An infantry battalion known as the “China Marines,” has been reborn as a littoral combat team as part of the Marine Corps’ force structure changes that focus on China and the Pacific.
At a March 3 ceremony held in Okinawa, Japan, the 12th Littoral Combat Team was formally established, carrying on the legacy of its predecessor, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, according to a Marine Corps news release.
In fiscal year 2026, which starts in October, the unit is expected to receive the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, a missile system designed to sink enemy ships from shore, according to Marine Corps Systems Command.
The 12th Littoral Combat Team, or 12th LCT, is the third battalion-sized unit stood up as part of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, which falls under the 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. The new unit consists of a reinforced infantry battalion and anti-ship missile battery.
“This formation didn’t just stand up, it surged forward. Today, we became stronger, faster, and more lethal,” Col. Peter Eltringham, commanding officer of 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, said in a news release. “We bring this combat power to Okinawa to be able to deliver it in the eyes of our adversaries and ensure we can bring it to the decisive point on the battlefield. We do this alongside our Japanese ground, air, and maritime Self-Defense Force partners, because there is nothing more powerful than this alliance in this theater.”
The concept of a ‘littoral’ unit — a term taken from oceanography for coastal and near-shore areas — is now at the heart of Marine Corps planning in the Pacific to counter the growing Chinese military. Marine Littoral Regiments are meant to operate in “a contested littoral environment” – such as Pacific islands near China and Taiwan – by going ashore to conduct reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and operations to deny an adversary control of waterways.
China has the largest navy in the world with more than 370 ships and submarines, according to the Defense Department’s latest report on Chinese military power. If the United States and China went to war, Marines from littoral regiments could deploy to remote Pacific islands and attack Chinese ships with their anti-ship batteries, Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Studies think tank in Washington, D.C., told Task & Purpose for a 2022 story.
“The Marine Corps’ force modernization efforts designed the LCT for speed, mobility, lethality, and precision,” Lt. Col. Jacob Godby, commanding officer of 12th LCT, said in the news release.
The 12th LCT was forged from 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, which was originally established in 1911 and was later stationed in Shanghai, earning the battalion its title of “China Marines.”
In 1941, the battalion deployed to the Philippines along with the rest of 4th Marine Regiment, and it fought against the Japanese invasion until all U.S. and Filipino forces surrendered on May 6, 1942. After the surrender, the Marines were ordered to burn all national and regimental colors.
Following the surrender, the battalion temporarily ceased to exist until February 1944, when the 1st Marine Raider Battalion was redesignated as 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. The reborn battalion, which adopted the motto “Hold the High Torch to honor 4th Regiment Marines captured in the Philippines, went on to fight at Guam and Okinawa.
The battalion later fought in Vietnam from 1965 to 1969; took part in the May 1975 operation to rescue the container ship SS Mayaguez from the Khmer Rouge; deployed as part of the first Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991, and then became then served as a reserve force for combat operations in Afghanistan in March 2002. 1st Battalion, 4th Marines also deployed to Iraq four times between 2003 and 2009.
On Jan. 10, the battalion held a redesignation ceremony so it could become part of 12th LCT.