Campaign for Okinawa





By late October 1944, Okinawa, in the Ryukyu Island chain, had been targeted for invasion by Allied forces. Located strategically between Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan, and Formosa, modern Taiwan, Okinawa was viewed as the base from which assault troops could stage and train for the attack on the Japanese mainland. The island had several Japanese air bases and the only two substantial harbors between Formosa and Kyushu.

This invasion--code named Operation Iceberg,---would see the assembling of the greatest naval armada ever. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance's 5th fleet was to include more than 40 aircraft carriers, 18 battleships, 200 destroyers and hundreds of assorted support ships. Over 182,000 troops would make up the assault, planned for April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday.

American casualties would exceed 68,000. Of the nearly 16,000 servicemen killed the burden fell to the sea services: 8,343 dead Sailors, Coast Guardsmen and Marines, the highest toll in naval history.


Preparation



The four principal commanders were Admiral Spruance, Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher (Task Force 58), Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner (Task Force 51) and Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, U.S. Army, (10th Army). Their battle plan envisioned a week of preliminary air strikes from the fast carriers and by B-29s from the Mariana Islands, followed by eight days of naval bombardment preceding the landings.

The invasion force would consist of Marine Major General Roy S. Geiger's 3rd Amphibious Corps with its three Marine divisions (the 1st, 2nd and 6th) and four infantry divisions of the 24th Army Corps (the 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th). Landings would take place over five miles of beaches on the west coast of southern Okinawa, the "Hagushi beaches," named after a village (actually named "Tosuchi") at the mouth of the Bishigawa River. The river was the boundary between the Marines' sector on the north and the Army's on the south. The location was chosen for its proximity to the Yontan and Kadena airfields, which needed to be captured quickly to help land-based planes fend off enemy air attacks. These forces would then spread out east and south to capture other territory. Northern Okinawa, the Motobu Peninsula and nearby le Shima island and airfield would be captured later.

Japanese forces at Okinawa hoped to delay the final assault on Japan. Having lost most forward air bases and aircraft carriers, the Japanese high command planned to emphasize kamikaze, suicide-piloted aircraft attacks on Allied ships. A massed air attack by both kamikazes and conventional aircraft was planned as part of the defense.


Preliminaries



In mid-March, the American fleet of over 1,300 ships gathered off Okinawa for the naval bombardment On March 21, the first baka or piloted, suicide rocket bombs, were spotted below Japanese "Betty" bombers. Called oka ("cherry blossom') by the Japanese, these 2,700 pound bombs got their name baka ("screw-ball") from the sailors against whom they were directed. A baka attached to a bomber was released into a high-speed, suicidal dive toward a ship. At the last moment, the pilot pulled out of the dive and glided into the target. While the baka did not prove very effective in the over-all Okinawan campaign as the Japanese had so few of them, with their small size and speed they were nearly impossible to defend against.

On March 22, Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp's Mine craft Pacific Fleet composed of 122 mine craft, patrol, and associated craft began mine sweeping operations off the Kerama Islands. The importance of their task was explained in their slogan: "No Sweep, No Invasion." Continuing night and day until the invasion began on April 1, Sharp's operation swept 2,500 square miles of ocean, and discovered and destroyed six enemy minefields and 184 mines. These mine craft, mine sweepers and mine layers accounted for more than 15 percent of all naval casualties during Iceberg.

Radar picket duty Radar picket duty off the shore of Okinawa by destroyers and other vessels was one of the most dangerous duties. Radar picket ships lost their main defense, their mobility, as they were alone and forced to main at fixed stations to warn of approaching enemy aircraft and to direct carrier airplanes to intercept as many as possible. Despite the bravery of these ships, losses were suffered even before the initial landings.

The first kamikaze attacks of the Okinawan campaign began on March 18, 1945. On March 19, while operating close to the Japanese home islands, the aircraft carrier Wasp was hit by a kamikaze which resulted in explosions and fires that killed 101 and wounded 269 crewmen. Yet within 15 minutes, fires were put out and the remaining crew began recovering airplanes.

Also hit was the carrier Franklin. Coming, to her aid, the cruiser Santa Fe hung in alongside the burning carrier throughout the afternoon, despite exploding ammunition, to rescue those who jumped from the fire and heat. Damage to the Franklin's flight deck was extensive, yet the ship got underway within hours and was able to return to New York under her own power.

Casualties were 724 killed or missing and 265 wounded. Two Medals of Honor were awarded for heroism aboard the carrier. Lieutenant Junior Grade Donald A. Gary, was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading two sailors below decks to wet down a 5-inch gun that threatened to explode and on finding 300 men trapped in a dark compartment, led them to safety on three consecutive trips.

The Franklin's second Medal of Honor winner, Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O'Callaban, ship's chaplain, was awarded his medal for directing, fire fighting efforts while administering last rites to the injured. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman presented O'Callahan with the award, the first chaplain so honored.


The Invasion



The Kerama Islands were occupied between March 25-28 for fueling, and ammunition replenishment and as a seaplane base. Meanwhile, U.S. forces offshore the island of Okinawa had no inkling that the beaches had been left intentionally undefended and that the approximately 100,000 Japanese troops were, dug in, in caves, cement tombs, and fortifications, and well protected from the pre-invasion bombardment.

After Naval Underwater Demolition Teams 12, 13 and 19 had reconnoitered the Hagushi beaches on Good Friday, March 30, the amphibious assault of Okinawa began at 8:30 a.m., Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. By 4:00 pm, the beachhead was secured. Over 50,000 troops had been put ashore and were ready to advance, Marines to the north and west and soldiers to the south. The question was, "Where are the Japanese?" The troops were to learn that the bulk of the Japanese were positioned in heavily d above the surrounding territory. However, Marines attacking the Mobotu Peninsula, northwest of the invasion beaches, had met stiff resistance.

On April 6-7, the first use of massed formations of hundreds of kamikaze aircraft called kikusui, or "floating chrysanthemum," for the imperial symbol of Japan, began. By the end of the Okinawan campaign, 1,465 kamikaze flights were flown from Kyushu to sink 30 American ships and damage 164 others, not including smaller attacks near Kyushu and Formosa.

Ie Shinia, an island off Mobutu, was invaded on April 16, after three days of naval and aerial bombardment and beach reconnaissance by Underwater Demolition Teams. The Army's 77th Division landed on April 21. In fierce fighting over five days, this small island and airfield were won, but with the loss of 172 American servicemen killed and 902 wounded. Among the fatally wounded was well known combat correspondent Ernie Pyle, hit by machine gun fire on April 18. He was buried on the island.

On May 1, Marines of the 3rd Amphibious Corps who had overrun the Mobotu Peninsula were transferred to the southern part of the island, where the Army's 24th Corps faced stubborn resistance from strong defensive positions. By April 8, the U.S. forces were stopped cold at the first Japanese defense line by pillboxes with steel doors impervious to flame-throwers. Casualties were heavy. Reinforcements were landed on April 9, and American troops now numbered 160,000 ashore.


Capturing Shuri



All attention focused now on capturing Shuri Castle, the key defensive position for Japanese resistance. The castle was located in the southern one-third of Okinawa on a high point midway between the eastern and western beaches. Strongly prepared defensive positions with interlocking fields of fire and interconnected tunnels proved extremely difficult and costly to overrun. Thrown against these fortifications was the firepower of six battleships, six cruisers, nine destroyers, and 650 Navy and Marine aircraft in addition to the Marines and soldiers on the ground.

Commanded by Rear Admiral Morton L.Deyo, Task Force 54 included his flagship, the Tennessee, and battleships Nevada, New York, Texas and Arkansas.. This fire support group and other naval vessels delivered fire and illumination at night for shore parties which proved very effective. Task Force 54 supported the ground troops and complemented the artillery from the first day of combat until late May when action moved to the extreme tip of the island, and the danger of shelling U.S. troops precluded it. Indeed, naval gunfire was employed longer and in greater quantities in the battle of Okinawa than in any other in history; while carrier air support covered for the amphibious forces until land-based planes could take over. Carrier air was responsible for shooting down more enemy planes than anti-aircraft fire during the battle.

The Japanese defense line was finally broken on April 28. Attacking the two flanks of the Japanese forces, Buckner's troops fought fiercely against the enemy. By May 21, the Japanese had withdrawn to the southern tip of the island. The 10th Army occupied the capital, Naha, on May 27. On May 29, Japanese troops began withdrawing from Shuri. Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines captured the remains of Shuri Castle.

Now, Marines made an amphibious assault southeast of the capital, while Buckner's 10th Army moved on the enemy's position at Mabuni, an escarpment located on the southern tip of the island. Its natural and made caves proved nearly impenetrable for any but Buckner's "blow torch and corkscrew" method of fighting, employing flame-throwers and high explosives to force a way into the enemy's defensive positions. In the end, it took hand-to-hand combat, aerial bombardment and tanks with flame-throwers to capture the entrenched and fiercely defiant Japanese force.


Okinawa Secured



Buckner was hit and killed by a coral fragment thrown up by a Japanese artillery shell fire on June 18. Geiger assumed temporary command of 10th Army until relieved five days later by Army Lieutenant General Joseph A. Stilwell. On June 19, the Japanese commander ordered all remaining defenders to fight to the death. On the 21st, the 10th Army pushed through to the southernmost point on Okinawa. Ushijimi and his chief of staff committed hari kari, ritual suicide, rather than accept defeat. Geiger announced the island secured and a formal flag-raising ceremony took place on June 22. The 82-day Okinawan campaign was officially declared over on July 2.

Thus ended the campaign to capture Okinawa, which now became a giant air and naval base destined to play a major role in the planned invasion of Japan. British observers spoke of the Battle for Okinawa as "... the most audacious and complex enterprise ... yet undertaken by the American Amphibious Forces... more ships were used, more troops put ashore, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, more naval guns fired against shore targets" than any other operation in the Pacific. But not without a severe price for both sides. Thirty-four allied ships and craft of all types had been sunk, mostly by kamikazes, and 368 ships and craft damaged. The fleet had lost 763 aircraft. Over 4,900 sailors and 3,443 Marines were killed or missing in action and 4,824 Sailors and 16,017 Marines were wounded, making this the naval services' most costly campaign of World War II. Army casualties were 7,613 killed or missing and 31,807 wounded or injured. There were also more than 26,000 non-battle casualties. Japanese losses were enormous: 107,539 killed and 23,764 sealed in caves or buried by the Japanese themselves; 10,755 captured or surrendered. On both sides, nearly 170,000 died, over half were civilians. The Japanese lost 7,830 aircraft and 16 combat ships.


The End of Yamato



The Japanese battleship, Yamato, the largest warship ever built accompanied by the light cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers, was dispatched to Okinawa on April 6, 1945, with no protective air cover. So badly depleted was the Japanese fleet by this time, Yamato was reported to carry only enough fuel for a one-way trip to Okinawa. Her mission: beach herself at Okinawa and fight until eliminated.

The American submarine Hackleback tracked her movements and alerted carrier-based bombers. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher launched air strikes on April 7 at 10 a.m. The first hits on Yamato were claimed by the carrier Bennington. San Jacinto planes sunk the destroyer Hamakaze, with a bomb and torpedo hit. The light cruiser Yahagi was hit by bombs and went dead in the water.

For the next two hours, the Japanese force was under constant attack. Already in a terrible list from interior flooding, Yahagi sank at 2:23 p.m. after American carrier-based Hellcats and Avengers made the final attack. Yamato took 12 bombs and seven torpedo hits within two hours, finally blowing up and sinking. Three accompanying destroyers were so badly damaged they had to be scuttled. Four remaining destroyers could not return to Japan. Of Yamato's crew of 2,747, all but 23 officers and 246 enlisted men were lost. Yahagi lost 446; Asashimo lost 330; the seven destroyers, 391 officers and men. There were few Japanese survivors. Losses to the Americans were 10 planes and 12 men. This was the last Japanese naval action of the war.



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