Comes with hand-signed C.O.A.

Size: 17 × 22 inches

This exceptionally rare and museum-grade artifact is an original 1945 World War II U.S. Navy TOP SECRET invasion map from Operation Iceberg, the codename for the Battle of Okinawa. Officially titled “Screening Plan Baker – Preferred Landing Plan”, this map was used aboard the USS Eldorado (AGC-11), the command flagship of the operation. It directly served Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., Commanding General of the U.S. Tenth Army, and his senior staff during the D-Day landings of April 1, 1945, known as “Love Day.”

The Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War and the final major invasion of World War II. The operation brought together the combined might of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army, with more than 1,300 ships and over 180,000 assault troops. Central to this massive undertaking was the USS Eldorado, which functioned as the primary command and control hub. On board were not only General Buckner, but also the Air Support Control Unit and the Force Fighter Director Officer, making the ship the nerve center of all invasion and air defense coordination. The Eldorado’s Combat Information Center directed naval gunfire support, radar picket lines, and defensive air operations during the intense Japanese kamikaze attacks that defined the battle.

This TOP SECRET map outlined the precise screening and defensive deployment of U.S. destroyers, escorts, and radar picket ships. These ships were tasked with protecting the amphibious forces against Japanese submarines, aircraft, and surface raiders. The “screening” plan was critical, as radar picket stations bore the brunt of devastating kamikaze attacks. Hundreds of sailors lost their lives defending the fleet, and these plans represented the Navy’s best efforts to minimize losses while safeguarding the troop transports and landing craft pushing toward Okinawa’s beaches.

What makes this document so extraordinary is its TOP SECRET classification. Only a very limited number of maps were produced by the Operations and Intelligence Sections of Amphibious Forces Pacific. The term “TOP SECRET” indicated the highest level of secrecy, restricting access solely to those directly involved in the invasion’s planning and execution. This particular map is tied directly to the USS Eldorado command staff, making it not only exceedingly rare but also central to the orchestration of the largest amphibious campaign of the Pacific Theater.

General Buckner relied on this map to direct the landings of the U.S. Army’s XXIV Corps, under Major General John R. Hodge, and the U.S. Marine Corps’ III Amphibious Corps, under Major General Roy S. Geiger. Each corps deployed two divisions in the initial assault, while three more divisions—one Marine and two Army—remained in reserve. In total, Buckner commanded over 183,000 troops, including the seven combat divisions reinforced by tank battalions, amphibian tractor and truck units, and specialized signal and engineer companies. The map provided a visual framework for synchronizing this immense concentration of power against one of the most formidable Japanese defenses encountered in the Pacific.

The planning and execution of Operation Iceberg stand as a testament to the Tenth Army staff’s ability to coordinate one of the most complex joint operations in U.S. military history. Despite the ferocity of the Japanese resistance and the heavy toll of kamikaze attacks, the invasion was carried out with precision. This map embodies that story. It is not simply a piece of paper, but a command artifact from the flagship of the Okinawa invasion, tied directly to the decisions of General Buckner and his staff as they oversaw one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the Second World War.

D-Day Planning of Operation Iceberg:

Throughout the planning, preparation, and execution of Operation Iceberg, Lt. Gen. Buckner‘s staff played a crucial role. The Tenth Army staff conducted detailed analysis, developed courses of action, and prepared plans and orders for the operation. They assisted Buckner with the oversight and execution of the Tenth Army‘s pre-battle training and movement to Okinawa. Once the battle began, the staff played an essential part in the command and control of Buckner‘s army. They managed information, conducted analysis, provided recommendations to the commanding general, and provided resources to the subordinate units within the Tenth Army. Operating from Oahu, Hawaii, onboard the USS Eldorado, and finally on Okinawa itself, the staff assisted Buckner in understanding his the terrain, the enemy, and the status of his own forces. The Tenth Army staff performed well during the planning and preparation for the operation. They developed a complex battle plan, massive in scale, synchronizing units and resources, and coordinating with multiple staffs from multiple services. They performed similarly well during the execution of Operation Iceberg, particularly in light of the ferocious and adroit Japanese defense. However, their performance was not without its shortcomings. On several occasions, the staff failed to accurately read the enemy situation, contributing to the loss of several opportunities to bring the operation to a more rapid conclusion. They incorrectly believed that Lt. Gen. Ushijima‘s 32nd Army would make its last stand on the Shuri line. They also failed to see the opportunity for decisive action after the crushing defeat of the large Japanese counterattack on 4 May. 58 The Tenth Army staff believed as Buckner did in the decisiveness of overwhelming firepower and failed to present the commanding general with any options other than frontal attacks into 32nd Army‘s main defensive belt. Like Buckner, the staff overestimated the effectiveness of firepower on Ushijima‘s superb fortifications, and became fixated on a single line of tactical thought.

WWII Combat History of the USS Eldorado:

Eldorado (AGC-11) was launched 26 October 1943 as Monsoon by North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C., under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. P. A. Peeples; transferred to the Navy 1 February 1944; converted by Bethlehem Steel Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y.; and commissioned 25 August 1944, Captain J. R. Wallace in command.

Eldorado sailed from Norfolk 15 September 1944 and arrived at San Diego 29 September to embark Rear Admiral L. F. Reifsnider who broke his flag as Commander, Amphibious Group 4. In November Eldorado sailed to Pearl Harbor and there became flagship for Vic Admiral R. K. Turner, Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific. After rehearsal landings in Hawaii, the command ship sailed 27 January 1945 for the Marianas and further preparations for the assault on Iwo Jima. She also carried General H. M. Smith, USMC, and his staff, and Secretary of the Navy J. V. Forrestal and his party when she sailed from Saipan 16 February for Iwo Jima. From 19 February to 9 March Eldorado lay off Iwo Jima, her distinguished passengers directing operations ashore and afloat. She served as headquarters for war correspondents, and broadcasted directly from the beachhead to the people at home through her facilities. Through the critical period of this bloody and arduous operation, she carried out her duties as flagship and operations center with effective thoroughness.

Arriving at Guam 12 March 1945, Eldorado embarked Lieutenant General S. B. Buckner, USA, Commanding General of the 10th Army, then after rehearsals at Leyte in the Philippines, hove to off the Hagushi Beaches. Okinawa, for the initial invasion landings 1 April. Here she carried out with equal distinction the same type of duties she had performed at Iwo Jima. Since both the Commander, Air Support Control Unit, and the Force Fighter Director Officer was embarked, Eldorado's combat information center was the central unit in the air defense against the day and night air raids. General Buckner and his staff debarked 18 April to establish .headquarters on the island itself, and until the ship's departure 18 May, she was visited by several distinguished guests, including Admirals C. W. Nimitz, W. F. Halsey, Jr., and R. A. Spruance, and the noted war correspondent Ernie Pyle.

At the end of the war Eldorado was at Manila preparing for the proposed invasion of the Japanese home islands. She returned to Pearl Harbor in October where Admiral Turner and his staff debarked.

Prelude to Iceberg:

The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 drew the United States into war against the Japanese Empire. The Japanese scored numerous early victories in the war, including the invasion and occupation of the Philippines and the capture of Attu and Kiska in Alaska‘s Aleutian Island chain. However, after the American victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the tide had turned against the Japanese. The Allies, backed by the weight of the United States‘ fully mobilized industrial capacity, began an inexorable march toward Japan. In late September 1944, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Ocean Areas, met with the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, in San Francisco to discuss the next moves in the war against the Japanese Empire. Admiral King favored the invasion of Formosa as a prelude to the ultimate assault upon the 2 Japanese home islands. Nimitz held a different position. After consulting with his staff and senior commanders, Nimitz had concluded that an invasion of Formosa was not feasible due to resource limitations and the Japanese strength on the island. Nimitz made his case to King, recommending the seizure of Iwo Jima, followed by the invasion of Okinawa, in the Ryukyus Islands. Nimitz believed that, if the main purpose of the Formosa operation was to acquire air bases from which to bomb Japan, that it could be achieved at a lower cost in men and resources by capturing positions in the Ryukyus.1 The Ryukyus offered a naval anchorage at Okinawa and were within medium bomber range of Japan, with planners estimating that seven hundred eighty bombers and the necessary number of fighters could be based there.2 Nimitz outlined his arguments convincingly, swaying King to his point of view. King subsequently recommended to the Joint Chiefs of Staff the adoption of Nimitz‘s course of action, in conjunction with the invasion of the Philippines by General Douglas MacArthur‘s Southwest Pacific Area forces. On October 3, 1944, the Joint Chiefs ordered Nimitz to seize Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The projected Okinawa campaign, along with the Philippines and Iwo Jima operations, were ―calculated to maintain unremitting pressure against Japan and to effect the attrition of its military forces. The operation to invade Okinawa received the codename, Iceberg.