DEATH OF BATTLESHIP YAMATO NEAR OKINAWA
East China Sea • April 7, 1945 On this date the Japanese super-battleship Yamato steamed toward Okinawa and to a martyr’s death dispensed by pilots from Rear Adm. Mark A. “Pete” Mitscher’s U.S. Fast Carrier Task Force 58 (TF58). Early in World War II, Mitscher commanded the Hornet, which from her deck famously launched Col. Jimmy…