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Welcome To the CIC | |||||||||||||||
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| We've all had a good "blow" and intermission now. Let's get back into the game with renewed energy, vigilance and alertness; and be sure when we see a Jap that we follow the Padre's motto that it is more blessed to give than to recieve. We lose our old Exec with much regret and we welcome our new one. He too is a real 'shipmate' and one of the few who can follow in Commander Burch's footsteps. Aloha -- Preliminaries USS TICONDEROGA (CV14) operated as a Unit of TG 58.4 until 28 May and thereafter as a Unit of TG 38.4 with Rear Admiral A. W. RADFORD, US Navy, as CTG 58.4 and CTG 38.4. Vice Admiral M. A. MITSCHER, U. S. Navy, was CTF 58 and was relieved by Vice Admiral J. S. McCAIN, U. S. Navy, as CTF 38 on 29 May. Admiral R. A. SPRUANCE, U. S. Navy, was Commander FIFTH Fleet. Admiral W. F. HALSEY, U. S. Navy, was Commander THIRD Fleet. A. TASK ORGANIZATION TASK GROUP 38.4 Rear Admiral Radford (a) TASK UNIT 38.4.1 (Carrier Unit) Rear Admiral Radford
RESUME OF OPERATIONS – Departure from Port to beginning of action. 24 May 1945 General - Underway at 0532 in obedience to CTG 58.4 Op-Order 3-45 and stood out of Ulithi Lagoon. Gunnery exercises were conducted at drone and against Kamikaze attacks. Air Group flew 8 CAP, 3 ASP and made simulated coordinated attacks with 16 VBF, 12 VB and 10 VT. 26 May 1945 General – Gunnery exercises were conducted at towed sleeve. Air Group flew 8 CAP and 6 ASP. 4 VF(N) were launched for night flying exercises. One VF(N) spun in attempting to land but the pilot was rescued uninjured by destroyer. 27 May 1945 C. TACTICAL SITUATI0N – Our naval, amphibious, and ground forces had secured a foothold on Okinawa (where Iwo Jima was landed upon by Marines) and other adjacent islands in the Nansei Shoto, but had not yet completed the conquest and occupation of their major objectives. The enemy had concentrated a large portion of his airforce on the island of Kyushu and was engaged in an almost fanatical air offensive against our forces in an effort to disrupt our military operations.  D. MISSION – The mission was to give direct aerial support to our forces in the Okinawa area and to destroy enemy aircraft and aircraft facilities in southern Kyushu and on the Japanese islands to the south of the Empire from which our forces were being attacked. E. PLAN – The plan called for air missions in close support of our front line troops, target CAPs, Barrier Patrols to intercept enemy planes attacking from the Empire, and strikes and sweeps against enemy airfields in southern Kyushu and on the enemy islands immediately to the south. 28 May 1945 Weather – Flying conditions average to undesirable.General – At 0000 this date all units of the FIFTH Fleet became units of the THIRD Fleet, hence Task Group number changed to 38.4. Three target CAP consisting of 16 VF each were launched in support of operations on Okinawa. No enemy aircraft were encountered. The third group was forced to land at Yontan Filed on Okinawa before returning to the ship because of bad weather. 12 CAP were flown over the Task Group.  29-31 May 1945: Okinawa in the Ryukyus Islands was already captured during a campaign that began on March 26, 1945 with the capture of some small islands near Okinawa (See Map Insert #2). Navy bases were then established and an amphibious assault was started on these islands and Americans were invading the Japanese on their own lands. American troops suffered heavy casualties and these are well documented. The American Naval and Allied ships also took heavy personnel losses and some already documented in the prior stories due to the suicide Kamikaze that sank about 25 American ships and damaged 165 others in a desperate attempt to save the Ryukyus Islands. 29 May 1945 Sunrise 0535 Sunset 1910 1200 Position 24-25 N 128-35E Weather - Altostratus clouds and scattered stratocumulus and stratus cloud 1/10-3/10 throughout the day with bases at 1200-1800 feet. Ceiling almost unlimited, visibility unrestricted. Surface winds southerly 12-18 knots, sea moderate. Flying conditions average. General – Our support Air Group consisting of 6 VF, 10 VB, 10 VT loaded with rockets and bombs reported to CTF 31 at Okinawa for an air support mission. A 300 foot ceiling in the target area made it very difficult to find assigned targets and only about half of the attack group was able to drop on their targets. The rest were directed to jettison their bomb loads at sea before returning to the ship. 20 CAP, 8 RAPCAP and 4 DADCAP were also flown: 30 May 1945 Sunrise 0535 Sunset 1910 1200 Position 24-05 N 128-10 E Weather – High broken overcast skies throughout the day, low stratus and stratocumulus 2/10-3/10 most of the period. Ceiling 6000-8000 feet, visibility restricted by the haze the first half of the day. Surface winds southerly 8-12 knots, sea moderate. Flying conditions average. General – One target CAP consisting of 16 VF was launched in support of operations in Okinawa. Bad weather was encountered and no enemy contacts developed. 32 CAP were flown over the Task Group. 31 May 1945 Weather – High broken altostratus clouds throughout the day with lower cumulus, 2/10-3/10 most of the day. Ceiling 1500 feet in early morning becoming unlimited by mid-morning, visibility restricted to ½ - 2 miles becoming unrestricted by 0900. Surface winds southerly 609 knots, sea moderate. Flying conditions undesirable becoming average. General – One Support Air Group of 6 VT loaded with HVAR rockets and 500 pound bombs reported to CTF 31 at Okinawa and attacked a road junction as directed by him. Three target CAP consisting of 31 VF in all orbited north of Okinawa but made no contact with the enemy. 12 CAP, 16 RAPCAP, and 4 DADCAP were also launched. |
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