| April 1 | Invasion of Okinawa. Launched strikes and sweeps to support landings. | * Battle of Okinawa April 1 - June 21 * 60 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-41 N 129-23 E) |
| April 2 | Refueled and took aboard replacements. W. Va.1 in 58.2 took a bogie2. T.F.3 composed of British ships was attacked by 10 planes. Independence4, a CV5, was hit by bogie. | * 300 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (23-18 N 132-01 E) 1. U.S.S. West Virginia BB-48 2. bogie - enemy aircraft 3. T.F. - Task Force 4. U.S.S. Independence CVL-22 5. CV - Large Carrier |
| April 3 | Launched strikes on Okinawa. 1730 many bogies1 reported. Japs were headed for Okinawa. 59 planes were shot down. Essex2 planes got 17. Launched NTCAP3 over Okinawa. | * 60 to 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima ( 26-38 N 130-02 E) 1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft 2. U.S.S. Essex CV-9 3. VFNTCAP - U.S. Navy Fighter Target Combat Air Patrol |
| April 4 | Strikes on Okinawa. | |
| April 5 | Refueled. | * 150 miles SE of Okinawa Jima (23-36 N 128-50 E) |
| April 6 | Launched strikes and sweeps on Minami Shoto. 0445 VFN1 shot down a Betty2. 0815 condition 1. 1100 CAP3 splashed Dinah4. Survey of TF-51 estimates from April 1 to 5. 28 hit by ship's AA5, 21 hit VFN, 16 bogies1 made 15 hits on 14 ships of this T.G.1 1200 bogies started coming. CAP tallied 8 Zekes6. Got 4 and 4 got in. One dove on Hancock7, he got away. One dove on us. His bomb exploded in our wake. Our AA got him. 2 dove on Cabot8, coming so close they hit her S.K.9 58.1 and forces on Okinawa have also been under attack. TF-51 and picket lines to north have been under air attack. Haynswoth10, N.C.11, Pasadena12 were hit at same time. TF 58 planes were making interceptions up north shooting down planes left and right. TF 58 shot down about 200 planes today. Launched VFNTCAP13. They got 8 Dinah. Planes shot down by 58.3: Essex1469 by 83 AG 15 beat record16 by 1/2. Hancock 16, Bataan17 1 B.H.18 4 shot down by TF 58, by planes, 233, 12 by ship's AA. | * 60 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-42 N 129-28 E) 1. VFN - U.S. Navy Fighter 2. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 3. C.A.P - Combat Air Patrol 4. Dinah -Japanese Navy Reconnaissance 5. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun 6. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 7. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19 8. U.S.S. Cabot CVL-28 9. S.K. - Radar 10. U.S.S. Haynsworth DD-700 11. U.S.S. North Carolina BB-55 12. U.S.S. Pasadena CL-65 13. VFNTCAP - U.S. Navy FighterTarget CombatAir Patrol 14. U.S.S. Essex CV-9 15. 83 AG - Air Group 83 16. record - Air Group 15's previous record 17. U.S.S. Bataan CVL-29 18. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17 |
| April 7 | Launched CAP1 and searches, looking for part of Jap fleet. 0815 Essex2 search plane spotted 1 BB3, 2 CLs4, 10 or 12 DDs5 180 miles N of us. Sent planes to take care of them. 1215 condition1. Hancock6 hit. Fire under control in 1 hour, but she'll have to go back to Ulithi. Casualties: 28 killed, 600 wounded, 15 missing. 1430 a Zeke7 dove at us. Our AA8 got him. Bogies9 around all afternoon AA from ships in TG10 58 got 30 planes today. TF11 51 today by 20 planes. 12 shot down. A few ships were hit. Here's damage done to Jap ships: Sunk 1 BB, 2 CL, 3 DD - damaged: 2 DDs. | * 80 miles E of Okinawa Jima (27-08 N 129-46 E) 1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 2. U.S.S. Essex CV-9 3. BB - Battleship 4. CL - Light Cruiser 5. DD - Destroyer 6. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19 7. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 8. AA - Anti-aircraft 9. Bogie - Enemy plane 10. TG - Task Group 11. TF - Task Force |
| April 8 | Launched TCAP1 and support strikes on Okinawa. 1535 AA2 opened up. CAP3 got 2 Nicks4. A few planes were shot down by CAP and search plans. | * 70 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-26 N 129-18 E) 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun 3. CAP -Combat Air Patrol 4. Nick - Japanese Army Fighter |
| April 9 | Refueled and rearmed. Hancock1 left for Ulithi and Cabot2 headed for it later. | * 350 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-38 N 133-43 E) 1. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19 2. U.S.S. Cabot CVL-28 |
| April 10 | Launched strikes on Amami Shoto and Okinawa. Enterprise1 took Hancock's2 place. | 1. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6 2. U.S.S. Hancock CV-19 |
| April 11 | Strikes on Okinawa. Bogies1 all day. 4 dove on formation. 1 shot down astern of Enterprise2, 2 near B.H.3, 1 dropped 2 bombs on our starboard before our AA4 got him. Another went in off starboard quarter. Okinawa under attack, also 59.4 and also our pickets - Hank5 and Kidd6were hit. Zeke7 dove on us, dropped bomb on air port quarter. It was close as hell. Thought for sure we were hit. Zeke passed from just to starboard, just missing the stack and went in the drink. SC antennae8 knocked off. Zeke dove on Enterprise. AA got him. Another Zeke came in andastern got him. 1760 another dove on B.H. Their AA got him.58.4 got 4 Bettys9. AA got 2 and CAP10 2. 1915 called to G.Q.11, bogies closing.Had bogies all night. A few were shot down. Our causalities were 19 men. 1 serious and the rest were hysterical cases. | * 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-58 N 130-56 E) 1. Bogies - Enemy Aircraft 2. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6 3. B.H. - U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17 4. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun 5. U.S.S. Hank DD-702 6. U.S.S. Kidd DD-661 7. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 8. SC - radar unit 9. Betty - Japanese Navy Bomber 10. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 11. G.Q. - General Quarters |
| April 12 | Launched CAP1 and TCAP2 for Okinawa, Tokuno and Kikai. Pickets got 2 bogies3. Beach under heavy attack again. | 1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 2. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft |
| April 13 | Launched TCAP1 near Okinawa and Tokuno. CAP2 shot down a few bogies3. | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft |
| April 14 | Refueled. Rearmed. | * 300 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-14 N 133-06 E) |
| April 15 | Launched TCAP1 for Okinawa and Tokuno. Strikes on Kyushu. Had bogies2 all night. | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. bogies - Enemy Aircraft |
| April 16 | Support for beach. 4 strikes on Kyushu. Went to G.Q.1 0815. Many bogies2 chasing. Bataan3 CAP4 got 22 - Beach 58.1 and 58.4 under attack. Enterprise5 hit. Bogies around all afternoon 1815 went to G.Q. Judy6 dove on B.H.7 AA8 got him. Bogies all day and all night. Many shot down. Some ships were hit. | 1. G.Q. - General Quarters 2. bogies - Enemy Aircraft 3. U.S.S. Bataan CVL-29 4. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 5. U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6 6. Judy - Japanese Navy Dive Bomber 7. B.H.- U.S.S. Bunker Hill CV-17 8. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun |
| April 17 | Supports strikes. Bogies1 again today. CAP2 got most of attack that came in. About 3 or 4 were shot down diving on formation. | 1. Bogie - Enemy plane 2. CAP - Combat Air Patrol |
| April 18 | Refueled. Rearmed. | * 325 miles E of Okinawa Jima (25-39 N 128-30 E) |
| April 19 | Support sweeps on Okinawa. BBs1 bombarded. | 1. BB - Battleship |
| April 20 | Support CAP1 on Okinawa. | 1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol |
| April 21 | Support CAP1 for Okinawa. Had quite a few bogies2 today. None got in close enough to do any damage. Quite a few were shot down. Many Zekes3 shot down were targets. | 1. CAP - Combat Air Patrol 2. Bogie - Enemy plane 3. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter |
| April 22 | TCAP1 for Okinawa and Kikia. A few bogies2 today. All shot down before they got in close enough. Quite a few planes shot down over target. | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. Bogie - Enemy plane |
| April 23 | Refueled. Rearmed. | * 225 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-56 N 131-30 E) |
| April 24 | Bad weather. No planes up. | |
| April 25 | Okinawa TCAP1 | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol |
| April 26 | Okinawa TCAP1 | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol |
| April 27 | Refueled. Had 2 bogies1. AA21 chased them away. | * 200 miles E of Okinawa Jima (24-56 N 131-17 E) 1. bogies - Enemy Aircraft 2. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun |
| April 28 | Okinawa TCAP1. Hospital ship Comfort2 hit at beach last night.Had a few bogies3. Only 1 or 2 got in. AA4 drove them away. Many planes shot down over beach. | * 100 miles E of Okinawa Jima (26-29 N 130-02 E) 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. U.S.S. Comfort AH-6 3. bogies - Enemy Aircraft |
| April 29 | Okinawa TCAP1 - our VF2 got 3 Zekes3 32 miles away. 1650 58.4 under attack. They got one by AA4. Two DDs5 were hit by suicide plans. 1700 went to G.Q.6 Many bogies1 in unity. Most of them were over beach. 58.4 was attacked. No damage reported. Shot down a few. Got a few over (head) and (over) beach also. | 1. TCAP - Target Combat Air Patrol 2. U.S. Fighter Aircraft 3. Zeke - Japanese Navy Fighter 4. AA - Anti-aircraft Gun 5. bogies - Enemy Aircraft 6. G.Q. - General Quarters |
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