In June 1942, Japanese forces occupied the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska, marking the first time American soil was taken by an enemy nation since the War of 1812. The U. S.
and Canadian military responded in August 1943 with Operation Cottage, a joint offensive designed to reclaim Kiska. Expecting fierce resistance similar to the bloody battle on Attu months earlier, the Allies assembled a formidable force of nearly 35,000 troops, 100 warships, and heavy artillery. Under the cover of dense Arctic fog, soldiers stormed the beaches, heavily armed and prepared for grueling close-quarters combat.
What they did not know was that two weeks earlier, a Japanese naval force had undetectedly slipped through the Allied blockade under heavy fog and evacuated all 5,400 defenders in under an hour. Landing on a completely deserted island, the Allies spent the next two days fighting phantom forces in the blinding mist. Fearing hidden enemy snipers, jittery soldiers fired at movement, leading to tragic friendly fire incidents that killed 28 Americans and 4 Canadians.
Strategic booby traps, landmines, cold-weather injuries like frostbite, and trench foot claimed dozens more. To make matters worse, the destroyer USS Abner Read struck a floating Japanese sea mine offshore, killing 71 sailors and wounding 47. In total, the Allies suffered 313 casualties during a mission against zero enemy troops, rendering Operation Cottage one of the most tragic logistics and reconnaissance failures in military history.