Air Raids On Japan - Naval Air Attacks

Naval Air Attacks

The US Navy conducted its first attacks against the Japanese home islands in mid-February 1945. This operation was undertaken primarily to destroy Japanese aircraft that could attack the US Navy and Marine Corps forces involved with the landing on Iwo Jima on 19 February, and was conducted by Task Force 58 (TF 58). This task force was the US Navy's main striking force in the Pacific, and comprised 11 fleet carriers, five light aircraft carriers and a powerful force of escorts. TF 58 approached Japan undetected, and attacked airfields and aircraft factories in the Tokyo region on 16 and 17 February. The American naval aviators claimed 341 "kills" against Japanese aircraft and the destruction of a further 160 on the ground for the loss of 60 aircraft in combat and 28 in accidents. Several ships were also attacked and sunk in Tokyo Bay. The actual Japanese aircraft losses in this operation are uncertain, however; the Imperial General Headquarters admitted losing 78 aircraft in dogfights and did not provide a figure for those destroyed on the ground. TF 58's ships were not attacked during this period in Japanese waters, and on 18 February sailed south to provide direct support to the landings on Iwo Jima. The Task Force attempted a second raid against the Tokyo area on 25 February, but this operation was frustrated by bad weather. The American ships sailed south, and attacked Okinawa from 1 March.

TF 58 renewed its attacks on Japan in mid-March when it made a series of raids that sought to destroy Japanese aircraft within range of Okinawa prior to the landing there. On 18 March, carrier aircraft struck Japanese airfields and other military facilities on Kyushu. The next day they attacked Japanese warships at Kure and Kobe, damaging the battleship Yamato and aircraft carrier Amagi. The Japanese fought back against these raids with kamikaze and conventional attacks, and inflicted light damage on three carriers on 18 March and severely damaged USS Franklin the next day. On 20 March, TF 58 sailed south but continued fighter sweeps over Kyushu to suppress Japanese aircraft. During the attacks on 18 and 19 March, the American naval aviators claimed to have destroyed 223 Japanese aircraft in the air and 250 on the ground, while the Japanese placed their losses as 161 of the 191 aircraft they committed in the air and an unspecified number on the ground. From 23 March, TF 58 conducted strikes against Okinawa, though its aircraft made further sweeps of Kyushu on 28 and 29 March. Following the landing on 1 April, TF 58 provided air defense for the naval force off Okinawa and regularly conducted patrols over Kyushu. In an attempt to stem the large-scale Japanese air attacks against the Allied ships, part of TF 58 struck at kamikaze aircraft bases on Kyushu and Shikoku on 12 and 13 May. On 27 May, Admiral William Halsey assumed command of the Fifth Fleet (redesignated the Third Fleet) from Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. TF 58, renumbered TF 38, continued operations off Okinawa in late May and June, and on 2 and 3 June one of its task groups attacked airfields on Kyushu. Another attack was made against these airfields on 8 June; two days later, TF 38 left Japanese waters for a period of recuperation at Leyte in the Philippines.

On 1 July, TF 38 sailed from Leyte to strike at the Japanese home islands. At this time the Task Force comprised nine fleet carriers, six light carriers and their escorts. On 10 July the Task Force's aircraft conducted raids on airfields in the Tokyo region, destroying several aircraft on the ground. No Japanese fighters were encountered in the air, however, as they were being kept in reserve for a planned large-scale suicide attack on the Allied fleet. Following this raid TF 38 steamed north, and began a major attack on Hokkaido and northern Honshu on 14 July. These strikes continued the next day, and sank eight of the 12 railway car ferries which carried coal from Hokkaido to Honshu and damaged the remaining four. Many other ships were also destroyed in this area, including 70 out of the 272 small sailing ships which carried coal between the islands. Once again no Japanese aircraft opposed this attack, though 25 were destroyed on the ground. The loss of the railway car ferries reduced the amount of coal shipped from Hokkaido to Honshu by 80 percent, which greatly hindered production in Honshu's factories. This operation has been described as the single most effective strategic air attack of the Pacific War. TF 38's battleships and cruisers also began a series of bombardments of industrial targets on 14 July which continued until almost the end of the war.

Following the attacks on Hokkaido and northern Honshu TF 38 sailed south and was reinforced by the main body of the British Pacific Fleet, which was designated Task Force 37 and included another four fleet carriers. Strikes on the Tokyo area on 17 July were disrupted by bad weather, but the next day aircraft from the fleet attacked Yokosuka naval base where they damaged the battleship Nagato and sank four other warships. On 24, 25 and 28 July the Allied fleet attacked Kure and the Inland Sea and sank an aircraft carrier and three battleships, as well as two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and several other warships. A force of 79 USAAF Liberators flying from Okinawa participated in this attack on 28 July. Allied casualties in this operation were heavy, however, as 126 aircraft were shot down. On 29 and 30 July the carrier aircraft struck at Maizuru, sinking three small warships and 12 merchant vessels, before the fleet sailed east to avoid a typhoon and replenish its supplies. Its next attacks against Japan took place on 9 and 10 August, and were directed at a build up of Japanese aircraft in northern Honshu which Allied intelligence believed were to be used to conduct a commando raid against the B-29 bases in the Marianas. The naval aviators claimed to have destroyed 251 aircraft in their attacks on 9 August and damaged a further 141. On 13 August, TF 38's aircraft attacked the Tokyo region again and claimed to have destroyed 254 Japanese aircraft on the ground and 18 in the air. Another raid was launched against Tokyo on the morning of 15 August, and the 103 aircraft of its first wave attacked their targets. The second wave aborted its attack when word was received that Japan had agreed to surrender. Several Japanese aircraft were shot down while attempting to attack TF 38 later that day, however.