Evening star., 1944-06-26
Japs Lose TAT Planes
And Six Carriers in
Defense Of Mariianas
By the Associated Press

by the Associated Press. ~"
PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUAR-
TIERS, Pearl Harbor, June 90
Driven into recklessneSs by AL
lied encroachments toward the
Orient, the japanese Navy has
expended TAT airplanes and 6
fiattops-the main elements of
an entire carrier task force-in
a fruitless defense of the Ma
rianaS.
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz, COM
piling a revised list of enemy and
American losses thus far in the
Marianas campaign-from June 10
to 23-disclosed for the first time
damage to an enemy carrier and
two cruisers, and conceded that a
tanker previously reported sunk had
been only severely damaged.
This brought the total of japanese
aircraft carriers sunk or damaged
west of the Marianas during the
last week to six.
Record in Planes Downed.
The Nimitz list also disclosed that
400 enemy airplanes we're destroyed
when Japanese carrier planes at
tackled American feet units west of
Guam June 18. This was an all
time record for any war theater for
numbers of planes downed in one
action.
Admiral Nimitz announced that
rt fnt y,lo
Two Island in the Kazan group, 727
miles north of Saipan, June %, sink
ing 5 enemy ships, shooting down
1l6 planes and probably destroying
IL more. Five Allied fighters were
lost.
The official revised list for the
Marianas campaign showed TAT en-
emy planes destroyed, 80 ships sunk,
81 damaged and two probably sunk
and Is barges destroyed.
American losses were Isl air.
planes. -Four American ships, in
cluding a battleship and two car
riers, were damaged superficially.
These are Navy figures. Support
ing strikes by land-based planes
brought enemy losses for the period
to at least 832 planes.
369 Downed by Carrier Planes.
Japanese losses in the air attack
of June Is were 369 planes shot
down by American carrier craft, 18
by antiaircraft fire and Is destroyed
on the ground. Twenty seven
American planes were shot down,
but only 18 pilots and six air crew.
men were lost.
The revised score for the June 10
battle: One japanese carrier, a de-
stroyer and two tankers; a. battle
ship, four carriers, three cruisers,
two destroyers and three tankers
damaged. f# /
Twenty-six enemy planes which
attempted to intercept were de-
stroyed. Ninety five American
planes were lost, but amazingly ef-
fective rescue operations left only %
pilots and 27 air crewmen missing.
Other major air battles of the
Marianas campaign occurred during
the pre-invasion raids of June 10 to
IL, when 141 enemy planes were de-
stroyed for the loss of 10 American
planes. Three Japanese corvettes,
destroyer and two tankers were
sunk and three destroyers, a de-
stroyer escort and other ships dam
aged.
Carrier planes hit Pagan, in the
Northern Marianas. June %. They
sank four small cargo ships and
damaged several other surface craft,
shot down six enemy planes and de-
stroyed four ground aircraft. One
Hellcat was lost. On the same day
torpedo bombers sank a medium
sized cargo ship of Rota, between
Saipan and Guam. One plane was
lost. Two enemy planes were downed
near Saipan June 81.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's flyers
threw diversionary punches to the
southwark in support of the Mari
anas operations. Liberators struck
Yap, Ulithi and Sorol in the Caro-
lines, $50 miles southwest of the
Marianas, June % and %.