June 17, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 17 JUNE 1945

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-25s bomb shipping near Kataoka on Shimushu; one ship (Kongo Maru) is observed exploding, another burns after a strafing run; Four other B-25s fly a shipping sweep from Shimushu to Kurabu Cape on Paramushiru; a number of vessels are sighted but cannot be attacked because of land-based AA.

ZONE OF INTERIOR (ZI): General of the Army Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, requests of Lieutenant General Albert C. Wedemeyer, Commanding General U.S. Forces in China, that Lieutenant General George E. Stratemeyer replace Major General Clare L. Chennault as head of the 14th Air Force (14th AF) in China.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): Two B-25s bomb road and rail supply movements in the Paoching and Hengyang areas; Two B-25s and 4 P-47s severely damage a bridge at Linmingkuan; 54 P-51s, P-47s, and P-61s hit road transport, railroad, river traffic, gun positions, bridges, and targets of opportunity around Kukong, Hankow, Lingkuantien, Changsha, Yoyang, Loyunghsien, Luchai, Hwangshapu, Kiyang, Kweilin, Kaifeng, and Shihkiachwang; and four P-47s blast a communications center at Puchou.

HQ AAF (XX Bomber Command): HQ XX Bomber Command begins a movement from Kharagpur to Okinawa.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 17/18 June, one mining and four incendiary missions (Mission 205 to Mission 209):
Mission 205: 25 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters around Kobe; 2 others mine alternate targets.
Mission 206: 117 B-29s attack the Kagoshima urban area and 1 hits an alternate target; 2.15 square miles (5.56 square km) are destroyed; 1 B-29 is lost.
Mission 207: 116 B-29s hit the Omuta urban area and 3 hit alternate targets; the was the heaviest attack of the 5 but only 0.217 square miles (0.56 square km) were destroyed, only 4.1% of the city's area.
Mission 208: 130 B-29s hit the Hamamatsu urban area; 2.44 square miles (6.32 square km) are destroyed.
Mission 209: 89 B-29s attack the Yokkaichi urban area; 1.23 square miles (3.19 square km) are destroyed. 33 P-47s from Ie Shima bomb and strafe shipping, the airfield, villages, a bridge and radar and radio facilities on Amami Gunto and Tokuno. During the night of 17/18 Jun, Two P-61s from Ie Shima fly an unsuccessful (due to weather) intruder strike over Amami Gunto and Kyushu; this begins a campaign of night and day intruder missions over Kyushu and the Ryukyu by the night fighters (12 more are flown during June).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-25s, A-20s, and fighter-bombers hit Cagayan Valley targets and numerous other objectives throughout north Luzon; many of the strikes support US Sixth Army forces. In Borneo, B-24s pound Balikpapan area oil targets and gun positions; B-25s and P-38s hit Limbang town and sweep from Beaufort to Jesselton, hitting Beaufort buildings, several communications targets at various points, and personnel areas on Labuan. On Formosa, B-24s bomb industrial and railroad targets at Kiirun and P-38s pound a railroad bridge and trucks at Soton. The detachment of the 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, operating from Zamboanga with P-38s, P-61s and P-70s, returns to base at Tacloban detachment are at Sanga Sanga and Puerto Princessa).

U. S. Army: On Luzon, in the U.S. Sixth Army's I Corps area, 2d Bn of 148th Inf, 37th Div, preceded by armored column, seizes Naguilian after forcing Cagayan River near there.

On Okinawa, in the U.S. Tenth Army area, III Amphib Corps gains ground on Kunishi Ridge, where enemy resistance weakens perceptibly after fresh U.S. troops are committed. 22d Marines, 6th Mar Div, replaces 2d Bn of 7th Marines, 1st Mar Div. In XXIV Corps area, final defense line of Japanese 32d Army collapses. 7th Div completes capture of Hills 153 and 115.

U.S. Navy: Gasoline tanker Chestatee (AOG-49) is damaged in collision with U.S. tanker Sinclair Superflame off Luzon, 07°04'N, 122°06'E.

Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) attacks Japanese convoy, sinking Japanese auxiliary minelayer Eijo Maru off Matsuta Misaki, Hokkaido,, 42°38'N, 139°49'E.

Submarine chaser PC-794 is damaged when she strikes an uncharted rock off Theodore Point, Otter Island Alaska, 52°45'10"N, 172°53'20"E.

Japanese cargo ship Kongo Maru is sunk by aircraft, north of Shumushu.

Japanese fast transport T.16 is damaged by aircraft, 15 miles off Oshima.

Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.46 is damaged by marine casualty north of Tsingtao, China.

Japanese naval vessel Bingo Maru is damaged by marine casualty, two kilometers off Paekyongdo.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Jintsugawa Maru is sunk by marine casualty off Najin, Korea.

USMC: The XXIV Corps, USA, had gained control of all the commanding ground on the Yaeju Dake-Yuza Dake Encarpment, its primary objective. The Yontan Airfield runway expansion is complete.

The fourth Marine escort carrier to be commissioned, USS Vella Gulf (CE-111), with Marine Carrier Group 3 (VMP-513, VMTB-234, and CASD-3) embarked departs San Diego for Pearl Harbor.