The U. S. Coast Guard, Iwo Jima
The U. S. Coast Guard in World War II
As with all wars, World War II had a transformative effect on America’s military services. In the years immediately preceding U.S. entry into the conflict and over the subsequent four years, eight months of fighting, the Coast Guard’s responsibilities grew exponentially. To support the cause, the Coast Guard expanded to a record high of more than 170,000 men and women serving in uniform at one time, with nearly 250,000 personnel serving over the course of the war. The Coast Guard supported both combat and traditional service missions, including search and rescue, marine safety, convoy escort duty, troop transport and amphibious operations, port security, and beach patrol. By doing so, the U.S. Coast Guard proved itself Semper Paratus-“Always Ready”-to perform any maritime missions required by the war effort.
Iwo Jima
LCT’s and LST’s disgorge their cargo during the assault on Iwo Jima.
With the major points in the Philippines secure, the Allies began looking to the final assault on the Japanese islands. Along the route lay Iwo Jima, an island less than four miles long and just over two wide. Allied planners believed the capture of this volcanic island would ease the later operations because it could be used as an emergency air base for crippled heavy bombers returning from missions over Japan. Furthermore, fighters could fly from Iwo Jima and could supply cover for the entire distance to the targets and back.
Nine hundred vessels sailed in the numerous task groups of the Fifth Fleet and in support of the operation. These ships carried expeditionary forces of more than 70,000 Marines, nearly 4,000 men in the naval landing force, and more than 36,000 garrison troops to attack the determined Japanese of 21,000.
The Allies set Feb. 19 as D-Day. The assault forces arrived off the southeast side of the island to land men at seven predetermined beaches stretching only 3,500 yards. Included in these vessels were the Bayfield and the Callaway, 14 LSTs, and the submarine chaser PC-469. With no reefs surrounding the island, the landings promised little difficulty. The attack forces arrived off the beaches before daylight and began debarking troops into the LVTs, and lowered LCMs and LCVPs for the assault. The LVTs landed the first five assault waves. The anticipated good beach conditions unfortunately did not materialize. The surf broke directly on the beach, broaching and carrying the small craft sideways up on the beach. It did not take long for the shore line to become littered with craft.
The successive waves of landing craft had difficulty getting to the beach and likewise became damaged and lost. The Coast Guard coxswains found it necessary to back the craft into the wind and current to keep grounding hard onto the beach. The beachmasters, salvage parties and beach parties normally kept the beaches clear, but due to the intense Japanese mortar fire, none of these men could remain on the beach. Therefore the coxswains in the landing craft had to take all the initiative to get to the beach, unload, and back off. The wreckage eventually caused the beach to be closed to everything smaller than an LCT until tugs and other craft cleared it for later waves to disembark troops and supplies.
The Coast Guard landed Marine divisions along with their gear, bulldozers, vehicles, rations, small arms, water, and virtually everything that would keep the landing forces moving inland. One of the most enduring images of the capture of the island is the Marines raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi. Interestingly both the LST-779 and the LST-758 claimed the honor of suppling one of the flags used during the raising on Mt. Suribachi.
LCT’s and LST’s disgorge their cargo during the assault on Iwo Jima
Okinawa
The Coast Guard’s final major amphibious action was at Okinawa. Operation Iceberg proceeded along the same successful formula that other Allied invasions had taken. Carrier aircraft and surface ships shelled and bombed the island for nine days prior to the landings. The Coast Guard had a total of 53 ships that participated, and another six with partial Coast Guard crews accompanied the invasion forces. These transports, cargo vessels, amphibious force flagships, and more than 40 LSTs and LCIs formed part of the overall force of more than 1,400 vessels carrying more than 548,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines.
The amphibious task force arrived off the beaches on Easter morning, April 1, 1945. The Japanese chose not to defend the beachhead. Therefore the greatest initial threat faced by the attacking force was Kamikaze attacks. During these attacks a suicide plane struck the Coast Guard-manned LST-884. The plane plowed through the shipfitter’s shop and into its cargo of ammunition. Racked by fire and explosions, the commanding officer ordered all hands to abandon ship, but the attack had cost the lives of 24 men.
The beachmasters and their men waged their own battle with an unseen enemy. The coral off the beaches at Okinawa complicated the unloading of supplies. The LCVPs and LCMs had only six hours a day, near high tide, to unload the craft. Due to the tremendous needs of the campaign the beachmasters found it necessary to unload as many of the craft at high tide, pile the supplies on the beach, and then move the material inland at low tide. This kept the transports at anchor for a long period of time and offered the Kamikaze pilots, suicide boats and torpedo craft ample time to strike at the fleet.
A great armada lies off the Okinawa beachhead: troops and supplies pour in for the last major operation of World War II
The Coast Guard remained active with the amphibious forces until the surrender of Japan. Afterwards the cutters performed various operations with the occupation forces including mine-sweeping activities. The Coast Guard transports finished their major work in the Pacific by transporting thousands of men home in the “Magic Carpet” trips.
The Coast Guard made a tremendous contribution to the war effort as part of the amphibious forces in the Pacific. The men of this nation’s smallest military service proved as heroic and valiant as the men in the other branches. When the Coast Guard was returned to its peacetime role in 1946, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal stated that during the war the Coast Guard “earned the highest respect and deepest appreciation of the Navy and Marine Corps. Its performance of duty has been without exception in keeping with the highest traditions of service.”
Reporting from the National Park service, the US Coast Guard