Battle of Okinawa (1945)

50

The Pittsburgh Press (April 11, 1945)

Jap sub base seized on Okinawa

Yanks stalled in drive on island’s capital

GUAM (UP) – Bitter Jap resistance stalled the U.S. XXIV Army Corps’ push toward Naha in Southern Okinawa today.

But Marines in the north seized a submarine base in a mile-and-a-half advance.

Other Army troops unlocked the entrance to Nakagusuku Bay, one of the finest naval anchorages south of Japan, with an amphibious landing Tuesday on tiny Tsukata Island, about 10 miles off the southeast coast of Okinawa.

Capture sub pens

The invasion troops stormed quickly inland against only slight opposition. Moderate resistance in the form of small arms and mortar fire developed later, but officers expected the entire mile-long island would soon be in American hands.

Marines captured Jap submarine pens and other naval installations at Unten By on the north coast of Motobu Peninsula, which juts out of the west coast of Northern Okinawa, yesterday after beating off two small counterattacks the previous night.

Battle hard in south

Torpedoes and mines were seized at Unten Bay, but the enemy had evacuated all submarines and other craft. The base was known to have been a lair for midget submarines, though larger types may have also used it.

The Marines advanced their lines to Unten Bay in he northwest and the Manna River in the southeast. Tsuwa village was captured.

While resistance continued almost nonexistent in the north, troops of the XXIV Army Corps in the south were fighting a battle almost as bloody as Iwo in an effort to crack through the last four miles to Naha, capital of Okinawa.

Marine artillery was moved south to supplement Army guns in the heaviest artillery bombardment of the Pacific war. Naval guns ranging up to the 16-inch rifles of battleships offshore were also pounding away at the enemy defenses.

Japs hold ridges

The Japs were answering almost shot for shot and had the advantage of emplacements on two ridges from which they can observe every American move. In the face of this murderous crossfire, no American advances at all were reported in the past 24 hours.

The Japs were fighting from caves and underground pillboxes and blockhouses.

Several Jap counterattacks were thrown back yesterday.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced in a communiqué that Jap casualties for the first eight days of the invasion were 5,009 killed and 22 captured. By last Sunday, he said, 43,478 Jap civilians were being cared for by the Military Government.

51

The Pittsburgh Press (April 12, 1945)

Jap artillery slows Yanks on Okinawa

Drenching rains also handicap campaign

map.041145.up
In the Far Pacific today:
(1) Some 400 Superfortresses and escorting fighters pounded Tokyo and Koriyama. A German dispatch said carrier planes raided Formosa.\

(2) U.S. forces moving towards Naha, capital of Okinawa, were checked by Jap artillery and mortars.

(3) U.S. Marines made small gains on Ishikawa Peninsula of Okinawa.

GUAM (UP) – The stalemated battle on southern Okinawa went into the fourth day today with heavy enemy mortar and artillery fire still checking the American drive on the capital city of Naha.

A Domei dispatch reported that about 80 U.S. carrier planes raided northern Formosa for two hours today. Formosa lies off the southwestern tip of the Ryukyus, of which Okinawa is the principal island.

Front reports from Okinawa said the American drive was also hampered by drenching rains, which stalled motorized equipment and bogged down foot troops of the XXIV Army Corps.

Marines gain in north

Marines made some advances on Ishikawa Peninsula in the north.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, meanwhile, disclosed that Army troops completed the occupation yesterday of Tsugen Island, off the east coast of Okinawa and dominating Okinawa’s Nakagusuku Bay.

Yanks lose 432 killed

Adm. Nimitz also revealed that U.S. casualties in the first nine days of the campaign totaled 2,695, of which 432 were killed, 2,103 wounded and 160 missing. The count of Jap dead on Okinawa totaled 5,009 through Sunday.

U.S. carrier planes, naval gunfire and Marine and Army artillery were steadily supporting the ground forces on Okinawa, where front reports described the battle as approaching the level of the bloody Iwo campaign. U.S. troops were encountering heavily-mined roads and fields and hundreds of deep caves in ridges, which have to be cleared out one by one. Some of the caves are two stories deep.

52

U.S. Navy Department (April 12, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 330

The 6th Marine Division on Okinawa moved forward against sporadic resistance by the enemy on Motobu Peninsula on April 12 (East Longitude Date). On Ishikawa Isthmus, our troops continued to press northward over rugged terrain and extremely poor roads. The 1st Marine Division continued mopping up in its zone of action.

There was virtually no change in the lines in the Southern sector of Okinawa where the XXIV Army Corps, including elements of the 27th and 96th Divisions, continued to meet strong enemy resistance on April 12.

On April 12, large numbers of enemy aircraft made desperate suicidal attacks on our forces in the Okinawa Area. Early in the morning, seven enemy aircraft were shot down in the vicinity of the Hagushi beaches. During the afternoon, ships’ guns, carrier aircraft and shore-based anti-aircraft shot down 111 of the attackers. One of our destroyers was sunk during these attacks and several other surface units were damaged but remained in operation.

Installations on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonins were bombed and strafed on the night of April 11-12 by Army Black Widow night-fighters.

Warehouse and other installations in the Palaus and facilities on the airfield on Yap in the Western Carolines were bombed by Hellcat and Corsair fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing on April 12.

Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force bombed installations on Truk in the Carolines on April 11.

Search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing Four and Mitchells and Liberators of the 11th AAF on April 11, made rocket machine gun and bombing attacks on installations on Shumushu, Paramushiru, and the Torishima Group in the Northern Kurils. On April 11, further attacks were carried out by 11th AAF aircraft on the Kataoka Naval Base on Shumushu where Army planes damaged one of several enemy fighters which attacked them. FlAirWing Four Search planes made rocket and strafing attacks on installations at the mouth of the Hayake River on Paramushiru on April 11. Minami Cape on Shumushu and Masu Town on Paramushiru were bombed by Army Mitchells on the same date. All our aircraft returned safely.

53

U.S. Navy Department (April 13, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 331

During the early morning of April 13, the enemy in the southern sector of Okinawa counterattacked in battalion strength but was beaten back with numerous losses by the XXIV Army Corps, supported by naval gunfire and artillery. No substantial change was made in the lines in the South during the day.

On Motobu Peninsula in the North, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps continued to engage groups of the enemy in sporadic fighting. III Corps troops on Ishikawa Isthmus continued to press northward against ineffective resistance.

Aircraft from fast carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet shot down over 100 enemy planes in the area of the Ryukyus on April 11-12, in addition to those reported destroyed in Communiqué No. 330. At Tokuno and Kikai Islands, eight more planes were destroyed on the ground and fuel dumps and warehouses were damaged or set afire.

On April 12, Shinchiku and Kiirun airfields on Formosa were attacked by Seafire and Hellcat fighters of the British Pacific Fleet. Sixteen enemy planes were shot out of the air, one was destroyed on the ground, and five were damaged.

On the following day, U.S. carrier aircraft shot one plane down and destroyed 12 others on the ground in the Northern Ryukyus. Attacking shipping end ground installations in and around the Ryukyus our planes destroyed 23 Barges and small craft, damaged airfields and set buildings afire.

During the period March 18 to April 12, inclusive, U.S. Fast Carrier Task Forces under command of VADM Marc A. Mitscher, USN, hot down 841 enemy planes in combat, destroyed 73 by gunfire and destroyed 363 on the ground.

Navy search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One destroyed a large radio station on Gaja Island in the Northern Ryukyus and sank a picket ship and set second vessel afire north of the Bonins on April 13.

Army Black Widow night-fighters bombed and strafed harbor installations at Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonins on the night of April 12-13.

On April 12, a single Navy Search Privateer of FlAirWing Two combed installations on Wake Island.

Marine Corsairs and Hellcats of the 4th Aircraft Wing bombed warehouses and buildings in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on April 13.

Marine fighters and bombers continued neutralizing raids on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls on April 12.

54

CINCPOA Press Release No. 72

For Immediate Release
April 13, 1945

The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, has authorized the following statement:

For some months the Japanese have been employing aircraft on a gradually increasing scale in suicidal attacks upon our forces in the Western Pacific. These aircraft were initially piloted by a group of pilots who were known as the “Kamikaze Corps” by the Japanese. The enemy has made much in his propaganda of this “sure death-sure hit” suicide technique which is simply an attempt to crash planes on the decks of our ships.

The enemy has expended a large number of planes and personnel on missions of this nature with negligible effect on the continuing success of our operations. Some major units of the fleet have been damaged, but no battleship, fast carrier or cruiser has been sunk. Some smaller ships have been sunk, but in the great majority of cases they have remained in operation after being struck by one of these suicide planes. This reflects considerable credit on our officers and men and also on the designers and builders of our ships.

Effective methods of meeting and destroying suicidal attacks have been developed and will continue to be employed to increase the toll of Japanese aircraft shot down by our aircraft and by our anti-aircraft guns.

The “suicide attack” and the so‑called “Kamikaze Corps” are the products of an enemy trapped in an increasingly desperate situation. Pushed back upon their own inner defenses, the Japanese have resorted to fanatical methods which, from a purely military viewpoint, are of doubtful value.

The “Kamikaze Corps” is apparently being used not only to attempt to damage our ships but also to stir the lagging spirits of the Japanese people. Although these “sure death-sure hit” pilots are reported to be volunteers, many have very willingly become survivors of “suicide” missions and are now prisoners of war.

The enemy claims for the accomplishments of “suicide swimmers, human torpedoes and suicide speedboats” hardly need comment. In the majority of such attacks up to this date these personnel have failed completely in their missions but have been successful in committing suicide.

The “suicide” technique is continuing at the present time. Although it is always considered and prepared for as a factor in estimating the enemy’s capabilities it cannot prevent our continuing success in the war in the Pacific.

55

The Pittsburgh Press (April 13, 1945)

Very heavy raid made on Tokyo

BULLETIN

WASHINGTON (UP) – A fleet of Superfortresses “in very great strength” dropped incendiary bombs upon military and industrial targets in Tokyo today, the War Department announced.

GUAM (UP) – The Japs were revealed today to have Jost 118 planes in two desperate suicidal attacks against U.S. forces in the Okinawa area yesterday.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that one U.S. destroyer was sunk in the action and several other ships damaged, although the latter continued in operation.

A Tokyo broadcast admitted the loss of only two Jap planes and claimed that the suicide forces had sunk or damaged 11 American vessels in the raids yesterday.

Tokyo said the attacks were directed against eight separate groups of U.S. warships stretched 100 miles off the eastern coast of Okinawa. The enemy report claimed the entire American naval force included at least eight aircraft carriers and seven battleships.

On Okinawa, the stalemated ground campaign north of the capital of Naha went into its fifth day today. Adm. Nimitz disclosed the identity of four more divisions fighting on Okinawa, making a total of five known to be taking part in the campaign. They were the 27th and 96th Infantry Divisions and the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions.

56

U.S. Navy Department (April 14, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 332

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps on Okinawa Island on April 14 advanced northward to the vicinity of Momubaru Town on the west coast and Arakawa Town on the east coast. Resistance was negligible. The Marines on Motobu Peninsula are now in possession of most of that area and are attacking small concentrations of enemy troops which continue to resist.

In the southern sector during the early morning hours of April 14, the enemy mounted a small counterattack which was immediately beaten off by troops of the 96th Infantry Division. Enemy positions were brought under fire of field artillery, ships’ guns, and carrier and land-based aircraft.

A few enemy aircraft appeared in the area off Okinawa during the day and nine were shot down by our combat air patrols.

Aircraft from carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet bombed airfields on Ishigaki and Miyako Islands in the Sakishima group on April 14, destroying seven aircraft on the ground and damaging twenty-five more.

Without opposition, carrier aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet struck airfields and installations at Matsuyama and Shinchiku on Formosa on April 13. A number of aircraft were damaged on the ground and hangars, barracks, buildings, a railway bridge, a train and other targets were heavily hit. Several small groups of enemy planes attempted to attack surface units of the British force and three of these were shot down. The task force suffered no damage.

Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed enemy islands in the Palaus on April 14.

57

The Pittsburgh Press (April 14, 1945)

Jap counterattack fails on Okinawa

U.S. troops resume slow advance

GUAM (UP) – Troops of three Army divisions battled slowly through Southern Okinawa today after turning back a strong Jap counterattack along the Naha defense lines.

The attack was made by between 500 and 750 Japs and a large proportion of them were killed in the futile attempt to check the American drive.

Although ground artillery and heavy naval guns continued an intense pounding of the enemy positions, the troops were unable to make any substantial gains and their advances were measured in yards.

Marines gain

Marines in Northern Okinawa, however, were moving ahead on Motobu Peninsula and Ishikawa Isthmus against ineffective resistance.

A Jap communiqué claimed that suicide planes were still attacking U.S. warships around Okinawa and that an additional 12 vessels were sunk or damaged.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher’s fast carrier force had destroyed 1,200 Jap planes in less than four weeks.

In the last three days alone, more than 228 planes were destroyed throughout the Ryukyu chain, of which Okinawa is the principal island.

Blast Formosa

Disclosure of these results indicated that some 2,000 Jap planes had been destroyed or damaged since March 18. The others were accounted for by British carriers, land-based Army, Navy and Marine planes and Superfortresses.

The British task force destroyed 17 enemy planes and damaged five in an attack on airdromes on Formosa Thursday. Tokyo reported that about 70 carrier planes raided Formosa again yesterday for the second straight day.

U.S. carrier planes destroyed 13 other Jap aircraft in the Northern Ryukyus yesterday and in addition sank 23 barges and small craft.

58

Misleading sign leads to rumor Dempsey dead

NEW YORK (UP) – A sign in the Broadway restaurant bearing his name apparently led to the circulation of rumors late yesterday that Lt. Cmdr. Jack Dempsey of the Coast Guard had been killed on Okinawa.

The sign said: “Closed on account of the death of our beloved President. – Jack Dempsey.”

Some persons apparently took that to mean that Dempsey had died.

Dempsey, former heavyweight boxing champion, recently left his Coast Guard base here for a tour of the Pacific and was last reported at Okinawa, where he witnessed the invasion of that island off Japan.

A couple dozen telephone calls were received at The Press yesterday asking about the “death” of Dempsey, so the rumor apparently spread throughout the country in a short time.

59

U.S. Navy Department (April 15, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 333

Three enemy counterattacks in the southern sector of Okinawa were broken up by Marine and Army artillery on the night of April 14-15 (East Longitude Date). At noon on April 15, the XXIV Army Corps lines were unchanged.

In the north, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps continued to mop up small units of the enemy. In the Western area of Motobu Peninsula one isolated group of the enemy was offering stiff resistance.

Ground forces continued to receive effective support from naval guns, carrier and land-based aircraft, and field artillery.

Keufu Island in the Kerama Group was occupied by our troops on April 14.

Privateers of Fleet Air Wing One damaged a small cargo ship near Tanega Island in the northern Ryukyus and bombed and strafed buildings and radio towers on the Island on April 15.

A Marine Mitchell scored rocket hits on a small ship in the area of the Bonins on the night of April 14-15. On the same date, Army night fighters attacked targets on Haha Jima, Chichi Jima and Muko Jima in the Bonins.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing damaged bridge and pier installations in the Palaus on April 15.

60

CINCPOA Advance Headquarters, Guam

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps on Okinawa Island on April 14 advanced northward to the vicinity of Momubaru town on the west coast and Arakawa town on the east coast. Resistance was negligible. The Marines on Motobu Peninsula are now in possession of most of that area and are attacking small concentrations of enemy troops which continue to resist.

In the southern sector during the early morning hours of April 14 the enemy mounted a small counterattack which was immediately beaten off by troops of the 96th Infantry Division. Enemy positions were brought under fire of field artillery, ships’ guns and carrier and land-based aircraft.

A few enemy aircraft appeared in the area off Okinawa during the day and nine were shot down by our combat air patrols.

Aircraft from carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet bombed airfields on Ishigaki and Miyako Islands in the Sakishima group on 14 April, destroying seven aircraft on the ground and damaging twenty five more.

Without opposition, carrier aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet struck airfields and installations at Matsuyama and Shinchiku on Formosa on 13 April. A number of aircraft were damaged on the ground and hangars, barracks, buildings, a railway bridge, a train and other targets were heavily hit. Several small groups of enemy planes attempted to attack surface units of the British force and three of these were shot down. The task force suffered no damage.

Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed enemy islands in the Palaus on 14 April.

C. W. NIMITZ,
Fleet Admiral, USN,
Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet,
and Pacific Ocean Areas.

61

The Pittsburgh Press (April 15, 1945)

Americans hold half of Okinawa

Marines push north – attack beaten off

GUAM (UP) – U.S. infantrymen on Southern Okinawa beat off another small Jap counterattack Saturday Marines in the north pushed ahead against negligible resistance to bring almost half of the important island under American control.

Army and Marine field artillery, naval gunfire and carrier and land-based aircraft plastered Jap positions along the southern Naha defense line as the 96th Infantry Division easily repulsed the small enemy attack.

Carrier planes in attacks

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reported the carrier aircraft of the U.S. and British Pacific Fleet units struck again at the Sakishima Islands, southernmost of the Ryukyus, and at Formosa Saturday without opposition.

Almost all of the large Motobu Peninsula jutting out from Okinawa’s western coast is now controlled by Marines of the III Amphibious Corps.

Other Marines driving northward on Okinawa pushed to the vicinity of Momobaru Town on the west coast and Arakawa town on the east coast.

Momobaru is within 10 miles of the northern end of the island.

The American-controlled area now extends some 50 miles from north to south. The northern line is being extended northward daily against the slightest resistance, but 60,000 Jap troops massed in the southern sector of Okinawa have held the U.S. Army forces to a standstill for 10 days.

Pillboxes bar way

The three U.S. infantry divisions in Southern Okinawa were using demolition charges and flamethrowers as they battered against steel-armored Jap pillboxes barring the wav to Naha, capital city of the island.

Nine enemy planes were shot down off Okinawa during the day by combat air patrols, Adm. Nimitz said.

The U.S. carrier aircraft raiding the Sakishima area hit airfields on Ishigaki and Miyako Islands, destroying seven planes on the ground and damaging 25 others.

British carrier planes attacked Matsuyama and Shinchiku on Formosa without opposition. Many planes were damaged on the ground and hangars, barracks, buildings, a railway bridge, a tram and other targets were hit.

62

Oberdonau-Zeitung (April 16, 1945)

US-Schiffsterben bei Okinawa

Weitere 20 Kriegsschiffe versenkt oder beschädigt

Tokio, 15. April – Wie Domei meldet, haben Japanische Luftstreitkräfte am Abend des 12. April 20 feindliche Kriegsschiffe in den Gewässern um die Okinawa-Inseln versenkt oder beschädigt.

Nahe der Hauptinsel der Okinawa-Gruppe wurden zwei Kreuzer versenkt und zwei Schlachtschiffe beschädigt. Ostwärts der gleichen Insel beschädigten die japanischen Luftstreitkräfte fünf feindliche Kriegsschiffe unbekannten Typs bei mehrmaligen Angriffen. Einige von ihnen wurden in Brand geworfen. Bei der Ausführung weiterer Angriffsunternehmungen gegen feindliche Kriegsschiffe in den Gewässern südlich der Okinawa-Inseln warfen japanische Flugzeuge elf feindliche Kriegsschiffe nicht festgestellten Typs in Brand. Von diesen sanken später fünf Einheiten.

63

U.S. Navy Department (April 16, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 334

Supported by carrier aircraft and by naval gunfire, elements of the XXIV Army Corps landed on le Shima, an island west of Okinawa, on the morning of April 16 (East Longitude Date). Advancing inland rapidly against resistance which was initially light but later stiffened, our troops captured the enemy airfield and secured most of the area west of that point. The greater part of the enemy defense force has been driven back to defensive positions in the pinnacles southeast of the airfield.

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps continued to attack groups of the enemy on Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa, on April 16. Marine forces continued to advance northward in the rugged terrain of the island north of the peninsula.

There was little change in the lines of the XXIV Army Corps in the southern sector of Okinawa. Naval guns and carrier planes attacked enemy positions in the south.

At the end of April 13 our forces on Okinawa had killed 9,108 of the enemy and captured 391 prisoners of war. About 85,000 civilians had come under jurisdiction of the U.S. Military Government on the island by the end of April 15. Our Military Government authorities have constructed one large camp and have taken over thirteen villages for use of civilians. Civilian foodstuffs are being salvaged and used. Our medical facilities have proved adequate for treatment of civilians thus far.

Fast carrier task forces of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked aircraft, airfields and other military installations in the northern Ryukyus and on the island of Kyushu during the period April 12 to 15 (East Longitude Dates). In sweeps over airfields on Kikai and Tanega our planes shot down 77 enemy aircraft from April 12 to 14. Attacking major air bases at Kanoya and Kushira on Kyushu on April 15, U.S. carrier planes shot down 29 aircraft, destroyed 58 on the ground and damaged 60 more.

The enemy launched heavy air attacks against our forces in and around Okinawa on the morning of April 16. Strong combat air patrols from the fast carrier task forces of the U.S. Pacific Fleet met the attacking enemy aircraft and preliminary reports indicate that our planes shot down 62 enemy aircraft over the Okinawa area. Fighters, sweeping Kyushu, shot down 22 more, anti­aircraft guns of the fast carrier forces shot down 15, and 67 more were shot out of the air by combat air patrols in the Ryukyus area.

Ship’s anti-aircraft fire off the Okinawa beaches destroyed 38 Japanese planes on April 16. Land-based aircraft shot down an unreported number.

On April 16, Army Mustang fighters of the VII Fighter Command based on Iwo Island attacked ground installations at Kanoya and Kushira on Kyushu.

Army Black Widow night-fighters attacked military installations in the Bonins during the night of April 15-16. Search planes of Fleet Air Wing One damaged a small cargo ship heavily on April 16 in the northern Ryukyus.

64

The Pittsburgh Press (April 16, 1945)

Marines clearing northern Okinawa

Army troops prepare attack on Naha

map.041645.up
Gaining on Okinawa, U.S. Marines were within 10 miles of the northern tip of the island. A trapped Jap force on Motobu Peninsula was fighting fiercely in the south. Army troops prepared an all-out offensive against the Jap defenders of Naha, the island’s capital. U.S. Superfortresses raided Tokyo and the Japs reported a raid by carrier panes and Liberators against southern Kyushu Island (inset map).

GUAM (UP) – Marines of the III Amphibious Corps pushed along the last 10-odd miles toward the northern tip of Okinawa against light resistance today.

In Southern Okinawa, Army troops of the XXIV Corps beat off Jap counterattacks and, by Tokyo accounts, prepared for a full-scale offensive against Naha, capital of the island.

The Army forces have been stalled for nearly a week by upwards of 60,000 Jap troops entrenched in defenses built into hills shielding Naha, only a scant four miles south of the American lines.

Kill 195 Japs

U.S. infantry killed 195 Japs in smashing three counterattacks yesterday. The enemy troops swarmed down from well-defended Kakazu Ridge 1,000 yards inland from the west coast and about 6,000 yards north of Naha.

Some of the enemy troops were armed only with spears, but others carried Tommy guns, grenades and explosive charges.

Tokyo broadcasts said Jap planes launched another “large-scale” assault on American task forces and carrier concentrations around Okinawa at dawn Monday.

Third Jap attack

If confirmed, it would be the third major Jap attempt to drive off the American fleet supporting the Okinawa campaign. The enemy lost 116 Jap planes in the first assault April 7, and 118 more April 12.

In the north, the Marines were driving toward the northern tip of Okinawa against little or no resistance. However, one isolated enemy group on Motobu Peninsula, which juts out of the northwest coast of Okinawa, was putting up a stiff fight.

65

U.S. Navy Department (April 17, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 335

About two-thirds of the area of Ie Shima was brought under the control of the Tenth Army on April 17 (East Longitude Date) as our attacking forces wheeled eastward to occupy a line running from the northeast corner of the airfield along the base of the island’s central pinnacle and through the town of Iegusugu to the southern coast. Resistance was moderate throughout the day.

Small pockets of the enemy continued to resist attacks of Marines of the III Amphibious Corps on Motobu Peninsula and in northern Okinawa.

In the south, there was no change in the lines of the XXIV Army Corps.

Our troops in both the northern and southern sectors were supported throughout the day by heavy naval gunfire, carrier aircraft and Army and Marine artillery. A few enemy reconnaissance planes were in the Okinawa area during the day.

Search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One destroyed two small cargo ships at anchor near Tanega Island in the northern Ryukyus and demolished a warehouse on the island with a direct bomb hit on April 17. In waters east of the Ryukyus, FlAirWing One planes sank three small cargo ships and dam­aged three others on the same date.

United States forces attacking the home islands of Japan and the island groups of the Ryukyus since initiation of the Ryukyus campaign on March 18 to April 17, inclusive, have, destroyed more than 2,200 Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground. Aircraft from the fast carriers of the Pacific Fleet have destroyed more than 1,600 of this total. In addition, units of the British Pacific Fleet operating in waters off the Sakishimas and Formosa have destroyed more than 80 enemy planes.

Search aircraft of FlAirWing Four made rocket and machine gun attacks on buildings on Tomari Cape on Paramushiru in the northern Kurils and strafed a trawler off the island on April 16.

Liberators of the VII Bomber Command bombed concrete structures and runways on Marcus Island on April 16. On the same date, Marine Mitchells strafed ground installations at Kushira Airfield on Kyushu.

Army Mustangs of the VII Fighter Command strafed and bombed shipping in and around Chichi Jima in the Bonins on April 17.

Corsairs and Hellcats of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and strafed targets in the Palaus on April 17.

Planes of FlAirWing One attacked installations on Yap and Puluwat in the Carolines on April 17.

FlAirWing Two planes continued neutralizing attacks on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls on April 16.

Mopping-up operations on Iwo Island continued during the month of April as our forces developed that island as an air base. A total of 22,731 of the enemy were killed on Iwo from February 19 to April 14, inclusive, and 624 were captured.

66

CINCPOA Press Release No. 79

For Immediate Release
April 17, 1945

On the morning of April 16, large numbers of enemy aircraft attacked one of our destroyers for more than two hours off the coast of Okinawa. The ship took two bomb hits and four suicide hits.

But she shot down 6 dive bombers and proceeded to operate as ordered.

67

So the word Kamikaze was formed later to describe them?

1 Like
68

The Pittsburgh Press (April 17, 1945)

204 Jap planes lost in big battle

B-29s pound air bases on home island

GUAM (UP) – The Jap Air Force lost 204 planes yesterday in a third unsuccessful attempt to smash the American invasion forces of Okinawa.

Today, a huge fleet of Superfortresses blasted six enemy aircraft staging bases on the home island of Kyushu.

Blazing aerial battles were fought between American and Jap pilots in the skies along a 360-mile route between Okinawa and Kyushu. Navy gunners on ships ranging from gunboats to carriers of the Essex class joined in the fight.

All-day battle

The battle lasted all day. Jap planes trying desperately to reach the U.S. Fleet were sent hurtling in flames into the sea.

A United Press dispatch from Vice Adm. Richmond Kelly Turner’s flagship said yesterday’s battle offered some of the greatest hunting of the war for American fighting men. It was Japan’s third try in 11 days to cripple the U.S. Fleet in the Ryukyus and brought Jap planes losses to 929 shot down or destroyed in 12 days around Okinawa.

Hitting Kyushu, the B-29s sent the aerial offensive against Japan into the sixth straight day.

Splitting into six groups, the Marianas-based Superfortresses plastered a half dozen airfields in Northern and Southern Kyushu with demolition bombs rather than incendiaries which were heaped on Tokyo twice in the last 72 hours.

Fighters hit Japan

The targets were the airfields at Kanoya, East Kanoya, Izumi, Kokubu and Nittaoahara, all in Southern Kyushu, and Tachiarai in the northwestern section of the island.

Kanoya Airfield also was hit yesterday by P-51 Mustangs of the VII Fighter Command from Iwo Island bases.

All the airfields were known to have held planes which have been hitting at the U.S. sea, land and air forces in the Okinawa area.

The heavy blow came as U.S. infantrymen were cleaning up tiny Ie Island, three miles west of Okinawa, where they landed yesterday and seized another base for the increasing aerial campaign.

Ground positions unchanged

Except for the invasion of Ie and the seizure of its airdrome with three valuable flying strips, two of which are 5,000 feet long, ground positions on Okinawa have changed little in the past week.

But the air battles and the attacks on the enemy’s flying bases in the Northern Ryukyus and Kyushu have continued at a furious pitch.

Yesterday’s results brought the toll of Jap planes in the past month to 2,626 destroyed or damaged – or a rate of approximately 94 a day.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that carrier planes from Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher’s fast task force raided the Northern Ryukyus and Southern Kyushu from Thursday through Sunday while Mustang fighters from Iwo hit the Jap homeland yesterday.

The carrier planes shot down 29 Jap aircraft, destroyed 58 on the ground and damaged 60 more at Kyushu’s Kanoya and Kushira’s airfields. The fields were almost empty when the Mustangs arrived on Monday.

The trip was the longest of the war for Mustangs.

Tokyo reported that approximately 100 carrier planes, together with Liberators and Mitchell medium bombers also attacked Kyushu yesterday.

United Press writer James MacLean, who went ashore with the Army troops on Ie Island, said the Americans suffered light casualties against suicidal and scattered Jap resistance.

69

U.S. Navy Department (April 18, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 336

Tenth Army troops in Ie Shima made substantial gains in the northeastern area of the Island on April 18 (East Longitude Date). The enemy in the area of Iegusugu Peak gave stiff resistance from dug in positions and pillboxes. On the third day of the action, preliminary reports show that 388 of the enemy have been killed and one prisoner taken. In the same period, our forces lost 15 killed and 73 wounded. Five are listed as missing.

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps have reached the northern end of Okinawa Island. The Marines on Motobu Peninsula continued operations on April 18 against isolated groups of the enemy in that sector.

There were no changes in the lines of the XXIV Army Corps in the southern sector of Okinawa. Naval guns and carrier aircraft continued to attack enemy strongpoints in the south. As of April 18, according to the most recent reports available, 989 officers and men of the U.S. Pacific Fleet had been killed in the Okinawa operation and associated attacks on Japan, 2,220 were wounded in action, and 1,491 were missing in action. At last report, the soldiers and Marines of the Tenth Army had lost 478 officers and men killed, 2,457 had been wounded and 260 were missing.

A Search Privateer of Fleet Air Wing One sank a small cargo ship north of the Ryukyus on April 18.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked targets in the Palaus and destroyed buildings on Yap in the Western Carolines on April 18.

Liberators of the 11th Army Air Force on April 17, bombed the Kataoka Naval Base on Shumushu in the Northern Kurils.

U.S. patrols on Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas killed 30 Japanese and took 88 prisoners of war during the week ending April 14.