The Picket Defence ...

[timetraveller]

Who was the person that thought of the Picket defence ... . a line of ships ahead of the main fleet to direct the Kamikazies .. from there Intended Targets of the Main fleet


In the DVD I have [ Kamikaze - Devine wind ] it mentions this yet no name is given to the person whom thought of this

[2495]

KAMIKAZES, CORSAIRS, & PICKET SHIPS
Okinawa 1945 Robin L. Rielly


This is the previously untold story of one of the most ferocious and prolonged air/naval battles ever: the battle at the radar picket stations during the American assault on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. It weaves together the experiences of the ships and their crews, in a way that no one has attempted before. The US fleet and its accompanying airpower that took station off Okinawa was of gigantic proportions, such that the Japanese could only rely on suicide attacks to inflict critical damage.

While losses in the main fleet, including damage to ships such as the Enterprise and Intrepid, have been well covered, less well known is the terrific battle waged on the radar picket line, the fleet’s outer defense against Japanese marauders. Of the 206 ships that served on radar picket duty, 29 percent were sunk or damaged by Japanese air attacks, making theirs the most hazardous naval surface duty in World War II. The great losses were largely due to the relentless nature of the kamikaze attacks, but also the improper use of support gunboats, failure to establish land-based radar at the earliest possible time, the assignment of ships ill-equipped for picket duty, and, as time went on, crew fatigue.

Whilst unsure of who formed the original idea, reading up on it makes for a sombre journey. Brave men and saved countless number of lives at the expense of many of their own.

[Dan2004]

From Wiki:



In military terminology, a picket (archaically, picquet, not to be confused with the punishment picquet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picquet)) refers to soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance. It can also refer to any unit (for example, an aircraft or ship) performing a similar function. The term is from the British, dating from before 1735 and probably much earlier.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picket_(military)#cite_note-1)

In modern military terms it refers to a soldier or small group of soldiers maintaining a watch. This may mean a watch for the enemy,[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picket_(military)#cite_note-2) or other types of watch i.e. "fire picket".

A staggered picket consists of, for example, two soldiers where one soldier is relieved at a time. This is so that on any given picket one soldier is fresh, having just started the picket, while the other is ready to be relieved. Although each soldier is required to maintain watch for the full duration of a shift, halfway through each shift a new soldier is put on watch. Staggered pickets are consequently more difficult to plan than standard pickets.

[NicholasNystrom]

I couldn't find the origin of the use of picket ships, but while looking I did find a website that some may find interesting. A class of ships I didn't know existed, a water-borne AWAC's.

http://www.radomes.org/museum/PicketShips.html

[JCR]

This idea had serveral authors, but generally Cmdr John S. "Jimmy" Thach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Thach) (later Adm.)is credited with coming up with the "big blue blanket" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_blue_blanket) anti-kamikaze doctrine.