Operation Tan No. 2 ( ja, 第二次丹作戰, ''Dainiji Tan Sakusen'') was a long-range ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' mission directed at the main

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

naval fleet anchorage at

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

Atoll in the western Pacific on March 11, 1945 during the Pacific campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Japanese hoped to take the U.S. Pacific fleet by surprise and sink or damage a significant number of the fleet's

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s or other large ships.

The attack

The Azusa Special Attack Unit ( ja, 梓特別攻撃隊), to which were allocated twenty-four "

Yokosuka P1Y1 The Yokosuka P1Y ''Ginga'' (銀河, "Galaxy") was a twin-engine, land-based bomber developed for the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II. It was the successor to the Mitsubishi G4M and given the Allied reporting name "Frances". Design and d ...

" twin-engine

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s took off from the

Kanoya Air Field is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force . It is located southwest of the city of Kanoya in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Runway 08R/26L is equipped with ILS. On April 6, 2016 a U-125 airplane operated by the Flight Ch ...

on Kyushu, the southernmost of the main Japanese islands. The aircraft were bound for the US naval base at

on a one way trip at the limits of their range in an attempt to destroy the Fifth Fleet carriers at anchor there. Each of the planes carried an 800 kg (1,700-pound) bomb, which they intended to deliver by crashing onto the American flight decks. A number of support aircraft and submarines were used to help guide the attackers over their long flight. Some six of the P1Y1s suffered mechanical difficulties and had to turn back to their home base at Kanoya. Others landed at Yap island. Still others had to ditch at sea. Two of the twenty-four aircraft reached Ulithi, arriving after nightfall and achieving complete surprise. One aircraft hit the

Essex class The ''Essex'' class was a class of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The 20th century's most numerous class of capital ship, the class consisted of 24 vessels, which came in "short-hull" and "long-hull" versions. Thirty-two ships we ...

aircraft carrier USS ''Randolph'' in the stern just below the

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

, killing 26 men and wounding 105, many of whom were watching a movie in the ship's hangar deck. The second aircraft crashed onto an access road on the small island of Sorlen, apparently mistaking the road with its nearby signal tower for a ship. There were no deaths in the attack beyond the aircraft's crew, though several U.S. servicemen were injured from debris and ignited fuel.

Aftermath

''Randolph'' was repaired at the port facilities available at Ulithi and rejoined the U.S. fleet in April, 1945. She then took part in the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

, where Admiral Mitscher shifted his flag to her after Kamikaze attacks successively knocked both USS ''Bunker Hill'' and USS ''Enterprise'' out of the battle.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links