 After returning to her unit , Alaska continued to screen for the aircraft carriers off Okinawa . On 27 March she was detached to conduct a bombardment of Minamidaitō . She was joined by Guam , two light cruisers , and Destroyer Squadron 47 . On the night of 27 – 28 March , she fired forty @-@ five 12 @-@ inch shells and three hundred and fifty @-@ two 5 @-@ inch rounds at the island . The ships rejoined TG 58 @.@ 4 at a refueling point , after which they returned to Okinawa to support the landings when they began on 1 April . On the evening of 11 April , Alaska shot down one Japanese plane , assisted in the destruction of another , and claimed what might have been an Ohka piloted rocket @-@ bomb . On 16 April , the ship shot down another three aircraft and assisted with three others . Throughout the rest of the month , her heavy anti @-@ aircraft fire succeeded in driving off Japanese bombers . 
