6-7 APRIL 1945 YAMATO’S DESPERATION SORTIE A second offshore phase of operation “Ten-Go” involved the Imperial Navy. Its warships were to sally forth and blast what remained of the Allied invasion fleet after the April 6th kikusui raid. But by this Read More
6-7 APRIL 1945 “FLOATING CHRYSANTHEMUMS” The Japanese plan for defense of Okinawa was known by the language characters “Ten-Go.” While defenders on land waged a battle of attrition, Japanese air and naval forces would engage the American invasion fleet. But the Read More
26 MARCH 1945 USS HALLIGAN The bloody and bitter fight for Iwo Jima had barely begun to quiet before the next target on the relentless march toward Japan was determined–Okinawa. Here the Marines expected yet another tenacious fight to the death Read More
12 APRIL 1945 USS MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733) WWII generated a boom in warship construction such that the 23 April 1944 launch of the 42nd Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer from the Bath Iron Works in Maine hardly attracted unusual attention. She Read More