Editing Battle of Peleliu

{{Short description|World War II battle in the Pacific theater}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Peleliu
| partof            = the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign]] of the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] ([[World War II]])
| image             = First wave of LVTs moves toward the invasion beaches - Peleliu.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| map_type          = Palau#Asia#Pacific Ocean
| map_relief        = 1
| caption           = The first wave of U.S. Marines in [[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVT]]s during the invasion of Peleliu on 15 September 1944.
| date              = 15 September – 27 November 1944<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=09|day1=15|year1=1944|month2=11|day2=27|year2=1944}})
| place             = [[Peleliu]], [[Geography of Palau|Palau Islands]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|7|00|N|134|15|E|region:PW_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| result            = American victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = [[William H. Rupertus]]<br />[[Paul J. Mueller]]<br />[[Roy Geiger]]<br />[[Herman H. Hanneken]]<br />[[Harold D. Harris]]<br />[[Chesty Puller|Lewis B. Puller]]
| commander2        = [[Kunio Nakagawa]]{{KIA|Suicide}}<br />[[Sadae Inoue]]
| units1            = [[III Marine Expeditionary Force|III Amphibious Corps]]
* [[1st Marine Division]]
* [[81st Infantry Division (United States)|81st Infantry Division]]
''Additional support units''
| units2            = Peleliu garrison
* [[14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|14th Infantry Division]]
* 49th Mixed Brigade
* 45th Guard Force
* 46th Base Force

''Additional support units''
| strength1         = 47,561<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|36}}
| strength2         = 10,900<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|37}}<br />17 [[Type 95 Ha-Go light tank|tanks]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Taki |url=https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/history.htm |title=The History of Battles of Imperial Japanese Tanks |access-date=March 4, 2018 |work=Taki's Japanese Imperial Army website |language=ja}}</ref>
| casualties1       = '''Total US Military for Palau Islands Group'''<br>
*1,989–2,143 battle deaths
*8,514 wounded and injured
{{Collapsible list
|title=Breakdown by locations
|''Peleliu and Ngesebus Islands''{{efn|Marines: at least 1,252 killed, DOW, missing presumed dead, and 5,274 wounded. Army: at least 260 killed/DOW and 1,008 wounded/injured. Navy: 50 killed, 11 DOW, 249 wounded. Navy medical records report a higher figure of 1,273 battle deaths for the Marines,<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/world-war-ii-casualties.html] Naval History and Heritage Command, "World War II casualties," citing "The Statistics of Diseases and Injuries. vol.3. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950." Retrieved 2/10/23. "Invasion of Palau Islands: 1171 killed, 101 died of wounds, 1 died as a prisoner."</ref> while Appendix H of "History of the USMC in World War II vol. IV" gives 1,336 killed, died of wounds, missing presumed dead, and 5,450 wounded, though a substantial part of those who died of wounds are also recorded as WIAs.}}
*1,573+ battle deaths
*6,531+ wounded and injured
''Angaur Island''{{efn|All Army casualties}}
*260+ battle deaths
*1,354+ wounded and injured
''Navy (excluding Peleliu Island)''
*134 battle deaths
*255 wounded
}}
{{Collapsible list
|title=Breakdown by service
|''Marines''<ref>[https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/History%20of%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20Operations%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20IV_Western%20Pacific%20Operations%20%20PCN%201900026270.pdf?ver=2017-04-13-131826-100]"History of the USMC in World War II vol. IV: Western Pacific Operations p. 285, 797. Retrieved 2/10/23. Total for Peleliu island is 1,252 killed, DOW, MIAPD, and 5,274 wounded. Appendix H lists 1,050 killed, 250 died of wounds, 36 missing presumed dead, and 5,450 wounded, including many of those who later died.</ref>
*1,252– 1,336 killed, died of wounds, missing presumed dead
*~5,200–5,274 wounded
''Army''<ref>[https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/History%20of%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20Operations%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20IV_Western%20Pacific%20Operations%20%20PCN%201900026270.pdf?ver=2017-04-13-131826-100]"History of the USMC in World War II vol. IV: Western Pacific Operations p. 285. Retrieved 2/10/23. Total Palau Group: 542 killed and 2,736 wounded or injured in action.</ref><br>
*542–612<ref>[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/3309/rec/1]"Casualty Report Number II" 8 May 1945, p. 65. Retrieved 2/10/23. 424 killed, 179 died of wounds, 9 missing in action, 2,313 wounded and injured in action</ref> killed, died of wounds, missing
*2,736 wounded and injured
''Navy''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150224100249/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/world-war-ii-casualties.html] Naval History and Heritage Command, "World War II casualties," citing "The Statistics of Diseases and Injuries. vol.3. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950." Retrieved 2/10/23. "Invasion of Palau Islands, 185 killed, 10 died of wounds.</ref>
*195 killed and died of wounds
*504 wounded<ref>[https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheMedicalDeptInWWIIV3/page/n94/mode/1up?view=theater]"The History of the Medical Department of the United States Navy in World War II: The Statistics of Diseases and Injuries, Volume 3" p. 84. Retrieved 2/10/23. 699 total battle casualties - 185 killed and 10 died of wounds = 504 wounded and survived. The Marine Corps source linked above references 11, not 10, who died of wounds.</ref>
}}
| casualties2       = '''Total Palau Group'''<ref>[https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/History%20of%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20Operations%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20IV_Western%20Pacific%20Operations%20%20PCN%201900026270.pdf?ver=2017-04-13-131826-100]"History of the USMC in World War II vol. IV: Western Pacific Operations p. 179, 253. Retrieved 2/10/23. According to American records, the Japanese lost more than 12,000 dead and 300 prisoners on the 3 main islands, excluding several dozen more who survived the initial battle and were captured or killed later.</ref>
*12,033 dead (excluding stragglers)
*360 prisoners (excluding stragglers)
{{Collapsible list
|title=Breakdown by locations
|''Peleliu and Ngesebus Islands''
*10,695 dead
*301 prisoners
''Angaur Island''
*1,338 dead
*59 prisoners
}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Marianas and Palaus}}
The '''Battle of Peleliu''', codenamed '''Operation Stalemate II''' by the [[United States Armed Forces|US military]], was fought between the [[United States]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] during the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign]] of [[World War II]], from 15 September to 27 November 1944, on the island of [[Peleliu]].

[[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] of the [[1st Marine Division]] and then soldiers of the [[United States Army|US Army]]'s [[81st Infantry Division (United States)|81st Infantry Division]] fought to capture [[Peleliu Airfield|an airfield]] on the small [[coral island]] of Peleliu. The battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944 in the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]].

Major General [[William Rupertus]], the commander of the 1st Marine Division, predicted that the island would be secured within four days.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle of Peleliu Facts |url=http://www.worldwar2facts.org/battle-of-peleliu-facts.html |work=World War 2 Facts |access-date=January 14, 2014 |last=Dean |first=Mack |date=May 9, 2014}}</ref> However, after repeated [[Imperial Japanese Army]] defeats in previous island campaigns, Japan had developed new island-defense tactics and well-crafted fortifications, which allowed them to offer stiff resistance<ref>{{cite video |title=Third Army blasts Nazi Strongholds |date=November 2, 1944 |url=https://archive.org/details/1944-11-02_3rd_Army_blasts_Nazi_Strongholds |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref> and extended the battle to more than two months. The heavily outnumbered Japanese defenders put up such staunch resistance, often fighting to the death in the name of the [[Emperor of Japan|Japanese Emperor]], that the island became known in Japanese as the "Emperor's Island."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/world/asia/ahead-of-world-war-ii-anniversary-questions-linger-over-stance-of-japans-premier.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/world/asia/ahead-of-world-war-ii-anniversary-questions-linger-over-stance-of-japans-premier.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited|title=Ahead of World War II Anniversary, Questions Linger Over Stance of Japan's Premier|last=Fackler|first=Martin|date=April 9, 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the US, the battle was controversial because of the island's negligible strategic value and the high casualty rate incurred by American troops during the fighting, which exceeded that of all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.<ref name="militaryhistoryonline.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/peleliu/default.aspx |work=Military History Online |title=Bloody Peleliu: Unavoidable Yet Unnecessary |last=Gypton |first=Jeremy |year=2004 |publisher=Military History Online, LLC |access-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421175639/https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/?aspxerrorpath=%2Fwwii%2Fpeleliu%2Fdefault.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[National Museum of the Marine Corps]] called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmcmuseum.com/Exhibits_UncommonValor_p15.asp |title=World War II: Central Pacific Campaigns: Peleliu |work=[[National Museum of the Marine Corps]] |access-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212239/http://www.usmcmuseum.com/Exhibits_UncommonValor_p15.asp |archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref>

==Background==
By 1944, American victories in the Southwest and [[Pacific Ocean Areas|Central Pacific]] had brought the war closer to Japan, with American bombers able to strike at the [[Japanese archipelago|Japanese main islands]] from air bases secured during the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|Mariana Islands campaign]] (June–August 1944). There was disagreement among the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff|U.S. Joint Chiefs]] over two proposed strategies to defeat the Japanese Empire. The strategy proposed by General [[Douglas MacArthur]] called for the recapture of the [[Philippines]], followed by the capture of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], then an [[Operation Downfall|attack on the Japanese home islands]]. Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]] favored a more direct strategy of bypassing the Philippines but seizing Okinawa and [[Taiwan]] as [[staging area]]s to an attack on the Japanese mainland, followed by the future invasion of Japan's southernmost islands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Battle of Peleliu|url=http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-peleliu|work=History Channel|access-date=January 14, 2014}}</ref>

The [[1st Marine Division]] had already been chosen to make the assault. [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] traveled to [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] to personally meet both MacArthur and Nimitz and hear their arguments. In the end, MacArthur's strategy was chosen. However, before MacArthur could retake the Philippines, the [[Geography of Palau|Palau Islands]], specifically Peleliu and [[Angaur]], were to be neutralized and an airfield built to protect the southern flank of MacArthur's planned landings on the Philippines.

==Preparations==
===Japanese===
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2018}}
By 1944, Peleliu was occupied by about 11,000 Japanese troops of the [[14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|14th Infantry Division]], along with a handful of Korean laborers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Peleliu 1944: Social Archaeologies of World War II in Palau, Micronesia|url=https://www.abdn.ac.uk/geosciences/departments/archaeology/peleliu-1944-social-archaeologies-of-world-war-ii-in-palau-micronesia-317.php|work=University of Aberdeen|access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref><ref name="The Bones of Nakagawa">{{cite web|title=The Bones of Nakagawa|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2003/february/bones-nakagawa|work=U.S. Naval Institute|date=February 2003 |access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref> Considered a crack unit, the division had been detached from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria to garrison Peleliu after the fall of the Marshall Islands earlier in 1944, and had arrived on the island in May. Colonel [[Kunio Nakagawa]], commander of the division's 2nd Regiment, led the preparations for the island's defense.<ref name="The Bones of Nakagawa"/> 

After their losses in the [[Solomon Islands campaign|Solomons]], [[Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign|Gilberts, Marshalls]] and Marianas, the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] assembled a research team to develop new island-defense tactics. Previously, Japanese island garrisons had heavily contested enemy landings on the beach itself, rendering them vulnerable to naval [[bombardment]]. The Japanese formulated new tactics that envisioned only a token defense of the landing beaches, instead protracting the conflict by holding defensible terrain in the island interior. Peleliu's steep, twisting coral ridges were ideal for such a defense in depth. Colonel Nakagawa used this rough terrain to his advantage by ordering the construction of heavily fortified bunkers, caves, and other subterranean positions, all interlocked in a "honeycomb" system. Traditional "[[banzai charge]]" attacks were to be discontinued, as they wasted manpower and were ineffective. These changes in tactics were designed to force the Americans into a [[war of attrition]], compelling them to spend more troops, materiel and time to secure Japanese island garrisons.

[[File:Peleliu-defense-194409.jpg|thumb|250px|Japanese fortifications]]
Nakagawa's defenses were centered on Peleliu's highest point. Located at the center of Peleliu, the hills and steep ridges of Umurbrogol Mountain overlooked much of the island, including its crucial airfield. The Umurbrogol contained some 500 limestone caves, connected via tunnel by Japanese engineers. Many of these caves were former mine shafts developed by Nanyo Kohatsu Kaisha (South Seas Development Company), a Japanese firm established in 1921 primarily to develop the sugar industry in Saipan, where its headquarters were located. However, the company also owned and worked the phosphate deposits on Peleliu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=United States. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-Q0HSDtZrIC |title=West Caroline Islands |date=1944 |publisher=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Dept. |pages=166}}</ref>  The phosphate material was mined with native labor and transported via narrow gauge railcars operated by manpower to a phosphate refinery located at the wharf on Peleliu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-Q0HSDtZrIC |title=West Caroline Islands |date=1944 |publisher=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Dept. |location=Washington, DC |pages=206}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=United States. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-Q0HSDtZrIC |title=West Caroline Islands |date=1944 |publisher=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Dept. |location=Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Dept. |pages=136}}</ref>

The mines and caves were turned into defensive positions. Engineers added sliding armored steel doors with multiple openings to many cave entrances, providing extra protection and concealment for artillery and machine guns. Cave entrances were opened or altered to be slanted as a defense against grenade and flamethrower attacks. The caves and bunkers were connected to a vast tunnel and trench system throughout central Peleliu, which allowed the Japanese to evacuate or reoccupy positions as needed, and to take advantage of shrinking [[interior lines]].

The Japanese garrison was well armed with [[Type 97 81 mm infantry mortar|{{convert|81|mm|in|2|abbr=on}}]] and [[Type 96 150 mm Infantry Mortar|{{convert|150|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} mortar]]s and [[Type 98 20 mm AA Machine Cannon|{{convert|20|mm|in|2|abbr=on}}]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] [[Autocannon|cannon]]s, backed by a light tank unit and an anti-aircraft detachment. The Japanese also used the beach terrain to their advantage. The northern end of the landing beaches faced a {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=on}} coral promontory that overlooked the beaches from a small peninsula, a spot later known to the Marines who assaulted it simply as "The Point". Holes were blasted into The Point to accommodate a [[Type 1 47 mm Anti-Tank Gun|{{convert|47|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} gun]] and six 20&nbsp;mm cannons. The positions were then sealed shut, leaving only a thin slit to fire on the beaches. The Japanese constructed similar positions along the {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of landing beaches on the western shore of Peleliu.

The beaches were also filled with thousands of obstacles for the landing craft, principally mines and a large number of heavy artillery shells buried with the fuses exposed, designed to explode when they were run over. Nakagawa placed a battalion along the beach to defend against the landing, but this unit was meant to merely delay the inevitable American advance inland. Neither Nakagawa nor his superior officers expected the garrison to survive if Peleliu was attacked, and Japanese military planners made no contingencies to evacuate any survivors. 

===American===
Unlike the Japanese, who drastically altered their tactics for the upcoming battle, the American invasion plan was unchanged from that of previous amphibious landings, even after suffering 3,000 casualties and enduring two months of delaying tactics while overcoming entrenched Japanese defenders at the [[Battle of Biak]].<ref>Alexander, ''Storm Landings'', p. 110.</ref> On Peleliu, American planners chose to land on the southwest beaches because of their proximity to the airfield on south Peleliu. The [[1st Marine Regiment]], commanded by Colonel [[Chesty Puller|Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller]], was to land on the northern end of the beaches. The [[5th Marine Regiment]], under Colonel [[Harold D. Harris|Harold Harris]], would land in the center, and the [[7th Marine Regiment]], under Colonel [[Herman H. Hanneken|Herman Hanneken]], would land at the southern end.

The division's artillery regiment, the [[11th Marine Regiment|11th Marines]] under Colonel [[William H. Harrison (USMC)|William Harrison]], would land after the infantry regiments. The plan was for the 1st and 7th Marines to push inland, guarding the 5th Marines' flanks and allowing them to capture the airfield located directly to the center of the landing beaches. The 5th Marines were to push across to the eastern shore, cutting the island in half. The 1st Marines would push north into the Umurbrogol, while the 7th Marines would clear the southern end of the island. Only one battalion was held in reserve, with the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division available for support from [[Angaur]], just south of Peleliu.

On 4 September the Marines shipped off from their station on [[Pavuvu]], north of [[Guadalcanal]], a {{convert|2100|mi|km|adj=on}} trip across the Pacific. A Navy [[Underwater Demolition Team]] cleared the beaches of some obstacles as warships began their pre-invasion bombardment of Peleliu on 12 September.

The [[battleship]]s {{USS|Pennsylvania|BB-38|2}}, {{USS|Maryland|BB-46|2}}, {{USS|Mississippi|BB-41|2}}, {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2}} and {{USS|Idaho|BB-42|2}}, [[heavy cruiser]]s {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|2}}, {{USS|Louisville|CA-28|2}}, {{USS|Minneapolis|CA-36|2}} and {{USS|Portland|CA-33|2}}, and [[light cruiser]]s {{USS|Cleveland|CL-55|2}}, {{USS|Denver|CL-58|2}} and {{USS|Honolulu|CL-48|2}},<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|29}} led by the command ship {{USS|Mount McKinley|AGC-7|2}}, subjected the {{convert|6|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} island to a massive three-day bombardment, pausing only to permit air strikes from the three [[aircraft carrier]]s, five [[light aircraft carrier]]s, and eleven [[escort carrier]]s that sailed with the attack force.<ref name= Hastings>Hastings, '' Retribution'', pp. 236–244.</ref> A total of 519 rounds of {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} shells, 1,845 rounds of {{convert|14|in|mm|abbr=on}} shells and 1,793 {{convert|500|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs pounded Peleliu during this period.

The Americans believed the bombardment to be successful, as Rear Admiral [[Jesse B. Oldendorf|Jesse Oldendorf]] claimed that the Navy had run out of targets.<ref name= Hastings/> In reality, most Japanese soldiers survived; even the battalion left to defend the beaches was virtually unscathed. During the initial American assault, the island's defenders exercised unusual firing discipline to avoid giving away their positions. However, the bombardment destroyed Japan's aircraft on the island and the buildings surrounding the airfield. The Japanese remained in their fortified positions, waiting to attack the American landing troops.

==Opposing forces==
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width = 130
 | header = Naval command structure for Operation Stalemate II
 | image1 = Adm_Chester_Nimitz-1942.jpg
 | caption1 = Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
 | image2 = Adm_William_F_Halsey.jpg
 | caption2 = Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.
 | image3 = Theodore_Wilkinson_1944_small.jpg
 | caption3 = Vice Adm. Theodore S. Wilkinson
}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width = 130
 | header = Expeditionary Troops and III Amphibious Corps commanders
 | image1 = Smith_JC.jpg
 | caption1 = Maj. Gen. Julian C. Smith
 | image2 = Roy_Geiger.jpg
 | caption2 = Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger
}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width = 110
 | header = Marine ground commanders on Peleliu
 | image1 = William_H._Rupertus.jpg
 | caption1 = Maj. Gen. William H. Rupertus
 | image2 = Oliver_P._Smith.jpg
 | caption2 = Oliver P. Smith as a major general
 | image3 = Chesty_Puller.jpg
 | caption3 = Lewis B. Puller as a major general
}}

===American order of battle===
'''[[United States Pacific Fleet]]'''<ref>Moran & Rottman 2004, pp. 7–8, 17–18</ref><br />
Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]]<br />
[[United States Third Fleet|'''US Third Fleet''']]<br />
Admiral [[William F. Halsey Jr.]]

'''Joint Expeditionary Force''' (Task Force 31)<br />
Vice Admiral [[Theodore S. Wilkinson]]

'''Expeditionary Troops''' (Task Force 36)<br />
'''[[III Amphibious Corps]]'''{{efn|Also included the Army's 81st Infantry Division (assigned to the [[Battle of Angaur|capture of Angaur]]), the 77th Infantry Division, and the 5th Marine Division<ref>Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 18</ref>}}<br />
Major General [[Julian C. Smith]],{{efn|Because the III Amph. Corps was still struggling with the capture of Guam, Marine Corps planning for Stalemate II was assigned to Gen. Smith; operational command for the invasion was turned over to Gen. Geiger.<ref name="Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 24">Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 24</ref>}} USMC

'''Western Landing Force''' (TG 36.1)<br />
Major General [[Roy S. Geiger]], USMC

'''[[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]]'''
* Division Commander: Maj. Gen. [[William H. Rupertus]],{{efn|Rupertus was not at peak effectiveness, having broken an ankle at Guadalcanal during landing practice for Stalemate II, but Smith learned of this too late to make a change in divisional command.<ref name="Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 24">Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 24</ref>}} USMC
* Asst. Division Commander: Brig. Gen. [[Oliver P. Smith]],{{efn|While commanding the 1st Marine Division at the [[Battle of the Chosin Reservoir|Chosin Reservoir]] during the [[Korean War]], Smith announced, "Retreat, hell ... we're just advancing in a different direction."}} USMC
* Chief of Staff: Col. [[John T. Selden]], USMC
'''Beach assignments'''
* ''Left (White 1 & 2)''
** [[1st Marine Regiment (United States)|'''1st Marine Regiment''']] (Col. [[Chesty Puller|Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller]],{{efn|Became the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps.}} USMC)
** Co. A of the following: [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Engineer Battalion]], [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Pioneer Battalion]], [[1st Medical Battalion]], [[1st Tank Battalion]]
* ''Center (Orange 1 & 2)''
** [[5th Marine Regiment (United States)|'''5th Marine Regiment''']] (Col. [[Harold D. Harris|Harold D. "Bucky" Harris]], USMC)
** Co. B of the following: [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Engineer Battalion]], [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Pioneer Battalion]], [[1st Medical Battalion]], [[1st Tank Battalion]] (reduced)
* ''Right (Orange 3)''
** [[7th Marine Regiment (United States)|'''7th Marine Regiment''']] (Col. [[Herman H. Hanneken|Herman H. "Hard-Headed" Hanneken]], USMC)
** Co. C of the following: [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Engineer Battalion]], [[1st Combat Engineer Battalion|1st Pioneer Battalion]], [[1st Medical Battalion]], [[1st Tank Battalion]] (reduced)
* ''Other units''
** [[11th Marine Regiment (United States)|'''11th Marine Regiment''']], Artillery (Col. [[William H. Harrison (USMC)|William H. Harrison]], USMC)
** [[12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion]]
** [[1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion]]
** 3rd Armored Amphibian Tractor Battalion
** 4th, 5th, 6th Marine War Dog Platoons
** [[Underwater Demolition Teams|UDT 6 and UDT 7]]

===Japanese order of battle===
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width = 130
 | image2 = 141-mm-japanese-mortar-peleliu.jpg
 | caption2 = Marine with captured Japanese 141&nbsp;mm mortar
 | image1 = Nakagawa_Kunio.jpg
 | caption1 = Lt. Col. Kunio Nakagawa
}}

'''Palau District Group'''<ref>Moran & Rottman 2004, pp. 26–28, 38</ref><br />
'''Lieutenant General [[Sadae Inoue]]'''{{efn|"...stern-voice and strict disciplinarian;" 1949 Sentenced to death His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1951, and he was released in 1953. Inoue died in Japan in 1961..[Wikiedia]<ref>Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 27</ref>}} (HQ on [[Koror Island]])<br />
Vice Admiral Yoshioka Ito<br />
Maj. Gen. Kenjiro Murai{{efn|Sadae sent Murai to Peleliu to provide sufficiently high Army rank to balance the command authority of Vice Adm. Ito, who was nominally in charge of Navy forces in the lower Palaus.<ref>Moran & Rottman 2004, p. 28</ref>}}

'''14th Division''' (Lt. Gen. Sadae)<br />
'''Peleliu Sector Unit''' (Lt. Col. Kunio Nakagawa{{efn|Committed suicide along with Murai as the struggle for the [[#Bloody Nose Ridge|Umurbrogol Pocket]] neared its end.}})
* 2nd Infantry Regiment, Reinforced
** 2nd Bttn. / 2nd Infantry Regiment
** 3rd Bttn. / 2nd Infantry Regiment
** 3rd Bttn. / 15th Infantry Regiment
** 346th Bttn. / 53rd Independent Mixed Brigade

==Battle==
===Landing===
[[File:Battle of Peleliu map.jpg|thumb|250px|Routes of Allied landings on Peleliu, 15 September 1944]]

US Marines began landing on Peleliu at 08:32 on 15 September. The 1st Marines landed to the north on White Beach 1 and 2, while the 5th and 7th Marines landed to the center and south on Orange Beach 1, 2, and 3.<ref name=Moran>Moran, J. and Rottman, G.L., 2002, Peleliu 1944, Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., {{ISBN|1841765120}}</ref>{{rp|42–45}} As the additional landing craft approached the beaches, the Marines on shore were caught in a crossfire when the Japanese opened the steel doors guarding their positions and began firing artillery. The positions on the coral promontories guarding each flank fired on the Marines with 47&nbsp;mm guns and 20&nbsp;mm cannons. By 09:30 the Japanese had destroyed 60 [[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVT]]s and [[DUKW]]s.
[[File:Orange Beach 2 - Peleliu.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[5th Marine Regiment|5th Marines]] on Orange Beach]]

The 1st Marines were quickly bogged down by heavy fire from the {{convert|30|ft|m|sigfig=1|adj=on}} high coral ridge on their left flank, "The Point".<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|49}} Puller's LVT was hit by a dud high-velocity artillery round, and his communications section was destroyed on its way to the beach by a hit from a 47&nbsp;mm round. The 7th Marines faced a cluttered Orange Beach 3, with natural and man-made obstacles forcing the LVTs to bunch together and approach in column.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|52}}

The 5th Marines made the most progress on the first day, aided by cover provided by coconut groves.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|51}} As they approached the airfield they were met with Nakagawa's first counterattack. His armored tank company attacked across the airfield, attempting to push the Marines back to the beach, but was swiftly engaged by tanks, howitzers, naval guns, and dive bombers. Nakagawa's tanks and escorting infantrymen were quickly destroyed.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|57}}

At the end of the first day, the Americans held their {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of landing beaches but little else. Their biggest push in the south moved {{convert|1|mi|km}} inland, but the 1st Marines to the north made very little progress in the face of extremely heavy Japanese resistance.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|42}} The Marines had suffered 200 dead and 900 wounded on the first day. Rupertus, still unaware of his enemy's change of tactics, believed the Japanese defenses would quickly crumble since their perimeter had been broken.<ref name="Western Pacific">{{cite web|title=Western Pacific|url=http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm|work=United States Army|access-date=January 14, 2014|archive-date=February 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203034354/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Airfield/South Peleliu===
[[File:Wounded Marine on Peleliu.jpg|thumb|A wounded Marine receives a drink from a [[Hospital corpsman|Navy corpsman]].]]

On 16 September the 5th Marines moved to capture the airfield and push toward Peleliu's eastern shore.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|61}} The entire regiment crossed the airfield simultaneously, enduring heavy artillery fire from the highlands to the north, and suffered heavy casualties in the process. After capturing the airfield, they rapidly advanced to the eastern end of Peleliu, leaving the island's southern defenders to be destroyed by the 7th Marines.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|58}}

This area was hotly contested by the Japanese, who still occupied numerous [[Pillbox (military)|pillboxes]]. Heat indices<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ama/?n=heatindex| title = Reference at www.srh.noaa.gov}}</ref> were around<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/palau/peleliu.php|title=Peleliu Climate Guide: Monthly Weather, Palau|last=Weather2Travel.com|website=Weather2Travel.com|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> {{convert|115|°F|°C|abbr=on}}, and the Marines suffered high casualties from [[heat exhaustion]]. Further complicating the situation, the Marines' drinking water was distributed in empty oil drums, contaminating it with oil residue.<ref name=Hough_94/> Regardless, by 23 September the 5th and 7th Marines had accomplished their objectives, holding the airfield and the southern portion of the island, although the airfield remained under threat of sustained Japanese fire from the heights of Umurbrogol Mountain until the end of the battle.<ref name= Hastings/>

American forces began using the airfield on 17 September. Stinson OY-1 Sentinels from [[VMO-3]] began [[Air observer|aerial spotting]] missions for Marine artillery and [[naval gunfire support]]. On 26 September Marine [[Vought F4U Corsair|F4U Corsair]]s from [[VMF-114]] landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began [[dive-bombing]] missions across Peleliu, firing rockets into open cave entrances in support of infantry attacks, and dropping [[napalm]]. This was only the second time that napalm had been used in the Pacific theater, {{Citation needed|reason=Statistical claim re: napalm needs support|date=December 2016}} and it proved effective at burning away vegetation hiding [[spider hole]]s, usually killing their occupants. The time from takeoff to the target area for the Corsairs operating from Peleliu Airfield was very short, sometimes only 10 to 15 seconds. Most pilots did not bother to raise their landing gear, leaving them down during the strike. After a strike was completed, the Corsair simply turned back into the landing pattern again.

===The Point===
[[File:Skull and danger sign on Peleliu.jpg|thumb|Frontline warning sign on Peleliu, October 1944]]

"The Point" at the end of the northern landing beaches continued to cause heavy Marine casualties from the [[Enfilade and defilade|enfilading]] fire of Japanese heavy machine guns and [[Anti-tank warfare|anti-tank]] artillery across the landing beaches. Puller ordered Captain George P. Hunt, commander of K Company, [[3rd Battalion, 1st Marines]], to capture the position. Hunt's company approached "The Point" short on supplies, having lost most of its machine guns while approaching the beaches. Hunt's second [[platoon]] was pinned down for nearly a day in an [[anti-tank trench]] between fortifications. The rest of his [[company (military unit)|company]] was threatened when the Japanese cut a hole in their line, surrounding his unit and leaving his right flank cut off.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|49}}

A [[rifle platoon]] then began knocking out the Japanese gun positions one by one. Using [[smoke grenade]]s for concealment, the platoon swept through each hole, destroying the positions via a combination of [[rifle grenade]]s and [[Close combat|close-quarters combat]]. After knocking out six machine gun positions, the Marines faced a cave housing the 47&nbsp;mm gun. A lieutenant blinded the gun crew with a smoke grenade, allowing Corporal [[Henry W. Hahn]] to launch a grenade through the cave's aperture. The grenade detonated the 47&nbsp;mm's shells, forcing the Japanese defenders out with their bodies alight and their ammunition belts exploding around their waists. A Marine fire team was positioned on the flank of the cave, where the emerging occupants were gunned down.

K Company had captured "The Point", but Nakagawa again counterattacked. Over the next 30 hours the Japanese counterattacked four times against a single company, critically low on supplies, out of water and virtually surrounded. The Marines had to resort to hand-to-hand combat to fend off the Japanese attackers. By the time reinforcements arrived, the company had successfully repulsed all the Japanese attacks, but had been reduced to 18 men, suffering 157 casualties during the battle for The Point.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|50–51}} Hunt and Hahn were both awarded the [[Navy Cross]] for their actions.

===Ngesebus Island===
[[File:Digging-peleliu-l.jpg|thumb|U.S. Marine in combat at Peleliu Island, September 1944]]

The 5th Marines—after securing the airfield—were sent to capture Ngesebus Island, just north of Peleliu. Ngesebus was occupied by multiple Japanese artillery positions and was the site of an airfield still under construction. The tiny island was connected to Peleliu by a narrow causeway, but 5th Marines commander Harris opted instead to make a shore-to-shore amphibious landing, predicting the causeway to be an obvious target for the island's defenders.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|77}}

Harris coordinated a pre-landing bombardment of the island on 28 September, carried out by Army {{convert|155|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} guns, naval guns, howitzers from the 11th Marines, strafing runs from VMF-114's Corsairs and {{convert|75|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} fire from the approaching LVTs.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|77}} Unlike the Navy's bombardment of Peleliu, Harris' assault on Ngesebus successfully killed most of the Japanese defenders. The Marines still faced opposition in the ridges and caves, but the island fell quickly, with relatively light casualties for the 5th Marines. They had suffered 15 killed and 33 wounded and inflicted 470 casualties on the Japanese.

===Bloody Nose Ridge===
[[File:Marines wait in their foxholes - Peleliu.jpg|left|thumb|Marines waiting in their [[Defensive fighting position|fighting holes]]]]

After capturing "The Point", the 1st Marines moved north into the Umurbrogol pocket,<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|81}} nicknamed "Bloody Nose Ridge" by the Marines. Puller led his men in numerous assaults, but each incurred severe casualties from Japanese fire. The 1st Marines' movement was constrained by the narrow paths between the ridges, with each ridge fortification able to support the others with direct and indirect fires.

[[File:Corsair attacks jap bunker on Peleliu.jpg|thumb|A F4U Corsair drops napalm on Japanese positions atop Umurbrogol.]]
The Marines took increasingly heavy casualties as they slowly advanced through the ridges. The Japanese again showed unusual fire discipline, striking only when they could inflict maximum casualties. As casualties mounted, Japanese [[sniper]]s began to take aim at [[stretcher]] bearers, knowing that if stretcher bearers were injured or killed, more would have to return to replace them, providing more targets. In small groups, Japanese soldiers also frequently attempted to infiltrate the American lines at night. The Marines built two-man fighting holes, so one Marine could sleep while the other kept watch for infiltrators.

A particularly intense engagement occurred on Bloody Nose Ridge, when the [[1st Battalion 1st Marines|1st Battalion, 1st Marines]]—under the command of [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Ray Davis (U.S. Marine)|Raymond Davis]]—attacked Hill 100. Over six days of fighting, the battalion suffered 71% casualties. Captain [[Everett P. Pope]] and his company penetrated deep into the ridges, leading his remaining 90 men to seize what he thought was Hill 100. It took a day's fighting to reach what he thought was the crest of the hill, which was in fact another ridge occupied by more Japanese defenders. [[File:Resting on Peleliu Island.jpg|thumb|Marine Pfc. Douglas Lightheart (right) cradles his .30 caliber (7.62×63mm) [[M1919 Browning machine gun]] in his lap, while he and Pfc. Gerald Thursby Sr. take a cigarette break, during mopping up operations on Peleliu on September 15, 1944.]]
Trapped at the base of the ridge, Pope set up a small defensive perimeter, which was attacked relentlessly by the Japanese throughout the night. The Marines ran out of ammunition and had to fight the attackers with knives and fists, even resorting to throwing coral rock and empty ammunition boxes at the Japanese. Pope and his men managed to hold out until dawn, which brought on more deadly fire. When they evacuated the position, only nine men remained. Pope later received the [[Medal of Honor]] for the action.

The Japanese inflicted 70% casualties on Puller's 1st Marines, or 1,749 men.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|66}} After six days of fighting in the ridges of the Umurbrogol, Geiger sent elements of the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division to Peleliu to relieve the regiment.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|66}} The [[321st Infantry Regiment (United States)|321st Regiment Combat Team]] landed on the western beaches of Peleliu—at the northern end of Umurbrogol mountain—on 23 September. The warren of ridges still occupied by Japanese troops became colloquially known as "the Pocket" by American forces on Peleliu. The 321st and the 7th Marines had fully encircled this "Pocket" by 24 September, D+9.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|75,81}}

By 15 October the 7th Marines had suffered 46% casualties, and Geiger relieved them with the 5th Marines.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|83}} Col. Harris adopted siege tactics, using bulldozers and flamethrower tanks to methodically destroy Japanese positions, and pushed into the ridges from the north.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|83–84}} On 30 October the 81st Infantry Division took over command of Peleliu. It would take another six weeks, using the same tactics as the Marines, to finally reduce "The Pocket".<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|85}}

After emerging victorious in the [[Battle of Angaur]], the 81st Infantry Division was ordered to assist the 1st Marine Division in their efforts to seize Peleliu. The 81st Infantry Division eventually relieved the 1st Marine Division, and assumed command of combat operations on Peleliu. The 81st Infantry Division remained engaged on the island until the end of organized Japanese resistance on 18 January 1945.

On 24 November Nakagawa proclaimed, "Our sword is broken and we have run out of spears". He then burnt his regimental colors and performed [[seppuku|ritual suicide]].<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|86}} He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general for his concerted defensive campaign on Peleliu. On 27 November the island was declared secure, ending the 73-day-long battle.<ref name="Western Pacific"/>

A [[Japanese holdout#1945-1949|Japanese lieutenant]] with twenty-six 2nd Infantry soldiers and eight 45th Guard Force sailors held out in the caves on Peleliu until 22 April 1947, only surrendering after a former Japanese admiral convinced them the war was over.<ref name=Moran/>{{rp|81}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:Soldiers wounded in battle of peleliu.jpg|thumb|Marines in a hospital on Guadalcanal after being wounded in the Battle of Peleliu]]

The reduction of the Japanese positions in "The Pocket" around Umurbrogol mountain has been called the most difficult fight that the U.S. military encountered during the entire war.<ref name=Hough_94>{{cite book | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Peleliu/USMC-M-Peleliu-5.html | title = The Seizure of Peleliu |series = USMC Historical Monograph | first = Major Frank O., USMC | last = Hough | chapter = Chapter V: A Horrible Place | page = 94 | publisher = Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps | access-date = 2012-02-07 }}</ref> The 1st Marine Division was severely mauled, and remained out of action until the [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]] on 1 April 1945. In total, the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties during a month of combat on Peleliu, over one third of the entire division. The 81st Infantry Division also suffered heavy losses, incurring 3,300 casualties during its tenure on the island.

Postwar statisticians calculated that it took U.S. forces over 1,500 rounds of ammunition to kill each individual Japanese defender, and that the Americans expended 13.32 million rounds of .30-calibre, 1.52 million rounds of .45-calibre, 693,657 rounds of .50-calibre bullets, 118,262 hand grenades, and 150,000 mortar rounds over the course of the battle.<ref name= Hastings/>

The battle was controversial in the United States. Many felt that too many American lives had been lost for an island that had little strategic value. The Japanese defenders lacked the means to interfere with potential US operations in the Philippines<ref name= Hastings/> and the airfield captured on Peleliu did not play a key role in any subsequent operations. Instead, [[Ulithi Atoll]] in the [[Caroline Islands]] was used as a staging base for the invasion of Okinawa. The casualty rate exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.<ref name="militaryhistoryonline.com"/>

In addition, few news reports were published about the battle because Rupertus's prediction of a "three days" victory motivated only six war reporters to report from shore. The battle was also overshadowed by MacArthur's [[Battle of Leyte|return to the Philippines]] and the Allies' push towards [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] in [[European Theatre of World War II|Europe]].

The [[Battle of Angaur|battles for Angaur]] and Peleliu offered the Americans a preview of future Japanese island defense, but American planners made few adjustments to their tactics before the battles of [[Battle of Iwo Jima|Iwo Jima]] and Okinawa.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1958|p=46}}</ref> Naval bombardment prior to amphibious assault at Iwo Jima was only slightly more effective than at Peleliu, but at Okinawa the preliminary shelling was greatly improved.<ref name=Alexander95>Alexander, ''Storm Landings'', p. 95.</ref> [[Frogmen]] performing [[underwater demolition]] at Iwo Jima confused the enemy by sweeping both coasts, but later alerted Japanese defenders to the exact assault beaches at Okinawa.<ref name=Alexander95/> American ground forces at Peleliu gained experience in assaulting heavily fortified positions, which they would encounter again on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1958|p=47}}</ref>

At the recommendation of Admiral [[William Halsey Jr.]], the planned occupation of [[Yap]] Island in the Caroline Islands was canceled. Halsey actually recommended that the landings on Peleliu and Angaur be canceled, too, and their Marines and soldiers be sent to [[Leyte Island]] instead, but this plan was overruled by Nimitz.<ref>{{cite book | first = Major Frank O., USMC | last = Hough | title = The Seizure of Peleliu | series = USMC Historical Monograph | chapter = Appendix B – Stalemate II and the Philippines Campaign | publisher = Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps }}</ref>

In his book ''[[With the Old Breed]]'', [[Eugene Sledge]] describes his experiences in the Battle for Peleliu. One of the final scenes in ''Parer's War'', a 2014 Australian television film, shows the Battle of Peleliu recorded by [[Damien Parer]] with his camera at the time of his death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australia's War 1939–1945: Parer's Last Reel |url=http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/farflung/parer.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410235800/http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/farflung/parer.html |archive-date=April 10, 2010 |access-date=2010-04-11 |publisher=Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs}}</ref>

==Individual honors==
===Japan===
====Posthumous promotions====
For heroism:
* Colonel [[Kunio Nakagawa]] – lieutenant general
* Major General Kenjiro Murai – lieutenant general

===United States===
[[File:Kraus RE.jpg|thumb|150px|Pfc. Richard Kraus, USMC (age 18), killed in action]]

====Medal of Honor recipients====
* Captain [[Everett P. Pope]] – [[1st Battalion, 1st Marines]]
* First Lieutenant [[Carlton R. Rouh]] – [[1st Battalion, 5th Marines]]
* Corporal [[Lewis K. Bausell]] –[[1st Battalion, 5th Marines]] (Posthumous)
* Private First Class [[Arthur J. Jackson]] – [[3rd Battalion, 7th Marines]]
* Private First Class [[Richard E. Kraus]] – 8th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division (Reinforced)]] (Posthumous)
* Private First Class [[John D. New]] – [[2nd Battalion, 7th Marines]] (Posthumous)
* Private First Class [[Wesley Phelps]] – [[3rd Battalion, 7th Marines]] (Posthumous)
* Private First Class [[Charles H. Roan]] – [[2nd Battalion, 7th Marines]] (Posthumous)

==Unit citations==
[[File:"Peleliu Island...Marines move through the trenches on the beach during the battle.", 09-15-1944 - NARA - 532535.jpg|thumb|D-day Peleliu, African Americans of one of the two segregated units that supported the 7th Marines – the 16th Marine Field Depot or the 17th Naval Construction Battalion Special take a break in the 115 degree heat, 09-15-1944 – NARA – 532535]]
* [[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]]:
** 1st Marine Division, 15–29 September 1944<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Peleliu/USMC-M-Peleliu-G.html|title=HyperWar: USMC Monograph—The Assault on Peleliu|website=www.ibiblio.org|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref>
** 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion, FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** U. S. Navy Flame Thrower Unit Attached<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 6th Amphibian Tractor Battalion (Provisional), FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 3d Armored Amphibian Battalion (Provisional), FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** Detachment Eighth Amphibian Tractor Battalion, FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 454th Amphibian Truck Company, U. S. Army<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 456th Amphibian Truck Company, U. S. Army<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 4th Joint Assault Signal Company, FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 5th Separate Wire Platoon, FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** 6th Separate Wire Platoon, FMF<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** Detachment 33rd Naval Construction Battalion (202 Personnel)<ref name= "peleliu"/>
** Detachment 73rd Naval Construction Battalion's Shore Party (241 Personnel)<ref name= "peleliu">Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual NAVPERS 15,790(REV.1953), Part II, Unit Awards, September 15–29, 1944 – Assault and seizure of Peleliu and Ngesebus, Palau Islands, p.15 {{cite web| url = https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/Awards/Awards-II.html#sec1| title = HyperWar: Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual—1953, Part II}}</ref>
* USMC Commendatory Letter:{{efn|Before the battle was even over, [[William H. Rupertus|Major General Rupertus]] USMC wrote: "THE [[Negro|NEGRO RACE]] CAN WELL BE PROUD OF THE WORK PREFORMED [by the 11th Marine Depot Company/ 7th Marine Ammunition Company/ 17th CB]. THE WHOLEHEARTED CO-OPERATION AND UNTIRING EFFORTS WHICH DEMONSTRATED IN EVERY RESPECT THAT THEY APPRECIATED THE PRIVILEGE OF WEARING A MARINE UNIFORM AND SERVING WITH THE MARINES IN COMBAT. PLEASE CONVEY TO YOUR COMMAND THESE SENTIMENTS AND INFORM THEM THAT IN THE EYES OF THE ENTIRE DIVISION THEY HAVE EARNED A "WELL DONE"."<ref>The Right to Fight:African American Marines in WWII, Peleliu and Iwo Jima, Bernard C. Nalty, Marine Corps Historical Center, Building 58, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. 20374, 1974, PCN 190-003132-00 {{cite web| url = https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003132-00/sec10.htm| title = The Right to Fight: African-American Marines in World War II (Peleliu and Iwo Jima)}}</ref><ref>African Americans at War: an Encyclopedia, Volume I, Jonathan D. Sutherland, ABC, CLIO, Santa Barbara, Ca, 2004, p. 480, {{ISBN|1-57607-746-2}}</ref> The Department of the Navy made an official news release of the 17th CBs "Well Done" letter on November 28, 1944.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Cruisebooks/wwiicruisebooks/specials-cruisebooks/17%20Special.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622083734/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Cruisebooks/wwiicruisebooks/specials-cruisebooks/17%20Special.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 June 2018 |title=17th Special NCB cruisebook |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |page=29 |access-date=October 18, 2017}}</ref>
* On D-day the 7th Marines had a situation. They did not have enough men to man the line and get the wounded to safety. Three men were sent to find help and found two [[Racial segregation|segregated]] units, the ''16th Marine Field Depot'' (11th Marine Depot Co. & 7th Marine Ammunition Co.)<ref name="nps.gov">"The Right to Fight: African American Marine in World War II, Bernard C. Nalty, Marine Corps Historical Center, Bldg 58, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. 1995 {{cite web| url = https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003132-00/sec10.htm| title = The Right to Fight: African-American Marines in World War II (Peleliu and Iwo Jima)}}</ref> and ''17th Special CB''. The Marines were not certain what their officers would think of them bringing African Americans but, they knew they needed help.<ref name="nps.gov"/> The 17th Special Seabees were assigned to the 1st Pioneers as shore party. Together with the 16th Depot Marines they helped with the wounded that day. At 0200 that night the Japanese mounted a counterattack. By the time it was over nearly the entire 17th had volunteered to hump ammo to the line on the stretchers they were bringing the wounded back on, fill in where the wounded had been, man 37mm guns that had lost their crews, and volunteer for anything. The record for the 16th Depot says they were carrying ammo and wounded back the same as the Seabees and had picked up rifles and become infantry where needed also.<ref>Seabee Museum Archives, Port Hueneme, CA. 93043. 17th Special; NCB p. 29-30 {{cite web| url = https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Cruisebooks/wwiicruisebooks/specials-cruisebooks/17%20Special.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180622083734/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/Cruisebooks/wwiicruisebooks/specials-cruisebooks/17%20Special.pdf| url-status = dead| archive-date = 22 June 2018| title = Reference at www.history.navy.mil}}</ref><ref>World War II Database {{cite web| url = http://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1431| title = World War II Database| access-date = April 30, 2017| archive-date = August 15, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170815100834/http://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1431| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1429|title=African-American Marines of 16th Field Depot Rest on Peleliu – The World War II Multimedia Database|website=worldwar2database.com|access-date=February 18, 2018|archive-date=March 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315222635/http://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1429|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/UnitListPages/SPECIALS/17%20SNCB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622083817/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/museums/Seabee/UnitListPages/SPECIALS/17%20SNCB.pdf |archive-date=2018-06-22 |url-status=dead|title=17th Special, Seabee Museum|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thomas5.com/tribute/Vets10.html|title=Peleliu Shore Party|website=www.thomas5.com|access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> The 17th Seabees remained with the 7th through D-plus 3. Before the battle was over and the island secured Maj. General Rupertus wrote three letters saying "Well Done" to the two Marine Companies and the CB . According to the Military History Encyclopedia on the Web, were it not for the "Black Marine shore party personal" the counterattack on the 7th Marines would not have been repulsed.<ref>Peleliu, battle for (Operation Stalemate II) – The Pacific War's Forgotten Battle, September–November 1944, (section: Hitting the Beach, 3rd paragraph), Military History Encyclopedia on the Web, by: Peter D Antill, Tristan Dugdale-Pointon, and Dr John Rickard, {{cite web| url = http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_peleliu.html| title = Peleliu, battle for (Operation Stalemate II) – The Pacific War's Forgotten Battle, September–November 1944}}</ref>}}
** 11th Marine Depot Company (segregated)
** 7th Marine Ammunition Company (segregated)
** 17th Special Naval Construction Battalion (segregated)

==See also==
* [[With the Old Breed]] contains an eyewitness account of the battle by [[Eugene B. Sledge]] 
* U.S. [[National Register of Historic Places]] (The [[Peleliu Battlefield]], listed 1985)<ref name="nris">{{cite web|author=Staff|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101204052104/http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html|archive-date=2010-12-04|title=National Register Information System|url=http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html|date=2009-03-13|publisher=National Register of Historic Places. [[National Park Service]]|access-date=2016-03-08}}</ref>
* {{USS|Peleliu|LHA-5|6}}, an [[amphibious assault ship]] named in memory of the battle
* ''[[Helmet for My Pillow]]'', a memoir of the battle written by [[Robert Leckie (author)|Robert Leckie]]
*[[The Pacific (miniseries)]] HBO series depicts the Battle of Peleliu
*[[Peleliu Naval Base]]
*[[Naval Base Kossol Roads]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book | last = Alexander | first = Joseph H. | year = 1997 | title = Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central Pacific | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 1557500320 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Alexander | first = Joseph H. | year = 1997 | chapter = Heading for the Philippines | title = The Battle History of the U.S. Marines: A Fellowship of Valor | publisher = Harper Perennial | isbn = 0060931094 }}
* Blair, Bobby C., and John Peter DeCioccio. ''Victory at Peleliu: The 81st Infantry Division's Pacific Campaign'' (University of Oklahoma Press; 2011) 310 pages
* {{Cite book | last = Gailey | first = Harry | year = 1984 | title = Peleliu: 1944 | publisher = Nautical & Aviation Pub Co of Amer | isbn =  093385241X }}
* {{Cite book | last = Hallas | first = James H. | year = 1994 | title = The Devil's Anvil: The Assault on Peleliu | publisher = Praeger Publishers | isbn = 0275946460 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Hastings | first = Max | year = 2009 | title = Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45| publisher = Vintage Reprint edition | isbn = 978-0307275363 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | year = 1958 | title = Leyte: June 1944 – January 1945, ''vol. 12 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | isbn = 0316583170 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Ross | first = Bill D. | year = 1991 | title = Peleliu: Tragic Triumph | publisher = Random House | isbn = 0394565886 | url = https://archive.org/details/peleliutragictri00bill }}
* {{Cite book | last = Rottman | first = Gordon |author2=Howard Gerrard | year = 2002 | title = Peleliu 1944: The Forgotten Corner Of Hell | publisher = Osprey Publishing | isbn = 1841765120 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Sledge | first = Eugene B. | year = 1990 | title = [[With the Old Breed]]: At Peleliu And Okinawa | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 0195067142 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Sloan | first = Bill | year = 2005 | title = Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 – The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War | publisher = Simon & Schuster | isbn = 0743260090 | url = https://archive.org/details/brotherhoodofher0000sloa }}
* {{Cite book | last = Wright | first = Derrick | year = 2005 | title = To the Far Side of Hell: The Battle for Peleliu, 1944 | publisher = Fire Ant Books | isbn = 0817352813 }}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|title=Last Man Standing: The 1st Marine Regiment on Peleliu, September 15–21, 1944|author=Camp, Dick|year=2009| publisher=Zenith Press|isbn=978-0760334935}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Cite book | last = Anderson | first = Charles R. | url = http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm | title = Western Pacific | series = The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | access-date = 2006-12-19 | id = CMH Pub 72-29 | archive-date = February 3, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120203034354/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm | url-status = dead }}
* {{Cite web | last = Burbeck | first = James | year = 2008 | url = http://www.wtj.com/articles/peleliu/ | title = Invasion of Peleliu | work = Animated Combat Map | publisher = The War Times Journal | access-date = 2008-08-09 }}
* {{Cite web | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Peleliu/index.html | title = Bloody Beaches: The Marines at Peleliu | author = Gayle, Gordon, BGen USMC | access-date = 2015-01-12}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/peleliu/default.aspx |title=Bloody Peleliu |author=Gypton, Jeremy |publisher=MilitaryHistoryOnline |access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421175639/https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/?aspxerrorpath=%2Fwwii%2Fpeleliu%2Fdefault.aspx |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web | last = Hough | first = Frank O. | year = 1950 | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Peleliu/index.html | title = The Assault on Peleliu (The Seizure of Peleliu) | work = USMC Historical Monograph | publisher = Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps | access-date = 2006-12-19 }}
* {{Cite web | last = Kier | first = Mike | url = http://home.sprynet.com/~kier/peleliu.htm | title = Peleliu | access-date = 2006-12-19 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061219080517/http://home.sprynet.com/~kier/peleliu.htm| archive-date= December 19, 2006 | url-status= live}}
* {{cite news |last=Shread |first=Paul |year=2014 |url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/13519314-95/my-turn-the-battle-of-peleliu-and-the-scars-of-war |title=The Battle of Peleliu and the scars of war |newspaper=[[The Concord Monitor]] |access-date=2014-09-18 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140919004125/http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/13519314-95/my-turn-the-battle-of-peleliu-and-the-scars-of-war |archive-date=2014-09-19 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web | last = Smith | first = Robert Ross | year = 1996 | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Approach/index.html | title = The Approach to the Philippines | work = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | access-date = 2006-12-19 }}

{{World War II}}
{{Palau topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peleliu}}
[[Category:Mariana and Palau Islands campaign]]
[[Category:Peleliu]]
[[Category:Palau in World War II]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Japan]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States]]
[[Category:20th century in Palau]]
[[Category:Wars involving Palau]]
[[Category:Pacific Ocean theater of World War II]]
[[Category:South Seas Mandate in World War II]]
[[Category:Amphibious operations of World War II]]
[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Pacific theatre]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps in World War II]]
[[Category:September 1944 in Oceania]]
[[Category:October 1944 in Oceania]]
[[Category:November 1944 in Oceania]]
[[Category:Seabees]]