The battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July 1944 to 1 August 1944.

The American victory in the battle of Saipan made Tinian, 5.6 km (3.5 miles) south of Saipan, the next step in the Marianas campaign. The 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and artillery firing across the strait from Saipan. A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the Island. In the heavy bombardment preceding the invasion, Tinian earned the distinction of being the first target of a napalm bomb.

The Japanese adopted the same stubborn defensive tactics as on Saipan, retreating during the day and attacking at night. The gentler terrain of Tinian allowed the attackers more effective use of tanks and artillery than in the mountains of Saipan, and the island was secured in only nine days of fighting. On 31 July the surviving Japanese launched a suicide charge.

Several hundred Japanese troops held out in the jungles for months. The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieuitenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, surrendering on 4 September 1945. The last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was not captured until 1953.

After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific Campaign. Camps were built for 50,000 troops. 15,000 SeaBees turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 2,400 m runways for attacks by B-29 Superfortress bombers on targets in the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands and mainland Japan. It was from Tinian that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were launched.

References

• U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Western Pacific