The Twilight Warriors

by Robert Gandt

  “Buck’s Battle,” Time, April 16, 1945.

  “World: Becton’s Word,” Time, June 4, 1945.

  “Two Teams, One Goal,” Time, June 11, 1945.

  “Seven Kamikazes Were Not Enough to Send This DD Down,” John B. Penfold, Our Navy, January 1, 1946.

  “USS Franklin: Struck by a Japanese Dive Bomber During World War II,” David H. Lippman, World War II, March 1995.

  “Thriller at 38,000 Feet,” Leatherneck Magazine, May 1995.

  “Laffey Attacked off Okinawa, World War II,” Dale Harper, World War II, March 1998.

  “1945: The Deadliest Duty,” Mission: History (from the Naval Order of the United States), April 3, 2000.

  “Strangest Dogfight Ever,” Leatherneck Magazine, January 2007.

  “Terrible Turner: The Man Who Gave the Navy Webbed Feet,” Owen Gault, Sea Classics, August 2008.

  “The Trouble I’ve Seen: The Nils Andersen Story,” Postscripts online magazine, May 21, 2009, http://notorc.blogspot.com/2007/07/lest-we-forget-sacred-grove-at-montrose.html.

  Other

  The History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Ten, 2 January 1945–15 November 1945; VBF-10/A12, Serial No. 109.

  Air Group Ten Cruise Book 1945.

  Air Group Ten Action Reports. 1–12, March 21, 1945.

  ———. 13–39, April 27, 1945.

  ———. 40–56, April 27, 1945.

  ———. 57–85, April 28, 1945.

  USS Intrepid (CV11) War Diaries, September 1, 1944–December 4, 1944, and March 3, 1945–August 21, 1945.

  Letter from Adm. John Hyland to Air Group Ten airmen on the occasion of their reunion, November 1997.

  U.S. ORDER OF BATTLE

  OKINAWA, APRIL 1945

  C in C Pacific Fleet: Adm. Chester Nimitz

  C in C Fifth Fleet: Adm. Raymond Spruance

  Task Force 58 (FAST CARRIER TASK FORCE) Vice Adm. Marc Mitscher

  Task Group 58.1 (CARRIER TASK GROUP) Rear Adm. J. J. Clark

  Hornet, Bennington, San Jacinto, Belleau Wood

  Task Group 58.2 (CARRIER TASK GROUP) Rear Adm. Ralph Davison

  Enterprise, Randolph, Independence

  Task Group 58.3 (CARRIER TASK GROUP) Rear Adm. F. C. Sherman

  Essex, Bunker Hill, Bataan, Cabot, Hancock

  Task Group 58.4 (CARRIER TASK GROUP) Rear Adm. Arthur Radford

  Intrepid, Yorktown, Langley

  Task Force 51 (JOINT EXPEDITIONARY FORCE) Vice Adm. R. K. Turner

  Task Force 54 (GUNFIRE AND COVERING FORCE) Rear Adm. Morton Deyo

  Task Force 57 (BRITISH CARRIER FORCE) Vice Adm. Sir H. B. Rawlings

  U.S. Tenth Army (JOINT EXPEDITIONARY TROOPS) Lt. Gen. Simon Buckner

  XXIV Corps Maj. Gen. John Hodge

  7th and 96th Infantry Divisions

  77th Infantry Division Maj. Gen. Andrew Bruce

  27th Infantry Division Maj. Gen. George Griner

  III Amphibious Corps Maj. Gen. Roy Geiger USMC

  1st and 6th Marine Divisions

  JAPANESE ORDER OF BATTLE

  OKINAWA, APRIL 1945

  Imperial Joint Staff—Emperor Hirohito—Imperial War Council

  Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet C in C Adm. Soemu Toyoda

  Land-Based Air Fleets Vice Adm. Takijiro Ohnishi

  Fifth Air Fleet (Kamikaze) Vice Adm. Matome Ugaki

  Second Fleet (flagship Yamato) Vice Adm. Seiichi Ito

  Yamato Task Force

  BB Yamato / CL Yahagi / DD Fuyutsuki / DD Suzutsuki / DD Yukikaze / DD Isokaze / DD Hamakaze / DD Hatsushimo / DD Asashimo / DD Kasumi

  Imperial Japanese Army

  32nd Army (Okinawa) Lt. General Mitsuru Ushijima

  24th Division, 62nd Division

  44th Independent Mixed Brigade

  2nd Tank Regiment

  Okinawan Labor Unit (Boeitai)

  5th Artillery Group

  GLOSSARY

  Angels altitude in thousands of feet

  APA attack transport ship

  Bandit aircraft identified as hostile

  BB battleship

  Betty Mitsubishi G4M medium bomber, also mother ship for the Ohka

  Bogey Unidentified aircraft

  Buster Order to fighter aircraft or flight to proceed at maximum sustained speed

  CA Heavy cruiser

  CAG carrier air group commander

  CAP combat air patrol

  Carrier Air Group unit of two or more squadrons under one commander for operations from a carrier

  CIC combat information center

  CL light cruiser

  CNO chief of naval operations

  ComInCh commander in chief (of the U.S. Navy)

  CV large aircraft carrier

  CVE escort carrier

  CVL light aircraft carrier

  DD destroyer

  DE destroyer escort

  Division formation of four airplanes

  Dukw six-wheeled amphibious truck

  F4U-1D Corsair model assigned to VF-10/VBF-10 during Okinawa campaign (3-bladed propeller)

  F4U-4 Corsair model assigned to VF-10/VBF-10 on redeployment July 1945 (4-bladed propeller)

  F6F Grumman Hellcat fighter

  FIDO fighter director officer

  Frances Yokosuka P1Y twin-engine long range bomber

  George Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden-kai fighter

  IJA Imperial Japanese Army

  IJN Imperial Japanese Navy

  Jack Mitsubishi JM2 fighter

  Judy Aichi D4Y dive-bomber

  Kamikaze Japanese special attack suicide pilot or plane

  Kikusui “floating chrysanthemum,” label given to massed kamikaze attacks

  LCI landing craft infantry

  LCT landing craft tank

  LSM landing ship medium

  LSO landing signal officer

  LST landing ship tank

  LVT landing vehicle tracked (nicknamed “Alligator”)

  MAG Marine Air Group

  MIA missing in action

  Myrt Nakajima C6N1 single engine reconnaissance aircraft

  NAS Naval Air Station

  Nate Japanese Nakajima Ki-27 fixed-gear fighter

  Nick Kawasaki I1–45 Japanese Army twin-engine fighter

  Nugget fledgling naval aviator

  Ohka Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 human-guided bomb, code-named “Baka” (meaning “idiot”)

  Oscar Nakajima Ki-43 single-engine fighter

  PBM Martin two-engine seaplane

  PBY Consolidated two-engine seaplane

  Plank owner crew member of ship or unit from date of its commission

  Rufe Mitsubishi A6M2-N Zero fighter variant equipped with floats

  SB2C Curtiss Helldiver dive-bomber

  SBD Douglas Dauntless dive-bomber

  Section formation of two airplanes

  SNJ North American advanced trainer

  TF task force

  TG task group

  Tojo Nakajima Ki-44 fighter

  Tony Kawasaki Ki-61 fighter resembling Messerschmitt Bf 109

  TU task unit

  Val Aichi D3A1 fixed-gear dive-bomber

  VB prefix for bombing squadron

  VBF prefix for bomber fighting squadron

  VF prefix for fighting squadron

  VMF prefix for Marine fighting squadron

  VP prefix for patrol squadron

  VT prefix for torpedo squadron

  XO executive officer

  YE homing signal transmitter aboard ship

  ZB homing signal receiver aboard aircraft

  Zeke Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” fighter

  U.S. Navy Commissioned Ranks

  Fleet Admiral

  Admiral (Adm.)

  Vice Admiral

  Rear Admiral

  Commodore (Cmdre.)

  Captain (Capt.)

  Commander (Cmdr.)

  Lieutenant Commander (Lt. Cmdr.)

  Lieutenant (Lt.)

  Lieutenant junior grade (Lt. [jg])

  Ensi
gn (Ens.)

  U.S. Navy Enlisted Rates

  Chief Petty Officer

  Petty Officer 1st Class

  Petty Officer 2nd Class

  Petty Officer 3rd Class

  Seaman 1st Class

  Seaman 2nd Class

  Apprentice Seaman

  CREDITS

  All photos shot by U.S. Navy photographers are in the public domain. The painting Imperial Sacrifice is reproduced with permission of artist Robert Bailey. The images of Gen. Ushijima and Adm. Ugaki, shot before 1946, are in the public domain according to article 23 of old copyright law of Japan and article 2 of supplemental provision of copyright law of Japan. Source: Chiran Kamikaze Peace Museum.

  SOURCE LEGEND

  NARA: National Archives and Records Administration

  NHHC: Naval Historical and Heritage Command

  NMNA: National Museum of Naval Aviation

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ROBERT GANDT is a former naval officer and aviator, an international airline pilot, a screenwriter, and a military and aviation historian. He is the author of six novels and seven nonfiction books, including Bogeys and Bandits, the definitive work on modern naval aviation, which was adapted for the television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold. He and his wife, Anne, live in the Spruce Creek Fly-In in Daytona Beach, Florida.

  Visit his website at www.Gandt.com.