USN TF58 raid 16/17 February 1945

[Adm. Ozawa]

Hi!

Where can I read something about this raid? I found only shattered informations about single events during this raid and I can't find something where all informations I need are included.

Regards,
Chris

[Larry deZeng]

Go here and then scroll down about halfway:

http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/45-02.htm

L.

[Adm. Ozawa]

Well, Larry, look what I have found - in every source below there are few words about the raid:

Zbigniew Flisowski, Burza nad Pacyfikiem, wyd. Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 1989
Adam Jarski, F4U Corsair, wyd. AJ Press, Gdańsk 2004
Andre R. Zbiegniewski, Hellcat Legenda Pacyfiku, wyd. Kagero, Lublin 2008
Andre R. Zbiegniewski, Waldemar Pajdosz, 3/202 Kokutai, wyd. Kagero, Lublin 2003
Adam Jarski, Waldemar Pajdosz, F6F Hellcat, wyd. AJ Press, Gdańsk 1994
Barrett Tillman, Hellcat Aces of World War 2, wyd. Osprey Publications, London 1996
Henry Sakaida, Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-1945, wyd. Osprey Publications, Oxford 1998
Barrett Tillman, TBF/TBM Avenger Units of World War 2, wyd. Osprey Publications, Oxford 1999
Barrett Tillman, Helldiver Units of World War 2, wyd. Osprey Publications, London 1997
Adam Jarski, Waldemar Pajdosz, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, wyd. AJ Press, Gdańsk 1995
Mark Styling, Corsair Aces of World War 2, wyd. Osprey Publications, London 1995
Krzysztof Zalewski, Samolot myśliwski Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate Frank, wyd. Magnum X, Warszawa 2005
Mike Spick, Asy myśliwskie Aliantów, wyd. Bellona, Warszawa 2006
Barrett Tillman, Hellcat – The F6F In World War 2, Annapolis 1979
United States Navy Carrier Air Group 12 History
http://www.acepilots.com/usn_valencia.html
http://www.tailhook.org/catfgt.htm
http://www.acepilots.com/usn_aces.html
http://www.usshancockassociation.org...ATION%20SIX%22
http://www.cv6.org/1945/tokyo/tokyo_2.htm
http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/vtn90/vtn90-4502.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/...USN-XIV-2.html
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLFeb45.htm
http://www.dws.org.pl/
http://pacific.valka.cz/forces/index_frame.htm
http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=7535.0
http://www.airgroup4.com/book/indx/index28.htm
http://www.airgroup4.com/marines.htm
http://www.airgroup4.com/vf-4/index.htm
http://www.uss-bennington.org/hist.html
http://www.wright.edu/~jack.mcknight/diary/index.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/...USN-XIV-2.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/FatLady/index.html
http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/c...06_09.htm#CH09
http://aviationartstore.com/james_cain.htm
http://www.uss-bennington.org/stz-vb-82.html
http://www.uss-bennington.org/airgroups-vmf-123.html
http://www.uss-bennington.org/stz-year-1945.html
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtop...02493&p=908036
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...5/ai_n9283147/
http://www.dws.org.pl/viewtopic.php?...t=J2M5#p253023
http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/vfn90/default.htm#tokyo
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/sto...f4u-18067.html
http://www.leisuregalleries.com/gagegroup.html
http://uss-saratoga.com/saratoga5.pdf

Regards,
Chris

[Larry deZeng]

Chris -

It looks like you have searched through the published material about as far as you can. However, there may be one or more postwar English language journal or magazine articles about the raid, but these are difficult to search for unless you are faculty or a student at a university. The indices to these periodicals come with a hefty fee, so usually only university libraries have them or subscribe to them. For example, I know that there was a 2-page article on this strike in the May 1945 issue of Harper's magazine.

If that fails, then the Naval Historical Center at the Navy Yard in Washington may have a number of manuscript after-action reports and studies on the raid. In fact, in Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XIV, Victory in the Pacific 1945 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1960), there is an 8-page chapter on the 16-17 February carrier strike. In his footnotes, Morison cites at least 7 after-action reports that cover the action of 16-17 February. These reports are all at the Naval Historical Center and in U.S. National Archives Record Group 38. There are hundreds and hundreds of pages of material. The Naval Historical Center also has manuscripts written after the war by Japanese naval officers that describe the Japanese reaction to the strike.

L.

[Frank Olynyk]

All the USN Fast Carrier action reports were microfilmed back in the '80s, as well as all the USN (and some USMC) fighter squadrons. As far as I know these are available from the USN Operational Archives of the Naval Historical Center. Unfortunately the price has not been the $5/reel that it cost in the '80s... All the reports for a given carrier are gathered together on one or two reels of 16mm or 35mm microfilm (mostly the latter I think; the fighter squadrons are about evenly divided between 16mm and 35mm). The Fast Carrier reels also include any damage reports. The fighter squadron reels include any histories or war diaries (land based only, and therefore mostly training).

The original reports are now located at NARA II in College Park, Maryland.

Frank.