Marcus Island: Part Two
"Everything I just said I learned from Douglas" -Peter Moon
Douglas Dietrich and his side-kick Peter Moon (Vincent Barbarick) not only claim that Marcus Island was a "primary objective of the Doolittle Raid in June 1942", but they also claim that the Island was "an impregnable fortress, impervious to bombing damage with reinforced concrete bunkers."
They said the island was actually an underground fortress, laced with tunnels connecting to secret facilities. "All of the people and technology was underground....in a mountain larger than the Island itself."
That the boat channel on the western side of the Island was actually an undersea tunnel entrance where "submarines went into and under the Island."
"Douglas had pointed out to me something that I consider to be the most enigmatic and overlooked historical aspect of World war Two. The super dirigibles at Roswell are just part of a bigger unit which was a place called Minami-Tori-Shima."
"It's called Monster Island because of the onsite development of non-conventional weapons with onsite maximum threat protection potential as a testbed for revolutionary technology including secret aircraft. It has a reputation for being Japans Area 51" -Peter Moon
1:10:00 - !:21:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otHmI2CSxZ4&t=4475s
What Dietrich and Moon have related has no basis in fact and should be considered total fiction. The actual history of Marcus Island during World War 2 reveals a significantly different reality.
At the height of the war, over 4,000 Japanese soldiers were stationed on the island. Defended by a trench system and beach defenses around the perimeter of the island plus light and heavy anti-aircraft batteries.
Between March 1942 until July 1945 Marcus Island was attacked by American carrier aircraft and bombers and was bypassed, leaving the garrison isolated and cut off from resupply, aside from submarine or rescue.
https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/japan_marcus.html
May 1943: The Japanese strength on Marcus Island was strengthened further and the South Seas Garrison Unit (about 600 men under a LtCol) was added to its defenses. On 1 May 1943, Captain Matsubara was promoted to Rear Admiral. He reported to Chichijima special base force (reorganized from 7th base force). In 1943 the Minami Torishima Fortress garrison consisting of approximately 1,100 Navy, 2,250 Army, and 650 civilian personnel, for a total of approximately 4000 personnel.
9 August 1943: The submarine USS SUNFISH (SS-281) commanded by Lt. Cdr. Richard W. Peterson arrives submerged about 12 miles off the beach and conducts a two-day reconnaissance of the island. Several aircraft were noted in the area and a ship was anchored on the south side of the island. They were able to identify the ship as a TATUHUKU MARU-type freighter (1951 tons). It was swinging radically at anchor, indicating strong and variable currents close in from the southeast. Occasional heavy rain squalls obscured the island from the Sunfish. They were able to get within 3000 yards of the ship but the currents would not allow a good shot. At times, a full right rudder was needed in the maneuvering. A 500-ton trawler was also noted, patrolling the south side of the island. Finally, the captain decided it was not worth another day and the fuel to attempt to close on the target and they departed the area at 1500 on 10 August 1943."
https://pacificairlifter.com/places-i-have-been/the-marcus-island-run/marcus-island-during-ww2/
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| USS Sunfish - SS-281 (US Navy photo) |
Douglas Dietrich claims that the US Navy conducted four "special recon missions/raids" by submarines on Marcus Island before September 1943, which involved the insertion of frogmen who he said "discovered dirigibles, secret aircraft, a death-ray machine, and micro-wave testing devices".
"Each of these reconnaissance raids brought back more alarming news of developments to the Americans". After which the Navy considered Marcus Island "the most formidable vanguard of offense or defense involving weapons of war for Japan."
I have found no record of any such "reconnaissance raids" made by Navy submarines.
The only record of any surveillance by a submarine is that of the USS Sunfish, which did so during a long-range patrol.
The reconnaissance by USS Sunfish did not involve any Navy UDT Team. The sea conditions it reported were heavy rains and squalls which obscured the island and currents so heavy the Sunfish decided to withdraw. This and a distance of over 3,000 yards would have made the insertion and recovery of a UDT Team too dangerous a risk.
In Dietrich's fictional version, "the frogmen found these materials and sent an armada of ships to Marcus Island...the largest ever deployed" and the Island was then referred to as "Monster Island" by the US Navy.
"US High Command referred to is as Monster Island because of the onsite development of non-conventional weapons with maximum threat protection potential as a testbed for revolutionary technology including secret aircraft."
Second Raid on Marcus Island August 31- September 1, 1943.
Dietrich describes the armada of ships but does not bother to name them. Only that they "were intending to obliterate 'Monster Island' and failed."
"At Marcus, 80 percent of the enemy’s installations were destroyed." [1]
Contrary to what Dietrich claims, the objectives of the Second Marcus Island Raid were not to simply "obliterate the Island." In fact, it was intended to destroy as many targets as possible. It was also the first use of the latest coordinated tactics and procedures to be used by a combined carrier strike force and the first use of the Grumman F6F Hellcat in combat.
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| Looking south at Marcus Island under attack on September 1,1943 (USN photo) |
The "armada" Dietrich failed to identify was actually Task Force 15 (TF-15).
31 August- 1 September 1943: A second US Navy carrier attack was conducted for two days, August 31-September 1, 1943. Three carriers were involved in this attack, the USS Essex (CV 9), the USS Yorktown (CV 10), and the USS Independence (CVL22). And the new F6F Grumman Hellcat made its debut combat mission.
Task Force Fifteen rendezvoused north of Hawaii on the morning of August 23, 1943. Three carriers, the Yorktown, Essex, and Independence, formed the nucleus of the task force, referred to as Task Force 15.5 under the command of Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall. Accompanying the carriers were the cruisers CL-43 USS Nashville and CL-63 USS Mobile, and the battleship BB-58 USS Indiana.
Task Group 15.1 was under the command of Captain Herman A. Spanagel. Ten destroyers, under Captain Thompson, were included in the Task Force.
Outcome:
80% of the installations on Marcus Island were destroyed as well as 7 G4M "Betty" medium bombers on the ground.
A third raid on Marcus Island occurred in May 1944.
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.
From May 1944- August 1945 there were nearly 90 smaller bombing attacks on Marcus Island, the vast majority made by B-24 heavy bombers.
August 31, 1945
(USN, USA) The Japanese garrison at Marcus officially surrenders to American General Whiting.
After the time of the surrender, there were 2,542 Japanese Army and Navy personnel, plus a number of Japanese civilians remaining on the island. the majority of them were suffering from all forms of tropical maladies and most of them suffered from severe malnutrition. Not only were they unfit as laborers, but their continued presence on the island also presented a threat to the health of the Occupation forces."
https://pacificairlifter.com/places-i-have-been/the-marcus-island-run/marcus-island-during-ww2/
Surely the American forces occupying and inspecting the Island after its surrender would have discovered any "secret technology" or the so-called tunnel systems connected to an underground base.
None of the target maps before the attack or the battle damage assessments made following, show the existence of heavily reinforced concrete bunker structures suspected to be hidden underground, none were discovered following the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
According to this source, the Japanese commander on Marcus may have been killed by one of his own officers.
Of interest:
The questionable death of Col. Yoshiichi Sakata.
"The commander of the Japanese Army forces on Marcus Island was Col Sakata. Col. Sakata died on Marcus and is listed as a battle casualty. The real story is a little different and there are two versions of what happened:
The first version states that one of his officers developed “island fever” and demanded that Sakata abandon the island. This officer was certainly delusional; Sakata would never have returned his command to Japan even had it been in his power to do so. When Sakata rebuffed the man’s demands, the officer killed Sakata. What became of the officer is unknown. He was probably given a field courts-martial on the island and executed. I imagine it would have been too difficult to send him back to Japan for trial at that point in the war. It’s surprising that more of the personnel on Marcus didn’t go nuts. Marcus was short of everything except personnel.
The second version, suggested by Akira Takizawa: Because of the serious shortage of food, Admiral Matsubara advised Col. Sakata that the army forces would return to Japan. But, Col. Sakata did not agree with it, because his pride did not allow him to retreat from the front. Admiral Matsubara asked Captain Nakamura, the tank unit commander, to persuade Sakata. Nakamura persuaded Sakata, again and again. But, Sakata did not agree. At last, Nakamura killed Sakata and then committed suicide."
Source: https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=209730#p1892949 |
| Target map prior to raid - 1943 |
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| Target Map prior to raid 1943 |
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| BDA Following Raid 1943 |
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| TBF-pilots studying map of Marcus Island before September 1 raid. |
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| TFB Avenger Torpedo Bomber off Marcus Island during raid |
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| Looking southwest at Marcus Island under attack by the Navy on August 31, 1943 |
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| View from an F6F Grumman Hellcat, looking southeast, of Marcus Island under attack on August 31, 1943 |
Marcus Island operation ushered in new era of carrier combat actions | Goodspeed
Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 25 in World War II
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