Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Decimated Japanese Naval Air Power
Jul 29, 2008 Andrew C. Rappold
Following the successful conquest of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands in late 1943 and early 1944, the United States Navy was poised to continue its offensive into the Central Pacific.
Operation Forager
For its campaign to seize the Mariana Islands in June of 1944, known as Operation Forager, the United States amassed 585 ships and over 127,000 troops. This was the largest force yet assembled for such an operation. The initial amphibious assault was to take place against the island of Saipan on June 15, with subsequent landings on Tinian and Guam. Capture of the Marianas would not only give the United States Navy a forward base of operations for future offensives on Imperial Japan’s western Pacific possessions, but also allow B-29 strategic bombers of the US Army Air Force to begin strikes on the Japanese homeland, located only 1500 miles away.
Task Force 58
Protection of the Operation Forager landing forces was provided by Task Force 58, under the command of Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. With fifteen carriers and over 900 aircraft at his disposal, Mitscher’s first priority was the neutralization of Japanese aircraft operating from airfields located in the Marianas group. This was completed on June 11, when over 200 strike aircraft launched from Task Force 58’s carriers attacked Japanese airfields and destroyed over 100 enemy planes. With the threat posed by Japanese land based aircraft effectively nullified, Mitscher could now concentrate on defending the invasion beaches against any enemy naval counterattacks.
Japanese First Mobile Fleet
Seeking a decisive naval engagement with their American adversaries, the Japanese dispatched Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s First Mobile Fleet on June 13 to challenge the Marianas invasion. Ozawa’s task was daunting, as he had only nine carriers with half the amount of aircraft as Task Force 58 and his aircrews were lacking in combat experience. The only option was to utilize the superior range of his attack aircraft and strike the American carriers before his own fleet came under threat.
Ozawa Attacks
On the morning of June 19, Ozawa’s First Mobile Fleet approached the Marianas from the west to within 300 miles of Task Force 58. At 8:30 AM, the first wave of seventy attack aircraft rose from the decks of the Japanese carriers, bound for the American fleet that lay 200 miles west of Saipan. Over the next three hours, three more raids would be launched.
Shortly before 10 AM, the initial flight of Japanese aircraft was detected by American radar and soon over four hundred fighters were sent aloft to intercept. Half of the attacking aircraft succumbed to the American defenders before reaching their objective, with another seven falling prey to Task Force 58’s antiaircraft gunnery. The following three waves of Japanese met a similar fate, with no significant damage being inflicted on any US Navy vessels.
US Submarines Strike the First Mobile Fleet
Just after Ozawa’s second wave left the decks of his carriers at 9:10 AM, an unseen threat made itself painfully evident. A torpedo from the US submarine Albacore slammed into the side of the Imperial Navy’s largest carrier, Taiho. The Japanese behemoth did not sink immediately, but was destroyed in a gigantic explosion six hours later from leaking gasoline vapors. A second carrier, the Pearl Harbor veteran Shokaku, was struck by four torpedoes from the USS Cavella just after noon, sinking three hours later when fires ignited her magazines.
Mitscher Attacks
It was not until the afternoon of the 20th that the First Mobile Fleet's position was confirmed by US air patrols. Located 250 miles to the northwest of the American carriers, Mitscher decided to risk an attack even though the daylight was fading and the Japanese fleet was nearly beyond his bomber and torpedo aircraft's maximum range.
Ozawa was refueling his fleet with the hope of renewing his attack the next day when he was informed of the inbound American aircraft. Ozawa ordered a withdrawal to the northwest, but to no avail. Over two hundred US planes descended upon the Japanese ships as the sun began to set, sinking the light carrier Hiyo and three tankers. The carriers Junyo and Zuikaku took heavy damage and sixty-five aircraft were shot down by American fighters. The Americans lost twenty aircraft in the attack itself, however nearly one hundred were forced to ditch on the return flight due to empty fuel tanks.
“The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was among the most complete US victories of the Pacific War. Of the 473 carrier aircraft that Ozawa left port with, only thirty six remained when he arrived at Okinawa on June 22. Additionally, nearly 200 land based Japanese aircraft also fell victim to US Navy pilots. Conversely, the Americans lost only 123 aircraft.
The Japanese quest to engage the US Navy in a conclusive naval contest resulted in the near total destruction of the Imperial Navy’s air arm, a blow from which it was never to recover. For the US naval aviators of Task Force 58, it was indeed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.
ReferenceThe Pacific War, John Costello, Atlantic Communications Inc., 1981
The Times Atlas of the Second World War, John Keegan, Crescent Books, 1995
The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku under attack
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US Navy Admiral Marc A. Mitscher
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Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa
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