April 1

Invasion of Okinawa. Launched strikes and sweeps to support landings.

* Battle of Okinawa began
* 60 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-41 N 129-23 E)

April 2

Refueled and took aboard replacements. W. Va.¹ in 58.2 took a bogie². T.F.³ composed of British ships was attacked by 10 planes. Independence⁴, a CV⁵, was hit by bogie.

* 300 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (23-18 N 132-01 E)
1. U.S.S. West Virginia BB-48
2. bogie - enemy aircraft
3. T.F. - Task Force
4. U.S.S. Independence CVL-22
5. CV - Large Carrier

April 3

Launched strikes on Okinawa. 1730 many bogies¹ reported. Japs were headed for Okinawa. 59 planes were shot down. Essex² planes got 17. Launched NTCAP³ over Okinawa.

* 60 to 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima ( 26-38 N 130-02 E)
1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
2. U.S.S. Essex CV-9
3. VFNTCAP - U.S. Navy FighterTarget Combat Air Patrol

April 4

Strikes on Okinawa.

April 5

Refueled.

* 150 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (23-36 N 128-50 E)

April 6

Launched strikes and sweeps on Minami Shoto. 0445 VFN¹ shot down a Betty². 0815 condition 1. 1100 CAP³ splashed Dinah⁴. Survey of TF-51 estimates from April 1 to 5. 28 hit by ship's AA⁵, 21 hit VFN, 16 bogies¹ made 15 hits on 14 ships of this T.G.¹ 1200 bogies started coming. CAP tallied 8 Zekes⁶. Got 4 and 4 got in. One dove on Hancock⁷, he got away. One dove on us. His bomb exploded in our wake. Our AA got him. 2 dove on Cabot⁸, coming so close they hit her S.K.⁹ 58.1 and forces on Okinawa have also been under attack. TF-51 and picket lines to north have been under air attack. Haynswoth¹⁰, N.C.¹¹, Pasadena¹² were hit at same time. TF 58 planes were making interceptions up north shooting down planes left and right. TF 58 shot down about 200 planes today. Launched VFNTCAP¹³. They got 8 Dinah. Planes shot down by 58.3: Essex¹⁴69 by 83 AG ¹⁵ beat record¹⁶ by 1/2. Hancock 16, Bataan¹⁷ 1 B.H.¹⁸ 4 shot down by TF 58, by planes, 233, 12 by ship's AA.

* 60 miles E of Okinawa Jima(26-42 N 129-28 E)
1. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter
2. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 3. C.A.P - Combat Air Patrol
4. Dinah -Japanese NavyReconnaissance 5. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun
6. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter
7. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19
8. U.S.S. Cabot CVL-28
9. S.K. - Radar
10. U.S.S. Haynsworth DD-700
11. U.S.S. North Carolina BB-55
12. U.S.S. Pasadena CL-65
13. VFNTCAP - U.S. Navy FighterTarget Combat Air Patrol 14. U.S.S. Essex CV-9
15. 83 AG - Air Group 83
16. record - Air Group 15's previous record 17. U.S.S. Bataan CVL-29
18. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17

April 7

Launched CAP¹ and searches, looking for part of Jap fleet. 0815 Essex² search plane spotted 1 BB³, 2 CLs⁴, 10 or 12 DDs⁵ 180 miles N of us. Sent planes to take care of them. 1215 condition1. Hancock⁶ hit. Fire under control in 1 hour, but she'll have to go back to Ulithi. Casualties: 28 killed, 600 wounded, 15 missing. 1430 a Zeke⁷ dove at us. Our AA⁸ got him. Bogies⁹ around all afternoon AA from ships in TG¹⁰ 58 got 30 planes today. TF¹¹ 51 today by 20 planes. 12 shot down. A few ships were hit. Here's damage done to Jap ships: Sunk 1 BB, 2 CL, 3 DD - damaged: 2 DDs.

* 80 miles E of Okinawa Jima (27-08 N 129-46 E)
1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
2. U.S.S. Essex CV-9
3. BB - Battleship
4. CL - Light Cruiser
5. DD - Destroyer
6. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19
7. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter
8. AA - Anti-aircraft
9. Bogie - Enemy plane
10. TG - Task Group
11. TF - Task Force

April 8

Launched TCAP¹ and support strikes on Okinawa. 1535 AA² opened up. CAP³ got 2 Nicks⁴. A few planes were shot down by CAP and search plans.

* 70 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-26 N 129-18 E)
1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun
3. CAP -Combat Air Patrol
4. Nick - Japanese Army Fighter

April 9

Refueled and rearmed. Hancock¹ left for Ulithi and Cabot² headed for it later.

* 350 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-38 N 133-43 E)
1. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19
2. U.S.S. Cabot CVL-28

April 10

Launched strikes on Amami Shoto and Okinawa. Enterprise¹ took Hancock's² place.

1. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6
2. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19

April 11

Strikes on Okinawa. Bogies¹ all day. 4 dove on formation. 1 shot down astern of Enterprise², 2 near B.H.³, 1 dropped 2 bombs on our starboard before our AA⁴ got him. Another went in off starboard quarter. Okinawa under attack, also 59.4 and also our pickets - Hank⁵ and Kidd⁶ were hit. Zeke⁷ dove on us, dropped bomb on air port quarter. It was close as hell. Thought for sure we were hit. Zeke passed from just to starboard, just missing the stack and went in the drink. SC antennae⁸ knocked off. Zeke dove on Enterprise. AA got him. Another Zeke came in and astern got him. 1760 another dove on B.H. Their AA got him.58.4 got 4 Bettys⁹. AA got 2 and CAP¹⁰ 2. 1915 called to G.Q.¹¹, bogies closing.Had bogies all night. A few were shot down. Our causalities were 19 men. 1 serious and the rest were hysterical cases.

* 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-58 N 130-56 E) 1. Bogies - Enemy Aircraft
2. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6
3. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17
4. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun
5. U.S.S. Hank DD-702
6. U.S.S. Kidd DD-661
7. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter
8. SC - radar unit
9. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber
10. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
11. G.Q. - General Quarters

April 12

Launched CAP¹ and TCAP² for Okinawa, Tokuno
and Kikai. Pickets got 2 bogies³. Beach under
heavy attack again.

1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
2. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft

April 13

Launched TCAP¹ near Okinawa and Tokuno.
CAP² shot down a few bogies³.

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft

April 14

Refueled. Rearmed.

* 300 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-14 N 133-06 E)

April 15

Launched TCAP¹ for Okinawa and Tokuno. Strikes on Kyushu. Had bogies² all night.

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. bogies - Enemy Aircraft

April 16

Support for beach. 4 strikes on Kyushu. Went to G.Q.¹ 0815. Many bogies² chasing. Bataan³ CAP⁴ got 22 - Beach 58.1 and 58.4 under attack. Enterprise⁵ hit. Bogies around all afternoon 1815 went to G.Q. Judy⁶ dove on B.H.⁷ AA⁸ got him. Bogies all day and all night. Many shot down. Some ships were hit.

1. G.Q. - General Quarters
2. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
3. U.S.S. Bataan CVL-29
4. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
5. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6
6. Judy - Japanese Navy Dive Bomber 7. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17
8. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun

April 17

Supports strikes. Bogies¹ again today. CAP² got most of attack that came in. About 3 or 4 were shot down diving on formation.

1. Bogie - Enemy plane
2. CAP - Combat Air Patrol

April 18

Refueled. Rearmed.

* 325 miles E of Okinawa Jima(25-39 N 128-30 E)

April 19

Support sweeps on Okinawa. BBs¹ bombarded.

1. BB - Battleship

April 20

Support CAP¹ on Okinawa.

1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol

April 21

Support CAP¹ for Okinawa. Had quite a few bogies² today. None got in close enough to do any damage. Quite a few were shot down. Many Zekes³ shot down were targets.

1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol
2. Bogie - Enemy plane
3. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter

April 22

TCAP¹ for Okinawa and Kikia. A few bogies² today. All shot down before they got in close enough. Quite a few planes shot down over target.

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. Bogie - Enemy plane

April 23

Refueled. Rearmed.

* 225 miles E of Okinawa Jima(24-56 N 131-30 E)

April 24

Bad weather. No planes up.

April 25

Okinawa TCAP¹

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol

April 26

Okinawa TCAP¹

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol

April 27

Refueled. Had 2 bogies¹. AA²¹ chased them away.

* 200 miles E of Okinawa Jima(24-56 N 131-17 E)
1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
2. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun

April 28

Okinawa TCAP¹. Hospital ship Comfort² hit at beach last night.Had a few bogies³. Only 1 or 2 got in. AA⁴ drove them away. Many planes shot down over beach.

* 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima(26-29 N 130-02 E)
1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. U.S.S. Comfort AH-6
3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft

April 29

Okinawa TCAP¹ - our VF² got 3 Zekes³ 32 miles away. 1650 58.4 under attack. They got one by AA⁴. Two DDs⁵ were hit by suicide plans. 1700 went to G.Q.⁶ Many bogies¹ in unity. Most of them were over beach. 58.4 was attacked. No damage reported. Shot down a few. Got a few over (head) and (over) beach also.

1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol
2. U.S. Fighter Aircraft
3. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter
4. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun
5. bogies - Enemy Aircraft
6. G.Q. - General Quarters

April 30

0100 Condition 1. Had 3 bogies¹. VFN² got 2. 1 dropped a fish³ in astern but missed. Had bogies all morning. A few were shot down. TCAP⁴ for Okinawa.

1. bogie - Enemy aircraft
2. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter
3. fish - Torpedo
4. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol