U.S. soldiers land on Japanese-held Saipan Island.

U.S. soldiers land on Japanese-held Saipan Island. American infantrymen carry weapons and equipment along a beach of Saipan Island, in the Central Pacific, where they were landed by amphibious tanks (right). Other landing vessels speed toward the island of the Marianas group from an off-shore armada of U.S. warships and transports (background). U.S. soldiers who stormed ashore on Saipan, on June 14, 1944, were protected by a heavy naval and air bombardment similar to the Allied attack that smashed the German fortification on the northern French coast a week earlier. After less than a week's fighting, the Americans had gained control of half the strategic island which is within Japan's inner defense zone. When Japanese naval units attempted to interfere with the operations of the U.S. Pacific Fleet task force in the Marianas, the enemy lost 747 planes, 30 ships and suffered damage to 51 other vessels. The American naval forces lost 151 planes and suffered damage to four ships.