July 31, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

TUESDAY, 31 JULY 1945

CENTRAL PACIFIC [US Army Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF)] Twentieth Air Force: HQ 301st Fighter Wing arrives Ie Shima from the US.

CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: 3 B-25s continue to bomb supply convoys moving through the Siang Chiang Valley. 52 P-51s and P-61s over S and E China attack rivercraft, trucks, railroad traffic, coastal shipping, ammunition dumps, and other targets at several locations including areas around Yanglowtung, Changsha, Siangyin, Hengyang, Hankow, Paoching, Nanyang, Nanking, Kulo, Hoihow, and Yoyang. The flight of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth AF, operating from Kunming with F-5s, moves to Nanning (squadron is based at Chanyi).

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: 80+ B-24s hit Kagoshima railroad yards and several other targets in the general area including the Sasebo Naval Base, Yaki-shima, and Nagasaki; A-26s and B-25s bomb Kanoya Airfield and Miyazaki Airfield and nearby targets, the Sasebo Naval Base, Marushima, warehouses at Nagasaki, and a factory and power plant on Koyagi Island; P-51s attack flak positions at Moji, blast shipping at Iki Island and off the NW and W coast of Kyushu, hit an island WSW of Sasebo, bomb railroad targets and warehouses in the Izumi area, and in general attack the railroad and road net and other communications targets throughout Kyushu and P-61s continue harassing missions during the night. P-51s bomb airstrips on Miyako, and bomb a town in the Koniya area. On Luzon, B-25s and P-38s support ground action, hitting forces in the Cagayan Valley and Cervantes and Infanta sectors. B-24s pound the area south of Fabrica. Unit moves: Headquarters (HQ) Fifth AF from Clark Field to Okinawa; Headquarters (HQ) 6th Reconnaissance Group from Clark Field to Okinawa.

U.S. Navy: Destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 25, conducting anti-shipping sweep in Suguru Gulf, bombard railroad yards and industrial area of Shimuzu, Japan.

PB4Ys (FAW 1) operating from Yontan Field, Okinawa, destroy a span of the Seisen River bridge, severing the main north-south double track railroad line in Korea.

Destroyer Bancroft (DD-598) is damaged in collision with miscellaneous auxiliary Carondelet (IX-136) off Luzon, 14°50'N, 120°15'E.

Submarine Thornback (SS-418) damages Japanese submarine chaser Ch 42 five miles off Osaki, Japan, 38°53'N, 141°35'E.

Mines sink Japanese guardboat No.5 Teru Maru off Wonsan, Korea; and naval auxiliary No.5 Matsumae Maru off Pusan, Korea.

Auxiliary submarine chaser No.9 Kamoi Maru is damaged by grounding, Ukushima.

Japanese naval vessels sunk during July 1945 (exact date unspecified): guardboats No. 51 Tama Maru, by U.S. aircraft, at mouth of Yangtze River; No.3 Kaigyo Maru, by mine, east of the mouth of Kammon Strait; and No.5 Shinshu Maru, by U.S. aircraft, off Japan [exact location unspecified]; auxiliary minesweeper No.2 Keijin Maru, by aircraft, four kilometers north of Shiriya.

Japanese merchant vessels damaged during July 1945 (exact date unspecified): cargo ships Shojun Maru, agent unknown, near Masan, Korea; Imazugawa Maru, by aircraft, location unspecified; No.8 Hino Maru, agent unknown, at northern entrance of Kammon Strait; and No.1 Shinyo Maru, agent and location of loss/damage unspecified; tanker No.11 Yoshitomo Maru, agent and location of loss/damage unspecified.

Royal Navy: Japanese heavy cruiser Takao at Singapore is damaged by charges placed by British midget submarines XE 3 and XE 1 the night before.