Despite American intelligence reports of thousands of Japanese aircraft being hoarded in Japan for a devastating air attack on any fleet invading Okinawa, no attack developed in the opening days of the Okinawa campaign. Yet, the massive enemy air attack expected by the Americans didn’t develop. ![]() ![]() The ship would sustain heavy damage in her brief wartime service and was decommissioned in December 1945. The American destroyer USS Leutze plows through heavy seas. So keyed up were the Americans that a false alarm resulted in many of the ships firing wildly at imaginary aircraft in the darkness, smoke screens being ordered, and ships attempting to evade these imaginary attackers coming dangerously close to collision. Nearby, the Achernar was both crashed and bombed by conventional attackers, losing five killed and 41 wounded. On the evening of the first landings on Okinawa a Japanese kamikaze had crashed into the transport Alpine and blown two huge holes in her side, killing 16 and wounding 27. A few single planes had appeared over the fleet in recent days and struck hard. True, there had been some evidence of the enemy. Army was seeking it, moving deeper into Okinawa. fleet was protecting, the Japanese Army was nowhere to be found. ![]() Where were the Japanese? Even ashore at the beachhead the Fifth U.S. Veterans of naval battles at the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, and the Philippine Sea couldn’t explain it. They had been waiting for days, expecting at any minute to be rushed to battle stations, but for days nothing much had happened.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |