Battle of Okinawa | Animated History

hi I'm Griffin Johnson the armchair historian today's video the Battle of Okinawa the largest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific Theater aboard the carrier Bunker Hill sailors and joy a much-needed rest after 58 days of continuous operations together with the rest of the fifth fleet it has been supporting American forces fighting on Okinawa suddenly a lookout spots two zeros diving on the carrier plunging through low cloud cover makes for two bomb hits before crashing into T Bunker Hill as flames and explosions in Gulf scorching man and machine alight she shudders and agony her metal bending under the intense heat fought between April 1st and June 22nd 1945 the 82 day Battle of Okinawa took place less than a month after the Marines secured EVO Jima during the fighting the Japanese forces exacted a steep toll on the Americans both on land and at sea although American forces were ultimately victorious the Battle of Okinawa was so costly that it raised questions about the feasibility of invading mainland Japan Before we jump into things I want to thank our sponsor Squarespace if you're looking to promote your business or establish an online presence or negotiate a lasting peace in the Pacific Squarespace has the tools and resources to get you started while Squarespace has no doubt appeared on your radar before there are good reasons for why it's become so popular and if you stay until the end of the video we'll discuss an exclusive deal Squarespace is offering to armchair historian fans who use my link below after the fall of Eva Jima on March 26 1945 the Americans counted down the days until the capture of Okinawa the last crucial stepping stone on the road to Japan located only 350 miles were 563 kilometers south of Kyushu the island offered air bases and a fleet Anchorage codenamed Operation iceberg the invasion of Okinawa would be a joint effort between the Army Navy and Marines Lieutenant General Simon Bulevar Buckner jr. was earmarked to lead the u.s. 10th army which had seven battle-hardened divisions three marine and four army and an additional 180 mm combat troops his counterpart Admiral Raymond Spruance would lead the fifth fleet which included 265 warships 119 amphibious assault vessels and over 200 auxiliary vessels although they greatly outnumbered the defenders and possessed total air superiority the Americans were by no means eager for the fight ahead even weeks after the Battle of Iwo Jima the terrifying scream of puns I still echoed in the nightmares of many GIS now they were about to face an even larger garrison preparing an elaborate network of underground defenses instead of trying to defend the entire 60 mile or 96 kilometers long island Japanese forces were to fortify the southern eighth where the terrain was hilly and irregular lieutenant general Mitsui Ujima stationed tokin forces in the central and northern portions of okinawa concentrating most of his 67,000 soldiers 9,000 naval infantry and 24,000 local conscripts behind a series of lines stretching across Okinawa since the Americans had the advantage in numbers and firepower the Japanese used the terrain to their advantage utilizing the reverse slopes making for quite Li formidable defense by April 1945 they had completed 60 miles or 96 kilometers of tunnels enough to accommodate the entire 32nd army and its weapons ammunition and provisions speaking of food the Japanese command ordered the slaughter of all the livestock on the island and decreed that soldiers and civilians alike subsist on sweet potatoes instead of rice on March 25th 1945 the US Navy began a week-long bombardment to soften up the island and support mine clearing operations the next day American forces landed on core amaretto a small archipelago west of Okinawa rooting out the Japanese there took five days but its capture provided a sheltered anchorage for ships damaged by kamikazes as for the actual invasion designated L day it was set to begin on April 1st contrary to expectations the Americans encountered virtually no opposition on the beaches in fact the Japanese were nowhere to be found by evening on L day they had captured the Yan tan and Kadena airfields and 60,000 men had made it ashore subsequently the Marines moved north while the army moved south fighting its way through several fortified outposts including one rocky spire dubbed the pinnacle meanwhile at sea the Japanese launched Operation tango on April 6th a one way suicide mission to Okinawa involving the battleship yamato and to nine smaller warships however American submarines and aircraft located them the next day and the Fifth Fleet launched a 386 plain air strike that sank the Yamato in five of her escorts an anticlimactic end for the largest battleship in history on April 8th US troops reached the kakuzu ouki line the first of a series of Japanese fortifications stretching across southern Okinawa this was where the real bloodshed began during the initial attacks the Americans often advanced straight into carefully prepared killing zones and were slaughtered on mass by concealed machine and pre-sighted mortars in response they began using artillery to keep the enemy underground before sending small units into the gaps between enemy pillboxes however this tactic was only partially effective and the Americans continued to sustain frightful losses to try to keep the enemy on the backfoot the Japanese launched night attacks on the 12th they failed due to unfamiliar terrain and flash lifeless afterwards both sides spent in week gearing up for the next round during which the Marines mopped up the resistance on the northern end of the island on April 19th the assault on the kakuzu ouki line began with a punishing bombardment by 650 planes 18 warships and 324 artillery pieces had no effect on the Japanese were safe inside their underground positions as a result fierce fighting and soon as the 62nd division used mutually supporting reverse slow positions with interlocking fields of fire to really destruction on the unsuspecting American forces inflicting heavy casualties by the 22nd however the 62nd division had been pushed back half a mile were over half a kilometre and was down to 50% strength thus the Japanese prepared to send reinforcements north despite fears that the enemy would stage an amphibious landing on the southeast coast to their relief general Buckner struck down the proposal in the end the Japanese dispatched the 24th division and 44th independent mixed Brigade no on the 23rd some units shored up the 62nd divisions along the shoreline while the rest reformed a secondary defensive line a mile or 1.6 kilometers to the south like the previous Japanese defenses that Shuri line was replete with reversed sloped fighting positions by now you should know that the reverse slope is one of our buzzwords as a result the American offensive stalled again in late April murderous small-arms fire artillery mortar fire from the high ground in the south of the island savaged u.s. infantry inflicting severe casualties every hill was crawling with Japanese soldiers and neither side hesitated to use excessive force to exterminate even squad level resistance amidst the carnage and confusion US medic Desmond dass distinguished himself by rendering invaluable aid to the wounded and carrying them back to safety he later received the Medal of Honor for his actions which inspired the blockbuster film hacksaw ridge despite the growing casualty list Buckner refused to change tactics perplexing his subordinates deniz alike meanwhile the 32nd Army Staff unanimously decided to launch an offensive on May 4th to give themselves some breathing room while it achieved some local successes the 32nd army lost 7,000 men and many artillery pieces that had moved out of their caves to support the attacks subsequently the 10th army resumed its offensive on the 11th gaining a half mile or two-thirds of a kilometer of ground by the 21st however the spring rains began on the 22nd and lasted an entire week stalling the American offensive in flag mire of mud and carry on throughout April and May the Japanese also mounted a series of mass kamikaze attacks against the US fleet on May 11th two kamikazes hit the Bunker Hill knocking her out of the war and killing or wounding almost 700 men three days later a kamikaze hit the carrier Enterprise forcing her to withdraw as well whereas the larger ships were more resilient to attack the unarmored destroyers were especially vulnerable as part of the big blue blanket an anti kamikaze tactic they were often assigned to the dangerous task of radar picket duty this meant that they invariably bore the brunt of the kamikazes by the end of the battle nearly nineteen hundred kamikazes had expended themselves against the US fleet sinking 26 ships damaging 164 others and killing 4900 sailors back on land the Shuri line was becoming untenable by late May so the Japanese drew up plans for a withdrawal in stages to the qiyan Peninsula on the night of the 24th the 60 second division pulled back from the left flank and then launched an attack on the Americans the next night meanwhile the 24th division and 44th brigade remained in their positions until the 29th and 31st respectively before withdrawing to the key online during the week-long retreat the 32nd army lost 20,000 men and vast quantities of arms and equipment to make matters worse the 30,000 survivors are not even combat troops afterward the 6th Marine Division landed on the Oroku Peninsula where it battled the Japanese for ten days meanwhile the rest of the 10th army waited until June 9th to attack the Kian line the Americans then began to chip away at the Japanese defense forcing them to commit to their few reserves On June 18th general Buckner was killed that by enemy artillery while observing his troops nonetheless his forces finally broke through the key online on the 19th and over the next three days they eliminated the last two pockets of enemy resistance with his command in tatters vengeful American soldiers closing in from all sides Musha Jima performed seppuku on the night of the 21st before we conclude today's video I want to give another thanks to our sponsor Squarespace Squarespace is a robust intuitive all-in-one website and online store builder offering tools and features that are invaluable to anyone amateur or expert interested in setting up their own website or online store with integrated analytics built in social media sharing buttons personalized email campaigns and mailing lists and podcast support Squarespace has enough features to satisfy even the most ambitious of the United States Navy Pacifica to divers go to Squarespace calm to start a free trial today and once you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com slash armchair historian for 10% off of your first purchase of a website or domain ultimately the Battle of Okinawa was an American victory but it came at the cost of seventy two thousand men which included many non battle casualties virtually the entire Japanese garrison perished except for 7400 men who surrendered the Japanese committed many atrocities against the civilian population and brainwashed them into committing mass suicide by jumping off the cliffs above all the veritable ocean of blood spilled on Okinawa gave the Americans a taste of what they could expect when invading Japan and it undoubtedly influenced the decision to use the atomic bomb [Music]

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 1,691,138

Keywords: battle of iwo jima, world war two, second world war, the pacific war, marines, battlefield v, battlefield 5, wake island, pacific storm, battle of okinawa, invasion of okinawa, marine beach landing, invasion of japan, ww2, wwii, bombing of pearl harbor, midway

Id: wl6riOsUJyw

Length: 13min 41sec (821 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 03 2019