June 1944 (2)

USS California damaged at Pearl Harbor

12-13 June – the US TF-58 intercepted a Japanese convoy of 20 ships fleeing the Mariana Islands.  Most of the ships were sunk or heavily damaged  The USS California and Braine were damaged by enemy coastal guns.  Another Japanese convoy of 6 vessels was also attacked west of Guam.  The Marianas continued to be bombed by air, battleships and destroyers.

The same was done at Matsuwa in the Kuriles by the 20th Air Force.  B-29’s carried out the first air raid  against Japan since Doolittle’s attack in April of ’42.  They bombed the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata.

The Marianas campaign expanded United States Army operations in a theater commanded by the U.S. Navy. Admiral Nimitz assigned overall campaign responsibility to Vice Adm. Raymond A. Spruance’s Fifth Fleet. Vice Adm. Richmond Kelly Turner would command the Joint Expeditionary Force charged with the amphibious assault. Turner himself would also command directly a Northern Attack Force against Saipan and Tinian, while a Southern Attack Force under Rear Adm. Richard L. Conolly would assault Guam. Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher’s Fast Carrier Task Force and Vice Adm. Charles A. Lockwood’s Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, would cover all landings.

Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, USMC, Commanding General, V Amphibious Corps, would control the Marianas amphibious forces as each left U.S. Navy control at the water’s edge. Three Marine Corps general officers would command the landing forces on the targeted islands: Holland Smith on Saipan, Harry Schmidt on Tinian, and Roy S. Geiger on Guam. Amphibious units assigned to the Marianas included the 2d’ 3d’ and 4th Marine Divisions and a separate Marine brigade. Three major Army units-the 27th and 77th Infantry Divisions and XXIV Corps Artillery-were assigned from U.S. Army Forces in the Central Pacific Area, commanded by Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson, Jr. Army and Marine Corps units totaled 106,000 men. Naval support for this huge force included 110 transport vessels and auxiliaries and 88 fire support ships, from rocket gunboats to aircraft carriers.

14 June – Adm. Mitscher’s carriers, after a 200-bomber strike, left the Japanese airfields in ruins and over 100 of their aircraft destroyed.  As the huge armada readied for their D-Day on Saipan, Gen. Holland Smith, aboard the USS Rocky Mount, said, “We are through with the flat atolls now.  We learned how to pulverize the atolls, but now we are up against mountains and caves where the Japanese can dig in.  A week from now there will be a lot of dead Marines.”

Japanese bunkers on Biak

Ground fighting continued on Biak as the enemy aircraft also attacked the Allied troops and the offshore shipping.  A squadron from the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group moved from Saidor to Biak with their P-39’s.  Over 100 aircraft of the 5th Air Force hit Wewak.

During the 3-day bombardment of Saipan, it was a bitter irony for Japanese Adm. Nagumo, relegated to command his tiny flotilla, to be on the receiving end of shells fired from 3 of the battleships his pilots had hit at Pearl Harbor.  The US Navy UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) went in to Saipan, but found no mines or obstacles.

The broadcast from Tokyo Rose: “I’ve got some swell recordings for you, just in from the States.  You’d better enjoy them while you can, because tomorrow at oh-six-hundred you’re hitting Saipan… and we’re ready for you.  So, while you’re still alive, let’s listen to…”

Click on images to enlarge.

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Military Humor – 

Why the Services can’t work together…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Ben Barnes – Miller, SD; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st LT., pilot

John Groh – Knoxville, TN; US Army, LT., Transportation Unit

Victor Hickox – Paragould, AR; US Army, Company A/674th Artillery/11th Airborne Division

William Korn Sr. – Newark, NJ; US Army, WWII

Francis Macri – Rome, NY; US Army, WWII

Nevin Roth – Ormond, PA; US Navy, WWII

Gerrit Scholten – Boyden, IA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-29 pilot

Victor VanFleet – Kalamazoo, MI; US Navy, WWII

Andrzej Wajda – Suwalki, POL; Polish Army, WWII

Edmond Zawalich – Dorchester, MA; US Army, WWII

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