi.^[34]

On December 22, a carrier air raid from the Hiyru and Soryu consisting of 39 planes arrived. The Wildcats defended, and in the ensuing air battle, both were shot down, with one just making it back to base and the other was not heard from. Interestingly, the Japanese admiral Abe of the carrier group was impressed by the courage of two Marine pilots and made a note of this.^[34]

Meanwhile, back at Pearl, Commander Pye was also impressed by the brave defense, who had gotten the reports from the PBY visit. This increased the Americans resolve to rescue Wake even if it meant risking the Tangier. The idea would be to send the Tangier in with two destroyers to do the relief mission. Further out to sea the two carrier groups would support the operation. However, it was a race against time, as the Japanese fleet would arrive the morning of the 23 December 1941.^[34]

During this time, there was a US Naval force on the way that was going to resupply Wake on December 24, but it did not work as planned as the Japanese 2nd wave took the island on December 23 before this could take place.^[35]  American and Japanese dead from the fighting between December 8 and 23 were buried on the island even before the last stand on 23 December.^[36]

Second assault (December 23)

The initial resistance offered by the garrison prompted the

Japanese losses were 144 casualties, 140 SNLF and Army casualties with another 4 aboard ships.[3] At least 28 land-based and carrier aircraft were also either shot down or damaged.

The only Marine to escape capture or death on Wake Island was Lieut. Col. Walter Bayler who departed on a United States Navy PBY Catalina on 20 December. He was therefore able to provide an accurate recounting of the actual happenings on Wake Island to the press and people of America, while also providing photos and maps of the island. He was also published in a nationwide magazine about the attack. The only reason Bayler was able to leave Wake Island was because he was a radio technician, and thus his services and abilities were greatly needed elsewhere. Therefore, he left in the only plane that was available.^[40]

Surrender and aftermath

After the American surrender of Wake on 23 December, the military and civilian POWs were processed by the Japanese. All but about 350-360 were sent away on the Nita Maru on January 12, 1942, with 5 of those being executed en route. In late February, there was the first raid on Wake by the US which consisted of a shore bombardment, some air raids on the 23 and 24 of February, and a fight with Japanese patrol boats.^[41] Between January and November 45 POWs died from various causes. On May 10, 1942, one POW was executed. On May 11, 1942, 20 more POW, including the last military POW were shipped to China on the Asama Maru. In September 1942, 265 were shipped away, this left 98 POWs on the island, which were executed in October 1943. Sakaibara arrived by aircraft to command Wake starting in December 1942.^[42]

Ro-60, a Japanese submarine that had participated in the battle but was damaged by an air attack and could no longer submerge, crashed on a reef going back to base on December 29, 1941. All 66 crew members were rescued, but the submarine had to be abandoned there.^[43]

Nita Maru voyage

At the end of the battle on December 23, 1,603 people, of whom 1,150 were civilians, were taken prisoner. Three weeks later, all but roughly 350-360 were taken to Japanese prisoner of war camps in Asia aboard the Nita Maru (later renamed Chūyō). Many of those that stayed were those that were too badly wounded, and some were civilian contractors that knew how to operate the machinery on the island. One source for the prisoner of war experience on Wake were the accounts in the commanding officer logs for Wilcox and Russel.^[42] The Nita Maru brought supplies and 500 additional Japanese troops to Wake on 12 January 1942. The POWs were separated; about 20 stayed at the hospital due to injuries; about 367 stayed on Wake due to their construction experience; and over 1230 were put on the ship. The prisoners on the ship were under the authority of Toshio Saito, and the ship was noted as a "hell ship" for the POWs. Saito encouraged cruel treatment, and the POWs were given too little food and water in unsanitary conditions in the ship's holds, and were systematically beaten and tormented. On 17 January the ship arrived in Japan, where the POWs were displayed to the Japanese press. On 20 January 1942, it went on a voyage to the prisoner of war camp in Japanese occupied China. Admiral Kajioka had refused a request by an officer to execute some of the POWs, but this officer persisted and went to Saito directly to execute some of them on the voyage. On 22 January 1941, Saito carried out the execution of the Wake POWs.^[44]

The Nita Maru had been a Japanese military transport since February 1941. She made a few voyages, including one transferring roughly 1,200 American

Those POWs arrived in Shanghai and were transported by train to Woosung, where they spent several years. In 1945, they were taken by train to Manchuria, then Japan, to work in a coal mine. Finally, the war ended, and they were taken to a camp near Tokyo as ordered by the US. One of the last of Wake POWs to die before repatriation was hit by a container of supplies dropped on the camp by aircraft trying to get food and aid to them. From Japan, they were taken to Guam for processing, medically recovering, and then return home.^[46]

Additional events

In September 1942, another 265 were taken off Wake aboard the Tachibana Maru, including Wilcox and Russel; not including those that had died or been executed, that left 98 on the island.^[42] In addition, between January and November 1942, there were 45 deaths. This included some that were quite old, including a WW1 veteran.^[42]

In July 1943, a prisoner of war was executed for stealing food, as ordered by Sakaibara; however, the identity of this POW is unknown. On October 7, 1943, the prisoners of war were executed on order of Sakaibara. They were marched into an anti-tank ditch and executed by machine gun fire.^[42] At the end of the war, the Japanese garrison surrendered and said the POWs had been killed in a bombing attack; however, that story broke down when some of the officers wrote notes explaining the true story, and Sakaibara confessed to the mass execution.^[42] (For further information, see the Japanese occupation section below.)

USN relief plans and operations

Admiral

Saratoga arrived at Pearl on 15 December 1941, refueled, and departed for Wake Island the following day. The ship was assigned to Task Force (TF) 14 under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher; VF-3 had been reinforced by two additional Wildcats picked up in Hawaii, but one SBD had been forced to ditch on 11 December.^[50] USS Saratoga rendezvoused with the seaplane tender Tangier, carrying reinforcements and supplies, and the slow replenishment oiler Neches. Saratoga's task force was delayed by the necessity to refuel its escorting destroyers on 21 December, before reaching the island. This process was prolonged by heavy weather, although the task force could still reach Wake by 24 December as scheduled. After receiving reports of heavy Japanese carrier airstrikes, and then troop landings, TF 14 was recalled on 23 December, the day Wake was captured by the Japanese. On the return voyage, Saratoga delivered VMF-221 to Midway on 25 December 1941. The ship arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 29 December 1941 and Fletcher was replaced as commander of Task Force 14 by Rear Admiral Herbert F. Leary the following day. Leary made Saratoga his flagship and Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch was transferred to a shore command that same day. The task force put to sea on 31 December and patrolled in the vicinity of Midway.^[51]

Because it was earlier in WW2, many of the ships involved in the Battle for Wake did not survive through the war; on the Japanese side, only the Japanese seaplane tender Kiyokawa Maru and Ro-62 made it to the end of the war. Many of the US vessels played important roles in future battles such as the

There were two Tambor-class U.S. submarines on patrol near Wake at the start of the battle, and at least six Japanese submarines participated. The Japanese ultimately lost two submarines in the operation, but not as a direct result of enemy action. Two Japanese submarines collided with each other, sinking one, and another crashed into a reef trying to get back to base after the battle. One US submarine engaged one Japanese vessel to no effect the night of 10 December. (See also Mark 14 torpedo )

The US Submarines were its new fleet submarines, and the Japanese had three on patrol Ro-65, 66, and 67. They then swapped out those three part way through the battle for Ro-60, 61, and 62. They were supported from Japanese base in the Marshall Islands and the submarine tender Jingei. Ro-66 was sunk in collision and Ro-60 damaged during the battle, collided with a reef but Jingei was able to rescue all hands before it sunk.

U.S. submarine actions

Prior to and at the start of hostilities, the waters around Wake were patrolled by two USN submarines, the USS Triton and the USS Tambor.^[55] Prior to the battle, a USS Triton crew member became sick and was dropped off at Wake Island on December 1, 1941. They became prisoners of war at the conclusion of the battle and survived WWII.^[56] 

Assigned to Submarine Division 62,^[57] Triton made a training cruise to Midway from 30 August to 15 September, then participated in local and fleet operations in the Hawaiian area. On 19 November, the submarine headed west to conduct a practice war patrol and arrived off Wake Island on 26 November 1941. On 8 December, she saw columns of smoke rising over the island but assumed it was caused by construction work being done ashore. That night, when she surfaced to charge her batteries, she was informed by radio Wake that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and was ordered to stay out of range of Wake's guns. The next morning, Triton observed the Japanese bombing the island. On the night of 10 December, she surfaced and was charging her batteries when flashes of light from Wake revealed a destroyer or light cruiser on a parallel course. The submarine was silhouetted against the moon, and the enemy ship turned towards her. Triton went deep and began evasive action. When the Japanese ship slowed astern, the submarine came to 120 feet (37 m) and fired four stern torpedoes—the first American torpedoes shot during World War II—on sonar bearings.^[58] She heard a dull explosion 58 seconds later and believed one had hit the target, then went to 175 feet (53 m) and cleared the area. (No sinking was recorded, and she was not credited with one.)^[59] After their initial repulse on 11 December, the Japanese returned with two aircraft carriers, Hiryū and Sōryū; Triton was not informed,^[60] and made no attacks on them. Neither did she make any effort to evacuate people from Wake.^[60] On 21 December, the submarine was ordered to return to Hawaii, and she arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 31 December 1941.

The USS Tambor was on the USN's new fleet submarines when it was commissioned in June 1940, and was on a peacetime patrol near Wake Island when war broke out. It was on patrol near Wake until it had an engine failure and had to go back to port. It had to be repaired and did not return service until early 1942.^[61] It was able to observe the Japanese invasion fleet on 10 December 1941, bombarding Wake and its subsequent withdrawal south; however, the Tambor did not pursue them as this was in Triton's patrol area so it headed north.^[62] The submarine USS Tambor had to return to its home port in Hawaii in mid-December due to mechanical difficulties and did not have any combat engagements.^[63]

Japanese submarine actions

On 6 December 1941, Ro-66 got underway from Kwajalein with the commander of Submarine Squadron 27 embarked to conduct a reconnaissance of Wake Island,^[64] which the Japanese planned to invade on 8 December 1941, the first day of the war on Wake Island's side of the International Date Line. The Battle of Wake Island began on 8 December 1941, with Ro-65, Ro-66, and Ro-67 patrolling in the area supporting Japanese forces attempting to seize the atoll.^[64] United States Marine Corps forces defending Wake drove back the initial Japanese assault December 11.^[64]

While the Japanese gathered reinforcements for a second and larger invasion of the island, Submarine Squadron 7 sent orders to all three submarines of Submarine Division 27 on 12 December 1941 directing them to return to Kwajalein.^[64] Accordingly, Ro-65 and Ro-67 headed back to Kwajalein, but a radio failure prevented Ro-66 from receiving the orders despite three attempts by Submarine Squadron 7 to contact her.^[64] Consequently, she continued to patrol off Wake Island^[64] as the submarines of Submarine Division 26 — Ro-60, Ro-61,and Ro-62 — arrived in the area to relieve the departing submarines.^[65][66][67]

Ro-66 was on the surface 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) southwest of Wake Island — bearing 252 degrees from the atoll — to recharge her batteries in a heavy squall in the predawn darkness of 17 December 1941 when her lookouts suddenly sighted Ro-62, also on the surface and recharging batteries.^[68][64][67] Both submarines attempted to back off, but it was too late to avoid a collision, and Ro-62 rammed Ro-66 at 20:20 Japan Standard Time.^[64][67] Ro-66 sank at 19°10′N 166°28′E / 19.167°N 166.467°E / 19.167; 166.467 (Ro-66)^[68] with the loss of 63 lives, including that of the commander of Submarine Division 27.^[68][64][67] Ro-62 rescued her three survivors, who had been thrown overboard from her bridge by the collision.^[68][64][67]

Ro-60 was with the other submarines of Submarine Division 26 — Ro-61 and Ro-62 — at Kwajalein when Japan entered World War II on 8 December 1941, Kwajalein time.^[69] The three submarines were placed on "standby alert" that day as United States Marine Corps forces on Wake Island threw back the first Japanese attempt to invade the atoll.^[69] On 12 December 1941, Ro-60 and Ro-61 got underway from Kwajalein to support a second, heavily reinforced Japanese attempt to invade Wake Island;^[69][70] Ro-62 followed on 14 December 1941.^[71]

Ro-60 was on the surface 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) southwest of Wake at around 16:00 local time on 21 December 1941 when a U.S. Marine Corps

Fearing an imminent invasion, the Japanese reinforced Wake Island with more formidable defenses. The American captives were ordered to build a series of bunkers and fortifications on Wake. The Japanese brought in four 8-inch (200 mm) naval guns, which are often incorrectly

The Japanese used the POWs to build over 200 coral and concrete bunkers, pillboxes, revetments, and other fortifications such as coral revetments for aircraft.^[12]

From June 1942 to July 1943, there were many B-24 raids and photographic recon missions were launched from Midway to Wake, often resulting in air battles between Zero's and bombers. For example, on 15 May 1943, a raid of 7 B-24s made it Wake to be intercepted by 22 Zero's, with allies losing 1 B-24 and claiming four kills. In July 1943, a B-24 strike target the few depot losing another B-24 when intercepted by 20-30 Zero's. The last raid from Midway was in July 1943. The next large strike was combination of naval bombardment and carrier strike aircraft in the fateful October 1943 raids. In 1944, Wake was bombed by PB2Y Coronado flying boats operating from Midway to stop Wake from supporting the battle for the Marshall Islands. Once the Kwajalein was taken, Wake was attacked from the newly won base with B-24 raids. This continued until October 1944, thereafter Wake was only bombed a few more times by carrier strike groups usually heading west.^[75]

In context, there were much larger Japanese military bases in the Pacific, including over 100 thousand troops stationed in Rabaul by 1943. It was captured by Japanese forces in January 1942 and turned into a large sea and air base.^[76] In addition, they had bases to the south in the Marshall Islands and also west of Wake in Micronesia.^[77] The allies had a surprising victory in the Battle of Midway in June 1942; however, the war dragged on for several more years as the Japanese had heavily defended islands throughout the Pacific and a large number of vessels.^[78] A decision to take an island had to be taken carefully, as the battles could be extraordinarily costly, with many thousands perishing in battles for remote islands such as the Battle of Tarawa or the Battle of Iwo Jima. So many small islands or atolls were bypassed, like Wake, including Minami Tori Shima ("Southern Bird Island"  aka Marcus Island). It was a remote island to the northwest of Wake, with a small Japanese military base that was bombed but not landed upon.^[79] However, unlike Wake, Marcus (Minami Tori Shima) island had a working submarine port, which enabled it to be supplied by submarines even late in the war.^[80] (see also Japanese submarine Ha-104)  

In early 1944, Wake was largely cut off from resupply because the Allies Pacific campaign had moved past Wake, in particular, the Japanese base to the south in the Marshall Islands that had been resupplying Wake was captured in January 1944. By May 1944 the Japanese forces on Wake began rationing food, and the rationing became progressively more strict. Fishing, growing vegetables, bird eggs, and rats were important food supplies at this time, and sometimes tens of thousands of rats were eaten to stave off starvation.^[77] Their main resupply base was taken in the Allied Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, which created a supply issue for the garrison. The Japanese attempted resupply by submarine, but it was difficult to get supplies ashore.^[77]

In June 1945 the Japanese hospital ship Takasago Maru was allowed to visit Wake Island, and it departed with 974 patients. It was boarded and checked both before and after the visit to confirm it was not carrying contraband, and the number of patients was confirmed; 974 Japanese were taken off Wake. On the way to Wake, it was stopped by the USS Murray (DD-576) and on the way back from the Wake it was stopped by USS McDermut II (DD-677) to confirm it was carrying the patients.^[81] The condition was recorded first hand by the McDermut II, which reported that about 15% troops that were evacuated by the Japanese were extremely sick.^[82] The occupation is believed to have resulted in the extinction of a small flightless bird unique to the atoll, the