Okinawa invasion

Battle of Okinawa
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
US Marine from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines on Wana Ridge provides covering fire with his Thompson submachine gun, May 18, 1945.
Date April 1 – June 22, 1945 Location Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, Japan 26°30′N 128°00′E / 26.5°N 128°E / 26.5; 128Coordinates: 26°30′N 128°00′E / 26.5°N 128°E / 26.5; 128 Result Allied victory Territorial changes Okinawa occupied by the US until 1972
Belligerents
Ground Forces:  United States Naval Support: United States  United Kingdom  Canada  New Zealand  Australia	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. † Claudius Miller Easley † Roy Geiger Joseph Stilwell Chester W. Nimitz Raymond A. Spruance William Halsey, Jr.	Mitsuru Ushijima † Isamu Chō † Minoru Ōta † Seiichi Itō † Hiromichi Yahara (POW)
Units involved
Ground units: Tenth Army XXIV Corps 7th Infantry Division 27th Infantry Division 77th Infantry Division 96th Infantry Division III Amphibious Corps 1st Marine Division 2nd Marine Division 6th Marine Division Naval units: Fifth Fleet Task Force 50 Task Force 58 Task Force 57 Joint Exp. Force	Ground units: Thirty-Second Army 24th Infantry Division 28th Infantry Division 62nd Infantry Division 44th Mixed Brigade 45th Mixed Brigade 59th Mixed Brigade 60th Mixed Brigade 27th Tank Regiment Naval units: 2nd Fleet Combined Fleet
Strength
541,000 in Tenth Army 183,000 combat troops rising to c. 250,000	76,000 Japanese soldiers, 20,000 Okinawan conscripts
Casualties and losses
American Personnel: 20,195 dead 12,520 killed in action 55,162 wounded Material: 12 destroyers sunk 15 amphibious ships sunk 9 other ships sunk 386 ships damaged 763-768 aircraft 225 tanks	Japanese Personnel: From 77,166 killed to 110,000 killed (US estimate) More than 7,000 captured Material: 1 battleship sunk 1 light cruiser sunk 5 destroyers sunk 9 other warships sunk 1,430 aircraft lost 27 tanks destroyed 743-1,712 artillery pieces, anti-tank guns, and anti-aircraft guns
40,000–150,000 civilians killed out of some est.300,000
Location within Japan

Ground units:
Tenth Army

Naval units:
Fifth Fleet

Ground units:
Thirty-Second Army

Personnel:
20,195 dead

The Battle of Okinawa (Japanese: 沖縄戦, Hepburn: Okinawa-sen) (Okinawan: 沖縄戦, translit. Uchinaa ikusa), codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 82-day battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.