16 Oct why was the battle of okinawa important
Admiral Chester Nimitz made the difficult decision to relieve Spruance and his staff before the campaign concluded because of combat fatigue. Both engagements occurred towards the end of the Pacific War, as the United States sought to capture strategically important territories ahead of a planned invasion of Japan. Damage control parties carried on undaunted, although succeeding hits undid much of their previous efforts and destroyed more of their firefighting equipment. [17] Commander, Fast Carrier Task Force, Amphibious Operations Capture of Okinawa 27 March to 21 June 1945 (Washington, DC: Office of Chief of Naval Operations, 1946), 7/1 – 7/3.
If World War II was a stage play, the Battle of Okinawa would be a major part of its closing act. Iwo Jima: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal, became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and came to be regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war. [30] Nimitz to wife, 26 April 1945.
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Or, put more simply, it was the final major battle of the war. [5] In addition to the large attacks, smaller attacks harassed U.S. ships on a daily basis, usually at dawn or dusk. Having captured the Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean from Japan in 1944, the US recognised that the small volcanic island of Iwo Jima could have great strategic importance. The force landed on the western side of the island close to the primary objective, two airstrips.
It included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II, the April 1, 1945 invasion of Okinawa itself. Nimitz biographer E.B. [10] USS Laffey, “Report of operations in support of the invasion of the Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands, 3/25/45-4/22/45, including enemy bombing & suicide plane attack on 4/16/45 & AA actions,” 42A. They demonstrated cool-headed resourcefulness and continued to deliver accurate fire throughout the action, often in local control. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Pacific, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/. Wounds are frequently destructive, mutilating, and fearfully mortal. Such a task was easier said than done, as the operation required an elaborate command structure. At least some of the senior officers considered this plan ill-conceived, believing it to be far more effective to go out individually and attack the enemy supply lines until their luck ran out. By the time this occurred in June, the protracted naval action had exacted a bloody toll, becoming the costliest naval action of the war (both in terms of men and ships). Becton was unstinting in his praise for both groups, noting, “The performance of all gunnery personnel… was superb. It is estimated that nearly one out of seven naval deaths in the entire war occurred during these two bloody months off Okinawa.
Some islands that saw major battles, such as Iwo Jima, were uninhabited or previously evacuated. Incredibly, these too were taken without contest. The fierce nature of the fighting and appalling numbers of casualties taken by U.S. forces continued into June, with the total number of American casualties reaching 49,151, of which 12,520 were killed or missing. Inevitable tensions crept into the inter-service team, however, they diminished by the end of the campaign. Further details emerged when a plane from Essex made contact at 0823 on 7 April. The need for major repairs mounted and personnel fatigue became a problem. Their pillboxes and bunkers were all connected so that if one was knocked out it could be reoccupied again. Both engagements occurred towards the end of the Pacific War, as the United States sought to capture strategically important territories ahead of a planned invasion of Japan. : U.S. However, they were overruled, leading RADM Keizo Komura (COMDESRON 2) to later lament, “Few people retained common sense in those days. While the radar pickets acted as the fleet’s sacrificial lambs, the combat air patrols served as its primary defensive weapon against the attacks. Since 1944, the IJN had been developing and training crews to man explosive-laden suicide craft such as the Shinyo-class motorboats and Kaiten submarines. Regrettably, these estimates proved to be quite on the mark, with the prolonged land battle enabling the Japanese to launch numerous air attacks that proved even more effective than anticipated. A comment from Nimitz to Bucker that the speed of ground operations needed to increase put the Army general on the defensive. The kamikaze attacks at Okinawa, as well as the fate of the Japanese fleet, should not be viewed as an historical aberration unique to the final stages of the war in the Pacific. At the time of their planning both invasions looked like strategically important steps towards an invasion of Japan, which at that time was still widely regarded as the best hope of ending World War Two. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph, NH 42390. On average, 1 out of 6 planes struck an American ship. 6 of the Most Important Speeches in History, The Worst Epidemic in History?
It extended over a period of nearly 3 months during which time forces afloat were subjected to almost daily air attacks and night heckling.” Crews responded surprisingly well, though strain and fatigue were visibly evident. Photographed by Ensign H.F. Barrett. Contact was made with Yamato group at 1223. This view is explained by Victor Davis Hanson in his book Ripples of Battle: Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during World War II.
Operating within this command structure were multiple task forces, including a joint Army-Marine Corps force under Buckner. Such tactics had previously been deployed at Leyte Gulf, Luzon and Lingayen, and Iwo Jima, but not on a particularly alarming scale. Army forces, on the other hand, faced more formidable defenses, which led to a slower, more methodical advance. After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial; it was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. Every day spent slowly advancing meant another day that U.S. Navy ships lay open to kamikaze attack. On February 19, 1945, some 30,000 men of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions landed on the southeast coast of Iwo, just under Mount Suribachi, where most of the island’s defenses were concentrated. [4] Samuel Eliot Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II. Pillboxes, bunkers, tunnels and concealed artillery emplacements were employed to deadly effect and Japanese troops fought with fanatical commitment. Their objective would be to secure the island of Okinawa, thus removing the last barrier standing between the U.S. forces and Imperial Japan. With the cost to men and materiel increasing daily, the Navy adapted its tactics to meet the growing kamikaze threat, perfecting radar pickets, adjusting combat air patrols, increasing attacks on land-based aircraft, and securing small islands for better fighter direction and early warning radar sites. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 miles away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations for the planned invasion of Honshu, the Japanese mainland. Thus, the Battle of Okinawa became not only the final major engagement of the war, but a grim testament to what the future might have held for U.S. forces had they continued onwards to the Japanese mainland. W.E. They were utterly fearless in combatting fires, although continually imperiled by exploding ammunition..”[10]. [21] Clinging to debris from his ship, CAPT Tameichi Hara of Yahagi could only look on in envy as a Martin PBM Mariner swooped down to recover Lt. In Mitscher’s TF 58 After Action Report, he reported they “operated at sea for 79 continuous days,” made possible by excellent replenishment services rendered by Task Group 50.8. Both battles resulted in huge numbers of casualties. [27] Spruance to Moore, 13 May 1945.
The network of bunkers and pillboxes greatly favored the defender. As a result, Sailors and ships sustained the longest period of prolonged combat of the war. After his second flagship, New Mexico (BB-40) was hit, he wrote to his former chief of staff, Captain Carl Moore to explain the experience, emphasizing that, “The suicide plane is a very effective weapon, which we must not underestimate. to push north and west toward Japan. Wasting little time, Mitscher began launching his planes at 0915. [17] Okinawa proved that the fleet could keep close to hostile shores “for protracted periods at distances over 1,000 miles from our nearest base. The Battle of Okinawa, code named Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa. Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island, supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the commander of the island’s defense, knew that he could not win the battle but hoped to make the Americans suffer far more than they could endure.
[8], The efforts on board aircraft carrier Franklin that same day were even more heroic. Even more remarkably, she suffered more casualties (796 killed, 265 wounded) than any other ship during the war, save Arizona (BB-39).
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