Chapter VII: 1945

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

Footnotes

[1] The Liberty ship is beached the next day to prevent further damage; the Navy subsequently repairs her. She is renamed Harcourt and classified as a miscellaneous auxiliary (IX-225).

[2] Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler, Commander Cruiser Division Four, who, as a captain, had commanded light cruiser Omaha (CL-4) when she seized German blockade runner Odenwald in November 1941, is fatally wounded in the attack on Louisville.

[3] She is reported as overdue, presumed lost, on 16 February 1945.

[4] She is towed to Saigon, but is never repaired, and is ultimately broken up there.

[5] A thorough search of Dutch Harbor and all other sector activities fails to disclose any trace of this particular district craft, and it is stricken from the Register this date. It's exact fate is unknown.

[6] Two possible explanations for Kete's disappearance exist, neither definitive: (1) she strikes a mine about 20 March 1945 in a field laid by minelayer Tokiwa and auxiliary minelayer Koei Maru less than a month before (27 February 1945) or (2) is sunk by one of four Japanese submarines (Ro 41, Ro 49, Ro 56 or I 8--all lost soon thereafter) believed to be in the vicinity sometime between 20 and 23 March, east of Okinawa. The most likely candidate of the four is Ro 41. Kete is listed as overdue, presumed lost, on 16 April 1945.

[7] During the retirement phase, destroyer Preston (DD-795) rescues eight survivors from a downed USAAF B-29.

[8] While no definitive explanation exists for Snook's loss, there are three possibilities: (1) she is sunk by Japanese naval aircraft (256th, 453rd and 951st Air Flotilla) on 9 April 1945 near the Shuzan Islands; (2) she is sunk by patrol-escort vessel Okinawa, Patrol-Escort Vessel No.8, Patrol-Escort Vessel No. 32 and Patrol-Escort Vessel No. 52 after being detected by planes from the afore-mentioned naval air flotillas; or (3) she is possibly sunk by Japanese submarine I 56 while Snook was operating on lifeguard duty (her last assignment) in the Nansei Shoto region. She is listed as overdue, presumed lost, on 16 May 1945.

[9] She is listed as overdue, presumed lost, on 1 May 1945.

[10] RO 67 is ultimately decommissioned 20 July 1945 and used as a pontoon at Sasebo.

[11] Yamato only carries enough fuel for a one-way voyage. Plans call for the massive battleship to be beached off Okinawa to employ her 18.1-inch guns in defense of the island.

[12] German submarine U-853 was known to have been in the vicinity at the time; whether or not she conducted an attack that sank Eagle 56, however, may never be known, since U-853 is sunk with all hands on soon thereafter (see 6 May 1945).

[13] Some sources list Bream's victim as Teishu Maru; ULTRA material, however, uses the German name, and refers to communications between Tokyo and Berlin concerning her loss.

[14] "Superb damage control measures and fire fighting," South Dakota's war diarist notes, "quickly brought the fire under control and narrowly averted a major disaster." South Dakota lay alongside ammunition ship Wrangell (AE-12) at the moment the first tank exploded.

[15] Fleet tug Tenino (ATF-115) later tows William B. Allison, written off by the War Shipping Administration as a total loss, to Kerama Retto, where she undergoes repairs and is taken over by the Navy for use as a mobile storehouse for lubricants and drummed petroleum products. Classified as a miscellaneous auxiliary (IX-117), she is renamed Gamage.

[16] She is reported as overdue, presumed lost, on 30 July 1945.

[17] Barry, decommissioned that morning, sailed loaded with empty powder cases, shell cases, ammunition tanks and empty oil drums, being employed to a picket station off Okinawa as a decoy to "absorb several suiciders." The already-damaged submarine chaser PC-1603 was earmarked for the same purpose.

[18] Probable agent of destruction is submarine Lagarto which is assigned to patrol the South China Sea at that time. Lagarto does not return from her war patrol.

[19] This force will operate approximately 150 miles northwest of Okinawa.

[20] Japanese Monograph No. 116 lists two army vessels (unspecified as to type) identified only by number (No. 94 and No. 1491) that are damaged by aircraft off Quelpart Island.

[21] Those operations, carried out between 21 and 23 July, yield a paucity of targets, since no Japanese shipping larger than sampans (several of which are sunk) is encountered.

[22] The sinking of the seven train ferries on the 14th and one the following day, together with the damage inflicted upon three additional vessels of this type, is deemed a severe blow to transportation facilities between Hokkaido and the main island of Honshu, virtually cutting off important agricultural and mineral supplies of the northern island.

[23] Submarine chaser Harushima had originally been the U.S. Army cable ship Colonel G. F. E. Harrison, salvaged from Mariveles Bay, Luzon, P.I., in 1942.

[24] XE 1 had been earmarked to attack Japanese heavy cruiser Myoko, also at Singapore, but could not find her, and ended up joining XE 3 in attacking Takao.

[25] Ironically, the patrol plane commander who makes the sighting, Lieutenant (j.g.) S.M. Worthington, USNR, is himself forced down at sea while making his first patrol with VPB-28 on 5 August 1945. He and his crew are rescued by destroyer escort Leslie L.B. Knox (DE-580).

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