|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Saipan
SAIPANSAIPAN is the northernmost of the southern Mariana Islands and lies 1,270 miles south of Tokyo. In June 1944 it was the most heavily fortified Japanese outpost of the Marianas chain. Saipan figured imporantly in American war plans. Seizing it would bring Tokyo within flying range of the new U.S. Army Air Force B-29 very-long-range bomber. Also, to defend the island the Japanese were expected to dispatch a major fleet and thereby precipitate a sea battle with the U.S. fleet. Overall command of the operation to seize Saipan was given to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean areas. After two days of intense preliminary bombardment, two marine divisions landed at dawn on 15 June 1944, on the eastern coast of the island, and by nightfall had established a defensible beachhead. While the U.S. Fifth Fleet defeated a Japanese carrier task force in the adjacent Philippine Sea on 18–19 June, marine and army units pushed rapidly to the western coast of Saipan and then deployed northward on a three-division front with the army in the center. By 9 July the attacking troops reached the northernmost point of the island, which was then declared secured. Total American casualties came to an estimated 14,111 killed and wounded. Almost all of the Japanese garrison of 30,000 was destroyed. Premier Hideki Tojo and his entire war cabinet resigned immediately. The inner defense line of the Japanese empire had been cracked. BIBLIOGRAPHYCrowl, Philip A. Campaign in the Marianas. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1993. Isely, Jeter A. and Philip A. Crowl. The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War: Its Theory and Its Practice in the Pacific. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1951. Morison, Samuel E. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. VIII. Boston: Little, Brown, 1947–1962. Spector, Ronald H. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan. New York: Free Press, 1985. Philip A.Crowl/a. r. See alsoPhilippine Sea, Battle of the ; Tinian ; World War II ; World War II, Air War Against Japan ; World War II, Navy in . |
|
|
Cite this article
"Saipan." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Saipan." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803692.html "Saipan." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803692.html |
|
Saipan
Saipan , volcanic island (2010 pop. 48,220), 47 sq mi (122 sq km), W Pacific, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands . It is mountainous; the highest peak is Mt. Tagpochau (1,526 ft/465 m). Clothing was the main export, but the industry died (2005–9) after trade quotas were ended. Sugarcane, coffee, citrus fruits, and coconuts are grown, and the island has phosphate and manganese deposits. The main campus of Northern Marianas College is on the island. Saipan, with the other Marianas, was mandated to Japan in 1920 by the League of Nations. In World War II the island (site of a Japanese airbase) was taken by U.S. forces in 1944 and became a base for air attacks on the Japanese mainland. From 1953 to 1962 Saipan was used to train Nationalist Chinese guerrillas for infiltration of the Chinese mainland. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Saipan." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Saipan." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Saipan.html "Saipan." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Saipan.html |
|
Saipan
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands An island under Spanish control between 1565 and 1899 when it passed to the Germans who held it from 1899 to 1914. It was a Japanese mandate in 1920–44 when it was captured by American forces. The name is Micronesian and means ‘Uninhabited’ because the Spanish removed the original inhabitants and the island remained deserted until the 17th century.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saipan." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saipan." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Saipan.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saipan." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Saipan.html |
|
Saipan
Saipan an island of the western Pacific, now part of the Northern Marianas Islands, that was captured from the Japanese by U.S. forces in June 1944 and thereafter used as a base from which to launch attacks against the Japanese mainland.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Saipan." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Saipan." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Saipan.html "Saipan." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Saipan.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
