Wotje Atoll Surrender

[USS Missouri ] [Mille Atoll Surrender] [Northern Palaus Island Surrender] [Rota Island Surrender]
[Wake Island Surrender] [Jaluit Atoll Surrender] [Maloelap Atoll Surrender] [Wotje Atoll Surrender]
[Kusaie Island Surrender] [Ponape Island Surrender] [Woleai Atoll Surrender]
[Tobi-Sonsorol-Merir Islands Surrender]

Destroyer Escort Sailors Association - DESA

The third unconditional surrender of Japanese territory in the Marshall Islands, Wotje, took place on 6 September 1945 aboard USS Baron DE 166 with CO Lt. Cmdr. W. M. Dicerson as witness. Capt. H. B. Grow, USNR, Atoll Commander Majuro, accepted the surrender of Wotje Commander Rear Admr. Nobukazu Yoshimi.

As early as 1944, the population of Wotje has been 2,103 Navy personnel, 429 Army personnel and 766 civilians - 3,298 persons in all. When American troops took over, however, there remained only 497 Navy, 136 Army and 436 civilian personnel for a total of 1,096, of whom a substantial number were in serious condition - much worse than at Mille which had been the atoll where the greatest attrition had thus far been encountered in the Marshall Islands. Air attacks had accounted for 564 deaths, malnutrition had caused the deaths of 1,235, illness had killed 166, 107 were either missing or deserters, while 157 had died from various other causes.

During the last week of September, 112 patients were transferred from the Japanese garrison to Mille aboard LCI 880 and from there they were evacuated to Japan on the Hikawa Maru (AH). The destroyer escort AMICK DE 168 evacuated 225 Japanese military on October 20th. The 7470-ton Japanese carrier Hosho executed one of the largest evacuations yet effected in the Marshalls-Gilberts Area when she departed on October 31st with 1,947 Japanese repatriates aboard, comprising 529 from Wotje, 610 from Maloelap and 808 from Jaluit. This completed the evacuation of the Japanese garrison from Wotje, leaving only 265 Koreans on the atoll.

Naval communication courtesy of vmb-613.com. A special thanks to
Robert Yanacek, webmaster, for providing this information.