Appendix V
Japanese Order of Battle--Tinian

Estimated Strength
at Tinian
on 24 July 19441

Army Units
50th Infantry Regiment--Colonel Kiyochi, Ogata.2
  Headquarters, 50th Infantry Regiment 60
  1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment - Captain Matsuda 880
  2d Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment - Captain Kamityama 880
  3d Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment - Captain Yamamoto 880
  Artillery Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment - Major Kahi 360
  Communication Company, 50th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Hayashi 141
  Engineer Company, 50th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Yano 169
  Supply Company, 50th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Nozaki 200
  Medical Company, 50th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Narizawa 130
  Antitank Platoon, 50th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Otani 42
  Fortification Detachment, 50th Infantry - Captain Hiruma 60
Detachment, 29th Field Hospital - Captain Hayashi 200
Platoon, 164th Independent Vehicle Company 60
Tank Company, 18th Infantry Regiment - Lieutenant Shikamura 90
1st Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment3 - Captain Izumi 900
    ------
  Total Army 5,052
 
Navy Units4
56th Naval Guard Force (Keibitai) - Captain Goichi Oya 1,400
233d Construction Battalion, 56th Keibitai 600
23d Air Group 450
Hospital, 523d Air Group 60
Construction Battalion, 523d Air Group 400
Headquarters, 1st Air Fleet - Vice Admiral Kakuda 200
833d Construction Battalion 400
116th Construction Battalion 400
Naval air stragglers 200
    ------
  Total Navy 4,110
  Grand Total 9,162

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Footnotes

1. No two sources consulted gave exactly the same numbers of Japanese at Tinian. Figures, therefore, are only reconciled approximations.

2. Colonel Ogata was also Tinian Island Commander, a job he performed under administrative control of the Northern Marianas Group with headquarters on Saipan. After Saipan's fall, Ogata's command came under the 29th Division on Guam.

3. The other two battalions of the 135th Infantry Regiment participated in the defense of Saipan.

4. Japanese Navy Units were generally more security conscious than were Army units; therefore, the order of battle for Navy units at Tinian is much less detailed and less accurate than that for Army forces.



Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Jerry Holden for the HyperWar Foundation