Sakishima Islands
On 12 and 13 April, the BPF switched targets to airfields in northern Formosa. On the first day, a pair of Fireflies encountered five Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia" dive bombers and shot down four of them. A flight of four Seafires on CAP spotted four Japanese fighters, three Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes and a Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony" later that morning, and shot down one Zero. The BPF returned to the Sakishima Islands on 17 April before retiring to Leyte Gulf to rest and resupply. Wastage of Seafires to all causes was very heavy during the operation with 25 out of 40 lost or damaged beyond repair and only 5 replacements received. Their short range and lack of endurance was considered by Vian to be a severe handicap for the BPF, which returned to action on 4 May and again attacked targets in the Sakishima Islands. Its aircraft continued to do so until they flew their last missions of Operation Iceberg on 25 May. Statistics compiled by the BPF staff showed that 61 Seafires were lost or damaged beyond repair during both phases of the operation due to deck-landing accidents.