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(The Battle for Tarawa)

Tarawa Atoll, specifically Betio Island, was selected as the target of the main assault because it contained an airfield and the bulk of the Japanese defenses. The atoll, at no point higher than 10 feet above sea level, is a triangular string of long, narrow coral islands with Betio at the southwest corner. Surrounded by a barrier reef, Betio presented a serious challenge to amphibious landing craft, which would hang up on the reef if there wasnt a sufficient depth of tide to allow them to cross.

Once across the reef, the 2nd Division Marines assigned to Betio, which measured roughly 3 miles wide and 600 yards deep, would face formidable defenses. According to naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison, the water around the island was rife with mines, barbed wire and barricades designed to divert landing craft into lanes that were heavily covered by artillery.

The Japanese had hundreds of guns, among them a system of heavy machine guns protected by coconut logs, sand, concrete and armored plate; 14 coast defense guns, all with underground ammunition storage and fire control systems; 25 37-mm and 75-mm field guns in shelters that were immune to direct hits from all but the largest guns; and an unknown number of antiaircraft guns.

Japanese defenders on Betio also had built a system of bomb-proof shelters made of coconut logs braced with angle irons. The roofs of these shelters were at least 6 feet thick and covered over with sand, logs and corrugated iron. Only heavy-caliber armor-piercing or other delayed-action shells could penetrate them. These shelters were also compartmented, so that the defenders enjoyed protection from grenades and explosives hurled through the openings. Altogether, the Japanese occupied 500 pillboxes, bunk-ers and other strong points on the small island. In the words of U.S. Army historians, Tarawa was the most heavily defended atoll that would ever be invaded by Allied forces in the Pacific.

Research for this fact sheet was provided by Alexander Molnar, U.S. Marine Corps/U.S. Army (Ret.).

Source: Marine Corps History

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(The Battle for Tarawa)