August 2, 1945
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

THURSDAY, 2 AUGUST 1945

Germany: The Potsdam Conference (Terminal Conference) ends in Potsdam.

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (Eleventh Air Force): Five B-24s visually bomb Kataoka Naval Base on Shimushu and one B-24 radar-bombs Kokutan Zaki and returns to base 600 miles on only three engines.

Twentieth Air Force: Lieutenant General Nathan F. Twining relieves Lieutenant General Curtis Emerson LeMay as Commanding General Twentieth AF; LeMay is assigned to USASTAF as Chief of Staff.

Fourteenth Air Force: In China, 10 B-25s, escorted by 2 P-47s, knock out a bridge at Sinyang and severely damage a bridge at Lohochai; 7 B-25s bomb the town of Sinning, and hit several truck convoys between Siangtan and Changsha and in the Siang Chiang Valley; 31 P-51s also bomb the town of Sinning; 40+ P-47s and P-51s knock out at least 3 bridges and damage others and attack shipping, fuel dumps, gun positions, trucks, railroad yards and general targets of opportunity around Sichuang, Shangkao, Yoyang, Hankow, Mingkiang, Sincheng, Yutze, Houmachen, Yuncheng, Anyang, and Kaoyi.

WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Bad weather cancels all FEAF missions from Okinawa. Thirteenth AF P-38s support ground forces on north Luzon, hitting pockets of resistance west of Kiangan and blasting enemy occupied caves on a ridge northwest of Bontoc.

U.S. Navy: PV (FAW-18), flown by a relief crew from VPB-28, en route from Saipan to Jinamoc, Philippine Islands, makes initial sighting of survivors from sunken heavy cruiser Indianapolis (CA-35) around 11°32'N, 133°34'E.

Destroyers Conner (DD-582) and Charrette (DD-581) intercept and search Japanese hospital ship Tachibana Maru, which is found to be carrying arms and ammunition in boxes marked with red crosses; the destroyers place prize crew of 80 marines and sailors on board. Tachibana Maru is then taken to Morotai for examination.

Submarine Bugara (SS-331) operating against Japanese coastal shipping off the Malay peninsula, sinks schooner with gunfire and takes on board crew. One lifeboat, however, sinks and fouls the submarine's port screw, damaging it, 06°40'N, 101°51'E. Later, Bugara happens across Malay pirates attacking Chinese- manned Japanese schooner en route to Singapore, 06°21'N, 102°15'E. The brigands flee upon Bugara's approach. After taking off the Chinese crew (who are grateful for the submarine's timely arrival, the Malayan cutthroats having already killed two crewmen) and sinking the schooner, Bugara then pursues the pirates and destroys them. Later, Bugara's divers, working in the dark, repair the screw damaged earlier in the day.

Army tender TP 122 grounds off East Cape, Amchitka, near Irakin Point; rescue tug ATR-32 is sent to the scene to assist.

Mines laid by B-29s sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Santo Maru off Niigata, Japan, 37°57'N, 139°04'E, and damage minesweeper W.17 south of Chinhae, Korea, 36°06'N, 128°40'E.

RAAF: Spitfire A58-654 pilot F/Lt Benjamin B. Newman (MIA) shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Halmahera. Lost is Auster A11-7 crash landed at Piva South Airfield on Bougainville and was written off.