Following the attack on Yokosuka, the carrier aviation focused on the port of Kure where the bulk of Japanese Navy surviving warships sheltered. In a series of attacks spanning several days, most of the heavy units including aircraft carriers Amagi and Katsuragi, Combined Fleet's flagship cruiser Oyodo, battleships Ise, Hyuga and Haruna, cruisers Tone and Aoba and a number of other ships were sunk, ensuring almost complete freedom of operation for the Allied fleet. The success however came at a steep price of 133 aircrafts - one of the heaviest losses the US Navy 3rd Fleet suffered.

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