June 12

THE NEXT DAY ONLY TWENTY-TWO Japanese planes were claimed destroyed in the air, half by Hornet Hellcats over Agana and Orote Point. With local air superiority already achieved, the carrier bombers went to work. They had three days before the landings to sink coastal shipping and reduce many of Saipan’s strongpoints. Mitscher’s aircrews put the time to good use. On D minus three, Enterprise alone launched 169 sorties that dropped fifty-two tons of bombs.

Support of the still-seaborne assault troops also began that day. Gauging the wind, Avenger pilots dropped incendiary bombs on the upwind side of Saipan’s sugarcane fields, depriving the defenders of cover and concealment.

During strikes against the islands, the bombers found few airborne bandits but plenty of flak from positions reportedly knocked out. Observed one Helldiver pilot, “The Japs had a lot more fun than we did.”