Author: Robin L. Rielly
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1935149911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
The untold story of ferocious air and naval combat during the WWII Battle of Okinawa—drawn from primary sources and survivor interviews. This is the story of an overlooked yet significant aerial and naval battle during the American assault on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. While losses to America’s main fleet are well recorded, less well known is the terrific battle waged on the radar picket line, the fleet’s outer defense against Japanese marauders. Weaving together the experiences of the ships and their crews—drawn from ship and aircraft action reports, ship logs, and personal interviews—historian Robin L. Reilly recounts one of the most ferocious air and naval battles in history. The US fleet—and its accompanying airpower—was so massive that the Japanese could only rely on suicide attacks to inflict critical damage. Of the 206 ships that served on radar picket duty, twenty-nine percent were sunk or damaged by Japanese air attacks, making theirs the most hazardous naval surface duty in World War II. The great losses were largely due to relentless kamikaze attacks, but also resulted from the improper use of support gunboats, failure to establish land-based radar at the earliest possible time, the assignment of ships ill-equipped for picket duty, and, as time went on, crew fatigue. US air cover during the battle is also described in full, as squadrons dashed from their carriers and land bases to intercept the Japanese swarms, resulting in constant melees over the fleet.
Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships
Author: Robin L. Rielly
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1935149911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
The untold story of ferocious air and naval combat during the WWII Battle of Okinawa—drawn from primary sources and survivor interviews. This is the story of an overlooked yet significant aerial and naval battle during the American assault on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. While losses to America’s main fleet are well recorded, less well known is the terrific battle waged on the radar picket line, the fleet’s outer defense against Japanese marauders. Weaving together the experiences of the ships and their crews—drawn from ship and aircraft action reports, ship logs, and personal interviews—historian Robin L. Reilly recounts one of the most ferocious air and naval battles in history. The US fleet—and its accompanying airpower—was so massive that the Japanese could only rely on suicide attacks to inflict critical damage. Of the 206 ships that served on radar picket duty, twenty-nine percent were sunk or damaged by Japanese air attacks, making theirs the most hazardous naval surface duty in World War II. The great losses were largely due to relentless kamikaze attacks, but also resulted from the improper use of support gunboats, failure to establish land-based radar at the earliest possible time, the assignment of ships ill-equipped for picket duty, and, as time went on, crew fatigue. US air cover during the battle is also described in full, as squadrons dashed from their carriers and land bases to intercept the Japanese swarms, resulting in constant melees over the fleet.
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1935149911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
The untold story of ferocious air and naval combat during the WWII Battle of Okinawa—drawn from primary sources and survivor interviews. This is the story of an overlooked yet significant aerial and naval battle during the American assault on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. While losses to America’s main fleet are well recorded, less well known is the terrific battle waged on the radar picket line, the fleet’s outer defense against Japanese marauders. Weaving together the experiences of the ships and their crews—drawn from ship and aircraft action reports, ship logs, and personal interviews—historian Robin L. Reilly recounts one of the most ferocious air and naval battles in history. The US fleet—and its accompanying airpower—was so massive that the Japanese could only rely on suicide attacks to inflict critical damage. Of the 206 ships that served on radar picket duty, twenty-nine percent were sunk or damaged by Japanese air attacks, making theirs the most hazardous naval surface duty in World War II. The great losses were largely due to relentless kamikaze attacks, but also resulted from the improper use of support gunboats, failure to establish land-based radar at the earliest possible time, the assignment of ships ill-equipped for picket duty, and, as time went on, crew fatigue. US air cover during the battle is also described in full, as squadrons dashed from their carriers and land bases to intercept the Japanese swarms, resulting in constant melees over the fleet.
Complete Shotokan Karate
Author: Robin L. Rielly
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462902286
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Complete Shotokan Karate is actually two books in one: a thorough history of Japanese karate in Asia and the United States, and an instructional manual for students of the Shotokan method. Part One outlines the history of karate from its probable origins in India (or perhaps Greece), and its transmission from China through Okinawa to Japan. Relevant aspects of Japanese history and culture, such as the samurai ethos and Zen, are emphasized. Part Two, profusely illustrated with over 600 clear black-and-white photographs and 20 line drawings, outlines instruction for kumite (sparring drills). Included are two-person drills such as the double-line drill and the circle drill which give practice in facing multiple opponents. Descriptions of many of these drills are not found in other English-language books. In addition, nine karate kata (forms) are presented, two of which, sochin and nijushiho, are rarely seen in print in English. The two parts of this exhaustive book--the first historical and philosophical, the second practical--combine to form one of the most comprehensive presentations of Shotokan karate available in English. Complete Shotokan Karate is an essential resource for all those interested in Japanese karate.
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462902286
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Complete Shotokan Karate is actually two books in one: a thorough history of Japanese karate in Asia and the United States, and an instructional manual for students of the Shotokan method. Part One outlines the history of karate from its probable origins in India (or perhaps Greece), and its transmission from China through Okinawa to Japan. Relevant aspects of Japanese history and culture, such as the samurai ethos and Zen, are emphasized. Part Two, profusely illustrated with over 600 clear black-and-white photographs and 20 line drawings, outlines instruction for kumite (sparring drills). Included are two-person drills such as the double-line drill and the circle drill which give practice in facing multiple opponents. Descriptions of many of these drills are not found in other English-language books. In addition, nine karate kata (forms) are presented, two of which, sochin and nijushiho, are rarely seen in print in English. The two parts of this exhaustive book--the first historical and philosophical, the second practical--combine to form one of the most comprehensive presentations of Shotokan karate available in English. Complete Shotokan Karate is an essential resource for all those interested in Japanese karate.
Lucky Sweetbrier
Author: Tanney Edward Oberg
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595355021
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
The night before, a Japanese seaplane under cover of darkness, landed on the other side of the harbor - unnoticed. In the early morning, he took off and dove at a liberty ship, a short distance off Sweetbrier's port bow. The area wasn't even alerted - not a single shot was fired. He just came over the top of the mountain, picked out the liberty ship and dove right into it. Men were killed and damage was done. Our lookouts saw it all; it was a single float seaplane. Radio Tokyo summarizing multiple raids on this date, claimed that they had sunk: one battleship, two cruisers, and two transports in this harbor - it didn't happen. Thus ended a busy month of almost daily air raids. Frequently there were multiple raids each day and night interrupting our scheduled navigational work. During this month of May 1945 there were 68 GQs representing 73 hours and 43 minutes at battle stations. Includes chapters on devastating enemy attacks at Okinawa on LST 808 and battleship Pennsylvania.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595355021
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
The night before, a Japanese seaplane under cover of darkness, landed on the other side of the harbor - unnoticed. In the early morning, he took off and dove at a liberty ship, a short distance off Sweetbrier's port bow. The area wasn't even alerted - not a single shot was fired. He just came over the top of the mountain, picked out the liberty ship and dove right into it. Men were killed and damage was done. Our lookouts saw it all; it was a single float seaplane. Radio Tokyo summarizing multiple raids on this date, claimed that they had sunk: one battleship, two cruisers, and two transports in this harbor - it didn't happen. Thus ended a busy month of almost daily air raids. Frequently there were multiple raids each day and night interrupting our scheduled navigational work. During this month of May 1945 there were 68 GQs representing 73 hours and 43 minutes at battle stations. Includes chapters on devastating enemy attacks at Okinawa on LST 808 and battleship Pennsylvania.
Rain of Steel
Author: Stephen Moore
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 168247531X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
The last Pacific campaign of World War II was the most violent on record. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58 carriers had conducted air strikes on mainland Japan and supported the Iwo Jima landings, but his aviators were sorely tested once the Okinawa campaign commenced on 1 April 1945. Rain of Steel follows Navy and Marine carrier aviators in the desperate air battles to control the kamikazes directed by Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki. The latter would unleash ten different Kikusui aerial suicide operations, one including a naval force built around the world’s most powerful battleship, the 71,000-ton Yamato. These battles are related largely through the words and experiences of some of the last living U.S. fighter aces of World War II. More than 1,900 kamikaze sorties—and thousands more traditional attack aircraft—would be launched against the U.S. Navy’s warships, radar picket ships, and amphibious vessels during the Okinawa campaign. In this time, Navy, Marine, and Army Air Force pilots would claim some 2,326 aerial victories. The most successful four-man fighter division in U.S. Navy history would be crowned during the fight against Ugaki’s kamikazes. The Japanese named the campaign tetsu no ame (“rain of steel”), often referred to in English as “typhoon of steel.”
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 168247531X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
The last Pacific campaign of World War II was the most violent on record. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58 carriers had conducted air strikes on mainland Japan and supported the Iwo Jima landings, but his aviators were sorely tested once the Okinawa campaign commenced on 1 April 1945. Rain of Steel follows Navy and Marine carrier aviators in the desperate air battles to control the kamikazes directed by Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki. The latter would unleash ten different Kikusui aerial suicide operations, one including a naval force built around the world’s most powerful battleship, the 71,000-ton Yamato. These battles are related largely through the words and experiences of some of the last living U.S. fighter aces of World War II. More than 1,900 kamikaze sorties—and thousands more traditional attack aircraft—would be launched against the U.S. Navy’s warships, radar picket ships, and amphibious vessels during the Okinawa campaign. In this time, Navy, Marine, and Army Air Force pilots would claim some 2,326 aerial victories. The most successful four-man fighter division in U.S. Navy history would be crowned during the fight against Ugaki’s kamikazes. The Japanese named the campaign tetsu no ame (“rain of steel”), often referred to in English as “typhoon of steel.”
Dive Bomber Down
Author: Bryan J. Dickerson
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476650454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
James A. Nist lived an extraordinary life in his 24 years. Raised on a New Jersey farm, he graduated high school at 16 and earned both a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University and a private pilot's license. In 1942, he joined the Navy as an aviation cadet, earning his wings and an officer's commission in the Naval Reserve. He became proficient in three of the Navy's high-performance combat aircraft: the SBD Dauntless dive-bomber, the F6F Hellcat fighter and the F4U Corsair fighter. In 1945, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the carrier USS Bunker Hill and flew combat missions over Japan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Drawing on Nist's letters and personal papers and official Navy documents, historian Bryan J. Dickerson tells the story of his great uncle's life and service during World War II.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476650454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 259
Book Description
James A. Nist lived an extraordinary life in his 24 years. Raised on a New Jersey farm, he graduated high school at 16 and earned both a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University and a private pilot's license. In 1942, he joined the Navy as an aviation cadet, earning his wings and an officer's commission in the Naval Reserve. He became proficient in three of the Navy's high-performance combat aircraft: the SBD Dauntless dive-bomber, the F6F Hellcat fighter and the F4U Corsair fighter. In 1945, he deployed to the Pacific aboard the carrier USS Bunker Hill and flew combat missions over Japan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Drawing on Nist's letters and personal papers and official Navy documents, historian Bryan J. Dickerson tells the story of his great uncle's life and service during World War II.
The Twilight Warriors
Author: Robert Gandt
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0767932420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402
Book Description
Winner of the 2011 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature, The Twilight Warriors is the engrossing, page-turning saga of a tightly knit band of naval aviators who are thrust into the final—and most brutal—battle of the Pacific war during World War II: Okinawa. April 1945. The end of World War II finally appears to be nearing. The Third Reich is collapsing in Europe, and the Americans are overpowering the once-mighty Japanese Empire in the Pacific. For a group of young pilots trained in the twilight of the war, their greatest worry is that it will end before they have a chance to face the enemy. They call themselves Tail End Charlies: They fly at the tail end of formations, stand at the tail end of chow lines, and now they are catching the tail end of the war. What they don’t know is that they will be key players in the bloodiest and most difficult of naval battles—not only of World War II but in all of American history. The Twilight Warriors relives the drama of the world’s last great naval campaign. From the cockpit of a Corsair fighter we gaze down at the Japanese task force racing to destroy the American amphibious force at Okinawa. Through the eyes of the men on the destroyers assigned to picket ship duty, we experience the terror as wave after wave of kamikazes crash into their ships. Standing on the deck of the legendary superbattleship Yamato, we watch Japan’s last hope for victory die in a tableau of gunfire and explosions. The fate of the Americans at Okinawa, including a twenty-two-year-old former art student, an intrepid fighter pilot whose life abruptly changes when his Corsair goes down off the enemy shore, and a young Texan lieutenant who volunteers for the most dangerous flying job in the fleet—intercepting kamikazes at night over the blackened Pacific—is intertwined with the lives of the “young gods”: the honor-bound kamikaes forces who swarm like killer bees toward the U.S. ships. The ferocity of the Okinawa fighting stuns the world. Before it ends, the long battle will cost more American lives, ships, and aircraft than any naval engagement in U.S. history. More than simply the account of a historic battle, The Twilight Warriors brings to life the human side of an epic conflict. It is the story of young Americans at war in the air and on the sea—and of their enigmatic, fanatically courageous enemy.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0767932420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402
Book Description
Winner of the 2011 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature, The Twilight Warriors is the engrossing, page-turning saga of a tightly knit band of naval aviators who are thrust into the final—and most brutal—battle of the Pacific war during World War II: Okinawa. April 1945. The end of World War II finally appears to be nearing. The Third Reich is collapsing in Europe, and the Americans are overpowering the once-mighty Japanese Empire in the Pacific. For a group of young pilots trained in the twilight of the war, their greatest worry is that it will end before they have a chance to face the enemy. They call themselves Tail End Charlies: They fly at the tail end of formations, stand at the tail end of chow lines, and now they are catching the tail end of the war. What they don’t know is that they will be key players in the bloodiest and most difficult of naval battles—not only of World War II but in all of American history. The Twilight Warriors relives the drama of the world’s last great naval campaign. From the cockpit of a Corsair fighter we gaze down at the Japanese task force racing to destroy the American amphibious force at Okinawa. Through the eyes of the men on the destroyers assigned to picket ship duty, we experience the terror as wave after wave of kamikazes crash into their ships. Standing on the deck of the legendary superbattleship Yamato, we watch Japan’s last hope for victory die in a tableau of gunfire and explosions. The fate of the Americans at Okinawa, including a twenty-two-year-old former art student, an intrepid fighter pilot whose life abruptly changes when his Corsair goes down off the enemy shore, and a young Texan lieutenant who volunteers for the most dangerous flying job in the fleet—intercepting kamikazes at night over the blackened Pacific—is intertwined with the lives of the “young gods”: the honor-bound kamikaes forces who swarm like killer bees toward the U.S. ships. The ferocity of the Okinawa fighting stuns the world. Before it ends, the long battle will cost more American lives, ships, and aircraft than any naval engagement in U.S. history. More than simply the account of a historic battle, The Twilight Warriors brings to life the human side of an epic conflict. It is the story of young Americans at war in the air and on the sea—and of their enigmatic, fanatically courageous enemy.
US Navy Ships vs Kamikazes 1944–45
Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472812751
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 84
Book Description
The ineffectiveness of conventional air attacks on US Navy surface ships, particularly heavily defended targets like carrier task groups, forced the Japanese to re-evaluate their tactics in late 1944. The solution they arrived at was simple – crash their aircraft into American ships. This notion of self-sacrifice fit well within the Japanese warrior psyche and proved terrifying to the American sailors subjected to it. These tactics brought immediate results, and proved effective until the end of the war. This book examines this terrifying new way of waging war, revealing how the US Navy was forced to adapt its tactics and deploy new weapons to counter the threat posed by kamikaze attacks, as well as assessing whether the damage caused to American naval strength by the loss of so many pilots and aircraft actually had a material impact.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472812751
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 84
Book Description
The ineffectiveness of conventional air attacks on US Navy surface ships, particularly heavily defended targets like carrier task groups, forced the Japanese to re-evaluate their tactics in late 1944. The solution they arrived at was simple – crash their aircraft into American ships. This notion of self-sacrifice fit well within the Japanese warrior psyche and proved terrifying to the American sailors subjected to it. These tactics brought immediate results, and proved effective until the end of the war. This book examines this terrifying new way of waging war, revealing how the US Navy was forced to adapt its tactics and deploy new weapons to counter the threat posed by kamikaze attacks, as well as assessing whether the damage caused to American naval strength by the loss of so many pilots and aircraft actually had a material impact.
The U.S. Navy's "Interim" LSM(R)s in World War II
Author: Ron MacKay, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786498595
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
The "Interim" LSM(R) or Landing Ship, Medium (Rocket) was a revolutionary development in rocket warfare in World War II and the U.S. Navy's first true rocket ship. An entirely new class of commissioned warship and the forerunners of today's missile-firing naval combatants, these ships began as improvised conversions of conventional amphibious landing craft in South Carolina's Charleston Navy Yard during late 1944. They were rushed to the Pacific Theatre to support the U.S. Army and Marines with heavy rocket bombardments that devastated Japanese forces on Okinawa in 1945. Their primary mission was to deliver maximum firepower to enemy targets ashore. Yet LSM(R)s also repulsed explosive Japanese speed boats, rescued crippled warships, recovered hundreds of survivors at sea and were deployed as antisubmarine hunter-killers. Casualties were staggering: enemy gunfire blasted one, while kamikaze attacks sank three, crippled a fourth and grazed two more. This book provides a comprehensive operational history of the Navy's 12 original "Interim" LSM(R)s.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786498595
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
The "Interim" LSM(R) or Landing Ship, Medium (Rocket) was a revolutionary development in rocket warfare in World War II and the U.S. Navy's first true rocket ship. An entirely new class of commissioned warship and the forerunners of today's missile-firing naval combatants, these ships began as improvised conversions of conventional amphibious landing craft in South Carolina's Charleston Navy Yard during late 1944. They were rushed to the Pacific Theatre to support the U.S. Army and Marines with heavy rocket bombardments that devastated Japanese forces on Okinawa in 1945. Their primary mission was to deliver maximum firepower to enemy targets ashore. Yet LSM(R)s also repulsed explosive Japanese speed boats, rescued crippled warships, recovered hundreds of survivors at sea and were deployed as antisubmarine hunter-killers. Casualties were staggering: enemy gunfire blasted one, while kamikaze attacks sank three, crippled a fourth and grazed two more. This book provides a comprehensive operational history of the Navy's 12 original "Interim" LSM(R)s.
Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms
Author: Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226620689
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
Why did almost one thousand highly educated "student soldiers" volunteer to serve in Japan's tokkotai (kamikaze) operations near the end of World War II, even though Japan was losing the war? In this fascinating study of the role of symbolism and aesthetics in totalitarian ideology, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney shows how the state manipulated the time-honored Japanese symbol of the cherry blossom to convince people that it was their honor to "die like beautiful falling cherry petals" for the emperor. Drawing on diaries never before published in English, Ohnuki-Tierney describes these young men's agonies and even defiance against the imperial ideology. Passionately devoted to cosmopolitan intellectual traditions, the pilots saw the cherry blossom not in militaristic terms, but as a symbol of the painful beauty and unresolved ambiguities of their tragically brief lives. Using Japan as an example, the author breaks new ground in the understanding of symbolic communication, nationalism, and totalitarian ideologies and their execution.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226620689
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 441
Book Description
Why did almost one thousand highly educated "student soldiers" volunteer to serve in Japan's tokkotai (kamikaze) operations near the end of World War II, even though Japan was losing the war? In this fascinating study of the role of symbolism and aesthetics in totalitarian ideology, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney shows how the state manipulated the time-honored Japanese symbol of the cherry blossom to convince people that it was their honor to "die like beautiful falling cherry petals" for the emperor. Drawing on diaries never before published in English, Ohnuki-Tierney describes these young men's agonies and even defiance against the imperial ideology. Passionately devoted to cosmopolitan intellectual traditions, the pilots saw the cherry blossom not in militaristic terms, but as a symbol of the painful beauty and unresolved ambiguities of their tragically brief lives. Using Japan as an example, the author breaks new ground in the understanding of symbolic communication, nationalism, and totalitarian ideologies and their execution.
The Sacred Warriors
Author: Denis Warner
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780380676781
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780380676781
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description