# Any unsuccessful amphibious invasions in WW2? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224 "2010-04-15T16:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/1 "2010-04-15T16:14:30Z")
I’ve been watching HBO’s _The Pacific_ and it occurred to me that the vast majority of amphibious invasions during WW2 turned out to be successful. Were there any that failed? The raid on Dieppe failed but as I understand it, that operation wasn’t really an “invasion.” According to Wikipedia, the attackers only intended to hold their gains for a short time before leaving, in order to gain intelligence and captives and to prove that it could be done. In reality they didn’t even get that far. Obviously D-day was a success. So was Operation Torch. Did the Allies capture all the islands they tried to capture in the Pacific? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/2 "2010-04-15T16:17:05Z")
The only one I can think that failed is the Japanese first attempt to invade Wake island in the opening days of WWII. The defending Marines defended it relatively easily. However, they were unable to repulse the reinforced attempt of a few days later. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/3 "2010-04-15T16:39:54Z")
> **[Battle of Milne Bay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Milne_Bay)** > > 7th Infantry Brigade > 14th Infantry Brigade > 18th Infantry Brigade > RAAF The first complete victory over the Japanese on land during WW2, and the first successful repelling of a Japanese invasion force. It was Big News at the time, but the reason you haven’t heard of it is because Americans had very little to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/4 "2010-04-15T19:20:39Z")
The landings at Anzio, in Italy, weren’t exactly a defeat, but they weren’t really a success either. The Allies established a beachhead, and were never driven off of it, but they never really broke out of the beachhead either (at least not until the Allied campaign moving up the boot of Italy had almost reached the area anyway). > **[Battle of Anzio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shingle)** > > Invasion of Italy > Winter Line > Gothic Line ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/5 "2010-04-15T19:39:52Z")
The German seaborne invasion of Crete was broken up at sea, while the airborne component was succeeding. ---
**Author:** ![whorfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/6f9a4e/32.png) [@whorfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whorfin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/6 "2010-04-15T19:39:53Z")
It’s a little debatable, because the real fight was a land battle, but it’s close enough to put on the table: > **[Battle of the Tenaru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru)** > > 28th Infantry Regiment > The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign. > In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vand... It’s more or less the same story as Milne Bay, and I’d call it amphibious for the same reason—a land battle where japanese forces were landed specifically for that operation, a few miles beyond U.S. lines, and where the action came only a few days after the attack force was landed. As the wiki link shows, the attackers were defeated pretty conclusively. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/7 "2010-04-15T19:55:57Z")
A [Soviet amphibious landing in the Black Sea in 1943](http://www.battlefield.ru/en/articles/165-tank-descent.html) was contained and the beachhead eventually crushed. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/8 "2010-04-15T20:43:27Z")
I remember reading that Japan tried some amphib assaults during Bataan that failed. I don’t think any American assaults failed in the Pacific because Americans wouldn’t let them fail…they didn’t do it until they had overwhelming odds. If the U.S. would have been more aggressive/less caring of mens lives they might have pushed faster with less resources and some assults may have failed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/9 "2010-04-15T23:27:53Z")
Technically, the Marine landing on Tanambogo was repulsed. But it hadn’t been intended as a heavily opposed landing - it was mistakenly believed the tiny island had only a small maintenance unit stationed on it and only a company was landed on the island. In reality there was a good sized Japanese unit on the island and the Marines had to evacuate. The next day, a full battalion was landed with air and naval support and the island fell a day later. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/10 "2010-04-16T02:42:25Z")
Very extremely interesting, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/11 "2010-04-16T02:44:19Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > I remember reading that Japan tried some amphib assaults during Bataan that failed. Yes, the Battle of the Points. Almost the whole Japanese landing force was wiped out. Among American landings, Tarawa came scary close to failing, but the Marines managed to save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/12 "2010-04-16T03:29:18Z")
[The Dieppe Raid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieppe_Raid) was a complete disaster, although it’s arguable how successful it was likely to be in the first place. Also, the Gallipoli Landings in 1915 were a spectacular disaster from a military standpoint, achieving nothing, getting a lot of people killed, and generally being a textbook example of how not to stage an amphibious landing. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/13 "2010-04-16T03:41:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Technically, the Marine landing on Tanambogo was repulsed. But it hadn’t been intended as a heavily opposed landing - it was mistakenly believed the tiny island had only a small maintenance unit stationed on it and only a company was landed on the island. In reality there was a good sized Japanese unit on the island and the Marines had to evacuate. The next day, a full battalion was landed with air and naval support and the island fell a day later. IIRC, [Tarawa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tarawa) almost turned into a disaster, with tanks or heavy guns getting bogged down in the surf and then the Jap(ane)s(e) managing to get hold of them and turn them onto the Americans still struggling toward the beach. The Marines managed to prevail, though. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-unsuccessful-amphibious-invasions-in-ww2/536224/14 "2010-04-17T16:45:45Z")
The [Battle of Dakar.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dakar)