5. Tarawa, Towers' Rivalry, and the Kwajalein Calculated Risk AUTHOR: Professor Craig Symonds BOOK TITLE: Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay The Central Pacific campaign began with the bloody amphibious landing at Tarawa in N
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
5. Tarawa, Towers' Rivalry, and the Kwajalein Calculated Risk
BOOK TITLE: Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
The Central Pacific campaign began with the bloody amphibious landing at Tarawa in November 1943. High casualties resulted from a neap tide stranding landing craft on a coral shelf, infuriating Marine General Holland "Howling Mad" Smith. Nimitz had to manage internal conflicts, including Deputy Commander Admiral John Towers, who was foisted upon him by King. Towers was difficult because he believed only aviators should hold carrier command, creating tension with black shoe officers like Nimitz and Spruance. Nimitz, believing in second chances, restored Marc Mitscher to a carrier command, against Spruance's wishes. Learning lessons from Tarawa's bloodshed, Nimitz applied a calculated risk by overriding his subordinates and attacking the main Japanese base at Kwajalein directly, succeeding quickly with minimal loss.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Building a coffee business? |
| 0:02.0 | Serving the best Americano in town is up to you. |
| 0:04.0 | But winning back time and growing your business, |
| 0:06.0 | leave that to sum-up. |
| 0:07.0 | Take orders and payments anywhere with the new SumUp terminal. |
| 0:10.0 | Turn occasional customers into regulars with a free loyalty program. |
| 0:13.0 | And with the SumUp point of sale system, |
| 0:15.0 | you'll always know when you're running low on your best-selling blends. |
| 0:18.0 | Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. |
| 0:30.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:36.8 | Craig Simon's new book is Nimitz at War, command leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. |
| 0:41.0 | He is a meritorist professor of history from the U.S. Naval Academy. |
| 0:45.1 | And we're speaking of Chester Nimitz at war in the Pacific. It is now the point where the Central Pacific campaign, starting in the Gilbert Islands, |
| 0:56.7 | driving towards the Japanese islands, |
| 1:02.6 | is underway with the landing at Tarawa, a small island, a series of atolls. |
| 1:08.7 | And this is where the Marines have to practice their amphibious landing that will get better and stronger throughout the war. |
| 1:11.0 | In fact, amphibious landings in general are now being invented by the Marines and the Army. |
| 1:16.2 | And they require specialized ships that don't exist at this point. |
| 1:20.4 | You all think of the landing craft from D-Day, the drop of the front and the men piling out. |
| 1:26.1 | Well, that didn't exist as they land at Tarawa. This is |
| 1:29.3 | November of 1943. The professor's book concentrates on relationships, however. So we begin with |
| 1:36.3 | Chester Nimitz's relationship with the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked very well through Halsey |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.