APRIL 1945. Task forces have assembled off Rukus Islands.
    Apr 1 . 150,000 Marines and Army troops land on Okinawa.1 in the last campaign of World War II. The island was defended by 100,000 Japanese troops and auxiliaries.
      Massive air defense damages West Virginia (BB-48), Tennessee (BB-43), carrier HMS Indefatigable (CV.10) and other ships.
      Army troops (158th RCT) are landed near Legaspi, Luzon, considerable opposition develops inland.
      Queenfish (SS-393) sinks Japanese relief ship in foggy weather in Formosa Straits. Awa Maru carried Red Cross supplies for Allied POWs in Singapore. Guaranteed safe conduct and properly marked, CO is court-martialed.
    Apr 2 . Army lands on Sanga Sanga, Sulu Archipelago, P.I., without resistance. Filipino guerrillas had cleared the island the month before.
      100 B-29's bomb Nakajima aircraft factory at Tokyo. 15 B-29's mine waters off Kure and Hiroshima.
      B-24's bomb Hong Kong and Marcus.
    Apr 3 . AAF, USN air and submarines essentially close South China Sea lanes.
    Apr 4 . Mines sown in Inland Sea sink 3 ships. Mine damage continues till the end and after. Dickerson (APD-21) sunk by kamikaze.
    Apr 5 . Advanced Air Base, Iwo Jima, is established.
      USSR notifies Japan to abrogate 5-year Russo-Japanese neutrality pact signed in 1941.
    Apr 6 . 400 kamikaze onslaught against U.S. ships off Okinawa begins: 38 ships damaged or sunk including Bush (DD-529), Colhoun (DD-801).
      MacArthur named SupComPac ; Nimitz all naval forces.
    Apr 7 . Super-battleship Yamato task force on suicide mission to Okinawa. 386 planes of TF 58 sink her, Yahagi (CL), and 4 DD and damage the other 4 DD.
      Kamikazes damage Hancock (CV-19), Maryland (BB-46), and 4 DDs; sink Emmons (DMS-22).
      German jets used in attack by 1,200 heavy bombers. Hitler had delayed production of jet fighters.
      280 B-29's bomb aircraft factories. 91 P-51's escort them to Japan for the first time.
    Apr 8 . Suicide boats and planes damage 2 DD.
    Apr 9 . 1,200 heavy bombers attack 10 jet airfields and oil storage facilities.
    Apr 10. Navy and Air Force bomb Kuril Islands north of Japan.
      1,224 heavy bombers hit aircraft facilities. About 60 jet fighters encountered.
      850 heavy bombers and 700 medium bombers support attack on Gothic line in Italy.
    Apr 11. Massive kamikaze attacks damage Missouri (BB-63), Enterprise (CV-6), Essex (CV-9) and 6 DD.
      Balloon bombs attacked over Attu, Alaska
    Apr 12. FDR dies, Truman becomes President.
      On Iwo Jima, cemetery flies flag at half staff. ==>
      Off Okinawa, destroyer Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) is sunk by Baka. Other Baka, Kamikazes, and bombers damage Idaho (BB-42), Tennessee (BB-43), and 9 DD. Friendly fire and collisions damage other ships.
    Apr 13. Air transport to front total 450 sorties a day to Central Burma.
      Radar reports and pilots shoot down 9 balloon bombs over W. Aleutians.
    Apr 14. Tirante (SS-420) attacks Japanese convoy sinking transport and two escorts.
      Kamikazes damage New York (BB-34), three destroyers.
    Apr 15. Carrier aircraft attack airfields and aircraft in S. Kyushu, Japan.
      300 B-29's strike Kawasaki and Tokyo.
      Two destroyers2 of radar screen for Okinawa damaged by Kamikazes.
    Apr 16. Army forces land on Ie Shima, island off NW coast of Okinawa.
      Kamikaze sink Pringle (DD-477) and damage Intrepid (CV-11), Missouri (BB-63), DD, DE, 2 DMS, AO.
      Soviets attack Berlin
    Apr 17-May 11. B-29's fly 2,100 sorties against 17 Kamikaze airfields on Kyushu and Shikoku Is.
      Army forces are landed near Malabang, Parang, and Cotabato on Mindanao, P.I.
    Apr 18. Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle killed by machine gun fire on Ie Shima off Okinawa.
      European Theater troops and supplies redirected to Pacific.
    Apr 19. Major attack on Japanese fortifications on Okinawa.
      B-24's bomb Japanese shipping at Saigon.
    Apr 20. Army troops land on Catanduanes Island, P.I.
      Nazi holy city of Nuremberg occupied.
    Apr 21. Philippine Air Force makes almost daily attacks on Formosa.
      Ie Shima secured.
    Apr 22. Dutch submarine O 19 attacks Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara (CA) steaming toward Batavia, Java.
      Sunk leaving Batavia by HMS Trenchant 8June'45.
      Kamikazes sink minesweeper Swallow (AM-65) and damage 3 DD and 3 more AM.
    Apr 23. Submarine Besugo (SS-321) sinks German submarine U-183 in Java Sea.
      PB4Y Privateers employ "Bat" missiles against Japanese shipping off Balikpapan, Borneo, in the first combat use of the only automatic homing missile to be used in World War II.
    Apr 24. Air dropped mines continue to sink Japanese coastal shipping.
    Apr 25. UN opens in San Francisco with 46 nations.
      United States and Russian troops link up at the Elbe River, cutting Germany in two.
      Last heavy bomber raid by Eighth AF against Germany. No more targets.
      USAAF B-24's bomb Japanese shipping at Saigon, French Indochina, sinking transport.
    Apr 26. Japan offers Soviets NE Asia if they join them in Far East.
    Apr 27. Mussolini killed by Partisans.
      Off Okinawa, kamikazes, shore fire, and friendly fire damage 5 ships, sink cargo ship Canada Victory.
    Apr 28. Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage 5 destroyers, 2 hospital ships.
      Suicide boat causes extensive damage to U.S. freighter Bozeman Victory
      Far East Air Force bombs Japanese shipping at Saigon, sinking tanker and 6 motor sailships.
    Apr 29. Japanese KATEs flying from Truk attack Manus, Admiralty Is, torpedoing floating docks, thinking they are aircraft carriers.
    Apr 30. Hitler suicide.
      German forces in Italy and Austria surrender.
      Combat continues to rage on Okinawa.

    The war of 75 years ago unfolds, day by day.
    < March     home     May >
    AAF Theater Key : Pacific ; Europe ; SW Pac ; China ; Burma ; America.
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      1 . Okinawa was a prosperous kingdom from 1429, an exporter to China of sulfur used to make explosives. Okinawa was invaded by Japan in 1609 and treated as a separate fiefdom.
      2 . Laffey (DD-724) on radar picket station No. 1, in a period of 80 minutes underwent 22 separate attacks by 32 planes. She was struck by six of them, suffered four bomb hits and was continuously strafed. Her gunners destroyed at least eight of the attackers. At the conclusion of the attack, only four of Laffey's 20mm mounts were still firing. Her main batteries were destroyed, and she was down by the stern, her rudder was jammed, and she was barely able to make steam. She can be seen today at Patriots Point Museum, Charleston, S.C.