Last Ship Sunk By Kamikaze

SAT 28 JUL 1945
Pacific
Aircraft from TF 38 of the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike Inland Sea area, between Nagoya and Northern Kyushu, principally targeting the Kure Naval Base. TF 38 planes sink battleship Haruna off Eta Jima, eight miles northwest of Kure, 34°15'N, 132°29'E; battleship-carrier Ise, five miles northwest of Kure, 34°12'N, 132°31'E; training ship ex-coast defense vessel Izumo off Eta Jima, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; heavy cruiser Aoba, Kure Navy Yard, 34°13'N, 132°31'E, light cruiser Oyodo, 34°13'N, 132°25'E; submarine I 404, Kure; escort destroyer Nashi, Mitajirizaki, Kure, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; guardboat No.5 Fukuju Maru at Kujukurihama, Chiba prefecture; guardboats No.2 Fukusei Maru and No.2 Inari Maru, Kobe; submarine depot ship Komahashi, victualling stores ship Kosho Maru, and auxiliary minesweeper No.18 Banshu Maru, Owase; guardboat No.2 Han'ei Maru, Aomori; naval auxiliary Koryu Maru, Innoshima dockyard; in addition to merchant cargo ships Kinzan Maru four miles east of Ogashima, and Kiyotada Maru in Ube harbor; merchant cargo ships No.11 Kyowa Maru in Kobe harbor and No.3 Mikage Maru off Otaru; and merchant tankers No.4 Kinyu Maru 34°48'N, 134°28'E; and No.6 Kinyu Maru at 34°23'N, 134°50'E. British carrier planes (TF 37) sink Coast Defense Vessel No.4 in Ise Bay, 3443'N, 13643'E Yokosuka; Coast Defense Vessel No.30 off Yura.

TF 38 planes also damage carrier Katsuragi and training carrier Hosho, Kure; torpedo cruiser (ex-light cruiser) Kitakami in Hiroshima Bay; submarine I 205 (repaired after damage inflicted by TF 58 aircraft on 19 March) in drydock, Kure; destroyer Asagao west of Bisan-Seto; Coast Defense Vessel No.45 and submarine chaser Ch 14 near Yokosuka; escort destroyer Habushi and Coast Defense Vessel No.44, Sasebo; Coast Defense Vessel No.190 in Yura Straits; guardboats No.2 Kainan Maru and No.2 Inari Maru, Kobe harbor; motor torpedo boat Gyoraitei No.823, Yokosuka; and auxiliary minesweepers No.10 Showa Maru and No.1 Kyojin Maru off Owase, Japan, as well as merchant passenger ship Tenzan Maru, 35°42'N, 132°42'E; merchant cargo ships No.8 Shinto Maru, 35°06'N, 129°45'E, and Nagasaki Maru off south side of Osagi Jima; merchant tankers No.18 Nissho Maru and No.2 Seiko Maru, Osaka; and Shingi Maru, Kobe; merchant cargo ship Taigen Maru, in dock at Innoshima.

The four escort carriers in TF 32 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) providing cover for the ongoing minesweeping operations in the East China Sea (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) launch planes to conduct strikes on shipping off the mouth of the Yangtze River. No targets, however, are found.

Destroyer Callaghan (DD-792) is sunk by kamikaze, on radar picket station approximately 50 miles southwest of Okinawa, 25°43'N, 126°55'E; she is the last Allied vessel to be lost to that weapon. Destroyer Prichett (DD-561) is damaged by near-miss of suicide plane, 25°43'N, 126°56'E, as she assists the mortally damaged Callaghan, Reflecting the depth of desperation reached by the Japanese kamikaze forces, Callaghan's assailant is a bomb-carrying WILLOW (primary training biplane)!

Submarine Hardhead (SS-365) damages Japanese No.165 Shuttle Boat, 09°09'S, 115°25'E.

Submarine& Sennet (SS-408), attacking Japanese convoy off western Honshu, sinks merchant cargo ships Hagikawa Maru, eight miles west of Noshiro harbor, 40°17'N, 139°50'E, and No.15 Unkai Maru and Hakuei Maru off Sakata, 39°49'N, 139°47'E.

Japanese auxiliary minesweeper No.1 Keijin Maru sinks after running aground off Owase, Japan, 34°05'N, 136°14'E.

Japanese army cargo ship Hitora Maru is damaged by marine casualty, Innoshima Dockyard.

Japanese transport Teiritsu Maru, damaged by mine sown by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force); she is run aground .2 kilometers southwest of Bakuchizaki, 35°32'N, 135°20'E (see 30 July).