Battle of Peleliu Photo Gallery
General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army (left); President Franklin D. Roosevelt (center); and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN (right) on board USS Baltimore (CA-68), at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 26 July 1944. Admiral William D. Leahy, the President's chief of staff, is standing in the left background. This photo was taken during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 26 July–10 August 1944 visit to Hawaii for a planning conference regarding future moves against Japan (including the Palaus campaign) (80-G-241479).
Peleliu under fire during the pre-invasion bombardment, circa 12–15 September 1944. Photographed from a USS Honolulu (CL-48) spotter plane. Photo looks northeast, with the airfield in the foreground and the Umurbrogol ridges in the distance, partly shrouded in smoke (80-G-283520).
A USS Mississippi (BB-41) casemate gun crew loading their 5-inch/51-caliber gun during the bombardment of Peleliu. Note line of shell passers in the background, and the gun's breech in the lower right foreground (80-G-48380).
Smoke and dust rises from the Peleliu shore during the final stages of the pre-invasion bombardment, 15 September 1944. Photographed form an LCI gunboat, whose bow 40-mm gun is visible in the foreground. Note waves breaking on the offshore reef (80-G-59497).
The 1st Marine Division heads for the Peleliu beaches, as its LVTs churn past the offshore line of LCI gunboats, 15 September 1944. Note gunner saluting from the LVT (2) in the foreground. An Idaho-class battleship is bombarding the beaches in the left distance (80-G-59498).
Using a flame-throwing amphibious tractor, Marines shoot a tongue of fire at enemy strongpoints in a hillside on Peleliu, late September 1944 (NH 104297).
Marine riflemen and tanks in the Horseshow Ridge area of Peleliu's Umurbrogol massif pass the only source of fresh water for the Japanese defenders, early October 1944 (USMC 97433).
An F4U Corsair carrying a napalm canister for a close air-support mission taxis on the Peleliu airfield while fighting in the island's interior was still ongoing. Marine Corps aircraft began operating from the island's airfield on 24 September. A Curtiss R5C-1 transport plane is in the background (80-G-425532).
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (standing), confers with (from left to right) General Douglas MacArthur, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Admiral William D. Leahy during the President's visit to Hawaii, 26 July–10 August 1944 (80-G-46221).
USS Robinson (DD-562) fires 40-mm guns to cover underwater demolition team men clearing Peleliu’s beach obstacles in prior to landings by the 1st Marine Division (80-G-257701).
USS Robinson (DD-562) slips along the beach at Peleliu on D-day, 15 September 1944. Her turrets trained landward, gun crews and lookouts eagerly scan the beach for a Japanese pillbox or gun position to blast at almost point-blank range (USN 46648).
Landing craft launch a rocket attack against the Peleliu beaches prior to landings by 1st Marine Division, 15 September 1944 (80-G-59500).
The first wave of LVTs moves toward the invasion beaches, passing through the inshore bombardment line of LCI gunboats, 15 September 1944. Cruisers and battleships are bombarding from the distance. The landing area is almost totally hidden in dust and smoke. Photographed from a USS Honolulu (CL-48) spotter plane (80-G-283533).
View taken on 19 September 1944, showing an OY-1 Grasshopper spotter aircraft being manhandled on the flight deck of USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80) during the Peleliu operation. Light spotter planes proved indispensable to reconnoitering Peleliu’s largely unmapped Umurbrogol massif, which had been heavily fortified by the Japanese. Note motto on cowling: "It flies, don't it?" (80-G-378466).
Marines investigate a Japanese landing barge after attacking it with LVTs off Peleliu. In late September, Japanese forces in the northern Palaus attempted to reinforce their troops on Peleliu and tiny adjacent Ngesebus Island (NH 61296).
View of Peleliu looking south on 29 June 1945, nine months after Operation Stalemate II. The former "White" and "Orange" landing beaches are on the shoreline at right (80-G-346234).
