Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: pstinson@pbs.org
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: USS Wisconsin
Message-ID: <1990Aug21.024320.314@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 21 Aug 90 02:43:20 GMT
References: <1990Aug14.033546.8342@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA
Lines: 23
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: pstinson@pbs.org

In article <1990Aug14.033546.8342@cbnews.att.com>, wb9omc@ea.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) writes:
> 
>>by sailing through the Sea of Japan (he remembers it as
>>about 35 miles wide) and shelling both mainland Japan
>>and whatever is on the east side of the Sea.  This sounds
>>a little funny to me, would you send a Battlegroup along
>>the length of Japan??  Seems like it would be easy pick'ins.
> 	I should say, nearly suicidal.  I would be extremely surprised
> 	if this were true. 
It is indeed true.  The Task Group Commander was Admiral Badger and Wisconsin
was not alone on this shelling mission.  Most of the Iowa and South Dakota
class battleships assigned to Task Force 38 were assembled into one strike
force the middle of July 1945.  Later they were augmented by North Carolina and
the British King George V.  By the end of the war the Iowa class battleship had
the most extensive anti-aircraft armament available to any ship in the fleet. 
They COULD take care of themselves, so it was not at all suicidal to bombard
coastal targets along the length of Japan.  Don't forget, the rest of TF-38
 was also backing them up with airpower.  For more specific details check out
Samuel E. Morison's History of U.S. Naval Operations in WWII.