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The next major American campaign was the Marianas and resulted in the Battle of the Phillipine Sea. The major islands were Tinian, Saipan, and Guam. The islands were taken by the Japanese 3 hours after Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941). The Japanese built important defensive positions on the islands, including air fields. General Takashuina commanded a 19,000 man force. The Japanese planned an all-out naval counter attack in the Central Pacific called "Operation Z.” Vice Admiral Fukudome, Chief of Staff, carring the plan was in a plane crash over the southern Philippines. Filipino guerillas found the documents and relayed it to the Americans. The American offensive to take the islands was Operation Forager. The Marianas was the inner-ring of Japanese defenses. Unlike the earlier Gilbert and Marshall campaigns, the Japane Navy did sally out to oppose the invasions. Saipan and Tinian would bring the Japanese Home Islands within range of new B-29 bombers. In the Philippine Sea. Japanese reconnaissance planes found Task
Force 58. The Japanese launched 372 aircraft, in four waves. The American carriers of Task Force 58 have about 950 planes. Radar oprovides advanced waring and the Japanese attacking force is intercepted. Many Japanese planes were shot down and more are destroyed by fleet anti-aircraft fire. The Japanese attack was ineffective. Only the USS South Dakota was hit by a single bomb. The Americans launched an air strike on Guam and a counter strike at the Japanese carriers requiring the Americans pilots to return in the dark. The Japanese lost about 300 aircraft and their invaluable pilots. The Americans lost only 29 pilots. US submarines Cavalla and Albacore sink the Japanese carriers Taiho and Shokaku. The battle is called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot (June 19). The Japanese losses signaled the extent to which the ballance of power had shifted in the Pacific War. The loses in the Phillipines Sea meant that the Japanese carrier force would not be an important factor in the upcoming battle for the Phillipines
The next major American campaign was the Marianas and resulted in the Battle of the Phillipine Sea. The major islands were Tinian, Saipan, and Guam.
The islands were taken by the Japanese 3 hours after Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941).
The Japanese built important defensive positions on the islands, including air fields. General Takashuina commanded a 19,000 man force.
The Japanese planned an all-out naval counter attack in the Central Pacific called Operation Z. The Japanese ammased a substantial force of carriers and sallied out from Okinawa. The plan was to destroy the invasion force and the American carriers protecting the fleet. The problen for the Japanese was that the cream of their pilots had been desimated at Coral Sea, Midway, and engagements in the Solomons. Thus their carrier planes were piloted by young very inexperienced men. In addition they were flying the same zeros without any significant modernization. Vice Admiral Fukudome, Chief of Staff, carring the plan was in a plane crash over the southern Philippines. Filipino guerillas found the documents and relayed it to the Americans.
The American Pacific Fleet was a very different force that had defended Midway in 1942. New Essex-class fast carriers were now arriving in numbers from American shipyards. Not only did the mericans now have a much larger carrier fleet with im[roved radar, but the carriers now had the remarkable mew F6F Hellcat fighter to replace the F4 Wild cat. As one American pilot put it, "Without the Hellcat, we would still be fighting the Japanese." The Hellcat outclassed the lightly-armored Zero in almopst all major categories. In addition, it was now the American pilots who were better trained and more experienced.
The American offensive to take the islands was Operation Forager.
The Marianas was the inner-ring of Japanese defenses. Saipan and Tinian would bring the Japanese Home Islands within range of new B-29 bombers.
The invasion of Saipn was one of the key confrontations of the Pacific War. Earlier Pacific Island invasions had made it clear that the Jpanes would not surrender no matter how great the forces availed against them. American planners concluded that if the Japanese would fight to the death on isolated Pacific islands, tht they would resist to the end in the defense of the Home Islands. The casualties of an invasion of the Home Islands could be orrendous. It was thus important to bring the Japanese Home Islands within the range of American bombers so that the Japanese war making power could be smashed. Seizure of the Marianas would provide the bases from which America could begin the bombardment of the Home Islands. There was a Japanese civilian population on Saipan. Japanese authorities urged the civilians to kill their children and commit suiside. Many did. After the Americans secured the island, the Jpanese civilians were interned, but in realtively comfortable circumstances.
Unlike the earlier Gilbert and Marshall campaigns, the Japane Navy did sally out to oppose the invasions. Japanese reconnaissance planes in the Philippine Sea found Task Force 58. The Japanese launched 372 aircraft, in four waves. The American carriers of Task Force 58 have about 950 planes. American radar provided advanced warning and the Japanese attacking force is intercepted. Many Japanese planes were shot down and more were destroyed by fleet anti-aircraft fire. The American vicyory at Midaway had been achieved against a superiot Japanese force in large part because of the use of intelligene intercepts. In the battle of the Philippine Sea it was soon clear that it was the Americans who ow had a vastly superiot naval force. Thete would be no great Jaoanese naval victory. In fact, the Japanese carrier attack was ineffective. Only the USS South Dakota was hit by a single bomb. The Americans launched an air strike on Guam and a counter strike at the Japanese carriers late in the day requiring the Americans pilots to return in the dark. The Japanese lose about 300 aircraft and many of their dwindling number of trained pilots. The Americans lost only 29 pilots. US submarines Cavalla and Albacore sank the Japanese carriers Taiho and Shokaku. The battle is called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot (June 19).
The Japanese hoped that their offensive would produce the decisive victory over the American fleet. The shattering results was a shock to naval planners who had not realized how significantly American indistry was shifting the strategioc balance in the Pacific. The Japanese losses signaled the extent to which the ballance of power had shifted in the Pacific War. The loses in the Phillipines Sea meant that the Japanese carrier force would not be an important factor in the upcoming battle for the Phillipines
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