Battle Of The Philippine Sea: The Conflict That Crushed Japanese Air Power | Air Wars | War Stories

This channel is part of the history of the Network. In June 1944, American forces began a decisive phase of their advance across the central Pacific toward the Japanese homeland. The invasion of the Mariana Islands was considered critical to success there, as would aircraft carriers elsewhere in the vast Pacific Ocean. Be the key to victory. Thank you. Most of the air-to-air action I had was built around the Marianas and the first

battle

of the Philippine Sea, which was the most intense and was an active part of the war. Unfortunately, I had the opportunity to be there at that time, many kills, many changes in the tide of relative forces between the enemy and ourselves.

Ariana we are a chain of 15 islands 425 miles long stretching from Fatalon De Piros in the north to Guam in the south, just over 300 miles to the north were Japanese bases on Iwo Jima and 250 miles south on the Caroline Islands. Apart from Guam, near Saipan and Tinian, they had operational airfields with emergency landing strips and all three would be prime targets for the capture of the Marshall Islands, a thousand miles east of the Marianas, in February and March 1944 they provided anchorages. from which to mount the assault, including beach landing craft. 535

wars

hips and auxiliary ships would participate in the operation code-named Forager, which involved the transport of 127,571 troops and was scheduled for June 15.

Admiral Chester A Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific, would exercise overall command, but direct control of all forces of the collection operation fell to Admiral Raymond, a commander in chief of the US Fifth Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Mark, a mitcher, led the first task force of aircraft carrier 58 which provided air cover for the joint expeditionary force of navy and army units intended to carry out the invasion. Mitch's Task Group 58 was composed of four independent carrier task groups known as Task Groups 58 1, 2, 3, and 4. Protected by cruiser and destroyer escorts on all 14 carriers, he would deploy 896 bombers and fighters by the 8th.

June. The joint expeditionary force had concentrated on the Marshals with their own close escort of

wars

hip troops. Departing for Saipak on June 9, those from Guam on the 12th as final plans. Critical aerial reconnaissance carried out by long-range aircraft based in US-occupied New Guinea, the Martial Admiralty and the Solomon Islands was carried out on 18 April, while the Naval Liberators photographed Saipan and Guam escorting B-bombers. 24 attacking military targets on April 26. From April until the eve of the operation, the marshals conducted regular photo reconnaissance flights. The B-24 The Liberator bomber is best known for its cooperation with the B-17 Flying Fortress and the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, but was stripped of everything in the Pacific. its armament and its bombing capacity and with additional fuel it became a photographic reconnaissance aircraft with a range of 2,000 miles, farther than any other aircraft in the Pacific at that time, it had a speed of 300 miles per hour and was capable of reaching a ceiling. of 30,000 feet, therefore, it was invaluable when operating from territory to be captured from the Japanese such as the Solomon Islands and the Marianas, which could cover a great distance and was invaluable for Admiral's Fleet's fifth success in history Experience is a streaming platform that's just for history fans with fantastic documentaries covering fascinating figures and moments in history from around the world, from the Battle of Trafalgar and the revolutionary era to World War II.

If you're looking for your next military history fix, this is it. For you, we're committed to bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts they can't find anywhere else. Sign up now for a free trial and War Stories fans get 50 off your first three months, just be sure to use the code War Stories at For some time the Japanese had anticipated an attack on their defensive perimeter in the Western Pacific, curving two thousand miles northwest of New Guinea, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Soyemu Toyota, decided on a risky offensive operation strategy that would draw the American fleet into a decisive

battle

with all its forces if The Japanese could use their coastal aircraft to take full advantage of the May 3 designated the Palau Islands and the western Carolinas Yap and Wale as the decisive battle areas.

Toyota planned that a decoy force would lure the Americans into the trap that would be sprung by the First Mobile Fleet under Vice Admiral Gisaboro Ozawa from Tawitawi in the Sulu Archipelago upon receipt of the executive order. Osawa would immediately proceed to the area east of the Philippines without leaving a trace. Complete success. It was anticipated that Toyota declared on May 16 that the Osawa fleet was converging on Tawitawi, at the southern tip of the Sulu archipelago, five days later Toyota signaled that they were preparing for Aego. The main fear of the Japanese was the American aircraft carriers and the basis of the operation was to attract.

They put the Americans in a position where their aircraft carriers could be attacked and neutralized, which meant that to take full advantage the land planes had to be lured southwest of the Philippine Islands; There is an additional problem when it comes to the Japanese. If they had less fuel, what they intended to do was lure the fleet to this area and attack both the carriers and the Landing Force task group. After getting rid of the aircraft carriers, then it was the possibility or in fact what they were looking for. was a land battle fleet with naval aircraft of the Japanese Air Force that would play a critical role in the operation ago even after a formidable force was stationed in New Guinea in early June. 172 aircraft were stationed on Saipan Tinian and Guam, another 268 on Easy Upon reaching the islands, another 500 were capable of being quickly transported from Japan and the occupied territories, requiring the Base's Air Force to destroy at least a third of the transport units of the enemy task group before the decisive battle, as well as to establish regular positions.

Reconnaissance flights before and during the same, although he was aware of American activity at the center of Masawa, had yet to arrive to get the aircraft carriers within range when General MacArthur's troops attacked Biak Island off the Off the coast of New Guinea, he saw an opportunity on June 9 and suggested, Toyota, Japanese naval reinforcements could lure the American fleet to the planned decisive battle zone and allow them to take off before the next day. Vice Admiral Matumi Ogaki was detached from Mazawa with two battleships, a light cruiser and six destroyers towards Biak, in two days he was To implement Aego, the preparation of Operation Forager had been gradual: in the last week of May, American aircraft carriers attacked Marcus and Wake Islands north of the Marianas and, beginning on June 3, Army Air Force ground planes bombed Caroline and Palo Islands. islands in the south and then, on June 11, Task Force 58 began shelling and strafing the Mariana Islands at 1 p.m. 208 fighters and eight torpedo boats attacked Saipan Tinian and Guam.

We conducted our sweep over Guam hoping to catch all the planes on the ground. and everyone having lunch here at the pool and it's not like the planes are not on the ground, they are all in the air. The fighters are high above us, they fell on our backs just as we entered. our races and we started to descend and the anti-aircraft fire was exceptionally intense, we lost three pilots to what we believe was the five-inch gun that knocked them out of the sky, one survived, uh, and we ran into this terrible ground fire and then The zeros attacked us and we realized that everything was breaking down one by one.

Basically, you're a partner if he can stay with you or if he and I ended up getting two of them and chasing a third, but that was it. It was a good fight. We carried out many attacks on Guam. The four carrier task groups continued to bombard the three islands throughout the next day on 12 June, while two of them sailed north to attack Chijijima and Iwo Jima, from where Japanese reinforcements could be sent south. the other two continued attacking Saipan and Tinian, preceded by heavy naval bombardment on 14 June at dawn on 15 June covered by an air umbrella and fire from offshore warships.

Two Marine divisions landed on the west coast of Saipan ahead of the American activity. Until The Landings had persuaded Azawa to withdraw the Ugaki Force, the mobile fleet abandoned Tawi Tawi on 13 June and two days later was refueling its ships in the Guimara Strait in the Philippines, where Toyota instructed Azawa to attack the enemy in the Marianas area and annihilate. The Invasion Force activated an operation for the next day's decisive battle at 4:50 p.m. Ozawa and ugaki Rendezvous east of the Philippines Ozawa now had nine aircraft carriers, five fleets and four light, with five battleships, 13 cruisers and 28 destroyers, he had 430 carrier aircraft and 43 seaplanes for reconnaissance and artillery observation duties on his battleships and cruisers, the considerable Navy, but inferior to the Americans, nor had concentrated without Trace, as Toyota waited for the underwater seahorse to report that ugaki was moving north, another underwater flying fish saw Ozawa on the move, the standard US.

The submarine was the T class submarine which had a speed of nine knots underwater and on the surface 21 knots, which meant it was much more effective on the surface stalking and attacking individual ships. They had 21-inch torpedoes and a crew of 85 people. They were used not only to stalk ships but also for observation and blockade purposes and this became very important when they were detecting the movement of the first cruiser fleet in the Turkish firefight of Mariana due to submarine reports, Spruance now knew that two forces Japanese naval forces were at Sea Ozawa and Ugaki and therefore postponed the invasion of Guam during the morning of 16 June under the command of Vice Admiral Willis to Lee Spruance created a separate force of seven battleships, four heavy cruisers and 13 destroyers with air cover provided by Task Group 58-4 to form a screen in front of the main American force, radar-equipped seaplanes were moved from the Marshals to operate from roads off western Saipan, once that area was secured on June 17, those Bruins had no intention of being passive.

First we will shoot down the enemy aircraft carriers, then we will attack the enemy battleships and cruisers to slow them down or disable them. American warships would follow these airstrikes to force fleet action and, with the help of aircraft from the carriers, pursue survivors without firm information about the enemy. Spruance reasoned that he could not afford to sail west during the night of June 17–18 in case the Japanese passed by to jeopardize the invasion. At 3:45 a.m. m. On June 18, a signal from the submarine Cavalla revealed that the previous night a large Japanese force had been summoned 780 miles west of Saipan heading east.

Spruance calculated that he would not be in a position to threaten him until June 19. Ozawa had refueled his force on June 17 and had resumed his course for Eastwood that afternoon when Kavana spotted him, he had organized his ships into three forces, a force composed of three fleet carrier Tai ho on which Azawa flew his zuikaku flag and shokaku with 207 aircraft Force B under the command of Rear Admiral T Joshima had the two fleet carriers joined together with the light carrier ryoho together Containing 135 aircraft, these two groups 15 miles apart were escorted by one battleship, four cruisers and 16 destroyers.

The bait planned 125 miles ahead under the command of Vice Admiral Karita consisted of three light aircraft carriers with 88 aircraft escorted by four battleships, five cruisers and eight destroyers, served by the Japanese carriers. to be smaller than the Americans, their fleet carriers weighed 20,000 tons and carried about 60 aircraft, their light aircraft carriers weighed about ten thousand tons and carried 40 to 45 aircraft, so they were considerably smaller than the Americans when The 18th dawned. In June, none of the commanders knew the exact location of the other Kavala. The information from the other Kavala was more than six hours old. Azawa had two slight advantages: her carrier-based Tzatziki fighters and his dual torpedo bombers could attack the Americans at an extended range and fly to refuel Japanese-held Guam. and the Rota Islands on their battleships and cruisers, the reconnaissance seaplanes had a greater range thanany of the American planes and therefore could warn Azawa in advance of the position of their enemy.

The Americans gave code names to all the Japanese planes. They refer to the Zeke plane, which is in fact, a zero, it is a Mitsubishi Naval plane. type O, mark one, and that was the type of aircraft that was used at the time of Pearl Harbor. It had two 20-millimeter guns and two 7.7-millimeter guns. It had a speed of about 350 miles per hour. The Jill was an academic torpedo bomber that carried a single torpedo at a speed of 260 miles per hour. The aerial search mounted from the crests of the Adorn aircraft carriers on 18 June turned out to be false, but in the afternoon the Japanese reached their longest range city at 3:14 p.m. search planes reported that several aircraft carriers, two battleships, an unknown number of other ships, another at 4:00 p.m. m., an unknown number of carriers, 10 plus other ships further south, Task Group 58 had been located beyond the battleship Shield, Rear Admiral Obayashi, the carrier group commander in 4C, prepared to launch 67 aircraft . against the Americans at 4:37.

Ozawa was more cautious and overrode the order to change course to stay out of range of American reconnaissance aircraft. The next morning, June 19, he intended to contact and destroy the enemy Bruins due to his fear of being caught. too west of Saipan he had returned when night fell on June 18, then Pacific Fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor reported that at 8:23 p.m. Their direction finding stations had used intercepted enemy wireless signals to locate Azawa 350 miles west southwest of Task Force 58. Mitcha requested permission to change course so he could be in position to attack with his aircraft at dawn, still concerned about a considerable number of Japanese.the force could sneak past spruance denied his request apart from not trusting the information from the radio direction finders he was concerned that a garbled message from the submarine Stingray could mean that the enemy was closer than thought wow a seaplane American naval had detected on its radar two large groups of ships in the Philippine Sea almost certainly Azawa forces A and B such were the fortunes of war that due to poor communications Spruance did not receive this information until 9:00 am of 19 June other aerial sweeps sent out during the night in ornate from Task Group 58 was unable to locate the Japanese Ozawa was better served at 4:45 a.m. on 19 June 4C catapulted 16 seaplanes from their escort ships to search to Americans at 7:30 One-Eyed Task Group 58 won ejected at 5:15 a.m. 13 torpedo boats from 4C hit Lee's battleship screen picket destroyers, but lost seven of them to marauding Hellcats without causing damage.

The Kate was a Nakajima naval torpedo boat, which was the standard Japanese torpedo boat at the time in the Pacific. She was carrying a torpedo. of 764 pounds but could also be used as a level bomber the Jake was a seaplane it was the standard naval torpedo bomber in the Pacific it could carry a 250 kilogram bomb or the equivalent rate in depth charges it had a range of 1,200 miles and a speed cruising at 203 miles per hour, its great advantage was that it had an air-to-ground radar. Ozawa now had enemy aircraft carriers in his sights, although he was unaware that the Japanese naval code had been broken, giving Mitcher time to organize a warm welcome to the disaster, although it had already begun to hinder the Japanese operation, even when the ship Azawa's flagship Tai Ho was launching his aircraft, a torpedo from the submarine Albacore hit, although the carrier continued operating; those on board know that it had suffered a deadly stain.

Dawn on Task Force 58's non-Jewish Hellcats had been flying protective patrols over the fleet. Two Judy dive bombers from Guam were intercepted at 5.30 am. 20 minutes later, six bomb-carrying Zikis were expelled. 6.30 am. Radar reported aerial activity over the island. 100 miles away, Hellcats arriving at 7:20 found Japanese planes taking off from a roti field and called for help shortly after 8 a.m. A large force of enemy aircraft was reported heading toward Guam from the southwest. We probably had a review with land and aircraft carrier planes. He ordered his three Southern task forces to each send 12 Hellcats to take over Guam patrols and together they accounted for 30 zikis or hams in five bonds meanwhile The first of that day's four major raids had been launched from the Japanese aircraft carrier at 8:30 am. 4C dispatched 16 Ziki fighters, 45 bombs carrying Ziggy, and eight Jill torpedo boats, an hour and a half later, they were detected by radar on Admiral Lee's battleship. screen at a distance of 150 miles, Mitcha immediately recalled the Hellcats from Guam leaving only a small patrol there and warned Task Force 58 to be ready for maximum combat effort.

The 1019 gave the executive order and four minutes later the first American fighters took To counter what became known as raid one, the Grumman Hellcat fighter was the standard naval fighter in the Pacific in 1944. It had 6.5 machine guns and a speed of 376 miles per hour, a range of just over a thousand miles, but it could be used. as a fighter-bomber, in which case it could carry a maximum of two thousand pounds of bombs. One of the Adam's was described as a truly award-winning aircraft. The enemy planes were now 72 miles away, orbiting at twenty thousand feet before striking the American carriers. which gave the Defenders time to accumulate between 17 and 23,000 feet for a coordinated response. 1036 Mitchell instructed all of his carriers to keep fighters available to repel these attacks.

They landed planes as needed. At that same time, a formation of 24 Japanese bombers and 16 fighters came under attack by Essex Hellcats which dispersed the formation and shot down six. We were going to go to Guam to try to catch everything there, but we only got halfway there and we got a hey rube, which means, uh, turn around and go back and we need help and we started back and we were almost looking down. . I remember on the right side, around two o'clock, I guess, and you could see the Japanese Cates and Val diving with the typical carrier composition, uh, heading to the force, and then what did we do?

I caught them coming in and we went down and again got caught between the fighters, before we got into the main attack group, but we had others that were in there and shooting down the dive bombers and the torpedo planes, and we had a good mix there, I think. that I had a couple down that time, the fighters the moment they detect you, attack you again and leave their support, it goes down to 1-1 again and it's a dogfight, some of the attacking plane managed to evade the Hellcats advanced and continued towards their objectives only to run into a second defensive one.

Three or four got pickets from Beyond The Destroyer to attack the battleships. We are at 10 49. A bomb hit South Dakota causing minor damage and hit the haulages. This raid was officially disbanded at 10:57. The Japanese lost 42 of the 69 they started. Raid 2 launched from Mazawa's force at 8:56 comprised 53 Judy dive bombers, 27 Jill torpedo bombers, and 48 Ziki fighters shortly after takeoff. A pilot crashed in a dive. a torpedo headed for their own ship and eight other aircraft returned with engine problems flying over 4C. Two more were shot down by trigger-happy gunners and ate others, severely damaging them. At 11:07, the remaining 109 were identified by radar at a range. of 115 miles and intercepted at 60 miles by urgently deployed Hellcats attacking at 11:39, American fighters numbered around 70, but survivors continued to be met by anti-aircraft fire concentrated on Lee Street and 42 more Hellcats on six tasks They attacked the task. group 58-2 where an explosion overhead caused casualties to wasps and near misses caused some damage to Bunker Hill four of the dive bombers were shot down one escaped from a rotor another to Guam simultaneously a small group of jills attacked the task group 58-3 one non-survivor and no damage was done, bringing Raid 2 to an ignominious conclusion: of the 129 aircraft dropped, the Japanese had lost 98.

However, they were not finished. Raid 3, consisting of 15 Ziggy fighters, 25 Ziggy fighter-bombers, and seven Jill dive bombers, took off from Force B between 10 and 10 15. Due to false information, they were initially sent too far north and 27 returned without having seen anything, the rest received amended instructions but were detected 100 miles from the battleships at 12 55. 40 hellcats intercepted them and represented seven attacked task group 584 on the flank of Admiral Lee's scream caused no damage but escaped the 47 launched in The Raid 3 therefore survived the Japanese zero it was a very light plane, very agile and with a good energy load uh absolutely zero protection for the pilot no no uh armor for the pilot or the oil tank or something like that, it was really a bomb of time in a way, just waiting to be exploded.

I think I only had one encounter where I was higher than the zeros when we went into combat, they were always high above us, in the center, where we couldn't see them. We got jumped several times there on that cruise and we watched it until the bullet started flying and you didn't stay in the dogfight. for zero, he could turn tighter, you could know, outmaneuver him and that was all a cardinal mistake trying, you can make a turn or two, but then you had to get out of there, he would be right behind you, you couldn't.

If I were an experienced pilot, most of the work against him was a slashing attack, maybe a quick turn or a wing over and over, but then you had another enemy or got clear somehow because you just weren't going to. to do so, the fourth raid, the final attempt launched between 11 and 11:30 a.m. m. It involved 30 Ziki, nine Judy and 27 Val dive bombers, fighter-bombers and six Jill torpedo bombers from three Force B aircraft carriers and one Force aircraft carrier. of this raid was sent too far south and it was found that some made to rotor were detected by radar within 45 miles of Task Group 582 and five were shot down elsewhere.

The Hellcats attacked other Raiders claiming nine hits. A group of 49 Raid 4 aircraft made from Guam were scrapped. their bombs en route while doing so at 14:49 were picked up by task group 58 radars and 12 hellcats were fired at the seat. I'm arriving in Guam they found the enemy machine circling a rotating field waiting to land at this point 15 more hellcats They arrived and the Americans shot down 30 of the 49 enemy. A feature of the action during 19 June was the lack of interference from the Japanese islands, particularly Guam, which were attacked at intervals by American formations to clear their decks so that fighters could attack.

The incoming Japanese attack task force 58 carriers had sent their bombers into orbit many did not circulate idly at 10 40 24 from Hornet attacked Guam at 1300 dive bombers from Lexington attacked 30 aircraft stationed there projected during the afternoon By fighters, other bombers carried out more raids and until 1845 the Hellcats maintained our patrols over the island. Talking to the Japanese after the war, what they feared most was that the Hellcats would machine-gun the troops on the ground. You can imagine that you went into a ditch in your belly and into the palm trees. There's a flight of four fighters coming down and you've got 12 .50 calibers that are going to be absolutely devastating.

The Guam operations were not without cost. Six Hellcats and one bomber were lost. Four of them, two flak fired during the four enemy raids, the aircraft carrier Wasp and Bunker Hill suffered minor damage, the battleships Indiana and South Dakota and 31 men were killed by noon on June 19, although the danger to the American fleet was over. . Commander Paul D Bui described the carnage achieved by the Hellcats as easy as shooting turkeys and the legend of the great Mariana turkey shoot was born. Ozawa's air raids had spectacularly failed - 243 of the 373 aircraft launched by his three naval forces did not They managed to return another 50 to 60 ground machines or reconnaissance seaplanes had also American losses were 29 aircraft 27 airmen after counting those rescued during the afternoon of June 19 Azawa suffered more serious setbacks at 12:20 the aircraft carrier Shukaku was torpedoed by the American submarine Kavala and eventually sank after a massive magazine explosion shortly afterwards.

At 3:32 p.m. m., damage sustained from her earlier torpedo attack caused a similar explosion on Tai ho, which sank at 5:15 p.m. m. Ozawa had already transferred his flag first to the destroyer wakatsuki and then at 5:06 p.m. m. to the cruiser agoro which he had survived but two of his nine aircraft carriers had moved the moment of the shooting of the turkey Mariana in June1944, the Japanese had already lost several aircraft carriers, so losing two fleet carriers that day, June 19, was a big blow to them. Tahoe and Chicago were both from the fleet. aircraft carriers carrying more than 60 aircraft, according to American naval historian Samuel Morrison, this was a decisive action after which the Japanese were never able to compete on the same level with the Americans.

Ozawa was misled by reports from returning pilots of a large number of Hellcat losses and claims of up to six aircraft carriers in flames. Tokyo radio stated that 11 American aircraft carriers and many other ships had been sold without knowing that many of their His own planes had failed to reach the safety of friendly airfields on June 20. Azawa planned to check his ships and recover the aircraft he believed had flown to Guam and Rota with the screen of Lee's battleship 25 miles ahead of them at 8 o'clock. pm on June 19. Three of Mitch's task forces turned west at 23 knots to save fuel in search of Azawa which they left behind.

Task Force 58-4 to cover the Japanese-held Mariana Islands overnight, their planes bombed Tinian and Rota and again Bond Guam Mitchell was aware of the spirits' stern warning to ensure adequate protection of Saipan, but also from the desire of the fifth fleet commander to attack the enemy. The next day, if they knew their position accurately enough, locating Azawa would not be easy. In theory, Task Group 58 should have approached the Japanese during the night of June 19-20 because the mobile fleet was sailing at that time. at only 18 knots, but two hours before the Americans set off in pursuit Azawa altered the corpse, thereby eluding the long-range reconnaissance liberators of the Admiralty Islands.

The seaplanes operated from the shelter of American Health Saipan and patrolled the American submarines maintaining radio silence on June 20 the Japanese commander. he had effectively been missing since 5:30 a.m. Ozawa sent relays of 4C seaplanes to search for his enemy. At 7:13 a.m. one reported that there were two American search planes but no warships. He decided to continue refueling his fleet, but poor communications on his current Agoro flagship meant that the exercise was very disorganized and did not begin until noon at 1:00 p.m. Ozawa transferred his flag once again to the aircraft carrier Sukaiko, there he learned the full extent of his losses the previous day, however he clung to the belief that serious damage had been inflicted on the Americans during 19 June and was determined to seek battle again on June 21.

Tinian's messages led him to wrongly conclude that air reinforcements from Iwo Jima and a truck had arrived and Toyota had not deterred him from renewing action. Suddenly, his confidence was shattered. At 4:15 the cruiser Otago intercepted an American transmission the Japanese had been summoned within half an hour Azawa had stopped all refueling changed course and departed at 24 knots in an attempt to leave behind their pursuits throughout the morning and early in the morning in the afternoon the Americans had increased more and more Desperate searches at 3:38 p.m. m., an Avenger aircraft had last been detected as our ships approximately 275 miles northwest of Task Force 58, but its message was incomplete.

It was not until the 405th that Task Force 58 received the exact location of the three enemy groups. This was the transmission captured by Otago. It was late in the day and the Japanese were at extreme range for American carrier-based aircraft, but Mitcha prepared immediately. to launch his squadrons, the Fifth Fleet commander was informed that the carriers were firing their bolts, in the words of the witch, a single shot at 4:21 p.m. m., Task Group 58 turned into the wind and within 10 minutes, six fleet carriers had launched 77 dive bombers and 54 torpedo bombers. and 85 fighters escort all hellcats and helldivers carrying additional belly tanks 30 minutes into their flight, the American pilots were given a modified location because the enemy Ozawa was 60 miles further away than originally thought , this caused Mitcher to abandon a second planned attack and gave those already in the air serious doubts about their ability to safely recover fuel from their aircraft carriers would be a rare commodity, we knew that we were not going to receive surprises that did not necessarily like when we go up to what we call the flight position, this is where the only one is throwing a platform launch and the speaker who was holding a board and has his headphones on and has a board, holds it up into the wind on the deck , new enemy position, the course was a little different, but distance 305 miles and right at that moment you know that there is no way we will not return, the fighters, uh, would be the best, the torpedo planes are in a worse situation and the bombers in the middle, so you have this on.

Your mind as you step outside with the sun low on the horizon at 6:40 p.m. m., the Japanese were sighted, six tankers and six destroyers were following the three main groups which were practically in line and each closely concentrated to allow maximum anti-aircraft fire. In the absence of formidable air cover, a Yorktown and Bataan Hornet aircraft headed toward Azawa's force. Zawa's new flagship via Ikaku was damaged so badly that she appeared in danger of sinking, but she managed to connect with Bunker Hill's Monterey and Cabot court squadrons. We have concentrated on 4C, where the aircraft carrier Chioda, the battleship Aruna and the heavy cruiser Maya, suffered severely meanwhile, the aircraft room wasp engaged the tankers, causing two of them to be sunk after serious damage, we put your head between our shoulders because the AAA fire was a horrendous thing.

What I remember vividly is the color. There were bursts of purple, lavender, teal, as well as black and white. It was like the 4th of July in Force B. All the aircraft carriers were hit. A single bomb hit the old man, who escaped serious damage. Yunyo similarly remained in action despite being hit mid-splinters by two EO bombs, however, he was first hit by two torpedoes from Bello Woods Avengers and then hit by dive bombers from Enterprise. She sank two hours later, leaving behind a devastated enemy. Shortly after 7 p.m. m., the American pilots faced a dangerous return journey in the dark. with fuel dangerously low we headed home and it was dark and about a third of the way back we started hearing the torpedo planes screaming, it wasn't just our ship, there were other carriers and ships involved, we ran out of gas, preparing to ditch and call later. call after call from then on it was chaos the first pilots arrived at the aircraft carriers at 8:45 pm in an effort to guide them in mitcha ordered all carrier lines to be activated in the dangerous tactic if the

japanese

submarines were close to stars, shells were sent and destroyers illuminated the waves with their searchlights to detect men and rafts in the water despite various efforts to help several aircraft piled up on the flight decks at Lexington five aircraft were involved in a multiple accident there were hysteria and I'll just call it hysteria Chaos had developed, no one knew where their ships were, they were running out of fuel, four of our pilots ran out of fuel right there next to the ship, two of them abandoned right next to the ship and two others went down in the landing pattern and then we There were people doing landing approaches on cruisers, destroyers, anything that had a light on, so that command to turn on the lights on The Mark Mitcher was a lifesaver.

Those lights came on just as I was on my approach, we had pilots who were in the water we had them on other aircraft carriers we had pilots from other aircraft carriers on our aircraft carrier we had a lot of strange people in the waiting room and we had to start getting everything right we started to getting reports that we had Carmichael and so and so and so and so aboard the Yorktown and so and so aboard one of the other carriers and we were reporting who we had to their home carriers and uh, that was a great night, the last plane landed safely at 10 52.

In addition to the 20 lost planes During the Japanese fleet, 17 Hellcats, 35 Helldivers and 28 Avengers were lost on the way back. A massive rescue operation meant that in the end only 16 pilots and 33 crew were lost during this phase of the operation, along with six men killed on the aircraft carriers during The deck crashes at 7:12 pm on June 20, virtually at same time his plane left Ozawa's fleet. Mitchell proposed that Lee's battleships be sent in immediate pursuit of the Japanese spruce. He insisted that Task Force 58 stay together and one dawn make the best possible speed as a concentrated force toward Ozawa after the American aircraft was recovered on the afternoon of June 20 following their attack on the Japanese, there is a proposal that the Admiral needs the battleships to depart immediately to try to slow down the Japanese.

It was later learned that they were approximately 570 miles from Okinawa at the time. Admus Bruins vetoed the idea, arguing that he wanted to keep the entire task force tactically focused during the night sphere, that if Admiral Lee had departed with these battleships, they had no air cover and even if they caught up with the Japanese, it was It was doubtful that they could have caused enough damage to stop them before Task Group 58 reached them, so he was cautious and rightly so if Admiral Leeds' battleships had approached. reach of the Japanese, it is likely that they would have been devastated by the remaining Japanese aircraft.

The experience was not knowing that the Japanese had lost those two carriers, but still had planes that could have attacked the Bruins. He was encouraged by a reconnaissance floatplane's report at 1:30 a.m. on June 21 that some of Azala's ships were following the oil trail. American search planes continued to follow the Japanese, but by 743 the enemy was 360 miles away, the main enemy fleet might now be out of range, but Spruance pinned his hopes of capturing damaged ships that had been left behind during the June 21 Task Force 58 Presidents as search planes continued to scour the area without finding any enemy warships at 8:30 p.m.

Spruance finished the hunt effectively, although the Battle of the Philippine Sea ended on the afternoon of June 20. Its outcome was decided by the turkey hunt of the previous day. The result for the Japanese was critical. The American landings in the Marianas had not been stopped. and very soon Japan itself would feel the weight of a sustained offensive by B. -29 bombers from Mariana aircraft captured during the afternoon of June 21. Ozawa offered his resignation, but Toyota rejected it, so he remained in command of the mobile fleet that arrived in Okinawa on June 22. Two day battle. The Japanese were not sunk or seriously damaged.

A single American warship in the end Ozawa only had 35 operational transport aircraft. More than 100 Japanese aircraft were destroyed in the Marianas and other Japanese territories. In associated attacks, including those that abandoned or crashed, after successfully completing their missions on June 20, the Americans lost 130. aircraft the great Mariana turkey shot paved the way for ultimate success in the war against Japan was a decisive victory for Americans abroad