Map of the Battle of Saipan Jun 15 through July 9, 1944

Caption     Map of the Battle of Saipan Jun 15 through July 9, 1944 ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives
More on...   
Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot   Main article  Photos  Maps  
Photo Size 450 x 720 pixels
Photos on Same Day 15 Jun 1944
Photos at Same Place Saipan, Mariana Islands
Added By David Stubblebine
Licensing  Public Domain. According to the US National Archives, as of 21 Jul 2010:
The vast majority of the digital images in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) are in the public domain. Therefore, no written permission is required to use them. We would appreciate your crediting the National Archives and Records Administration as the original source. For the few images that remain copyrighted, please read the instructions noted in the "Access Restrictions" field of each ARC record.... In general, all government records are in the public domain and may be freely used.... Additionally, according to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you.

Colorized By WW2DB     Colorized with Adobe Photoshop



Did you enjoy this photograph or find this photograph helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this photograph with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds


Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
23 Feb 2017 05:38:37 AM

This unfortunate map has assumed undue prominence in conveying the progress of the Battle of Saipan. In fact, it is taken from the short 34 page brochure entitled "Western Pacific" published 50 years after the Battle of Saipan by the US Army Center for Military History (CMH). As such, this map is a misleading representation of the progress of the Battle of Saipan.

For example, the US Army's 27th Division appears to materialize "out of nowhere" in the Southeastern corner of Saipan, driving up to capture territory along a central corridor of Saipan, all the way to the Northeastern coast. This is completely incorrect:

[URLs below from USMC maps produced originally in 1950, note use "http" not "https"]:
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-5.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-8.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-10.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-11.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-13.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-14.jpg

Initial landings were on the western coast of Saipan by the USMC 2nd Division (northern beaches) and USMC 4th Division (southern beaches) on June 15, 1944, establishing the beachhead and subsequently driving inland. Elements of the US Army 27th Division followed, landing into captured territory on June 16th and June 17th (D+1, D+2), joining the front lines on June 17th in the southernmost sector.

The 4th Marine Division cut the island of Saipan in half by a drive to the eastern coast on June 18th, turned northward, and continued driving with the USMC 2nd Division on their left flank until reaching within a few miles of Mt. Tapotchau on June 22nd (D+7). On their left flank, the 2nd Marine Division would later capture Mt. Tapotchau and the town of Garapan.

[URLs below from USMC maps produced originally in 1945, note use "http" not "https"]:
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Saipan/maps/USMC-C-Saipan-2.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Saipan/maps/USMC-C-Saipan-3.jpg

Military leadership decided that due to the broadening of the main northward front where the Kagman Peninsula jutted out, a three Division front would be required. The 27th Division had fought to capture Aslito Alirfield and Nafutan Point up to this timepoint in the battle (see map 16 below for problems). Elements of the 27th Division traversed northward through captured territory and were inserted into the center of the main front lines (extending east-to-west) on June 23rd (D+8). This is where the 27th Division ran into difficulties, lagging behind troops on their flanks, a situation that remained unresolved until approximately July 2nd (D+17).

[URLs below from USMC maps produced originally in 1950, note use "http" not "https"]:
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-17.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-16.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-18.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-19.jpg
ibiblio[dot]org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/maps/USMC-M-Saipan-20.jpg

Thus the US Army 27th Division captured territory in Southern/Southeastern Saipan, and again captured a corridor east of Mt. Taotchau to the Northeastern coast near Flores Point, but did not capture territory in between. Also, while the US Army map would suggest that US forces drove northward in a coordinated effort, in fact, US Army 27th Division forces appeared to lag until the last 3 days of the northern drive, June 2nd-4th (see map 20 above).

The best map of division-level progress of the battle can be found on pg 21 of the book "The 4th Marine Division in World War II" initially published in 1945, detailing the 4th Marine Division's capture of territory from Blue/Yellow beaches all the way up to Marpi Point, the largest area (by far) captured by a Division during the Battle of Saipan:

ia902602[dot]us[dot]archive[dot]org/6/items/The4thMarineDivisionInWorldWarII/The4thMarineDivisionInWorldWarII.pdf






2. Larry says:
23 Jul 2019 12:42:04 PM

I have battle map of Saipan from fathers collection. He got it on saipan. used it to call artillery on *** . it has every *** position on it . say's secret on it. only saw one other. would like to know more about it and value..
3. Anonymous says:
18 May 2021 12:42:42 PM

This may have been covered so forgive me for asking, is there an easy way to print any of these map? I have found having a relevant map while reading helps to “see” the action.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type
Your Comments
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.

Search WW2DB
Modern Day Location
WW2-Era Place Name Saipan, Mariana Islands
Lat/Long 15.1833, 145.7500
Famous WW2 Quote
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"

George Patton, 31 May 1944


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!