Dog tag translation assistance

**1802marine** · 01-24-2017, 02:31 PM

Can anyone provide information about this dog tag?

I have tried to translate as much as I can and believe it may be a Shipping Machine Cannon Regiment.
All the information I received from the person who had it was that it was a " WWII brought back from a POW hospital on an Island." Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

**Rod** · 01-24-2017, 03:08 PM

暁 (Akatsuki) 16778 is the 2nd Sea Raiding Squadron from the 球 32nd Army (Okinawa). You'll need to paste the link into google translate or similar to get the jist but there's a nice pic of the boats they used.

???????????

Rod

**tomp** · 01-24-2017, 09:39 PM

I agree with what Rod has written, although I have another unit that was attached to this code and number as well, that being the 2nd Suicide Boat Unit. I wonder if the the Sea Raiding units were converted to "suicide boat" units near the end of the war? I also wonder if "suicide boat unit" is the most accurate term? I read that the IJA maru-ni boat concept, in theory at least, was different from that of the IJN Shinyo suicide boats, in that the IJA boat pilots were alleged to have been given the chance to dump their explosive charge close to the targeted ship and escape before the explosion. Maybe by the time Okinawa rolled around, this was no longer the case. I am very happy to hear other members' thoughts on this. I know very little about this type of IJA unit.

Tom

**1802marine** · 02-12-2017, 04:07 PM

Thanks Tom and Ron for your information.
I found the following information about these units.
Operation Iceberg had begun its second month. The night of 3 May, LSM-5, Lt. Arthur S. Henderson, USNR, was patrolling in Nakagusuku Wan (shortly renamed Buckner Bay) on the east side of Okinawa, between Chinen Saki and Kuba Saki. There was no moon; the sky was in broken overcast. A faint breeze rippled the water. Visibility was good. At dusk Henderson had set a Condition II watch. Since then all had been peaceful.

Shortly after 2300, word was received from CTU 51.19.5 that a possible Japanese boat had been spotted to the south, steering a northerly course. At 2305, not one but two boats were sighted only 350 yards away, bearing 210 degrees true. Captain Henderson sounded general quarters and stopped all engines. Both boats attempted to cross the ship’s bow from starboard to port.

Suddenly, two more boats loomed in the darkness, these only 150 yards distant. Using its signal lamps, the LSM illuminated one to port and one to starboard, effectively blinding their coxswains. The starboard boat commenced a direct run on the ship, which opened with those of its 20MM cannon and .50-caliber machine guns that would bear. The boat exploded violently only 50 yards away. Simultaneously, the port-side boat ran parallel to and opposite the ships head at about 100 yards distance. The port gunners quickly set it afire with incendiary rounds.

Now the signalmen turned their lights to the remaining boats. One had already gone out of range, the other had apparently sunk. The brief, violent episode over, the LSM returned to its patrol. At 0019 another enemy boat was spotted at 170 degrees true. At just over steerage way, the ship turned to close the target. The boat’s coxswain abruptly accelerated in an effort to crash the LSM’s port bow. Although he managed to close beneath the bow 40MM’s depression angle, two .50-cal gunners set the boat on fire. It drifted to within 50 feet of the ship’s port quarter and blew up, showering Henderson and his crew with debris.

Again, the amphib resumed its patrol. About 90 minutes later, still another boat was spotted, this time by the ship’s surface search radar. Henderson closed the target and set it afire with two short bursts from the 40MM. This boat burned to the water, but did not explode.

The evening’s excitement was not yet over. Shortly before 0300, near the northern end of its patrol run, the LSM sighted another boat at 245 degrees true off the starboard bow. Henderson first turned his ship directly toward the target and then swung hard to port to uncover his starboard guns. The signalmen illuminated the target and the gunners commenced firing. The boat increased speed and drove toward the LSM’s stern. The 40MM fired as long as it could bear, the after guns until they were blocked by the stern. During a brief lull in the firing, the enemy craft exploded in a dense cloud of black smoke.

The remainder of the night’s patrol proved uneventful and tired captain and crew greeted the dawn. Now their day job — lightering equipment and supplies from the larger ships to the beaches — would begin. So too would the threat of attack by Kamikazes. At a cost of 384 40MM, 800 20MM, and 3,210 .50-caliber rounds, LSM-5 had destroyed five Japanese boats, with one other possibly sunk, all in less than four hours.

The LSM-5 had not been the intended victim of the Japanese boats. Rather, they had been ordered to attack the amphibious shipping of Task Group 51.19 — transports, cargo ships, landing ships, and the like — which were anchored in loose formation in the center of the bay. However, the LSM was precisely where it was supposed to be and doing what it was supposed to be doing. It, along with a number of other small amphibs and combatants, was on “flycatcher” patrol, established to intercept and destroy any suicide boats or swimmers sent by the enemy to attack the amphibious shipping in the bay.

Also found: According to Unit Brief Histories and Army Transfer and Promotion List No.148 dated 1 July 1945, the commanders of sea raiding squadrons were as follows.
2nd Sea Raiding Squadron: Major Noda Yoshihiko

Would the 47 be the persons ID number?
Thanks again for your assistance.

Butch