On May 8,1945, Europe saw the end of a prolonged and gruesome war. However, peace had yet to come
to all corners of the world. Far to the East, the war still raged in the Pacific,
and the Japanese seemed unyielding, even when the Allies were slowly retaking one island at a time.
Soon, the time came to plan a direct assault on the enemy's home islands.
But drawing from previous experiences, the US foresaw the fighting would stretch into 1946.
Before the secret atomic bomb was considered to subdue the Japanese, the US Navy devised
a plan of classic coastal naval bombardments aimed at dismantling the nation's industry.
Throughout July and August, the Allied fleets harassed many Japanese ports relentlessly,
but they never expected how successful their attacks would be…
Frontal Attack
The island-hopping campaign in the Pacific had been costly for the US forces.
But as 1944 came to an end, the Japanese expansion had been checked.
In November, the Americans captured the Mariana
Islands and secured several air bases to bomb mainland Japan.
Meanwhile, the last Japanese Navy strongholds were wiped out at Leyte Gulf and off the
Philippines after many years of oppression for the people and the prisoners of war.
Early the following year, US Marines assaulted Iwo Jima, which stood between
the Marianas and Japan, ensuring yet another staging post for the bombers.
The next step was to capture Okinawa, which gave way to an onslaught of shells,
rockets, and bombs from no less than 1,300 ships, including the British Pacific Fleet.
Even so, the Japanese staged a fierce defense against the 3,000 sorties of
fighter bombers taking off from 40 aircraft carriers.
In addition, ten battleships and nine cruisers pummeled the island with 13,000 shells.
By April 1, four US divisions landed on Okinawa, kicking off a bitter war of attrition for 486
square miles of land. The defenders were hidden underground, and it took the Americans
three months to seize the entire territory. Although the Japanese counterattacked twice,
their efforts were futile, and they eventually succumbed to the more powerful US military.
Nevertheless, the operation required 170,000 US servicemen and cost 8,000 American lives.
The end of the war was within reach, but the hardships endured at Okinawa
now raised questions about the feasibility of a direct attack on the Japanese home islands.
Cornered
US Navy planners advocated for a blockade and bombardment of Japan as a means to instigate
its collapse. In turn, General Douglas MacArthur and the Army
urged an early assault on Kyushu that would prepare the ground for a subsequent invasion
of the main island of Honshu. And Admiral Chester Nimitz agreed with his Army counterpart.
Thus came Operation Downfall, which would happen in two phases.
First, Operation Olympic envisaged the main assault on Kyushu in early
November. Operation Coronet would then focus on the invasion of Honshu in March of 1946.
The casualty rate in Okinawa had amounted to 35 percent.
As such, the force scheduled to partake in the assault on Kyushu rose to 767,000 troops.
On the other hand, the Japanese High Command plotted a massive defense
plan known as Ketsu Go, or Operation Decisive, which would comprise roughly
three million soldiers with the sole purpose of breaking American morale.
However, the US Army Air Forces punished cities and industrial facilities in the
Japanese main islands with sustained attacks from the Marianas in mid-1945.
Simultaneously, Allied submarines and surface ships cut most of the Japanese trade routes.
Fuel shortages had also kept Imperial Japanese Navy ships from the seas,
while the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service was forced to hold the remainder
of its aircraft in reserve, expecting a major Allied assault later that year.
Furthermore, the Allied Naval Commanders decided to launch bombing attacks from their battleships
against Japanese coastal cities to force the enemy to surrender before the atomic bombs were needed.
Never Forget
On July 1, the US Third Fleet departed Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, led by Admiral
William Halsey. Its purpose was to conduct a direct attack on the Japanese home islands.
To prepare, the Navy first sent its submarines to Japan's inshore waters in search of naval mines.
Simultaneously, the US Army Air Forces deployed B-29 Superfortresses and B-24 Liberators to
conduct photo reconnaissance sorties over Japan to identify airfields and facilities.
Task Force 38 was assigned to execute the first strikes. Under the command of Vice Admiral John
McCain, the Task Force launched its aircraft on July 10 and struck facilities around Tokyo.
TF 38 then sailed north on the 14th to begin raiding Hokkaido and northern Honshu.
Earlier in the war, these areas had been outside the range of US bombers and had not been attacked.
This was Japan’s first naval bombardment in the best part of a century.
The Americans met close to no opposition and easily sank 11 warships and 20 merchant ships.
They also damaged another eight warships and 21 merchant ships,
and claimed to have destroyed at least 25 Japanese aircraft.
TF 38 then detached a bombardment group designated Task Unit 34.8.1,
led by Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth Jr. The unit approached Kamaichi in northern Honshu
with the purpose of destroying the crucial ironworks, one of the largest in Japan.
At 11:00am, the battleship South Dakota hoisted a flag signal that read "Never Forget Pearl Harbor."
Sacred Soil
It was expected that the Japanese defenses would respond to the bombardments with their
aircraft held in reserve. However, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
had anticipated this moment and decided not to attack the naval forces in Japan to
avoid exposing their last resources. In truth, they were awaiting a major landing operation.
Around noon on the 14th, the Task Unit began bombarding the Japan Iron & Steel
Corporation factory, which was the first Allied bombardment of a Japanese coastal town. Even so,
they never crossed the 100-fathom line, as no minesweepers were available to clear the area.
The force pummeled the factory with 802 410-millimeter shells,
728 200-millimeter shells, and 825 130-millimeter shells. Most of the shells fell within ironworks
grounds, but the concussion from the explosions set the entire town ablaze.
Despite the thick curtain of smoke that significantly impeded vision,
the US Navy fired accurately on predetermined targets. And yet, there was no Japanese response.
As Time magazine described: (QUOTE) "For two hours the guns roared,
and their shellbursts walked through the steel plant.
The Jap reply from shore batteries was only a whispered echo. The "sacred soil" of Japan,
from which the Kamikaze (divine wind) was supposed to disperse all attackers, had been violated."
That same night, the attacks continued on Muroran, on the southeast coast of Hokkaido.
Another bombardment unit, TU 34.8.2, raided the Japan Steel Company's plant
and the Wanishi ironworks. Then, the following morning, three battleships battered the city,
inflicting considerable damage to the industrial facilities and the urban structures.
Accompanying his sailors from USS Missouri, Halsey acknowledged that his fleet was vulnerable
to aerial attacks. And as he later remembered, those six hours were the longest of his life.
Utter Destruction
Several more attacks continued smashing Japanese coastal towns through the end of
July, effectively eliminating what was left of their Navy.
Still, an invasion of the home islands appeared necessary for the war to end.
When the New York Times reported about the raids with more details than usual,
it was a sign that Navy censors were now unafraid of Japanese military intelligence.
On July 26, the United States, Great Britain, and China issued the Potsdam Proclamation,
calling for Japan's unconditional surrender or else they would face:
(QUOTE) "The utter destruction of the Japanese homeland."
After it seemed Japan had rejected the terms stated in the declaration, US President Harry
S. Truman and his advisers opted to deploy the first atomic bomb on the Japanese mainland.
After the August 6 bombings of Hiroshima, the proud Japanese Empire still refused to
surrender, and thus followed a second bombing on Nagasaki three days later.
That same day, the Soviets invaded Manchuria,
cornering the Japanese for good. On August 10, the Emperor finally offered
to surrender unconditionally under the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
The End
Through the last days of July and into early August, the Allied fleet was forced to stay
away from Japanese coasts to avoid a typhoon and also replenish their fuel and ammunition stocks.
The same day the second atomic bomb was dropped, the Task Force attacked a large concentration of
aircraft in northern Honshu, and the pilots claimed to have destroyed no less than 720.
Perhaps more importantly, the Allies were under the false impression that the ironworks at
Kamaichi had not been damaged enough, and carried out a second bombardment on top of the city.
New ships joined the effort, including heavy cruisers USS Boston and Saint Paul and half
a dozen light cruisers and destroyers from the British and New Zealand Navies.
For two hours, the Allied fleet harassed the Japanese town,
but they did encounter resistance this time. Even so, the effort was futile.
Japan capitulated a day later, and after several negotiations, the Emperor surrendered on the 14th,
officially ending the Pacific War and the last stage of World War 2.
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