USS LSM ( R ) - 196 LSM ( R ) - 196 was laid down at Charleston Navy Yard . The ship was commissioned on 12 December 1944 , Lt . Dennis D . O ' Callaghan , USNR , in command . Service History ( Turner ) . During World War II the ship was assigned to the Asiatic Pacific theater . At that time the fleet was under the command of Admiral Spruance and named the Fifth fleet . Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner was Commander of Amphibious Forces Pacific and was to be in charge of operations until the beachhead was established . The Kerama Retto islands were a small chain of islands 15 miles west of the southwest tip of Okinawa . The invasion of the Kerma Retto was an opportunity to break in all twelve of the 188 - class LSM ( R ) s . One of the reasons that Admiral Turner wanted to capture Kerama Retto was his knowledge that the Japanese Sea Raiding Units had suicide boats hidden there . On the morning of 29 March three of these boats attacked the USS LSM ( R ) - 189 but were promptly destroyed . The northern half of the six - mile - wide invasion beach was assigned to Task Force 53 , under the command of Rear Admiral Lawrence F . Reifsnider . Embarked were the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions under Major General Roy S . Geiger . The northern support craft included USS LSM ( R ) - 194 , USS LSM ( R ) - 195 , USS LSM ( R ) 196 , USS LSM ( R ) - 197 , USS LSM ( R ) - 198 , and USS LSM ( R ) - 199 . On 3 May 1945 the 188 - class LSM ( R ) ' s were put to the test and were not found wanting . The action at the picket stations proved that the courage and punishment endured by US Navy personnel was unrelated to the size of the ship . The Japanese launched their fifth kikusui attack on 3 May . Picket station 10 was the hardest hit . Shortly before dusk , the destroyer USS Aaron Ward was hit by a series of six kamikazes , suffering 45 killed or missing and 49 wounded . The ship survived , but was later decommissioned because it wasn ' t worth repairing . About the same time , approximately 20 planes attacked destroyer USS Little . She was crashed by four of them and sank within 12 minutes of the first hit . She lost 30 dead or missing and 79 wounded . LSM ( R ) 195 was also on Picket Station 10 and while rushing to the aid of the Aaron Ward and the Little was likewise crashed by a kamikaze . The crash started her rockets exploding and knocked out the fire main and auxiliary pumps . LSM ( R ) 195 had to be abandoned and , after being ripped by heavy explosions , sank . The following day the ordeal for the LSM ( R ) ' s reached its tragic climax . The day dawned bright and ominous . USS LSM ( R ) - 190 was patrolling at Picket Station 12 . Not long after sunrise the anticipated kamikazes arrived and were met by American combat air patrol . Several of the Japanese planes managed to get through and attack the ships on this station . Three kamikazes crashed LSM ( R ) 190 . The ship that had seen so much previous action and had been credited with rescuing 180 survivors of other stricken ships was herself sunk . In the same attack the destroyer USS Luce was sunk , carrying 126 of her 312 officers and men with her . At the same time as LSM ( R ) 190 was fighting her final battle , LSM ( R ) 194 was facing the same fate at Picket Station 1 . GM1c Joseph A . Staum crewman of the LSM ( R ) 196 was killed off Okinawa on 1 April 1945 . Okinawa Radar Picket Line ( C . T . G . 52 . 21 ) . The American plan for defense against the kamikazes was to have fighters intercept the Japanese as early as possible . Sixteen radar picket stations were established around the island , in some cases almost 100 miles out , to give early warning of the Japanese planes which might be coming from any direction . Each station was manned around the clock by a handful of ships ranging from destroyers down to minesweepers . Their job was to sound the alarm and vector fighters to intercept before the Japanese could attack the fleet anchored off Okinawa and the Allied forces and supply dumps ashore . Unfortunately , some of the eager - to - die Japanese wanted to attack the first American ships they saw : the pickets . Dennis L . Francis LSM Commander , Flotilla Nine for the period 2 – 20 April , Action Report indicated that these ships are not particularly suited for picket duty . Since their primary function is to deliver rockets during invasion operations , it seems feasible that subjecting them to continual enemy air attack will allow this secondary duty to seriously affect their ability to perform their primary function due to damage . They have no great value in combating enemy air craft due to the absence of air search radar , adequate director control for the 5 " / 38 main battery , and director control for the 40mm single guns . The fact that they carry a considerable quantity of explosive rockets in their magazines presents another hazard . In general , it is believed that assigning them to picket duty should be avoided since it means risking the operation of a limited number of specialized ships which could be performed by any number of other landing craft whose primary function is more closely coincident with screening operations . Before these recommendations were implemented the USS LSMR - 195 was sunk on 3 May 1945 with 9 killed and 16 wounded , the USS LSMR - 190 was sunk on 4 May 1945 with 13 killed and 18 wounded , the USS LSMR - 194 was sunk on 4 May 1945 with 13 killed and 23 wounded . Tribute To Those Who Served ( Turner ) . The victory at Okinawa was never in doubt , but the price paid was very , very high . The numbers for American casualties were the highest of any campaign against the Japanese . Total casualties were 49 , 151 , of which 12 , 520 were killed or missing and 36 , 631 were wounded . Of this number the Navy casualties were 4 , 907 killed or missing and 4 , 824 wounded . The ship losses were 36 sunk and 368 damaged , with many of the damaged ships never being returned to combat readiness . Approximately 110 , 000 Japanese were killed . These numbers rung up during the last campaign of World War II , may seem appalling , but in hindsight would have seemed small in comparison to the casualties on both sides had the invasion of Japan taken place as planned .