Mount Suribachi

Suribachi
Suribachi
	(2001)
Highest point
Elevation	169 m (554 ft)
Prominence	169 m (554 ft)
Coordinates	24°45′01″N141°17′20″E / 24.75028°N 141.28889°E Coordinates: 24°45′01″N141°17′20″E / 24.75028°N 141.28889°E
Geography
	Suribachi Iwo Jima, Japan
Parent range	Volcano Islands
Geology
Mountain type	Cinder cone
Volcanic arc/belt	Volcano Islands
Last eruption	May 2, 2012

Last updated February 21, 2021

Mount Suribachi (摺鉢山, Suribachiyama) is a 169-metre (554 ft)-high mountain on the southwest end of Iwo Jima in the northwest Pacific Ocean under the administration of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.

The mountain's name derives from its shape, resembling a suribachi or grinding bowl. It is also known as "Mount Pipe" (パイプ山, paipu-yama), since the volcanic gas and water vapor that rolls in from the summit, alongside the rest of the island, give the appearance of a smoking pipe when viewed from the sea.^{[ citation needed ]}

Joe Rosenthal's iconic World War II photograph, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima , depicting United States Marines raising an American flag, was taken at the mountain's peak during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Ammunition ship USS Suribachi was named after this mountain.

Geology

Geologically, the mountain is a cinder cone of andesite, formed by volcanic activity. It is thought^{[ by whom? ]} that the mountain is a dormant vent to a still active volcano (designated Iō-tō, the name of the island as a whole). From 1889 to 1957, the Japanese government recorded sixteen eruptions on the peak. One eruption lasted for sixty-five minutes, and created a crater with a diameter of 35 meters and a depth of fifteen meters on the runway near the former airfield from World War II.^[2] The Japanese Meteorological Agency reported that on May 2, 2012, a small eruption caused water discoloration to the northeast, and confirmed the appearance of a new fumarole.^[1]

History

During World War II, the Japanese built tunnel and bunker systems in and on Mount Suribachi. In February 1945, United States Marines invaded the island and initiated a major battle. For the United States, Iwo Jima was an important strategic point between the United States and mainland Japan, needed as an airstrip for damaged B-29s returning to the Mariana Islands from bombing Japan, a status that resulted in severe fighting that took the lives of nearly 7,000 Americans and 20,000 Japanese.

In popular culture

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, photographer Joe Rosenthal took his famous picture, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima . It depicts Marines raising the American flag on the mountain's peak, and was a re-creation of an earlier flag-raising. The photograph has become an iconic image.

The 1949 film Sands of Iwo Jima , directed by Allan Dwan and starring John Wayne, follows a United States Marine rifle squad preparing for battle at Iwo Jima. The 2006 films Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers , directed by Clint Eastwood, treat the theme of this Pacific battle and present the positions of both belligerents in this conflict.

Related Research Articles

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. Lying roughly halfway between American Army Airforce bases in the Mariana Islands and the Japanese islands, the military base on Iwo Jima gave the Japanese an ability to send early air raid warnings to the Japanese mainland and launch fighters from its airfields to intercept raids. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field. The strategic objectives were twofold: the first was to provide an emergency landing strip for battle-damaged B-29s unable to make it back to US air bases in the Marianas Tinian, Saipan, Guam. The second was to provide air fields for fighter escorts, long-range P-51s, to provide fighter coverage to the bombers. The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.

Iwo Jima, known in Japan as Iō Tō, is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at 169 m (554 ft) high.

Joseph John Rosenthal was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. His picture became one of the best-known photographs of the war, and was replicated as the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an iconic photograph of six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the final stages of the Pacific War. The photograph, taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, was first published in Sunday newspapers two days later and reprinted in thousands of publications. It was the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and was later used for the construction of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, which was dedicated to honor all Marines who died in service since 1775. The memorial, sculpted by Felix de Weldon, is located in Arlington Ridge Park, near the Ord-Weitzel Gate to Arlington National Cemetery and the Netherlands Carillon. The photograph has come to be regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of World War II.

Harlon Henry Block was a United States Marine Corps corporal who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

René Arthur Gagnon was a United States Marine Corps corporal who participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Michael Strank was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal. Of the six Marines depicted in the photo, Strank was the only one to be correctly identified from the beginning; the other five were either assigned the wrong locations, or, were given the names of Marines who were not actually in that particular photo.

John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy Hospital corpsman who was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving with the Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. During the battle, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

Franklin Runyon Sousley was a United States Marine who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was one of the six Marines who raised the second of two U.S. flags on top of Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

Henry Oliver "Hank" Hansen was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was killed six days later.

The 28th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. The regiment which is part of the 5th Marine Division, fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Six Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines were featured in the historical photo by Joe Rosenthal of the U.S. flag raising on top of Mount Suribachi.

The 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion which is part of the 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Six Marines of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines were featured in the historical photo by Joe Rosenthal of the U.S. flag raising on top of Mount Suribachi.

Ernest Ivy "Boots" Thomas Jr. was a United States Marine Corps platoon sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while fighting for and at the base of Mount Suribachi. Two days later he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was killed eight days after that.

Harold George Schrier was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who served in World War II and the Korean War. In World War II, he was awarded the Navy Cross for leading the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. In the Korean War, he was wounded in North Korea during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir while commanding a rifle company.

Charles W. "Chuck" Lindberg was a United States Marine Corps corporal who fought in three island campaigns during World War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on the island on February 23, 1945. Six days later, he was wounded in action.

Raymond E. Jacobs was an American and United States Marine Corps sergeant who served in combat during World War II. Jacobs was a member of the combat patrol that climbed up to the top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima and raised the first U.S. Flag on February 23, 1945. Afterwards, he was a news reporter and had served during the Korean War as an instructor at Camp Pendleton, California.

William Homer Genaust was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was missing in action during the battle of Iwo Jima while serving as a war photographer in World War II. He is best known for filming the second U.S. flag-raising on top of Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. Genaust operated a then-modern and lightweight 16 millimeter motion picture camera which used 50-foot color film cassettes. His motion picture of the flag-raising became one of the best-known film clips of the war, and documents the event famously depicted in the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. Genaust was reportedly killed in action nine days later, and his remains have not been recovered.

James R. Michels was a United States Marine corporal who served in World War II. He was part of the combat patrol that climbed up Mount Suribachi and raised the first American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945.

Harold Henry Schultz was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He is one of the six Marines who raised the larger replacement flag on the mountaintop the same day as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

Harold Paul Keller was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Bougainville campaign in World War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He is one of the six Marines who raised the larger replacement flag on the mountaintop the same day as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

References

1 2 3 "Ioto". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution.
↑ Fisherl, Richard Virgil; Grant Heiken; Jeffrey B. Hulen (1997). Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6910-0249-5.

External links

Ioto – Japan Meteorological Agency (in Japanese)
"Ioto: National catalogue of the active volcanoes in Japan" (PDF). Japan Meteorological Agency
Io to – Geological Survey of Japan
"Ioto". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution.

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[GVP-1] 1 2 3 "Ioto". Global Volcanism Program . Smithsonian Institution.

[volcanoes-2] Fisherl, Richard Virgil; Grant Heiken; Jeffrey B. Hulen (1997). Volcanoes: Crucibles of Change. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6910-0249-5.

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