Landing On Lubang

MARCH

THI 1 MAR 1945
Pacific
TF 58 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) planes pound Japanese ground installations, airfields, and shipping in the Okinawa area. TF 58 planes sink torpedo boat Manazuru off Okinawa, 26°17'N, 127°35'E; minelayer Tsubame and damage escort destroyer Fukue and auxiliary minesweeper Nuwajima off Ishigaki Jima, 24°23'N,124°12'E; supply ship Kinezaki and army cargo ship No.11 Hoshi Maru in Kuji Bay, 28°10'N, 129°05'E; gunboat Chohakusan Maru and merchant cargo ship Ryukyu Maru off Naha, transport Toyosaka Maru off Miyako-retto, 24°46'N, 125°30'E; cargo ships Kinzan Maru off Okinawa, merchant cargo ships Taiken Maru off Miyako Jima and Luzon Maru off Naze. They also sink cargo ship Kiku Maru and damage torpedo boat Tomozuru and minesweeper Seki Maru off Amami-O-Shima, and damage submarine chaser Ch 49 off Ishikiri, Suwanose Island. Japanese merchant ships Dosei Maru and Otsu Maru are sunk by gunfire in Kuji Bay and off Miyako Jima, respectively.

USAAF B-25s (5th Air Force) sink Japanese transport Hokuhi Maru off Mako, Pescadores, 23°35'N, 119°35'E.

Army troops supported by naval gunfire and USAAF planes land on Lubang Island P.I.

Task unit consisting of destroyer Cony (DD-508), destroyer escort Formoe (DE-509), minesweepers Sentry (AM-299) and Salute (AM-294) and two infantry landing craft (LCI), begin minesweeping and reconnaissance of Baler Bay and Casiguran Sound, Luzon, to investigate a possible fleet anchorage and determine composition of Japanese forces in the vicinity. Army scouts and interpreters are embarked for use ashore.

Submarine Kete (SS-369) departs Guam for second war patrol. Contact will be maintained with her until 20 March, but she is never seen again.*

Off Iwo Jima, destroyers Terry (DD-513) and Colhoun (DD-801) are damaged by shore battery fire, 24°47'N, 141°21'E; medium landing ship LSM-59 by operational casualty.

Submarine Sterlet (SS-392) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Tateyama Maru 34°11'N, 139°44'E.

USAAF B-24s attack Japanese convoy, damaging tanker Terushima Maru and cargo vessel Kashima Maru, 19°51'N, 108°50'E.

USAAF B-24s (14th Air Force) sink Japanese merchant vessel tanker Eisho Maru in Tonkin Gulf, 18°32'N, 108°11'E.

Japanese merchant ship Daishin Maru is sunk by aircraft off Manila.

Japanese merchant vessel cargo ship Eijo Maru is sunk by grounding in Shihtao Bay, off Shantung Peninsula, 36°09'N, 120°30'E.

Japanese army cargo ship Daia Maru is damaged by aircraft.

Europe
U.S. freighter Robert L. Vann, in convoy ATM 76, sinks after striking a mine off Ostend, Belgium, 51°22'N, 02°53'E. There are no casualties among the 27-man Armed Guard.

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*Two possible explanations for Kete's disappearance exist, neither definitive: (1) she strikes a mine about 20 March 1945 in a field laid by minelayer Tokiwa and auxiliary minelayer Koei Maru less than a month before (27 February 1945) or (2) is sunk by one of four Japanese submarines (Ro 41, Ro 49, Ro 56 or I 8--all lost soon thereafter) believed to be in the vicinity sometime between 20 and 23 March, east of Okinawa. The most likely candidate of the four is Ro 41. Kete is listed as overdue, presumed lost, on 16 April 1945.