Battle of Okinawa

With the war in Europe in its final mop-up stages—mere weeks away from Germany’s unconditional surrender—American forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations closed in on Okinawa’s 466 square miles of mountainous jungles, with the knowledge that if Okinawa fell, so would the warring nation of Japan.

Okinawa’s Beachheads Poorly Defended

At dawn on the morning of April 1st, 1945, American troops aboard Fifth Fleet warships expected an amphibious landing massacre far worse than the D-Day invasions at Normandy, only to find Okinawa’s beachheads poorly defended by the Japanese.

Within hours, American forces had secured both the Kadena and Yontan airfields, which were vital to the Allies’ planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. As wave after wave of American forces pushed inland, they walked unwittingly into commanding General Ushijima’s Shuri Defense Line, where his 130,000-man army launched crippling attacks from heavily fortified high ground positions, leading to a string of bloody battles which raged until late June, including Kakazu Ridge, Sugar Loaf Hill, Horseshoe Ridge, Half Moon Hill and the now infamous Hacksaw Ridge.

Yamato’s Suprise Attack on the Fifth Fleet

Behind them on the South Pacific, with their backs against a collapsing war effort, on April 7th, Japan’s mighty battleship the Yamato attempted a surprise attack on the Fifth Fleet. Their plans to wipe out American troops pinned down near the Shuri Line were ousted when discovered by Allied submarines. Leading to Yamato’s sinking during crippling air attacks as Japan’s increasingly desperate reliance on kamikaze suicide pilots caused massive destruction to American lives and warships.

Seppuku

Facing imminent defeat, many Japanese troops and Okinawa civilians committed ritual suicide, under the false belief that the Americans took no prisoners. Faced with the reality that additional fighting was futile, on June 22nd, General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho, also took their own lives, effectively ending the Battle of Okinawa.

How Many Died in the Battle of Okinawa?

Both sides suffered egregious losses, including 49,000 casualties for the Americans, with some 12,520 killed in action, while the Japanese witnessed the death of an estimated 110,000 soldiers and 40,000 to 150,000 Okinawa civilians.

The Allies would also lose 36 warships, with another 368 damaged and 763 aircraft shot down or destroyed, making the Battle of Okinawa, the last major engagement during World War Two, before nuclear detonations over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the Second World War.