Mar. 1

Launched strikes and VF¹ sweeps on Okinawa. A.A.² intense. No air opposition. Targeted shipping and ground installations.

* 75 miles SE of Okinawa (25-43 N 128-56 E)
1. VF - U.S. Navy Fighter
2. AA - Anti-aircraft guns

Mar. 2

Enroute to Ulithi

Mar. 4

Anchored at Ulithi¹.

1. From March 5 to 13 anchored Berth 26, Ulithi Island.

Mar. 11

Went to G.Q.¹ 2 bogies² got in.1 hit the Randolph³ causing a fire and small explosions. Other hit island. AG 83⁴ came aboard.

1. U.S.S. Randolph CV-15
2. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
3. G.Q. - General Quarters
4. AG 83 - Air Group 83

Mar. 14

Underway - Gunnery practice and simulated. attacks. T.B.M.¹ fell apart while in dive.

1. T.B.M. - U.S. Navy Torpedo Bomber

Mar. 16

Refueled.

* 300 miles SW of Iwo Jima (14-44 N 138-56 E)

Mar. 17

Enroute to Kyushu and _______ . DDs¹ destroyed3 mines.

* 300 miles SW of Iwo Jima (14-44 N 138-56 E)
1. DD - Destroyer

Mar 18

Bogies¹ all night. Dropped flares. Other T.G² got 3 and VFN³ got 3. Launched strikes and sweeps on Kyushu. 70 miles from target. Bogies all around. 0730 Enterprise⁴ was hit with bomb. Still operational. 0836 Bunker Hill⁵ had a near miss. Our A.A.⁶ got it (Judy). A.A. from T.G. got 11. Targets for sweeps were aircraft hangers and plants. We lose 3 planes. 1630 58.3 got an Oscar⁸. 58.4 a Judy. Pickets 70 to north got 11 AA. Yorktown⁹ hit. Still operational but badly damaged.

1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
2. T.G. - Task Group
3. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter
4. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6
5. U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17
6. AA - Anti-aircraft guns
7. Judy - Japanese Navy Dive Bomber. 8. Oscar - Japanese Army Fighter. 9. U.S.S Yorktown CV-10

Mar 19

0330 Many bogies¹ clearing. Pickets got one, rest opened.Launched strikes and sweeps against Kyushu and shipping at Kobe, large naval base. At 0445 Franklin² was hit. Burning furiously with many explosions. 0745 Zeke³ dove on us but missed. A.A.⁴ shot him down after dropping bomb. Another tried some but
crashed in the water. Another dropped bomb on us and headed for B.H.⁵ Our A.A. got him. Our C.A.P.⁶ got 2 more. Strikes canceled. 1300 3 Zekes attacked us. VF⁷ got one. DD⁸ got one and our A.A. got the other. Our A.A.got 4 and 2 probables today. 1415 C.A.P. got a bogie over Franklin.. Franklin is still burning and dead in the water. 1430 five bogies closed. Our A.A. got one. Franklin being towed by Pittsburgh⁹ at 4 knots. At 1800 Franklin gunnery under attack. Their C.A.P. got 4 Bettys¹⁰. We were at G.Q.¹¹ all day. Secured at 2000. Results of strikes today: damaged 1 BB¹² - 2 CV¹³ - 1 GG¹⁴. Wasp¹⁵ hit, damage not serious. Air group 83 got 15 in air and 5 on ground yesterday, 19 on ground and 7 in air today. Recap of damage to enemy TG 58 on 19th. 75 planes on ground, 75 in air. Damaged shipping. Our losses: 22 planes, air guns expended 575 5" shells. over 3,000 40 mms.and 3,000 20 mms.

* 100 miles E of Kyushu (32-10 N 134-22 E)
1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
2. U.S.S. Franklin CV-13
3. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 4. AA - Anit-aircraft gunnery
5. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17 6. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
7. AA - Anti-aircraft Guns
8. DD - Destroyer
9. U.S.S. Pittsburgh CA-72
10. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 11. G.Q. - General Quarters
12. BB - Battleship
13. CV - large carrier.
14. GG -
15. U.S.S. Wasp CV-18

Mar. 20

200 miles SE of Kyushu. Franklin¹ reported still burning last night 1100. 1 plane tried to dive on Franklin but missed. She's now making 15 knots. 58.2 attacked by 12 planes. They got 7 of them. Enterprise² took another hit. DD Power³ took a bogie⁴ at 2100. Condition 1 again. 3 bogies. DD⁵ got 1.

* Protecting retiring U.S.S. Franklin CV-13 (30-22 N 135-09 E)
1. U.S.S. Franklin CV-13
2. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6
3. U.S.S. Powell DD-686
4. bogie - enemy aircraft
5. DD - Destroyer

Mar. 21

300 miles S of Kyushu. 0900 and 1200 two Bettys¹ splashed by C.A.P.² 1100 went to G.Q.³ C.A.P. got 6 Fran⁴. C.A.P. got Betty attacking DD Power⁵. 1430 went to G.Q. again, 25 Bettys closing with fighter coverage. C.A.P. shot down Myrt⁶ who was leading them in. Scrambled 36 VFs⁷to take care of them. Intercepted them at 50 miles. Bettys were carrying two torpedoes and fighter torpedo bombers, probably suicide planes. Hornet⁸ VFs got 14 Bettys, 1 Zeke⁹.

1. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 2. C.A.P. - Combat Air Patrol
3. G.Q. - General Quarters
4. Fran - Francis - Japanese Navy Bomber 5. U.S.S. Powell DD-686
6. Myrt -Japanese Navy Reconnaissance 7. VF - U.S. Navy Fighter
8. U.S.S. Hornet CV-12
9. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter

Mar. 22

Refueled 600 miles from Kyrushu.

Mar. 23

Launched strikes on Okinawa, Jima. C.A.P.¹
got a Jill² 60 miles away.

* 80 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (25-15 N 128-50 E)
1. C.A.P. - Combat Air Patrol
2. Jill - Japanese Navy Torpedo Bomber

Mar. 24

Strikes and sweeps on Okinawa. BBs¹ went in to shell Okinawa. 58.1 planes sank a convoy 3 AL², 2 DP³, 3 DE⁴.

* 60 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (25-44 N 128-40 E)
1. BB - Battleship
2. AL -
3. DP -
4. DE - Destroyer Escort

Mar. 25

Refueled. 58.4 also refueled. 58.1 is hitting Oki.¹

* 200 miles S of Okinawa Jima (22-15 N 128-06 E)
1. Oki - Okinawa

* Iwo Jima resistance ended

Mar. 26

Strikes on Okinawa. 2030 Condition 1 - VFN¹ got 1 Betty².

* 75 miles NE of Okinawa Jima
1. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter
2. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber

Mar. 27

Launched strikes on Okinawa. 0630 Pickets splashed 2 Betty¹. 8.1 under attack. Their C.A.P.² got 5 and AA³ 2. Murray DD⁴ was hit. Our C.A.P. splashed 3 Zekes⁵. BBs⁶ went into shell Minami Iwo Jima.

1. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 2. C.A.P. - Combat Air Patrol
3. AA - Anti-aircraft guns
4. U.S.S. Murray DD-576
5. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter

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6. BB - Battleship

Mar. 28

Strikes on Minami Iwo Jima. VF¹ crashed taking off. 1 man killed. Refueled.

* 200 miles E of Okinawa Jima (25-00 N 131-50 E) 1. VF - U.S. Navy Fighter

Mar. 29

Launched C.A.P.¹ searching for Jap fleet and striking Kyrushu. 100 miles from there. 58.2 is bombardment group at Okinawa. Receiving planes but also taking a few pilots. 0400 set condition 1. Zeke² dive on Bunker Hill³. Missed. AA⁴ got him. No trace of fleet.

* 125 miles S of Kyushu (29-16 N 131-54 E)
1. C.A.P. - Combat Air Patrol
2. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 3. U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17
4. AA - Anti-aircraft Guns

Mar. 30

Launched strikes on Okinawa. Only 30 miles from there. 1 VF¹ shot down 2 Zekes² out of 5. Strikes hit shipping. Launched VFN³ today.

* 75 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-13 N 129-34 E)
1. VF - U.S. Fighter
2. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 3. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter

Mar. 31

Launched strikes on Okinawa.