Battle of the Philippine Sea

Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a major naval engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy on June 19–20, 1944, during the Pacific War. The battle occurred as American forces advanced on the Mariana Islands, prompting a decisive Japanese counterattack aimed at destroying the United States Fifth Fleet. The overwhelming American victory, which included the near-total destruction of Japanese carrier-based air power, is often referred to as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot."

Background

The battle was a direct result of the American Operation Forager, the invasion of the strategic Mariana Islands, including Saipan, Guam, and Tinian. The Imperial Japanese Navy, under the A-Go operational plan, sought a decisive fleet action to halt the American advance and protect the inner defense perimeter of the Japanese archipelago. The Combined Fleet, commanded by Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, sortied from its bases with the objective of engaging the United States Fifth Fleet under Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, which was providing cover for the United States Marine Corps landings. The Japanese plan relied on using longer-range aircraft and land-based air support from islands like Guam and Yap, but these forces had been severely attrited by pre-invasion American airstrikes.

Opposing forces

The American force, Task Force 58, was commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher and consisted of four powerful carrier task groups. These groups included fleet carriers like the USS *Enterprise*, USS *Lexington*, and USS *Yorktown*, supported by modern fast battleships such as the USS *Iowa* and USS *Alabama*. The Japanese First Mobile Fleet, led by Admiral Ozawa aboard the carrier Taihō, included veterans like the *Shōkaku* and Zuikaku, but also newer, less-experienced air groups. A critical weakness was the inferior quality and training of Japanese naval aviators compared to their American counterparts from Naval Air Forces.

Battle

The battle commenced on June 19 with massive Japanese air raids against Task Force 58. American combat air patrols, guided by advanced radar and coordinated by fighter directors aboard ships like the USS *Lexington*, intercepted the incoming waves. In a series of one-sided engagements, over 300 Japanese aircraft were shot down in a single day, an event American pilots dubbed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot." Simultaneously, the American submarine USS *Albacore* torpedoed and sank the flagship Taihō, while the USS *Cavalla* sank the veteran carrier Shōkaku. On June 20, after a long search, American aircraft located Ozawa's retreating fleet at extreme range. A late-afternoon strike sank the carrier Hiyō and damaged several other vessels, including the Zuikaku, though many American aircraft were lost during dangerous night recoveries.

Aftermath

The battle was a catastrophic defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It lost three fleet carriers and, more importantly, approximately 600 aircraft and most of its remaining trained carrier aviators. The American fleet suffered only superficial damage, primarily to the battleship USS *South Dakota*, and the loss of 123 aircraft, many due to operational accidents. The defeat ensured the fall of the Mariana Islands, allowing the United States Army Air Forces to base B-29 Superfortress bombers within range of the Japanese archipelago. Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa offered his resignation, though it was not accepted by the Imperial General Headquarters.

Significance

The Battle of the Philippine Sea effectively ended the Japanese carrier force as a strategic threat for the remainder of World War II. It marked the final large-scale carrier duel of the war and demonstrated the overwhelming qualitative superiority of American naval aviation, technology, and pilot training. The victory secured the Mariana Islands, which provided critical forward bases for the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, including the later raids on Tokyo and the atomic bomb missions from Tinian. The battle set the stage for the subsequent and even larger Battle of Leyte Gulf, where the surviving Japanese surface fleet would make its final major sortie without significant carrier air support.

Category:Naval battles of World War II Category:1944 in the Pacific War