WEDNESDAY, 4 JULY 1945
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (Eleventh Air Force): To celebrate the 4th of July, eight B-24s
radar-bomb with
napalm the Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu.
China: Party of U.S. officers flies from India to Chungking to organize Hq, AAF, China Theater.
AAF PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): 3 B-24s from Guam attack
AA installations on the SW corner of Marcus.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): 159 P-51D Mustangs from Iwo Jima attack Yokosuka Naval
Base, and airfields in the Tokyo area including Imba Airfield, Tsukuba Airfield and Kasumigaura Airfield; they
claim 9-25 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost.
CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) A group of officers arrives at Chungking Airfield to organize HQ, AAF China Theater.
Fourteenth Air Force: Thirty P-51s and P-38s over French Indochina and S and E China
attack docks and shipping at Haiphong, Red River shipping between Hanoi and
Hung Yen, French Indochina, small craft between Mon Cay, French Indochina and
Pakhoi, China, between Hongay and Pai-lung Wei Cape, and between Pai-lung Wei
Cape and Umpo, China; the fighter-bombers also hit road traffic on the Luichow
Peninsula and sampans E of Tanchuk, China.
WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: P-51s fly a massive sweep along
the W coast of Kyushu. On Luzon, fighter-bombers support ground
forces in the Cagayan Valley and others attack Batan. On Borneo, B-24s
again pound defenses near Balikpapan and B-25s bomb Sibuti. B-24s pound Donggala Seaplane Base and Boeloedowang Airfield and Limboeng
Airfield on Celebes.
U.S. Army: In U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area, 24th Div's Sarangani TF organizes to clear Sarangani Bay area by overland and amphibious operations. Patrol of 24th Rcn Troop (part of TF) sails from Talomo to Glan on southeast shore of bay, delivers arms to guerrilla 116th Inf, 106th Div, and in cooperation with guerrillas begins to clear east shores of Sarangani Bay.
U.S. Navy: TF 32 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), consisting of 3 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 4 escort carriers, 11 destroyers and 4 destroyer escorts, departs Buckner Bay to provide cover for the minesweeping operation slated to begin the next day.
Destroyer Murray (DD-576) intercepts Japanese hospital ship Takasago Maru as she evacuates sick and wounded members of Wake Island garrison. Murray reports subsequently that the many months of isolation and bombardment have reduced life on the atoll to a mere struggle for survival.
Submarine Tirante (SS-420) sinks Japanese guardboats Koshe Maru and Mashuye Maru in the Yellow Sea, east of Tsingtao, China, 37°15'N, 123°19'E.
Japanese auxiliary patrol vessel Pa No.177 is destroyed by fire, following raid by USAAF B-29s on Tokushima, Japan (see 3 July).
Mines damage Japanese transport Tsukushi Maru southeast of Shimonoseki, 33°50'N, 131°19'E, and damage army cargo ship Taiko Maru off Bakuchizaki, and merchant cargo ship Sagami Maru off Osaka.
Marine casualties account for damage to Japanese merchant cargo ships Hiyoriyama Maru outside Sakai Harbor, and Unzen Maru three miles south of Taki Harbor.
USMC: Marine escort carrier USS Cape Gloucester (CVE-109) with Marine Carrier Group 4 embarked including VMF-351, VMTB-132, and CASD-4 arrives at Okinawa where it was attached to Task Group 31.2.
