The 105th Infantry Regiment earned its "baptism by fire" on Butaritari Island on 20 November 1943. Here, during the Battle of Makin, the 3rd Battalion (3-105) made an assault landing alongside the 165th Infantry Regiment. It formed a "Special Landings Group", which preceded the main landing craft in Amtracs and cleared the beaches for the subsequent landing waves. As the landing craft approached the beach, they began to receive small-arms and machine-gun fire from the island's defenders. The assault troops were also surprised to discover that even though they were approaching the beach at high tide as planned, a miscalculation of the lagoon's depth caused their small boats to go aground, forcing them to walk the final 250 yards (230 m) to the beach in waist-deep water. Equipment and weapons were lost or water-soaked, but only three men were killed approaching the beach, mainly because the defenders chose to make their final stand farther inland along the tank barriers. 3-105 fought with the 165th Infantry for the remainder of the battle, which lasted 4 days and cost the Americans 66 killed and 185 wounded. On 24 November 1943, the entire regiment left the atoll for Hawaii, where they arrived on 2 December 1943.