JAP MISTAKE IN BATTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 10 April 1945, Page 5

JAP MISTAKE IN BATTLE

U.S. CARRIER PLANES UNMOLESTED STRENGTH OF REMAINING ENEMY FLEET New York, April 8. About 400 planes from Admiral Mitscher's carriers w >ped out the Japanese warships unmolested by enemy fighters, says a correspondent of the Associated Press of America at Guam. What planes the Japanese navy had were used stupidly. All the available aircraft were apparently sent out the previous day in an effort to ram a hole into Admiral Mitscher’s air screen so that the Yamato task force could steam west to the East China Sea for a dash southwards and a hit-and-run attack against the invasion forces at Okinawa. It seemed curious that the Japanese task force did not include a carrier. One probable explanation is that the enemy navy could not muster enough pilots to man the carriers in addition to the flights sent against Okinawa and Admiral Mitscher’s carriers the day before the Yamato battle. The sinking of the Yamato force does not mean that the Japanese Fleet is wiped out. The enemy is known to have some damaged battleships and carriers at the Inland Sea shipyards, in various stages of repair. Tokio radio, which claimed the battles round Okinawa had become a Japanese offensive, quoted Imperial Headquarters as admitting the loss of one battleship, one cruiser, and three destroyers in the Ryukyus since the night of Thursday. The radio claimed that the Americans in the same period lest 30 warships and transports. The Washington correspondent of the United Press says naval experts estimate the loss of the Yamato has left Japan with 12 battleships, two of which are obsolete. Best estimates indicate that Japan may have 19 battleships and 20 carriers. Japanese losses announced in Washington include seven battleships. 14 carriers. 78 cruisers, and 238 destroyers. The Japanese entered the war with a much larger fleet than American experts believed. Furthermore the enemy’s wartime building capacity was un-der-estimated. It is known that Japan still has enough cruisers to serve with a “Not so powerful task force.” Japan had apparently concentrated on building destroyers in the last three years and is believed to have about 40 left. She has lost only about 20 sumbarines, including midgets. One hundred are believed to be still serving. EVERY SHIP SUNK OR DAMAGED The weather was bad when our planes sighted the Japanese ships and the targets were near the maximum striking distance away, but in a few minutes our planes began rising from the carriers, says the United Press correspondent aboard Admiral Dave Mitscher’s flagship during the recent naval battle off Okinawa. Eight of our torpedoes ripped into the Yamato while 10001 b bombs crashed on the doomed ship's deck. The correspondent says there is reason to believe that every ship in the Yamato’s formation was sunk or damaged The American planes circled the Japanese fleet three times before the order t attack and the Japanese held their fire. Then the fighters dived down followed by the attack planes, which concentrated on the Yamato and Japanese cruisers. The ships threw up everything they had, including a 16-inch barrage from the battleship. When the first torpedo struck the battleship there was an eruption like a volcano bursting and clouds of smoke rose from the vessel.