| Subject: |
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Re: Bloodiest Encounter of the Pacific War |
| Name: |
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Kamikaze - Typhoon 9-10 Oct 1945 |
| Date Posted: |
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Nov 20, 06 - 2:32 PM |
| Email: |
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edwin@nls.net |
| Message: |
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As soon as Marines had "secured" Okinawa in June 1945, Brigades of Seabees poured onto Okinawa to build the bases and hospitals needed for the Invasion of Japan.
The first wave of the Invasion , scheduled for Nov. 1945 was never needed but had it been necessary - it may would have been crippled by the Typhoon of 9-10 October 1945.
This was the "Divine Wind" that the Japanese believed in. The 112th NCB, camped high on an eastern bluff at the south end of Okinawa was functionally destroyed. The USN ships nearby were mostly damaged. Those unlucky enough to be caught in Buckner Bay were smashed about like toy boats.
The boost to Japanese Morale would have surely cost many more American lives had the invasion been necessary.
I agree that Okinawa was the most ferocious battle of WWII. It has been characterized as "An Iwo Jima every day for months". I am astounded that history overlooks this fact and focuses on Iwo Jima.
Of course, I take nothing away from Iwo - it enabled the B-29's from Tinian, Saipan, Guam to pulverize Japan. But Okinawa was the real coup de gras of WWII.
Thank you all for your efforts at Okinawa.
See the official USN report of the Typhoon:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq102-6.htm
Edwin Foster
112th Seabees Sec/Hist |
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