ABSTRACT
During the early months of 1945, the United States acquired the last bases deemed necessary for the invasion of Japan. The Japanese Empire often was likened to a gigantic octopus, with its head in the home islands and its tentacles coiling around areas seized by conquest. In Japanese hands, Iwo Jima provided airfields for attacks against the Marianas and against B-29s en route to their targets. Even when the bombers made time- and fuel-consuming detours, radar installations on the island enabled the Japanese to signal Tokyo of their approach. The Japanese launched no night attacks but instead continued to ravage the beaches. Iwo Jima became hell in a very small place. The Japanese sent what amounted to a kamikazi naval expedition against Okinawa. On the day of the first large-scale air raid, the superbattleship Yamato, accompanied by a cruiser and eight destroyers, emerged from Japanese home waters.
