The last major battle of WWII and the first model of a Joint Operation.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Securing the airbases on the island of Okinawa was crucial to U.S. plans of launching an invasion of the Japanese home islands. The Battle of Okinawa, which ended with U.S. forces securing the island, was the last major battle of World War II and it directly led to the use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
TACTICAL IMPORTANCE
Codenamed “Operation Iceberg” Okinawa was the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific Theater in WWII and employed U.S. and allied forces in command structures that resemble today’s Combined Task Forces and Joint Force Land Component Commands. The United States created the Tenth Army, a “joint” force consisting of the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th infantry divisions of the US Army; the 1st, 2nd, and 6th divisions of the Marine Corps, and its own Tactical Air Force (Army Air Corps and Marine Air Wings). Combined naval and amphibious forces included U.S. and British Fleets. Although the amphibious landings were largely unopposed, the 98-day fight for the island was intense. The Japanese withdrew to fortified positions in the mountainous interior employing combined arms defense in depth, infiltrations, the use of Okinawan civilians as human shields, and suicide attacks both on the ground and the infamous Kamikaze pilots. In the naval operations surrounding the battle, both sides lost considerable numbers of ships and aircraft, including destruction by aircraft of the Japanese battleship Yamato – the largest battleship ever built. The fighting came to an end when Japanese General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho, realized they could no longer win and committed a ritual suicide.
STRATEGIC IMPACT
After the ferocity of the fighting on Okinawa and knowing that 2 million Japanese troops awaited them on mainland Japan, President Harry S. Truman decided to employ atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki — these are the only two uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict to date. On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered, marking the end of World War II.
Related Articles
The Marine Corps Gazette and Leatherneck Magazine archives have more than 100 years of articles. Click the buttons below to read articles about the Battle of Okinawa and its implications on the Corps, yesterday and today.
Night Operations on Okinawa
Capt James R. Stockman, USMC
Gazette
September 1946
Okinawa: Victory
Hanson W. Baldwin
Gazette
December 1950
Okinawa
LtGen Louis Metzger, USMC (Ret)
Gazette
April 1995
The Battle of Okinawa Through One Marine’s Eyes
Jonathan Vanhoose
Gazette
October 2019
“Death Valley Photo”
Tom Bartlett
Leatherneck
April 1985
Marine Tanks in the Battle of Okinawa
Col Joe Alexander, USMC (Ret)
Leatherneck
April 1995
Ison Crossing the Draw
R.R. Keene
Leatherneck
October 1995
Maps
6th Marines Advance
Hagushi Landing
Invasion of Okinawa 1
Invasion of Okinawa 2
Map of Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill
Motobu Peninsula
Okinawa Invasion Beaches, 1 April 1945
Okinawa, April-June 1945-49b – Naha-Shuri-Yonabaru
Okinawa, Initial Attack
Okinawa
Operation Iceberg
Map of Western Okinawa Beaches
Study Guide
Podcasts
Books
Videos
Other Resources
Okinawa Campaign
Timeline
C. Peter Chen
WWII Database
The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa
Marines in WWII Commemorative Series
Col Joseph H. Alexander USMC (Ret)
Okinawa: The Last Battle
Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, and John Stevens
Center of Military History
U.S. Army
Japan’s Battle of Okinawa, April-June 1945
Thomas M. Huber
Leavenworth Papers