Battle of Tinian The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II , fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July 1944 to 1 August 1944 . Background . To overcome the immense distances of the Pacific Ocean and Japanese island occupation strategy intended to threaten the United States to sue for peace , the U . S . Navy devised a strategy called island hopping . It called for the armed forces to take successively closer island strongholds to the Japanese mainland while leaving some in place to starve . From May 27 to June 20 , 1944 , the U . S . Army and Navy decisively eliminated the Japanese Army and Navy forces immediately northwest of New Guinea in the Battle of Biak after a long bloody campaign . The Japanese there maintained an airfield that could be improved by the Americans to use in the air war ; also , Japanese presence there was perceived as a potential threat to the Australian mainland . The U . S . victory in the Battle of Saipan from June 15 to July 9 , 1944 made Tinian , south of Saipan , the next logical step in the Marianas campaign which would lead to retaking the Philippines and ultimately the defeat of Japan . The Japanese defending the island were commanded by Colonel Kiyochi Ogata and his subordinate Goichi Oya . Vice - Admiral Kakaji Kakuta , commander of First Air Fleet , was headquartered on Tinian . Battle . The 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions landed on 24 July 1944 , supported by naval bombardment and artillery firing across the strait from Saipan . A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island . The battleship and the destroyer USS " Norman Scott " were both hit by six inch Japanese shore batteries . The " Colorado " was hit 22 times , killing 44 men . The " Norman Scott " was hit six times , killing the captain , Seymore Owens , and 22 of his seamen . The Japanese adopted the same stubborn resistance as on Saipan , retreating during the day and attacking at night . The gentler terrain of Tinian allowed the attackers more effective use of tanks and artillery than in the mountains of Saipan , and the island was secured in nine days of fighting . On July 31 , the surviving Japanese launched a suicide charge . The battle saw the first use of napalm in the Pacific . Of the 120 jettisonable tanks dropped during the operation , 25 contained the napalm mixture and the remainder an oil - gasoline mixture . Of the entire number , only 14 were duds , and eight of these were set afire by subsequent strafing runs . Carried by F4U Corsairs , the " fire bombs " , also known as napalm bombs , burned away foliage concealing enemy installations . Aftermath . Japanese losses were far greater than American losses . The Japanese lost 8 , 010 . Only 313 Japanese were taken prisoner . American losses stood at 328 dead and 1 , 571 wounded . Several hundred Japanese troops held out in the jungles for months . The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian , commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada , held out until the end of the war , surrendering on 4 September 1945 . The last holdout on Tinian , Murata Susumu , was not captured until 1953 . After the battle , Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific Campaign . Camps were built for 50 , 000 troops . Fifteen thousand Seabee s turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war , with six 2 , 400 m runways for attacks by B - 29 Superfortress bombers on targets in the Philippines , the Ryukyu Islands and mainland Japan , including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki .