July 15, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
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SUNDAY, 15 JULY 1945

CENTRAL PACIFIC (Twentieth Air Force): During the night of 15/16 Jul, 1 mining and 1 bombing mission are flown without loss. Mission 269: 26 B-29s mine waters at Naoetsu and Niigata. In Korea, Najin, Pusan, Hungnam and Wonsan. Mission 270: 59 B-29s bomb the Nippon Oil Company at Kudamatsu and the facility is almost completely destroyed; 3 others hit alternate targets. 104 P-51s from Iwo Jima attack airfields and other tactical targets at Meiji Airfield, Kagamigahara Airfield, Kowa Airfield, Akenogahara Airfield, Nagoya and Suzuko claiming 13-4-20 aircraft in the air and on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. B-29 Superfortress bombers bomb Sapporo midday for the second time.

CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: 3 B-25s blast truck convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley of China. 39 P-51s and P-47s attack rivercraft, troops, coastal shipping, bridges, railroad yards, gun positions, trains, and other targets around the Luichow Peninsula, Anyang, Yutze, Sinsiang, Fentingtukou, Paoching, Tanchuk and Kweiyi, China, and Pac Muong and Haiphong.

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb an arms plant at Canton. On Formosa, P-51s sweep the west coast, blasting a warehouse and other buildings south of Takao and targets of opportunity on Hoko Island. On Luzon, P-38s and P-51s support ground forces in the N Cayagan Valley, in the Kiangan sector, and in the Cervantes area and B-25s and P-51s bomb defensive positions in the Infanta sector. 58 B-24s hit airfields at Tomitaka and Usa on Kyushu. 25 B-24s pound Kikaiga-shima, Miranoura on Yaku-shima, Osumi Islands, and an airfield on Tamega Island. The 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d Troop Carrier Group moves from Morotai to Dulag with C-46s and C-47s.

IJN: At Seletar Naval Base at Singapore, commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) is U-862 as I-502 and U-181 as (I-501). Assigned to the 13th Area Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome.

U.S. Army: In X Corps area, guerrilla 116th Inf and Expeditionary Bn, 108th Div, make contact 10 miles northeast of Sarangani Bay, marking contact between all elements of 24th Div's Sarangani TF.

U.S. Navy: Task Force 38 (TF 38) carrier planes continue strikes and sink Japanese minesweeper W.24 off Tsugaru, northern Honshu, 41°38'N, 141°00'E; Coast Defense Vessel No.219 off northern Honshu, 41°48'N, 140°41'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Bunzan Maru off Hachinoe, Honshu; guardboat Shinei Maru, Shirojiri, Hokkaido, merchant cargo ships Shoka Maru, Otaru; Tokai Maru at entrance to Sutsu Bay; No.5 Seikai Maru off Mutsure; Urakawa Maru and Toyu Maru off Nemuro, Japan; and Shinko Maru at 40°48'N, 140°05'E; merchant train ferry No.1 Seikan Maru near Miumaya; and merchant fishing boat No.15 Taisho Maru off Ofuyo; and damage merchant cargo ship Rijo Maru off Aomori. TF 38 planes damage escort destroyer Kasado, and Coast Defense Vessel No.47 and Coast Defense Vessel No.55, off Otaru; escort destroyers Io and Fukue and auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 81 and Yaryu Maru, Hachinoe harbor, Honshu; Coast Defense Vessel No.215, Fukushima anchorage; Coast Defense Vessel No.221 at entrance to Tsugaru Strait; and submarine chaser Ch 47, Yamada anchorage. Auxiliary minesweeper Fuji Maru is stranded after bomb damage off Hakodate, Hokkaido.

Japanese cargo ship Sorachi Maru is damaged by mine in Rashin harbor. Merchant cargo ship No.5 Nichiyu Maru is damaged by mine off Tomita.

Light minelayer Thomas E. Fraser (DM-24) is damaged in collision with miscellaneous auxiliary Elk (IX- 115) off Okinawa, 26°13'N, 127°50'E.

Submarine Bluefish (SS-222) sinks Japanese submarine I 351, 100 miles east-northeast of Natuna Besar, Borneo, 05°44'N, 110°06'E.

Submarine Skate (SS-305) sinks Japanese transport Miho Maru east of South Sakhalin, Kurils, 48°29'N, 147°36'E.

TU 34.8.2 under Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger including three battleships, two light cruisers and eight destroyers conduct a shore bombardment of the Steel and Iron Works at Muroran on the southern coast of Hokkaido, primarily targeting the large Nihon Steel Company and Wanishi Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company.