Battle of Wake Island

Battle of Wake Island
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
A destroyed Japanese patrol boat (#33) on Wake.
Date 8–23 December 1941 Location Wake Island Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	United States
Commanders and leaders
Shigeyoshi Inoue Sadamichi Kajioka Shigematsu Sakaibara Eiji Gotō Tamon Yamaguchi	Winfield S. Cunningham (POW) James P.S. Devereux (POW)
Strength
First Attempt (December 11): 3 light cruisers 6 destroyers 2 patrol boats 2 troop transports Reinforcements arriving for Second Attempt (December 23): 2 aircraft carriers 2 heavy cruisers 2 destroyers 2,500 infantry[1]	449 USMC personnel consisting of: 399 infantry of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion 55 det. VMF-211, 68 US Navy 5 U.S. Army personnel, Others[2]
Casualties and losses
820 killed, 333 wounded, 1 light cruiser heavily damaged, 2 destroyers sunk, 2 transports sunk, 1 submarine sunk, 7–8 aircraft shot down, 20 aircraft damaged. See Wake Island December 1941 - Japanese aircraft shot down? - Axis History Forum Note USMC History estimates 21 aircraft shot down and 51 aircraft damaged by flak.[3]	120 killed, 49 wounded, 2 MIA 12 aircraft [4] 433 Military and 1,104 Civilian POWS of whom 5 military (killed Jan 1942) and 98 Civilian POWS (killed Oct 1943) were killed in captivity. In addition, 15 military and 82 civilians died as POWS[3]

The Battle of Wake Island was a battle during World War II. It began at the same time as the Attack on Pearl Harbor. It ended on 23 December 1941, with the surrender of the American forces to the Empire of Japan.

It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island. It was fought by the air, land and naval forces of the Empire of Japan against those of the U.S., with Marines playing an important role on both sides.

The island was held by the Japanese for the rest of the Pacific War. The Japanese troops on the island surrendered to United States Marines on September 4, 1945.^[5]

1. ↑ Naval and air personnel not included.
2. ↑ A significant number of civilian construction workers volunteered to fight also.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "The Defense of Wake: Appendix III". www.ibiblio.org.
4. ↑ Martin Gilbert, the Second World war (1989) pg 282
5. ↑ "War in the Pacific NHP: Liberation - Guam Remembers". Archived from the original on 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-12.