Palau Naval Base
Open the military mapパラオ
Naval Base
A major Western Pacific forward anchorage and logistics hub for the Imperial Japanese Navy, located in the Palau Islands (present-day Republic of Palau). Administered under the South Seas Bureau (南洋庁) headquarters at Koror since the League of Nations mandate era, Palau was developed alongside Truk as a key base in Japan's Pacific island defense network. After Truk was neutralized by Operation Hailstone in February 1944, Palau replaced it as the principal Japanese advance naval base and assembly point for fuel, ammunition, and supplies moving between Japan and the southwestern Pacific. The lagoon anchorages around Koror and at Kossol Passage to the north provided protected moorings. U.S. forces invaded Peleliu on 15 September 1944 and Angaur on 17 September in one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Pacific War, with the Battle of Peleliu alone costing about 10,700 Japanese and some 1,600 American dead; the main islands of Koror and Babeldaob were bypassed, and their garrison surrendered on 2 September 1945.
- Armament
- 飛行場（ペリリュー・ガドブス・バベルダオブ）、マラカル港・コッソル水道泊地、燃料貯蔵施設、弾薬庫、南洋庁本庁
- Fate
- Peleliu and Angaur captured (September–November 1944); main islands bypassed, garrison surrendered 2 September 1945
History
Palau Naval Base (パラオ) was a forward naval anchorage and logistics center of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Western Caroline Islands, in what is now the Republic of Palau. The islands lie approximately 500 miles east of the Philippines and some 2,000 miles south of Tokyo, occupying a strategic position astride the sea routes connecting Japan with its Southern Resources Area.
JAPANESE ADMINISTRATION
Japan occupied Palau during World War I and received the Caroline, Marshall, and Mariana Islands as a League of Nations Class C mandate in 1920. The South Seas Bureau (南洋庁, Nan'yō-chō) established its headquarters at Koror, making Palau the administrative capital of all Japanese-mandated Pacific islands. Japanese settlers transformed the islands — by 1940, Japanese settlers, numbering well over 20,000, outnumbered the indigenous Palauans several times over. Although the mandate prohibited military fortification, Japan withdrew from the League in 1933 and began systematic military development of Palau from 1934 onward.
MILITARY DEVELOPMENT
Palau was developed in conjunction with Truk as one of two primary naval base complexes in the Caroline Islands. Airfields were constructed on Peleliu, neighbouring Ngesebus, and Babeldaob (the main island); the bomber field on Angaur was built by American engineers after its capture. The anchorage at Kossol Roads (Kossol Passage), a large sheltered lagoon in the northern Palau Islands, provided protected deep-water moorings for fleet units. Fuel storage, ammunition depots, communications facilities, and a seaplane base supported fleet operations. The base served as a forward logistics hub for operations throughout the western Pacific.
REPLACEMENT OF TRUK AS PRIMARY FORWARD BASE
Shortly before the devastating American carrier strike on Truk (Operation Hailstone, 17–18 February 1944), the Combined Fleet's main units left Truk, and Palau became its forward base. Admiral Koga Mineichi, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, transferred his headquarters to Palau aboard flagship Musashi. On 30–31 March 1944, American carrier aircraft struck Palau (Operation Desecrate One), sinking or damaging 36 ships and mining the harbor approaches. Koga was killed when his flying boat disappeared during an emergency evacuation from Palau on 31 March — one of only two Combined Fleet commanders-in-chief killed during the war. Despite this blow, Palau continued to function as a major forward base until the American invasion.
BATTLE OF PELELIU AND ANGAUR
On 15 September 1944, the 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu in what became one of the most controversial and bloodiest battles of the Pacific War. The Japanese garrison of approximately 11,000 troops under Colonel Nakagawa Kunio employed a new defensive doctrine of attrition warfare from fortified cave and tunnel complexes in the coral ridges of Umurbrogol Mountain, inflicting devastating casualties on the attackers. The battle officially lasted until 27 November 1944. American forces also invaded Angaur on 17 September. Losses in the fighting for Peleliu and Angaur came to about 12,000 Japanese dead and roughly 2,000 American battle deaths. Koror and Babeldaob, where the bulk of the 14th Division was stationed, were bypassed; their garrison surrendered on 2 September 1945.
Related sites (1)
- Headquarters7.340, 134.470
Koror, Palau Islands — South Seas Bureau headquarters and Western Pacific forward anchorage