Peter Moon (Vincent Barbarick) stated that Marcus Island was attacked twice in the spring of 1942. "Once on March 4 by USS Enterprise, and was a primary target of the Doolittle Raid in June 1942".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otHmI2CSxZ4&t=4475s 1:14:00 - 1:14:38
Although Moon is correct that the USS Enterprise Group conducted a pre-daylight bombing and strafing raid on Marcus Island the morning of March 4, 1942, his claim that Marcus Island was a primary target of the Doolittle Raid in June 1942 cannot be true. |
| Google Earth Image 1 |
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| Battle Damage Assessment Drawing - 4 March 1942, US Navy |
Marcus Island is approximately 1,000 miles South East of Tokyo and the addition of such a distance to a bombing route that included Marcus Island which was 1,000 miles to the South of USS Hornet was not possible since the B-25s were carrying full fuel and bombloads and intended to reach Mainland China after attacking Tokyo. An attack on Marcus Island would have resulted in the aircraft running out of fuel before even reaching or possibly over Japan.
Barbarick also neglected to consider the possibility that attacking Marcus Island would have resulted in compromising the entire operation as radio transmissions by the Japanese on Marcus Island could be relayed to radio-equipped vessels picketing the Eastern Coast of Japan. The launch of Doolittles' planes 10 hours early and 200 miles farther from Japan than planned, due to the encounter with such a vessel, ("Nitto Maru #23") is a perfect example.
"For the next 30 minutes, the Nashville pounded the Japanese picket boat with 6-inch shells. Navy aviators from the Enterprise joined the attack after spotting another ship "Nanshin Maru No. 21". The smaller boat was sunk by over 1,200 rounds of .50 caliber machine gun fire. The Nashville would expend over 900 rounds before the Nitto Maru would sink. The skipper of the Nashville would later write; "Expenditure of 915 rounds to sink a sampan appears ridiculous, and obviously was excessive, but in this instance was not wholly inexcusable."
The condition of increasingly heavy seas and Japanese "picket vessels" complicated the mission. https://b-25history.org/doolittle/raid.htm
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| U.S.S. SABINE REFUELS THE U.S.S. ENTERPRISE ON APRIL 17, 1942 |
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| U.S.S. NASHVILLE FIRING ON JAPANESE PICKET BOAT "NITTO MARU NO. 23" THE MORNING OF APRIL 18, 1942 |
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| LT. COL. DOOLITTLE LAUNCHING FROM THE U.S.S. HORNET |
It is highly unlikely that Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey would have planned such a raid to include a bombing of Marcus Island. Barbaricks' claim makes no logistical sense whatsoever and there is absolutely no historical evidence to support it.
The Doolittle Raid occurred on April 18, 1942, and not in June as Moon stated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid
At 07:38 on the morning of 18 April, while the task force was still about 650 nautical miles (1,200 km; 750 mi) from Japan (around 35°N 154°E), it was sighted by the Japanese picket boat No. 23 NittÅ Maru, a 70-ton patrol craft, which radioed an attack warning to Japan.[32] The boat was sunk by gunfire from USS Nashville.[note 6] The chief petty officer who captained the boat killed himself rather than be captured, but five of the 11 crew were picked up by Nashville.[34]
Doolittle and Hornet skipper Captain Marc Mitscher decided to launch the B-25s immediately—10 hours early and 170 nautical miles (310 km; 200 mi) farther from Japan than planned.[note 7] After respotting to allow for engine start and runups, Doolittle's aircraft had 467 feet (142 m) of takeoff distance.[35] Although none of the B-25 pilots, including Doolittle, had ever taken off from a carrier before, all 16 aircraft launched safely between 08:20 and 09:19. The B-25s then flew toward Japan, most in groups of two to four aircraft, before flying singly at wave-top level to avoid detection.[36]
At 07:38 on the morning of 18 April, while the task force was still about 650 nautical miles (1,200 km; 750 mi) from Japan (around 35°N 154°E), it was sighted by the Japanese picket boat No. 23 NittÅ Maru, a 70-ton patrol craft, which radioed an attack warning to Japan.[32] The boat was sunk by gunfire from USS Nashville.[note 6] The chief petty officer who captained the boat killed himself rather than be captured, but five of the 11 crew were picked up by Nashville.[34]
Doolittle and Hornet skipper Captain Marc Mitscher decided to launch the B-25s immediately—10 hours early and 170 nautical miles (310 km; 200 mi) farther from Japan than planned.[note 7] After respotting to allow for engine start and runups, Doolittle's aircraft had 467 feet (142 m) of takeoff distance.[35] Although none of the B-25 pilots, including Doolittle, had ever taken off from a carrier before, all 16 aircraft launched safely between 08:20 and 09:19. The B-25s then flew toward Japan, most in groups of two to four aircraft, before flying singly at wave-top level to avoid detection.[36]
The map of the route clearly shows the USS Hornet Group at 1,000 Miles Due North of Marcus Island before April 17, 1942.
During WW2, Japan was able to resupply the garrison by submarine, using the boat channel, still visible today. The channel was created from 1931-1933 when the Japanese militarized the island.
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| Route of Doolittle Raid |
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| Drawing of Battle Damage Assessment of Marcus Island - September 1943 |
I have found no mention in any drawing or written record of a "Secret Japanese Submarine Entrance" - cut into the coral reef on the Northwest portion of the island. The few images or drawings I have found list this as being a "boat channel".
Wikipedia states the channel was used by submarines but does not provide any citation. In my opinion, the channel was likely used by small boats which could be landed and turned around upon reaching the beach after clearing the reef using the channel.
It is more likely that submarines would have surfaced and approached the southern end of the island where they could be moored and off-loaded by barge directly to the concrete pier. This would be the more efficient method, as off-loading would have been more difficult from the channel to the beach and the airfield.
The boat channel was a tight-fit for a submarine which would have also been more vulnerable during an air attack as it would be essentially trapped in the channel. But being moored near the southern pier would allow for the boat to quickly head away from the island and submerge itself.
I measured the boat channel using Google Earth:
Length: 175 meters (574 feet)
Width: 10 meters (33 feet)
The channel would need to have been a minimum depth of 15 feet in order to accommodate a transport/cargo submarine such as the Ha-101.
Type Ha-101:
Length: 145 feet
Width: 20 feet
Draft: (Keel Depth) 13 feet
The Japanese likely used explosives to blast through the coral reef in creating the boat channel. There is also a concrete pier located on the southern end of the island.
"USS Yorktown Airgroup: Prior to Attack August 31, 1943 "
(showing the location of the boat channel)
During WW2, Japan was able to resupply the garrison by submarine, using the boat channel, still visible today. The channel was created from 1931-1933 when the Japanese militarized the island.
During that time, two runways were constructed. A western 1,500' (later extended to 3,500') runway ran north NE to south SW and a shorter southern 1,000' runway east to west.
The Japanese initially resupplied the garrison on Marcus Island with visits from regular cargo ships. They would anchor off the south coast of the island and would be unloaded with barges from Marcus Island. There was a small concrete pier on the south coast that is still used today.
With increased pressure on the Japanese cargo ships by American submarines, the Japanese began the construction of cargo submarines to resupply the outlying island outpost. The Ha-101-class submarines were designed as small, cheap transport submarines to resupply isolated island garrisons.
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| HA-101 Submarines |
They displaced 429 long tons surfaced and 493 long tons submerged. The submarines were 146 ft long, had a beam of 20 ft, and a draft of 13 ft 3 in. They were designed to carry 60 metric tons (59 long tons) of cargo.[3] The Sen Yu Sho (small supply submarine) was also referred to as the SS Type. These submarines were intended to be mass-produced and replace losses of the larger D1/D2 submarines.
They featured all-welded, modular hulls that allowed for a short five-month construction time. They carried no torpedo tubes, but some could carry ten 18-inch torpedoes as cargo for resupply of midget submarines. They carried a 25-mm AA gun.
Twelve boats were laid down of which 10 were completed before the end of the war. Another planned 88 were canceled. The HA-104 cargo submarine was launched on 30 September 1944. It would make two resupply runs to Marcus Island.
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| Google Earth Image 1 |
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| Google Earth Image 2 |
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| Google Earth Image 3 |
First three raids listed against Marcus Island:
American missions against Marcus Island and Marcus Airfield
March 4, 1942–July 4, 1945
March 4, 1942
(USN) First strike on Marcus USS Enterprise Task Force 16 (TF-16) under the command of Vice Admiral W. F. Halsey launches air attacks on Marcus Island, first carrier raid of the Pacicic War.August 31, 1943
(USN) Second Raid on Marcus - Task Force 15 (TF-15) under the command of Rear Admiral C. A. Pownall), built around Essex, the new Yorktown and Independence launched nine strike groups in a day-long attack on Japanese installations on Marcus Island, the first strikes by Essex and Independence Class carriers, and the first combat use of the F6F Grumman Hellcat.May 19-20, 1944
(USN) Third Raid on Marcus - Planes from a three-carrier task force under the command of Rear Admiral A. E. Montgomery hit Marcus with a predawn fighter sweep and strafed and bombed the island for two consecutive days.
Other sources:
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