On this day in 1944, the United States Naval forces in the Pacific launched a 2-day attack that devastated the Japanese aircraft carrier forces, shifting the balance of naval air power in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Called the Battle of the Phillipine Sea, this highly epic carrier struggle came to be known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot.” It resulted in only a minimal loss of life for the Americans.
The Western Pacific Marianas Islands security was vital to the Japanese war machine, who had established air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. On Saipan, American soldiers were already fighting the Japanese, having landed on the island on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Japanese in the Philippine Islands, as well as Japan itself vulnerable to U.S. attack. The American Fifth Fleet, under the command of Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands to serve as backup for the invasion of Saipan, as well as that of the rest of the Marianas Islands.
However, Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo made the decision to challenge the United States fleet, and ordered 430 of his aircraft, launching from his carriers, to strike at the Americans. Than, in what would become the greatest carrier battle of World War II, the United States, which had already picked up the Japanese planes on radar, on June 19, proceeded to shoot down around 300 of the aircraft, and sink two Japanese carriers. American losses numbered just 29 aircraft. It was afterwards described as a “turkey shoot.”
Admiral Ozawa, however, believed that his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, and maintained his naval position in the Philippine Sea, which permitted a second attack of American carrier based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, which resulted in the shooting of an additional 65 Japanese aircraft, and the sinking of another carrier.
Over the course of two days, the Japanese lost close to 600 aircraft (200 land-based, 400 carrier-based), as well as most the crews. American naval domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion.
Not long after this great seabattle, American Marine Divisions began to penetrate farther into Saipan. Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, the two Japanese commanders on the island, committed suicide in an attempt to rally the remainder of the Japanese troops. It succeeded, as the Japanese than committed a virtual suicide, attacking the American lines, losing 26,000 men, compared to the loss of 3,500 men by the United States. Within a month, the islands of Tinian and Guam had also been taken by the Americans. Afterwards, the Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace.
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