The capture of Kwajalein tore open the Jap's far-flung outer defense, already punctured at the Gilberts and ruptured in the south. Allied forces pressed against Japan's inner ocean frontier. Now, with the initiative completely in their hands, Allied strategists had to decide: What next?
Kwajalein, even more than the Gilberts, had shown the capabilities of the now mighty Pacific Fleet. Navy officers had once worried about mooring warships in Pearl Harbor. In a bold and disdainful gesture last week the Navy moored its ships inside Kwajalein's landlocked lagoon, 375 miles from Jap-held Kusaie and less than half that distance from bases which...
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