The Battle of Okinawa, marking its 75th anniversary, stands as the bloodiest confrontation of the Pacific War, stretching from late March to June 1945. It was a defining battle where more than 4,900 Sailors gave their lives for their country—the largest single loss by the U.S. Navy during the war, more than the combined casualties of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Okinawa was to be the strategic stepping-stone for the invasion of Japan, hence the need for the U.S. Navy to transport, supply, and defend more than 500,000 troops in perilous logistics lines.
The Japanese strategy was to prolong the battle as much as possible and to cause maximum damage to the enemy forces, to convey their commitment to a fight to the finish. The will was personified by the incessant suicide attacks by the kamikaze pilots, which caused ghastly burn injuries among the sailors of the U.S. Navy due to the fuel-laden aircraft. Despite such ghastly losses, the display of commendable bravery by the U.S. naval crews was extraordinary. Many a time, gunners and damage control people sacrificed their lives to save their ships.
The first two weeks of the invasion were relatively light in terms of losses, except for the destroyer Halligan, lost on 26 March after striking a mine. The first massive kamikaze attack, Operation Kikusui No. 1, took place on 6-7 April 1945 with 355 kamikaze aircraft. With the heavy number of casualties, the U.S. Navy’s radar-directed fighters turned down a lot of these attacks; destroyers like Bush and Colhoun went down after bitter fights.
Against this backdrop, the Japanese launched Operation Ten-ichi-go, a desperate attempt to thwart the Allied invasion. At the very core of this operation was the battleship Yamato, the most powerful warship ever built. To counter U.S. naval superiority, the Yamato had nine 460mm Type 94 naval guns that were the largest naval artillery ever fielded.
On April 6, 1945, the Yamato, escorted by the cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers, sailed on a one-way mission to Okinawa. The plan was for the Yamato to fight her way through the American fleet and, when she reached land, to be beached and continue fighting her guns until the vessel was destroyed. By this stage in the war, however, the Americans had broken all Japanese military codes and were waiting. Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58, with 16 fast carriers and hundreds of escort vessels, lay in ambush for the Japanese fleet.
On April 7, the Yamato was exposed to relentless air attacks by Mitscher’s 386 aircraft. Though blazing back with its mighty 460mm Sanshiki anti-aircraft rounds, the Yamato was simply overwhelmed. The battleship received hits from both bombs and torpedoes, causing catastrophic damage and flooding. Having a 22-degree list to port and only one engine still running, the order to abandon ship was ordered at 2:02 pm. Shortly after, the Yamato exploded, resulting in a huge fireball and mushroom cloud.
The loss of the Yamato, with the Yahagi and five destroyers, spelled the end of Japan’s naval power. For the Americans, the sinking of the Yamato, which cost them 10 aircraft and 12 men, was an important victory. The Yamato’s demise marked the end of the Age of Empire; whatever happened later on a larger scale, the dominance of sea warfare had come to an end.