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Battle of Okinawa


 
 
The Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu IslandsRyukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands or more recently the , are an island chain in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit of the East ...
 of OkinawaOkinawa Island

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture....
 and was the largest amphibious assaultAmphibious warfare

This article is about a military strategy involving land troops dispatched from naval ships....
 in the Pacific TheaterPacific War

The Pacific War was the part of World War II — and preceding conflicts — that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its...
 of World War IIWorld War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers ,...
. The 82 day battle lasted from late March through June 1945.

The battle has been referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel" in EnglishEnglish language Summary

English is a widely distributed language that originated in England but is now the primary language in numerous countries....
, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or tetsu no bofu ("violent wind of steel") in JapaneseJapanese language Summary

Japanese is a language spoken by over 127 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around...
. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of gunfire involved, and sheer numbers of AlliedAllies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ...
 ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle has one of the highest casualties: the Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies (mostly United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
) suffered more than 50,000 casualties, with over 12,000 killed in actionKilled in action Summary

Militaries use the term killed in action as a casualty classification....
.






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Timeline

1945   World War II: United States troops land on Okinawa in the last campaign of the war. The Battle of Okinawa starts.

1945   World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends.






Encyclopedia


The Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu IslandsRyukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands or more recently the , are an island chain in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit of the East ...
 of OkinawaOkinawa Island

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture....
 and was the largest amphibious assaultAmphibious warfare

This article is about a military strategy involving land troops dispatched from naval ships....
 in the Pacific TheaterPacific War

The Pacific War was the part of World War II — and preceding conflicts — that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its...
 of World War IIWorld War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers ,...
. The 82 day battle lasted from late March through June 1945.

The battle has been referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel" in EnglishEnglish language Summary

English is a widely distributed language that originated in England but is now the primary language in numerous countries....
, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or tetsu no bofu ("violent wind of steel") in JapaneseJapanese language Summary

Japanese is a language spoken by over 127 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around...
. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of gunfire involved, and sheer numbers of AlliedAllies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ...
 ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle has one of the highest casualties: the Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies (mostly United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
) suffered more than 50,000 casualties, with over 12,000 killed in actionKilled in action Summary

Militaries use the term killed in action as a casualty classification....
. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, wounded or attempted suicideSuicide

Suicide is the act of willfully ending one's own life....
.

The main objective of the operation was to seize a large island only 340 miles away from mainland JapanJapan

is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of China, Korea, and Russia, stretching from...
. After a long campaign of island hoppingLeapfrogging (military)

Leapfrogging was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during Worl...
, the Allies were approaching Japan, and Okinawa would serve as a springboard for the planned invasion of the mainland islandsOperation Downfall

Operation Downfall was the overall Allied plan for the invasion of Japan at the end of World War II....
. Although hastily converted to a base for air operationsKadena Air Base

Kadena Air Base is the largest American airbase in Asia....
, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On the Sunday morning of August 6, 1945 at 8:15AM the United States Army Air Forces dropped the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" on the...
 caused Japan to surrenderSurrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in August 1945 brought World War II to a close....
 just weeks after the end of the fighting at Okinawa and the invasion never took place.

Order of battle

Land

The U.S. land campaign was controlled by the Tenth Army, commanded by Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries....
 Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was an American general during World War II....
 The army had two corpsCorps

A corps is either a large military unit or formation, an administrative grouping of troops within an army with a common func...
 under its command, III Amphibious CorpsIII Marine Expeditionary Force

The III Marine Expeditionary Force, is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps that is forward-depl...
 under Major GeneralMajor General

Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries....
 Roy GeigerRoy Geiger

Roy Stanley Geiger was a United States Marine Corps general who, during World War II, became the first Marine to lead an arm...
, consisting of 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, and XXIV CorpsU.S. XXIV Corps

XXIV Corps was a U.S. Army Corps-level command during World War II and the Vietnam War....
 under Major General John R. HodgeJohn R. Hodge

John Reed Hodge was a military officer of the United States Army....
, consisting of the 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions. The 2nd Marine Division was an afloat reserve, and Tenth Army also controlled the 27th, earmarked as a garrisonGarrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now oft...
, and 77th Infantry Divisions. In all, Tenth Army contained 102,000 ArmyUnited States Army

The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based...
, 88,000 Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the U.S....
, and 18,000 NavyUnited States Navy Summary

The United States Navy is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations....
 personnel.

The Japanese land campaignCampaign

There are several common types of campaign:...
 (mainly defensiveDefense (military) Overview

In military science, defense is the art of preventing an attack, or minimizing the damage of an attack, e.g....
) was conducted by the 67,000-strong (77,000 according to some sources) regularRegular

In ordinary English, regular is an adjective or noun used to mean in accordance with the usual customs, conventions, or ...
 Thirty-Second Army and some 9,000 Imperial Japanese NavyImperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy or sometimes referred to as the Combined Fleet was the Navy of Empire of Japan from 1869 un...
 (IJN) troops at Oroku naval base (only a few hundred of whose had been trained and equipped for ground combat), supported by 39,000 draftFacts About Draft

* Draft or draught may mean:...
ed local Ryukyuan people (including 24,000 hastily-conscriptedConscription

Conscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority, but it is most often used in th...
 rearRear (military)

In military parlance, the rear is the part of concentration of military forces that is furthest from the enemy....
 Home GuardHome Guard Summary

A Home Guard is a part-time civilian reserve military force similar to a militia....
 militiaMilitia

A militia is a group of citizens organized to provide paramilitary service....
 called Boeitai and 15,000 non-uniformed laborers). In addition, 1,500 middle schoolMiddle school

Middle school covers a period of education that straddles primary education and secondary education, serving as a bridge bet...
 senior boys organized into frontline-service "Iron and Blood Volunteer Units", while 600 Himeyuri StudentsHimeyuri Students

The ', sometimes called in English "Lily Corps", was a group of female high school students formed into a nursing unit for th...
 were organized into a nursingNurse

A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing....
 unit. The 32nd Army initially consisted of the 9th9th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army....
, 24th24th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army....
, and 62nd Divisions, and the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade. The 9th Division was moved to TaiwanTaiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia, but the term "Taiwan" is also commonly used to collectively refer to the territories gove...
 prior to the invasionInvasion

An invasion is a military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by anot...
, resulting in shuffling of Japanese defensive plans. Primary resistance was to be led in the south by Lieutenant General Mitsuru UshijimaMitsuru Ushijima

Mitsuru Ushijima was the Japanese general at the Battle of Okinawa, leading the primary resistance in the south....
, his chief of staffChief of Staff

A Chief of Staff can be:* The chief aide to the commander of larger military formations and units...
, Lieutenant General Isamu ChoIsamu Cho

Isamu Cho was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and an active and ardent supporter in the first attempts at military ...
 and his chief of operations, ColonelColonel

Colonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the w...
 Hiromichi YaharaHiromichi Yahara

Colonel Hiromichi Yahara was the senior staff officer in charge of operations of the 32nd Japanese Army at Okinawa during th...
. Yahara advocated a defensive strategyMilitary strategy Overview

Military strategy is a collective name for planning the conduct of warfare....
, whilst Cho advocated an offensiveOffensive (military) Summary

An Offensive is a military operation that seeks through aggressive projection of armed force to occupy territory, gain an ob...
 one. In the north, Colonel Takehido Udo was in command. The IJN troops were led by Rear AdmiralRear Admiral

Rear Admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank that originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons and can trace its...
 Minoru OtaMinoru Ota

Rear Admiral Ota Minoru commanded the Naval Base Force that defended the Oroku Peninsula on Okinawa....
.

Staff officers on Okinawa felt as though their headquartersHeadquarters Overview

Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are concentrated....
 had abandoned them and that, eventually, they would be overwhelmed and destroyed by the Americans. They expected the Americans to land six to ten divisionDivision (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers....
s against the Japanese garrison of two and a half divisions. The staff calculated that superior quality and numbers of weapons gave each U.S. division five or six times the firepowerFirepower

Firepower is a measure of the ability of weapons, specifically weapons which involve fire or explosion, to inflict harm, dam...
 of a Japanese division. To this would be added the Americans' abundant naval and air firepower.

Sea

U.S. Navy
Most of the air-to-air fighterFighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is ...
s and the small dive bomberDive bomber

A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exp...
s and strike aircraft were U.S. Navy carrier-basedFacts About Aircraft carrier

Additive synthesis is a technique of audio synthesis which creates musical timbre....
 airplanes. The Japanese had used kamikazeKamikaze

Kamikaze is a word of Japanese origin, which in the English language usually refers to the suicide attacks by Imperial Japa...
tactics since the Battle of Leyte GulfBattle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was one of the largest naval battles in history....
, but for the first time, they became a major part of the defense. Between the American landing on EasterEaster

Easter, also known as Pascha , the Feast of the Resurrection, the Sunday of the Resurrection, or Resurr...
 Sunday and May 25, seven major kamikaze attacks were attempted, involving more than 1,500 planes. The total strength of the Allied fleet at Okinawa was 1,600 ships, including 40 aircraft carrierAircraft carrier

Additive synthesis is a technique of audio synthesis which creates musical timbre....
s, 18 battleshipBattleship

Battleship was the name given to the most powerfully gun-armed and most heavily armored classes of warships built between th...
s, 32 cruiserCruiser

A cruiser is a large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously....
s and 200 destroyerDestroyer Summary

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in...
s. The U.S. Navy sustained greater casualties in this operation than in any other battle of the war.
British Commonwealth
Although Allied land forces were entirely composed of U.S. units, the British Pacific FleetBritish Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a multinational Allied naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II....
 (BPF; known to the U.S. Navy as Task Force 57) provided about a quarter of Allied naval air power (450 planes). It comprised many ships, including 50 warships of which 17 were aircraft carriers, but the British armoured decksComparison of armoured to unarmoured flight deck designs Summary

The Comparison of armoured to unarmoured flight deck designs is often made between some of the aircraft carrier designs of ...
 meant that fewer planes could be carried in a single aircraft carrier, although the carriers were more resilient to kamikaze strikes. Although all the aircraft carriers were provided by the UK, the carrier group was a combined British CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations Overview

The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign...
 fleet with BritishUnited Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
, CanadianRoyal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy was the navy of Canada from 1911 until 1968 when the three Canadian armed services were unified to f...
, New ZealandRoyal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the navy of New Zealand....
 and AustralianRoyal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force....
 ships and personnel. Their mission was to neutralize Japanese airfields in the Sakishima IslandsSakishima Islands

The Sakishima Islands are an island chain located at the south end of the Japanese Archipelago....
 and provide air cover against Japanese kamikaze attacks.

Naval battle


The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was assigned the task of neutralizing the Japanese airfields in the Sakishima IslandsSakishima Islands Overview

The Sakishima Islands are an island chain located at the south end of the Japanese Archipelago....
, which it did successfully from March 26 until April 10. On April 10, its attention was shifted to airfields on northern FormosaFacts About Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia, but the term "Taiwan" is also commonly used to collectively refer to the territories gove...
. The force withdrew to San Pedro Bay on April 23. Although by then a commonplace event for the U.S. Navy, this was the longest time that a Royal Naval fleet of that size had been maintained at sea.

On May 1, BPF returned to action, subduing the airfields as before, this time with naval bombardmentBombardment

A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings....
 as well as aircraft. Several kamikaze attacks caused significant damage, but since the British used armored flight deckFacts About Flight deck

The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature air...
s on their aircraft carriers, they only experienced a brief interruption to their force's objective.

In the three-month battle for Okinawa, the Japanese flew 1,900 kamikaze missions, sinking dozens of Allied ships and killing more than 5,000 U.S. sailors at the cost of 1,465 expended kamikaze planes (2,200 other Japanese and 763 U.S. aircraft were also destroyed, including during the land battle). The ships lost were smaller vessels, particularly the destroyers of the radar picketRadar picket Overview

A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to p...
s, as well as destroyer escortDestroyer escort

A Destroyer Escort is classification for a small, comparatively slower warship designed to be used to escort convoys of mer...
s and landing ships. While no major Allied warship was lost, several fleet carriers were severely damaged. Land-based motorboatMotorboat

A motorboat generally speaking is a vessel other than a sailboat or personal watercraft, propelled by an internal combustion...
s were also used in the Japanese suicide attackFacts About Suicide attack

A suicide attack is an attack in which the attacker or attackers intend and expect to die ....
s.

The protracted length of the campaign under stressful conditions forced AdmiralAdmiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. ...
 Chester W. Nimitz to take the unprecedented step of relieving the principal naval commanders to rest and recuperate. Following the practice of changing the fleet designation with the change of commanders, U.S. naval forces began the campaign as the U.S. Fifth Fleet under Admiral Raymond Spruance, but ended it as the U.S. Third Fleet under Admiral William Halsey.

Operation Ten-Go


Operation Ten-Go (Ten-go sakusen) was the attempted attack by a strike force of Japanese surface vessels led by the battleship YamatoJapanese battleship Yamato

Yamato, named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy....
led by Admiral Seiichi ItoSeiichi Ito

Seiichi Ito was a Japanese admiral and commander of the IJN 2nd Fleet during World War II....
. This small task force had been ordered to fight through enemy naval forces, then beach themselves and fight from shore; using their guns as artilleryArtillery

Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war....
 and her crewmen as naval infantry. The Yamato and other vessels in Operation Ten-GoOperation Ten-Go

Operation Ten-Go, also referred to as Ten-ichi-go was the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific campaign of...
 were spotted by submarineSubmarine

A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater....
s shortly after leaving Japanese home waters, and attacked by U.S. carrier aircraft.

Under attack from more than 300 aircraft over a two day span, the world's largest battleship sank on April 7 1945, long before she could reach Okinawa. U.S. torpedo bomberTorpedo bomber

A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conve...
s were instructed to only aim for one side to prevent effective counter flooding by the battleship's crew, and hitting preferably the bow or stern, where armor was believed to be the thinnest. Of the Yamato's screening force, the light cruiserLight cruiser

A light cruiser is a warship, in particular a cruiser....
 YahagiJapanese cruiser Yahagi

The Yahagi was an Agano class light cruiser which served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II....
, and four out of the eight destroyers were also sunk. In all, Japanese Navy lost some 3,700 sailors killed, including Ito, at the cost of merely 10 U.S. aircraft and 12 airmen.

Land battle

Progress of Land Battle of Okinawa
1st April
15th April
1st May
15th May
1st June
15th June


The land battle took place over about 87 days beginning March 26 1945.

The first Americans ashore were soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division, who landed in the Kerama Islands, 15 miles (24 km) west of Okinawa on March 26 1945. Subsidiary landings followed, and the Kerama group was secured over the next five days. In these preliminary operations, the 77th Infantry Division suffered 31 dead and 81 wounded, while Japanese dead and captured numbered over 650. The operation provided a protected anchorage for the fleet and eliminated the threat from suicide boats.

On March 31 Marines of the Fleet Marine Force Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion landed without opposition on Keise Shima, four islets just eight miles (13 km) west of the Okinawan capital of NahaNaha, Okinawa

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan....
. 155 mm Long Tom155 mm Long Tom

The 155 mm Gun M1 and M2 , widely known as Long Tom, were 155 millimeter calibre field guns used by the United ...
s went ashore on the islets to cover operations on Okinawa.

Northern Okinawa


The main landing was made by XXIV Corps and III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on L-DayFacts About L-Day

"L-Day" generally refers to April 1, 1945, the day Operation Iceberg, the amphibious Invasion of Okinawa, began....
, April 1, which was both EasterEaster

Easter, also known as Pascha , the Feast of the Resurrection, the Sunday of the Resurrection, or Resurr...
 Sunday and April Fools' Day in 1945. The 2nd Marine Division conducted a demonstration off the Minatoga beaches on the southeastern coast to confuse the Japanese about American intentions and delay movement of reservesReserves

The term reserves could be used to refer to:...
 from there.

Tenth Army swept across the south-central part of the island with relative ease by World War II standards, capturing the KadenaKadena Air Base

Kadena Air Base is the largest American airbase in Asia....
 and the YomitanYomitan, Okinawa

Yomitan is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan....
 airbaseFacts About Airbase

An Airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airport or airfield, provides basing and support of military aircraf...
s. In the light of the weak opposition, General Buckner decided to proceed immediately with Phase II of his plan—the seizure of northern Okinawa. The 6th Marine Division headed up the Ishikawa Isthmus. The land was mountainous and wooded, with the Japanese defenses concentrated on Yae-Take, a twisted mass of rocky ridges and ravines on the Motobu PeninsulaPeninsula

A peninsula is a geographical formation consisting of an extension of land from a larger body, surrounded by water on three...
. There was heavy fighting before the Marines finally cleared the peninsula on April 18.

Meanwhile, the 77th Infantry Division assaulted Ie Shima, a small island off the western end of the peninsula on April 16. In addition to conventional hazards, the 77th Infantry Division encountered suicide bombers, and even Japanese women armed with spears. There was heavy fighting before Ie Shima was declared secured on April 21 and became another air base for operations against Japan.

Few U.S. soldiers encountered the feared HabuHabu

A Habu is any of four species of venomous snakes found in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan....
 snake and soon discarded the cumbersome leggings designed to protect them from snakebite.

Southern Okinawa



While the Marines cleared northern Okinawa, XXIV Corps wheeled south across the narrow waist of Okinawa. The 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions encountered fierce resistanceResistance (military)

In military terminology, resistance or organized resistance refers to the ability of a military unit to continue to op...
 from Japanese troops holding fortifiedFortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare....
 positions on high ground and engaged in desperate hand to hand combatHand to hand combat

Hand to hand combat is a generic term for close quarters fighting, particularly when the outcome is likely to be fatal, as i...
 in west-central Okinawa along Cactus Ridge, about five miles (8 km) northwest of Shuri. By the night of April 8 the XXIV Corps had cleared these and several other strongly fortified positions. They suffered over 1,500 battle casualtiesCasualty (person)

A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma....
 in the process, while killing or capturing about 4,500 Japanese, yet the battle had only just begun, for it was now realized they were merely outposts guarding the Shuri Line.

The next American objective was Kakazu Ridge, two hills with a connecting saddle that formed part of Shuri's outer defenses. The Japanese had prepared their positions well and fought tenaciously. Fighting was fierce. Japanese soldiers hid in fortified caveCave

A cave is a natural underground void large enough for an adult human to enter....
s armed with hidden machine gunMachine gun

A machine gun is a fully-automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle cartridges in quick successio...
s and explosives; American forces often lost many men before clearing the Japanese out from each cave or other hiding place. The Japanese would send the Okinawans at gunpoint out to acquire water and supplies for them, which induced casualties among civilians. The American advance was inexorable but resulted in massive casualties sustained by both sides.

As the American assault against Kakazu Ridge stalled, General Ushijima, influenced by General Cho, decided to take the offensive. On the evening of April 12 32nd Army attacked American positions across the entire front. The Japanese attack was heavy, sustained, and well organized. After fierce close combatClose combat

*Close combat is the USMC term for Hand to hand combat....
 the attackers retreated, only to repeat their offensive the following night. A final assault on April 14 was again repulsed. The entire effort led 32d Army's staff to conclude that the Americans were vulnerable to night infiltrationInfiltration

The word infiltration can occur in:-...
, but that their superior firepower made any offensive Japanese troop concentrations extremely dangerous, and they reverted to their defensive strategy.

The 27th Infantry Division, which had landed on April 9 took over on the right, along the west coast of Okinawa. General Hodge now had three divisions in the line, with the 96th in the middle, and the 7th on the east, with each division holding a front of only about a mile and half.

Hodge launched a new offensive of April 19 with a barrage of 324 guns, the largest ever in the Pacific Ocean TheaterPacific Ocean theater of World War II

The Pacific Ocean theater was one of four major naval theatres of war of the Second World War that pitted forces of the Jap...
. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers joined the bombardment, which was followed by 650 Navy and Marine planes attacking the enemy positions with napalmNapalm

Napalm is any of a number of flammable liquids used in warfare, often jellied gasoline....
, rockets, bombs, and machine guns. The Japanese defenses were sited on reverse slopeReverse slope defence

A reverse slope defence is a positioning technique characterised by the location of defensive forces on a slope of a hill, r...
s, where the defenders waited out the artillery barrage and aerial attack in relative safety, emerging from the caves to rain mortarMortar (weapon)

A mortar is a muzzle-loading artillery piece that fires indirect shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing bal...
 rounds and grenades upon the Americans advancing up the forward slope.

A tank assault on Kakazu Ridge, launched without sufficient infantry support in the hope of a breakthroughBreakthrough

Breakthrough or breakthrough or break through or similar has various meanings:-...
, failed with the loss of 22 tanks. Although flame tankFacts About Flame tank

A Flame tank is a tank equipped with a flamethrower....
s cleared many cave defenses, there was no breakthrough, and the XXIV Corps lost 720 killed, woundedWounded in action

WIA is a three letter abbreviation standing for Wounded In Action....
 or missingMissing In Action

Missing In Action, is a term referring to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission ...
. The losses might have been greater, except for the fact that the Japanese had practically all of their infantry reserves tied up farther south, held there by another feint off the Minatoga beaches by the 2d Marine Division that coincided with the attack.

At the end of April, the 1st Marine Division relieved the 27th Infantry Division, and the 77th Infantry Division relieved the 7th. When the 6th Marine Division arrived, III Amphibious Corps took over the right flank and Tenth Army assumed control of the battle.

On May 4 32nd Army launched another counteroffensiveCounteroffensive

#REDIRECT Counterattack ...
. This time Ushijima attempted to make amphibious assaultsAmphibious warfare

This article is about a military strategy involving land troops dispatched from naval ships....
 on the coasts behind American lines. To support his offensive, the Japanese artillery moved into the open. By doing so they were able to fire 13,000 rounds in support but American counter-battery fireCounter-battery fire

Counter-battery fire is a type of mission assigned to military artillery forces, which are tasked with locating and firing u...
 destroyed 19 guns on May 4 and 40 more over the next two days. The attack was a complete failure.

Buckner launched another American attack on May 11. Ten days of fierce fighting followed. On May 13 troops of the 96th Infantry Division and 763d Tank Battalion captured Conical Hill. Rising above the Yonabaru coastal plain, this feature was the eastern anchor of the main Japanese defenses and was defended by about 1,000 Japanese. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the 6th Marine Division fought for "Sugar Loaf Hill". The capture of these two key positions exposed the Japanese around Shuri on both sides. Buckner hoped to envelop Shuri and trap the main Japanese defending force.

By the end of May monsoon rains which turned contested slopes and roads into a morass exacerbated both the tacticalMilitary tactics

Military tactics is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemy in battle....
 and medical situations. The ground advance began to resemble a World War IWorld War I

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and "The War to End All Wars" was a global m...
 battlefieldBattlefield

Battlefield may refer to:* the location of a battle,...
 as troops became mired in mud and flooded roads greatly inhibited evacuation of wounded to the rear. Troops lived on a field sodden by rain, part garbage dump and part graveyard. Unburied Japanese bodies decayed, sank in the mud, and became part of a noxious stew. Anyone sliding down the greasy slopes could easily find their pockets full of maggots at the end of the journey.

On May 29, Major General Pedro del VallePedro del Valle

Pedro Augusto del Valle was a United States Marine Corps officer who became the first Hispanic to reach the rank of Lieutena...
, commanding the 1st Marine Division, ordered Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines to capture Shuri Castle. Seizure of the castle represented both strategic and psychological blows for the Japanese and was a milestone in the campaign. Del Valle was awarded a Distinguished Service MedalNavy Distinguished Service Medal

The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was ...
 for his leadership in the fight and the subsequent occupation and reorganization of Okinawa. However the castle was outside the 1st Marine Division's zone, and only frantic efforts by the commander and staff of the 77th Infantry Division prevented the Marines from being subjected to an American air strikes and artillery bombardment.

Either by design or the "fog of war"Fog of war

The fog of war is a term used to describe the level of ambiguity in situational awareness experienced by participants in mil...
, Buckner did not detect the Japanese general retreatWithdrawal (military)

A withdrawal is a type of military operation, generally meaning retreating forces back while maintaining contact with the en...
 to their second line of defense in the Kiyan Peninsula, which ultimately led to the greatest slaughter on Okinawa in the latter stages of the battle, including the deaths of thousands of civilians.

On June 4, only some 30,000 poorly-armed (most of their heavy and even personal weapons lost during the withdrawal) soldiers were left in then 32d Army, including few (20%) surviving trained combat troops. In addition, there were 9,000 IJN troops supported by 1,100 militia holed-up at the fortfied area of the Okinawa Naval Base Force in the Oroku Peninsula.

The island fell on about June 21 1945, though some Japanese continued fighting, including the future governor of Okinawa PrefectureOkinawa Prefecture

is Japan's southernmost prefecture, and consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 km long, which extends s...
, Masahide OtaMasahide Ota

Ota Masahide is a Japanese academic and politician who served as governor of Okinawa prefecture in the 1990s....
.

Ushijima and Cho committed suicide by seppukuSeppuku

Seppuku is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment....
in their command headquarters on Hill 89 in the closing hours of the battle. Major Yahara had asked Ushijima for permission to commit suicide, but the general refused his request, saying, "If you die there will be no one left who knows the truth about the battle of Okinawa. Bear the temporary shame but endure it. This is an order from your army Commander." Yahara was the most senior officer to have survived the battle on the island, and he later authored a book entitled The Battle for Okinawa.

Casualties

Military losses

U.S. losses were over 48,000 casualties, of whom 12,000 were killed or missing—over twice the number of casualties as at Iwo JimaBattle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan during February and March of...
 and Guadalcanal combined. Several thousand servicemen who died indirectly (from wounds and other causes) at a later date are not included in the total. One of the most famous U.S. casualties was the war correspondentJournalist

A journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, tren...
 Ernie PyleErnie Pyle

In that year, he wrote a column urging that soldiers in combat get "fight pay" just as airmen were paid "flight pay"....
, who was killed by Japanese machine gun fire on Ie Shima. U.S. forces suffered their highest ever casualty rate for combat stress reactionCombat stress reaction

Combat stress reaction, in the past commonly known as shell shock or battle fatigue, is a military term used to ...
 during the entire battle, at 48%, with some 14,000 soldiers retired due to nervous breakdownNervous Breakdown

Nervous Breakdown was the first Black Flag 7" EP....
.

General Buckner's decision to attack the Japanese defenses head-on, although proving to be extremely costly in U.S. lives, was ultimately successful. Just four days from the closing of the campaign, General Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery fire while inspecting his troops at the front line. He was the highest-ranking U.S. officer to be killed by enemy fire during the war. The day after, a second general, Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General

Brigadier General is the lowest rank of general officer in some countries, usually ranking just above Colonel and just below...
 Claudius M. Easley, was killed by machine gun fire.

At sea 368 Allied ships (including 120 amphibious craft) were damaged while another 36, including 15 amphibious ships and 12 destroyers were sunk during the Okinawa campaign. In the end more than 4,900 officers and men of the Navy lost their lives, largely as a result of Japanese kamikazes. The Japanese lost 16 ships sunk, including the enormous battleship Yamato.

On land the U.S. forces lost at least 225 tanks and many LVTLanding Vehicle Tracked

The Landing Vehicle Tracked was an amphibious vehicle used by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army during World Wa...
s destroyed while eliminating 27 Japanese tanks and
743 artillery pieces (including mortars, anti-tank guns, and anti-aircraft guns), some of them knocked-out by the naval and air bombardments.

By one count, there were about 107,000 Japanese combatants killed and 7,400 captured. Some of the soldiers committed seppuku or simply blew themselves up with hand grenadeHand grenade

A hand grenade is a small hand-held bomb designed to be thrown....
s. In addition, about 20,000 were sealed in their caves alive.

This was also the first battle in the war in which surrendering Japanese were made into POWs by the thousands. Many of the Japanese prisoners were native Okinawans who had been impressed into the Army shortly before the battle and were less imbued with the Japanese Army's no-surrender doctrine. When the American forces occupied the island, the Japanese took Okinawan clothing to avoid capture and the Okinawans came to the Americans' aid by offering a simple way to detect Japanese in hiding. The Okinawan languageOkinawan language

Okinawan is a Ryukyuan language spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa, as well as the surrounding islands of Ker...
 differs greatly from the Japanese languageJapanese language

Japanese is a language spoken by over 127 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around...
; with Americans at their sides, Okinawans would give directions to people in the local language, and those who did not understand were considered Japanese in hiding who were then captured.

Civilian losses



At some battles, such as at Iwo JimaIwo Jima

For the battle, see Battle of Iwo Jima...
, there had been no civilians involved, but Okinawa had a large indigenous civilian population and, according to various estimates, somewhere between 1/10 and 1/3 of them during the battle. Okinawan civilian losses in the campaign were estimated to be between 42,000 and 150,000 dead (more than 100,000 according to Okinawa Prefecture). The U.S. Army figures for the campaign showed a total figure of 142,058 civilian casualties, including those who were pressed into serviceImpressment Overview

Impressment is the act of conscripting people to serve as sailors....
 by the Japanese Imperial Army.

In its history of the war, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial MuseumOkinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum

is a museum in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan....
 presents Okinawa as being caught in the fighting between America and Japan. During the 1945 battle, the Japanese Army showed indifference to Okinawa's defense and safety, and the Japanese soldiers used civilians as human shieldHuman shield

Human shield is a military term describing the presence of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from atta...
s against the Americans. Japanese military confiscatedConfiscation

Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e....
 food from the Okinawans and executed those who hid it, leading to a mass starvationStarvation

Symptoms Starved individuals lose substantial fat and muscle mass as the body breaks down these tissues for energy....
 among the population, and forced civilians out of their shelters. Japanese soldiers also killed about 1,000 Okinawans who still spoke a different local dialectDialect

A dialect is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area....
 in order to suppress spying. The museum writes that "some were blown apart by shellsShell (projectile)

A shell is a projectile, which, as opposed to a bullet, is not solid but contains an explosive or other filling, though mode...
, some finding themselves in a hopeless situation were driven to suicide, some died of starvation, some succumbed to malariaMalaria

Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in many tropical and subtropical regions....
, while other fell victim to the retreating Japanese troops." Soldiers on both sides also rapeRape

Rape is the act of forcing penetrative sexual acts, against another's will through violence, force, threat of injury, or oth...
d Okinawan civilians and rape by the Japanese troops "became common" in June after it became clear that the Japanese Army had been defeated.

With the impending victory of American troops, civilians often committed mass suicideMass suicide Summary

Mass suicide occurs when a number of people kill themselves together with one another or for the same reason and is usually ...
, urged on by the fanaticalFanaticism

Fanaticism, from French fanatisme and fanatique from Latin fanaticus 'inspired by a god, frenzied' fanum 'te...
 Japanese soldiers who told locals that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampageRampage

Rampage can refer to:* A course of violence....
 of killing and raping. Ryukyu Shimpo, one of the two major Okinawan newspapers, wrote in 2007: "There are many Okinawans who have testified that the Japanese Army directed them to commit suicide. There are also people who have testified that they were handed grenades by Japanese soldiers (to blow themselves up)." Some of the civilians, having been induced by Japanese propagandaPropaganda

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people, rath...
 to believe that U.S. soldiers were barbarianBarbarian

The word "barbarian" generally refers to an uncivilized, uncultured person, either in a general reference to a member of a n...
s who committed horrible atrocitiesAtrocity

An atrocity is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against...
, killed their families and themselves to avoid capture. Some of them threw themselves and their family members from the cliffCliff

In geography, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure....
s where the Peace Museum now resides.

However, despite being told by the Japanese military that they would suffer rape, tortureTorture

Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a mean...
 and murderMurder

A Murder is the unjust, immoral and/or illegal killing of another human being....
 at the hands of the Americans, Okinawans "were often surprised at the comparatively humane treatment they received from the American enemy." According to Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power by Mark SeldenMark Selden Summary

Mark Selden is research associate in the East Asia Program at Cornell University....
, the Americans "did not pursue a policy of torture, rape, and murder of civilians as Japanese military officials had warned." A Japanese AmericanJapanese American

Japanese Americans are a group of people who trace their ancestry to Japan or Okinawa and are residents and/or citizens of t...
 Military Intelligence Service combat translator with the U.S. military, Teruto "Terry" TsubotaTeruto Tsubota

Teruto "Terry" Tsubota is a second-generation Japanese-American, or Nisei, from Hawaii, who was credited with saving hu...
, convinced hundreds of civilians to not kill themselves and thus saved their lives.

Aftermath


Ninety percent of the buildings on the island were completely destroyed, and the lush tropical landscape was turned into "a vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots".

The military value of Okinawa "exceeded all hope". Okinawa provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in close proximity to Japan. After the battle, the U.S. cleared the surrounding waters of mines in Operation ZebraOperation Zebra

Operation Zebra was a July 1945 major mine clearance operation by U.S....
, occupied Okinawa, and set up the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands, a form of military government. Significant U.S. forces remain garrisoned there, and Kadena remains the largest U.S. air base in Asia.

Some military historians believe that Okinawa led directly to the use of the atomic bomb on HiroshimaHiroshima

The Japanese city of is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the la...
 and Nagasaki. A prominent holder of this view is Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson is a military historian, columnist, political essayist and former Classics professor, best known as a s...
, who states it explicitly in his book Ripples of Battle:

"...because the Japanese on Okinawa, including native Okinawans, were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off, and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion. This means presented itself, with the advent of atomic bombs, which worked admirably in convincing the Japanese to sue for peace, without American casualties. Ironically, the American conventional fire-bombingBombing of Tokyo in World War II

The United States' bombing of Tokyo during World War II took place between 1942 and 1945. ...
 of major Japanese cities (which had been going on for months before Okinawa) was far more effective at killing civilians than the atomic bombs and, had the Americans simply continued, or expanded this, the Japanese would likely have surrendered anyway. Nevertheless, the bombs were a powerful symbolic display of American power, and the Japanese capitulated, obviating the need for an invasion of the home islands."


In 1945, Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was an English statesman and author, best known as Prime Min...
 called the battle "among the most intense and famous in military history."

In 1995, the Okinawa government erected a memorial named Cornerstone of PeaceCornerstone of Peace Overview

Cornerstone of Peace in Okinawa Honto is a secular war memorial for the victims of the Battle of Okinawa during World War II...
 in Mabuni, the site of the last fighting in southeastern Okinawa. The memorial lists all the known names of those who died in the battle, civilian and military, Japanese and foreign. As of June 2008 it contains 240,734 names.

Suicide order controversy


There is ongoing major disagreement between Okinawa's local government and Japan's national government over the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides during the battle. In March 2007, the national Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)

The , also known as MEXT, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government....
 (MEXT) advised textbook publishers to reword descriptions that the embattled Imperial Japanese Army forced civilians to kill themselves in the war so they would not be taken prisoner by the U.S. military. MEXT preferred descriptions that just say that civilians received hand grenades from the Japanese military.

This move sparked widespread protests among the Okinawans. In June 2007, the Okinawa Prefectoral Assembly adopted a resolution stating, "We strongly call on the (national) government to retract the instruction and to immediately restore the description in the textbooks so the truth of the Battle of Okinawa will be handed down correctly and a tragic war will never happen again."

On September 29, 2007, about 110,000 people held the biggest political rally in the history of Okinawa to demand that MEXT retract its order to textbook publishers on revising the account of the civilian suicides. The resolution stated: "It is an undeniable fact that the 'multiple suicides' would not have occurred without the involvement of the Japanese military and any deletion of or revisionHistorical revisionism Summary

Historical revisionism has both a legitimate academic use and a pejorative meaning....
 to (the descriptions) is a denialDenial

Denial is a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is painful to accept rejects it instead, insistin...
 and distortionDistortion

A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or r...
 of the many testimoniesTestimony

In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. ...
 by those people who survived the incidents."

On December 26, 2007, MEXT partially admitted the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides.
The ministry's Textbook Authorization Council allowed the publishers to reinstate the reference that civilians "were forced into mass suicides by the Japanese military," on condition it is placed in sufficient context. "It can be said that from the viewpoint of the (Okinawa residents), they were forced into the mass suicides," the council report stated. That was, however, not enough for the survivors who said it is important for children today to know what really happened.

Nobel PrizeNobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are prizes instituted by the will of Alfred Nobel, awarded to people who have done outstanding research, i...
 winning author Kenzaburo OeKenzaburo Oe

is a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature....
 has written a booklet which states that the mass suicide order was given by the military during the battle. He was sued by the revisionists, including a wartime commander during the battle, who disputed this and wanted to stop publication of the booklet. At a court hearing on November 9, 2007, Oe testified: "Mass suicides were forced on Okinawa islanders under Japan's hierarchicalFacts About Hierarchy

A hierarchy is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system is subordinate to a s...
 social structure that ran through the state of Japan, the Japanese armed forces and local garrisons." On March 28, 2008, the Osaka PrefectureOsaka Prefecture

is part of the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan....
 Court ruled in favor of Oe stating, "It can be said the military was deeply involved in the mass suicides." The court recognized the military's involvement in the mass suicides and murder-suicideMurder-suicide

A murder/suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons immediately before, or while killing himse...
s, citing the testimony about the distribution of grenades for suicide by soldiers and the fact that mass suicides were not recorded on islands where the military was not stationed.

Further reading

  • -Firsthand account of the battle by a surviving Japanese officer.
  • Zaloga, Steven J. Japanese Tanks 1939-45. Osprey, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84603-091-8.

External links

  • , GlobalSecurity.orgGlobalSecurity.org

    GlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, describes itself as a public policy organization whose mission is to be a reliable sou...
    . Retrieved January 8, 2006.*
  • Combined Arms Research Library, Fort Leavenworth, KS