The United States offensive , under the overall command Control of Chester Nimitz , followed the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and was intended to neutralize Control Japanese bases in the central Pacific , support Supporting the Allied drive to retake the Philippines , and provide Supply bases for a strategic bombing Attack campaign against Japan .

The U.S. Navy , Marine Corps , and Army , under the command Control of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz , had overrun Destroying the most important islands in the nearby Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands , and then built Building numerous air bases there .

The collapse Destroying of a section of the double-deck Nimitz Freeway in Oakland was the site of the largest number of casualties Catastrophe for the event Earnings_and_losses , but the collapse Destroying of man-made structures and other related accidents Catastrophe contributed Causation to casualties Killing occurring Presence in San Francisco , Los Altos , and Santa Cruz .