July 30, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

MONDAY, 30 JULY 1945

Japan: Imperial Japan rejects the Potsdam ultimatum. Nevertheless General of the Army George C Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, directs General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces in the Pacific, Lieutenant General Albert C. Wedemeyer, Commanding General, US Forces in the China Theater, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific, to proceed with plans for a surrender.

Eleventh Air Force: Eight B-24s on way to the Kurile Islands are soon recalled because of weather disturbances.

Twentieth Air Force: Iwo Jima based P-51s attack airfields, railroads, and other tactical targets throughout the Kobe-Osaka area.

Seventh Air Force: Lost is B-24D "Evelyn" 42-63765 pilot Captain William D. Frostic (KIA) crashed into a forest near Schofield Barracks on Oahu.

Fourteenth Air Force: 2 B-25s bomb supply convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley of China. 40+ P-51s, P-38s, and P-61s hit various targets in S and E China, and in French Indochina, chiefly river transport, but also troop concentrations, railroad traffic, and many targets of opportunity; target areas include Nanyang, Suchow, Hankow, Sinyang, Anking, Anyang, Lohochai, Kukong, Takhing, Koyiu, Samshui, Pingsiang, Kian, Yungcheng, Yingtak, and Wuchou, China.

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: In Japan, 60+ B-25s and A-26s bomb Omura Airfield and 4 of the planes hit airfield at Izumi; P-47s support the strike and also hit numerous nearby targets of opportunity; B-25s, failing to find targets on a shipping sweep over Korean waters, bomb shipping, a railroad, and a warehouse in the Sendai area and covering P-51s also hit nearby targets of opportunity; 80+ P-47s bomb Sendai, leaving much of the town in flames; P-51s on photo reconnaissance of south Kyushu destroy trains and small craft; and nearly 80 P-47s attack Miyazaki, Karasehara, and Tomitaka areas, firing warehouses and damaging barracks, hangars, towers, and other buildings, and blast buildings and construction on and near Shibushi Airfield. B-24s bomb Kota Waringin Airfield in Borneo. On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground forces east of Ilagan near Kiangan, and E of Manila in the Infanta sector. HQ 91st Reconnaissance Wing moves from Clark Field to Okinawa.

After midnight, Japanese submarine I-58 fires torpedoes at USS Indianapolis (CA-35) At 12:14am two Type 95 torpedoes. One hit the bow and the other hit amidships and the explosions caused massive damage and a heavy list then began to settle by the bow. Twelve minutes later at 12:26am, she rolled over and her stern lifted upward before sinking at roughly Lat 12°02'N, Long 134°48'E.

Carrier planes from Task Force 38 (TF 38) under Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. bomb airfields and industrial targets in central Honshu, and fly sweeps against Japanese shipping in Maizuru Bay. TF 38 planes sink escort vessel Okinawa six miles north-northwest of Maizuru, 35°30'N, 135°21'E; submarine chaser Ch 26 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; minelayer Toshima off Maizuru; auxiliary submarine chasers Keisho Maru and Chikuzen Maru, and guardboat No.12 Kogyo Maru at Imaura; auxiliary submarine chasers No.2 Nippon Maru in Usami Bay and No.53 Banshu Maru off Obama; guardboat No.10 Sumiyoshi Maru eight miles north of Kohi Jima; merchant cargo ships Kashi Maru (off Tsuruga, 35°30'N, 135°21'E) and Taruyasu Maru off Maizuru; merchant ship Kamogawa Maru off Ullung Island 35°20'N, 130°30'E; and damage escort destroyer Takane near Maizuru; submarine depot ship Chogei, submarines I 153 and I 202, and Coast Defense Vessel No.2 and minelayer Tatsumiya Maru off Maizuru; Coast Defense Vessel No.27 in Korea Strait, 34°47'N, 128°27'E; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 182 off Ito; guardboat No.18 Sumiyoshi Maru, damaged by TF 38 aircraft, is run aground north of Kohi Jima. TF 38 planes also damage merchant cargo ship Shotai Maru and merchant vessel Fukuan Maru off Maizuru.

Three battleships, four heavy cruisers, and ten destroyers of TU 34.8.1 (Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth) completes bombardment of shops, aircraft factory, and other facilities at Hamamatsu, Honshu, Japan. One British battleship and three destroyers take part in this effort as well.

Task force (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) completes minesweeping operations in the East China Sea; his ships sweep approximately 7,300 square miles and destroy 404 mines without casualty.

Submarine Sennet (SS-408) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Yuzan Maru near Mutsuta Mizaki, western Hokkaido, 42°36'N, 139°49'E.

Mines laid by USAAF B-29s (20th Air Force) sink destroyer Hatsushimo inside Miyazu Bay, 12 miles west-northwest of Maizuru, Japan, 35°33'N, 135°12'E; and passenger/cargo vessel Shokei Maru at 42°36'N, 139°48'E, and damage destroyer Yukikaze near Miyazu.

Carrier planes sink Japanese army cargo ship Gessan Maru off Ulsan, Korea; merchant passenger ship Shokei Maru in Miyazu Bay; merchant cargo ships No.2 Shozan Maru off Ulgi, and Koshin Maru off Pang-O-Jin; and merchant cargo ship Shinko Maru off Choshi; and damage merchant cargo ships Choko Maru off Himo; Shoko Maru, Wakasa Bay; and No.5 Kenkon Maru at 35°44'N, 124°57'E; merchant tug Hokusan Maru, Pusan, Korea; and merchant cargo ship Nissho Maru off Tsuruga. Sunk is CH-26.

Japanese merchant cargo ship Matsuura Maru is damaged by marine casualty, beached, at mouth of Yujin Harbor.

Japanese merchant cargo ship No.15 Yamabishi Maru is lost to marine casualty, Wakasa Bay.

Royal Navy: British carrier planes from Task Force 37 (TF 37) destroy transport Teiritsu Maru, aground off Maizuru, 35°92'N, 135°20'E.

British midget submarines XE 1 (towed to the area by submarine HMS Spark) and XE 3 (towed by HMS Stygian) penetrate into Singapore Harbor to attack Japaneseheavy cruisers Myoko and Takao, respectively.