page_title: Okinawa naval order of battle
section_title: Southern Attack Force (Task Force 55)
hierarchical_section_title: Okinawa naval order of battle / Allied amphibious forces / Southern Attack Force (Task Force 55)
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Evarts (DE-5) underway at sea, eastwards from Boston, Massachusetts (USA) on 19 August 1944. She was heading to the north-north-west (course 330). Evarts is wearing what appears to be Camouflage Measure 31 or 32, Design 10D.
context_page_description: For the April 1945 invasion of Okinawa, the Allies assembled the most powerful naval force in history. Since the few remaining capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Combined Fleet had been sunk or otherwise put out of action at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Allies were effectively unopposed in terms of surface vessels; a single mission consisting of the superbattleship Yamato and a few escorts was undertaken, but the task force did not get within 200 nautical miles of the invasion area.
  Since the Japanese air arm had been equally decimated by this point in the war, the lack of trained and experienced pilots led them to deploy the kamikaze extensively in the waters off Okinawa.
  US Navy combat ships:
  11 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 22 escort carriers, 8 fast battleships, 10 old battleships, 2 large cruisers, 12 heavy cruisers, 13 light cruisers, 4 anti-aircraft light cruisers, 132 destroyers, 45 destroyer escorts
  Amphibious assault vessels:
  84 attack transports, 29 attack cargo ships, LCIs, LSMs, LSTs, LSVs, etc.
  Auxiliaries:
  52 submarine chasers, 23 fast minesweepers, 69 minesweepers, 11 minelayers, 49 oilers, etc.
  Royal Navy combat ships:
context_section_description: Rear Admiral John L. Hall in amphibious command ship Teton
  
  Embarking  XXIV Army Corps (Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge)
  Transport Group "Dog" (Task Group 55.1)
  Commodore M.O. Carlson
  Embarking  7th Infantry ("Bayonet") Division (Maj. Gen. Archibald V. Arnold, USA)
  Transport Division 37
  4 attack transports: Harris, Lamar, Sheridan, Pierce
  1 attack cargo: Algorab
  Transport Division 38
  4 attack transports: Barnstable, Elmore, Alpine, Lycoming
  1 attack cargo: Alshain
  1 landing ship dock: Epping Forest
  Transport Division 39
  4 attack transports: Custer, Freestone, Kittson, Baxter
  2 attack cargos: Algol, Arneb
  Transport Division 13
  4 attack transports: Appling, Butte, Audrain, Laurens
  2 attack cargos: Aurelia, Corvus
  1 vehicle landing ship: Ozark
  Tractor Group "Dog"
  16 LSTs, 12 LSMs, 2 LCIs
  Tractor Group "Fox"
  14 LSTs carrying LCTs and pontoon barges, 10 LSMs
  Transport Group "Easy" (Task Group 55.2)
  Commodore C.G. Richardson
  Embarking  96th Infantry ("Deadeye") Division (Maj. Gen. James L. Bradley, USA)
  Transport Division 40
  4 attack transports: Mendocino, Sarasota, Haskell, Oconto
  2 attack cargos: Capricornus, Chara
  1 landing ship dock: Lindenwald
  Transport Division 41
  4 attack transports: Olmstead, La Porte, Fond du Lac, Banner
  2 attack cargos: Diphda, Uvalde
  Transport Division 42
  4 attack transports: Neshoba, Oxford, Latimer, Edgecombe
  1 attack cargo: Virgo
  1 landing ship dock: Gunston Hall
  Transport Division 14
  4 attack transports: Allendale, Meriwether, Menard, Kenton
  1 attack cargo: Achernar
  Tractor Group "Easy": 23 LSTs, 5 LSMs
  Beach Party "Easy", Southern Beach Party
  15 submarine chasers: 4 steel hull, 7 wooden hull, 4 sweeper type
  17 LCS(L)s, 6 LSM(R)s
  Screen (Task Group 55.6)
  Captain E.W. Young
  13 destroyers
  4 Allen M. Sumner-class (6 x 5-in. main battery): Hyman, Purdy, Wadsworth, Putnam
  9 Fletcher-class (5 x 5-in. main battery): Anthony, Bache,  Bush, Mullany, Bennett, Hudson, Beale, Ammen, Rooks
  6 destroyer escorts
  2 Evarts-class (3 x 3-in. main battery):  Crouter, Carlson,
  2 Buckley-class (3 x 3-in. main battery): Damon M. Cummings, Vammen
  1 Cannon-class (3 x 3-in. main battery): O'Neill
  1 John C. Butler-class (2 x 5-in. main battery): Walter C. Wann
  1 destroyer transport
  Sims
  Southern Defense Group (Task Group 55.7)
  Commander B.T. Zelenka
  1 Evarts-class destroyer escort: Manlove
  1 destroyer transport: Stringham
  34 LSTs, 14 LSMs, 6 motor minesweepers, 2 LCIs
  1 oil storage ship: Grumium
caption: Evarts-class destroyer escort
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