Had it been up to Admiral Mitscher, commander of Task Force 58, there never
would have been a Turkey Shoot. He was itching to send his planes after the
Japanese fleet which was just out of range in an unknown direction. He
asked permission of Admiral Spruance to go after the Japanese carriers (the
Japanese had in the time since Midway added three carriers, bringing their
total [I think] to four.
Admiral Spruance refused Mitscher permission. The American fleet's primary
task was to provide support for the landing forces on Saipan. The Japanese
were dug in such that bombing and shell-fire couldn't dislodge them. That
the task was difficult could in part be seen by the Army force being unable
to keep up. The Marines on either side of the Army advanced much more
quickly leaving the American forces in a deep U shape which put the Marines
at risk. General Howling Mad Smith complained to Spruance and got him to
give the order that the Army General (also named Smith) be replaced. Much
interagency acrimony was to ensue, but the General Smith's replacement got
the job done. Saipan was bloody and difficult. Spruance promised not to
leave the landing forces unsupported as the Navy had done earlier at
Guadalcanal.
Mitscher hated not being able to go after the Japanese forces, but he
followed orders and waited for the Japanese to land the first blow. The
nature of the Japanese was to exaggerate their successes and lie about their
failures; so the Japanese Admiralty believed its pilots were more successful
than they were and that far fewer of them had been shot down. They believed
they were sending a large competent fleet of planes toward the Americans at
Saipan. The Japanese planes with their inferior pilots that were supposed
to be sent in irresistible waves to bomb the American carriers failed except
in three cases to hit a carrier with a bomb. They were either shot down by
American pilots (one shot down 6 Japanese aircraft and another 7) or were
hit by flak once they got near the American carriers. Of the three Japanese
pilots who managed to hit a carrier, the damage was minor and didn't inhibit
the carrier's operation. No carrier or any other ship of Task Force 58 was
sunk. Had the Japanese admiralty known the condition of their fleet, the
true nature and quantity of their aircraft, and such matters as not having
nearby land-based aircraft ready to assist in the attacks on the American
carriers, they wouldn't have ordered the attack.
It wasn't Mitscher's first choice to wait for the Japanese to strike the
first blow, and Spruance probably thought Mitscher's Task Force 58 would
suffer more than it did; so the "turkey shoot" surprised everyone on both
sides.
Lawrence
