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The Invasion of Okinawa was the last large naval/amphibious battle of the Pacific war, before the planned invasion of the islands of Japan.

The British task Force reinforced the much larger American forces. Task Force (TF) 58, the American carrier force, was a major part of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

The landing fleet, TF51 comprised 430 transports and landing ships, 10 battleships, 13 carriers and 540 aircraft. Landings began on 01-Apr-1945 and resulted in 48,000 American casualties.

A notable event was the large scale use of Kamikaze tactics against the assaulting naval fleets. It showed the advantage of the Royal navy's armoured flight decks against the unarmoured ones of the US Navy carriers. Basically when hit by a kamikaze aircraft, the RN Fleet carriers put out the fires, poured quick-drying cement into the dents in the flight deck, and were back in action again in a few hours. The cost was the restriction that fewer aircraft could be carried; aircraft maintenance and pre-flight preparation was more complicated and alterations considerably more costly and time consuming.

Copyright © Ian M King, except where otherwise indicated.