With eleven fleet and six light carriers, seven battleships, plus cruisers, landing craft, aircraft and tens of thousands of men, the Allies were ready for Operation Iceberg - the assault on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa in 1945. The force had been island hopping its way closer and closer to mainland )apan with the goal of ending the war in the Pacific. Okinawa was the last island in this plan - and both sides knew it. Staged only 340 miles off the coast of Japan, the battle raged for 95 days, commencing on April 1, 1945. Over half a million servicemen from the Allied and Japanese armed forces were engaged in one of the largest single land, sea and air fight in history.
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