Bombing of Kure (July 1945)

Bombing of Kure
	Part of Pacific War
	; Japanese battleship Haruna under attack on 28 July
Date	24–28 July 1945
Location	Inland Sea region of Japan
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
United States ; United Kingdom	Japan
Commanders and leaders
William Halsey, Jr.	Kanazawa Masao
Units involved
U.S Third Fleet Task Force 37 ; Task Force 38 ;	Imperial Japanese Navy
Casualties and losses
133 aircraft, ; 102 KIA [1]	1 fleet carrier,; 3 battleships, ; 2 heavy cruisers, ; 1 light cruiser, ; 2 armored cruisers, ; 2 escort ships, ; Several smaller warships sunk; 306 aircraft destroyed, ; 392 aircraft damaged [1]

Last updated March 15, 2019

The bombing of Kure and surrounding areas by United States and British naval aircraft in late July 1945 led to the sinking of most of the surviving large warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The United States Third Fleet's attacks on Kure Naval Arsenal and nearby ports on 24, 25, and 28 July sank an aircraft carrier, three battleships, five cruisers, and several smaller warships. During the same period the British Pacific Fleet attacked other targets in the Inland Sea region and sank two escort ships and several smaller vessels as well as damaging an escort carrier. Many historians consider the Kure bombing as the Japanese Navy's Pearl Harbor.

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial heritage Kure hosts the second oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF).

Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 until 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was formed after the dissolution of the IJN.

Prelude

In July 1945 the IJN's remaining large warships were concentrated near the major naval base of Kure. The ships were effectively immobilized due to fuel shortages and were being used only as stationary anti-aircraft batteries.^[2] Admiral John S. McCain, Sr., the commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force, strongly opposed attacking Kure as he and his staff believed that the ships only posed a minor threat.^[3]

Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies, and in many navies is the highest rank. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM". The rank is generally thought to have originated in Sicily from a conflation of Arabic: أمير البحر‎, amīr al-baḥr, "commander of the sea", with Latin admirabilis ("admirable") or admiratus ("admired"), although alternative etymologies derive the word directly from Latin, or from the Turkish military and naval rank miralay. The French version – amiral without the additional d – tends to add evidence for the Arab origin.

The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task force was made up of several separate task groups, each typically built around three to four aircraft carriers and their supporting vessels. The support vessels were screening destroyers, cruisers, and the newly built fast battleships.

In his memoirs Admiral Halsey gave four reasons for why he attacked Kure despite McCain's objections. First, he believed that the attack would boost US morale and retaliate for the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Second, it would ensure that the Japanese could not disrupt the planned Soviet invasion of Hokkaido. Third, it would prevent Japan from using its fleet as a bargaining point to secure better peace terms. Finally, he had been ordered to conduct the attack by his superior officer, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.^[3]

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States' formal entry into World War II. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, and as Operation Z during its planning.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 30 December 1922 to 26 December 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometres north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

Hokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is the second largest island of Japan, and the largest and northernmost prefecture. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu. The two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city. About 43 km north of Hokkaido lies Sakhalin Island, Russia. To its east and north-east are the disputed Kuril Islands.

Despite operating as a task group of the US Third Fleet, the British Pacific Fleet was excluded from the attack on Kure so that Britain would not be able to claim a part in destroying the Japanese fleet. The BPF was instead used to attack airfields and the port of Osaka.^[2]^[3]

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. It is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Japan and among the largest in the world with over 19 million inhabitants. Osaka will host Expo 2025. The current mayor of Osaka is Hirofumi Yoshimura.

Kure had been subjected to several major attacks by B-29 Superfortress bombers of the United States Army Air Forces in 1945, before the US Navy's attack in late July. The Hiro Naval Aircraft Factory was successfully bombed on 5 May, naval mines were laid in the approaches to the port on 30 March and 5 May, and 40 percent of the city was destroyed in a major air raid on 1 July.^[4]

The United States Army Air Forces, informally known as the Air Force,or United States Army Air Force, was the aerial warfare service of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1939/41–1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply, and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff.

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any vessel. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively, to protect friendly vessels and create "safe" zones.

Participating in the attacks were Task Force 38 for the Americans and Task Force 37 for the British. Task Force 37 included the carriers HMS Formidable (67), Indefatigable (R10), and Victorious (R38).^[5]

HMS Formidable was an Illustrious-class aircraft carrier ordered for the Royal Navy before the Second World War. After being completed in late 1940, she was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet as a replacement for her crippled sister ship Illustrious. Formidable's aircraft played a key role in the Battle of Cape Matapan in early 1941, and they subsequently provided cover for Allied ships and attacked Axis forces until their carrier was badly damaged by German dive bombers in May.

HMS Indefatigable was an Implacable-class aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. She was completed in 1944, and her aircraft made several attacks that year against the German battleship Tirpitz, inflicting only light damage; they also raided targets in Norway. The ship was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) at the end of the year and attacked Japanese-controlled oil refineries in Sumatra in January 1945 before joining the American forces in March as they prepared to invade the island of Okinawa in Operation Iceberg. Indefatigable and the BPF joined the Americans in attacking the Japanese Home Islands in July and August. Following the end of hostilities she visited ports in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

HMS Victorious, ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme, was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. She was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Battle

Hyuga sunk in shallow waters Hyuga-Historic04.jpg — *Hyuga* sunk in shallow waters

Tone under attack on 24 July ToneUnderAttack1945.jpg — *Tone* under attack on 24 July

The Third Fleet's attack against Kure began on 24 July.^[6] US carrier aircraft flew 1,747 sorties on this day against Japanese targets.^[7] The attacks were successful, and resulted in the sinking of aircraft carrier Amagi, and the cruiser Ōyodo, which at this time was acting as the Combined Fleet's flagship. The battleships Hyūga, Ise, and Haruna, the heavy cruisers Tone and Aoba, and the outdated armored training cruisers Iwate and Izumo were all heavily damaged and settled in shallow water.^[5] The shallow anchorage precluded the use of torpedoes. The US aircraft attempted to reduce their losses from the large number of anti-aircraft guns in the area by the use of variable time-fused bombs.^[2]^[5]

Ise after the bombing BattleshipIse.jpg — *Ise* after the bombing

The British Pacific Fleet's attacks against Osaka and targets in the Inland Sea damaged escort carrier Kaiyo and sank the escort ships No. 4 and No. 30 for the loss of four aircraft.^[2]

US strikes against Kure resumed on 28 July and resulted in the further damaging of the battleships Ise and Haruna, and the heavy cruiser Aoba.^[2] The aircraft carrier Katsuragi which had largely escaped attack in the earlier raid, and the unserviceable light aircraft carrier Ryūhō were attacked, with Katsuragi suffering heavy damage.^[7] These air strikes were among the largest conducted by the US Navy during the war, and were the most destructive of shipping.^[7]

The USAAF also launched an attack on the Japanese ships at Kure on 28 July. This raid was made up of 79 B-24 Liberators based on Okinawa. Four bomb hits were made upon the beached cruiser Aoba. The bomb strikes further damaged the vessel, and caused her stern to be broken off. The raid suffered the loss of two B-24s shot down and 14 others suffered damage.^[8]

Allied losses included 102 aircrew and 133 planes lost in combat or accidents during the attacks. These losses were higher than those suffered by the Third Fleet in most of its operations, and were the result of the heavy anti-aircraft defences around Kure.^[1]

Aftermath

The Allied attacks on Kure and the inland sea left the Nagato at Yokosuka as the only remaining capital ship in Japan's inventory. The destruction of the battleships and heavy cruisers at Kure was seen by British official historian Stephen Roskill as avenging the losses suffered by the United States at Pearl Harbor.^[9] The attacks allowed the Soviet Pacific Fleet to operate without fear of interdiction in the Sea of Japan.^[10]

Notes

1 2 3 Halsey (1947). Admiral Halsey's Story. p. 264.
1 2 3 4 5 Royal Navy 1995 , p. 223
1 2 3 Halsey 1947 , p. 265
↑ Craven & Crate 1953 , pp. 649, 668–669, 675
1 2 3 Rohwer, Hummelchen & Weis 2005 , p. 424
↑ Potter 1985 , p. 345
1 2 3 Morison 1960 , p. 331
↑ Craven & Crate 1953 , p. 698
↑ Roskill 1961 , p. 374
↑ Frank 1999 , p. 158

Related Research Articles

The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered to have been the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as part of the invasion of Leyte, which aimed to isolate Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia which were a vital source of industrial and oil supplies.

Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.

Haruna (榛名) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston and named after Mount Haruna, she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the Kongō class, amongst the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Laid down in 1912 at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe, Haruna was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Kirishima. Haruna patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I. During gunnery drills in 1920, an explosion destroyed one of her guns, damaged the gun turret, and killed seven men. During her career, Haruna underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1926, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1933, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, Haruna was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Haruna transported Imperial Japanese Army troops to mainland China before being redeployed to the Third Battleship Division in 1941. On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore.

Chikuma was the second and last vessel in the Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Chikuma River, in Nagano prefecture of Japan. Entering service in 1939, Chikuma saw battle during World War II in the Pacific. She was scuttled on 25 October 1944 after the Battle off Samar.

Myōkō (妙高) was the lead ship of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which were active in World War II. She was named after Mount Myōkō in Niigata Prefecture. The other ships of the class were Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro.

Tone was the lead ship in the two-vessel Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Tone River, in the Kantō region of Japan and was completed on 20 November 1938 at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki shipyards. Tone was designed for long-range scouting missions and had a large seaplane capacity. She was extensively employed during World War II usually providing scouting services to their aircraft carrier task forces. She almost always operated in this capacity in conjunction with her sister ship Chikuma.

Indian Ocean raid 1942 raid of Allied shipping by the Imperial Japanese Navy

The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the fast carrier strike force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II. The Japanese under Chūichi Nagumo compelled part of the Allied forces to retreat to East Africa, but Admiral Sir James Somerville kept his fast carrier division, Force A, "...in Indian waters, to be ready to deal with any attempt by the enemy to command those waters with light forces only."

The Kongō-class battlecruiser was a class of four battlecruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) immediately before World War I. Designed by British naval architect George Thurston, the lead ship of the class, Kongō, was the last Japanese capital ship constructed outside Japan, by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness. Her sister ships Haruna, Kirishima and Hiei were all completed in Japan.

Uranami was the tenth of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.

Maya (摩耶) was one of four Takao-class heavy cruisers, active in World War II with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). These were the largest and most modern cruisers in the Japanese fleet, and were intended to form the backbone of a multipurpose long-range strike force. These ships were fast, powerful and heavily armed, with enough firepower to hold their own against any cruiser in any other navy in the world. Her sister ships were Takao, Atago and Chōkai.

Kinu (鬼怒) was the fifth of the six ships completed Nagara-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after the Kinu River in Tochigi prefecture Japan. She was active in World War II in various campaigns in Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea before being sunk by United States Navy carrier-based aircraft in the Philippines in 1944.

Kako was the second vessel in the two-vessel Furutaka class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Kako River in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.

Shigure was the second of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the first to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program. Along with the destroyer Yukikaze, she developed a reputation within the Imperial Japanese Navy for being "lucky" or "unsinkable", emerging undamaged from several battles and as the sole surviving Japanese warship from two. As the flagship of Captain Tameichi Hara's Destroyer Division 27 Shigure received a prominent place in the memoirs of the only Japanese destroyer captain to survive the entire Pacific War. Shigure was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Blackfin in the Gulf of Siam on 24 January 1945.

Japanese destroyer <i>Kasumi</i> (1937) 1937 ship

Kasumi was the ninth of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.

Aoba was the lead ship in the two-vessel Aoba class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1926 and heavily modernized in 1938-40, Aoba initially served as a patrol craft, largely along the China coast, and saw extensive service during World War II. Repeatedly heavily damaged and repaired, she was finally crippled by bombing and settled on the bottom of shallow Kure harbor in April 1945; two raids in late July reduced her to an unsalvageable hulk.

Chiyoda was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Originally constructed as the second vessel of the Chitose-class seaplane tenders in 1934, she continued to operate in that capacity during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the early stages of the Pacific War until her conversion into a light aircraft carrier after the Battle of Midway. She was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf by a combination of naval bombers, cruiser shellfire and destroyer-launched torpedoes.

Operation Kita was conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Pacific War in February 1945. Its purpose was to return two Ise-class hybrid battleship-aircraft carriers and four escort ships to Japan from Singapore, where they had been based since November the previous year. The movement of the Japanese force was detected by the Allies, but all attempts to attack it with submarines and aircraft failed. Nevertheless, as a result of the intensifying Allied blockade of Japan, the Ise-class battleship-carriers and their escorts were among the last IJN warships to safely reach the country from the Southwest Pacific before the end of the war.

The attack on Yokosuka was an air raid conducted by the United States Navy on 18 July 1945 during the last weeks of the Pacific War. The Japanese battleship Nagato was the raid's main target, though anti-aircraft positions and other warships at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal were also attacked. Other U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy aircraft struck airfields in the Tokyo area.

The South China Sea raid was an operation conducted by the United States Third Fleet between 10 and 20 January 1945 during the Pacific War of World War II. The raid was undertaken to support the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, and targeted Japanese warships, supply convoys and aircraft in the region.

The attack on Kure was an air raid conducted during the Pacific War by the United States Navy on 19 March 1945. It targeted the remnants of the Japanese Combined Fleet located in and near the Japanese city of Kure. The attack by 321 aircraft was unsuccessful, as no Japanese warships were sunk though several were damaged. Japanese forces struck the American fleet on the morning of 19 March, and crippled one aircraft carrier and badly damaged another.

References

Craven, Wesley; Cate, James (1953). The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. The Army Air Forces in World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Frank, Richard B. (1999). Downfall. The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-41424-7.
Halsey, William F.; Bryan, J. (1947). Admiral Halsey's Story. London: Whittlesey House.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (2002) [1960]. Victory in the Pacific. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Champaign: University of Illinois. ISBN 0-252-07065-8.
Potter, E.B. (1985). Bull Halsey. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-691-9.
Rohwer, Jurgen; Hummelchen, Gerhard; Weis, Thomas (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
Roskill, Stephen W. (1961). "Part II 1st June 1944 – 14th August 1945". The War At Sea 1939–1945. History of the Second World War. III The Offensive. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
Royal Navy (1995). War with Japan. VI Advance to Japan. London: HMSO. ISBN 0-11-772821-7.

Coordinates: 34°14′N132°33′E / 34.23°N 132.55°E / 34.23; 132.55

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Halsey264-1] 1 2 3 Halsey (1947). Admiral Halsey's Story. p. 264.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 4 5 Royal Navy 1995 , p. 223

[:1-3] 1 2 3 Halsey 1947 , p. 265

[4] Craven & Crate 1953 , pp. 649, 668–669, 675

[:2-5] 1 2 3 Rohwer, Hummelchen & Weis 2005 , p. 424

[6] Potter 1985 , p. 345

[:3-7] 1 2 3 Morison 1960 , p. 331

[8] Craven & Crate 1953 , p. 698

[9] Roskill 1961 , p. 374

[10] Frank 1999 , p. 158