What is the correct option to complete the paragraph below?

The Battle of Tarawa was a disaster from the start.----------- November 1943,----------- their first big foray in the central Pacific Ocean, US forces invaded this atoll ------------ the Gilbert Islands, hoping to dislodge Japanese troops and push closer to Tokyo. But as soon as the assault began, it literally ran aground. Most of the landing boats smashed ------------- a shallow coral reef, forcing marines to flounder their way to shore ------------ Japanese gunfire. One in five US troops died in the batile - 300 ----------- the reef alone.

(Adapted from https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02287-5)