page_title: Okinawa naval order of battle
section_title: Support and Service Units (Task Force 50)
hierarchical_section_title: Okinawa naval order of battle / Allied logistics and support vessels / Support and Service Units (Task Force 50)
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy seaplane tender USS Chandeleur (AV-10) at Apia, Samoa, on 20 April 1943. Note the disassembled Consilidated PBY-5 Catalina on deck.
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: Search and Reconnaissance Group (Task Group 50.5)
  Commodore Dixwell Ketcham
  3 seaplane tenders
  Hamlin (Capt. G.A. McLean)
  VPB-208 (Lt. Cmdr. A.J. Sintic, USNR)
  12 Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber flying boats
  St. George (Capt. R.G. Armstrong)
  VPB-18 (Lt. Cmdr. R.R. Boettcher)
  12 Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber flying boats
  Chandeleur (Cmdr. J.S. Tracy)
  VPB-21 (Lt. Cmdrs. J.E. Dougherty & J.D. Wright)
  12 Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber flying boats
  3 small seaplane tenders
  Yakutat (Cmdr. G.K. Fraser)
  Onslow (Cmdr. A.D. Schwarz)
  Shelikof (Cmdr. R.E. Stanley)
  VPB-27 (Lt. Cmdr. E.N. Chase)
  12 Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber flying boats
  Bering Strait (Cmdr. W.D. Innis)
  VH-3 (Lt. Cmdr. W.D. Bonvillian)
  6 Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber flying boats
  2 destroyer seaplane tenders: Thornton, Gillis
  1 Clemson-class destroyer: Williamson
  Logistics Support Group Fifth Fleet (Task Group 50.8)
  Rear Admiral D.B. Beary in light cruiser Detroit
  Support escort carriers
  Shamrock Bay (Capts. F.T. Ward and J.E. Leeper)
  VC-94 (Lt. Cmdr. J.F. Patterson, USNR (KIA) and Lt. L.E. Terry)
  18 FM-2 Wildcat fighters
  12 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers
  Makassar Strait (Capt. H.D. Riley)
  VC-97 (Lt. Cmdr. M.T. Whittier, USNR)
  14 FM-2 Wildcat fighters
  12 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers
  CVE Plane Transport Unit (Task Unit 50.8.4)
  Attu (Capt. H.F. MacComsey)
  Admiralty Islands (Capt. M.E.A. Gouin)
  Bougainville (Capt. C.A. Bond)
  Windham Bay (Capt. G.T. Mundorff)
  Logistics and Support Vessels
  49 oilers: Cuyama, Brazos, Cimarron, Platte, Sabine, Kaskaskia, Guadalupe, Chicopee, Housatonic, Merrimack, Kankakee, Lackawanna, Monongahela, Tappahannock, Patuxent, Neches, Suamico, Tallulah, Ashtabula, Cacapon, Caliente, Chikaskia, Aucilla, Marias, Manatee, Nantahala, Severn, Taluga, Chipola, Tolovana, Pecos, Atascosa, Cache, Enoree, Escalante, Neshanic, Niobrara, Millicoma, Saranac, Cossatot, Cowanesque, Escambia, Cahaba, Mascoma, Ocklawaha, Ponaganset, Sebec, Tomahawk, Anacostia
  16 ammunition ships: Akutan, Firedrake, Lassen, Mauna Loa, Shasta, Vesuvius, Wrangell, Canada Victory, Bedford Victory, Bucyrus Victory, Manderson Victory, Las Vegas Victory, Logan Victory, Greenburg Victory, Pierre Victory, Hobbs Victory
  9 cargo ships: Adhara, Alkaid, Alkes, Allegan, Appanoose, Fomalhaut, Matar, Mintaka, Rotanin
  8 hospital ships: Bountiful, Comfort, Hope, Mercy, Relief, Samaritan, Solace, plus transport Wharton
  6 reefers (store ships): Adria, Athanasia, Bridge, Latona, Lioba, Merapi
  2 survey ships: Armistead Rust, Bowditch
  2 stores-issue ships: Antares, Castor
  9 gasoline tankers: Wabash, Genesee, Kishwaukee, Nemasket, Escatawpa, Hiwassee, Ontonagon, Yahara, Ponchatoula, Sacandaga
  6 station tankers: Armadillo, Giraffe, Marmora, Moose, Whippet, LCI(L)-993
  10 repair sFhips: Vestal, Aristaeus, Nestor, Oceanus, Anchor, Clamp, Current, Deliver, Gear, Shackle
  6 floating drydocks: ARD-13, ARD-22, ARD-27, ARD-28, AFD-14, AFDL-32
  12 fleet tugs: Arikara, Chickasaw, Cree, Lipan, Mataco, Menominee, Munsee, Pakana, Tawakoni, Tekesta, Tenino, Ute
  4 ocean tugs, 3 ocean tugs (rescue)
  Screen: Screening vessels for the Logistics Group were assigned to TG 50.8 units as needed from a pool of 11 destroyers and 24 destroyer escorts.
caption: Seaplane tender Chandeleur
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