USS LSM ( R ) - 194 USS LSM ( R ) - 194 was a LSM ( R ) - 188 class Landing Ship Medium ( Rocket ) of the United States Navy during World War II , which took part in the Battle of Okinawa . " LSM ( R ) - 194 " was laid down at the Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston , South Carolina on 21 November 1944 . The ship was under the command of Lt . jg Allen M . Hirshberg , USNR . Sunk on 4 May 1945 when hit by Japanese suicide plane while on radar picket duty . Service history . 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 . At 1840 on 26 March 1945 THE USS Halligan DD - 584 struck a floating mine which exploded her two forward 5 " / 38 magazines and her forward boiler . There was a tremendous explosion which sent a column of smoke and flame several hundred yards into the air . As soon as the smoke cleared we saw that the destroyer was still afloat . She circled erratically and moved forward at a slow rate . We immediately sounded general quarters and broke out fire hoses . The order left full rudder was given and we proceeded at full speed to her assistance . Two or three survivors were noted in the water about one half - mile off our starboard and the LSMR - 195 was directed to pick them up . Upon arriving at the scene we saw that her hull forward of the first stack ( including the bridge structure ) had been blown away . We tied up alongside her starboard side and played hoses on the few flames forward . Our Pharmacist ' s Mate directed the evacuation of the injured . Many dead bodies were noticed on deck . The surviving Radar Gear was apparently jettisoned . One of the 3 PCs tied up alongside the destroyer ' s port side and began evacuating survivors . Our ship took aboard seventy - two men , two of whom were seriously wounded . The PC evacuated approximately the same number , and the LSMR - 195 picked up two men from the water . 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 , called kaiten , 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 . The northern support craft included " LSM ( R ) 194 " , USS LSM ( R ) - 195 , USS LSM ( R ) - 196 , USS LSM ( R ) - 197 , USS LSM ( R ) - 198 , and USS LSM ( R ) - 199 . At 1715 , 5 April 1945 , LSM ( R ) 194 received 20mm shell holes from an enemy suicide plane as it passed forward of the conning tower . One officer was wounded slightly by a small piece of shrapnel . While on screening patrol off Hagushi Landing Beaches , LSM ( R ) 197 destroyed OSCAR by 40mm gunfire . LSMR - 194 while patrolling at radar picket station 10 on 18 April 1945 , fired at a BETTY with 5 " / 38 " and observed the plane going down in flames . On 3 May 1945 the 188 - class LSM ( R ) ' s was put to the test . The Japanese launched their fifth kikusui attack on 3 May . Picket station 10 was the hardest hit . LSM ( R ) - 194 was hit by a kamikaze and soon sank . For her overall performance of duty on the radar picket line the ship was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation . Okinawa Radar Picket Line . 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 effect 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 .