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Marshalls–Gilberts raids
Part of thePacific Theater ofWorld War II
A bomb-ladenSBD-2 Dauntless dive bomber prepares to take off from the U.S. carrierEnterprise during the raids on February 1.
Date February 1, 1942 Location Marshall andGilbert Islands,Micronesia 10°00′00″N170°00′00″E / 10.000°N 170.000°E /10.000; 170.000 Result Minor damage to Japanese garrisons
Belligerents
United States Gilbert and Ellice Islands	Japan
Commanders and leaders
William Halsey, Jr. Frank Jack Fletcher	Shigeyoshi Inoue Eiji Gotō
Units involved
Task Force 17	4th Fleet 24th Air Flotilla
Strength
2aircraft carriers, 133 aircraft 4heavy cruisers 1light cruiser 12destroyers 2replenishment oilers	51 aircraft
Casualties and losses
1 cruiser damaged, 14 aircraft destroyed	3 auxiliary ships sunk, 1 minelayer, 1 light cruiser damaged, 4 transports, 2 auxiliary ships damaged, 18 aircraft destroyed

TheMarshalls–Gilberts raids were tacticalairstrikes andnaval artillery attacks byUnited States Navyaircraft carrier and other warship forces againstImperial Japanese Navy (IJN)garrisons in theMarshall andGilbert Islands on 1 February 1942. It wasthe first of six American raids against Japanese-held territories conducted in the first half of 1942 as part of a strategy.

The Japanese garrisons were under the overall command of Vice AdmiralShigeyoshi Inoue, commander of the4th Fleet. Japanese aircraft in the islands belonged to the IJN's 24th Air Flotilla under Rear AdmiralEiji Gotō. The U.S. warship forces were under the overall command of Vice AdmiralWilliam Halsey Jr.

The raids were carried out by two separate U.S. carriertask forces. Aircraft fromTask Force 17 (TF 17), commanded by Rear AdmiralFrank Jack Fletcher and centered on the carrierUSS Yorktown, attackedJaluit,Mili, andMakin (Butaritari) islands. TheYorktown aircraft inflicted moderate damage to the Japanese naval installations on the islands and destroyed three aircraft. SevenYorktown aircraft were lost (4TBD Devastators, 3SBD Dauntlesses) as well as anSOC Seagullfloatplane fromUSSLouisville, one of TF 17's cruisers.

Aircraft from TF 8, commanded by Halsey and centered on the carrierUSS Enterprise, struckKwajalein,Wotje, andTaroa. At the same time,cruisers anddestroyers bombarded Wotje and Taroa. The strikes inflicted light to moderate damage on the three islands' naval garrisons, sank three small warships and damaged several others, including thelight cruiserKatori, and destroyed 15 Japanese aircraft. The heavy cruiserUSS Chester was hit and slightly damaged by a Japanese aerial bomb, theEnterprise caught fire after a near miss by a bomb, and sixEnterprise aircraft - fiveSBD Dauntless dive bombers and oneF4F Wildcat fighter - were lost. Additionally, a float plane fromUSS Salt Lake City was damaged during recovery and was abandoned and sunk.^[1] TF 8 and TF 17 retired from the area immediately upon completion of the raids.

The raids had little long-term strategic impact. The IJN briefly sent two aircraft carriers to chase TF 8 and TF 17 but quickly abandoned the pursuit and continued their support for the ongoing successful conquests of thePhilippines andNetherlands East Indies. The raids, however, did help lift the morale of the U.S. Navy and the American public, still reeling from thePearl Harbor attack and theloss of Wake Island. The raids also provided valuable experience in carrier air operations, which hardened the U.S. carrier groups for future combat against Japanese forces.^[2]

For their part the Japanese apparently did not realize that their concept of a perimeter defense using dispersed island garrisons had serious flaws in that the garrisons were too far apart to be sufficiently mutually supporting to prevent penetration by enemy carrier forces. Nevertheless the raids, along with theDoolittle Raid in April 1942, helped convince the IJN'sCombined Fleet commander,Isoroku Yamamoto, that he needed to draw the American carriers into battle as soon as possible in order to destroy them. Yamamoto's plan to do so resulted in theBattle of Midway.

• Cressman, Robert (2000).That Gallant Ship U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5). Missoula, Montana, U.S.A.: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company.ISBN 0-933126-57-3.
• Lundstrom, John B. (2005).The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway (New ed.). Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-471-X.
• Lundstrom, John B. (2006).Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Seas, Midway & Guadalcanal. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-475-2.
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001) [1958].The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 – April 1942, vol. 3 ofHistory of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books.ISBN 0-7858-1304-7.
• Stafford, Edward P. (2002).The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise (reissue ed.). Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-998-0.
• Willmott, H. P. (1982).Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-535-3.
• Willmott, H. P. (1983).The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies February to June 1942. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-535-3.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMarshalls-Gilberts raids.

• Hackett, Bob, and Sander Kingsepp (1998–2007)."IJN Katori: Tabular Record of Movement".Junyokan!. Combinedfleet.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• United States Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence (1943)."Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean: February 1 to March 10, 1942".Combat Narrative. Publication Section, Combat Intelligence Branch.
• USSEnterprise photo archive of the raid

• Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
• Marshall Islands in World War II
• Kiribati in World War II
• Gilbert Islands
• Battles of World War II involving Japan
• Naval aviation operations and battles
• Naval battles of World War II involving the United States
• World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre
• 1942 in Japan
• 1942 in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
• February 1942 in Oceania
• Japan–United States military relations
• Attacks on military installations in 1942
• Naval bombing operations and battles of World War II
• Attacks on naval bases
• Attacks on buildings and structures in Oceania

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