USS Sederstrom (DE-31) - Under Attack By Japanese Kamikaze Planes

Under Attack By Japanese Kamikaze Planes

On 21 March, Sederstrom departed the Western Carolines for the Ryūkyūs in the screen of the escort carriers of Support Carrier Unit 1 and arrived off the southern tip of Okinawa early on the afternoon of the 24th. For the next three weeks, she screened and provided plane guard services for the CVE's (escort carriers) as they supported the landings on Kerama Retto and on Okinawa. By mid-April, however, Japanese aerial resistance, particularly the kamikazes, had taken enough of a toll among the destroyer types providing anti-submarine and anti-aircraft screens for the beachhead area to necessitate replacements, and Sederstrom was reassigned to this duty. On the 22nd, she was targeted by a kamikaze, but her anti-aircraft guns damaged the plane sufficiently to cause it to crash into the water about 10 feet off the starboard bow. Gasoline and pieces of metal showered the bridge and forecastle, but major damage was avoided. One man, forced overboard during the action, was quickly recovered.

In early May, the destroyer escort escorted Arkansas (BB-33) out of the combat area; and, on the 18th, Sederstrom herself left the Ryūkyūs area. Escorting Eldorado (AGC-11), she arrived at Guam on the 22d. From the Marianas, she returned to the Western Carolines, whence she escorted convoy UOK-27 to Okinawa. From 24 June to 4 July, she patrolled off the Hagushi anchorage.