‍Kamikaze attacks USS Comfort hospital ship

‍“Kamaretta red, smoke boat make smoke"

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‍“Operation Iceberg:” Invasion of Okinawa

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‍Operation Iceberg was the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific War. The US committed over 200,000 military personnel, while the Japanese committed over 130,000. The Allies employed over 3,000 aircraft and nearly 300 ships of all kinds.

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‍Okinawa had to be taken. It was only 320 miles from Japan’s southern home island, Kyushu. The Allies expected they would have to invade the home islands, and they would need Okinawa to do that. 

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‍The Japanese considered Okinawa one of their home islands. Losing it would deal a severe blow to Japanese morale domestically, and immense political pressure would build at home to seek peace. However, the stubborn, recalcitrant, and self-absorbed Army would oppose it.

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‍The Allies knew taking Okinawa would not be easy. General Mitsuru Ushijima, a tough veteran of the Second Sino-Soviet War, commander of the 32nd Army, and the son of a samurai, had 130,000 troops along with an additional 20,000-man home guard force stationed in Okinawa. 

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‍The general had been fighting against Chiang Kai-shek in northern China and took command of a garrison on the Chinese border with the USSR in the late 1930s. He returned to Japan in October 1941 and was surprised to see Japan mount its war against the US in the Hawaiian Islands in December. 

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‍General Ushijima saw the USSR as Japan’s main enemy and felt that declaring war against the US would weaken Japan’s position in northern China. Other Japanese leaders agreed with him, but the war with the US was on.

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‍Ushijima’s 130,000-man force was battle-ready and well-trained. Okinawa was subtropical, hot and humid, covered with dense foliage, and characterized by scattered hills that provided the Japanese many opportunities to establish defensive positions. In short, the Japanese soldiers had numerous places to hide. His strategy was defensive attrition, where Japanese forces aimed to wear down the Allies, inflict significant losses of men and equipment, and exhaust the opposing force.

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‍Japan’s navy was nearly nonexistent, and Ushijima had to rely on kamikazes as the primary air force. Kamikazes would appear in large formations for the first time in the Pacific War. The first kamikaze attack occurred in October 1944 when five groups of kamikazes attacked the US fleet in Leyte, Philippines. There were also some during the invasion of Iwo Jima in February 1945. The US was not prepared for such attacks. 

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‍By April 1945, Japan was on the ropes. Many leaders, including the emperor, understood they couldn’t win the war. Still, the military maintained control and promised to fight to the bitter end, even if it meant sacrificing the population on the home islands if the US invaded. The kamikaze became Japan’s primary air weapon.

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‍US forces advanced from the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to score a significant victory over the Japanese at Midway just six months later. They then moved across the South Pacific, fighting along the island chains in the Central Pacific, through New Guinea, and in the Philippines in the Southwest Pacific, finally converging on Okinawa in March and April 1945.

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‍Everyone agreed that Okinawa was the next stop. It was the largest island of the Ryukus Island Chain, about 60-miles long and less than 20 miles wide. 

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‍The invasion of Okinawa started on April 1, 1945, and the battle continued until the end of June. It was codenamed "Operation Iceberg." The battle lasted over 80 days.

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‍Invasion preparations began with intense naval artillery and air strikes from October 1944 to April 1945. US forces also seized and held small islands in the Ryukyus Group around Okinawa that were essential for protecting the main invasion.

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‍Two Marine Divisions invaded from the west, aiming to take control of the upper two-thirds of the island. Two Army divisions also invaded from the west, intending to seize the more populated southern third, which included the capital, Naha, and several airfields. One Army division invaded the southeast beaches as a deception.

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‍There was little resistance to the invasion forces on the beaches. The major battles were to be in the interior.

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‍The Marines pushed their way up the island to the northern third with little resistance. 

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‍General Ushijima established his defenses along what was known as the Shuri Line, located to the northeast and east of Naha. He hoped to fend off the Allies and launch a counterattack to the north. However, Ushijima’s forces kept falling back as the battle raged.

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‍The fighting in the south was furious, ferocious, and savage.

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‍Get ‘em to the beach