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tsimmonds -> RE: Search aircraft on the attack (8/18/2004 5:43:26 PM)
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quote:
USS Hancock was hit by a single plane that avoided CAP and flak in 1945. The Americans had fleet defense pretty wired by then but still the occasional "leaker" happened. Don't think the plane involved was an armed search plane though.
This was on March 11, 1945 at Ulithi which at the time was felt to be "safe" due to it being several hundred miles from any operating Japanese airbase. The plane was a Frances that was on a super-long-range kamikaze mission.
The main objective of the Japanese raid was to attack American ships anchored in Ulithi Atoll. When Japanese intelligence found that large numbers of Task Force 58 ships were at Ulithi, the air raid was to be carried out March 10, 1945. However, a mix-up in decoding intelligence-transmissions from Truk forced a delay of the mission, and the attack was postponed until the next day.
The operation involved twenty-four Frances bombers from Japan's Azusa Special Attack Unit, based at Minami Daito Shima, 800 miles from Ulithi. Emily flying-boats and other land based bombers were to assist the flight, providing weather reconnaissance, advance patrols, and guides to lead the twenty-four bombers to Ulithi. Bad luck, poor maintenance, and other troubles began to plague the flight. One of the Emily guides disappeared, six of the bombers had to turn back because of engine trouble, and the flight, already thirty minutes behind schedule, was forced to climb above clouds, losing critical visual navigation checkpoints.
When they descended through the overcast some eight hours later, supposedly on top of Ulithi, they were near Yap Island, 120 miles west of Ulithi because of a navigational error and unexpected head winds.(It led our American commanders at the time to assume the planes were from Yap Island.) Instead of the original twenty-four bombers, only two reached Ulithi, well after dark. They started their suicide attacks at 2005.
A twin-engine Japanese bomber (Frances) hit the flight deck aft, starboard side exploding between flight and gallery decks at frame 205-210, destroying planes in vicinity of flight and hangar decks, the CO2 Room, Aviation Repair Shop, and the fantail. Personnel in the near vicinity were killed or injured, fire broke out in the hangar deck aft, 40-MM and 20-MM ammunition was detonated.
Final casualties: 26 killed, 3 missing and 105 wounded.
(Edited to add details of kamikaze raid)
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