Nicee
The Battle of okinawa (naval version)
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japan was an imperialist country at the time with goals of world domination and since they viewed the emperor as a god they would gladly die in suicide missions than submit to defeat
of course now Japan is a much different country with different values today and with the help of the US was rebuilt to be a modern country which has produced many valuable things to the world. although much of ww2 history concerning the japanese atrocities has been covered up. I suggest reading u731 and the r@pe of nanking
I am not sure about the last part, as I remember HMS Invincible being part of the mediteranian fleet under Andrew Cunningham and also in Bombing norwegian ports.
Also how could Japan have 400 planes at the second day of the invasion, but no cover planes for the world's biggest warship? Fuel distance issues? Or were bombers generally prioritized over fighters?
The US Navy's Task Force 58, deployed to the east of Okinawa with a picket group of 6 to 8 destroyers, kept 13 carriers (7 fleet carriers and 6 light carriers) on duty from 23 March to 27 April and a smaller number thereafter. Until 27 April, a minimum of 14 and up to 18 escort carriers were in the area at all times. Until 20 April, British Task Force 57, with 4 large and 6 escort carriers, remained off the Sakishima Islands to protect the southern flank.[10]: 97
The protracted length of the campaign under stressful conditions forced Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz to take the unprecedented step of relieving the principal naval commanders to rest and recuperate.
Following the practice of changing the fleet designation with the change of commanders, US naval forces began the campaign as the US 5th Fleet under Admiral Spruance, but ended it as the 3rd Fleet under Admiral Halsey.
Japanese air opposition had been relatively light during the first few days after the landings. However, on 6 April the expected air reaction began with an attack by 400 planes from Kyushu.
Periodic heavy air attacks continued through April.
During the period of 26 March to 30 April, 20 American ships were sunk and 157 damaged by enemy action. By 30 April the Japanese had lost more than 1,100 planes to Allied naval forces alone.[10]: 102
Between 6 April and 22 June, the Japanese flew 1,465 kamikaze aircraft in large-scale attacks from Kyushu, 185 individual kamikaze sorties from Kyushu, and 250 individual kamikaze sorties from Taiwan, then called Formosa.
While US intelligence estimated there were 89 planes on Formosa, the Japanese actually had about 700, dismantled or well camouflaged and dispersed into scattered villages and towns; the US Fifth Air Force disputed Navy claims of kamikaze coming from Formosa.[27][clarification needed]
The ships lost were smaller vessels, particularly the destroyers of the radar pickets, as well as destroyer escorts and landing ships.
While no major Allied warships were lost, several fleet carriers were severely damaged. Land-based Shin'yō-class suicide motorboats were also used in the Japanese suicide attacks, although Ushijima had disbanded the majority of the suicide boat battalions before the battle because of expected low effectiveness against a superior enemy.
The boat crews were re-formed into three additional infantry battalions.[28]
The super battleship Yamato explodes after persistent attacks from US aircraft.
American aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill burns after being hit by two kamikaze planes within 30 seconds.
Operation Ten-Go:
Operation Ten-Go (Ten-gō sakusen) was the attempted attack by a strike force of 10 Japanese surface vessels, led by Yamato and commanded by Admiral Seiichi Itō. This small task force had been ordered to fight through enemy naval forces, then beach Yamato and fight from shore, using her guns as coastal artillery and her crew as naval infantry. The Ten-Go force was spotted by submarines shortly after it left the Japanese home waters and was intercepted by US carrier aircraft.
Under attack from more than 300 aircraft over a two-hour span, the world's largest battleship sank on 7 April 1945 after a one-sided battle, long before she could reach Okinawa. (US torpedo bombers were instructed to aim for only one side to prevent effective counter flooding by the battleship's crew, and to aim for the bow or the stern where armor was believed to be the thinnest.) Of Yamato's screening force, the light cruiser Yahagi and 4 of the 8 destroyers were also sunk. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost some 3,700 sailors, including Admiral Itō, at the cost of 10 US aircraft and 12 airmen.
British Pacific Fleet[edit]
The British Pacific Fleet, taking part as Task Force 57, was assigned the task of neutralizing the Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands, which it did successfully from March 26 to April 10. On April 10, its attention was shifted to airfields in northern Formosa. The force withdrew to San Pedro Bay on April 23. On May 1, the British Pacific Fleet returned to action, subduing the airfields as before, this time with naval bombardment as well as aircraft. Several kamikaze attacks caused significant damage, but as the Royal Navy carriers had armoured flight decks, they experienced only a brief interruption to their force's operations.[29][30]
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Avengers, Seafires and Fireflies on HMS Implacable warm up their engines before taking off.
HMS Formidable on fire after a kamikaze attack on May 4. The ship was out of action for fifty minutes.