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The attack on Yokosuka was an air raid conducted by the United States Navy on 18 July 1945 during the last weeks of the Pacific War. The Japanese battleship ''Nagato'' was the raid's main target, though anti-aircraft positions and other warships at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal were also attacked. Other U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy aircraft struck airfields in the Tokyo area. While ''Nagato'' was only lightly damaged, the American aircraft sank a destroyer, a submarine and two escort vessels and damaged five small vessels. The Allied pilots also claimed the destruction of several locomotives and 43 Japanese aircraft as well as damage to another 77 aircraft. Japanese anti-aircraft guns shot down twelve American and two British aircraft. ==Background== During July 1945 the U.S Third Fleet, which was led by Admiral William Halsey, conducted a series of air raids and naval bombardments against targets in Japan. These attacks were made by the Third Fleet's striking force, Task Force 38 (TF 38), which was commanded by Vice Admiral John S. McCain and included nine fleet carriers, six light carriers and their escorts.〔Morison (1960), p. 310〕〔Tillman (2010), p. 199〕 Almost one thousand aircraft were embarked on board these carriers.〔Frank (1999), p. 157〕 On 10 July TF 38's aircraft struck airfields around Tokyo and claimed to have destroyed 340 Japanese aircraft on the ground and two in the air.〔Royal Navy (1995), p. 218〕 No Japanese aircraft responded to this attack as they were being held in reserve to mount large-scale suicide attacks on the Allied fleet during the expected invasion of the country later in 1945.〔Tillman (2010), p. 201〕 Following this raid, the Third Fleet conducted raids on Hokkaido and northern Honshu on 14 and 15 July which sank large numbers of ships and destroyed 25 aircraft on the ground.〔Morison (1960), pp. 311–314〕 The American warships then sailed south and on 16 July were joined by the British Pacific Fleet's (BPF's) main striking force, which was designated Task Force 37 (TF 37), and comprised three aircraft carriers and their escorts.〔Royal Navy (1995), pp. 219–220〕 By July 1945 the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN's) remaining large warships were unable to put to sea due to shortages of fuel and the dangers of attack from Allied aircraft and submarines.〔Tillman (2010), p. 208〕 While most of these warships were anchored near the major naval base at Kure and other locations in the Seto Inland Sea, ''Nagato'' and several smaller warships were stationed at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Tokyo Bay.〔Tully (2003), "Nagato's Last Year: July 1945 – July 1946"〕 At this time the battleship was moored alongside a pier facing northwest and covered in camouflage that was intended to make her difficult for aircraft to spot. All of ''Nagato''s secondary armament and about half her anti-aircraft guns had been removed and emplaced on nearby hills from where they could provide protection to the naval base. Although the battleship's boilers were not lit, she received steam and power from the submarine chaser ''Fukugawa Maru No. 7'' and an auxiliary boiler located on the pier. The destroyer ''Ushio'' was also docked nearby in a position where she was able to protect the battleship with her 25 mm anti-aircraft guns.〔 ''Nagato''s presence at Yokosuka was revealed to the Allies by photographs taken during the 10 July raid on the Tokyo area.〔 On 16 July Halsey and Vice Admiral Bernard Rawlings, the commander of TF 37, met to plan raids on the Tokyo area. Halsey was determined to sink the remnants of the IJN, and placed a particularly strong emphasis on attacking ''Nagato'' as she had been Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's flagship during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.〔Hoyt (1982), p. 48〕〔Tillman (2010), p. 210〕 Due to the battleship's position within a well defended harbor, the Third Fleet's planners assessed that aircraft which attempted the straight and level flight needed to launch torpedoes against her would suffer heavy losses, and so decided to use dive bombing tactics instead.〔 As the landward side of the naval base was mountainous, the approaches which could be used by dive bombers were limited.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Attack on Yokosuka」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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