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Casualty Info
Home Town Malvern, PA
Casualty Date May 11, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, Pacific Ocean
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that 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 pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.
The aerial part 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 USS Lexington 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, 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.
This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Louis was assigned to serve on board the Essex Class aircraft Carrier USS Bunker Hill CV-17. The Bunker Hill, commissioned in May 1943, sailed to the Pacific to become part of the fleet of fast carriers, moving forward across the ocean defeating the Japanese. Louisā??s ship participated in carrier operations against Rabul, the Gilbert Islands, and supported our landings on Tarawa in November, 1943. The Bunker Hill also was involved in strikes against the Bismark Archipelago, Marshall Islands, Truk (main enemy Naval Base), Marianas, and Hollandia. His ship was in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, (also known as the Great Marinas Turkey Shoot) in June, in which the Japanese lost 480 aircraft and 3 aircraft carriers. Louisā??s ship participated in strikes at Okinawa, Luzon, and Formosa (Taiwan), Iwo Jima, Honshu and Nasei Shoto (Japanese home islands).