The Action of 3 April 1945 took place south of Okinawa during World War II's Pacific theater. The US Navy was attacked en route to Okinawa by the Imperial Japanese Navy and kamikaze pilots, but US PBY Catalinas came to their rescue, as did US warships.
Background[]
On 1 April 1945, 183,000 US troops under the command of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. landed on the island of Okinawa in the last few months of World War II, facing 80,000 Japanese troops, including 40,000 Okinawan conscripts. The American admiral Raymond A. Spruance sent ships to land troops on Okinawa in addition to keeping Japanese reinforcements and supplies from reaching Okinawa by sea. On 3 April 1945, the Americans came across a fleet of Japanese merchant ships bound north for Okinawa to help the Japanese war effort.
Battle[]
The two PBY Catalinas ("Black Cats") of Squad VPB-54 that found the Japanese merchant vessels were given permission to attack the unmarked ships, as they were part of the enemy war machine and probably sending supplies to Okinawa. The Catalinas made many runs around the ships and their guarding PT boats, sinking 14 PT boats and using cannons and machine-guns to destroy the oil tanks and ammunition aboard the Japanese ships. After disabling the three ships, the two PBY Catalinas turned around to wrap things up, sinking all three of then with their cannons and machine-guns. The Japanese merchant fleet was completely destroyed, saving many lives on Okinawa. As the Catalinas returned to base ("Hammerhead" was damaged in their left engine), they received a distress call from the Okinawa fleet, who lost one infantry transport ship so far; air support was too far away. The Catalinas had to head to the scene to assist the American ships in repelling the Japanese attack, despite Hammerhead's left engine ailments.
As the two Catalinas headed towards the fleet, they encountered large waves of Japanese Zero fighters, shooting down 7 of them. However, Hammerhead was destroyed, leaving "Mantaray" on its own. USS Isherwood (DD 520), USS Laws (DD 558), USS Halford (DD 480), USS Balanon (DD 809), USS Charrette (DD 581), USS Gatling (DD 671), USS Cassin Young (DD 793), and USS Rooks (DD 804) were the only survivors of the fleet, but many survivors were in the water. "Mantaray" was able to rescue 3 people, and they floated on the water, shooting down the Zeros and blowing up PT boats. At the time that they ran out of ammunition, US Hornets arrived to assist the PBY and the last Japanese Zeros were shot down.