Why the need to take Tarawa Island during WWII?

Question

I understand Iwo Jima, maybe we needed the airstrip but Tarawa? Who needed it? Couldn't we just have ignored it until after Japan surrendered? What logical reason for sending all those G.I.s to their death?

Answer 1

In order to set up forward air bases capable of supporting operations across the mid-Pacific, the Philippines, and into Japan itself, the US needed to take the Marianas Islands. The Marianas were heavily defended, and in order for attacks against them to succeed, land-based bombers would have to be used to "soften up" the defenses. However, the nearest islands capable of supporting such an effort were the Marshall Islands, northeast of Guadalcanal. Taking the Marshalls would provide the base needed to launch an offensive on the Marianas, but the Marshalls were cut off from direct communications with Hawaii by a garrison on the small island of Betio, on the western side of Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Thus, to eventually launch an invasion of the Marianas, the battles had to start far to the east, at Tarawa.

Answer 2

Tarawa is still a very controversial issue up to this day. Some historians consider it as vital part of the island "hopping" operations in the Pacific because of its location. But other historians argue that Tarawa was a strategic mistake, because of the massive loss of American lives involved in taking the island. Tarawa is a heavily defended Japanese enclave. Skipping the island would indeed save American blood, as there are also nearby islands which are not so heavily defended that would have been better alternative landing points. But as with all known controversial military decisions in history, the outrage came after the fact happened and not before it. During the planning stage of the island-hopping operations, all of the Pacific commanders unanimously agreed on the execution of the plan. Nobody raised any issue against landing at Tarawa during the planning. It was only during the aftermath of Tarawa's horrendous results did military commanders started to point accusing fingers on one another in trying to evade their own share of responsibility for the heavy loss.

Just like the ongoing war in Iraq. Is the Iraq war an American strategic mistake?. At this time, nobody knows the answer. The answer will only be clear 10 or 20 years from now, when future historians would be looking back in analyzing this war in retrospect. In the same way, was Hitler's declaration of war against the U.S. or his invasion of Russia a strategic mistake for Germany?. Now we all know that both were strategic mistakes but nobody knew the answer back then, when Hitler was still pondering on those decisions.

Answer 3

Roadwarroior and WWD have good points, especially about the range of planes in 1943...it was thought Tarawa would be a point for the Japanese to attack the fleet as it moved west.....a few other points

GIs usually refers to the Army. Tarawa was taken by the United States Marines.

Tarawa was the first landing by American troops against a defended beachhead. We went in to make hundreds of landings in the Pacific and never were pushed off......but Tarawa was the first; tactics, strategy and equipment was still being invented at the landings.......example, the landing craft were prototypes, and not enough of them; the Navy, having no experience, vastly underestimated the effects of it's pre landing shore bombardment; most importantly, few people had any experience in that part of the Pacific, and they badly mis guessed the tide; the landings went in at low tide and the Marines had to wade across 1000 yards of reef into entrenched Japanese Marines fire.......and the Japanese Marines were a pretty good force...it wasn't til the tide came up and landing craft could drop troops right on the beach and the destroyers and Maryland come into point blank range that the "issue was no longer in doubt"

Answer 4

Actually Iwo jima was only an auxiliary field for disabled bombers.
Actually they took off from places like Tarawa and Saipan.

Answer 5

at the time there was 3 strategic targets close together that needed to be taken from large numbers of jap troops tarawa guam and iwo. these were badly needed to help our boys win by using superior air power. these islands were thought to be objectives needed to attack tokyo. also meant to demoralize the far superior numers of japs in the area.

Answer 6

The stepping-stones across the Pacific were basically dictated by the range of the aircraft of the time. That is a big ocean, and aircraft technology was not close to what it is now.

Answer 7

let it go old man. let it go.