Tarawa Atoll Timeline of Events

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Tarawa Atoll

Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...

Timeline of Events

1943

11.20.1943

World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins – United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.

11.23.1943

World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.

11.24.1943

World War II: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks with nearly 650 men killed.