This week in history: 19th/20th June 1944
In a bid to counter the American invasion of Saipan, Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s four aircraft carriers of the Mobile Fleet targeted Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Task Force 58. For Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Soemu Toyoda, Commander of the Combined Fleet, “The fate of the Empire rests on this one battle”, but for American gunners, it became the “Marianas Turkey Shoot” as 315 of 423 carrier-borne aircraft were shot down. The devasting defeat included the loss of the carriers Shokaku, Taiho and Hiyo.
Read more: Battle of the Philippine Sea (National Museum of the United States Navy)
Added: 20th June 2023
