WWII: Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated any follow-on threat of large scale carrier task force based offensive operations by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Part of the wider Pacific War, this action occurred on June 19–20, 1944 off the Mariana Islands as the U.S. sent in an amphibious attack across Saipan's beaches and screened against any interfering land-sea forces of Imperial Japan for the conflict also involved Japanese land-based aircraft based on nearby island bases. It was soon termed by Americans the 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot' for the one sided loss ratio inflicted upon the naval air forces of Japan after a chance comment likening the event to an organized fall 'Turkey Hunt' by a sailor watching the American fleet's concentrated firepower knock plane after plane down before they could reach attack range on the carriers. A similar kill efficiency was experienced by the radar directed centrally coordinated fighter intercepts over the less experienced Japanese pilots.