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<p>NMUSN:&nbsp; WWII:&nbsp; Pacific:&nbsp; Okinawa:&nbsp; Preinvasion Bombardment</p>
World War II / WWII-Pacific / Okinawa Campaign: April 1-June 21, 1945 /

Pre-Landing Bombardments: March-April 1945

Tags
World War II (WWII), Landing Operations, Okinawa, Pacific Theater, Kamikaze
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Okinawa Campaign:  Pre-Landing Bombardments: March-April 1945

In order to neutralize the island prior to the D-Day invasion, Task Force 58, led by Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, USN, conducted carrier strikes.  The aircraft destroyed 482 enemy planes, and naval gunfire support destroyed a further 46 aircraft.   Retaliating on March 18-20, 1945, the Japanese hit USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Franklin (CV-13), USS Halsey Powell (DD-686), USS Intrepid (CV-11), and USS Yorktown (CV-10) with Kamikaze (suicide plane) attacks.  The Japanese would further utilize Kamikazes during Operation Ten-Go.  As a result of these attacks, Franklin became the most damaged U.S. Navy ship to survive the war.     On March 23, Task Force 58 began daily bombings on Okinawa that lasted the course of the campaign.  

Image:  LC-USZ62-92435:  Okinawa Campaign, Pre-Landing Bombardments, March-April 1945.   An LSM (R) sending rockets to the shores of the Pokishi Shima, near Okinawa, March 27, 1945.   Courtesy of the Library of Congress.  Official U.S. Navy Photograph.