The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault was one of five simultaneous assaults on American naval and air bases in the Pacific on the morning of 8 December 1941, with the Battle of Wake Island ending on 23 December, with the surrender of American forces to the Empire of Japan. It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island and its minor islets of Peale and Wilkes Islands by the air, land, and naval forces of the Japanese Empire against those of the United States, with marines playing a prominent role on both sides.