Battle of the Philippine Sea

This crushing blow means that Japan can no longer compete in carrier-based warfare.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea is an important American victory.

Back on Saipan, the conflict plummets to new depths of horror.

It's not the Banzai charges that shock the US troops, is the suicidal fanaticism of the 8,000 Japanese civilians on the island.

By the night of D plus 3, they had been bled by more than 5,000 casualties.

d plus four to d plus seven nineteen to twenty two june the most critical event of nineteen june and perhaps the most important of the whole saipan campaign took place at sea well out of sight of the infantrymen ashore the opposing carrier task forces clashed in a gigantic air battle when it was over that night the japanese had suffered the catastrophic loss of three hundred thirty out of four hundred thirty planes they had launched exultant u s navy fliers labeled it the great marianas turkey shoot with the help of american submarines and additional carrier plane attacks the next day the japanese attempt to relieve saipan by a decisive naval victory was smashed As an official account summarized the impact ashore, the eventual doom of the enemy garrison was assured, and the American supply ships were able to return offshore to unload their vital cargoes.

During the four-day span of D-4 to D-7, the 105th Infantry moved slowly along the south coast and then joined the 165th Infantry in sealing off the die-hard Japanese survivors in Nafutan Point in the southeastern corner of the island.

once the enemy was penned in the one hundred fifth was assigned to eliminate him the rest of the twenty seventh division now including the one hundred sixth infantry was ordered north to be the corps reserve this period nineteen to twenty two june marked a total shift in direction for the american troops pivoting on the second marines on the far left flank along the western shore the other marine regiments swung around from their drive which had reached the east coast to face north with their right flank on majesean bay on twenty june the fourth division confronted a key objective lieutenant chapin had a ringside seat we had a perfect chance to watch a battalion of the twenty fifth making an attack it was in action about a quarter of a mile from us and the whole panorama was spread out before us they were assaulting hill five hundred the dominant terrain feature of the whole area and it was apparent that they were running into a solid wall of jap fire but using artillery time-fire smoke and tanks they finally stormed the top and took it the use of those supporting arms provided a magnificent spectacle from our vantage point we could see the time-fire bursting in cave entrances and moving down the face of the hill as precisely as if it were going down a step ladder on the lower levels the flame-thrower tanks were spouting their napalm jets upward into other caves it was quite a sight over in the area of the second division the eighth marines wheeled from facing east to attack northward into the foothills leading to mount tapachah the marine divisions were now facing two major problems first their drive north was confronted by general sato's main line of defense running west to east across the island secondly the terrain into which the attack had to go was a nightmare of ravines caves hills valleys and cliffs all fortified and defended to the death by the japanese june twenty one brought a respite for the front-line troops d plus six was enjoyed by all for a change we rested on our positions caught up on sorely needed sleep got some water which had been conspicuous by its absence and even had a good hot meal for we got our first ten-in-one rations did they ever taste good to our hungry palates sure fitted as they were with k rations simultaneously intensive preparations were made for a coordinated attack by both marine divisions the next morning a total of eighteen artillery battalions were massed for supporting fire combat efficiency was officially rated as very satisfactory in spite of a sobering total of six thousand one hundred sixty five casualties the following day saw the marines attack all along the line the sixth marines overran parts of mount tepupali while the eighth marines worked its painful way into the maze of ridges and gullies that formed the foothills of mount on the right the twenty-fourth marines was forced into the messy business of blasting caves honeycombed along majesean bay in one of the mortar platoons a weird encounter took place as described at the time to this author by the participant first lieutenant joseph j cushing i was bending over one of my mortars checking the lay of it when i felt a tap on my shoulder and a guy asked me hey mac are you a marine i turned around and there was a jap officer standing about a foot from me i dropped to the ground speechless with amazement and my men riddled the jap from head to toe

Against the large targets the carrier strikes were hitting in 1944, that difference mattered in ways that showed up in the post-strike photography.

By the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June of 1944, Helldivers were doing the heavy lifting in the carrier dive bombing role.

At Leyte Gulf that October, SB-2C crews hit Japanese carriers and battleships.

They were at Truk, at Formosa, at Manila Bay at Okinawa, eventually at Kyushu and the Japanese home islands in the closing months of the war.

He had carriers with no pilots left to fill them, as an air power capable of projecting offensive naval aviation.

The Imperial Japanese Navy was finished after the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The Hellcat's work didn't stop when the sun went down either.

Grumman and the Navy developed the F6-F5 November, a dedicated night fighter variant.

And the only thing I can think of, and I have no real way because, again, I tried to find it in deck logs of Birmingham.

I tried to find it in North Carolina, and I just didn't find it, is that as Task Force 58 is moving out and they're going to what will be Battle of the Philippine Sea, Operation Forager is that the individual task groups are moving out individually.

Well, and that may well be, of course, because isn't it? It's TG 58.7 is going to be Lee's battleship group.

And so, you know, they may be exiting Ula 5 first.

The Japanese were still forming up and climbing when they met the Hellcats, coming at them from above and ahead.

What happened next American pilots started calling the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot before the day was even over.

In approximately eight hours of air combat on the nineteenth, Japanese naval aviation was effectively destroyed as an offensive force.

The numbers are almost hard to believe.

Admiral Halsey's decision to pursue the Japanese Northern Force, the decoy force, has been the subject of much debate and criticism.

His decision should be judged in the context of what happened at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where Admiral Spruance drew criticism for not pursuing the Japanese fleet more aggressively and allowing them to escape.

Halsey was aware of that criticism, and it may well have influenced his own decision.

After the war, Halsey was quoted as saying he wished he had been at the Battle of the Philippine Sea and Spruance had been at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

And we'll have to stop there for today.

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The Zero that was revolutionary in forty-one is no longer a technological leader by forty-four, and what those less experienced Japanese pilots are flying into is a force of American aviators who are better trained than ever, flying a purpose-built Zero killer in numbers that are frankly hard to believe.

June nineteenth, nineteen forty-four, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Japan commits its carrier airpower in a series of massive strike waves against the American Fifth Fleet, which is covering the Marianas landings.

This is the largest carrier versus carrier battle of the entire war.

The Japanese launch wave after wave, hundreds of aircraft.

The arsenal of democracy is delivering big carriers after big carriers.

And Task Force 58 then takes on the Japanese attack in what is known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, but is otherwise known as the Turkey Shoot.

What do we learn about this moment and Spruance's decision-making, Professor?

Well, keep in mind that the United States Navy in peacetime always plans for contingencies.

That's absolutely true.

And I think it's a great teaching point because it shows the difference between tactical and operational confrontation and clear strategic thinking.

The Japanese in the Battle of the Philippine Sea had lost most of their trained carrier pilots.

So they have carriers.