The US armed forces were responsible for many tactical innovations during the years 1941–45, but in no field was US mastery more complete than amphibious warfare. In the vast, almost empty battlefield of the Pacific the US Navy and Marine Corps were obliged to develop every aspect of the amphibious assault landing in painstaking detail, from the design of many new types of vessel, down to the tactics of the rifle platoon hitting the beach, and the logistic system without which they could not have fought their way inland. This fascinating study offers a clear, succinct explanation of every phase of these operations as they evolved during the war years, illustrated with detailed color plates and photographs.

The US armed forces pioneered amphibious warfare in the Pacific and by the time of the D-day landings they had perfected the special equipment and tactics necessary for this extraordinarily difficult and risky form of warfare. This fact-packed study details the doctrine, equipment and tactics that evolved between the North African landings of November 1942 and those in the South of France in August 1944, and illustrates many aspects of the physical realities of assault landings through the use of photos, diagrams and color plates.

“Not only a just appraisal of the campaigns waged by Marines in World War II; it is a documentation of the Marine struggle to prove the feasibility of amphibious warfare....Relentlessly accurate and impartial.”—N.Y. Times Originally published in 1951, this book is a widely regarded classic on US Marine amphibious doctrine and operations employed in the Pacific during the Second World War. The authors describe in detail the development of the theoretical aspects of amphibious assault in the inter-war period, but devote the vast majority of the narrative to the various landings and their core strategies, using Japanese documents “to sketch in the background of military decisions made by the enemy.” A must for those who wish to understand the American war against Japan.

Most other books on the subject have been written from the perspective of the landing forces. This account describes the whole spectrum of modern seaborne assaults. It covers ships and landing craft, ship-to-shore movement, command relationships, air and gunfire support, mine countermeasures, salvage, and much more.

U.S. amphibious warfare began its development in the early 1900's, became a real capability in World War II, and today provides the nation with a means to achieve its policy objectives with an ability to project military power from the sea. During World War II, the first real test of this amphibious assault capability came at the beginning of the Central Pacific drive on Tarawa in 1943 and culminated with the final amphibious operation in the Pacific at Okinawa, some 350 miles south of mainland Japan. Ultimately, the U.S. military's tactics, techniques, and procedures for conducting amphibious operations in the Pacific theater during World War II became more efficient as the war progressed, largely due to an increased understanding of the requirements for success in the combat environment, and an emphasis on meeting and exceeding those needs.