The Aftermath of Action on Radar Picket Station #1

60 Miles North of Pt. Bolo, Okinawa

April 16, 1945

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The Laffey (DD 724) was photographed after the Okinawa action from the medical rescue ship PCER 851. Here - down by the stern and with heavy damage aft quite visible - she waits for lietuenant Commander Frank Bayley to bring his ship alongside and take off casualties.

 

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Laffey's starboard side - as seen from PCER 851, from the after funnel looking toward the battered fantail - is proof of the ferocity of the Japanese attacks off Okinawa. This section of the ship took the greatest number of hits.

 

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A kamikaze ripped through the thin waist-level shield around the trhee 20-mm guns on Laffey's fantail, killing and wounding many, destroying the guns, and wrecking the mount before it continued on to impact against 5" twin Mount 53.

 

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