Island-Hopping Strategy in the Pacific

During World War II, the United States’ military strategy in the Pacific Theater involved a series of island-hopping campaigns aimed at capturing key strategic locations while bypassing heavily fortified islands. This strategy was designed to weaken Japanese defenses and ultimately lead to an assault on the Japanese mainland. The first significant use of this strategy was pivotal in a certain battle, while several later campaigns yielded mixed results. Which of the following battles is seen as the first major application of the island-hopping strategy by U.S. forces?