Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands 1945. While the attacks on Iwo Jima damaged the island's airfields, the Japanese managed to keep at least one of them operational at all times, and none were closed for more than a single day. The need to repair damage to the airfields forced the Japanese garrison on Iwo Jima to divert labor from building defensive positions, however. The combination of heavy losses over Saipan and damage to the airfields on Iwo Jima caused the Japanese to break off their attacks against the Marianas on 2 January. Few Japanese aircraft visited Iwo Jima starting in January, and due to their
Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II on the American perimeter. The Japanese continued to underestimate the number of American forces on the island, assuming that were that only 2,000 marines were on the island. However, the actual number was closer to 20,000, subsequently attacks launched by the Japanese on two successive nights on September 12–14, failed. Meanwhile, the Japanese did better in the struggle for control of the waters around Guadalcanal. On September 15, the submarine sank the carrier , leaving only a single American carrier, the , active in the Pacific at the time. However, as the Japanese possessed up to six operational carriers during