![]() ![]() ![]() The Fast Carrier Task Force (Task Force 38 & Task Force 58) took part in all the US Navy's battles in the Pacific during the last two years of the war. Ozawa believed he could count on the support of some 500 land-based aircraft, which would have given him a slight numerical advantage over the Americans. The commander of the Japanese carrier force, Ozawa Jisaburo, however, counted most heavily on the proximity of Japanese airfields, particularly at Guam, Rota, and Yap. In essence, the Americans were superior in every other category of ship except heavy cruisers. had 7 fleet carriers and 8 light carriers compared to Japan’s 5 fleets and 4 light carriers. The Japanese fleet was considerably weaker than the American fleet. To prevent this from happening the Japanese sent their fleet on an inevitable collision course with the American Navy. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. The security of the Marianas Islands was vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The Battle of the Philippine Sea, the largest aircraft carrier action in World War II, began on June 19, 1944. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives Note manned 40mm guns in the foreground, and 20mm guns along the starboard side of the flight deck. An F6F-3 Hellcat fighter lands aboard USS Lexington (CV-16) during the Marianas Turkey Shoot phase of the battle, 19 June 1944. ![]()
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