Kamikazes Get Some

THU 4 JAN 1945
Pacific
TF 38 continues operations against Japanese airfields and shipping in the Formosa area. Navy planes sink auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 163, Cha 176, and Cha 210 and damage escort vessel Ikuna and auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 204 in Formosa Strait; sink auxiliary netlayer Iwato Maru northeast of Taiwan; and damage minesweeper W.41 near Takao, Formosa. Japanese air attacks continue against Lingayen Gulf-bound forces; a kamikaze crashes escort carrier Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) in the northeastern area of the Sulu Sea, irreparably damaging her; another suicider narrowly misses escort carrier Lunga Point (CVE-94). Destroyer Burns (DD-588) scuttles Ommaney Bay, 11°25'N, 121°19'E, but not before destroyer Bell (DD-587) is damaged by collision with the escort carrier as the former fights fires. South of Mindoro, a kamikaze crashes U.S. freighter Lewis L. Dyche (carrying bombs and fuses), which disintegrates, killing all hands, including the 28-man Armed Guard; debris from the exploding freighter damages nearby oiler Pecos (AO-65) and minelayer Monadnock (CM-9), 12°19'N, 121°04'E; small seaplane tender Half Moon (AVP-26) is damaged by near-miss of bomb.

USAAF planes damage Japanese submarine chasers Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 23, Ch 37 and Ch 38 off San Fernando, Luzon.

Fais Island is formally occupied (see 1 and 3 January).

Japanese army vessel No.15 Horikoshi Maru is sunk by mine off northeast shore of Mukai Jima.

Atlantic
Car float YCF-59, fills with water while in tow of rescue tug ATR-57 while en route from New York to Philadelphia and is beached in Delaware River.