1943-11-20
Gilbert Islands, November 1943
Tarawa and Makin
North Carolina was with the fast carriers for the Gilberts assault, including Tarawa and Makin. Enterprise gave air support at Makin. South Dakota and Washington were with the carrier groups. Minneapolis was in the capture of Makin.
Sunk in this fight
No ship in the catalog was sunk in this fight.
Significant movements of major Japanese naval units in the Central Pacific, 1 November 1943 to 10 February 1944. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 70. Public domain. North is up. The sheet says the tracks are approximate, the dates are east longitude, and a few dates may be one day off. Track 1 is 2nd and 3rd Fleet units between Truk and Rabaul, 3-7 November 1943. The sheet lists 4th Cruiser Division as Atago, flagged, with Chokai, Maya, and Takao; 7th Cruiser Division as Kumano, flagged, with Mogami and Suzuya; and 8th Cruiser Division as Chikuma and Tone. It prints Chokai and two destroyers turning back to escort a damaged tanker to Truk. Track 2 runs through Truk, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok from 24 November to 7 December 1943. The sheet marks that track as probably Chokai, Suzuya, Chikuma, and six to eight destroyers. The word probably is the sheet's. Tracks 3, 4, and 5 are Isuzu, Nagara, and Naka. The sheet dates those garrison runs from 18 November to 15 December 1943. It does not draw the landings at Tarawa or Makin.
