Operation Gratitude (World War II)
| date | January 10-20, 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | South China Sea , Indochina , South China and Formosa |
| output | American victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
William Halsey , |
|
| losses | |
|
201 aircraft, |
approx. 300,000 GRT sunk, |
| several hundred civilians dead (between January 3rd and 25th) |
|
The operation Gratitude (Engl. Gratitude "Gratitude"; also known as South China Sea Raid called) was a military operation of the Pacific War , in which the Fast Carrier Task Force of the US Navy under Admiral Halsey in January 1945 into the South China Sea pushed forward and there against Japanese Ships and bases were advancing along the Vietnamese and south China coasts.
The operation took place parallel to the Battle of Luzon as part of the reconquest of the Philippines . Originally the carrier fleet was only supposed to secure the archipelago; Admiral Halsey, who disliked this defensive role, put through the offensive operation Gratitude designed by him after repeated insistence . The Americans planned on the one hand to interrupt the enemy supply lines between the Malay Peninsula , the Philippines and the Japanese motherland. On the other hand, they had a (misinterpreted) report from the Meynier Group , according to which numerous Japanese warships that had survived the defeat of the Combined Fleet at Leyte had withdrawn to Cam Ranh Bay in occupied French Indochina and now from there from planning a counterattack on the American supply lines.
After an initial wave of attacks against the naval and air bases in Indochina, the US carrier fleet turned north and attacked targets in Formosa and southern China , particularly Hong Kong .
Although no major Japanese warship was encountered, the operation ended as an American success, as dozens of transport ships , including numerous tankers , were sunk. The region's airfields were also badly hit. As a result, the Japanese military leadership expected a US invasion of southern China and transferred additional troops there.
procedure
On December 30, 1944, the carrier fleet ( Task Force 38 ) under Vice Admiral McCain left their base Ulithi ( Karolinen ) in the direction of Luzonstrasse . At that time, the association comprised three main combat groups ( Task Group 38.1 , 38.2 and 38.3 ) with four aircraft carriers each and a night combat group ( 38.5 ) with two carriers.
On January 3, 1945, despite violent storms, air raids began on airfields and ports in Formosa, Ryukyu and the Pescadors . The attacks were then concentrated on Luzon for the next few days in preparation for the landing in the Gulf of Lingayen . On January 9th, targets in the north were bombed again. In the process, aircraft belonging to the carrier group sank the remaining ships in the Mo-Ta-30 convoy (including the troop transport Hisagawa Maru with over 2000 dead).
After the 6th US Army landed on Luzon on the same day, the carrier fleet had fulfilled its main objective in the Philippines and was able to advance west. On January 10, the South China Sea was reached - still hampered by severe storms - and Operation Gratitude began. The fleet was refueled on January 11th. In the early hours of January 12, the attack on Cam Ranh and other naval bases in southern Vietnam (including Qui Nhon , Cap Saint-Jacques and Saigon ) began. A battleship combat group was sent ahead near the coast to intercept enemy attempts to escape or attack. The Japanese had not noticed the enemy fleet and were completely taken by surprise by the attack. Without significant resistance, US aircraft were able to sink over 40 larger ships, including around 30 cargo ships with a total of 116,000 to 142,000 GRT (depending on the source). The sunk combat ships were the school cruiser Kashii , seven Kaibokan escort ships, two captured minesweepers ( patrol boat No. 103 - formerly USS Finch - and W-101 - formerly HMS Taitam ), two submarines and a landing ship. It is estimated that at least 1,500 Japanese died on the ships. In addition, the light French cruiser Lamotte-Picquet was sunk despite the hoisted tricolor. Furthermore, over a hundred Japanese aircraft were devastated. The Americans lost 23 machines, mostly due to technical defects.
In the next two days, the US carrier association withdrew north and was refueled in the violent storm. On January 15, massive attacks against Formosa took place again. Airfields and factories were bombed on the island, and the destroyers Hatakaze and Tsuga , a landing ship, a repair ship, a tanker and a cargo transporter were sunk off the coast .
The unit then moved west and attacked targets in mainland China. In addition to Hong Kong , Canton , formally neutral Macau and the island of Hainan were also attacked. In Hong Kong, the Americans destroyed parts of Kai Tak Airport and several docks, but also killed hundreds of civilians in the adjacent neighborhoods. Since the surprise effect had meanwhile passed, 22 US aircraft were shot down by the air defense, and 27 more were lost in accidents.
Due to the stormy seas and the risk of a Japanese counterstrike, the Pacific Commander in Chief Chester W. Nimitz gave the order to retreat. After the two-day refueling, the carrier association withdrew to the east on January 19. On January 20, they left the South China Sea through the Luzon Strait. Here, US planes were able to intercept an association of Japanese transport aircraft evacuating military personnel from the Philippines and shooting down 15 of the machines.
Another wave of attacks against Formosa took place on January 21, in which ten merchant ships were sunk and over 100 Japanese aircraft were destroyed. However, in a counter-attack by Japanese fighters and kamikaze pilots, the USS Langley and the USS Maddox were slightly damaged and the large aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga was badly damaged. The USS Hancock was also damaged when a returning Avenger bomber lost a bomb on landing.
On January 22nd, an attack and reconnaissance mission against the Ryukyu Islands took place before the porters returned to Ulithi on January 25th.
Web links
- Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945 , Library for Contemporary History of the Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart: Chronicle January 1945 , losses of Japanese merchant ships, 1945/1
- David Stubblebine, World War II Database: Raid into the South China Sea, Jan 10, 1945 - Jan 20, 1945
- Mighty Ninety: Chapter 13: OPERATION GRATITUDE - Task Force 38 raids Japanese shipping in the South China Sea
Individual evidence
- ↑ JD Brown, David Hobbs (eds.): Carrier Operations in World War II , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2009, p. 278
- ^ A b Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945 , Library for Contemporary History of the Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart, January 1945
- ^ Samuel Eliot Morison: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944-1945 , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, 2002, p. 161
- ^ Samuel Eliot Morison: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945 , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, 2002, pp. 158ff
- ↑ Mark P. Parillo: The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1993, p 143
- ↑ Kwong Chi Man, Tsoi Yiu Lun: Eastern Fortress: A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840-1970 , Hong Kong University Press, 2014, p. 229
-
^ Samuel Eliot Morison: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944–1945 , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, 2002, p. 169;
Mark P. Parillo: The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1993, p. 143;
Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945 , Library for Contemporary History of the Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart: Chronicle January 1945 - ↑ David G. Marr: Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power , University of California Press, Berkeley 1995, p. 43
- ↑ Kwong Chi Man, Tsoi Yiu Lun: Eastern Fortress: A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840-1970 , Hong Kong University Press, 2014, p 228
- ^ Samuel Eliot Morison: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944-1945 , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, 2002, p. 171
- ^ Samuel Eliot Morison: The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944-1945 , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, 2002, pp. 173f