June 12, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

TUESDAY, 12 JUNE 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-25s strafe shipping off Paramushiru near Arahata Cape, damaging 4 freighters and 2 barges; one B-25 is shot down.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Two B-25s knock out a bridge S of Yutze while 4 escorting P-47s hit nearby AA positions and afterwards pound railroad targets at Linfen; 9 P-51s and 2 P-61s damage a bridge north of Hengyang, hit a storage area at Yunganshih, and attack railroad targets, troops, horses, AA positions, and road traffic in Neikiuhsien and Hengyang.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Twelve Guam based B-24s pound Marcus Airfield.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s inflict heavy destruction on the navy yard and dock area at Hong Kong and railroad yards at Saigon. Two B-32s bomb Batan Airfield (Basco). Numerous fighter-bombers and B-25s hit Cagayan Valley targets while other fighter-bombers support ground forces north of Baguio and Balete Pass and east of Manila and in Borneo, others concentrate on Tarakan the Brunei Bay area, and coastal routes in north Borneo. Lost is B-24M "Out of the Night II" 44-41809 pilot 1st Lt. Charles D. Scroggs (rescued, 1 MIA). Lost is OA-10 "Step and Fetch It" 44-34023 pilot 2nd Lt. Ernest W. Jackson (4 missing, 3 rescued) on a search mission.

U.S. Army: In U.S. Sixth Army's I Corps area, 6th Div takes responsibility for Highway 5 south of Bayombong, relieving 37th Div, which is to concentrate on clearing Cagayan Valley. 1st Bn of 129th Inf, 37th Div, relieves 1st Bn, 148th, of responsibility for security of Highway 4 N of Bagabag so latter can follow 145th Inf along Highway 5. Continuing attack on Orioung Pass, 145th Inf pushes through it; clears town of Orioung and drives N to commanding ground N of Balite.

On Okinawa, In U.S. Tenth Army's III Amphib Corps area, Japanese resistance on Oroku Peninsula begins to crack as converging columns of 6th Mar Div maintain pressure and further reduce the small pocket. Some of the enemy defense force continue to resist but others are committing suicide or surrendering. In 1st Mar Div zone, 7th Marines, advancing at 0300 under cover of darkness, gains positions on W end of Kunishi Ridge. 1st Marines mops up and consolidates on Hill 69 and patrols toward Kunishi Ridge. In XXIV Corps area, 383d Inf of 96th Div drives through Yuza again but is held up short of Yuza peak; 381st, with 3 bns in assault on div left, drives to base of Yaeju-Dake Escarpment and by envelopment maneuver reaches positions on steepest part. Predawn assault by 17th Inf, 7th Div, takes enemy by surprise and gains the regt its assigned portion of the escarpment. Japanese still hold Yaeju-Dake peak but SE end of their defense line has been penetrated.

U.S. Navy: Off Okinawa, light cruiser Vicksburg (CL-86) is damaged when own shell bursts as it leaves muzzle, 26°10'N, 127°20'E.

Submarine Sea Dog (SS-401) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ships Shinsen Maru and Kaiwa Maru, 40°11'N, 139°46'E.

Submarine Skate (SS-305) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ships Yozan Maru, Kenjo Maru, and Zuiko Maru, and damages Kankyo Maru in Togi harbor, northern Honshu, 37°08'N, 136°42'E.

Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese guardboat Daido Maru west of Wakkanai, Hokkaido, 45°08'N, 141°10'E.

Submarine Tinosa (SS-283) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Keito Maru, 37°30'N, 129°20'E.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Myoken Maru is sunk by aircraft, Atsuta dockyard.

PB4Y-2s from VPB-118 from Okinawa using radar, mine the waters off Chin-To, Korean Archipelago. The same waters are mined again the following day.

Mines laid by B-29s sink Japanese army cargo ship Aizan Maru in Hakata Bay, 33°38'N, 130°22'E, merchant cargo ships Sagami Maru, 25 miles off Kaburazaki, and Fumitsuki Maru off Shirasu, 33°57'N, 130°44'E, and liaison ship Shimonoseki Maru at 36°30'N, 130°19'E, and damage army tanker Yamadono Maru, 2.5 kilometers off Manabe Island.

Royal Navy: Japanese submarine chaser Ch 57 and passenger ferry No.2 Kuroshio (ex-landing ship T.149) are sunk by British destroyers HMS Tartar, HMS Eskimo, and HMS Nubian (10th Destroyer Flotilla), 20 miles north ofSabang, Sumatra, 06°20'N, 94°45'E, as the enemy is withdrawing troops from the Andaman Islands.