Fog of battle shrouds U.S. warships during Saipan landing. A heavy "fog" of gun smoke hovers over the sea as a U.S.

Fog of battle shrouds U.S. warships during Saipan landing. A heavy "fog" of gun smoke hovers over the sea as a U.S. Navy task force, firing continuous broadsides, supports U.S. troops landing on the Japanese island of Saipan on June 14, 1944. All Japanese resistance on the Marianas island of the Central Pacific, only 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from Tokyo, collapsed 25 days later. A heavily fortified supply and air base, it was a keystone of the enemy's inner defense ring. Thirteen days after its capture had been completed, on July 20, U.S. forces landed in Guam, bottom anchor of the Marianas.