Okinawa: The Beginning Of The End For Imperial Japan | Battlefield | War Stories

[Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in December 1941 Japan went to war with the United States by launching a surprise attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian islands in the following months the Japanese ruthlessly overran American and Allied possessions in the Far East and Pacific Ocean yet by the spring of 1945 the tide of War had turned a seemingly Unstoppable American Military Whirlwind was thundering across the Pacific Ocean towards the shores of the Japanese home Islands threatening total defeat there was a lot to lose Japan had never been defeated in over a thousand years and believed itself mandated by heaven to be a great power failure was incomprehensible despite the desperation of their position Japan's leaders resolved to stop the American Colossus at the gates on the rugged Island Backwater of Okinawa many believed that the superior will of Japanese soldiers Sailors and Airmen would Triumph over American materialism and save Japan as the last major fight against the Americans Okinawa was as costly and as Savage as the Japanese had intended yet the outcome of the battle and its consequences for Japan were to be far more catastrophic than her leaders could ever have imagined on the 20th of November 1943 US Marine and army forces under the Strategic direction of Admiral Chester Nimitz invaded the outermost point of the Japanese defensive perimeter in the Pacific the in invasion of the Gilbert Islands was the first of the big American amphibious assaults in the Pacific the bloody fighting on teraa demonstrated the ability of new American Naval Air and ground forces to attack and overwhelm almost at will any part of the Japanese defense [Music] line the invasion of the Gilberts was the opening blow in what became a Relentless drive by US forces across the central paciic Pacific in January and February 1944 the Marshall Islands were secured in June American forces leapt forwards nearly a th000 miles to secure sipan tinan and Guam in the Marianas in the South Pacific forces under general Douglas MacArthur completed the liberation of New Guinea in October 1944 Nimitz and MacArthur's forces combined to begin the invasion of the Philippines with Landings at late [Music] Gulf once the initial objectives of this campaign were secured Nimitz turned his attention to the final approaches to [Music] Japan Formosa now known as Taiwan had been the intended objective of the next phase of the American Advance not Okinawa a number of considerations led the Americans to cancel the Formosa invasion in preference for an attack against Okinawa and the rukuu islands Army and Navy planners began to realize that with no immediate Prospect of troop reinforcements from the European War existing Pacific Theater forces were inadequate for invading such a large and well-defended Island as Formosa on occupying the Marianas in July 1944 us planners realized these islands lacked adequate Harbor and base facilities to support the immense Naval and amphibious forces needed for the foros operation although it took time for commanders in the Pacific to convince Washington that the Formosa operation should be canceled in favor of Okinawa by early October Nimitz had received orders to plan an invasion codenamed Iceberg the invasion was scheduled for the 1st of March 1945 prior to launching operation Iceberg the tiny island of eward gima was to be secured to protect the right flank and lines of communications of those forces involved the Marines landed on iima on the 19th of February but the fanatical Last Stand of the 26,000 man Garrison on this 8 square mile island proved harder to overcome than anticipated in the end the 6 weeks of bloody fighting it took to secure the island as well as delays in available shipping prompted the invasion of Okinawa to be rescheduled for the 1st of April 1945 ominously American casualties on E Aima had totaled over 6,000 dead and 20,000 wounded only a th000 Japanese too wounded to commit suicide had been captured it seemed that despite their desperate situation the Japanese will to resist was unbroken although the loss of iima represented a major breach of the Japanese High command's final inner defense zone for the home Islands it was only one part of a total collapse of Japan's strategic position across the Far East in the opening months of 1945 Japanese forces had been routed and driven from Burma by revitalized British Imperial [Music] forces in the Philippines only small and Scattered Japanese resistance remained in January 1945 US Navy carrier aircraft began regular large-scale strikes against Targets in the Japanese home Islands themselves in March P-51 Mustang fighter bombers from iima joined this aerial assault that same month long range b29 Superfortress bombers based in the Marianas began devastating Japanese cities with incendiary attacks at Sea American submarines and aircraft inflicted Savage losses upon Japan's Merchant Navy the imminent collapse of imports of raw materials threatened Japan's ability to continue the war by denying her the weapons to fight even more ominous were the resulting shortages in food stuffs Japan's leaders were acutely aware that by 1946 domestic food stocks would be exhausted faced with starvation there was a very real possibility that the traditional social and political order of Japan would be turned upside down in the face of this National collapse Imperial General headquarters in Tokyo believed that only a decisive Victory on Japanese soil could save the nation what they needed was time to organize their remaining resources for the final decisive battle the forces on Okinawa would be sacrificed to win time to organize the defense of the home Islands Okinawa would decide more than just the fate of a single Island it would decide the fate of Japan her culture and her people discover the past with exclusive military history documentaries and add free presented by world-renowned historians all on History hit watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device download the app now to watch everything from the gripping story of the Band of Brothers to operation Barbarosa and D-Day immerse yourself in the dramatic stories of this remarkable era by signing up via the link in the description in the struggle for Okinawa the Americans relied upon a number of experienced Naval and army officers many of these senior commanders had served in the hard campaigns of the early years of the war when the Japanese had been in the ascendant the overall planning and conduct of the okanawa campaign was under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and forces of the Pacific Ocean areas after the devastation of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 nimit took control of a demoralized Pacific Fleet this modest outwardly relaxed man from the Texan Hill Country soon set about establishing his reputation as a Humane inspirational and aggressive leader arriving at Pearl Harbor Nimitz rejected demands for a Witch Hunt of the fleet's personnel instead he chose to heal the fleet's wounds and restore morale by immediately taking the war to the Japanese in early 1942 us carrier forces attacked Targets in the Central Pacific and most impressively [Music] Tokyo at the Coral Sea and Midway the US Navy halted Japanese expansion in the Pacific in just 6 months the quiet Admiral had put a shattered Navy on the road to [Music] Victory a Submariner by trade who never qualified to fly or command carriers Nimitz developed a sound understanding of the critical role of aviation in Modern Warfare he fully supported the creation of the fast carrier groups that became the main Attack Force of the Pacific Fleet by 1944 nimitz's revitalized Fleet boldly drove across the Pacific inflicting crushing defeats on the Japanese combined Fleet at the battles of the Philippine Sea and L Gulf Nimitz never commanded at Sea during the war preferring to devolve command to trusted subordinates a sound judge of character he had a talent for selecting the right man for a job when questions were raised about a commander performance in action he chose to make his own inquiries rather than trust the opinions of [Music] others although he commanded far from the battlefronts Chester Nimitz was not a cold-hearted Commander acutely aware of the human dimension of War he regularly visited Frontline positions to talk to soldiers Sailors and Airmen one of the most capable and trusted of nimitz's subordinates was 59-year-old vice admiral Raymond spru for the okanawa campaign spruance was placed in overall command of the fifth Fleet and the Central Pacific task forces an odd man outwardly cold and something of a hypochondriac spru had a reputation for cool and detailed thinking originally a surface ship commander on the outbreak of War he found himself thrown into the new concept of carrier Warfare he swiftly demonstrated his abilities achieving great success in June 1942 he commanded the American Carrier force that defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Midway he then served as nimitz's chief of operations before returning to se command In late 1943 he oversaw the invasions of the Gilbert Marshall and Mariana Island chains but his failure to annihilate the Japanese Fleet at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 attracted bitter criticism faced with a complex situation spru fought with masterly logic destroying the entire Japanese Fleet air support in one day though spru shunned emotion and bombast by 1945 in private he Fred and worried in letters to his wife he confessed to sleeping badly the strain of almost 18 months of conducting or planning operation punctuated by infrequent periods of Home leave was taking its toll on the auster master of detail the driving force propelling spru his Fleet for The okanawa Invasion with the fast carriers of task force 58 commanded by vice admiral Mark mitcher these two commanders from different parts of the Navy developed a close and harmonious relationship over the course of the war it had not always been so unimpressed by Mitch's poor handling of the carrier Hornet at Midway spru strongly opposed nimitz's decision to promote his colleague to commander of the new Fast carrier Force In late 1943 as the war progressed however mitcher proved his critics wrong winning even spu's admiration Mitch's aggressive courageous and carefully calculated tactics smashed the Japanese in the Central Pacific and at the Battle of the Philippine Sea by 1945 the man nicknamed bald eagle for his beaky wizened face and intense watery blue eyes was the preeminent carrier commander of the Pacific War mitcher was a demanding Battle Commander he instilled his carrier groups with an alert and Keen Edge by insisting that they always operate as if battle were imminent despite his slavish attention to detail mitcher gave his carrier commanders extensive scope to use their initiative setting the highest standards for himself he expected the same in others the bald eagle was a commander who needed to feel the pulse of action At Close Quarters in the end the strain he placed on his slight body during the war killed him in 1947 he was just 60 years old if mitcher was spu's right-hand man then equally Inseparable from the US Navy's success was the less attractive figure of vice admiral Richmond Kelly Turner commander of the joint expeditionary task force Turner was responsible for planning and conducting the initial amphibious assault landing on Okinawa having overseen most of the previous Landings in the Central Pacific Turner was a Natural Choice commanding the US 10th army during the okanawa invasion was Lieutenant General Simon bolivard Buckner his subsequent conduct of the campaign generated strong criticism from contemporary marine and naval officers born in Kentucky in 1886 he passed out middle of his West Point class in 1908 his pre War experience involved training as a pilot and two appointments at West Point the last as commandant of cadets in 1940 he was promoted to Brigadier and sent to Alaska where he was responsible for directing operations in the harsh conditions of the eluan islands campaign in May 1943 he was sent to Hawaii to organize the 10th Army Keen to be seen by his men Buckner regularly went forwards to observe the fight in during one of these visits on the 18th of June he was killed in 1954 he was postumus promoted to full General the Japanese commanders who struggled to save Okinawa and Japan in 1945 were motivated by seemingly contradictory factors they were professional officers utterly devoted to the service of Emperor Hirohito imbued with the ancient samurai code of Bushido many preferred death at their own hands to the disgrace of capture they fought fanatically to save Japan yet all but the most deluded harbored no doubts about the eventual outcome of the battle for Okinawa and the war as a whole in a sense they fought because they understood nothing else 58-year-old Lieutenant General mitsura USI Jima was given command of the 32nd Army on Okinawa in August 1944 in the early stages of the war he had commanded troops in Burma he then spent several years as head of the Japanese military academy before receiving his appointment on Okinawa on taking up his post on ninawa USI Jima immediately set about preparing the Island's defense and improving his troops morale his calm manner integrity and quiet confidence earned him the admiration of his subordinates second in command of the 32nd Army was Major General isamu Cho a hard-headed and aggressive officer in the 1930s Cho had been associated with extremist officers who advocated setting up a military dictatorship in the name of the emperor although arrested he was soon released and his career prospered as an officer in the quantong Army and Korea Cho had been intimately involved in provoking war with China in the 1930s he reportedly took a leading role in organizing the mass killing of over a quarter of a million Chinese civilians at Nang King in 1938 during the war he held a number of Staff appointments in China Burma and Malaya he came to Okinawa from the military Affairs Bureau of the war department one of the brightest staff officers produced by the Imperial Japanese Army was 42-year-old Colonel hiromichi Yahara in the 1930s he spent two years as an exchange officer in America giving him a unique insight into the nature and strength of his future enemy his modest but fiercely intellectual nature often brought him into conflict with more SC officers who wanted obedience not questions from their subordinates Admiral suu Toyota led the Imperial Japanese Navy to a series of overwhelming defeats at the Philippine Sea and of the late Gulf by 1945 he seemed to lose confidence in his decision- making in a divided Navy opinions on Toyota's abilities varied greatly some considered him a brilliant man broken by insurmountable problems his detractors thought him lacking in intelligence and ability at Okawa however he fatefully ordered the battleship Yamato to attack us shipping off the island in the knowledge that she was doomed even more reprehensible was the fact that in order to carry out the attack one month's oil supply had to be requisitioned from the Merchant Navy at a time when Japan's people were desperate for imported food such callous decisions were was spurred not by military realism but Toyota's belief that it would dishonor the Imperial Navy if a ship bearing Japan's ancient spiritual name was surrendered to the enemy Toyota's decision typifies the conceit of a Navy that placed its own warped idea of Honor above the needs of the people it was supposed to serve [Music] the plan for operation Iceberg was drawn up between September 1944 and February 1945 it was the most audacious and complex amphibious operation to be undertaken by US forces in the Pacific War the basic aim was to seize Okinawa in order to develop bases there to support the future invasion of Japan icebergs objectives were only achievable by accumulating vast numbers of men and resources it required the complex cooperation of Naval and amphibious forces from nimitz's command as well as close coordination with army and Air Force units in neighboring theaters Iceberg was to be the ultimate test of lessons learned by American forces during their Advance across the Pacific the invasion was directly controlled by vice admiral spu's Central Pacific task force spu's plan of attack was initially conceived in four phases phase one was to be conducted by vice admiral Mitch's fast carriers of task force 58 and b29 super Fortress heavy bombers of General L's 21st bomber command attacks by these forces were intended to isolate Okinawa by neutralizing Japanese air power in the ryuku Japanese home islands and Formosa once this was completed Mitch's fast carriers were to take Station East of Okinawa and provide support to the other phases of Iceberg mitcher was also responsible for eliminating any enemy surface threat joining American Naval forces for the first time would be the British Pacific Fleet commanded by vice admiral sard Rawlings the British carriers of task force 57 were assigned to protect the Left Flank of the invasion by mounting strikes against Japanese air Assets in the sakushima islands and [Music] Formosa in phase two vice admiral Turner's joint expeditionary force was to support Landings by the 24th Army and third amphibious Corp of Lieutenant General Simon Buckner's 10th Army these forces were initially assigned to secure the kesma and Kama group Islands west of Okinawa the main Landings would then take place on the haushi beaches along the center of okinawa's West Coast the second phase would end with the securing of the southern part of the island in phase three the remainder of the island would be occupied along with the eshma in and off the northwest coast Iceberg was larger than any other operation of the Pacific War 183,000 troops and 747 th000 tons of supplies were loaded into over 430 assault vessels and Landing ships at 11 different ports from Seattle on the west coast of the United States to late in the Philippines a further 115,000 service troops would land once Okinawa was secured to begin developing port and base facilities and airfields including Naval forces by the end of the campaign 548 th000 Personnel participated in the campaign they were supported by 318 combat vessels and 1,139 auxiliary ships during the campaign 60 carriers were available to provide air cover of these 26 were Fleet and light the remainder escort carriers 18 battleships and over 200 destroyers were used during operations between March and June 1945 spu's fifth Fleet consumed more fuel than Japan imported in 1944 from September 1943 the ruuk cuuu islands assumed increasing importance in Japanese plans although little was immediately done to develop their defenses when the loss of the Marianas in June 1944 made a Thrust against the rukuu a real possibility reinforcements for lieutenant general mitsura USI jima's 32nd Army began pouring in to defend these islands despite these initial measures by January 1945 the Army and Navy were split over whether the decisive battle should be waged on Okinawa or the Japanese home Island the Navy hoped to secure a victory off Japan and resolved to commit the bulk of its air power at Okinawa in contrast the Army was convinced that Japan was the best place to defeat the Americans accordingly troops were steadily withdrawn from Okinawa and promised reinforcements never materialized this interservice quarrel gradually made it clear to usima that his forces were going to be sacrificed he abandoned his existing plans to defeat an American Invasion at the shoreline the new plan was based upon sound arguments from Colonel hiromichi [Music] Yahara aware of the overwhelming Firepower available to the Americans Yahara decided to concentrate 302 Army's main strength in the South around the ancient capital of shui the 62nd Infantry Division would defend three lines in this area while the 24th Infantry Division covered potential Landing sites around minoga on the Southeast coast each division would be used to reinforce the other depending on the direction of the main us attack only elements of the 44th independent mix Brigade and a few service troops were deployed in the center and north of Okinawa these were ordered to harass And Delay the Americans as best they [Music] could Yahara intended to fight a long and bloody Battle of attrition Okinawa was riddled by Steep escarpments and Ravines eastwest Limestone plateau and ridges formed natural and mutually supporting lines of Defense natural caves and burial tombs were easily converted into strong underground positions largely invulnerable to enemy air and artillery fire to man these defenses 32nd Army had 65,000 regular troops and 8,800 Naval Personnel 20,000 residents had formed a militia at Okinawa America would be battered by the greatest concentration of artillery encountered by US forces in the Pacific War by doggedly holding their fortified positions The Defenders of Okinawa would have to be blasted out position by position at a heavy cost in American [Music] lives [Music] as the forces on Okinawa prepared to sacrifice themselves Imperial General headquarters prepared to implement its tenan Ichigo plan this involved the concentration of Army and Navy aircraft on Formosa kushu and around Tokyo with the Navy providing the bulk of these forces army air units were placed under Direct Control contr of the commander of the combined Fleet Admiral Toyota The Dilemma confronting Toyota was how to use these forces in the face of American quantitative and qualitative superiority although the battle for Okinawa was ultimately decided on land the most original tactical and technological developments were in the air and at Sea by 1945 the quality of Japanese Pilots had slumped the Imperial Navy was all but irrelevant as a fighting force as a result the Japanese High command decided on the widespread adoption of new forms of the kamikazi tactic suicide attacks were not new throughout the war Japanese Pilots had demonstrated their willingness to crash into Allied vessels however during the fighting off the Philippines in 1944 what had once been a random act of self-sacrifice was converted into a formal and lethal method of attack by the Imperial Navy the reason for this was simple the only way that the Japanese could replace their huge air crew losses was to cut back training programs by late 1944 Japanese Pilots had an average of only 2 or 3 months training rival US Navy Pilots had 2 years training and often the chance to acquire combat experience in minor actions the resulting quality gap meant that Japanese air formations were regularly annihilated in combat to overcome the lack of training and Allied air defenses during the battle for leate in 1944 vice admiral onishi instructed his Pilots to deliberately Ram their planes into Allied warships as Japan's situation deteriorated by 1945 greater Reliance was placed upon the use of what were now termed special attack core or too to compensate for Japanese inferiority special attack units comprised three kamik AES supported by an observer aircraft and a fighter this tactical formation was intended to maximize success by delivering a coordinated attack the kamikazi were armed with conventional bombs or Torpedoes to increase their destructive power to avoid errors in the attack the bombs were already fused as the weight of the payloads often made the aircraft less maneuverable and consequently more vulnerable to Allied fighter planes sophisticated tactics were replaced by a fast Sprint towards the target during the approach to the Target special attack groups learned to confuse American radar operators by following returning US Air groups closely enough to mingle with their radar Echoes they sent out false signals to mimic the transmitters on US aircraft that identified them as friends to shipborne radar to further baffle enemy radar the kamikazi approached erratically constantly changing altitude in the hope of breaking [Music] contact in the final assault a number of planes would Mass against a single ship attacking from several directions in order to overwhelm its anti-aircraft defenses uniquely in the Okinawa campaign Imperial General headquarters decided to launch a series of special special attack missions called kikuu these consisted of up to several hundred aircraft supported by conventional attack aircraft after seeing off any Allied Fighters the massed planes of the kikusui would swoop on exposed Allied vessels overwhelming them by sheer weight of numbers and will to achieve maximum effect in these attacks the Japanese developed a series of specialized weapons and deployed their most advanced warship the Imperial Navy began to design a special specialized aircraft to carry out kamikazi attacks instead of relying on less devastating and more vulnerable conventional [Music] aircraft the most radical design was that of enen mitsuo O for a rocket propelled attack plane the result was the Yokosuka mxy7 Oka meaning cherry blossom built partly of wood the Oka was carried underneath a g4m Betty medium bomber and released about 50 m from the target the pilot then held a fast Glide at about 290 mph when the target was in sight a rocket was ignited while the aircraft was pushed over into a steep dive for the last 30 seconds its 800 kg Warhead would smash into the victim at over 400 mph causing massive damage the critical weakness of the Oka was the slow and cumbersome parent aircraft needed to deliver it on numerous occasions in the battle for Okinawa us Fighters intercepted the okas during their approach shredding them out of the Skies us Pilots mockingly dubbed the plane Baka meaning [Music] [Music] fool by 1945 Allied action had reduced the Japanese submarine Fleet to a shadow of its former self to stem the tide of American Naval power the Navy diverted research and materials into more economical submersible [Music] weapons the kiteen or Divine fate was developed by liutenant hirisi kuroki and Sako nishina it was based upon the highly effective long Lance type 93 oxy oygen propelled shipborne torpedo the pilot occupied a tiny cockpit equipped with a small Periscope on top of the torpedo powered by a hydrogen peroxide engine the kiten had an attack speed of 40 knots delivering a 1 and 1/2 ton Warhead the short range of the weapon meant it had to be delivered strapped to the deck of a conventional seagoing submarine this made launching the kiten a clumsy and risky affair having reached the target area the parent submarine had to surface to enable the kiten pilots to board their boats at a word from the pilots the parent boat submerged casting off the shackles holding the 4 kiten throughout this procedure the parent submarine was exposed to detection and attack from radar equipped enemy air and surface units the Shinu known as ocean Shaker was a suicide attack motorboat made of of plywood the boats were about 18 ft long and powered by a six-cylinder Chevrolet car engine that gave them a top speed of about 20 knots in one version two depth charges each weighing 264 lb were carried on a rack behind the pilot the tactic was for three boats to attack simultaneously each seeking a vital spot alongside the enemy vessel before releasing their charges a Stern a 5-second delay on the fuse was intended to give the vessel time to withdraw in reality however the fragile boats stood little chance of surviving the blast waves consequently Pilots were promoted to grades and received preferential treatment on completion of the attack they received promotion to second left tenant most of these promotions were postumus another variant of of the Shinu was fitted with bow charges this was a dedicated suicide weapon designed to be rammed at high speed into the side of an enemy vessel there was a facility for locking the wheel during the Final Approach in case the Pilot's courage failed at the last moment over 350 Shino Boats were hidden around Okinawa during the interwar years the Japanese Navy tried to match the us nav's growing strength battleships Yamato and Musashi their General design was approved in July 1936 and at 69,000 tons they were nearly twice the size of any other Battleship afloat despite their bulk they were capable of an impressive 27 knots and at the start of the war their turning abilities were Superior to any other capital ship at the heart of their design were nine 18.1 in guns the most powerful guns ever placed aboard a battleship the guns were housed in three turrets each heavier than a destroyer each shell weighed 1 and 1/2 tons and the designated rate of fire was over 1 and 1/2 rounds per minute the Yamato class were also designed to absorb merciless punishment their armor was capable of withstanding hits from the most powerful Torpedoes and from shells fired 20,000 M away built under the strictest secrecy the Yamato and moushi entered service in 1941 and 42 respectively security surrounding the two ships was so effective that until the end of the war Allied Intelligence on their capabilities was minimal General generally held in reserve Yamato and moushi saw relatively little action until the late stages of the war even then they never engaged in the ship-to ship gun duel they'd been designed to fight as the carrier superseded the battleship as the standard of Naval power Central to the American fleet's combat power were aircraft carriers the heavy and light carriers made up the main battle forces of vice admiral Mitch's task force 58 often called the fast Carrier Group because of the high speed of its capital ships the main stay of the fast Carrier Group were the heavy or Fleet carriers of the s class big and fast these ships displaced over 27,000 tons and were capable of a maximum speed just in excess of 32 knots the size and Armament of the S6 carriers Ena them to withstand and inflict heavy punishment by late 1944 kamikazi attacks prompted the US Navy to look at the defenses of its carriers there was only one way to stop a kamikazi total disintegration and there were only 20 seconds to do so once it came within range of the ship's guns the Americans strengthened the essex's anti-aircraft defenses by adding more guns to create a literal wall of fire around the ship extra 40 mm guns were fitted they also counted 12 12 lethal 5-in guns and over 60 smaller 20 mm weapons amongst their armament great use was made of VT or proximity fuses installed in anti-aircraft shells before VT fuses were introduced anti-aircraft fire required the shell to be delivered near the Target and its detonation by a timer fuse set to the right distance the VT fuse made destroying enemy aircraft Easier by deciding the distance from the T Target via electrical waves reflected off the surface of the target the combination of radar inexperienced Japanese air crew and their aircraft's lack of armor transformed the VT fuse into a lethal weapon against Japanese air attacks Okinawa was the first time that British carrier forces had operated in the Western Pacific the four Fleet carriers of the British task force had several features that made them less vulnerable to serious damage from aerial attack than their American cousins designed to operate in the narrow Seas of Europe in range of land-based aircraft British carriers were shaped by passive defense steel decks and armored hangers gave their carriers greater strength especially when under kamikazi attack in contrast the wooden decks of the American carriers were easily penetrated by kamikazi that exploded amongst the aircraft and combustible materials on the hanger deck below despite greater resilience to direct hits British carriers inflicted far less damage than their American counterparts armored hangers reduced the number of aircraft that could be carried this made it difficult to deploy strong fighter cover over the British Fleet in offensive operations lack of numbers meant that enemy ground defenses could not be saturated consequently during the Okinawa campaign the British suffered proportionately higher rates of loss than American Air groups Central to improving the carrier's defenses and protecting Invasion shipping against kamikazi attacks was the quality of the fighter aircraft the most impressive carrier born aircraft available during the Okinawa campaign was the Vault f6f [Music] Corsair generally recognized as the finest fighter of the second world war development of the Corsair began as early as 1938 the first production model didn't make its initial flight until the 25th of June [Music] 1942 in order order to enable the combat Air Patrol or cap to intercept kamikazi a greater speed and rate of climb than the Hellcat was needed with a top speed of 440 M an hour the Co Air was around 60 MPH faster than its rival it also out climbed the Hellcat by 800 ft per second these Superior characteristics were enhanced by a standard Armament of 6/ in machine guns and the for A's ability to double as a ground attack aircraft carrying two 1,000lb bombs or8 5-in rockets by mid 1943 with increasing production of Fleet and light carriers the number of available task groups Rose dramatically to coordinate these groups in late 1943 Admiral nimit formed the fast carrier Force the fast carrier Force had a complement of just under a th000 aircraft and comprised four task groups operating in close proximity for better coordination allowing for ships away in dock each group consisted of two Fleet and two light carriers with a battleship or Heavy Cruiser and several destroyers in support it strength was the high speed of its heavy ships the battleships could keep station at 27 knots while the carriers could maintain 30 knots for several hours supporting the fast carrier force was an impressive logistic train a fleet Oiler and transport carrier group of 24 Oilers provided Fuel and replacement aircraft additional support came from the fleet train that for the okanawa campaign consisted of 206 support ships these included repair ships floating dry docks Hospital ships Salvage vessels ammunition vling and store ships two impressive features of operations in 1945 were first the ability to ream ammunition heavy ships at Sea second the rotation of air Crews between sea operations and rest ashore during the okanawa campaign these factors enabled the fast carrier Force to maintain a high level of combat Effectiveness over 92 days of action without it ever having to return to Port no Fleet in history has ever sustained combat operations for so long at such intensity so far from its home Shore the ability of the fast carriers to provide timely and effective protection relied upon advanced warning of enemy aircraft this task was given to the Destroyer radar pickets and fighter Direction ships 15 radar pickets were deployed to cover all points of the compass 50 to 70 mi from the main Fleet Anchorage of Western Okinawa picket ships were concentrated in the north and Northwest areas considered the most likely approaches for Japanese attacks six headquarter ships and 19 fighter Direction ships were responsible for processing reports from the radar pickets and sending appropriate numbers of fighter aircraft to meet the threats the whole line of picket ships controlled 8 to six fighter aircraft that could be rapidly reinforced by more aircraft on The Fast and escort carrier groups once The Landings were successfully underway it was planned to install two radar stations ashore to relieve the exposed picket land-based fighter aircraft would also be available to support the combat Air [Music] Patrol there was some difference of opinion amongst senior naval officers about the role of radar pickets vice admiral Turner stressed that their primary Duty was to report Air Raids leaving destruction of enemy aircraft to the cap and anti-aircraft fire Turner's replacement in mid-may vice admiral Hill considered reporting secondary to the destruction of enemy aircraft and breaking up their formations despite this confusion the radar pickets played a vital role in protecting The Invasion Fleet mokina unfortunately their Expos Ed positions and lack of defensive Firepower against multiple attacks meant that they suffered heavy losses five were sunk and 16 were [Music] damaged

Channel: War Stories

Views: 263,628

Keywords: Amphibious Invasion, Battlefront Stories, Combat History, Historical Accounts, Historical Documentary, Imperial Japan, Japanese Army, Military Chronicles, Military Conflict, Military Heritage, Military Strategy, Pacific Campaign, Pacific Campaigns, Pacific Frontline, Pacific Invasion, WWII Testimonies, War Chronicle, War Chronicles, War Commemoration, War Histories Retold

Id: ivVQWJtkI3c

Length: 53min 22sec (3202 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2024