Special: Battle of the Philippine Sea

Pilots,

Today we commemorate the anniversary of the ‘Battle of the Philippine Sea’ with some great bonuses and a fun history lesson for all of our World of Warplanes testers.

Find out what awaits you in the game for this quick one-day-special!

50% discount on the purchase of the following planes:

• US Tier V - F4F
• Japanese Tier IV - A6M1

Two classics on discount to recreate your own battle in the air!

50% increased income for the following planes:

• US Tier V - F4F
• Japanese Tier IV - A6M1

Use these babies frequently and give your grind to the top a much deserved boost!

Get your bonuses from Wednesday, June 19^th at 08:00 CEST (GMT +2) until Thursday, June 20^th at 07:30 CEST (GMT +2). 

After ‘Pearl Harbour’ in December 1941, the US was at war with Japan, fighting in the Pacific for control over the ocean’s islands and the territories of East Asia. After driving the Japanese out of the island chains around Papua New Guinea by early 1944, the American military leaders focused on the Northern Mariana Islands. They believed that this spot, around 2,400 km south of Tokyo, was a strategically important location that would be close enough for a long distance attack by US B-29 bombers on the Japanese mainland. They dispatched the fifth US fleet, consisting of 15 carriers, 7 battle ships,79 other ships, 28 submarines and aver 900 warplanes (mostly F6F Hellcats). The offensive was due to hit the Mariana Islands capital Saipan on June 15^th 1944.

At the same time, the Japanese navy was gathering its ships and airplanes in the Philippine region, readying for a vicious counter-attack that would put an end to US sea-dominance once and for all. With all of the US war successes being largely amphibious-based, the Japanese believed that stopping the Americans at sea would limit their capabilities to move troops to shore, essentially eliminating their danger. Convinced of their winning strategy, they assembled a huge fleet consisting of 9 carriers, 5 battle ships, 43 smaller vessels as well as 681 light carrier-based fighters (mostly A6M Zeros) and met the Americans on June 16^th for one final, decisive battle of the sea and air.

Both opponents dispatched their air fleets, which met at the islands of Guam and Rota for the big clash. However, the anticipated heavyweight fight proved to be a lopsided massacre of epic proportions. Outnumbered and without any real support from their own ships, the Japanese air fleet was decimated by the superior Hellcats and heavy anti-aircraft fire of the US vessels. Around three quarters of their carrier-based A6Ms were taken out in the first wave of this brutal attack alone. Most of the remaining hundred or so were outmanoeuvred and blown to pieces by the quicker and heavier-armoured F6F Hellcats, which sustained only 29 losses of their own. The US pilots nicknamed the encounter as the “Great Mariana Turkey Shoot” – with the Japanese planes being the turkey.

The result was that the great sea battle ended before it had really begun with a very definitive victory for the Americans. The same day, the US seized their advantage and using submarines, they sank two Japanese carriers. The following day, the US proceeded to successfully track down the rest of the Japanese fleet on open water, and attacked with over 200 planes, hitting several vessels including the carrier ship “Hiyo”. By the end, the Japanese only had 35 planes left out of the hundreds they had brought with them.

In the end, the Battle of the Philippine Sea proved to be a back-breaker for the Japanese navy fleet. Due to the resulting lack of air units, it could no longer conduct large scale operations to withstand its US opponents and was never able to recover from the loss.

Time to take off to the skies and recreate your own turkey shoot, Pilots!