Japanese invasion of Davao

Japanese Invasion of Davao
	Part of the Pacific Theater
Date	19–25 December 1941
Location	Davao City, Davao,& Jolo, Philippines
Result	Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	United States Philippines;
Commanders and leaders
Tanaka Raizo; Sakaguchi Shizuu; Muira Toshio	Joseph Vachon; Roger Hilsman; Frank McGee; Alvin T. Wilson; Francisco Torres; Gregorio Ferreol; Nicolas Gabutina Luis Jakosalem
Units involved
Ground units: ; Japanese Fourteenth Army Sakaguchi detachment 146th Infantry Regiment; Armored Detachment; Artillery Batteries; ; Muira detachment 1/33rd Infantry; ; Naval units: ; Japanese Imperial Navy 2nd Fleet; 11th Air Fleet; Kure Special Naval Landing Force;	Ground units: ; Philippine Commonwealth Army 2nd Battalion 101st Infantry; 2nd Battalion 82nd Infantry; Civilian Home Volunteers; Philippine Constabulary Davao PC Battalion; Air units: ; US Army Air Corps 28th US Bombardment Squadron;
Strength
6,500	2,000
Casualties and losses
700	1,000 2 PBY Seaplanes

The Japanese Invasion of Davao (

Legaspi, Davao, and Jolo over the next few days^[1]

Disposition of forces

Kure SNLF, who has just completed their mission to secure Legaspi.^[1]

The area of Davao was in theory defended by 2,000 men of the

Philippine Commonwealth Army’s 2nd Battalion 101st Infantry, 2nd Battalion 82nd Infantry

, and PC Battalion of Davao commanded by Lt Col Roger B. Hilsman. As with other units in the Philippine Army, the force was only partially trained, and suffered from a serious shortage of equipment, no artillery pieces, and limited ammunition.

Davao was of concern to the

Consolidated PBYs were in the harbor. Unaware of this, on 8 December the Japanese launched an attack on Davao, with 13 B5N1 bombers and 9 A5M4 fighters launched from the aircraft carrier Ryūjō, with the destroyers Hayashio, Kuroshio, Oyashio and Natsushio making a high speed run for the entrance to Davao harbor to catch any escaping vessels. The raid was somewhat of a fiasco, as the Japanese pilots did not even recognize William B. Preston as a warship and only managed to destroy two of her PBY-4s (the other was away on a mission at the time).^[2]

Landing and aftermath

The Japanese invasion force under the overall command of admiral

Raizo Tanaka departed Palau on 17 December in 5 transports, escorted by the light cruiser Jintsu and six destroyers (Amatsukaze, Hatsukaze, Kuroshio, Oyashio, Hayashio and Natsushio), with the aircraft carrier Ryūjō and the seaplane carrier Chitose, and the cruisers Nachi, Haguro and Myōkō providing distant cover.^[2]

On the afternoon of 19 December, Ryūjō launched aircraft to destroy the radio station at Cape San Augustin, and the Chitose launched reconnaissance aircraft, which flew over Davao.

The Japanese transports arrived at Davao by midnight, and landing commenced from 0400 hours, with the Miura Detachment landing to the north, and the Sakaguchi Detachment landing to the southwest of the city. The only opposition was a single machine gun squad, which attacked the Miura Detachment before it was destroyed by a direct hit by a shell fired from a Japanese destroyer. However, since the Miura Detachment suffered casualties, Sakaguchi was forced to commit reserve forces he was holding back for the Jolo portion of the operation. By 1030, Col Hilsmen pulled his men out of the city northwest into the hills. By 1500 hours, the city and airfield were in Japanese hands, and by evening a seaplane base was established to the south of the urban area. On 20 December, as Sakaguchi was reorganizing his forces into nine transports for the landing on Jolo Island, he was attacked by a force of nine

Darwin, Australia. Visibility was poor, and the bombers caused little damage. The Jolo invasion force departed Davao of 23 December, reaching its destination on the afternoon 24 December.^[1]

Jolo, the capital of the former Sultanate of Sulu, was defended by only 300 members of the Philippine Constabulary. The Japanese landed on the morning of 25 December with no resistance.

Consequences

The advance landings by the Japanese in southern Mindanao and the Sulu island marked further success for them in the overall campaign in the Philippines, and helped secure the region for their invasion of Borneo and further expansions in 1942 such as to the Netherlands East Indies.^[1] Davao Force retreated towards Bukidnon on Jungle trails for 14 days before reaching Malaybalay with just eating monkey meat and vegetables.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The First Landings". Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^
ISBN 1299324614
.

^ The Fall of the Philippines-Chapter 28. Center of Military History United States Army Washington, D.C.

v t e Imperial Japanese surprise attacks and battles of December 1941
Topics	Attack on Pearl Harbor Battle of Hong Kong Battle of Guam (1941) Battle of Wake Island First Bombardment of Midway Shelling of Johnston and Palmyra Invasion of Gilbert Islands Bombing of Rangoon (Burma) Japanese invasion of Thailand (Battle of Prachuap Khiri Khan) Invasion of Borneo
Philippines	Attack on Clark and Iba Fields Japanese invasion of Aparri Japanese invasion of Batan Island Japanese invasion of Davao Japanese invasion of Lamon Bay Japanese invasion of Legazpi Japanese invasion of Lingayen Gulf Japanese invasion of Vigan
Malaya	Battle of Gurun Battle of Jitra Battle of Kampar Battle of Kota Bharu Battle of Kuala Lumpur Bombing of Singapore (1941) Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse
Related	Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire Day of Infamy speech Philippines campaign (1941–1942) Malayan campaign Battle of Changsha (1941–1942) Dutch East Indies campaign List of shipwrecks in December 1941 USS Wake capture HMS Peterel sunk Invasion of Shanghai International Settlement

Disposition of forces

Landing and aftermath

Consequences

References

See also