February 18th, 1945 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Spur commissioned.
GERMANY: The British XXX Corps attack Goch.
The Seigfried line is breached by the US 3rd Army.
Wenck's offensive east of Berlin starts to falter.
BALTIC SEA: U-2344 sank north of Heiligendamm in position 54.16.5N, 11.48.5E after collision with U-2336. 11 dead and 3 survivors.
EASTERN FRONT: General Ivan Cherniakhovsky, Commander of the 3rd Byelorussian Front, dies of wounds; Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky succeeds him.
At 39, Cherniakovsky is the youngest Army General in the Red Army. (Steen Ammentorp)
The VOLCANO ISLANDS (Iwo Jima)
receive another carrier raid from US naval forces.
This was Task Group 52.2 (TG 52.2) with the escort aircraft carriers:
Task Unit 52.2.1, Carrier Division 26 (CarDiv 26)
USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) with Composite Squadron Eighty One (VC-81)
USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80) with VC-76
USS Sargent Bay (CVE-83) with VC-79
USS Steamer Bay (CVE-87) with VC-90
USS Wake Island (CVE-) with Composite Spotting Squadron One (VOC-1)
Task Unit 52.2.2, CarDiv 29
USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) with VC-86
USS Lunga Point (CVE-94) with VC-85
USS Makin Island (CVE-93) with VC-84
Task Unit 50.7.1
USS Anzio (CVE-57) with VC-82
TG 52s aircraft only fly 28 sorties against beach defenses on Iwo Jima due to low clouds and occasional rain. Task Force 58 arrives from Japanese waters but they are too late to mount any major attacks but TG 58.4, the carriers Randolph, Yorktown and the light carriers Cabot and Langley, are able to attack Chichi Jima, sending up 318 sorties. The only aerial victory is scored by a Fighting Squadron Thirty (VF-30) pilot in Belleau Wood who shoots down a Kawasaki Ki-45 Army Type 2 Twin-engined Fighter Toryu (Dragon Killer), Allied Code Name "Nick."
The Seventh Air Force's VII Bomber Command dispatches 36 B-24s to attack Iwo Jima but they are recalled due to total cloud cover over the target
It was a big day for Rodgers supporting ships. Weakened by a last-minute diversion to Task Force 58 of two 16-inch gun battleships and a cruiser, his force included only five old battleships and six cruisers. In spite of difficulties in observing results of their fire, these ships did an excellent job in destroying defence positions, concentrating especially on the landing beach areas. Their force was too light, though, and the period of preparatory fire too short so that a great majority of the defence installations remained intact.
During the night, several Japanese bombers attack the US Navy's ships offshore and damage a troop transport, a minesweeper and a tug; two men are killed and 31 wounded on the transport; five men are killed and nine wounded on the minesweeper; and 42 men are killed and 29 wounded on the tug.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Gearing launched.