Size: 7.5 x 7.5 inches

Letter of Authenticity included.

*This TARGET marked aerial reconnoissance photograph was directly used and carried by Lt. Moore of the USS Enterprise Air Group during the Attack on Kure.

This extremely rare ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ World War II Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA) high altitude aerial reconnaissance photograph is marked “Kure Area - Japan - Kure Airfield and Kure Naval Base”. This aerial reconnaissance photo was taken a specially outfitted B-29 Superfortress aircraft of XXI Bomber Command operating out of the Pacific Theater where it was then developed after a special flight reconnaissance mission over Kure, Japan on February 16th, 1945. Following the bomber groups return and landing on an occupied Allied island airfield, this photograph was developed by reconnaissance where it was then examined, marked and sent to PHASE 1 (Tactical Interpretation) and PHASE 2 (Strategic Interpretation) of the photo intelligence unit. Reconnaissance units would take the aerial photographs, print them, and identify them. PHASE 1 (Tactical Interpretation) then examines the aerial reconnaissance photos for immediate military operations and PHASE 2 (Strategic Interpretation) examines the reconnaissance photos for future military operations.

This “TARGET” marked aerial reconnaissance photo was carried and used by Lt. Moore of the USS Enterprise Air Group. He along with other USS Enterprise carrier pilots, officers, and high ranking commanders where given these photo intelligence marked aerial recon photographs in order to identify targets of Kure, Japan.

This target aerial recon photograph was used in pre mission briefings to familiarize USS Enterprise pilots on their objectives and target assignments before taking off the deck of the carrier. This aerial photograph also allowed Lt.Moore and other pilots the ability to get a “first hand look” of what their targets looked like on their approach making it easier to spot and call out targets designations from the air and allow USS Enterprise Air Group pilots the ability to accurately and efficiently locate and destroy designated targets.

USS Enterprise and the Attack on Kure - March 1945:

The attack on Kure was an air raid conducted during the Pacific War by the United States Navy on 19 March 1945. It targeted the remnants of the Japanese Combined Fleet located in and near the Japanese city of Kure. The attack by 321 aircraft was unsuccessful, as no Japanese warships were sunk though several were damaged. Japanese forces struck the American fleet on the morning of 19 March, and crippled one aircraft carrier and badly damaged another.

As part of the planning for the invasion of Okinawa, the United States Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force (designated Task Force 58) was ordered to neutralize airfields in the Japanese home islands which could be used to attack the invasion force after the landings commenced on 1 April 1945. As part of these operations, the Task Force was also to attack Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) warships sheltering in ports.

Task Force 58 was the main striking element of the United States Pacific Fleet. It included 15 aircraft carriers, and was organized into four task groups. The March attacks would be the third time Task Force 58 had struck the Japanese home islands. The first had been a series of raids on airfields which took place on 16 and 17 February 1945, in which the American aviators claimed to have destroyed 341 Japanese aircraft in the air and 190 on the ground for the loss of 80 of their own to all causes. The second raid had been made against airfields in the Tokyo region on 25 February, in which the Americans claimed 46 Japanese aircraft while losing 16. After this attack, Task Force 58 returned to its base at Ulithi atoll to rest and prepare for further operations.

By this stage of the war, the IJN was largely confined to port. Its major warships had suffered heavy casualties during 1944, and little fuel remained for those which survived. Most of the Combined Fleet, the IJN's main combat force, was stationed at the major naval base at Kure on the Seto Inland Sea. This port was defended by hundreds of anti-aircraft guns; USN intelligence estimated that these included 160 large-caliber weapons and hundreds more smaller-caliber guns.

Task Force 58 departed Ulithi on 14 March to commence the pre-invasion attacks on the Japanese home islands. Japanese forces located and tracked the Task Force as it approached, but were unsure whether it was a precursor to the landing on Okinawa or another attack against airfields. On 18 March Task Force 58's aircraft attacked 45 airfields on Kyushu. Few Japanese aircraft were found on the airfields, but large numbers attacked the American aircraft in flight. Other Japanese aircraft attacked Task Force 58, and lightly damaged the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and Intrepid. The USS Yorktown suffered more extensive damage after being hit by a bomb which killed 5 of her crew and wounded 26. A total of 110 Japanese aircraft were destroyed. American photo reconnaissance aircraft also operated over Japan on 18 March, and located concentrations of IJN warships at Kure and Kobe. The ships identified as being at Kure included the battleships Yamato and Haruna as well as three light aircraft carriers.

The ships located on 18 March were selected as Task Force 58's main objective for the next day's attacks. Task Groups 58.1, 58.3 and 58.4 were to attack Kure, and Task Group 58.2 was to strike Kobe. Fighter aircraft were directed to sweep ahead of the American dive bombers and torpedo bombers and attack Japanese aircraft. The main target specified for the attack on Kure was the port's oil storage tanks and other naval installations, but the strike coordinator, Commander George M. Ottinger, was authorised to redirect the USN aircraft against other targets.

After completing the attacks on Kure and Kobe, Task Force 58 withdrew south. It flew further fighter sweeps over southern Kyushu on 19 and 20 March. Task Group 58.2 was attacked again by Japanese aircraft on the afternoon of 20 March, with destroyer USS Halsey Powell being hit by a kamikaze and Enterprise's flight deck being rendered unusable after she was accidentally struck by anti-aircraft fire from other American warships. On the afternoon of 21 March, 48 Japanese aircraft attempted to attack Task Force 58, but the raid was driven off with heavy casualties after it was intercepted by 150 American fighters. The damaged carriers Franklin, Enterprise and Yorktown were subsequently detached, and departed for repairs. The damage to Franklin was so extensive that she never saw active use again.