1. The Battle of Saipan

2. Outline: Thesis Background Why Saipan? Major players on both sides
American vs. Japanese Divisions
June 13-July
Who won?
Significance of the Battle of Saipan
Questions

3. Thesis Statement
The Battle of Saipan was a strategic victory for the United States; using its advanced military arms American troops secured Saipan for future use in World War Two. While there are certainly other islands within range of Japan, Saipan is the one island that is built specifically for boats and planes which contributed to the allied victory.

4. Background Japan Colonizes Saipan 1912
Formally recognized in 1918 by the League of Nations
Japanese immigration in the 1920’s
October 1943: around 20,000 Japanese settlers

5. Why Saipan?
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan” 1

6. Who was involved on the American side?
General Holland M. Smith ( )
Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner ( )
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Smith

7. Who was involved on the Japanese side?
Chuichi Nagumo ( )
Yoshisugu Saito ( )
Takeo Takagi
( )
Sakae Oba
( )

8. Japanese vs. American Divisions
Japanese 30,000 troops
43 Division
47 Independent Mixed Brigade
9 Tank Regiment
American 70,000 troops
2nd Marine Division 
4th Marine Division 
The Army 27th Infantry Division
Marine Artillery Regiments

9. Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan” 3

10. June 15th 6:00: A feint landing was conducted off Tanapag harbor
7:00: Troops in the begin debarking from them in landing vehicles
8:40: Delay in time by ten minutes.
Post 8:40: The Japanese wait until the American’s are in range and then fire mortar shells. Confusion on the shore.
22:00: About 2,000 Japanese started moving south from Garapan
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 3

11. June 16-22
June 16-17: Main Japanese fleet now approaching Saipan, American’s pull supply ships away from Japanese fleet path
June 19: Japanese and American carrier task forces clashed in a gigantic air battle
Japanese lost 330 out of 430 planes launched
June 20: Saito a problem for advancing Marines. “Nightmare” terrain fortified by Japanese soldiers
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 12

12. June 23-30
June 23: Army and Marine forces attempting to get up Mount Tapotchau.
June 24: Japanese walled themselves in caves in the mountain, making it harder for Americans to get higher
June 25: Japanese supplies dwindling
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 21

13. July 2-5
The Japanese were falling back to a final defensive line north of Garapan
Lack of resources more prominent issue for Japanese
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 25

14. July 5-8 General Saito commits suicide
Only pockets of Japanese resistance remain
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 28

15. Who won? The United States on July 9 1944
“Our war was lost with the loss of Saipan” – Japanese Admiral
American
Japanese
Killed in Action
3,225
23,811
Missing in Action
326
Wounded
13,061
Taken Prisoner
736
Chapin, “Breaching the Marianas: the Battle for Saipan,” 36

16. Significance of the Battle of Saipan
Created a new kind of fighting
Offered some fixes to American logistics
Strategic victory for the United States

17. Bibliography
Chapin, John C. Breaching the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan. Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1994.
Ciardi, John. Saipan: The War Diary of John Ciardi. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1988.
Dixon, Boyd, Laura Gilda, and Lon Bulgrin. "The Archaeology of World War II Japanese Stragglers on the Island of Guam and the Bushido Code." Asian Perspectives, 2012,
Jones, Don. Oba: The Last Samurai. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1986.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown, 1947.
Rogal, William W. Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Beyond: A Mud Marine's Memoir of the Pacifc Island War. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2010.