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Operation Iceberg
The invasion of Okinawa was, famously, the culmination of the United States’ island-hopping campaign. Less well known is the fact that it was also the greatest campaign of the British Pacific Fleet’s war against Japan, fought by five fleet carriers over two months, with a distinct task.
The Fleet Air Arm’s job at Okinawa was to suppress and destroy the Japanese airfields on the Sakashima Islands, which were used as bases for kamikazes as well as to route aircraft from Japan to Okinawa.
By 1945, Royal Navy’s carriers and their aircrews were well worked up, and ready to tackle challenging and important targets. Famously, at Okinawa the Royal Navy’s armoured carriers proved much more resilient to kamikaze strikes than the wooden-topped carriers of the Americans.
As explained by Angus Konstam in the book Okinawa 1945, The Royal Navy’s biggest carrier campaign, at 0650hrs on the morning of 1 April a cluster of aircraft was detected on radar approaching the British Task Force from the west. At the time, TF 57 was supporting Operation Iceberg and was some 80 miles south of the Sakishimas and air attacks on Ishigaki and Miyako were already under way.
The first successful Kamikaze attack on a British aircraft carrier
The Seafires tasked with forming the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over the Task Force intercepted these Japanese aircraft 40 miles from the fleet, but a few Mitsubishi A6M Zero (or Zeke) fighters evaded the defenders and pressed on at low level, heading towards the British carriers. One of these managed to strafe Formidable and King George V, while a second crashed onto the flight deck of Indefatigable, the first successful Kamikaze attack on a British aircraft carrier during World War II. Sub. Lt ‘Dicky’ Reynolds RNVR of 894 NAS was flying one of the CAP Seafires, and had been chasing a third Zeke as it headed towards Indefatigable.
Twice, Reynolds’ shells hit the port wing of the Japanese fighter, but he was unable to stop it as it sped towards the carrier. At the last second the kamikaze reared up, rolled over and dived onto the carrier’s flight deck. Reynolds had been concentrating on getting in another shot, and narrowly avoided crashing into the carrier himself, only turning away at the final moment.
Revenge
Twenty minutes later though, Reynolds had his revenge when he shot down two other Zekes before they could reach one of the British carriers. This illustration shows Reynolds’ Seafire ‘Merry Widow’ at 0727hrs, during the final moments before the first kamikaze reached Indefatigable, desperately trying to get a lucky hit before the Zeke could reach the carrier. That morning, both Formidable and Indefatigable were lucky to escape serious damage, although several crewmen were killed in the attacks.
Okinawa 1945, The Royal Navy’s biggest carrier campaign is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo credit: Gareth Hector via Osprey
