"A Mere Struggle For Survival"

WED 4 JUL 1945
Pacific
TF 32 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), consisting of 3 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 4 escort carriers, 11 destroyers and 4 destroyer escorts, departs Buckner Bay to provide cover for the minesweeping operation slated to begin the following day (see 5 July).*

Destroyer Murray (DD-576) intercepts Japanese hospital ship Takasago Maru as she evacuates sick and wounded members of Wake Island garrison. Murray reports subsequently that the many months of isolation and bombardment have reduced life on the atoll to a mere struggle for survival.

Submarine Tirante (SS-420) sinks Japanese guardboats Koshe Maru and Mashuye Maru in the Yellow Sea, east of Tsingtao, China, 37°15'N, 123°19'E.

Japanese auxiliary patrol vessel Pa No.177 is destroyed by fire, following raid by USAAF B-29s on Tokushima, Japan (see 3 July).

Mines damage Japanese transport Tsukushi Maru southeast of Shimonoseki, 33°50'N, 131°19'E, and damage army cargo ship Taiko Maru off Bakuchizaki, and merchant cargo ship Sagami Maru off Osaka.

Marine casualties account for damage to Japanese merchant cargo ships Hiyoriyama Maru outside Sakai harbor, and Unzen Maru three miles south of Taki harbor.

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*This force will operate approximately 150 miles northwest of Okinawa.