United States amphibious operations

Last updated August 13, 2023

The United States has a long history in amphibious warfare from the landings in the Bahamas during the American Revolutionary War, to some of the more massive examples of World War II in the European Theater of Operation on Normandy, in Africa and in Italy, and the constant island warfare of the Pacific Theater of Operations. Throughout much of its history, the United States prepared its troops in both the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army to fight land from sea into the center of battle.

History

The United States' first role in amphibious warfare was inaugurated when the Continental Marines made their first amphibious landing on the beaches of the Bahamas during the Battle of Nassau on 3 March 1776. Even during the Civil War, the United States Navy's ships brought ashore soldiers, sailors, and Marines to capture coastal forts. General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army commander, declared:

"Wherever his [Union] fleet can be brought, no opposition to his landing can be made except within range of our fixed batteries. We have nothing to oppose his heavy guns, which sweep over the low banks of this country with irresistible force."^[1]

The victory over Spain in the Spanish–American War had greatly enabled the expansion of the United States. By the time the Treaty of Paris was ratified in 1898 the United States had annexed the Philippines in the western Pacific to influence foreign relations in China and Korea; primarily through the presence of the Asiatic Squadron.^[2] The administration of President William McKinley included Guam ^[3] and the Hawaiian Islands to the south Pacific insular areas of Samoa. Also, Congress approved the Foraker Act in the annexation of Puerto Rico for the defense and protection of the newly independent Cuba from any possible foreign attack. The government also negotiated with Nicaragua and Colombia for the right to build an isthmian canal through Panama. Due to the new, vast expansion of territory, the Navy began to assume strategic duties unimagined before 1898.^[2]

In 1900, the "General Board of the Navy" was established to foresee and make recommendations on naval policy, assuming the tasks of the nation's naval expeditionary and strategic challenges.^[4]

Around this time, the General Board developed some potential war plans for possible events that may be measured if such attacks were to be aimed for the continental east coast, the Antilles of the Caribbean, or the Panama Canal. The most dangerous, likely foe that the United States Navy faced was the British Royal Navy, and had been implemented into War Plan Red,^[5] however, relations had improved and both already committed to a growing rapprochement. It instead agreed that the next likely foe would be the Germany's Imperial Navy, a burgeoning force of warships that were at the disposal of Emperor Wilhelm II. In response to possible German naval invasion of the Caribbean or attacks on the east coast, the United States devised War Plan Black.^[6] To also include Germany having purchased Spain's remaining central Pacific island colonies, and the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands, and its establishment of a naval base in China in 1900. And after the Russo-Japanese War, victorious Imperial Japan had serious plans of expanding its influence south and in the west Pacific. The United States Navy solely relied on the islands for refueling stations for the coal-powered navy ships; the lifeline to the naval bases in the Philippines and Guam. If such an attack was initiated by the Japanese, a system of Pacific naval bases were needed to be built, in order to put War Plan Orange into effect.^[7]

The sum of it all, the Navy's war planning after 1900 assumed that maritime attacks on the United States and its interests were possible in both the Pacific and the Caribbean, and given the thousands of miles the fleet would have to steam to provide security to the outermost bases of Guam, the Philippines, or of the similar. The General Board was convinced that it would require Marine expeditionary battalions that were capable in the hastily development of advanced bases, and it could not depend on the small and overextended United States Army to defend the bases in short, limited order.^[2]

Advanced Base Force

On the outset of the Spanish–American War, the Marines stormed the beaches of Cuba and captured Guantanamo Bay while the United States Army landed at Santiago. It was First Lieutenant Dion Williams, who raised the United States Flag at Manila Bay in 1898. Lt. Williams later epitomized the modernized doctrine of amphibious operations, focusing on seizure, preparation, and defense of advance bases, which also adopted the concept of amphibious reconnaissance.^[8]

The Marine Corps had begun to come to the realization of utilizing methods of seizing and defending objectives on shore. The Marine Corps Commandant, Brigadier General William P. Biddle sent orders to Earl H. Ellis, a Marine Officer, to the Advance Force Base, which in later years was re-established as the Fleet Marine Force in regards to his report and thesis^[9] he had written at the Navy War College concerning the setting up of advanced bases. The Advanced Base School was created in conjunction for the Advanced Base Force in New London, Connecticut in 1910.

Fleet Marine Force

By the 1930s, the Fleet Marine Force, which consists of the United States Navy and Marine Corps was developed. During this period, they began to modernize amphibious warfare that fabricated into the seminal Tentative Landing Operations Manual^[10] which was implemented in 1935. The doctrine set forth the organization, theory and practice of landing operations by establishing new troop organization and the development of amphibious landing crafts and tractors. Also, they emphasized the use of aerial and naval support in beach landings for the troops. The final element of the formula was the annual exercises called the 'Fleet Landing Exercises' (FLEX), which were conducted in the Caribbean, the California coast, and in the Hawaiian Islands, and which were similar to the exercises conducted by Lt. Col. Earl "Pete" Ellis on Culebra by the Advanced Base Force in January, 1914.^[11] This preparation proved invaluable in World War II, when the Marines not only spearheaded many of the attacks against Japanese-held islands in the Pacific theater of war, but also helped train the United States Army divisions that also participated in the island-hopping campaign.

Amphibious Corps

Throughout the Pacific campaign during World War II, the United States Army and Marine Corps trained the new graduated recruits in joint-amphibious operations. The Army created its own facility to accommodate the training necessary, establishing the Amphibious Training Center (ATC). The number of amphibious troops in the United States was inadequate and the Marine Corps was undermanned due to shortages in the Department of Navy's budget. In addition, Marine Corps was not capable of extensive sustainment operations that were necessary for longer campaigns. A notable product of the ATC was the deployment of Engineer Amphibian Brigades (later called Engineer Special Brigades).

The United States Navy controlled many joint units of the Army and the Marine Corps. The joint units consisted of two amphibious corps, the Amphibious Corps of the Pacific Fleet and of the Atlantic Fleet. These units represented the sum total of the amphibious forces of the United States, with the exception of small units of the Fleet Marine Force, which had been trained for amphibious raids. It was apparent that the United States Marine Corps did not have sufficient troops trained for the type of operation which was necessary to win the war.

The United States Navy controlled two joint Army-Marine "amphibious corps", in which the Army and Marine Corps's forces were attached under:

Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet (ACPF) – 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Marine Division
Amphibious Corps, Atlantic Fleet (ACAF) – 1st Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, and the 1st Marine Division

By 1943, primarily due to disagreements between the services, the Army closed its Amphibious Training Center. Subsequently, the Marine subordinate units of the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet (ACPF) were re-allocated under the full command of the Marine Corps's V Amphibious Corps (VAC). In 1957, the Marine Corps assumed sole responsibility for amphibious operations.

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Holland McTyeire "Howlin' Mad" Smith, KCB was a general in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He is sometimes called the "father" of modern U.S. amphibious warfare. His nickname, "Howlin' Mad" Smith, had been given to him by his troops in the Dominican Republic in 1916.

Lieutenant Colonel Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis was a United States Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, and author of Operations Plan 712: Advanced Base Operations in Micronesia, which became the basis for the American campaign of amphibious assault that defeated the Japanese in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphibious warfare</span> Military operation attacking from air and sea to land

Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted using ship's boats as the primary method of delivering troops to shore. Since the Gallipoli Campaign, specialised watercraft were increasingly designed for landing troops, material and vehicles, including by landing craft and for insertion of commandos, by fast patrol boats, zodiacs and from mini-submersibles. The term amphibious first emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1930s with introduction of vehicles such as Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank or the Landing Vehicle Tracked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek</span> Base for the Amphibious Forces in the US Navys Atlantic Fleet

Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek (JEB–LC), formerly known as Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek and commonly called simply Little Creek, is the major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. The base comprises four locations in three states, including almost 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) of real estate. Its Little Creek location in Virginia Beach, Virginia, totals 2,120 acres (860 ha) of land. Outlying facilities include 350 acres (140 ha) located just north of Training Support Center Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach and 21 acres (8.5 ha) known as Radio Island at Morehead City, North Carolina, used for U.S. Coast Guard ships and personnel as well as serves as an amphibious embarkation/debarkation area for U.S. Marine Corps units at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is also home to the Naval School of Music.

The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The 8,000-man Japanese garrison was eliminated, and the island joined Saipan and Guam as a base for the Twentieth Air Force.

The Battle of Guam was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the United States in the First Battle of Guam in 1941 during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was a critical component of Operation Forager. The recapture of Guam and the broader Mariana and Palau Islands campaign resulted in the destruction of much of Japan's naval air power and allowed the United States to establish large airbases from which it could bomb the Japanese home islands with its new strategic bomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship, the boarding of vessels during combat or capture of prize ships, and providing manpower for raiding ashore in support of the naval objectives. In most countries, the marines are an integral part of that state's navy.

The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and capture of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942. The Japanese occupied these locations and began the construction of several naval and air bases with the goals of protecting the flank of the Japanese offensive in New Guinea, establishing a security barrier for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain, and providing bases for interdicting supply lines between the Allied powers of the United States and Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the United States Marine Corps</span> Aspect of history

The history of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) begins with the founding of the Continental Marines on 10 November 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and foreign policy of the United States. Owing to the availability of Marine forces at sea, the United States Marine Corps has served in nearly every conflict in United States history. It attained prominence when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient, and ultimately formed a cornerstone of U.S. strategy in the Pacific Theater of World War II. By the early 20th century, the Marine Corps would become one of the dominant theorists and practitioners of amphibious warfare. Its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises has made and continues to make it an important tool for U.S. foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seabees in World War II</span> Military unit

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The V Amphibious Corps (VAC) was a formation of the United States Marine Corps which was composed of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions in World War II. The three divisions were the amphibious landing force for the United States Fifth Fleet with two goals, removal of Japanese forces from islands so U.S. Seabees could build advance bases to project US power. In doing this VAC was notably involved in the battles for Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. V Amphibious Corps was commanded by General Holland 'Howlin Mad' Smith followed by General Harry Schmidt.

The United States Marine Corps's Advanced Base Force was a coastal and naval base defense force that was designed to set up mobile and fixed bases in the event of major landing operations within, and beyond, the territorial United States. Established in the beginning of the 20th century, the Advanced Base Force was the United States' first combined task force built on the concept of the Marine Corps' traditional role in expeditionary warfare. The slow development of the advanced base force played a significant role in the controversy over the removal of the ships' guards in 1908–1909.

The Fleet Landing Exercises, or FLEX were amphibious landing exercises conducted by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps between 1935 and 1941. The purpose of these exercises was to formulate a workable amphibious warfare doctrine. The development of the necessary craft and other equipment, and the proper tactical deployment of them were also results. Finally, the exercises demonstrated the usefulness of a standing body of Marines, the Fleet Marine Force, specially prepared for amphibious expeditions.

The Observer Group was a joint-United States Army/Marine Corps unit that was the first in the United States and Fleet Marine Force to be organized and trained specifically for amphibious reconnaissance. The Observer Group experimented in the methodology and equipment for projecting reconnaissance from the sea before the establishment of the OSS Maritime Unit, the Underwater Demolition Teams, and before the Army Special Forces and Air Commandos. It was also the birth of naval amphibious intelligence.

Amphibious reconnaissance is ground and naval reconnaissance in the littoral area bordering coastal or ocean areas. Initially, it is used for preliminary reconnaissance in collecting pertinent information about the beachhead in its permeability and usability for main landing assaults. Specialized recon patrols skilled in boatswain and combatant diving using either amphibious vehicles or rubber crafts to obtain and collect information on the enemy, the topology ashore and inland, and hydrographic surveys for underwater obstacles and mines, and for the purpose of affecting a deception.

The reconnaissance mission within the United States Marine Corps is divided into two distinct but complementary aspects; Marine Division Recon and Force Reconnaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">US Amphibious Training Base</span> United States Amphibious Training Bases for the US Navy, US Army and US Marine Corps

Amphibious Training Base (ATB)(USNATB) Advance Amphibious Training Base are United States Armed Forces Bases used for the training of amphibious warfare. Starting with World War II, United States Navy began large-scale amphibious assaults of beaches. To train troops in the use of Amphibious warfare ships and Amphibious Combat Vehicles the Navy established training bases both on the US mainland and overseas at US Naval Advance Bases. The Training involved the United States Navy working with The United States Marine Corps, United States Army and in later years sometimes the United States Air Force for air support.

Naval Amphibious Training Base Solomons also called Naval Amphibious Training Base Solomons Island was a US Amphibious Training Base at Solomons, Maryland on the Dowell Peninsula from 1942 to 1945 built to train troops for World War II amphibious warfare. Naval Amphibious Training Base Solomons was the United States's first official naval amphibious training base, it was established in August 1942 on the Patuxent River, called: USNATB, United States Navy Amphibious Training Base. The base closed April 1945 after training 67,698 troops.

References

↑ Bern Anderson, By Sea and by River: The Naval History of the Civil War, 1962; Chap.4, pg. 46
1 2 3 Allan R. Millett, Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps, (New York City, NY: The Free Press, 1991).
↑ Paul Carano and Pedro C. Sanchez, A Complete History of Guam, (Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle Co., 1964).
↑ William M. McBride, Technological Change and the United States Navy, 1865—1945, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).
↑ Floyd W. Rudmin, Bordering on Aggression: Evidence of U.S. Military Preparations Against Canada, (Nashville, TN: Voyageur Publishing Co., May 1993).
↑ Michael Lind, The American Way of Strategy: US Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life, (Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006)
↑ Seward W. Livermore, " American Naval Base Policy in the Far East", Pacific Historical Review; 13, pgs/ 113–135.
↑ Maj Dion Williams, Naval Reconnaissance, Instructions for the Reconnaissance of Bays, Harbors, and Adjacent Country, 1906
↑ Earl H. Ellis, Naval Bases; Location, Resources, Denial of Bases, Security of Advanced Bases, 1913
↑ Tentative Landing Operations Manual
↑ Dirk A. Ballendorf & Merrill L. Bartlett, Pete Ellis: An Amphibious Warfare Prophet 1880-1923, 1997