Philippine_Sea_order_of_battle

Philippine Sea order of battle

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The Battle of the Philippine Sea was fought 19–20 June 1944 in the waters west of the Mariana Islands by elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet and of the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet. The battle resulted from the Japanese reaction to the American invasion of the island of Saipan. Instead of attacking the troop transports off Saipan, Admiral Toyoda chose to engage the American carrier forces in what he intended to be the long-awaited “decisive battle” that would crush U.S. naval power.

IJ Combined Fleet and US Pacific Fleet Commanders

Adm. Soemu Toyoda (HQ at Tokyo)

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz (HQ at Pearl Harbor)

The outcome was a disaster for the Japanese Navy. The battle exacted a terrible toll from the Japanese naval air arm, costing them most of their few remaining experienced pilots. The Combined Fleet was no longer capable of serious offensive operations after this engagement. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison characterized it this way:

This was the greatest carrier battle of the war. The forces engaged were three to four times those in preceding actions like Midway, and victory was so complete that the Japanese could never again engage on such a scale. ... above all the skill, initiative, and intrepid courage of the young aviators made this day one of the high points in the history of the American spirit.^[1]

Since the Japanese assumed the tactical offensive, their forces are listed first.

Japanese order of battle

Vice Adm. Jisaburō Ozawa

Mobile Fleet^[2]
Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa in Taihō

American order of battle

Fleet and Fast Carrier commanders

Vice Adm. Raymond A. Spruance

Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher

US Fifth Fleet^[5]
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance in heavy cruiser Indianapolis

Task Force 58 – Fast Carrier Forces
Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher in fleet carrier Lexington

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[5] Ro-104, Ro-105, Ro-106, Ro-108, Ro-116 all sunk by destroyer escort England

[8] These cruisers were intended as destroyer leaders when designed. After the first two to be used in this role, Atlanta and Juneau, were lost at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, this mission was rejected and the anti-aircraft mission adopted.^[6]

[9] These cruisers were intended as destroyer leaders when designed. After the first two to be used in this role, Atlanta and Juneau, were lost at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, this mission was rejected and the anti-aircraft mission adopted.^[6]

[10] These cruisers were intended as destroyer leaders when designed. After the first two to be used in this role, Atlanta and Juneau, were lost at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, this mission was rejected and the anti-aircraft mission adopted.^[6]

[11] Skippered by Cmdr. Chester W. Nimitz, Jr.

[1] [1]
Morison 1953, pp. 277-278

[2] [2]
Morison 1953, pp. 416-417

[Morison_1953,_p._221-3] [3]
Morison 1953, p. 221

[4] [4]
Morison 1953, p. 226

[6] [5]
Morison 1953, pp. 412-415

[auto-7] [6]
Stille 2016, p. 7

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Philippine_Sea_order_of_battle

Philippine Sea order of battle

Forces deployed

Japanese order of battle

"A" Force

"B" Force

Van Force

Supply Forces

Submarine Forces

American order of battle

Task Group 58.1

Task Group 58.2

Task Group 58.3

Task Group 58.4

Task Group 58.7

Seventh Fleet Submarines

Task Force 17

Notes

References

Bibliography

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