Battle for the Seas

"23 - 26 October 1944: End of the Japanese Navy; The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf" by Scott Lyons

During World War II, Japan suffered defeat in the Pacific due to the decisive victories of the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers. These carriers proved to be an indispensable asset for the U.S. military, enabling it to establish supremacy over the seas and project military power across vast distances. The Pacific battles fought between the U.S. and Japan were characterized by fierce naval combat, with the Americans leveraging their superior technology and tactics to outmaneuver and overpower their opponents. The use of aircraft carriers enabled the U.S. to launch devastating aerial attacks on enemy ships and shore installations, paving the way for a successful military campaign in the Pacific. The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in World War II and one of the largest in history and a decisive victory for the Allies, and it had far-reaching implications for the course of the War in the Pacific. The battle demonstrated the superiority of Allied naval power and…

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"30 July 1945: The USS Indianapolis is Torpedoed and Sunk" by Scott Lyons

The USS Indianapolis, a Portland-class heavy cruiser, was commissioned into the United States Navy in 1932. It bore witness to pivotal moments of World War II, playing a crucial role as a flagship across various operations within the Pacific Theater. Notable among its engagements were the Aleutian Islands campaign and the formidable Battle of Okinawa. Yet, despite its decorated service, the USS Indianapolis met a harrowing fate, culminating in one of the most heartbreaking naval tragedies in American military annals—the devastating sinking in July of 1945. In the dead of night on the 30 July 1945, amid the fathomless Pacific, the USS Indianapolis was dealt a crippling blow by Japanese submarine I-58. Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, who had mistaken the cruiser for the Idaho-class battleship, dispatched two Type 95 torpedoes that struck the USS Indianapolis' starboard side. The impact near the bow and amidships was staggering, causing the cruiser to list ominously due to the added…

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"4-7 June 1942: The Battle of Midway; Turning Point for the War in the Pacific" by Scott Lyons

Background The Battle of Midway, fought between 4 and 7 June 1942, stands as one of the pivotal battles in the Pacific Theater and turning point from which Japan would not recover. Six months on from Japan's raid on Pearl Harbor and a month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy won a decisive victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Two strategic factors contributed to the battle: the Japanese intended to establish a "barrier" to extend their defensive perimeter following the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo and aimed to entice American carriers into a trap to clear for further offensives. Conversely, American cryptographers' remarkable breakthroughs enabled the U.S. Navy to set an ambush of their own, tipping the scales before a single shot was fired. As four pivotal days of combat ensued north of Midway Atoll, the battle saw four Japanese fleet carriers, previously part of the six-carrier force that assailed Pearl Harbor, sent to the ocean floor. The carriers…

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1 Reply · Reply by Randy Gann May 28, 2023

German U-boat U-995: one of the last German U-boats to patrol and destroy

German U-boat U-995 was one of the last boats to fight in the North Atlantic and one of the last to have been saved to history. Her final patrol was in March 1945, where it damaged the Horace Bushnell, a U.S. liberty ship. Five of the 69 crew members were killed in the attack in the Barents Sea. In the photos below, from left to right: U-995, her torpedo room, and lastly the control room. U-995 conducted 9 patrols: 16 September 1943 to 31 May 1944 5th Flotilla (training) 1 June 1944 to 28 February 1945 13th Flotilla (front boat) 1 March 1945 to 8 May 1945 14th Flotilla (front boat) U-995 took part in five wolfpacks: Dachs (1–5 September 1944) Zorn (26 September - 1 October 1944) Panther (16 October - 10 November 1944) Stier (11 December 1944 – 6 January 1945) Hagen (17–21 March 1945) 1 1 Wikipedia contributors, "German submarine U-995," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_submarine_U-995&oldid=1062719361 (accessed February 19, 2022).

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