June: Battle of the Philippine Sea Anniversary Quiz with Answers and Pictures

[BaronVonTom]

Yes...another WWII naval battle anniversary, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as..........oh wait, that's one of the questions.  This quiz is a tad harder than the Midway quiz but kinda fun to take.  No worries about wrong answers....it's not public!  Look below for the answers with pictures.  

 

Sorry folks but the recent update took away polls and this quiz.

[BaronVonTom]

 

1. When did the Battle of the Philippine Sea take place?

 

Answer: June 19-20, 1944

 

The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.

 

 

2. What was the nickname of the Battle of the Phillipine Sea?

 

Answer: The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

 

The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from USS Lexington remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design.

 

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

The Key Players

Japanese Admiral Soemu Toyoda, 

Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet

It should be noted that Toyoda strongly opposed the war against the United States

Died September 22, 1957 (aged 72), Tokyo, Japan

 

Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa

Commander Japanese Mobile Fleet at Philippine Sea, Flagship CV Taiho

Died November 9th 1966, Tokyo japan

 

Vice Admiral Kakuji Kakuta

Commander of the First Air Fleet which included all land-based naval aircraft units located throughout the Philippines and Japanese-held islands in the central Pacific during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Died August 2nd 1944 Committed Suicide in a cave during the Battle of Tinian

[BaronVonTom]

 

Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander Pacific Fleet

Died Feb 20th 1966 at San Francisco, California

 

Admiral Raymond Spruance, Commander 5th Fleet at Philippine Sea, Flagship USS Indianapolis

Died Dec 13th 1969 at Pebble Beach California

 

Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, Commander TF 58 at Philippine Sea, Flagship USS Lexington.

Died Feb 3rd 1947 at Norfolk, Virginia

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

The Flagships

 

 

IJN CV Taiho, Flagship for Ozawa

 

IJN CV Zuikaku. After Taiho was sunk, Ozawa transferred his flag to Zuikaku

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

USS Indianapolis, Flagship for Spruance at Philippine Sea

 

USS Lexington, Flagship for Mitscher at Philippine Sea.  Nicknamed "The Blue Ghost"

You can tour Lexington in Corpus Christi Texas.  Visit usslexington.com for more info

 

There were other flagships in the 5th fleet but one in particular I want to mention is for you BB lovers out there.

 

USS Washington TG58.7, Flagship for Vice Admiral Willis Lee that provided AA support for TF58 along with many other Battleships and Cruisers.

[BaronVonTom]

 

3. What does history refer to the Battle of the Philippine Sea as?

 

Answer: The largest carrier vs carrier battle in history

 

The Battle of the Phillipine Sea was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.

 

4. What did the Japanese name the Battle of the Philippine Sea?

 

Answer: Operation A-GO

 

In March 1944, Admiral Koga was killed when his aircraft flew into a typhoon and crashed. A new Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soyemu Toyoda, was appointed. He continued the current work, finalizing the Japanese plans known as Operation A-Go. The plan was adopted in early June 1944, then within weeks quickly put into place to engage the American fleet now detected heading for Saipan.

 

 

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

5. Who was designated United States Commander 5^th fleet at Philippine Sea?

 

Answer: Admiral Raymond Spruance

 

For this battle, the American force was designated the Fifth Fleet, under the command of Admiral Raymond Spruance. The Fast Carrier group was designated Task Force 58, commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. Spruance flew his flag aboard the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, which was sailing in the outer defensive ring of Task Group 58.3. Mitscher's flagship was USS Lexington, also in Task Group 58.3.

 

6. Who commanded the Japanese Mobile Fleet at Philippine Sea?

 

 

Answer: Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa

 

The Japanese fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, consisted of three large fast fleet carriers (Taiho, Shokaku and Zuikaku), two slower fleet carriers converted from ocean liners, four light carriers, five battleships, 13 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 27 destroyers, six oilers, and 24 submarines.  His flagship was the CV Taiho.

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

7. What was the primary mission order given to the 5^th fleet commander by Admiral Nimitz?

 

 

Answer: Protection of the Saipan Invasion Fleet.

 

Shortly before midnight on June 18, Nimitz radioed Spruance that a Japanese vessel had broken radio silence. The message intercepted was an apparent dispatch from Ozawa to his land-based air forces on Guam. RDF placed the sender approximately 355 miles west-southwest of TF 58. Mitscher considered whether the radio messages was a Japanese deception, as the Japanese were known to send a single vessel off to break radio silence, to mislead their adversaries about the actual location of the main force.

 

Mitscher realized that there was a chance of a night surface encounter with Ozawa's forces. Arleigh Burke, Mitscher's Chief of Staff (a former destroyer squadron commander who had won several night battles in the Solomons), assumed that battle line commander Lee would welcome the opportunity. But Lee strongly opposed such an encounter. Having personally experienced a confused night action off Guadalcanal, Lee was not enthusiastic about a night engagement with Japanese surface forces, believing that his crews were not adequately trained for it. Shortly after learning Lee's opinion, Mitscher requested permission from Spruance to move TF 58 west during the night, to reach a launch position at dawn that would allow for a maximum aerial assault on the enemy force.

 

Spruance considered for an hour, then refused Mitscher's request. Mitscher's staff was disappointed with Spruance's decision. On the situation, Captain Burke later commented: "We knew we were going to have hell slugged out of us in the morning. We knew we couldn't reach them. We knew they could reach us." Spruance said "if we were doing something so important that we were attracting the enemy to us, we could afford to let him come—and take care of him when he arrived." This was in stark contrast to the Battle of Midway in 1942, where Spruance advocated immediately attacking even when his own strike force wasn't fully assembled, as neutralizing enemy carriers before they could launch their planes was the key to the survival of his carriers.

 

Spruance's decision was influenced by his orders from Nimitz, who had made it clear that the protection of the invasion fleet of Saipan was the primary mission of Task Force 58 

 

Indianapolis under Japanese shore bombardment from Saipan.

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

8. What was the ratio of Japanese aircraft lost compared to U.S. Aircraft lost in the first air attack during the early morning hours of 19 June?

 

Answer: 35 Japanese Aircraft lost to 1 US Aircraft lost

 

The Japanese had already launched their morning search patrols, using some of the 50 aircraft stationed on Guam, and at 05:50, one of these, a Japanese Zero, found TF-58. 

 

Alerted, the Japanese began launching their aircraft on Guam for an attack. These were spotted on radar by U.S. ships. A group of thirty Hellcats were dispatched from the USS Belleau Wood to deal with the threat. The Hellcats arrived while aircraft were still launching from Orote Field. Minutes later, additional radar contacts were seen, which were later discovered to be the additional forces being sent north from the other islands. A battle broke out in which 35 Japanese aircraft were shot down for the loss of a single Hellcat. It was a pattern that would be repeated throughout the day.

 

The Grumman F6F Hellcat....the hero of Philippine Sea

 

The A6M3 Japanese Zero...Not much of a match for the F6F Hellcat.

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

9. During the first Japanese air raid from their carriers, how many Japanese aircraft were shot down compared to U.S. Aircraft lost?

 

 

Answer: 41 Japanese Aircraft lost to One US Aircraft lost

 

The recall had been ordered after several ships in TF 58 picked up radar contacts 150 miles to the west around 10:00. This was the first of the raids from the Japanese carrier forces, with 68 aircraft. TF 58 started launching every fighter it could, and by the time they were in the air, the Japanese had closed to 70 miles. However, the Japanese began circling to regroup their formations for the attack. This 10-minute delay proved critical, and the first group of Hellcats met the raid, still at 70 miles, at 10:36. They were quickly joined by additional groups. Within minutes, 25 Japanese aircraft had been shot down, against the loss of only one U.S. aircraft.

 

The Japanese aircraft that survived were met by other fighters, and 16 more were shot down. Of the 27 aircraft which now remained, some made attacks on the picket destroyers but caused no damage. Between three and six bombers broke through to Lee's battleship group and attacked; one scored a direct hit on the main deck of USS South Dakota, which killed or injured over 50 men, but failed to disable her. South Dakota was the only American ship damaged in this attack. Not one aircraft of Ozawa’s first wave got through to the American carriers. 41 total Japanese aircraft were shot down in this first wave attack. Only 1 US aircraft was lost.

 

A Japanese Bomber being shot down at Philippine Sea.

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

10. During the second wave attack, consisting of 107 Japanese aircraft, how many Japanese were shot down?

 

 

Answer: 97

 

 

At 11:07, radar detected a second, larger attack. This second wave consisted of 107 aircraft. They were met while still 60 miles out, and at least 70 of these aircraft were shot down before reaching the ships. Six attacked Rear Admiral Montgomery’s group, nearly hitting two of the carriers and causing casualties on each. Four of the six were shot down. A small group of torpedo aircraft attacked Enterprise, one torpedo exploding in the wake of the ship. Three other torpedo-aircraft attacked the light carrier Princeton but were shot down. In all, 97 of the 107 attacking aircraft were destroyed. For 19 June, 395 Japanese aircraft were shot down or lost to the sinkings of the CV Shokaku and CV Taiho.  and only 20 US aircraft were lost in combat: 6 F6Fs, 10 SB2Cs and 4 TBMs.   On 20 June, approximately 238 Japanese aircraft were shot down or lost when the CV Hiyo sunk.  

 

 

A Japanese Dive Bomber is shot down at Philippine Sea

[BaronVonTom]

 

11. Which two US Submarines fired torpedos at, and sunk, two Japanese Aircraft Carriers?

 

Answer: Albacore and Cavalla

 

At 08:16 the submarine USS Albacore, which had sighted Ozawa’s own carrier group, had maneuvered into an ideal attack position; Lieutenant Commander James Blanchard selected the closest carrier as his target, which happened to be Taihō, the largest and newest carrier in the Japanese fleet and Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s flagship. As Albacore was about to fire, however, her fire-control computer failed, and the torpedoes had to be fired "by eye". Determined to go ahead with the attack, Blanchard ordered all six torpedoes to be fired in a single spread to increase the chances of a hit.

 

Taihō had just launched 42 aircraft as a part of the second raid when Albacore fired its torpedo spread. Of the six torpedoes fired, four veered off-target; Sakio Komatsu, the pilot of one of the recently launched aircraft, sighted one of the two which were heading forTaihō and dove his aircraft into its path, causing the torpedo to detonate prematurely. However, the sixth torpedo struck the carrier on her starboard side, rupturing two aviation-fuel tanks. After coming under depth charge attacks from the carrier's escorting destroyers, Albacore escaped with only minor damage.

 

Initially, the damage to Taiho seemed minor; the flooding was quickly contained and the carrier's propulsion and navigation were unaffected. Taiho quickly resumed regular operations; however, gasoline vapors from the ruptured fuel tanks began to fill the hangar decks, creating an increasingly dangerous situation on board.

 

Another submarine, USS Cavalla , was able to maneuver to an attack position on the 25,675-ton carrier Shokaku by about noon. The submarine fired a spread of six torpedoes, three of which struck Shokaku on her starboard side. Badly damaged, the carrier came to a halt. One torpedo had hit the forward aviation fuel tanks near the main hangar, and aircraft that had just landed and were being refueled exploded into flames. Ammunition and exploding bombs added to the conflagration, as did burning fuel spewing from shattered fuel pipes. With her bows subsiding into the sea and fires out of control, the captain gave orders to abandon ship. Within minutes, there was a catastrophic explosion of aviation fuel vapor which had built up between decks, which blew the ship apart. The carrier rolled over and slid beneath the waves about 140 miles north of the island of Yap, taking 887 crew plus 376 men of the 601^st Naval Air Group, a total of 1,263 men in all, to the seabed. There were 570 survivors, including the carrier's commanding officer, Captain Hiroshi Matsubara. Destroyer Urakaze attacked the submarine, but Cavalla escaped with relatively minor damage despite near misses from depth charges.

 

Meanwhile, Taiho was falling victim to poor damage control. Hoping to clear the explosive fumes, an inexperienced damage-control officer ordered her ventilation system to operate at full blast. This action instead spread the vapors throughout Taihō, putting the entire vessel at risk. At approximately 14:30, a spark from an electric generator on the hangar deck ignited the accumulated fumes, triggering a series of catastrophic explosions. After the first explosions, it was clear that Taiho was doomed, and Ozawa and his staff transferred to the nearby Zuikaku. Soon thereafter, Taiho suffered a second series of explosions and sank. From a crew of 2,150, 1,650 officers and men were lost.

 

USS Albacore.  Albacore Hit IJN CV Taiho with ONE torpedo which resulted in her eventual sinking.  (Why can't we get one torp sinkings of CV's on WoWs?)

 

USS Cavalla. Sunk the IJN CV Shokaku with 3 torpedos.

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

12. Which two IJN Aircraft Carriers were sunk by US Submarines?

 

Answer: Taiho and Shokaku

 

See above description of Submarine attacks.

 

IJN CV Shokaku burning at Philippine Sea

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

13. How many US aircraft were lost trying to land at night or running out of fuel during the Battle of Philippine Sea?

 

 

Answer: 80 out of the 123 total U.S. Aircraft lost.

 

After the protracted strike of 20 June, it became clear that most of the aircraft returning to their carriers were running dangerously low on fuel, and to worsen matters, night had fallen. At 20:45, the first returning U.S. aircraft reached TF 58. Knowing his aviators would have difficulty finding their carriers, Mitscher decided to illuminate his carriers, shining searchlights directly up into the night, despite the risk of attack from submarines and night-flying aircraft. Picket destroyers fired starshells to help the aircraft find the task groups.

 

Planes were given clearance to land on any available flight deck (not just their home carriers, as usual), and many did land on other carriers. Despite this, 80 of the returning aircraft were lost. Some crashed on flight decks, but the majority ditched into the sea. Some pilots intentionally went down in groups to facilitate rescue, and more ditched individually either in a controlled landing, with a few gallons of fuel left, or in a crash after their engines ran dry. Most of the crews (approximately three-quarters) were fished from the seas, either that night from crash locations within the task forces, or over the next few days for those further out, as search planes and destroyers criss-crossed the ocean looking for them.

 

 

U.S. Aircraft landing on a CV at dusk at Philippine Sea.

 

 

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

14. How many total Japanese Aircraft were lost at Philippine Sea?

 

 

Answer: Between 600 and 645 total Japanese aircraft were lost.

 

The four Japanese air strikes involved 373 carrier aircraft, of which 130 returned to the carriers. Many of these survivors were subsequently lost when Taiho and Shōkaku were sunk by submarine attacks. After the second day of the battle, losses totaled three carriers, approximately 433 carrier aircraft, and around 200 land-based aircraft.  The exact number may never be known due to poor record keeping of the time.

 

These losses to the already outnumbered Japanese fleet air arm were irreplaceable. The Japanese had spent the better part of a year reconstituting their carrier air groups, and the American Fast Carrier Task Force had destroyed 90% of it in two days. The Japanese had only enough pilots left to form the air group for one of their light carriers. As a consequence, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, four months later, their carriers were used merely as decoys.

 

The Japanese military, which had shielded the Japanese public from the extent of their losses, continued this policy. Though the occurrence of the simultaneous Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Saipan were made known to the public, the extent of the disasters was withheld

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

15. How many IJN fleet carriers were sunk at Philippine Sea?

 

Answer: 3

 

The fleet carriers of the IJN, Shokaku, Taiho and Hiyo. Shokaku and Taiho by Submarines on 19 June as described above.

 

The carrier Hiyo was attacked and hit by bombs and aerial torpedos on 20 June from four Grumman Avengers from USS Belleau Wood. Hiyō was set afire after a tremendous blast from leaking aviation fuel. Dead in the water, she slipped stern first under the waves, with the loss of 250 officers and men. The rest of her crew, about one thousand, were rescued by Japanese destroyers.

 

The IJN scrambles under air attack by the U.S.

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

16. How many US Ships were sunk at Philippine Sea?

 

Answer: 0

 

Only 1 battleship, USS South Dakota, was damaged in this battle.

 

 

17. How many total U.S. Aircraft were lost at Philippine Sea

 

Answer: 123

 

80 were lost to low fuel and crash landings at night. 20 were lost on 19 June in combat and 23 were lost on 20 June in combat.

 

 IJN CV Zuikaku  and a DD under air attack by the U.S. 

 

[BaronVonTom]

 

18. How many Japanese personnel died in the Battle of Philippine Sea?

 

 

Answer: 2987 (estimated due to poor record keeping of the time)

 

 

19.  How many US personnel died at Philippine Sea?

 

Answer: 109 total US deaths at the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

 

On the night of 20 June, Toyoda ordered Ozawa to withdraw from the Philippine Sea. U.S. forces gave chase, but the battle was over.

 

The United States totals:

 

129 warships: 7 fleet carriers, 8 light fleet carriers, 7 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 13 light cruisers, 58 destroyers, 28 submarines, 956 carrier aircraft

 

Damaged and Sunk: No ships were sunk and 1 battleship (USS South Dakota) was damaged.  123 aircraft were lost. 109 U.S. personnel were killed.

 

The Japanese totals:

 

90 warships: 5 fleet carriers, 4 light carriers, 5 battleships, 13 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 27 destroyers, 24 submarines, 6 oilers. 450 carrier based aircraft and 300 land based aircraft.

 

Damaged and Sunk: 3 fleet carriers sunk, 2 oilers sunk, 600-645 aircraft lost. 6 ships damaged, 2987 Japanese personnel killed.

 

Some historians call the battle of the Philippine Sea the most decisive naval battle ever fought.....that of course, is open to debate.  

 

In case some of you are wondering about Admiral Chuichi  Nagumo in this one:

 

As Japan's military situation deteriorated, Nagumo was deployed on 4 March 1944 for the short-lived commander-in-chief in the Mariana Islands of the Fourteenth Air Fleet and the Central Area Pacific Fleet. 

 

The Battle of Saipan began on 15 June 1944.  Nagumo and his Army peer General Saito then were on their own to keep control of Saipan. On 6 July, Nagumo killed himself with a pistol to the temple rather than the traditional seppuku. His remains were recovered by the U.S. Marines in the cave where he spent his last days as the Japanese commander of Saipan.  He was posthumously promoted to admiral.

 

 

I know some of you play cv's exclusively or the majority of the time on WoWs....has anyone shot down 600+ aircraft in 2 days?  I am thinking Fem probably has come close or done it.  Sounds like a cool contest this coming weekend WoWs?  Shoot down 600 planes using American CV's in 48 hours?  Of course we would need a pretty cool prize to go with that accomplishment.

 

 

 

[Kaa1elWoWS]

Awesome post dude. Thanks for taking the time to do it, I appreciate it! On the subject of IJN CVs sinking, Wargaming should put the Shinano in game, now that would be cool.

[crzyhawk]

USS Indianapolis, Flagship for Spruance at Philippine Sea

 

USS Lexington, Flagship for Mitscher at Philippine Sea

 

There were other flagships in the 5th fleet but one in particular I want to mention is for you BB lovers out there.

 

USS Washington TG58.7, Flagship for Vice Admiral Willis Lee that provided AA support for TF58 along with many other Battleships and Cruisers.

 

Wrong Lexington, that's CV2, which was sunk two years prior.  You need a pic of the essex class, CV-16.

[BaronVonTom]

Correct!!!  Too many pictures, but correction made.  Thanks!

[BaronVonTom]

Ok pictures back up and viewable.  The quiz however is dead on arrival.  

[Seamus_44]

I'd say that Midway was still more decisive. It drained the Japanese  of its most skilled pilots and gave the US time to consolidate resources. Spruance once again proved himself to have an excellent strategic understanding of naval air warfare (in spite of being "Black Shoe" Navy in this battle as he did at Midway.

[MzFortune2001]

Had relative, 海軍大尉 Kaigun-daii, on Michishio, He was lost 25 of October 1944. Have a few pictures of ship and crew. 

Saddens me about the war. all the loss on all sides.