When 449 Marines Turned Back a Japanese Fleet - Wake Island 1941 | Animated Map

December 11, 1941, just before three in the morning, the fourth day of the war in the Pacific. Lookouts on Wake Atoll spot a Japanese fleet to the south: three light cruisers, six destroyers and transports carrying about 450 landing troops. Major James Devereux has six 5-inch guns taken from an old battleship, and he gives one order: nobody fires. Only when the ships come close do the Marines open up, and Battery L breaks the destroyer Hayate in two: the first Japanese surface warship sunk by American forces in World War II. Fewer than 500 Marines, on less than three square miles of coral, have just forced a Japanese fleet to turn back. They will hold out for twelve more days. From Pan Am's Clippers and the Wildcats of VMF-211 to the first raid from Roi and the dynamite on Wilkes; from the batteries on Peacock Point, Wilkes and Peale to the Kisaragi blown up from the air and Captain Henry Elrod's Medal of Honor; from the planes rebuilt out of wrecks and the civilians who fought beside the Marines to the relief force that came within 425 miles and turned back; from the night landing on the reef, Lieutenant Hanna's gun and "Issue in doubt" to the 1,603 prisoners and the 98 who never left: this is the siege of Wake Island, told on the map. Chapters 0:00 December 11, 1941: a fleet off Wake 0:34 "Nobody fires" 0:47 Open fire 1:30 A coral V in the Pacific 1:53 Pan Am, the Navy and the Marines 2:32 The Wildcats of VMF-211 3:18 Pearl Harbor 3:49 Noon, December 8: the first raid 4:34 Three days of bombing 5:09 December 11: Kajioka attacks 5:20 Battery A hits the Yubari 5:31 Battery L sinks the Hayate 5:48 Battery B and the retreat 6:08 The Wildcats sink the Kisaragi 6:25 Elrod's Medal of Honor 7:03 The siege 7:34 The civilians 8:00 The line no one said 8:26 The relief force 8:46 The carriers and the last Wildcats 9:31 December 23: the landing 9:56 Hanna's gun 10:13 Putnam's last stand 10:54 Platt's counterattack on Wilkes 11:16 "Issue in doubt" 11:39 The relief force turns back 11:52 Wake falls 12:20 1,603 prisoners 12:54 The 98 13:19 "98 US PW 5-10-43" 13:44 1945: the Japanese surrender and the trial 14:19 Wake today Music: Purple Planet Music ("Warhammer") Maps: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); seafloor from Terrain Tiles (Mapzen/AWS: ETOPO1, GEBCO); the atoll as it was in 1941 after Heinl, The Defense of Wake (U.S. Marine Corps, 1947), map 1. Archive photos, cropped (public domain): U.S. Marine Corps History Division: James Devereux, Henry Elrod Paul Putnam: U.S. Marine Corps, from Heinl, The Defense of Wake (1947) Naval History and Heritage Command: Winfield Cunningham (NH 102630), William Pye (NH 82801), USS Saratoga (NH 92500) National Archives, official U.S. Navy photos: Frank Jack Fletcher (80-G-14193), John Kinney (80-G-49951), Elrod's Wildcat (80-G-179006), Wake in 1941 (80-G-451194, 80-G-451195, 80-G-451196) National Archives, Marine Corps photos by R. O. Kepler: the surrender aboard USS Levy (127-GR-112-133687), Shigematsu Sakaibara (127-GR-112-133848) Sadamichi Kajioka: unknown Japanese photographer, via U.S. Navy archives The prisoners of Wake: Marine Corps Historical Collection The Philippine Clipper: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives, photo by Clyde Sunderland (no known copyright restrictions) The "98" rock and Wake today: U.S. Air Force (Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo; Senior Airman Alexander W. Riedel) War bond poster: Marion H. Matchitt, "Quit Bellyaching — You're Lucky!" (1942), Hennepin County Library Archive film (public domain): "Japan Surrenders" (United News) and "Japanese Planes Bomb Pearl Harbor" (U.S. Navy); "The Battle of China" and "Know Your Enemy: Japan" (U.S. War Department); U.S. Navy footage of the 1943 Wake Island raids; "Details of Japanese Surrender" (U.S. Marine Corps, 1945), all from the National Archives; "Wake Island: America's day really begins" (U.S. Air Force, 2017, DVIDS). #WakeIsland #WW2 #USMC