View source for Battle of Dutch Harbor

{{Short description|1942 aerial bombing of a U.S. Army base on Amaknak Island, Alaska by the Japanese Navy}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Dutch Harbor
| partof            = the [[American Theater (World War II)|American Theater]] of [[World War II]]
| image             = Japanese Attack at Dutch Harbor.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Buildings burning after Japanese air attacks on Dutch Harbor, circa 3 June 1942.
| date              = 3–4 June 1942
| place             = [[Amaknak Island]], [[Aleutian Islands]], [[Territory of Alaska|Alaska]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|53|53|15|N|166|32|32|W|region:US-AK_type:event_scale:50000_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=inline,title}}
| result            = Japanese victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = {{flagdeco|United States|1912}} [[Robert Alfred Theobald|Robert Theobald]] <br> {{flagdeco|United States|1912}} [[Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.|Simon Buckner]] <br> {{flagdeco|United States|1912}} [[Archibald V. Arnold|Archibald Arnold]]
| commander2        = {{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|navy}} [[Kakuji Kakuta]]
| strength1         = [[37th Infantry Regiment (United States)|37th Infantry Regiment]] <br> [[206th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)|206th Coast Artillery (AA)]] <br> 1 search light battery <br> 6 anti-aircraft batteries<br />[[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] <br> 30 aircraft
| strength2         = [[Japanese aircraft carrier Jun'yō|1 aircraft carrier]] <br> [[Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo|1 light carrier]] <br> 3 cruisers <br> 5 destroyers <br> 86 aircraft
| casualties1       = 43 killed <br> 50 wounded <br> 14 aircraft destroyed <br> 1 barracks ship destroyed
| casualties2       = 10 killed <br> 5 captured <br> 8 aircraft destroyed <br> [[Akutan Zero|1 aircraft captured]]<ref name="books.google.com.pe">{{cite book|author=Fern Chandonnet|title=Alaska at War, 1941–1945: The Forgotten War Remembered|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p01bFVagOJYC&pg=PA8|year=2007|publisher=University of Alaska Press|isbn=978-1-60223-135-1|page=394}}</ref>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Aleutians}}
}}

The '''Battle of Dutch Harbor''' took place on 3-4 June 1942, when the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] launched two [[aircraft carrier]] [[Raid (military)|raids]] on the [[Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. Army|Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Fort Mears]] at [[Dutch Harbor]] on [[Amaknak Island]], opening the [[Aleutian Islands campaign]] of [[World War II]]. The bombing marked the first aerial attack by an enemy on the continental United States and was the second time in history that the continental U.S. was bombed by someone working for a foreign power, the first being the accidental [[bombing of Naco|bombing of Naco, Arizona]], in 1929.

==Background==
{{Further|Japanese occupation of Kiska}}
The Japanese planned to occupy islands in the Aleutians in order to extend their defensive perimeter in the North Pacific to make it more difficult for the U.S. to attack Japan from that area. The air raid on Dutch Harbor was conducted to support the invasions on [[Kiska]] Island and [[Attu Island]] by the Japanese military under Operation AL. 

Dutch Harbor was ringed with anti-aircraft artillery batteries from the [[206th Coast Artillery]] (Anti Aircraft) group of the [[Arkansas National Guard]], and was one of the key targets protected by the [[Eleventh Air Force]] based out of mainland Alaska.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Donald|last1=Goldstein |first2=Katherine V. |last2=Dillon|title=The Williwaw War: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World War II|publisher=[[University of Arkansas]] Press|date= 1992|isbn=978-1557282422}}</ref><ref>See also, ''Never Give Up! A History of the 206th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment of the Arkansas National Guard in the Second World War''  by William E. Maxwell, Jr., 1992</ref> The 206th CA (AA) was deployed to Dutch Harbor in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in August 1941 and had been on station for approximately four months when the [[Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]] on 7 December. The 206th CA was equipped with the [[3-inch Gun M1918]] (an older model with a vertical range of {{convert|26902|ft|m|abbr=on}}), [[M2 Browning machine gun|.50in (12.7mm) M2 Browning]] machine guns, and {{convert|60|in|cm|abbr=on}} [[Sperry Corporation|Sperry]] searchlights. The 206th had one radar in position at Dutch Harbor at the time of the attack. In the harbor were two old destroyers, [[USS King (DD-242)|''King'']] and [[USS Talbot (DD-114)|''Talbot'']], destroyer-[[seaplane tender]] [[USS Gillis (DD-260)|''Gillis'']], submarine [[USS S-27 (SS-132)|''S-27'']], Coast Guard cutter [[USCGC Onondaga (WPG-79)|''Onondaga'']], and U.S. Army transports [[USAHS Marigold|''President Fillmore'']] and ''Morlen''.<ref>{{Cite web|title= The Aleutians Campaign June 1942 – August 1943  |website=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]], Office of Naval Intelligence, U.S. Navy|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/the-aleutians-campaign.html  }}</ref>

==Battle==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2019}}
On 3 June 1942 a Japanese carrier strike force, under the command of Rear Admiral [[Kakuji Kakuta]], comprising the carriers {{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Ryūjō||2}} and {{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Jun'yō||2}} plus escort ships, sailed to {{convert|180|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} southwest of Dutch Harbor to launch air strikes at the [[United States Army]] and [[United States Navy]] facility to support a Japanese offensive in the Aleutians and in the central Pacific at [[Battle of Midway|Midway]].

[[File:Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor, June 3, 1942. Group of Marines on the "alert" between attacks. Smoke from burning... - NARA - 520589.tif|left|thumb|250px|[[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] observing the battle from trench positions, June 3, 1942]]
Shortly before dawn at 02:58, given the geographic [[latitude]] and [[longitude]], Admiral Kakuta ordered his aircraft carriers to launch their strike which was made up of 12 [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero|A6M Zero]] [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]], 10 [[Nakajima B5N|B5N Kate]] [[Bomber|high-level bombers]], and 12 [[Aichi D3A|D3A Val]] [[dive bomber]]s which took off from the two small carriers in the freezing weather to strike at Dutch Harbor. One B5N was lost on takeoff from ''Ryujo''.

The planes arrived over the harbor at 04:07 and attacked the town's radio station and oil storage tanks causing some damage. Many members of the 206th were awakened by the sound of bombs and gunfire. While the unit had been on alert for an attack for many days, there was no specific warning of the attack before the Japanese planes arrived over Dutch Harbor. With no clear direction from headquarters, gun crews from every battery quickly realized the danger, ran to their guns stationed around the harbor and began to return fire. In addition to their {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns, {{convert|37|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} guns and {{convert|.50|in|mm|1|abbr=on}} machine guns, members of the unit fired their rifles, and one even claimed to have hurled a wrench at a low-flying enemy plane. Several members reported being able to clearly see the faces of the Japanese aviators as they made repeated runs over the island.<ref>Goldstein, p. 151</ref> The highest casualties on the first day occurred when bombs struck barracks 864 and 866 in Fort Mears, killing 17 servicemen of the 37th Infantry and eight from the 151st Engineers.<ref>Goldstein, p. 152</ref>

When all the Japanese planes were recovered, there were erroneous reports of enemy ships in the vicinity, but search planes found no ships within the area. During the search, four [[Nakajima E8N]]2 "Dave" two-seat [[Reconnaissance aircraft|reconnaissance planes]]—launched from the [[heavy cruiser]]s {{Ship|Japanese cruiser|Takao|1930|2}} and {{Ship|Japanese cruiser|Maya||2}}—encountered U.S. fighters searching for the departing Japanese [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]].

[[Image:NorthwesternInFlames-2.jpg|thumb|260px|Barracks ship ''Northwestern'' engulfed by flames in Dutch Harbor after the second Japanese airstrike, June 4, 1942]]
The 206th CA spent much of the night of 3/4 June moving guns down off the mountain tops surrounding the harbor down into the city of [[Unalaska]] and into harbor facilities. This was partially as a deception and partially to defend against an expected land invasion. Civilian contractors filled sandbags to protect the new gun positions.

On 4 June the Japanese carriers steamed to less than {{convert|100|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}} south of Dutch Harbor to launch a second attack. At 16:00, a second airstrike of nine fighters, 11 dive bombers, and six level bombers attacked less than an hour later. More targets were damaged including some grounded aircraft, an army barracks, oil storage tanks, aircraft hangar, and a few merchant ships in the port. The Zero fighters concentrated on strafing the gun positions, while the bombers destroyed the fuel tanks located at the harbor. One wing of the military hospital at the base was destroyed.<ref name=nueve /> After hitting the fuel tanks, the enemy dive-bombers and high-level bombers concentrated on the ships in the harbor, [[USAHS Marigold|''Fillmore'']] and ''Gillis''. Driven away from these two targets by intense anti-aircraft fire, they finally succeeded in destroying the station ship {{SS|Northwestern|1889|2}} which, because of its large size, they mistakenly believed was a warship. ''Northwestern'' was actually a transport ship which had been beached and used as a barracks for civilian workers. Although in flames and badly damaged, firefighters managed to save the hull. Its power plant was thereafter used to produce steam and electricity for the shore installations.<ref>Garfield, pp. 48–49</ref><ref>Goldstein, p. 176</ref> An anti-aircraft gun was blown up, and four U.S. Navy servicemen were killed.<ref name=nueve>Garfield, p. 49</ref>

Two Japanese dive bombers and one fighter, damaged by anti-aircraft fire, failed to return to their carriers. On the way back, the Japanese planes encountered an air patrol of six [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|Curtiss P-40]] fighters over [[Otter Point]]. A short aerial battle ensued which resulted in the loss of one Japanese fighter and two more dive bombers. Two out of the six U.S. fighters were lost as well.

==Aftermath==
[[File:Anchorage_Daily_Times_June_3,_1942.JPG|thumb|250px|Front page of the June 3, 1942 ''[[Anchorage Daily Times]]'' featuring the attack]]
As a result of the enemy actions, the Eleventh Air Force lost four [[B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17]]s, two [[Martin B-26 Marauder]]s, and two [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40s]], while the Navy suffered six [[PBY Catalinas]] destroyed.<ref name="books.google.com.pe"/> 43 Americans were killed: 33 soldiers, eight sailors, a Marine, and a civilian. Another 50 were wounded in the attack.<ref>[http://npshistory.com/publications/aleu/dutch_harbor.pdf Page 63/183]</ref>

None of the Japanese ships were harmed, but one Zero was damaged by ground fire and crash-landed on [[Akutan Island]], about {{convert|20|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}} northeast of Dutch Harbor. Although the pilot was killed, the plane was not seriously damaged. This Zero—known as the "[[Akutan Zero]]"—was recovered by American forces, inspected, and repaired. The recovery was an important technical intelligence gain for the U.S., as it showed the strengths and weaknesses of the Zero's design.<ref>O'Leary, Michael. ''United States Naval Fighters of World War II in Action''. Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press, 1980, pp 67–74. {{ISBN|0-7137-0956-1}}.</ref>

The following day, Admiral Kakuta received orders to break off further attacks and head for the central Pacific to support the [[Combined Fleet]] which was retreating after being defeated at Midway. Two days later, a small Japanese invasion force landed and occupied two of the Aleutian Islands, [[Japanese occupation of Attu|Attu]] and [[Japanese occupation of Kiska|Kiska]], without further incident. [[Aleut|Aleuts]] on Kiska and Attu were imprisoned on the Japanese mainland.

The bombing of Dutch Harbor and the subsequent occupations of Kiska and Attu by the Japanese helped trigger an impression among Americans that they were going to launch a full-scale attack along the [[West Coast of the United States|United States West Coast]]. As a result, military and commandeered civilian aircraft flew nearly 2,300 troops to [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]], along with artillery and antiaircraft guns and several tons of other equipment and supplies to deter a possible Japanese landing in mainland Alaska.

Fearing a Japanese attack on other Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska, the U.S. government evacuated hundreds more [[Aleut|Aleuts]] from the western chain and the [[Pribilof Islands|Pribilofs]], placing them in internment camps in southeast Alaska, where many died of [[measles]], [[influenza]] and other infectious diseases which spread quickly in the overcrowded dormitories. In total, about 75 died in American internment and 19 as a result of Japanese occupation.<ref>Ryan Madden, "'The Government's Industry': Alaska Natives and Pribilof Sealing during World War II." ''Pacific Northwest Quarterly'' 91.4 (2000): 202–209.  [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40492595 in jstor]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/aleu/learn/historyculture/unangan-internment.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306222508/http://www.nps.gov/aleu/learn/historyculture/unangan-internment.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2015|title=Evacuation and Internment, 1942–1945 – Aleutian World War II National Historic Area (U.S. National Park Service)|website=nps.gov}}</ref><ref>Goldstein, pp. 208–221</ref> The [[Aleut Restitution Act of 1988]] was an attempt by the [[United States Congress|Congress]] to compensate the survivors. On 17 June 2017 the U.S. government formally apologized for the internment of the Unangan people and their treatment in the camps.<ref>{{Cite news|title=US apologizes for WWII internment of Alaska's Unangan people|newspaper=[[Associated Press]]|date=June 17, 2017 |url=https://apnews.com/531ff54a0f3d4d9688289e8c83028458 }}</ref> 

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Cloe|first=John Haile|year=1990|title=The Aleutian Warriors: A History of the 11th Air Force and Fleet Air Wing 4|publisher=Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc. and Anchorage Chapter – Air Force Association|location= Missoula, Montana|isbn=0-929521-35-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Dickrell|first=Jeff|year=2001|title=Center of the Storm: The Bombing of Dutch Harbor and the Experience of Patrol Wing Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942|publisher=Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc.|location=Missoula, Montana|isbn=1-57510-092-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Feinberg|first=Leonard|year=1992|title=Where the Williwaw Blows: The Aleutian Islands – World War II|publisher=Pilgrims' Process, Inc.|isbn= 0-9710609-8-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Garfield|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Garfield|year=1969|title=The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians|publisher=[[University of Alaska]] Press|location=Fairbanks, Alaska|isbn=0-912006-83-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Goldstein|first1=Donald M.|first2=Katherine V. |last2=Dillon|year=1992|title=The Williwaw War: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World|publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn= 1-55728-242-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Lorelli|first=John A.|year=1984|title=The Battle of the Komandorski Islands|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-093-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Morison|first=Samuel Eliot|author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |orig-year=1951|year=2001|title=Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942 – April 1944, ''vol. 7 of'' [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]]|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Champaign, Illinois|isbn=0-316-58305-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Parshall|first1=Jonathan|last2=Tully|first2=Anthony|year=2005|title=Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway|publisher=Potomac Books|location=Dulles, VA|isbn=1-57488-923-0|url=https://archive.org/details/shatteredswordun0000pars}}
* {{cite book|last=Perras|first=Galen Roger|year=2003|title=Stepping Stones to Nowhere, The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867–1945|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|location=Vancouver British Columbia|isbn=1-59114-836-7|url=https://archive.org/details/steppingstonesto00gale}}
* {{cite book|last1=Okumiya|first1=Masatake|author-link=Masatake Okumiya|last2=Fuchida |first2=Mitsuo |year=1955|title=Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=Random House Inc., New York|isbn=0-345-34691-2}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|title=Aleutian Islands: The US Army Campaigns in WWII|url=http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/aleut/aleut.htm|series=The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II|publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|first=George L.|last=MacGarrigle|id=CMH Pub 72-6|access-date=18 December 2013|archive-date=17 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317040937/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/aleut/aleut.htm|url-status=dead}}
* Symonds, Craig L. ''The Battle of Midway'' (Pivotal Moments in American History) Oxford University Press, US, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0195397932}} pp. 193–200.

==External links==
* [http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Pacific/NA50/ Air Raid on Dutch Harbor & Fort Mears – photos & documents]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080302003959/http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/MayJun03/MS778.htm Logistics Problems on Attu] by Robert E. Burks.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030307095214/http://users.commkey.net/fussichen/otdaleu.htm Aleutian Islands Chronology]}}
* [http://www.explorenorth.com/library/military/aleutian_war-usarmy.html Aleutian Islands War]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170911193528/http://alaskainvasion.com/ Red White Black & Blue – feature documentary about The Battle of Attu in the Aleutians during World War II]

{{World War II}}
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{{World War II city bombing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutch Harbor 1942}}
[[Category:1942 in Alaska]]
[[Category:Airstrikes conducted by Japan]]
[[Category:Aleutian Islands campaign]]
[[Category:American Theater of World War II]]
[[Category:Amaknak Island]]
[[Category:Naval aviation operations and battles]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Japan]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States]]
[[Category:Pacific War]]
[[Category:June 1942 in the United States]]
[[Category:Attacks on military installations in 1942]]
[[Category:Attacks on hospitals during World War II]]
[[Category:Attacks on naval bases in the United States]]
[[Category:Japanese war crimes]]
[[Category:Airstrikes in North America]]
[[Category:Attacks on hospitals in the United States]]
[[Category:Wartime hospital bombings]]
[[Category:Wartime attacks on hospitals in North America]]