Post by oldhippy on Apr 18, 2020 9:42:43 GMT
Kikusui Number 3 raged against the U.S. Fifth Fleet off Okinawa for four days starting on April 14. In the first two days the Kamikazes damaged a battleship, six destroyers and two other ships. The third day was the biggest, and to the crew of one ship it might have seemed that most of the Kamikazes were after them personally.
April 16 was the destroyer USS Laffey's (DD-724) third day at radar picket station no. 1, the same station where Bush and Colhoun had been sunk ten days earlier. Shortly after sunrise the radar scopes aboard the tin can glowed with 50 blips. At 0830 four Val dive bombers made the first attack, two approaching on the bow and two on the stern. The DD's 5-inch mounts opened up and splashed all four.
Minutes later a fifth Val aimed for the bridge, but Laffey went into a high speed turn and the dive bomber hit the after 5-inch mount and bounced off. This was followed by two Judy dive bombers which approached from both port and starboard. The gunners got one, but the second crashed into the after deckhouse.
In quick succession, four more suiciders crashed the ship, two on the deck house and two on the after gun mount. In a little more than 5 minutes the destroyer had taken six Kamikazes, but the battle wasn't over yet.
Up to this point most of the damage was confined to the after part of Laffey. With his boilers and engine rooms still intact, Commander Frederick J. Bection could still maneuver at full speed. But then a dive bomber put a bomb just off the fantail; the blast jammed the rudders, which were hard over in a turn. Now the the tin can steamed in a circle, almost helpless.
An Oscar fighter now made its approach from the port quarter, chased by an F4U Corsair fighter. The Kamikaze missed everything but the mast before spinning into the sea. The Corsair hit the port yardarm, but the pilot was able to bail out.
Laffey's guns were still firing and shot down two more Kamikazes, one with a direct hit. "It was a pleasure to see the Oscar poised in space a few feet above the water," said Commander Bection later, "and then just disintegrate."
A few minutes later Laffey took another bomb hit, this time on a forward 20mm mount. The explosion tore the legs off a seaman, who kept firing until the plane passed over his position. "Please get me out of here," he muttered to his rescuers, but he died before they could get him out of the gun harness.
In eighty minutes Laffey had faced about 25 Japanese aircraft. She shot down nine of them while taking six Kamikaze hits and four bombs; 32 men were killed and 71 wounded. Remarkably, the crew was able to save their ship, which was towed to the anchorage at Hagushi on the west coast of Okinawa. After six days of repairs, Laffey set sail for Guam under her own power.
While the Japanese were unable to sink Laffey, they did get the destroyer Pringle (DD-477) at picket station no. 14. Attacked by three Kamikazes, the tin can got two of them before the third crashed into her bridge, and plowed through the superstructure deck, aft of the base of the number one stack. Either a single 1,000 pound bomb, or two 500-pounders, penetrated the main and superstructure decks and exploded with a violent blast, buckling the keel and splitting the vessel in two at the forward fire room. Six minutes later, 258 survivors watched as Pringle slid beneath the surface.
The destroyer minesweeper USS Harding (DMS-28) was attacked with other ships by four Kamikazes. One was driven off, another shot down, but a third steered directly for Harding's bridge. As gunfire ripped into her, the aircraft splashed close aboard to starboard, tearing a huge gash in minesweeper's side from keel to main deck when her bomb exploded. The stricken ship backed toward Kerama Retto, counting 14 men killed, 8 missing, and 9 wounded.
Two other destroyers were hit, as were two more minesweepers, two gunboats and one tanker, all damaged.
One carrier was hit on April 16, USS Intrepid (CV-11). A Kamikaze crashed into the flattop's flight deck and the engine and part of its fuselage penetrated through to the hangar deck, killing 8 men and wounding 21. In less than an hour the flaming gasoline had been extinguished, and only 3 hours after the crash, aircraft were again landing on the carrier. Even so, the "Evil I", left for the States the following day. She would return to the Pacific in time to make one last strike against Japanese occupied Wake Atoll on August 6, 1945.
Painting credit: "Trial by Fire" by Tom W. Freeman.
April 16 was the destroyer USS Laffey's (DD-724) third day at radar picket station no. 1, the same station where Bush and Colhoun had been sunk ten days earlier. Shortly after sunrise the radar scopes aboard the tin can glowed with 50 blips. At 0830 four Val dive bombers made the first attack, two approaching on the bow and two on the stern. The DD's 5-inch mounts opened up and splashed all four.
Minutes later a fifth Val aimed for the bridge, but Laffey went into a high speed turn and the dive bomber hit the after 5-inch mount and bounced off. This was followed by two Judy dive bombers which approached from both port and starboard. The gunners got one, but the second crashed into the after deckhouse.
In quick succession, four more suiciders crashed the ship, two on the deck house and two on the after gun mount. In a little more than 5 minutes the destroyer had taken six Kamikazes, but the battle wasn't over yet.
Up to this point most of the damage was confined to the after part of Laffey. With his boilers and engine rooms still intact, Commander Frederick J. Bection could still maneuver at full speed. But then a dive bomber put a bomb just off the fantail; the blast jammed the rudders, which were hard over in a turn. Now the the tin can steamed in a circle, almost helpless.
An Oscar fighter now made its approach from the port quarter, chased by an F4U Corsair fighter. The Kamikaze missed everything but the mast before spinning into the sea. The Corsair hit the port yardarm, but the pilot was able to bail out.
Laffey's guns were still firing and shot down two more Kamikazes, one with a direct hit. "It was a pleasure to see the Oscar poised in space a few feet above the water," said Commander Bection later, "and then just disintegrate."
A few minutes later Laffey took another bomb hit, this time on a forward 20mm mount. The explosion tore the legs off a seaman, who kept firing until the plane passed over his position. "Please get me out of here," he muttered to his rescuers, but he died before they could get him out of the gun harness.
In eighty minutes Laffey had faced about 25 Japanese aircraft. She shot down nine of them while taking six Kamikaze hits and four bombs; 32 men were killed and 71 wounded. Remarkably, the crew was able to save their ship, which was towed to the anchorage at Hagushi on the west coast of Okinawa. After six days of repairs, Laffey set sail for Guam under her own power.
While the Japanese were unable to sink Laffey, they did get the destroyer Pringle (DD-477) at picket station no. 14. Attacked by three Kamikazes, the tin can got two of them before the third crashed into her bridge, and plowed through the superstructure deck, aft of the base of the number one stack. Either a single 1,000 pound bomb, or two 500-pounders, penetrated the main and superstructure decks and exploded with a violent blast, buckling the keel and splitting the vessel in two at the forward fire room. Six minutes later, 258 survivors watched as Pringle slid beneath the surface.
The destroyer minesweeper USS Harding (DMS-28) was attacked with other ships by four Kamikazes. One was driven off, another shot down, but a third steered directly for Harding's bridge. As gunfire ripped into her, the aircraft splashed close aboard to starboard, tearing a huge gash in minesweeper's side from keel to main deck when her bomb exploded. The stricken ship backed toward Kerama Retto, counting 14 men killed, 8 missing, and 9 wounded.
Two other destroyers were hit, as were two more minesweepers, two gunboats and one tanker, all damaged.
One carrier was hit on April 16, USS Intrepid (CV-11). A Kamikaze crashed into the flattop's flight deck and the engine and part of its fuselage penetrated through to the hangar deck, killing 8 men and wounding 21. In less than an hour the flaming gasoline had been extinguished, and only 3 hours after the crash, aircraft were again landing on the carrier. Even so, the "Evil I", left for the States the following day. She would return to the Pacific in time to make one last strike against Japanese occupied Wake Atoll on August 6, 1945.
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