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The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a decisive naval battle of World War II which eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and involved elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet as well as ships and land-based aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons. The aerial theatre of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, war technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover.〔 During the course of the battle, American submarines torpedoed and sank two of the largest Japanese fleet carriers taking part in the battle.〔Roscoe, T., 1949, Pig Boats, New York: Bantam Books, ISBN 0553130404〕 This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history. ==Background== With the death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on April 18, 1943, Admiral Mineichi Koga had succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet the following day. Under his direction, the Imperial Japanese Navy sought to engage the American fleet in a single decisive battle in early 1944. From the very start of the conflict in December 1941, the Japanese war plan had been to discourage America by inflicting such severe and painful losses on her military that the public would become war weary and the American government would be convinced to sue for peace and allow Japan to keep her conquests in east and southeast Asia. Though at a numerical disadvantage from the outset, and an industrial disadvantage that would add to that disparity over the course of time, the Japanese high command believed they could fight the U.S. Navy in a single, decisive engagement, known as the ''Kantai Kessen'', which would allow them to defeat the Americans. However, their ability to fight and win such a battle was slipping away. Imperial Navy aircrew losses suffered over the course of the earlier carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, and the long Solomon Islands campaign of 1942-43, had greatly weakened the Japanese Navy's ability to project force with its carriers. As the Guadalcanal campaign was largely fought by the Imperial Navy, losses suffered there drastically reduced the number of skilled carrier pilots available to fill the carrier air groups. Losses suffered in the Solomons could be readily absorbed, replaced and made good by the U.S. Navy, but not by the Japanese. It took nearly a year for the Japanese to reconstitute their airgroups following the Solomons campaign. The initial Japanese plan was to engage the U.S. Pacific Fleet in early 1944, whenever it launched its next offensive, but the decisive battle consequently had to be delayed. Meanwhile, American material production capacity, aircrew training, and technological advances made a Japanese victory increasingly difficult to achieve. By the end of 1942, the Allied navies had overcome most of the technological edges Japan's ships and planes had held at the start of the war. Furthermore, by mid-1943 mass production of ships and improved aircraft began to tip the balance of forces in the favor of the Allies. Allied educational training practices similarly adapted to new developments, along the way totally revising fleet operations with parallel developments in both the Combat Information Center and in their doctrine, training, and practices to get the most out of the new communications and sensor technologies. After puncturing Japan's 'outer' defensive ring at the costly Battle of Tarawa in late 1943, the U.S. Navy brought these improvements together in the form of the Fast Carrier Task Force, under Admiral Marc Mitscher (known as Task Force 58 when part of Admiral Raymond Spruance's Fifth Fleet and Task Force 38 when part of Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet). Led by this main strike force, in early 1944 the U.S. fleet continued its advance in a steady progression across the islands of the Central Pacific. After achieving their goals in the Gilbert Islands campaign, the Americans began a series of softening-up missions aimed at weakening Japanese land-based airpower to limit Japan's ability to interfere with future amphibious invasions. Few U.S. commanders realized how powerful Task Force 58 had become. Though initially undertaken with trepidation, the raids proved to be successful beyond anything U.S. planners had imagined - notably with Operation Hailstone that effectively neutralized the primary central Pacific warbase of the Imperial Japanese Navy - and changed the manner in which the war would be pursued. While U.S. commanders, particularly Admiral Spruance, were wary of the Japanese trying to attack U.S. transports and newly landed forces, the Japanese were looking to engage and defeat the Fast Carrier Task Force. The Japanese commanders saw the Marianas island group in the central Pacific, including Guam, Tinian, and Saipan, as their inner circle of defense. Land-based fighter and bomber aircraft on these islands controlled the sea lanes to Japan and protected the home islands. As the Americans prepared for the Marianas campaign, the IJN concluded that the ''Kantai Kessen'' could be delayed no longer. The Japanese had a number of advantages they hoped would turn the battle in their favor. Though outnumbered in ships and aircraft, they planned to supplement their carrier airpower with land-based aircraft. In addition, the Japanese aircraft had superior range, which could allow them to engage the American carriers beyond the range of American aircraft. Furthermore, with island bases in the area, the Japanese hoped to launch at distance, have their aircraft attack the U.S. fleet and then land on island airfields. They then could shuttle back and attack again on the return flight. Thus the U.S. fleet would be in the position of receiving punishment without being able to deliver it. Lastly, the area was dominated by the easterly trade winds. Naval aircraft of the era needed a head wind blowing across the flight deck to enable the aircraft to launch. The easterly trade winds that dominated the Central Pacific seas meant that aircraft carriers would necessarily have to be steaming eastward to launch and recover aircraft. This meant that a fleet located to the west of the Marianas would be in position to initiate and break off the battle, placing the initiative in the hands of the Japanese. In March 1944, Admiral Koga was killed when his aircraft flew into a typhoon and crashed. A new Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, was appointed. He continued the current work, finalizing the Japanese plans known as "Plan A-Go", or "Operation A-Go"〔"History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II" pp. 260-61; http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/III/USMC-III-IV-2.html; Strategic Victory in the Marianas Liberation of Guam; Capture of Saipan and Tinian〕 The plan was adopted in early June 1944, then within weeks quickly put into place to engage the American fleet now detected heading for Saipan. 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「Battle of the Philippine Sea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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