| SUBSCRIBE TO EXCELLENT WORLD WAR II VIDEOS Seven American battleships and 11 destroyers shelled Saipan and Tinian for 2 days before the landings, firing 15000 16-inch and 5-inch shells at the islands along with 165000 other shells of other caliber. To even begin to comprehend the magnitude of this onslaught, one needs to realize that a single 16-inch round weighs slightly more than a Volkswagen Beetle, besides being packed with high explosives. On the second day of the bombardment, this force was joined by 8 more battleships, 6 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers. The islands were ringed by American warships with their guns blazing. Shells rained down on the island, its villages, inhabitants, and defenders, gouging huge craters in the sand and coral. The earth trembled under the tremendous explosions of naval bombardment and simultaneous air attacks. The main invasion force landed along 4 miles of beach at Chalan Kanoa. Twenty-eight US tanks were destroyed the first day alone. The Japanese positioned colored flags in the lagoon to mark the range of the landing force and to register their howitzers on the invaders from locations behind Mount Fina Susu, and their shell fire rained down on the advancing American force every 15 seconds in a deadly cauldron of exploding steel. By nightfall of the first day, the Second Marine Division had sustained 2000 casualties. The fighting continued until July 9th, when organized resistance on Saipan ceased. When the fighting ended ... |
