Martial Monotony

MON 30 JUL 1945
Pacific
Aircraft from TF 38 (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) bomb airfields and industrial targets in central Honshu, and fly sweeps against Japanese shipping in Maizuru Bay. TF 38 planes sink escort vessel Okinawa six miles north-northwest of Maizuru, 35°30'N, 135°21'E; submarine chaser Ch 26 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; minelayer Toshima off Maizuru; auxiliary submarine chasers Keisho Maru and Chikuzen Maru, and guardboat No.12 Kogyo Maru at Imaura; auxiliary submarine chasers No.2 Nippon Maru in Usami Bay and No.53 Banshu Maru off Obama; guardboat No.10 Sumiyoshi Maru eight miles north of Kohi Jima; merchant cargo ships Kashi Maru (off Tsuruga, 35°30'N, 135°21'E) and Taruyasu Maru off Maizuru; merchant ship Kamogawa Maru off Ullung Island 35°20'N, 130°30'E; and damage escort destroyer Takane near Maizuru; submarine depot ship Chogei, submarines I 153 and I 202, and Coast Defense Vessel No.2 and minelayer Tatsumiya Maru off Maizuru; Coast Defense Vessel No.27 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 182 off Ito; guardboat No.18 Sumiyoshi Maru, damaged by TF 38 aircraft, is run aground north of Kohi Jima. TF 38 planes also damage merchant cargo ship Shotai Maru and merchant vessel Fukuan Maru off Maizuru. British carrier planes from TF 37 complete the destruction of transport Teiritsu Maru, aground off Maizuru, 35°92'N, 135°20'E.

Three battleships, four heavy cruisers, and ten destroyers of TU 34.8.1 (Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth) complete bombardment of shops, aircraft factory, and other facilities at Hamamatsu, Honshu, Japan. One British battleship and three destroyers take part in this effort as well.

Task force (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) completes minesweeping operations in the East China Sea; his ships sweep approximately 7,300 square miles and destroy 404 mines without casualty.

British midget submarines XE 1 (towed to the area by submarine HMS Spark) and XE 3 (towed by HMS Stygian) penetrate into Singapore Harbor to attack Japanese heavy cruisers Myoko and Takao, respectively (see 31 July).

Submarine Sennet (SS-408) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Yuzan Maru near Mutsuta Mizaki, western Hokkaido, 42°36'N, 139°49'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) sink destroyer Hatsushimo inside Miyazu Bay, 12 miles west-northwest of Maizuru, Japan, 35°33'N, 135°12'E; and passenger/cargo vessel Shokei Maru at 42°36'N, 139°48'E, and damage destroyer Yukikaze near Miyazu.

Aircraft sink Japanese army cargo ship Gessan Maru off Ulsan, Korea; merchant passenger ship Shokei Maru in Miyazu Bay; merchant cargo ships No.2 Shozan Maru off Ulgi, and Koshin Maru off Pang-O-Jin; and merchant cargo ship Shinko Maru off Choshi; and damage merchant cargo ships Choko Maru off Himo; Shoko Maru, Wakasa Bay; and No.5 Kenkon Maru at 35°44'N, 124°57'E; merchant tug Hokusan Maru, Pusan, Korea; and merchant cargo ship Nissho Maru off Tsuruga.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Matsuura Maru is damaged by marine casualty, beached, at mouth of Yujin harbor.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.15 Yamabishi Maru is lost to marine casualty, Wakasa Bay.