Finding the Gaps: Littoral Obstacles during Operation Galvanic

The scale of U.S. casualties during Operation Galvanic has made the operation controversial, yet losses would likely have been far worse if not for the U.S. Fifth Amphibious Force’s successful efforts to mitigate littoral obstacles. The seizure of the Gilbert Islands demonstrated that by exploiting effective intelligence to take calculated risks, even the most complex and well-developed littoral defenses could be defeated. Unable to select a different objective or to secure additional forces, Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner instead exploited Joint force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) to find the weakest parts of the Japanese defenses.