The Pacific Fleet readies for action

22nd March 1945: The mighty American war machine gathers at remote Ulithi atoll for the next great amphibious assault

U.S. Navy Task Group 38.3 enters Ulithi anchorage in column, 2 December 1944, while returning from strikes on targets in the Philippines.

Another view of Task Force 38 arriving at Ulithi.

‘Navy Might in the Far Pacific--- This aerial view of a part of the fleet anchorage at Ulithi shows some of the world's mightiest fleet units at anchor in the lagoon. In this picture many of the ships which operate with the fast carrier task force attacking Japan can be seen including at least eight Essex class carriers, three Independence class carriers, and numerous battleships, cruisers and destroyers.’

The battle for Iwo Jima was not yet over, but the US Pacific Fleet was readying one more amphibious island assault, Okinawa. This was the last assault before what everyone expected would be the final big battle, the invasion of Japan itself. Okinawa, closer to Japan than any of the other islands that the US had seized over the past three years, was needed as a staging base for that ultimate goal.

The extraordinary American amphibious war machine had spent weeks assembling at the remote Ulithi atoll in the Caroline Islands.