page_title: Okinawa naval order of battle
section_title: Gunfire and Covering Force (Task Force 54)
hierarchical_section_title: Okinawa naval order of battle / Allied combat ships / Gunfire and Covering Force (Task Force 54)
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45) firing a broadside.
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 Morton L. Deyo in battleship Tennessee
  Unit One (Rear Admiral Peter K. Fischler)
  2 old battleships: Texas, Maryland
  1 heavy cruiser: Tuscaloosa
  4 Fletcher-class destroyers (5 x 5-in. main battery): Laws, Longshaw, Morrison, Prichett
  Unit Two (Rear Admiral C. Turner Joy)
  2 old battleships: Arkansas, Colorado
  2 heavy cruisers: San Francisco, Minneapolis
  3 Fletcher-class destroyers (5 x 5-in. main battery): Halligan, Paul Hamilton, Twiggs
  1 Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer (6 × 5-in. main battery): Laffey
  Unit Three (Rear Admiral Bertram J. Rodgers)
  2 old battleships: Tennessee, Nevada
  1 heavy cruiser: Wichita
  2 light cruisers: Birmingham, St. Louis
  4 Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers (6 x 5-in. main battery): Mannert L. Abele, Zellars, Barton, O'Brien
  1 Fletcher-class destroyer (5 x 5-in. main battery): Bryant
  Unit Four (Rear Admiral Lynde D. McCormick)
  2 old battleships: Idaho, West Virginia
  2 heavy cruisers: Pensacola, Portland
  1 light cruiser: Biloxi
  5 Fletcher-class destroyers (5 x 5-in. main battery): Porterfield, Callaghan, Irwin, Cassin Young, Preston
  Unit Five (Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith)
  Battleship Division 3 (George L. Weyler): 2 old battleships: New Mexico, New York
  Cruiser Division 5 (Allan E. Smith): 2 heavy cruisers: Salt Lake City, Indianapolis
  Destroyer Squadron 56 (Roland N. Smoot): 5 Fletcher-class destroyers (5 x 5-in. main battery): Newcomb, Heywood L. Edwards, Richard P. Leary, Bennion
  Unit Six (Commander W.B. Hinds, USNR)
  2 Cannon-class destroyer escorts (3 x 3-in. main battery): Samuel S. Miles, Wesson
  6 Buckley-class destroyer escorts (3 x 3-in. main battery): Foreman, Whitehurst, England, Witter, Bowers, Willmarth
  Reported to TF 54 after L-day
  1 heavy cruiser: New Orleans
  1 light cruiser: Mobile
  1 Fletcher-class destroyer (5 x 5-in. main battery): Daly
  1 fast minesweeper: Forrest
caption: Heavy cruiser Wichita firing broadside in 1944
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