Battle of the Mariana Islands

On June 11, 1944, the carrier fleet of the US Navy launched a bombardment of the Mariana Islands , which defended 1,000 aircraft of the 1st Air Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Kakuta Kakuji . From the first days, Japanese aviation suffered heavy losses. Admiral Toyoda ordered Vice Admiral Ozawa Dzisaburo's carrier force to immediately attack the enemy fleet. But Ozawa had to refuel his ships and could not arrive at the islands earlier than June 18.

Ozawa chose the route through the Philippines and passed the San Bernardino Strait, where he was discovered by U.S. intelligence. On the evening of June 15, he was spotted by the submarine. The Ozawa compound turned northeast to meet with the ships of Admiral Matome Ugaki. They were discovered by the Sea Horse submarine when leaving Halmacher Island in the evening of June 15. In the afternoon of June 17, the fleet refueled from the tanker and went north. On the morning of the same day, a second group of tankers was discovered by the submarine . At 21:15, the Cavella, following the tankers, stumbled upon Ozawa's Mobile Fleet. ^[one]

In the week between June 11 and 18, US aviation completely defeated Admiral Kakuda's base aviation. Japanese pilots did not have enough experience for serious resistance. When Ozawa entered the attack range, Kakuda's base aircraft no longer existed as an organized force and Ozawa was forced to fight alone ^[2] .

According to Japanese intelligence, the Americans were advancing with the forces of 4 carrier groups, numbering 12 aircraft carriers.

Ozawa had 3 groups, which included the heavy aircraft carriers " Taiho ", " Shokaku ", " Zuikaku ", the medium aircraft carriers " Junyo ", " Hiyo " and the light aircraft carriers "Ryuho", "Chiyoda", "Chitose", " Zuyho ".

The 1st division of aircraft carriers, which was personally commanded by Ozawa , consisted of 3 aircraft carriers, on board of which were 81 Zero , 9 Judy (scouts), 81 Judy (dive-bombers), 54 Gill (horizontal bombers). Each aircraft carrier carried about a third of the above aircraft.

2nd division of aircraft carriers under the com. Rear Admiral Takejo consisted of 3 aircraft carriers, on board of which were based: 81 Zero , 27 Val dive-bombers, 9 Judy dive-bombers, 27 Jill bombers.

3rd Division under the com. Rear Admiral Obayashi Sueo consisted of 3 aircraft carriers that carried: 36 Zero , 6 Dzhillov , 12 Keitov .

A total of 9 aircraft carriers carried 450 aircraft. It was the most powerful Japanese unit in the history of the war.

On the morning of June 19, Ozawa threw all his planes into battle against the American Navy. Rear Admiral Spruens intercepted all the Hellcat fighters that intercepted the Ozawa bombers and shot down 25 planes at the cost of losing one of their own. The surviving bombers were intercepted by another group of fighters, which shot down 16 more aircraft. The few that broke through attacked the American destroyers Yarnal and Stockham, but to no avail. Only the battleship South Dakota received one hit.

The ensuing aerial battle clearly showed how much improved American deck aircraft. Literally in everything: tactics, flight control, pilot training - Americans outperformed inexperienced, poorly trained Japanese pilots. The battle clearly demonstrated what will happen to a weak fleet, even if it strikes first. 42 Japanese aircraft were shot down. The only American ship to be hit was the South Dakota battleship. However, his injuries were minor. Line Fleet, covered by fighters, scattered the first wave. ^[one]

At 11:07 a second wave of attackers from 109 aircraft was seen: 35 dive bombers, 27 torpedo bombers, 48 ​​fighters. They were intercepted about 100 kilometers from the target, about 70 aircraft were shot down. 6 aircraft broke through to the aircraft carriers, causing minor damage to them, a small group of torpedo bombers attacked the aircraft carrier Enterprise . 97 aircraft of this wave were shot down.

At about 13:00, the third attack took place, in which 47 Japanese aircraft participated (15 fighters, 25 fighter-bombers, 7 torpedo bombers). 7 were shot down, 40 returned to aircraft carriers.

At 11:30 a fourth wave was raised from Japanese aircraft carriers: 30 fighters, 9 dive bombers, 33 torpedo bombers, 10 fighter-bombers. All of them received incorrect target designations. 49 aircraft went to Guam , having received orders to land on the island. The rest met the American fleet and suffered heavy losses. The planes sent to Guam dropped bombs into the sea and began to land, but only 19 of them managed to do so. They were later destroyed on earth by American fighters. Only 70 aircraft were killed while trying to take cover in Guam. ^[3]

One pilot from the Lexington aircraft carrier said: “Damn, it resembles an old turkey hunt!” From that moment on, this battle became known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.

At about 8 a.m. on June 19, the American submarine Albacore (2nd-rank captain James Blenchard) discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier Taicho. At about 8:08 a.m. the boat fired 6 torpedoes with a wide fan and immediately went into the depths. One explosion was heard, and “possible damage to the aircraft carrier” was recorded on the boat’s combat account. In fact, one of the torpedoes exploded in the area of ​​gas tanks. Admiral Ozawa, who was on the aircraft carrier, moved to the aircraft carrier Zuikaku . About 6 hours after the torpedo fire, the fire caused an explosion of gasoline, and the Taiho exploded (16:40), and many planes and almost the entire crew died.

It is possible that the aircraft carrier could have been saved, if not for 2 other factors. His crude oil produced extremely flammable vapors, and his crew showed poor preparation, trying to maintain a speed of 26 knots and keeping all ventilation shafts open. At 15:30, an internal explosion literally turned the ship around. Fires prevented rescuers from even approaching the side. The aircraft carrier sank at 17:28, 1650 people from the crew died in 2150. ^[one]

At 11:20, the American submarine Cavella (2nd-rank captain German Kossler) attacked the aircraft carrier Sekaku . The boat fired 6 torpedoes from a distance of 1100 meters. 3 out of six torpedoes reached the target, and the aircraft carrier with a displacement of 30,000 tons sank.

Spruance found out where Ozawa was only on June 20 at 15:40. “Spruence had to make a difficult decision. His pilots had a long flight and landing already in the dark. The admiral understood that many pilots might not return to aircraft carriers. And still at 16:20 he ordered to lift planes. By 16:36 a shock wave of 85 fighters, 77 dive bombers, 54 torpedo bombers was in the air. ” ^[1]

On the morning of June 20, Ozawa had only 150 aircraft, but he began to prepare them for an attack on the American fleet. Suddenly, 550 American bombers, torpedo bombers and fighters appeared, to whom Ozawa could counter only 35 cover fighters ^[4] . Avenger torpedo bombers destroyed the Hiyo aircraft carrier (20:32, 250 people were killed) and two tankers. The aircraft carriers “ Zuykaku ”, “Junyo”, “ Ryuho ”, “Chiyoda” and the battleship “ Haruna ” were severely damaged ^[5] . The Americans lost 20 aircraft. The rest returned to the aircraft carriers and began landing at 20:45, and 80 of them were lost in the dark for various reasons - some fell into the sea, some crashed onto the deck.

Blinded by bright light and having no experience of night landings, pilots in some cases attempted to board cruisers and battleships, which, of course, did not have a flight deck. Other pilots could not understand the signals given to them from the aircraft carriers and sat on the planes that had just landed in front of them or crashed into barriers. Many pilots who survived the battle died on the flight decks during this messy landing. As a result of accidents during landing on water and aircraft carriers, 80 aircraft were lost. At the same time 38 pilots died or went missing. ^[3]

Ozawa managed to raise 10 torpedo bombers for a night attack, but they did not achieve hits ^[2] .

The Americans lost about 23 aircraft in battle and another 80 during a night landing.

Ozawa had at the end of the battle only 47 combat-ready aircraft: 25 Zero , 6 torpedo bombers, 2 dive bombers and 12 other aircraft. About 300 were lost in battle and on the decks of destroyed aircraft carriers.

The Japanese fleet began this battle, having the most powerful aircraft carrier formation in its history, and the consequences of this defeat were worse than after Midway. The Japanese carrier fleet practically ceased to exist and aviation was no longer enough even for defense. In October 1944, during the battle in Leyte Gulf, 4 Japanese aircraft carriers could not operate only because there were no aircraft for them.

The defeat at the Mariana Islands and heavy losses in aircraft became one of the reasons for the creation of kamikaze units. ^[2]

The decisive battle was lost again. However, Ozawa cannot be blamed for this. He was ordered to join the battle, having half the strength. He firmly counted on 500 Kakuta aircraft, but did not receive them. His biggest mistake was the attack of the Linear Forces. The new tactical formation, which was to divert the attention of enemy aircraft from the American aircraft carriers, worked perfectly. But this is the fault of inexperienced pilots, not the admiral. His third and fourth shock waves used the wrong coordinates. In addition, Ozawa considered Guam a refuge, and he became the grave for Japanese aviation. It is very difficult to do something more with so little strength and such inexperienced pilots. ^[one]

In the battle of the Mariana Islands, Zero fighters were used for the first time as bombers. Practice has shown that Zero are more effective in this role than other bombers. Subsequently, this led to their wider use and, in particular, to the appearance of kamikaze units. Also in this battle, Navy Capt. Gerald Ford, the future President of the United States, participated.