the battle of Okinawa
Okinawa is part of the Ryukyu Island chain and is located 350 miles south of Japan. Okinawa was the last island in the island-hopping operation and had had to be captured so U.S forces could prepare for the invasion of Japan. Defending the island were 120,000 Japanese troops under the command of General Mitsuru Ushijima against 183,000 allied troops of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Simon B. Buckner.
invasion day
Codenamed L-Day, Sunday, April 1st 1945 was the day of the invasion. Allies stormed ashore while being covered by battleships and "hell divers" offshore, expected to be under heavy fire, but that's not what happen. Coming in, no lead came flying. Buckner led the 2nd infantry division north while Nimitz led the 96th and 7th divisions south, meeting the 1st line of defense known as Cactus ridge. In the north, the 2nd division swept through everything, In 20 days, they cleared it and headed to the south. by April 9th, more divisions came to support.
SUGAR LOAF HILL
The 6th division was handed the task of taking "Sugar loaf hill" which was on the left side of the island. The thing was, that it was on the Shuri line, so U.S forces knew with the capture of the hill they could break the through the ridge. For 12 mostly rainy days, the marines fought for the hill. they made 4 attempts to charge it but was driven back. Finally with a final all out charge, they took the hill, when the 75mm guns came, it was used to shell the hill to make sure. But the cost was high with 1,600 dead and 7,400 wounded.
CASUALTIES
casualties were high with 12,500 Americans dead, 4,675 were killed in battle or missing. General Buckner Killed by artillery fire while inspecting troops on the front lines, the highest ranking officer to be killed. Not long after his death, Allies sent General Claudis Miller Easley to take command. But not long after he was killed by machinegun fire, but in time his division had reached their objective and was requested to stay offshore to resupply. The Japanese lost 110,071 who were killed in battle including 2,655 who were killed in accidents and general Ushijima who committed Hara-Kiri (ritual suicide). Towards the end of the battle, 16,346 were captured or surrendered. One-third of civilians died in the battle and the estimated number was 42,000 to150,000. Unlike Iwo Jima, Okinawa was a large country and couldn't be evacuated fast enough before it started the crossfire started.
SEA BATTLE
The Japanese knew ships were stationed offshore to resupply troops and provide support and if the those ships sunk ,the Japanese would win. General Ushijima sent 350 kamikaze planes to bomb the U.S ships, the Americans were able to deflect the planes with their anti-aircraft guns but losses were heavy with 12 destroyers and 368 other allied ships sunk. The U.S lost 768 planes in the battle. The USS Laffney was legend because of surviving 8 kamikaze attacks, the aircraft carrier was badly damaged but was able to make it back to the U.S to get it repaired. Japanese lost were big with 16 combat vessels sunk including the Yamato in operation Ten-go. The Japanese also lost 7,830 planes, most in suicide attacks but being down from U.S anti-aircraft guns.
SUGAR LOAF HILL
The 6th division was handed the task of taking "Sugar loaf hill" which was on the left side of the island. The thing was, that it was on the Shuri line, so U.S forces knew with the capture of the hill they could break the through the ridge. For 12 mostly rainy days, the marines fought for the hill. they made 4 attempts to charge it but was driven back. Finally with a final all out charge, they took the hill, when the 75mm guns came, it was used to shell the hill to make sure. But the cost was high with 1,600 dead and 7,400 wounded.
CASUALTIES
casualties were high with 12,500 Americans dead, 4,675 were killed in battle or missing. General Buckner Killed by artillery fire while inspecting troops on the front lines, the highest ranking officer to be killed. Not long after his death, Allies sent General Claudis Miller Easley to take command. But not long after he was killed by machinegun fire, but in time his division had reached their objective and was requested to stay offshore to resupply. The Japanese lost 110,071 who were killed in battle including 2,655 who were killed in accidents and general Ushijima who committed Hara-Kiri (ritual suicide). Towards the end of the battle, 16,346 were captured or surrendered. One-third of civilians died in the battle and the estimated number was 42,000 to150,000. Unlike Iwo Jima, Okinawa was a large country and couldn't be evacuated fast enough before it started the crossfire started.
SEA BATTLE
The Japanese knew ships were stationed offshore to resupply troops and provide support and if the those ships sunk ,the Japanese would win. General Ushijima sent 350 kamikaze planes to bomb the U.S ships, the Americans were able to deflect the planes with their anti-aircraft guns but losses were heavy with 12 destroyers and 368 other allied ships sunk. The U.S lost 768 planes in the battle. The USS Laffney was legend because of surviving 8 kamikaze attacks, the aircraft carrier was badly damaged but was able to make it back to the U.S to get it repaired. Japanese lost were big with 16 combat vessels sunk including the Yamato in operation Ten-go. The Japanese also lost 7,830 planes, most in suicide attacks but being down from U.S anti-aircraft guns.