Naval Air Power At Work

TUE 24 JUL 1945
Pacific
Aircraft from TF 38 launch two-day attack on the Inland Sea area, Japan, striking Kure Naval Base and airfields at Nagoya, Osaka, and Miho. TF 38 planes sink battleship-carrier Hyuga in Hiro Bay, Kure, 34°10'N, 132°33'E; heavy cruiser Tone, 34°14'N, 132°27'E (she is pushed aground to facilitate salvage) and training ship (ex-coast defense ship) Iwate off Eta Jima, 34°14'N, 132°30'E; target ship (ex-battleship) Settsu at Kure; guardboat Kaiwa Maru north of Himejima, Kyushu; and damage carrier Ryuho and battleship-carrier Ise at Kure; battleship Haruna and light cruiser Oyodo off Eta Jima; heavy cruiser Aoba at Kure Navy Yard; escort destroyer Hagi and fast transport T.19 at Kure; torpedo cruiser Kitakami and destroyers Yoizuki and Hari, near Kure; escort destroyer Kaba, Osaka; escort destroyer Tsubaki near Okayama, 34°38'N, 133°50'E; Coast Defense Vessel No.190, Tanabe harbor; Coast Defense Vessel No.4, Toba; transport (ex-seaplane carrier) Kiyokawa Maru, beached at Shida, Shimonoseki Straits. Carrier Amagi is hit by only one rocket off Kurahashi Jima, Kure, 34°11'N, 132°30'E, but its passage close by the commanding officer so unnerves the captain that he unhesitatingly orders the ship abandoned.

Japanese escort carrier Kaiyo is damaged by planes from British carriers HMS Formidable, HMS Indefatigable, and HMS Victorious. Kaiyo's travails, however, do not end there. She is damaged by USAAF mine (laid by a 20th Air Force B-29) off Beppu; destroyer Yukaze takes the wounded warship in tow (see 29 July).

Aircraft [service unspecified] sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Ito Maru off Kominase light; Inari Maru, Moji harbor; Komyo Maru off Okinoshima light; No.2 Ise Maru off Mihogasaki; Kinokawa Maru, off Yoshiura; merchant tankers No.9 Kinyu Maru off Tsurushima; Sabang Maru, Okurokami Island; Kanatsu Maru, Awashima anchorage; merchant tug Mutsurejima Maru off Kagaji, Oita prefecture; merchant vessels [types unspecified] Sugamada Maru, Jinzai harbor, and Sen Maru off Hakodate.

Aircraft [service unspecified] sink/damage Japanese merchant cargo ships Kagetsu Maru off Uwajima, and Shokai Maru outside Shimotsu harbor.

Aircraft [service unspecified] damage Japanese merchant cargo ship Kurogane Maru, Kobe, Japan; and merchant tanker Gyokuei Maru, by aircraft, 33°55'N, 131°45'E.

Guardboats No.3 Seisho Maru and Taiko Maru are sunk by U.S. aircraft at Kobe, Japan.

Auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 98 is sunk by aircraft, Moji, Japan.

Japanese transport No.11 Kaishin Maru is sunk by aircraft, 33°31'N, 129°47'E.

TG 35.3 (Rear Admiral J. Cary Jones, Jr.) consisting of four light cruisers (from TG 38.3) and six destroyers (from TG 38.4) conducts high-speed anti-shipping sweep across Kii Suido. Destroyer Colahan (DD-658) fires upon only surface contact, which proves to be submarine Toro (SS-422), on lifeguard station south of Shikoku. Fortunately, Toro is not damaged in this case of mistaken identity (see 25 July).

Escort carrier Vella Gulf (CVE-111), as TU 19.6.1, carries out airstrikes on Pagan, one of the two remaining bases in the Marianas. She carries out strikes against Rota (the other) two days later.

Destroyer escort Underhill (DE-682), damaged by kaitens from Japanese submarine I 53 off Luzon, 19°20'N, 126°42'E, is scuttled by submarine chasers PC-803 and PC-804, and escort patrol vessel PCE-872.

Submarine Chub (SS-329) sinks Japanese tug (ex-Dutch Ginah), 07°46'S, 114°24'E.

Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa.3 is sunk by aircraft, Surabaya, Java, N.E.I.

Mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Koichi Maru, Wonsan harbor, Korea, and Himekawa Maru, four kilometers off Himejima; and damage auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 226, off Moji; and merchant tanker Tatsukusu Maru Hagi.

Japanese merchant tanker No.6 Nanki Maru is damaged by marine casualty, 38°18'N, 141°25'E.