JAPAN
THE CARRIER USS FRANKLIN BURNING after being seriously damaged during a Japanese attack. The middle of March 1945 marked the beginning of the Okinawa campaign. On 14 March a fast carrier force departed from Ulithi for an attack on Kyushu, while air force bombers struck at Formosa and Honshu. On 18 March planes from the carrier force successfully attacked airfields on Kyushu. The following day the planes again took off, this time to strike enemy warships at Kure and Kobe. During these bombardments Japanese planes attacked the carrier force ships and damaged six of the carriers, one of them considerably and another, the Franklin, seriously. The carrier force then moved toward Okinawa, arriving in the area on 23 March, and warships and planes bombarded the island.
KEISE ISLANDS
GUN CREW SETTING UP A 155-MM. GUN M1A1 on one of the Keise Islands (top); Japanese suicide boat captured on Aka Island (bottom). On 26 March ground troops began the task of seizing the Kerama group of islands. By 29 March all organized resistance had collapsed and the following day the islands were declared secure. Over 350 Japanese suicide boats were captured and destroyed by U.S. troops in the Kerama Islands. On 31 March the Keise Islands were seized without opposition and by evening two battalions of 155-mm. guns had been put ashore to support the main landings on Okinawa.
OKINAWA
