Tinian Island

Tinian Island, 1945

         Tinian is a small group of islands in the Philipine Sea. The largest island saw the Seabee's greatest accomplishment and biggest construction project of the war. It’s close proximity to the Japanese mainland made it an important strategic strip of land during World War Two. For nine months in 1945 Tinian saw the most air traffic than any other airport in the world. Before it was in American hands, the Japanese used it as an airbase as well. In 1944 the American’s seized the island in the Battle of Tinian. There were large casualties on both sides with the Japanese sustaining the largest number; over eight thousand. It was a must win for both sides, the Americans would gain control of an important piece of land and if the Japanese lost they would give the Americans access to bombing the Japanese mainland. 

Marines coming ashore 

          Upon taking control of the island,  the Seabees of the 135th United States Naval Construction Battalion set about converting the available land to accomodate the 58th Bombardment Wing along with it's 40 000 support personnel and 50 000 marines. The Japanese had originally constructed two parallel runways on the west side of the island. The Seabees added two additional runways and the airfield became known as West Field. To the north, four more runways were constructed to house and launch the new long range B-29 bomber, which would be bombing the mainland. These four runways were 2600 meters, and incredibly they were constructed in less than a year. The runways themselves were built out of crushed coral, a readily available resource.

Seabees crushing coral for one of the runways

Map of Tinian 

          The Quonset Hut was used extensively on the island. They were a perfect building for the Seabees, as they were easy to transport and to construct. The Quonset Huts were grouped together into mini-cities of barracks, armories, airplane maintenance sheds, messes, chapels and hospitals. The Seabees copied the street organization of Manhattan Island and named the roads on the island after New York City streets. Land was also converted for farming to feed the tens of thousands of men and women that would be living on the island. The island became a self-sufficient community. On top of the need to have a high efficiency base layout, the Seabees had to accommodate nearly one thousand B-29s. Taxiways and hardstands were laid out effectively; so effectively in fact that more missions were flown out of Tinian than any other airfield during the war. 

Quonset Hut customized by marines

Sketch of Tinian Island command complex, comprised of Quonset Huts

West Field

Tinian today

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‘Tinian’. Global Security. Accessed December 7, 2012. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/tinian.htm

‘The Use of Tinian Island During World War Two’. Accessed December 7, 2012. http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Tinian%20Island.pdf

‘A Seabee’s Story (Tinian Island)’. Americans in Wartime Musem. Accessed December 7, 2012. http://www.nmaw.org/a-seabees-story-tinian-island/

History of the Seabees’. Naval History and Heritage Command. Accessed December 7, 2012. http://www.seabee.navy.mil

Roads to Victory. Part 2: The Central Road

Following Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, its army continued to advance towards America, and in response, America declared war on Japan the following day.  In the following months, Japan achieved a long series of military success, seizing Guam and Wake Island in December, and the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, and Burma in the first half of 1942[1]

Territories controlled by Japan.

 The Battle of the Coral Sea from May 4 – 8, 1942 was the first major encounter between American and Japanese naval forces. Prior to the battle, the 1^st Construction Battalion Detachment was deployed from Dasiyville, RI on Jan 7, 1942 and arrived in Bora Bora the following month[2]. On the island, the Seabees constructed fueling stations to serve ships and planes that were crucial in the battle of the Coral Sea[3]. A month following the battle of the Coral Sea was the Battle of Midway in June of 1942. The Americans were victorious in the battle, which became the turning point in the Pacific War[4]. American forces continued to advance on the Solomon Islands which were also occupied by the Japanese army. Prior to the Battle of Guadalcanal, Seabees of the 3^rd Construction Battalion Detachment were rushed to the island Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides to build a bomber strip with a time limit of 20 days. Incredibly, the Seabees were able to carve a 6000 door airstrip in the virgin jungle which allowed large scale air attacks against Guadalcanal that won the battle in February of 1943.
In the American’s streak of victories, the atolls of the Kwajalein, Eniwetok and Majuro were seized from Japan in the first half of 1944. In Majuro, the Seabees built major fleet anchorages and similar aviation facility in Kwajalein. The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, aka Operation Forager, was the beginning of the end for the Japanese. The Americans were dawning upon Japanese mainland, and the capture of Mariana Islands, Guam, Tinian and Saipan, cut the line of defence for the Japanese, and more importantly the Seabees were able to build an emergency landing field much closer to the Japanese homeland that would service crippled bombers returning from raids and enable shorter- ranged fighter planes to accompany the bombers to their targets[5].
After a long campaign of island hopping, the Americans finally arrived at the foot of Japan, on the island of Okinawa.  The Battle of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945 when the main invasion forces landed on the island’s west coast Hagushi beaches. Arriving along the 24th Army Corps and 3^rd Amphibious Corps were the 130^th Naval Construction Battalion[6].  In the following days, 50 000 Seabees composed of 11 regiments and 4 brigades arrived at Okinawa.  From the end of the Okinawa battle in June through August, the Seabees worked non-stop to build ocean ports, grid of roads, bomber, fighter fields, seaplane bases, Quonset villages, tank farms, storage dumps, hospitals, and ship repair facilities in preparation for a final assault on Japanese mainland.
While preparations were underway in Okinawa during the summer of 1945, the USS Indianapolis arrived at the newly ceased island of Tinian from the Naval Weapons Center at Port Chicago, California. Components of a mysterious weapon were unloaded, and with the assistance from several Seabees, the weapon was assembled and loaded into a B-29 bomber, Enola Gay. Later that day, the Enola Gay took off and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, thus ending the Pacific War.

The Southwest Route taken by the U.S Navy and Seabees

[1] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005155[2] http://www.seabeesmuseum.com/History.html[3] http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq67-3.htm[4] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005155[5] http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq67-3.htm
[6] http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq67-3.htm

Roads to Victory. Part 1: The North Road Through Alaska

During the Pacific War, the United States defended against, and made an offence towards Japan through three different roads, which were paved by the United States Navy construction battalions, also known as the Seabees.

The first road was through the North Pacific – through Alaska and the Aleutian Island. After World War I, a naval disarmament treaty was signed between the U.S, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan, which Japan’s naval-arms was reduced to 20 percent relative to the U.S under the condition which the U.S agreed to demilitarize Alaska[1]. However, this agreement was broken in September 1939 when the U.S saw Japan’s conquest of Nanking and Hitler’s violation of the Munich Pact[2]. Re-militarization began with the building of additional air and submarine bases, army posts, and Quonset Huts.  

Japanese Advances on Alaska 

In 1942, Japan attacked the Aleutian chain and captured the Attu and Kiska Islands as a method to prevent the U.S from invading Japanese mainland through the Aleutian and Kurile Islands[3]. The first of Seabees were sent to Alaska to forestall what appeared at the time to be a major Japanese offense[4]. The Seabees landed in Alaska in in late June of that year, and began building bases on Adak, Amchitka, and other islands in the Aleutian chain which were used to stage the joint Army-Navy task force that recaptured Attu and Kiska on May 11, 1943 and August 15, 1943 respectively[5]. The line of bases erected by the Seabees pointed towards the Japanese mainland served as a threat from the North in addition to the offence in the South and Southwest from the Americans.

Location of Military Installations in Alaska in WWII
Source: Haycox 32

During this period, the Seabees constructed more than 30 000 Quonset Huts because they were financially and functionally efficient. Conventional temporary tents which prevailed before the creation of the Quonset hut would not have been appropriate for the wind, precipitation and temperature of Alaska, and wood frame structures on cement foundations were too costly for mass production[6].

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[1] Steven Haycox, Quonsets, Alaska, and WWII.  ( Princeton, Princeton Architectural Press, 2005),   32

[2] Haycox 32

[3] “Seebea History: Formation of the Seabees and WWII,” Naval History and Heritage, accessed Dec 5, 2012, http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq67-3.htm

[4] “Formation of the Seabees and WWII.”

[5] “Formation of the Seabees and WWII.”

[6] Haycox 45