Why did the US want to capture the island of okinawa?

Answer 1

United States forces were scheduled to invade the mainland of Japan at its southernmost island -- Kyushu. (The invasion took place April 1, 1945)The invasion and control of Okinawa was important so the U.S. could build Hugh airfields there and then our B-29 Superfortress bombers to soften up the island prior to the invasion. After the invasion smaller craft could operate from the same airfields to provide troop movement and support. Okinawa was also close enough to be a foreward "jumping off" base to assemble troops, ships, supplies, arms, etc. for use prior to, during, and following the invasion. Once Kyushu was taken U.S. forces could then move up the mainland of Japan to Tokyo -- and victory.We had taken Iwo Jima in February of 1945 so we would have airfields from which our bombers could bomb Tokyo but Iwo was too far away from Kyushu to act as a foreward base. Iwo was 800 miles from Kyushu -- Okinawa was only 350. Hope this helps...... vcsWW2

Answer 2

Iwo Jima and Okinawa needed to be captured to allow the American forces to invade Japan, but for different tactical reasons:

Iwo Jima was necessary because it had an airfield the Air Force needed that allowed any B-29's a place to land after being damaged when boming Japan. From the capture of Iwo in March 1945 to the Japanese surrender, some 22,000 airmen in damaged planes landed on Iwo Jima- with the first B-29's landing while the Marine and Japanese were still fighting.

Okinawa possibly could have been by-passed, but it held 100,000+ Japanese soldiers, airfields, and if America had needed to invade Japan, Okinawa would have served as a staging area, so it had to be cleared of Japanese troops.

Answer 3

The US wanted to capture Okinawa because it was only 340 miles away from mainland Japan and would have served as a base for air operations in the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Answer 4

Primarily for the airstrips. Excellent location to refuel and stage bombing runs.