SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Six B-25s hunt shipping off Paramushiru; 4 return
to Attu with bombs, finding no targets; one hits the mast of a
vessel and ditches in the water; the other lands on one engine in Petropavlovsk,
USSR; 3 B-24s make an uneventful raid during the night of 9/10 Sep on Kashiwabara; later two photo planes escorting 2 bombers over the Kuriles on
a mapping project are attacked by fighters which inflict no damage.
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, nine B-25s bomb a Japanese HQ and other
buildings at Manwing; seventeen B-24s fly fuel to Kunming; numerous other transport
sorties are flown to several points in the CBI.
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 24 B-25s hit river traffic and troop
compounds in areas around Kiyang, Lingling, and Lingkwantien, bomb the towns
of Lingling and Samshui, and knock out the west end of a bridge at Lingling; about
50 P-40s and P-51s hit numerous targets of opportunity throughout inland SE
China including rivercraft and troop areas around Lingling, Lupao, Tsingyun,
Kiyang, Leiyang, and Yungfengshih, and a railroad bridge at Tunganhsien; five
B-24s over the South China Sea claim four freighters sunk or heavily damaged; and
the 322nd Troop Carrier Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, is activated at Kunming with C-47s.
AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): During the night of 9/10, a B-24 from Saipan on a snooper mission bombs Iwo Jima. B-25s bomb Nauru.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Mapanget
Airfield. 100+ fighter-bombers and A-20s pound Liang Airfield on Ambon, Haroekoe Airfield, Boela Airfield and Namlea Airfield. B-24s hit Galela
Airfield. USAAF B-25s sink Japanese ship Tokuyu Maru and damage fishing boat No. 6 Meijin Maru off Halmahera. Fighter-bombers hit Moemi, Manokwari,
and Ransiki while B-25s hit Babo;
and 417th Bombardment Group HQ moves from Saidor to Kornasoren.
RNZAF: PV-1 Ventura NZ4522 force landed at Talasea Airfield.
USN: The Third Fleet began a probing operation in the Philippines with strikes against Mindanao in the Philippines. Task Force 38 (TF 38) under the command of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher begins strikes against Japanese shipping, facilities, and airfields on Mindanao. Lost is F6F Hellcat 41772 pilot Lt John E. Barry Jr. (MIA). Carrier planes sink transport Kuniyama Maru in Sulu Sea, 06°30'N, 121°50'E, and transports Kurenai Maru and Mihara Maru, and cargo ship Taiyu Maru in Mindanao Sea, 09°45'N, 125°30'E. Light cruisers USS Birmingham (CL-62) and USS Santa Fe (CL-60) and four destroyers detached from TG 58.3 under Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose covered by planes from small carrier USS Langley (CVL-27) demolish coastal convoy consisting of predominantly small ships and craft proceeding down the west coast of Mindanao.
USN: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt disembarks USS Baltimore (CA-68) and shifts to USS Cummings (DD-365) to visit Puget Sound Navy Yard.
PB4Y (VB 116) crashes on takeoff from Stickell Field, Eniwetok, and burns amidst the 340 planes in the carrier aircraft replacement pool area; 106 (F6Fs, FMs,SB2Cs, and TBMs) are destroyed.
Submarine Barbel (SS-316) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Yagi Maru and merchant cargo ship Boko Maru (ex-British Sagres) north of Okinoshima, 27°56'N, 128°47'E. Coast Defense Vessel No.1 and minesweeper W.17 carry out antisubmarine sweep to no avail.
Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) lands men and supplies on Palawan.
Japanese merchant cargo ship Hokko Maru is sunk by aircraft off Shanghai, China.
Japanese cargo ship Koshin Maru is sunk by fire, 125 miles northeast of Keelung, Formosa.
RN: British submarine HMS Trenchant sinks Japanese merchant fishing boat No.2 Hiyoshi Maru off coast of Sumatra, 04°29'S, 102°54'E.
