Now Reading: USS Colorado hit 22 times off Tinian, stayed in fight
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USS Colorado hit 22 times off Tinian, stayed in fight
Hidden Japanese coastal batteries hit USS Colorado 22 times off Tinian on July 24, 1944, killing 43 sailors and wounding 198, according to the US Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command as…
The Story in Brief
Hidden Japanese coastal batteries hit USS Colorado 22 times off Tinian on July 24, 1944, killing 43 sailors and wounding 198, according to the US Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command as reported by Times of India. Despite severe damage, the battleship returned fire and stayed in action to support the invasion.
The attack caused the worst naval casualties during the Tinian bombardment phase. The deception plan succeeded: Japanese expected the main assault from the south-west while US Marines landed on north-west beaches with less resistance. Tinian fell in nine days and later became the busiest B-29 base in the Pacific, used for atomic bomb missions.
The Indian Opinion
The resilience of USS Colorado is often lost in triumphalist accounts of US firepower in the Pacific. But 22 hits and 241 casualties show Japan's concealed defences were deadly. The common narrative that US naval power was unstoppable ignores the luck and sacrifice involved. A concrete test: how many modern navies train for surprise coastal battery attacks?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
