Osprey - Campaign 375 - Eact China Sea 1945.pdf

(12229 KB) Pobierz
EAST CHINA SEA
1945
Climax of the Kamikaze
BRIAN LANE HERDER
ILLUSTRATED BY ADAM TOOBY
CAMPAIGN 375
EAST CHINA SEA 1945
Climax of the Kamikaze
BRIAN LANE HERDER
ILLUSTRATED BY ADAM TOOBY
Series editor Nikolai Bogdanovic
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
The strategic setting
n
Origins of the campaign
5
CHRONOLOGY
OPPOSING COMMANDERS
Japanese
n
Allied
7
8
OPPOSING FORCES
Japanese
n
Allied
n
Operation
Iceberg
orders of battle, April 1, 1945
11
OPPOSING PLANS
Japanese
n
Allied
19
THE CAMPAIGN
Commencing
Detachment,
February 16–20, 1945
n
Kamikaze attacks against Fifth Fleet, February 21
Winning Iwo Jima, February 24–March 26
n
Iceberg
preliminaries, March 1945
n
L-Day at Okinawa,
April 1
n
The Great Onslaught:
Kikisui
No. 1, April 6–7
n
Ten-Ichi-Go: Yamato’s
death ride, April 6–7
Kikisui
No. 2, April 12–13
n
Kikisui
No. 3, April 16
n
Kikisui
No. 4, April 27–28
n
Kikisui
No. 5, May 3–4
Kikisui
No. 6, May 10–11
n
Kyushu diversion, May 13–14
n
Air and naval gunfire support of Tenth Army
Kikisui
No. 7, May 23–25
n
Kikisui
No. 8, May 27–29
n
Okinawa secured, June–July 1945
22
AFTERMATH
THE WARSHIPS TODAY
FURTHER READING
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
INDEX
92
93
93
94
95
Kyushu
Shanghai
Osumi Gunto
Yaku Shima
The East China Sea in 1945
CHINA
Amami
Shima
Kikai Jima
East China Sea
Amami
Gunto
Tokuno Shima
Okino Erabu
Philippine Sea
Ogasawara Gunto
(Bonin Islands)
Chichi Jima
Haha Jima
Okinawa
Gunto
Ryukyu Islands
Okinawa
Kita Oagari
Minami Oagari
Kume Shima
Kerama
Retto
Kita Iwo
(San Alessandro)
Iwo Jima
Sakishima
Gunto
Miyako Retto
Okino Oagari
Kazan Retto
(Volcano Islands)
Minami Iwo
Formosa
(Taiwan)
Pescadores
Islands
PACIFIC OCEAN
N
Japanese occupied territory
Luzon
Northern
Luzon liberated
April–July 1945
0
0
200km
200 miles
INTRODUCTION
THE STRATEGIC SETTING
By 1945 the United States’ methodical Central Pacific counteroffensive was
closing in on Japan itself. Forcing the Empire’s unconditional surrender
would require either a crushing air–sea blockade and bombardment of
the Home Islands or else a direct ground invasion into Tokyo. Whichever
strategic option US planners ultimately chose, both would require major
bases ringing southern Japan that would ensure US domination of the East
China Sea.
In pursuit of these endgame bases, in early 1945 the United States staged
twin amphibious campaigns for the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. As
the ensuing ground combat has been well covered in Osprey’s
Iwo Jima
1945
and
Okinawa 1945,
this book addresses the epic air–sea actions that
raged both in support and defiance of the American landings. The associated
numbers are truly massive. At over 1,600 ships, the Okinawa invasion
armada was arguably the largest fleet of all time. Meanwhile, although the
Japanese had first unleashed kamikaze attacks in the Philippines in October
1944, in terms of sheer scale and intensity the suicide bombardment would
climax the following year in the East China Sea. From February through June
1945, Japan would expend over 2,000 kamikazes off Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
and the Home Islands in the greatest sustained air–sea onslaught in history.
Japanese suicide attacks involved not
just the standard kamikaze of Anglo-
American legend, but increasingly
sophisticated, purpose-built weapons
such as the
Ohka
(suicide rocket),
Shinyo
(suicide boat), and
Kaiten
(suicide
torpedo). The greatest
tokko
(“special”
or suicide) attack of all was Operation
Ten-Ichi-Go,
the forlorn April 6–7, 1945
sortie of the superbattleship
Yamato
and her escorts against the Okinawa
invasion force.
The late-war mass kamikaze attacks
remain shocking for their ferocity,
violence, and downright eeriness. A US
officer later explained: “I doubt there is
Early in the morning on
February 23, 1945 a detachment
from the 28th Marines fought
their way up Iwo Jima’s
Suribachi volcano and planted
their small regimental US flag
atop the summit, inspiring a
raucous celebration among
the US fleet anchored offshore.
Hours later, the marines were
ordered to replace it with
a larger flag from
LST-779.
Correspondent Joe Rosenthal’s
photograph of the second flag
raising, seen here, became one
of the iconic images of World
War II. (Photo by Joe Rosenthal/
Photo 12/Universal Images
Group via Getty Images)
5

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin