Beginning of the end in the Pacific, 1944 Pacific War

1 beginning of end in pacific, 1944

1.1 marianas , philippine sea
1.2 leyte gulf, 1944
1.3 philippines, 1944–45

beginning of end in pacific, 1944
the marianas , philippine sea


the japanese aircraft carrier zuikaku , 2 destroyers under attack in battle of philippine sea

on 15 june 1944, 535 ships began landing 128,000 army , marine corps personnel on island of saipan in northern marianas. allies aimed establish airfields near enough japanese home islands, including tokyo, allow bombing new boeing b-29 superfortress. ability plan , execute such complex operation in space of 90 days indicative of allied logistical superiority.

japanese commanders saw holding saipan imperative. way involved destroying u.s. fifth fleet, had 15 fleet carriers , 956 planes, 7 battleships, 28 submarines, , 69 destroyers, several light , heavy cruisers. vice admiral jisaburō ozawa attacked nine-tenths of japan s fighting fleet, included 9 carriers 473 planes, 5 battleships, several cruisers, , 28 destroyers. ozawa s pilots outnumbered 2:1 , aircraft becoming or obsolete. japanese had considerable antiaircraft defenses lacked proximity fuzes or radar. odds against him, ozawa devised appropriate strategy. planes had greater range because not weighed down protective armor; attack @ 480 km (300 mi), , search radius of 900 km (560 mi). u.s. navy hellcat fighters attack within 200 miles (320 km) , search within 325-mile (523 km) radius. ozawa planned use advantage positioning fleet 300 miles (480 km) out. japanese planes hit u.s. carriers, land @ guam refuel, hit enemy again when returning carriers. ozawa counted on 500 land-based planes @ guam , other islands.

admiral raymond a. spruance had overall command of u.s. fifth fleet. japanese plan have failed if larger u.s. fleet had closed on ozawa , attacked aggressively; ozawa correctly inferred spruance not attack. u.s. admiral marc mitscher, in tactical command of task force 58, 15 carriers, aggressive, spruance vetoed mitscher s plan hunt down ozawa because spruance s orders made protecting landings on saipan first priority.

marines fire captured mountain gun during attack on garapan, saipan, 21 june 1944.

the forces converged in largest sea-battle of world war ii point - battle of philippine sea (june 19–20, 1944). on previous month american destroyers had destroyed 17 of 25 submarines out of ozawa s screening force. repeated raids destroyed japanese land-based planes. ozawa s main attack lacked coordination, japanese planes arriving @ targets in staggered sequence. following directive nimitz, carriers had combat-information centers, interpreted flow of radar data , radioed interception orders hellcats. result later dubbed great marianas turkey shoot. few attackers reach fleet encountered massive aa fire proximity fuzes. 1 american warship damaged.

on second day, reconnaissance planes located ozawa s fleet, 275 miles (443 km) away, , submarines sank 2 japanese carriers. mitscher launched 230 torpedo planes , dive bombers. discovered enemy 60 miles (97 km) further off, out of aircraft range (based on roundtrip flight). mitscher decided chance destroy japanese fleet worth risk of aircraft losses due running out of fuel on return flight. overall, lost 130 planes , 76 aircrew; however, japan lost 450 planes, 3 carriers, , 445 aircrew. aircraft had destroyed imperial japanese navy s carrier force.

a month after invasion of saipan, recaptured guam , captured tinian.

once captured, islands of saipan , tinian used extensively united states military put mainland japan within round-trip range of american b-29 bombers. in response, japanese forces attacked bases on saipan , tinian november 1944 january 1945. @ same time , afterwards, united states army air forces based out of these islands conducted intense strategic bombing campaign against japanese cities of military , industrial importance, including tokyo, nagoya, osaka, kobe , others.

leyte gulf, 1944

the battle of leyte gulf arguably largest naval battle in history , largest naval battle of world war ii. series of 4 distinct engagements fought off philippine island of leyte 23 26 october 1944. leyte gulf featured largest battleships ever built, last time in history battleships engaged each other, , notable first time kamikaze aircraft used. allied victory in philippine sea established allied air , sea superiority in western pacific. nimitz favored blockading philippines , landing on formosa. give allies control of sea routes japan southern asia, cutting off substantial japanese garrisons. macarthur favored invasion of philippines, lay across supply lines japan. roosevelt adjudicated in favor of philippines. meanwhile, japanese combined fleet chief toyoda soemu prepared 4 plans cover allied offensive scenarios. on 12 october nimitz launched carrier raid against formosa make sure planes based there not intervene in landings on leyte. toyoda put plan sho-2 effect, launching series of air attacks against carriers. japanese lost 600 planes in 3 days, leaving them without air cover.

the 4 engagements in battle of leyte gulf

sho-1 called v. adm. jisaburō ozawa s force use apparently vulnerable carrier force lure 3rd fleet away leyte , remove air cover allied landing forces, attacked west 3 japanese forces: v. adm. takeo kurita s force enter leyte gulf , attack landing forces; r. adm. shōji nishimura s force , v. adm. kiyohide shima s force act mobile strike forces. plan result in destruction of 1 or more of japanese forces, toyoda justified saying there no sense in saving fleet , losing philippines.

kurita s center force consisted of 5 battleships, 12 cruisers , 13 destroyers. included 2 largest battleships ever built: yamato , musashi. passed palawan island after midnight on 23 october force spotted, , submarines sank 2 cruisers. on 24 october, kurita s force entered sibuyan sea, uss intrepid , uss cabot launched 260 planes, scored hits on several ships. second wave of planes scored many direct hits on musashi. third wave, uss enterprise , uss franklin hit musashi 11 bombs , 8 torpedoes. kurita retreated in evening turned around head san bernardino strait. musashi sank @ 19:30.

meanwhile, v. adm. onishi takijiro had directed first air fleet, 80 land-based planes, against carriers, planes attacking airfields on luzon. carrier uss princeton hit armor-piercing bomb , suffered major explosion killed 108 crew (out of 1,569) , 233 on cruiser uss birmingham fire-fighting alongside. princeton sank, , birmingham forced retire.

nishimura s force consisted of 2 battleships, 1 cruiser , 4 destroyers. because observing radio silence, nishimura unable synchronize shima , kurita. nishimura , shima had failed coordinate plans before attacks – long-time rivals , neither wished have other. when entered narrow surigao strait @ 02:00, shima 22 miles (40 km) behind him, , kurita still in sibuyan sea, several hours beaches @ leyte. passed panaon island, nishimura s force ran trap set them us-australian 7th fleet support force. r. adm. jesse oldendorf had 6 battleships, 4 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 29 destroyers , 39 pt boats. pass strait , reach landings, nishimura had run gauntlet. @ 03:00 japanese battleship fusō , 3 destroyers hit torpedoes , fusō broke in two. @ 03:50 battleships opened fire. radar fire control meant hit targets greater distance japanese. battleship yamashiro, cruiser , destroyer crippled 16-inch (406 mm) shells; yamashiro sank @ 04:19. 1 of nishimura s force of 7 ships survived engagement. @ 04:25 shima s force of 2 cruisers , 8 destroyers reached battle. seeing fusō , believing wrecks of 2 battleships, shima ordered retreat, ending last battleship-vs-battleship action in history.

ozawa s northern force had 4 aircraft carriers, 2 obsolete battleships partly converted carriers, 3 cruisers , 9 destroyers. carriers had 108 planes. force not spotted allies until 16:40 on 24 october. @ 20:00 toyoda ordered remaining japanese forces attack. halsey saw opportunity destroy remnants of japanese carrier force. third fleet formidable – 9 large carriers, 8 light carriers, 6 battleships, 17 cruisers, 63 destroyers , 1,000 planes – , outgunned ozawa s force. halsey s ships set out in pursuit of ozawa after midnight. commanders ignored reports kurita had turned towards san bernardino strait. had taken bait set ozawa. on morning of 25 october ozawa launched 75 planes. shot down fighter patrols. 08:00 fighters had destroyed screen of japanese fighters , hitting ships. evening, had sunk carriers zuikaku, zuihō, , chiyoda, , destroyer. fourth carrier, chitose, , cruiser disabled , later sank.

the japanese aircraft carriers zuikaku, left, , (probably) zuihō come under attack dive bombers in battle off cape engaño.

kurita passed through san bernardino strait @ 03:00 on 25 october , headed along coast of samar. thing standing in path 3 groups (taffy 1, 2 , 3) of seventh fleet, commanded admiral thomas kinkaid. each group had 6 escort carriers, total of more 500 planes, , 7 or 8 destroyers or destroyer escorts (de). kinkaid still believed lee s force guarding north, japanese had element of surprise when attacked taffy 3 @ 06:45. kurita mistook taffy carriers large fleet carriers , thought had whole third fleet in sights. since escort carriers stood little chance against battleship, adm. clifton sprague directed carriers of taffy 3 turn , flee eastward, hoping bad visibility reduce accuracy of japanese gunfire, , used destroyers divert japanese battleships. destroyers made harassing torpedo attacks against japanese. ten minutes yamato caught in evasive action. 2 destroyers , de sunk, had bought enough time taffy groups launch planes. taffy 3 turned , fled south, shells scoring hits on of carriers , sinking 1 of them. superior speed of japanese force allowed draw closer , fire on other 2 taffy groups. however, @ 09:20 kurita turned , retreated north. signals had disabused him of notion attacking third fleet, , longer kurita continued engage, greater risk of major air strikes. destroyer attacks had broken japanese formations, shattering tactical control. 3 of kurita s heavy cruisers had been sunk , damaged continue fight. japanese retreated through san bernardino strait, under continuous air attack. battle of leyte gulf over; , large part of japanese surface fleet destroyed.

the battle secured beachheads of sixth army on leyte against attack sea, broke of japanese naval power , opened way advance ryukyu islands in 1945. significant japanese naval operation afterwards disastrous operation ten-go in april 1945. kurita s force had begun battle 5 battleships; when returned japan, yamato combat-worthy. nishimura s sunken yamashiro last battleship in history engage in combat.

philippines, 1944–45


general douglas macarthur wading ashore @ leyte

on 20 october 1944 sixth army, supported naval , air bombardment, landed on favorable eastern shore of leyte, north of mindanao. sixth army continued advance east, japanese rushed reinforcements ormoc bay area on western side of island. while sixth army reinforced successfully, fifth air force able devastate japanese attempts resupply. in torrential rains , on difficult terrain, advance continued across leyte , neighboring island of samar north. on 7 december army units landed @ ormoc bay and, after major land , air battle, cut off japanese ability reinforce , supply leyte. although fierce fighting continued on leyte months, army in control.

on 15 december 1944 landings against minimal resistance made on southern beaches of island of mindoro, key location in planned lingayen gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on luzon. on 9 january 1945, on south shore of lingayen gulf on western coast of luzon, general krueger s sixth army landed first units. 175,000 men followed across twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within few days. heavy air support, army units pushed inland, taking clark field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of manila, in last week of january.

us troops approaching japanese positions near baguio, luzon, 23 march 1945

two more major landings followed, 1 cut off bataan peninsula, , another, included parachute drop, south of manila. pincers closed on city and, on 3 february 1945, elements of 1st cavalry division pushed northern outskirts of manila , 8th cavalry passed through northern suburbs , city itself.

as advance on manila continued north , south, bataan peninsula rapidly secured. on 16 february paratroopers , amphibious units assaulted island fortress of corregidor, , resistance ended there on 27 february.

in all, ten divisions , 5 independent regiments battled on luzon, making largest campaign of pacific war, involving more troops united states had used in north africa, italy, or southern france. forces included mexican escuadrón 201 fighter squadron part of fuerza aérea expedicionaria mexicana (faem— mexican expeditionary air force ), squadron attached 58th fighter group of united states army air forces flew tactical support missions. of 250,000 japanese troops defending luzon, 80 percent died. last japanese soldier in philippines surrender hiroo onoda on 9 march 1974.

palawan island, between borneo , mindoro, fifth largest , western-most philippine island, invaded on 28 february landings of eighth army @ puerto princesa. japanese put little direct defense of palawan, cleaning pockets of japanese resistance lasted until late april, japanese used common tactic of withdrawing mountain jungles, dispersed small units. throughout philippines, forces aided filipino guerrillas find , dispatch holdouts.

the eighth army moved on first landing on mindanao (17 april), last of major philippine islands taken. mindanao followed invasion , occupation of panay, cebu, negros , several islands in sulu archipelago. these islands provided bases fifth , thirteenth air forces attack targets throughout philippines , south china sea.