ՍԵՆՍԱՑԻԱ․Սերժին Հաշված ժամեր են մնացել․ՊԼՅՈՒՍ դրեք տարածվի
During the Pacific War, the US Navy’s fast battleships had mainly been used to escort the groups of aircraft carriers that formed the United States Pacific Fleet’s main striking force. They had also occasionally bombarded Japanese positions near the shore, and had fought some actions with Japanese warships.[3][4]
Allied naval commanders decided to use battleships to conduct a series of attacks against Japanese coastal cities in mid-1945. It was hoped that the Japanese military would respond to these bombardments by attacking the Allied forces with the aircraft that were being held in reserve to respond to the planned invasion of Japan, thereby exposing these aircraft to destruction by Allied fighter aircraft. However, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters had anticipated that the Allies would conduct bombardments and other operations with this goal, and decided to not attack naval forces operating off Japan. Instead, the aircraft would remain in reserve until Allied landing operations in the home islands began.[5]