Today in World War II History—June 11, 1944

SBD Dauntless after taking off from the carrier USS Lexington for strikes against Saipan in the Mariana Islands, 13 Jun 1944 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: 80-G-236932)

80 Years Ago—June 11, 1944: US Fast Carrier Attack Force (TF 58) with 15 aircraft carriers begins bombing the Mariana Islands in preparation for invasion.

Battleship USS Missouri is commissioned at Brooklyn, NY, the last battleship in the US Navy, currently a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. (See photos from my tour of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor).

Dutch resistance group LKP raids a prison in Arnhem and frees 54 prisoners without firing a shot.

USS Missouri firing a salvo in her shakedown period, August 1944 (US National Archives: 80-G-K-4546)

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