Yamato, Isuzu Sunk

SAT 7 APR 1945
Atlantic
Destroyer escort Gustafson (DE-182) sinks German submarine U-857 off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 42°22'N, 69°46'W.

U.S. freighter James W. Nesmith is torpedoed by German submarine U-1024 off Holyhead, England 53°23'N, 04°53'W; Canadian corvette HMCS Belleville tows the ship to safety, beaching her off Holyhead the next evening. There are no casualties to either the merchant complement or the 41-man Armed Guard; the ship is later repaired and returned to service.

Pacific
TF 58 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) attacks Japanese First Diversion Attack Force, formed around battleship Yamato, moving through East China Sea toward Okinawa. TF 58 planes (numbering 386) sink Yamato and light cruiser Yahagi west-southwest of Kagoshima, Japan, 30°40'N, 128°03'E; destroyers Asashimo in East China Sea, 31°00'N, 128°00'E, Hamakaze and Isokaze 150 miles southwest of Nagasaki, 30°40'N, 128°03'E, and Kasumi in East China Sea, 30°57'N, 127°57'E, and damage destroyers Suzutsuki, Hatsushimo, Yukikaze, and Fuyuzuki in East China Sea, 30°40'N, 128°03'E.*

Off Okinawa, high speed minesweeper Emmons (DMS-22), irreparably damaged by five kamikazes the previous day, is scuttled by high speed minesweeper Ellyson (DMS-19); tank landing ship LST-447 sinks as the result of damage inflicted by kamikaze the previous day, 26°09'N, 127°18'E. Motor gunboat PGM-18 is sunk by mine, 26°13'N, 127°55'E; while picking up PGM-18's survivors, motor minesweeper YMS-103 is damaged by mine, 26°13'N, 127°54'E.

Also off Okinawa, kamikazes damage carrier Hancock (CV-19), 27°00'N, 130°00'E; battleship Maryland (BB-46), 26°40'N, 127°29'E; destroyers Longshaw (DD-559), 26°29'N, 127°41'E, and Bennett (DD-473), 27°16'N, 127°48'E; destroyer escort Wesson (DE-184), 26°48'N, 127°55'E; and motor minesweeper YMS-81, 26°35'N, 127°53'E; shore battery damages motor minesweeper YMS-427, 26°14'N, 127°52'E; tank landing ship LST-698 is damaged by grounding, 26°24'N, 127°45'E; tank landing ship LST-890 is damaged in collision with LST-788, 26°20'N, 127°45'E.

Submarines Gabilan (SS-252) and Charr (SS-328) sink Japanese light cruiser Isuzu, transporting troops from Koepang, Timor, to Surabaya, off Soembawa Island Celebes, N.E.I., 07°38'S, 118°09'E.

Submarine Tirante (SS-420) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Tama Maru 10 miles east of Shokokusanto, southwest of Korea, 34°35'N, 125°20'E.

Japanese fleet tanker Kamoi is sunk by aircraft, Hong Kong.

Mine laid by USAAF B-29 (20th Bomber Command) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Hatsukari Maru off Wakamatsu harbor, 33°55'N, 130°50'E.

Mine damages Japanese naval auxiliary Shinto Maru below Woosung, China.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.43 Hino Maru is damaged by aircraft, south end of Hirato Jima, near Kyushu, Japan.

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*Yamato only carries enough fuel for a one-way voyage. Plans call for the massive battleship to be beached off Okinawa to employ her 18.1-inch guns in defense of the island.