About at the same moment as the Normandie landing is happening, the USA launched an attack on the Mariannas. The japanese officers thought that the next step of Nimitz would be the conquest of the Carolines and especially Truk but Nimitz continues on his axis and goes directly to the Mariannas, leaving the Carolines (Truk and Ponape) between him and Halsey and leaving the big base of Truk to his special harassing force.
February 17th 1944 admiral Spruance comes near Truk to harass the island with his 9 carriers, 6 battleships, 10 cruisers and 28 destroyers. Mitscher send his airplanes and they makes 1250 flights to harass the japanese ships and they sink the cruiser Agano, 3 destroyers, 7 auxiliary ships, 6 tankers, 17 marchant transports and 260 aircrafts. During that time Spruance with his battleships and cruisers goes around the island and surprises the cruiser Katori and the destroyer Maikaze which they sink. This operation, called Hailstone, cost the Americans only 35 airplanes and one torpedo hits the carrier Intrepid.
The Task Force 58 continues its harassment and raids the Palaos and Yap bases (where the combined fleet is taking refuge). The combined fleet is thus forced to retreat to Tawi-Tawi near Borneo. In the retreat move, the plane of admiral Koga (commander of the combined fleet) falls in the sea and the admiral dies and so admiral Soemu Toyoda becomes the leader of the combined fleet. After these raids the Task Force 58 returns to Truk where it makes a last raid: 26 american airplanes are shot down but the submarine Tang enters the lagoon and rescue 22 pilots.
The Forager operation -conquest of the Mariannas- is thus planned and starts three months after Flintock operation which had yielded the reconquest of the Marshall. So 535 ships and 127 570 Marines are there: the Task Force 58 (with now 15 carriers, 3 more than since the Marshall), Task Force 51 which will see to the landing of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Marine divisions and of the 1st Marine brigade (with the 27th US division kept in reeforcement). 890 american aircrafts will fight against the 430 japanese ones.
June 15th 1944 after the cleaning of the beaches by the divers, general Holland Smith leads the 2nd and 4th Marine divisions and the 27th US division on the beaches of Saipan. The 20 000 soldiers had only half of their goal accomplished at the end of the day. The Americans will have to wait the beginning of July before saying that the island's japanese defense leaded by general Saito and his 31st japanese army is crushed. On the 70 000 Americans dropped on the island, 14 000 are dead or injured.
When he learns of a so close to Japan landing, admiral Toyoda, succeeding to Koga at the head of the combined fleet, starts the A-go operation which will use the combined fleet for a major attack.
So the combined fleet exit from Tawi-Tawi at Borneo where it had taken refuge after the american attacks on Truk and sail toward Saipan through the Philippines Sea to meet the admiral Spruance at the head of the Task Force 58. Two american submarines spot the admiral Ozawa (leading the japanese carriers) and warn Spruance who as soon stops the attack scheduled on June 16th against Guam, shelters the landing ships and calls back his ships that are bombing the Bonin and Volcano islands. Then he asks Turner and his battleships and carriers to continue the bombing of Saipan for him and he goes down to meet Ozawa while forming his battle group: 7 fast battleships, 4 cruisers and 12 destroyers and leaving the carriers a little behind. June 19th in the morning the two japanese groups are spotted: the front-guard of 3 carriers and the major group 189km behind with 6 carriers, all of which under the orders of Ozawa (who his succeeding to Nagumo who has been dismissed after his mistakes at Midway). Ozawa send his 373 airplanes in 4 waves to destroy the Task Force but Spruance has: more pilots who have done more battles already, better aircrafts than the Japaneses and an excellent DCA equipped with radars; so the japanese attacks becomes a disaster: 330 japanese airplanes are shot down (against 30 american ones) and so the battle becomes known as the Mariannas' Turkey shooting. Also the japanese carrier Taiho is hit by a torpedo which makes a leak in the gas tank and combined to a short-circuit it creates a big explosion and the ship sinks; the torpedo came from the submarine Albacore (commanded by frigate captain Blanchard). Then the Shokaku sinks around 15h hit by 3 torpedoes from the american submarine Cavalla commanded by corvet captain Kossler. On the American side the carrier Bunker Hill and the battleship South Dakota are the only ships to be damaged.
Ozawa onboard the heavy cruiser Haguro then thinks that he should retreat West to continue fighting the next day but even if it is late in the afternoon admiral Mitscher sends his airplanes (85 fighters, 77 diving bombers and 54 torpedo-bombers) against the japanese ships at 400km fron his position. While the sun is going down the pilots see the japanese fleet and sink the carrier Hiyo and damage the carriers Chiyoda, Ryujo and Zuikaku, a battleship and a cruiser while shooting down 40 japanese airplanes (against the 20 american ones). But for that victory the american airplanes are obliged to come back to their carriers in the dark (around 20h) and 80 of them lost themselves and fall in the sea when they have no more fuel, and that even if Mitscher has lighted all the lights onboard risking a submarine attack. So 209 pilots are lost in the sea and the next morning 160 of them will be rescued, but the fact remains that the Japaneses are left with only 6 carriers of which most are damaged.
As soon as June 18th the american troops at Saipan turn North and destroy the final defenses and the 31 000 last japanese soldiers by July 7th. In that last night the last japanese survivors launch an attack with only their bayonets while the civilians jump down the high cliffs rather than being conquered. 921 Japaneses will surrender and 3426 Americans die.
After Saipan the Americans attack Tinian (South) and general Schmidt with the 2nd and 4th Marine divisions lands on July 24th 1944 on the North-West beach of the island and he fights the 8000 japanese soldiers there, of which only 252 will surrender. In 6 days he will control the island but 386 of his men are dead and 1816 are injured.
Then the next conquest his Guam. Guam was before an american island but it was taken by the Japaneses on December 10th 1941. The conquest of Guam is led by general Geiger with his 3rd amphibic corps, 3rd Marine division and the 77th US division (replacing the 27th which stayed at Saipan). The defenses of the island are first bombed for 13 days -a total of 28 800 shells. The attack happens July 21st on the North-West coast of the island. General Obata as soon as the night falls leads a counter-attack with his 18 500 men from the 29th division and tanks. Even if the island is under american control on August 8th and that the american flag floats on top of Santa Rosa Mount on the 10th the Americans will have to wait the japanese capitulation before all resistance (from lieutnant-colonel Takeda with 113 men) stops. 10 600 Japaneses die while only 1400 Americans die.
The 3rd fleet is created and put under the orders of Halsey while the Task Force 58 is renamed Task Force 38 (stay under the orders of Mitscher) and it becomes a fleet of 17 fast carriers (1100 aircrafts onboard), 6 modern battleships, 13 cruisers and 58 destroyers. The 3rd fleet has for first mission the bombing of Yap, Palaos and Mindanao islands since the next american landings will be there. This bombing will greatly damage the japanese bases and destroy 200 japanese airplanes on the ground while costing only 8 aircrafts to the Americans.
The Mariannas battle is the beginning of the end of the japanese navy. The Mariannas will be used as airbases for flight over Japan and as soon as December 1944 (November 24th 1944 is the first mission) the heavy bombers B-29 of the 21st Bomber Command fly towards Tokyo for strategic raids.
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