What are two interesting things about the battles of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa?

Question

Any would be fine! even if you only have one! Thanks guys!

Answer 1

Leyte...first read Evan Thomas excellent "Days of Thunder"

quick summation: afloat command of the US Pacific Fleet rotated between Adms Halsey and Spruance. Spruance had been criticized for, five months earlier letting the Japanese fleet "get away" at the Marianas. Halsey vowed in public he wouldn't let that happen. Newspapers printed it, Japs read the newspapers.

They developed a plan where they would show their badly depleted virtually useless carriers north of Leyte to lure Halsey away. It worked. A "Center Force" of 5 battleships and eight cruisers made an unopposed cruise towards the invasion beaches; turned away at the ;last moment by three destroyers and one destroyer escort.

That DE, the Samuel B Roberts, has had a modern frigate named for her. The second Roberts took two Iraqi Exocet's in the Persian Gulf 10 years ago and made it back to port.

A third part of the Japanese plan had two old battleships try to sneak up from the south. In the nighttime engagement at Suriago, 5 American battleships, three of which had been sunk at Pearl Harbor, blew Fuso and Yamashiro away i the last time in 500 years that a battleship would fight another.

Iwo Jima scared the heck out of the US . Something like 99% of the Japanese died, none willingly surrendered.

At Okinawa, the Navy was tied for months to the vicinity of the island supporting the Army and Marines ashore. We lost more men and more ships to the Kamikazies at Okinawa than in the whole war up to that point combined.

The two thoughts..we're going to loose a lot of men invading Japan,and once we're ashore we're going to have to kill them all ....lead MacArthur to believe he would have 1,000,000 Allied dead and wounded and 20,000,000 dead Japanese by the time it was over.

And you wonder why we dropped 2 A-bombs? There was NO doubt in Washington what the A-bombs would save in US and Japanese lives.

Answer 2

Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle ever fought; it effectively destroyed what was left of the Japanese navy. Iwo Jima and Okinawa were both land battles, staged from amphibious invasion, and were bloody messes on both sides.