Roles of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 and British Task Force 57 during the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2. An LCI (Landing Craft-Infantry) passes in front of the heavy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45) as it fires its heavy guns. Explosions on Okinawa. Glimpse of Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) in marine camouflage paint. Naval gun barrels firing and shells exploding on Okinawa. The USS LSM(R)-190, a Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) is seen firing barrages of rockets at Okinawa. Closeup of the rocket pods firing. At time 00:18-00:20 the U.S. heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis,CA-36 is seen firing her main battery. Numerous views of shells bursting on the ground. More views of rocket firing landing ships, with more closeups of the rocket pods firing. Change of scene to the south, where the battleship HMS King George V, flagship of Task Force 57, and battleship HMS Howe, are seen bombarding Japanese air installations on Formosa. British Navy Marlett fighter planes (equivalent to U.S. F4Fs) in formation flight. Anti-aircraft gunfire from British aircraft carriers and other warships. Closeup of British multiple Pom Pom gun batteries firing.
Film begins showing sailors in battle gear manning Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns beside flight deck of U.S. aircraft carrier, during World War 2. Navy Task Force 58 ships, including a cruiser and another aircraft carrier, are seen in background. View of SBD Douglas Dauntless dive bomber aircraft on the carrier flight deck. Two have engines running.The rest are parked with wings folded. Next, the aircraft are seen being sent on takeoffs by a white shirt on deck. The number "6" on her flight deck identifies her as the USS Enterprise (CV-6). Views of several Douglas Dauntless aircraft flying off her deck. Glimpse of aircraft in formation from a different Squadron, bearing checkerboard markings on their tails. View from above of 5 of the aircraft in formation above the sea below. Gun camera views of U.S. aircraft strafing Japanese ships. One explodes in fireball and smoke. U.S. aircraft firing rockets that strike a Japanese carrier, setting it on fire, and causing an escort ship to blow up. Task Force 58 aircraft strike Japanese coastal installations and strafe several Japanese airfields destroying parked Japanese aircraft. They attack industrial sites causing fires and explosions. Gun cameras show aircraft firing rockets at lines of communication and striking more Japanese airfields.
Role of U.S. Navy Task Force 58 in Okinawa, Japan during the Battle of Okinawa in World War 2. Film begins showing amphibious assault by U.S. forces of Navy Task Force 58, against Okinawa, on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. Higgins Boats from U.S. transport ships race through the water and discharge troops on the land, with no signs of Japanese resistance. Some of the boats' markings show they came from the U.S transport ship USS Barnett (APA-5). Sailor aboard a transport ship uses ax to cut a line and release a power boat from its davits. The boat drops into the water with a huge splash. View of lines of U.S soldiers and marines wading through shallow water toward mud flats on the land. Closeups of Troops with landing craft behind them. advance overland with no signs of Japanese resistance. Troops sitting on a landing vehicle tracked (LVT) parked in sand. U.S. infantry begin moving inland accompanied by armor and military trucks and other vehicles. The area is very quiet, with no sign of enemy activity. Views of Army and Marine Corps infantry walking beside an M4 Sherman tank. Views of soldiers using binoculars in effort to detect any signs of the enemy. Crews in combat gear, at battle stations aboard Navy ships waiting patiently for enemy action. It came suddenly in the form of Kamikaze attacks on April 6, 1945, when the Navy's radar picket ships were attacked followed by general attacks against U.S. Capital ships. A kamikaze is seen striking an Essex-class aircraft carrier amidst ship, setting off explosions on the ship. Anti-aircraft gunners on various ships are seen firing at the Japanese planes. Another ship is struck by a Kamikaze. Douglas Dauntless and F4F aircraft being launched from carriers. The Battleship, USS Maryland (BB-46), is struck by a kamikaze that knocks out some of her gun emplacements, but she continues her mission in spite of the damage. A kamikaze aircraft is seen attacking the USS Yorktown (CV-10). It is hit by anti-aircraft fire and just misses the ship, splashing into the water nearby. Air is filled by black smoke puffs, from anti-aircraft fire as Japanese aircraft maneuver overhead. One is struck and falls burning to crash in the water, just off the flight deck of a carrier. Gun camera clip showing a multi-engine Japanese aircraft being shot down from behind, by a U.S. aircraft. Closeup of a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 aircraft in flight, peeling off to attack. More gun camera footage of a Japanese multi-engine aircraft being shot down from behind. A Kamikaze airplane diving down under anti-aircraft fire and crashing into the sea. Gunners firing Bofors anti-aircraft guns from gun emplacements beside the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Skies filled with black flak clouds. On 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze Zero, although fired upon, is seen crashing on the battleship, USS Missouri USS (BB-63). It strikes her starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 in (127 mm) Gun Mount No. 3. At the same time, another kamikaze crashes into the sea in the foreground. An aircraft carrier's gunners fire anti-aircraft Bofors guns at a Kamikaze plane that swoops over her flight deck and crashes, exploding, into the sea just off the flight deck. A low flying Kamikaze aircraft crashes into the sea off the bow of an escort carrier, underway. Heavy black smoke rises from the airplane blowing up. A huge explosion with a white cloud of smoke is seen above the battleship USS Missouri.
A glimpse of Navy gunners firing Bofors anti-aircraft guns from battle station on a U.S. aircraft carrier is how this film begins. Next, black flak clouds fill the sky and tracer rounds are seen in a nighttime battle as ships of U.S. Task Force 58 (TF-58) battles attacks from Japanese aircraft, including Kamikazes dispatched from Mainland Japan, during World War 2. View of Japanese attacking aircraft subject to relentless tracer bullet fire, until is is hit. It continues toward a target ship, but misses and crashes into the sea. A flaming Japanese aircraft moving overhead in daylight, amidst many black flak clouds. It crashes into the sea. Another nighttime scene shows numerous tracer rounds flashing through the darkness as hundreds of land--based Japanese warplanes attack ships of Task Force 58. Explosions are seen in the air as attacking planes are hit by anti-aircraft fire. View of a Japanese attacking aircraft diving from overcast skies, banking to its left and crashing into the water. Gun camera views from American aircraft shooting down a Japanese multi-engine bomber from the rear and one from another aircraft shooting a Japanese fighter head-on. It veers off in smoke as the American plane passes to its left. The Japanese plane crashes into the sea with a huge explosion and fireball. Another gun camera view of large Japanese aircraft being shot down from the rear. Scene shifts to column of 5 "old" U.S. battleships underway. Views of guns firing from newer battleships of the line. Glimpse of foreign correspondent Ernie Pyle aboard a warship. The battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) seen silhouetted against moonlit sky. (She was damaged by hit from Japanese aerial torpedo, off Okinawa on April 12th, 1945.) Views of fast battleships and other ships of TF 58,firing their naval guns. View on Okinawa as their shells explode, supporting advance by U.S. Army and Marine advancing forces. The U.S. troops running across fields as they advance. Burning buildings on Okinawa. US troops advancing through rice paddies. A soldier calling for close air support on a field radio. View of two Escort carriers providing air support. View air control officers aboard the Command ship, heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), as they order air strikes in support of the troops. F4F fighter planes carrying bombs take off from a carrier. Formations of U.S. aircraft in flight overhead. Their bombs exploding on Okinawa. frontal view of an F4F firing rockets. Wider views of F4Fs firing rockets.
Opening scene shows Landing Ship Tank USS LST 1006, with her front doors open after delivering her cargo at shore of Okinawa, during World War 2. Resupply operations are seen with landing craft shuttling between transport ships. Landing ships delivering supplies and equipment directly to the shore. An Army truck drives down the ramp of a Landing Ship Tank. A huge crane installed on a vessel behind LST 633 on the Okinawa waterfront. Vehicles driving from ships to the shore from a Landing Ship Dock (LSD). Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) numbers 606, 30, and 559 are parked at the shore, delivering vehicles to Okinawa. Suddenly Japanese Kamikaze aircraft begin attacking. View from ship in Navy Task Force 58, as its gunners shoot down a Kamikaze that crashes into the sea. View from island of an aircraft carrier, as all the anti-aircraft guns along the side her flight deck fire continuously raising lots of smoke from the gunfire. A Kamikaze plane speeding across the water at low altitude. Closeup of Navy ship gunners firing. View from a ship's deck of sky filled with tracer rounds the strike a Kamikaze airplane. It explodes into flaming pieces that fall into the ocean close to the ship. Navy gunners firing twin Bofors anti aircraft guns. Sky filled with black flak clouds and tracer bullets. A Japanese Kamikaze aircraft (Kawasaki Ki-61) hit and diving straight down into the water where it explodes raising a large cloud of smoke and water. Aircraft carrier gunners firing at a low flying Kamikaze plane that passes the USS Alaska (CB-1) in the foreground and strikes an Essex-class U.S. aircraft carrier. Views of sailors on her flight deck fighting fire. Bow view from nearby ship of heavy smoke billowing from the carrier. Side view of the same. Closeup of sailors cutting holes in her flight deck to allow firefighting hoses to reach fire below. A welder using cutting torch to clear jagged pieces of metal. Firefighters hosing down the deck with foam. A Kamikaze crashes close to another Essex-class carrier, exploding at her waterline. Views of firefighting aboard that ship. Men hauling fire hoses onto the flight deck to bring ocean water up for firefighting. View from above of sailors pouring water below decks. A welder repairing a damaged stanchion. Gunners firing from the ship's superstructure as Japanese aircraft continue to maneuver among ships of Task Force 58. Streams of tracer rounds tracking a Kamikaze plane. View from above of sailors spreading foam over the flight deck. Firefighters playing hoses on pieces of destroyed Douglas Dauntless aircraft on the flight deck. External view of the severe waterline damage to the carrier. Welder working on deck. Landing officer with paddles directing a Douglas Dauntless aircraft landing on a carrier. Sailors carrying an injured flight crew member, across the flight deck on a litter. Dead covered in white shrouds laid out on the ship's deck, for burial at sea.
Film opens with shaky views of Japanese Kamikaze airplane attacking and being shot down by gunners on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier of Task Force 58, during the Okinawa campaign of World War 2. Burning wrecked aircraft seen on the carrier flight deck. Firefighters run across flight deck with hoses. A landing F4F fighter plane number 59 runs into the flaming wreckage on the deck, and explodes. View from the side of F4F number 58 engulfed in flames as it sits in a pool of firefighting foam. Black flak clouds in the air. A Kamikaze aircraft crashes harmlessly into the sea. Deck crewmen help a pilot out of the cockpit of a fire scorched F4F. View of sailors standing next to a pair of heavy gun barrels on a U.S. warship. Parachuting U.S. pilot seen touching down in the water after bailing out of his aircraft. Sailors running across the flight deck of a carrier. View of the pilot in his life vest being helped aboard the carrier. More views of flak filled sky and a flaming Japanese airplane diving straight down to crash harmlessly in the water. View of American flag at half mast on a U.S. Navy warship. It is April 12, 1945 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) has just died. View of sailors on deck in a memorial service for the President. Closeup of mourners singing with hymnals open. Closeup glimpse of FDR. More views of mourners. Scene changes to Japanese Kamikaze being blasted out of the air in pieces, by anti-aircraft fire from a U.S. carrier. The remains fall into the sea. View from U.S. ship, of a Japanese Nakajima L2D transport aircraft with flames coming out of its right wing, as it descends close to the water near the ship, with its landing gear down. View from a more distant ship of the transport plane exploding in the water near a U.S. Escort aircraft carrier. Twin Bofors anti-aircraft guns firing from a U.S. ship. Tracer bullets fill the sky aimed at a Japanese Kamikaze plane. Slates overlay the scene announcing Japanese aircraft shot down: "April 6th: 277 aircraft; April 12th: 100; May 3rd: 97;" Film ends showing more anti-aircraft fire from ships against attacking Japanese aircraft.
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