TINIAN ISLAND

[OLDNAVYMCPO]

On this day in 1944, in our march across the South Pacific to regain military control and achieve a base of operations from which we could launch B-29 attacks on mainland Japan, we invaded Tinian Island in the Marianas.

After eight days of naval bombardment, the 4th Marine Division aided by Seabees of the 18th and 121st Naval Construction Battalions, landed on the Northwest coast of the island. The 2nd Marine Division landed the next day.

Of the approximately 9,000 Jap defenders, only 313 survived. There were approximately 15,700 Jap civilians and Korean slaves on the island. Many were killed in the fighting, committed suicide, or were murdered by the Jap soldiers.

Fifteen thousand Navy Seabees built six 8,500 foot runways. The 110th Naval Construction Battalion surveyed and commenced construction on a base to house 40,000 military personnel.

From this base, the 20th Army Air Corps launched Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bombers against mainland Japan, including the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

[Targets Guy]

My Dad was there aboard the USS LCI(G) 365. This day he would have been 103. On this day in 1944 he celebrated his 30th birthday while firing onto the beaches on Guam. Three days earlier he had to abandon the 365 and move to the LCI (G) 439 after the 365 had half of its crew killed or wounded by Jap 75 millimeter shore fire.

Here is the 365 on its way to Guam



This was his work station during the Tinian, Siapan and Guam invasions.

 

[DWalt]

The atomic bomb pits are still there. The bombs were so large that it was necessary to dig pits to hold the bombs and then the B-29s were rolled over the pits to load them into the bomb bay. There are two pits, one made for each bomb. They are covered with greenhouse-type glass display enclosures.

 

[SailDesign]

This is the closest I ever got to Tinian - from the top of the Botanical Gardens on Saipan. That's Tinian in the distance.

 

[snowman]

Fifteen thousand Navy Seabees built six 8,500 foot runways.
From this base, the 20th Army Air Corps launched Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bombers against mainland Japan, including the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

OLDNAVYMCPO: How much of the 8500' did it take for a loaded B-29 to get off the ground? Was there any sort of pavement or did they just pack the soil down as best as they could?

I'm ignorant, but have an inquisitive mind.

Regards,
Andy

 

[Targets Guy]

Here is a shot of the Enola Gay returning from the first atom bomb drop.

 

[OLDNAVYMCPO]

OLDNAVYMCPO: How much of the 8500' did it take for a loaded B-29 to get off the ground? Was there any sort of pavement or did they just pack the soil down as best as they could?

I'm ignorant, but have an inquisitive mind.

Regards,
Andy

The length of runway required for takeoff depended on bomb load and aircraft configuration. All B-29's were not configured the same, some had the full designed armament, others had different guns removed. Bomb loads differed depending on target and mission. The airfields were built to accommodate 180 aircraft per field and paved. There were two airfields on Tinian. Other fields were on adjacent islands.

 

[snowman]

Thank you, sir; and thank you for your service to the country.

Regards,
Andy

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The length of runway required for takeoff depended on bomb load and aircraft configuration. All B-29's were not configured the same, some had the full designed armament, others had different guns removed. Bomb loads differed depending on target and mission. The airfields were built to accommodate 180 aircraft per field and paved. There were two airfields on Tinian. Other fields were on adjacent islands.

180 B-29's to a field. The is a lot of airborne aluminum! No wonder, that when the Japanese saw a lone B-29 in the sky they left it alone!

I have a great Aunt and Uncle that were killed at Nagasaki. They were Okinawan which made them Japanese citizens, but were considered sub-human and were slave laborers. My aunt considered the atom bombs a release for her parents, maybe not the best end they could hope for, but probably the best they were going to get!

Growing up in the 60's my idea of a formation of bombers was 3 B-52's doing an Ark light raid. We would see B-52's overhead and even refueling in Central Ohio, but a formation of Hundreds of bombers just escapes my imagination! We watched "12 O'clock High" and they used stock footage of B-17 formations, but that image on a small Black & white TV just doesn't help!

Ivan

 

[Tom Beavert]

Tinian
My Dad was also there (Seabee), he never said much about it other than some of the equiptment they used.
TB

 

[Targets Guy]

180 B-29's to a field. The is a lot of airborne aluminum! No wonder, that when the Japanese saw a lone B-29 in the sky they left it alone!

I have a great Aunt and Uncle that were killed at Nagasaki. They were Okinawan which made them Japanese citizens, but were considered sub-human and were slave laborers. My aunt considered the atom bombs a release for her parents, maybe not the best end they could hope for, but probably the best they were going to get!

Growing up in the 60's my idea of a formation of bombers was 3 B-52's doing an Ark light raid. We would see B-52's overhead and even refueling in Central Ohio, but a formation of Hundreds of bombers just escapes my imagination! We watched "12 O'clock High" and they used stock footage of B-17 formations, but that image on a small Black & white TV just doesn't help!

Ivan

Here is what an arclight strike looked like after the bombs hit the ground. This from 1966.

 

[Targets Guy]

Here is a glimpse of normal bomber ops on Saipan in 1944.

 

[Targets Guy]

180 B-29's to a field. The is a lot of airborne aluminum! No wonder, that when the Japanese saw a lone B-29 in the sky they left it alone!

I have a great Aunt and Uncle that were killed at Nagasaki. They were Okinawan which made them Japanese citizens, but were considered sub-human and were slave laborers. My aunt considered the atom bombs a release for her parents, maybe not the best end they could hope for, but probably the best they were going to get!

Growing up in the 60's my idea of a formation of bombers was 3 B-52's doing an Ark light raid. We would see B-52's overhead and even refueling in Central Ohio, but a formation of Hundreds of bombers just escapes my imagination! We watched "12 O'clock High" and they used stock footage of B-17 formations, but that image on a small Black & white TV just doesn't help!

Ivan

Closest I ever came to seeing what it might have looked like was during our bomb wing's ORI when the crews had to execute a MITO (minimum interval take-off) to escape the incoming Soviet warheads. All squadron aircraft (about 18 of them) had to "leave Dodge" as quickly as possibly.

 

[richardw]

The battle for Titian was one of the easiest battles in the Island Hopping Campaign designed by Admiral Nimitz (great strategist). I just looked up the stats online.

It was the 2nd and 4th Marine divisions that participated and there wer Navy CBS and Army Artilery.

Here are the stats.

Force strength: US=41,000 Japan=9,200
Killed: US=376 Japan=5,542
Wounded: US=1,593 Japan=262
Missing: US=0 Japan=2,265

Approximately 4,000 civilians killed or committed suicide.

The high rate of missing was attributed to the unleashing of primarily Napalm attacks from Navy, Marine, and Army air forces.

 

[DWalt]

Closest I ever came to seeing what it might have looked like was during our bomb wing's ORI when the crews had to execute a MITO (minimum interval take-off) to escape the incoming Soviet warheads. All squadron aircraft (about 18 of them) had to "leave Dodge" as quickly as possibly.

At one time I lived near Carswell AFB in Fort Worth. Had a neighbor who was a B-52 pilot and he would tip me when they were having a MITO drill. Nothing quite like sitting near the end of a runway when one of those exercises is in progress and having all those B-52s going 500 feet over your head.

 

[foxy320]

hey Targets Guy my dad flew on Dauntless Dotty 497th, 869th. He was a right blister gunner and told me stories about some of his missions. did his training in Kansas where he met my mother. Would have liked to pump him for more info but he really didn't want to talk about it much & it didn't feel right to push him on it.

 

[Targets Guy]

Foxy, that is pretty amazing. Small world indeed. My dad was pretty much the same. He never talked about the war. Every now and then some Navy buddies of his would stop by and they would be in the kitchen drinking and I would sneak up to the door outside the kitchen and listen.

He died in 1965 when I was away training in the Air Force so I never got a chance to talk to him about his war experiences. In 2013 I spent the summer researching his war record. I actually contacted old shipmates of his but only one or two remembered him; he was one of the oldest sailors on any of his ships. I did discover he actually enlisted in the Army in 1942, got discharged in early 1943 and then enlisted in the Navy in April of 1943; would have loved to discover what happened but Mom could not remember.

 

[crazyphil]

Family connections: My cousin, Capt. Elmer Hahn commander of
B-29 "werewolf" shot down over Tokyo in January 1945. He and 6
others made it to land. Killed in May when the concentration camp
was bombed by our B-29s. He is the reason I joined the Air Force
on my 17th birthday.

Uncle David Bundte, CPO skippered a tanker carrying aviation fuel
to Tinian. That would be a scary job, but he made it through the war.

 

[rwsmith]

Unfortunately....

OLDNAVYMCPO: How much of the 8500' did it take for a loaded B-29 to get off the ground? Was there any sort of pavement or did they just pack the soil down as best as they could?

I'm ignorant, but have an inquisitive mind.

Regards,
Andy

Unfortunately, for a number of planes, 8500' wasn't nearly enough.

 

[foxy320]

there was a cliff at the end of the runway on Saipan that dropped down to a bay some number of feet below so you had time to drop down and pick up speed if you couldn't get airborne. My dad said there were a number of 29's in the bay that didn't make it tho.