Battle of the Philippine Sea

19–20 June 1944, Philippine Sea, west of the Mariana Islands

Decisive American victory

The largest carrier battle in history. When the Americans landed on Saipan in the Marianas, Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa brought nine carriers out to fight Admiral Raymond Spruance's Fifth Fleet, whose fast carrier force under Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher had fifteen. Ozawa's aircraft could fly further, and he struck first on 19 June, but his young pilots, rushed through training, met American fighters directed by radar and pilots who had been fighting for two years. In what the Americans called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, some 300 Japanese aircraft were shot down for the loss of about 30; only one bomb hit an American battleship. The same day American submarines sank two of Ozawa's fleet carriers, Taihō and Shōkaku. Late on 20 June Mitscher sent a strike at extreme range that sank Hiyō; his aircraft came back after dark low on fuel, and he ordered the fleet to turn on its lights to bring them home, but about 80 were lost landing or ditching. Japan's carrier air arm never recovered.

United States Navy

45+ ships, none lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
USS Lexington Mitscher's flagship	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Survived
USS Enterprise	Aircraft carrier Yorktown class	Survived
USS Essex	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Survived
USS Yorktown	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Survived
USS Hornet	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Survived
USS Bunker Hill Near misses	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Damaged
USS Wasp	Aircraft carrier Essex class	Survived
USS Princeton	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Belleau Wood Her torpedo bombers sank Hiyō	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Cowpens	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Monterey	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Cabot	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Langley	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Bataan	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS San Jacinto	Aircraft carrier Independence class	Survived
USS Washington Lee's flagship, commanding the battle line	Battleship North Carolina class	Survived
USS North Carolina	Battleship North Carolina class	Survived
USS Iowa	Battleship Iowa class	Survived
USS New Jersey	Battleship Iowa class	Survived
USS South Dakota Hit by a bomb	Battleship South Dakota class	Damaged
USS Alabama	Battleship South Dakota class	Survived
USS Indiana A torpedo plane crashed into her	Battleship South Dakota class	Damaged
USS Albacore Torpedoed Taihō	Submarine Gato class	Survived
USS Cavalla Sank Shōkaku	Submarine Gato class	Survived

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Cruisers	21	0
Destroyers	about 69	0

Imperial Japanese Navy

33+ ships, 5 lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
IJN Taihō Ozawa's flagship; blew up after one torpedo	Aircraft carrier Taihō class	Sunk
IJN Shōkaku Sunk by Cavalla	Aircraft carrier Shōkaku class	Sunk
IJN Zuikaku Bombed on 20 June	Aircraft carrier Shōkaku class	Damaged
IJN Jun'yō Bombed on 20 June	Aircraft carrier Hiyō class	Damaged
IJN Hiyō Sunk on 20 June	Aircraft carrier Hiyō class	Sunk
IJN Ryūhō	Aircraft carrier	Survived
IJN Chitose	Seaplane tender	Survived
IJN Chiyoda Bombed on 20 June	Aircraft carrier Chitose class	Damaged
IJN Zuihō	Aircraft carrier	Survived
IJN Yamato	Battleship Yamato class	Survived
IJN Musashi	Battleship Yamato class	Survived
IJN Nagato	Battleship Nagato class	Survived
IJN Kongō	Battleship Kongō class	Survived
IJN Haruna Bombed on 20 June	Battleship Kongō class	Damaged
IJN Atago Kurita's flagship	Heavy cruiser Takao class	Survived
IJN Takao	Heavy cruiser Takao class	Survived
IJN Maya Bombed on 20 June	Heavy cruiser Takao class	Damaged
IJN Chōkai	Heavy cruiser Takao class	Survived
IJN Myōkō	Heavy cruiser Myōkō class	Survived
IJN Haguro	Heavy cruiser Myōkō class	Survived
IJN Kumano	Heavy cruiser Mogami class	Survived
IJN Suzuya	Heavy cruiser Mogami class	Survived
IJN Tone	Heavy cruiser Tone class	Survived
IJN Chikuma	Heavy cruiser Tone class	Survived
IJN Mogami	Heavy cruiser Mogami class	Survived
IJN Noshiro	Light cruiser Agano class	Survived
IJN Yahagi	Light cruiser Agano class	Survived

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Destroyers	about 28	0
Oilers Genyō Maru and Seiyō Maru, damaged by aircraft and scuttled.	6	2

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Destroyers

about 28

Oilers

Genyō Maru and Seiyō Maru, damaged by aircraft and scuttled.

Map

Ozawa from Tawi-Tawi to the Marianas 13–19 June 1944