APRIL 1945. Task forces have assembled off Rukus Islands.
    Apr 1 . Marines and Army troops land on Okinawa.1
      Massive air defense damages West Virginia (BB-48), Tennessee (BB-43), carrier HMS Indefatigable and lessor 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 carries Red Cross supplies for Allied POWs in Singapore. Guaranteed safe conduct and properly marked, CO is court-martialed.
    Apr 2 . Army land on Sanga Sanga, Sulu Archipelago, P.I., without resistance. Filipino guerrillas had cleared the island the month before.
      100 B-29s bomb Nakajima aircraft factory at Tokyo. 15 B-29's mine waters off Kure and Hiroshima.
      B-24s bomb Hong Kong and Marcus.
    Apr 3 . AAF, USN air and submarines essentially close S. China Sea lanes.
    Apr 4 . Mines sown in Inland Sea sink 3 ships. Mine damage continues till the end and after.
    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.
      Russia renounces neutrality pact with Japan.
      MacArthur named SupComPac ; Nimitz all naval forces.
    Apr 7 . Super-battleship Yamato task force on suicide mission toward 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.
      German jets used in attack by 1,200 heavy bombers.
      280 B-29's bomb aircraft factories. 91 P-51's escort them to Japan for the first time.
    Apr 8 . Suicide boat and plane damage 2 DD.
    Apr 9 . 1,200 heavy bombers attack 10 jet airfields and oil storage facilities.
    Apr 10. Navy and Air Force bomb Kurils north of Japan.
      1,224 HBs 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 President.
      Off Okinawa, destroyer Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) is sunk by Baka. Other Baka, kamikazes, and bombers damage 2 BB and 9 DD. Friendly fire and collisions damage other ships.
    Apr 13. Air transport to front total 450 sorties a day to C. 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 BB, 2 DD.
    Apr 15. Carrier aircraft attack airfields and aircraft in S. Kyushu, Japan;
      300 B-29's strike Kawasaki and Tokyo.
    Apr 16. Army forces land on Ie Shima, island off NW coast of Okinawa.
      Kamikaze sink DD and damage CV, BB, DD2, DE, 2 DMS, AO.
      Soviets attack Berlin
    Apr 17-May 11. B-29s fly 2,100 sorties against 17 Kamikaze airfields on Kyushu and Shikoku Is.
      Army forces are landed near Malabang, Parang, and Cotabato on Mindanao.
    Apr 18. War correspondent Ernie Pyle killed by machine gun fire on Ie Shima.
      European Theater troops and supplies redirected to Pacific.
    Apr 19. Major attack on Japanese fortifications on Okinawa.
      B-24s 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 torpedoes Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara (CA) steaming toward Batavia, Java.
      Kamikazes sink minesweeper and damage 2 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 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.
      USAAF B-24s bomb Japanese shipping at Saigon, French Indochina, sinking transport.
    Apr 26. Japan offers Soviets NE Asia if they join in Far East.
    Apr 27. Mussolini killed by Partisans.
    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 60 years ago slowly unfolds, week by week.
    < 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 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.