Anti-aircraft guns from the USS Wasp shot diving Japanese bombers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, June, 1944. The Battle of the Philippine Sea lasted two days. In these two days, a combined force of U.S. aircraft and eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions, sinking three fleet carriers. It actually took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. With only 109 dead, the U.S. managed to kill up to 2,987 Japanese and five more aircraft they lost. The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover.

19/06/1944