_Marine Avengers of Marine Torpedo-Bomber Squadron 232 are seen through
the hatch of a transport, which served as a navigation plane for the
overwater flight from Ulithi to Kadena. The flight echelon landed on 22
April and began close-support missions the next day._]
Not all of the Japanese air strikes were _kamikazes_. An equal number
of fighters and bombers accompanied each raid to guide the suiciders to
their targets and attack American targets by conventional means. Some
of these included late-model fighters like the Nakajima “Frank.” Deadly
air-to-air duels took place over hundreds of miles of ocean expanse.
The far-ranging fast carriers usually made the first interceptions.
While most pilots were Navy, the task force included two Marine fighter
squadrons each on the carriers _Bunker Hill_ and _Bennington_. One
Marine aviator from _Bennington_, Lieutenant Kenneth E. Huntington,
flew the only USMC Corsair in the attack on _Yamato_. Huntington
swept in through heavy AA fire to deliver his bomb squarely on the
battleship’s forward turret. As described by combat correspondent
Robert Sherrod, “One Marine, one bomb, one Navy Cross.”
Marine fighters of MAGs-31 and -33, flying from Yontan under General
Mulcahy’s TAF, provided most of the CAP missions over the fleet during
the first several weeks of the battle. The CAP requirement soared from
12 planes initially to as many as 32 on station, with an additional
dozen on strip alert. The missions involved long hours of patrolling,
typically in rough weather spiked by sudden violent encounters with
Japanese raiders. The CAP planes ran a double risk. Dueling a Japanese
fighter often took both planes within range of nervous shipboard AA
gunners who sometimes downed both antagonists unwittingly.
On 16 April, VMF-441 raced to the rescue of the picket ship _Laffey_,
already hit by five suiciders. The Corsairs shot down 17 attackers in
short order, losing only one plane which had chased a _kamikaze_ so low
they both clipped the ship’s superstructure and crashed.
On 22 April, the “Death Rattlers” of VMF-323 intercepted a large flight
of raiders approaching the fleet at dusk. Three Marines shot down 16 of
these in 20 minutes. The squadron commander, Major George C. Axtell,
knocked down five, becoming an instant ace. As Axtell described these
sudden dogfights:
You’d be flying in and out of heavy rain and clouds. Enemy and
friendly aircraft would wind up in a big melee. You just kept
turning into any enemy aircraft that appeared.... It was fast and
furious and the engagement would be over within thirty minutes.
[Illustration: _A “Grasshopper” from a Marine observation squadron
flies over Naha, permitting an aerial photographer to take oblique
photos which will be used by Marine artillery units to spot targets and
determine the damage already done by the Allies._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 128032
]
But in spite of the heroic efforts of all these aviators and their
ground crews, the _kamikazes_ swarmed in such numbers that a few
always got through. Soon, the protected anchorage at Kerama Retto began
to resemble a floating graveyard of heavily damaged ships. Small groups
of suiciders appeared every night, and the fleet seemed particularly
vulnerable during the full moon. One naval officer described the
night-time raiders as “witches on broomsticks.” More often than not,
the victims of these nocturnal attacks were the “small boys,” the
picket ships and diminutive amphibs. Nineteen-year-old Signalman 3/C
Nick Floros manned a 20mm gun mount on tiny _LSM-120_ one midnight when
a _kamikaze_ appeared “out of nowhere, gliding in low with its engine
cut off--like a giant bat.” The plane struck the adjacent LSM with a
terrific explosion before anyone could fire a shot. The small landing
ship, loaded with landing force supplies, somehow survived the fiery
blast but was immediately consigned to the “demolition yard” at Kerama
Retto.
[Illustration: