Japanese oil dump on Saipan fired by U.S. shells.

Japanese oil dump on Saipan fired by U.S. shells. Smoke billows skyward from a Japanese oil dump at Garapan on Saipan Island, set afire by U.S. artillery fire and shells from U.S. destroyers in bay (background). American troops fought their way into Garapan, the capital, over the rolling country in the foreground, and on July 8, 1944, completed the capture of Saipan. The victory puts U.S. forces within striking distance of the Philippines and the Japanese homeland. U.S. Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal called Saipan in the Marianas of the Central Pacific, a prize of the first magnitude.