Naval Base Tarawa was a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

built by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1943 to support the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

effort. The base was located on

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

in the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...

in the Central Pacific Ocean. The base was built as one of many advance bases in the

island-hopping Leapfrogging was an amphibious military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The key idea was to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to capture every island in ...

campaign towards the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. At Naval Base Tarawa the Navy built a

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

seaplane base An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

and two airbases. Construction started after the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Am ...

ended November 23, 1943, part of Operation Galvanic.

History

To support the Battle of Tarawa a US Navy fast carrier strike group was founded. The strike group

flag ship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

s were the USS ''Yorktown'' and USS ''Essex''. New to the strike group was stationing US

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s around Tarawa to rescue downed aircrew quickly. A second fast carrier strike group supported the battle. The strike group flag ships were the: USS ''Lexington'' and USS ''Princeton'' and USS ''Belleau Wood''. From

Naval Base Funafuti Naval Base Funafuti was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1942 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on the Island of Funafuti of the Ellice Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. The island is now Tuvalu, an islan ...

the US Navy sent 24

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA- ...

and PV-1 Lockheed Ventura planes to support operations. The USS ''Pursuit'' operated at the command ship during the invasion. The sub USS ''Nautilus'' (SS-168) did photo-reconnaissance before the invasion.

Japanese submarine I-35 ''I-35'' was an Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine. Completed and commissioned in 1942, she served in World War II, operating in the Aleutian Islands campaign and the Battle of Tarawa before she was sunk in November 1943. Construction and ...

was sunk off Tarawa on November 23, 1943 by US

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s. The Navy's staging for the operation was at Naval Base Wellington departing November 1, 1943. After the taking of Tarawa on November 27, US Navy

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

s built pontoon barge. The pontoon barge was used to bring the 98th Seabee Naval Construction Battalion equipment and gear ashore. The Seabee built a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

dock so small boats and barges could unload supplies. The island did not have quality port. The first project was clearing and repairing the captured runways on the island. The 29th Seabee Naval Construction Battalion joined the project. The Seabee built a 1,900-foot by 32-foot

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

for the unloading of cargo ships. The island and the cargo ship had no timber for the pier

piling A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...

. The Seabees were able to repurpose the train track rails, from a Japanese narrow-gauge railroad. The tug USS ''Tawasa'' and USS ''Arapaho'' (ATF-68) often worked at the port, as did the tanker USS ''Maquoketa'' (AOG-51). A temporary Seabee camp was built on the beach, lagoon side of Betio, and later a more permanent camp was built after the completion of the airstrip. On December 4, another Seabee group arrived to help with construction. On December 18 the 4,000-foot fighter runway was completed. The runway was paved with 10-inches of compacted crushed

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, mined from the atoll

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

. Next, the bomber runway was completed, 7,050 feet long and 200 feet wide. A camp for 1,300 Seabees that operated the air base was built at the airfield. Seabees built a 100-bed

quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hund ...

hospital, control tower, an 500,000-gallon aviation-gasoline tank farm. Just outside the camp built a

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

and

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

storage site. The US Navy

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

USS ''Solace'' supported the battle, later the

USS Relief (AH-1) The sixth USS ''Relief'' (AH-1), the first ship of the United States Navy designed and built from the keel up as a hospital ship, was laid down 14 June 1917 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched 23 December 1919; and commissioned 28 December 19 ...

supported the base in January 1944. The 74th Seabee Naval Construction Battalion landed on 285-acre Betio Island Island to repair and improve the runway where. A few Japanese troops were still dug in and there were a few snipers at large. No Seabees were injured, but the random air raid did some damage. Betio Island was a mess, littered with war damage and debris. Seabee cleared out the Island and started work on the runway repair. Betio had no docks, gear was put on

barges A barge is typically a flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and marine water environments. The first modern barges were pull ...

and dragged to shore over tidal flats and reefs. A

fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the a ...

runway was built 4,400 feet long and 150 feet wide paved with coral concrete. The runway supported six medium bombers and US Navy patrol operations. A coral quarry was operated for the runway, road, and other uses. The 74th Seabee Naval Construction Battalion departed on March 1, 1944. Both islands had very limited fresh water, so Seabees installed a

evaporator An evaporator is a type of heat exchanger device that facilitates evaporation by utilizing conductive and convective heat transfer, which provides the necessary thermal energy for phase transition from liquid to vapour. Within evaporators, a ci ...

water supply, outputting daily capacity of 20,000 gallons. Mess halls, housing, storage depot, power station, and refrigeration storage was all built by the Seabees. A camp for

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

stationed was also built. In the lagoon the US Navy founded a Seaplane base with

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

USS ''Curtiss'' (AV-4), PBY Catalina and

Martin PBM Mariner The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin-engine American Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and Consolidated PB2Y Coronado, PB2Y C ...

. The US Navy Fleet Post Office was 808 SF Tarawa, Gilbert Islands. The USS ''Elder'' (AN-20) operating as net tender laid nets to protect the lagoon.

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

41st Bombardment Group operated

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

out of Betio and

Bonriki Bonriki is a settlement on Tarawa atoll, Kiribati, near Temwaiku and is part of the municipality of South Tarawa. It is in the south-east of South Tarawa. Bonriki International Airport, one of two international airports in Kiribati, is located h ...

. Later

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

also operated from Betio and Bonriki. Bases were built on two other Gilbert Islands:

Naval Base Abemama Naval Base Abemama was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1943 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on Abemama atoll, also called Hopper Atoll, in the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean Areas, Central Pacific O ...

and Makin Island **US Navy stationed at Tarawa: * VF-13 with PBY Catalina * VP-202 with Martin PBM Mariner * USS ''Curtiss'' (AV-4) to support PBY and PBM * VB-142 with Lockheed Ventura PV-1 * VB-144 with Lockheed Ventura PV-1 *VB-137 with Lockheed Ventura PV-1 *VS-66 with

Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main Carrier-based aircraft, ...

Antisubmarine Squadron - Scouting Squadron *CASU-16

Carrier Aircraft Service Unit US Navy K-class blimp Carrier Aircraft Service Units (CASU) were United States Navy units formed during World War II for the Pacific War to support naval aircraft operations. From 1942 to 1946, 69 Carrier Aircraft Service Units were formed to ...

*US Navy supported Hedron 4, a United States Marine Corps unit

Airfields

*On

Mullinix Field in honor of Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinix. *On Betio, Tarawa Airfield, called Hawkins Field in honor of USMC 1st Lt. William Dean Hawkins

Post war

*U.S. Marine War Memorial at Prince Philip Park. *Tarawa Coastwatchers Memorial, memorial plaque, In memory of 22 British subjects murdered by the Japanese at Betio on October 15, 1942. *New Zealand Memorial to U.S. Marines and Navy New Zealand Memorial to U.S. Marines and Navy
'hmdb.org''

Gallery

File:Tarawa Atoll aerial photo Sept 1943.jpg, Aerial view of Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll before invasion of the island by U.S. Marines, 18 September 1943. File:80-G-57390 (18414744362).jpg, Seabee building Hawkins Field File:80-G-57388 (17798244333).jpg, Seabee building Hawkins Field File:USMC-M-Tarawa-3.jpg, Map of runway on Betio and landing plans File:Hawkins Field Betio Tarawa March 1944.jpg, Long range aircraft at

Hawkins Field (Tarawa) Hawkins Field is a former World War II airfield on Betio, Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands of the Central Pacific. The airfield was named in honor of USMC 1st Lt. William Dean Hawkins who was killed in the battle to recapture Tarawa, and earned t ...

, March 1944 File:Tarawa aerial view 24 Nov 1943.jpg, Aerial view of Betio, Tarawa Atoll, 24 November 1943, looking north toward "The Pocket", the last place of Japanese resistance. An emplacement just onshore with two 12.7 mm anti-aircraft guns is visible near the left edge of the photograph. File:Gilbert Islands Aerial Imagery, 1943.jpg, Gilbert Islands 1943 File:Cemetery at Tarawa.jpg, The largest of 37 cemeteries on Tarawa

References

{{authority control Naval Base Tarawa Battle of Tarawa Naval Stations of the United States Navy Closed installations of the United States Navy 1943 establishments in Oceania 1945 disestablishments in Oceania Military installations established in 1943 Military installations closed in 1945

History

Airfields

Post war

Gallery

See also

References