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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited >1 y ago
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Thanks SGT John " Mac " McConnell for reminding us that as late as March 1945 Japan was still capable of strategic attacks as in the case of the nighttime submarine and Kamikaze aircraft attack on the U.S. 5th fleet which was based out of the Marshall Islands anchorage at Majuro.
The attack was launched against Ulithi (Yapese: Wulthiy, Yulthiy, or Wugöy) which is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km (103 nautical miles) east of Yap.
Images: 1945-03-11 Tan Operation Japanese submarine approaches map;
2. 1945-03-13 USS Randolph (CV-15) alongside a repair ship at Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands on March 13, 1945, showing damage to her after flight deck resulting from the kamikaze hit on March 11;
3. 1945-03-11 What is left of an SB2C Helldiver on the heavily damaged flight deck of the USS Randolph after a P1Y Ginga special attack bomber crashed into the ship while at anchor in Ulithi Lagoon, Caroline Islands, 11 Mar 1945.
4. 1945-03-11 USS Randolph Captain Felix Baker (pointing) showing Admiral Raymond Spruance damage to the flight deck after a P1Y Ginga special attack bomber crashed into the ship at Ulithi, Caroline Islands, 11 Mar 1945

Essex-class Aircraft Carrier USS Randolph CV-15
"Along with the rest of the fleet, Randolph returned to the Ulithi anchorage on 1 Mar 1945 for maintenance and replenishment. While still at Ulithi on 11 Mar 1945, Randolph fell victim to a well-organized Japanese special attack plan known as Operation Tan No. 2. Twenty-four Yokosuka P1Y Ginga "Frances" medium bombers launched from Kanoya on Kyushu, Japan on a long range, one way special attack mission against the US Navy anchorage at Ulithi, a flight of over 1,500 miles one-way. For a variety of reasons, only 2 airplanes made it to Ulithi, arriving an hour after sunset. One of the attackers crashed on the small island of Sorlen bordering the lagoon, hitting a road next to a signal tower that may have looked like a flight deck in the fading light. The other struck the Randolph in the stern just below the level of the flight deck near where roughly 200 men were watching a movie on the Hangar Deck. Twenty-seven men were killed and 105 were wounded. Randolph was repaired at Ulithi without having to retire further east and so was able to rejoin the fleet in less than a month."
From https://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=888


FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. CPL Dave Hoover SGT Mark Halmrast SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell
SGT John " Mac " McConnell
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Great addition as always my friend.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
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As a side issue, the penetration of the harbor was followed by additional units who marked USN anchorage procedures, berthings, etc. The primary purpose was marking the best place for a "special attack" using "special" weapons. Later in the year, a German U-Boat carrying uranium (for some strange reason... !) would sortie to Japan. The U-Boat thankfully never made it as Japan was further along in her nuclear studies than Germany was. And closer than we realized. Japan was not going for a clean precision "city killer" but a dirty bomb to pollute and poison. A dirty bomb detonation in Ulithi would have destroyed most of the USN, a great chunk of the USMC and the invasion of Okinawa and Japan proper would have been off.
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