July 28th, 1945 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM
: Attlee, with Ernest Bevin, the new foreign secretary, flies out to rejoin the Potsdam conference.Submarines HMS Aurochs and Alliance launched.
JAPAN:
Premier Suzuki notes on the Japanese government's reaction to the Potsdam Declaration that they will "take no notice." There is concern among the members of the Japanese government that the diplomatic note was not delivered through a neutral government. There are also several other possible translations of the words used by the Premier.With Allied invasion forces building up they want the Ketsu-Go plan implemented to defeat US landings. The plan calls for a force of 2.35 million troops, backed by four million reservists and a newly-recruited civilian militia of 28 million.
During the day US bombers dropped thousands of leaflets on 12 Japanese cities warning civilians to "flee or perish."
Carrier-based aircraft of the USN's Task Force 38 attack the Inland Sea area between Nagoya and northern Kyushu, especially the Kure Naval Base. The aircraft sink a battleship HIJMS HARUNA, a battleship-carrier HIJMS HYUGA, heavy cruisers HIJMS AMAGI and KATSURAGI, a light carrier HIJMS RYUHO, 17 other vessels and the uncompleted carriers KASAGI, ASO and IBUKI. American and British pilots shot down or burned up 306 enemy planes and damaged 392. Heavy and accurate AA fire brings down 133 USN aircraft and 102 airmen.
1772
RN Sqn, Firefly a/c off HMS Indefatigable,
Lt(A) Charles Peter Rodger "Steve" "CPR" Stevens RCNVR of Montreal, Province of
Quebec. Lost in action - failed to return from strike, strafing enemy shipping
at Hirara, near Shimo Islands, Japan.
Carrier-based aircraft of the RN's Task Force 37 sink 3
ships off Yura.
Historians vary on the accounts of these strikes. Hammel for instance has strikes only occurring today. Reynolds shows these strikes occurring on both the 24th and today. Admiral Halsey with Bryan adds strikes on the 25th to those listed by Reynolds. In all three cases the US losses are listed with the same numbers. (Rich Leonard)
The USAAF's VII Fighter Command dispatches 140+ P-51s,
based on Iwo
Jima, to hit 9 objectives (airfields and military targets) in a wide area
around Tokyo and attack a destroyer escort along the Chiba Peninsula,
leaving it burning.
During the day, 137 Ie Shima-based P-47s of the US Far East Air
Force rocket and strafe airfields, oil stores, railroad yards, warehouses, industry, gun
positions, and other targets on Kyushu at or near Kanoya, Metatsubara, Tachiarai, Kurume,
Saga, and Junicho; 21 more P-47s attack shipping at Yatsushiro and A-26 Invaders and B-25s
pound airfields at Kanoya; P-51s and B-25s, sweeping over the Inland Sea, destroy 2 small
cargo vessels and a patrol boat and 70+ B-24s bomb shipping at Kure, claiming direct hits
on a battleship and an aircraft carrier. RN and USN carrier-based aircraft attack
airfields and naval installations in the Inland Sea. The battleship-aircraft carrier HIJMS
Hyuga is sunk but 133 USN aircraft are lost due to intense AA fire.
During the night of 28/29 July, 554 US Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortresses fly 6 incendiary raids on secondary cities and 1 bombing raid against Japan without loss.
- Mission 297: 76 B-29s attack the Tsu urban area destroying 0.84 sq mi (2.18 sq km), 57% of the city area.
- Mission 298: 61 B-29s hit the Aomori urban area destroying 1.06 sq mi (2.75 sq km), 64% of the city area; 3 others hit alternate targets.
- Mission 299: 122 B-29s attack the Ichinomiya urban area destroying 0.99 sq mi (2.56 sq km), 75% of the city area; 2 others attack alternate areas.
- Mission 300: 93 B-29s hit the Uji-Yamada urban area destroying 0.36 sq mi (0.93 sq km), 39% of the city area; 1 other hits an alternate target.
- Mission 301: 90 B-29s attack the Ogaki urban area destroying 0.48 sq mi (1.24 sq km), 40% of the city area.
- Mission 302: 29 B-29s hit the Uwajima urban area destroying 0.53 sq mi (1.37 sq km), 52% of the city area.
- Mission 303: 76 B-29s bomb the Shimotsu Oil Refinery; 75% of the tank capacity, 90% gasometer capacity and 69% of the roof area destroyed or damaged; 1 other B-29s hits an alternate target.
- 140+ P-51s, based on Iwo Jima, hit 9 objectives (airfields and military targets) in a wide area around Tokyo and attack a destroyer escort along the Chiba Peninsula, leaving it burning.
During the night of 27/28 July, the destroyer USS Callaghan (DD-792) is sunk by a kamikaze while on radar picket duty about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Okinawa. The Japanese biplane struck the ship on the starboard side, exploded and one of the plane's bombs penetrated the after engine room. The destroyer flooded, and the fires which ignited antiaircraft ammunition prevented nearby ships from rendering aid. She sank at 0235, 28 July 1945, with the loss of 47 members of her valiant crew. This is the last USN ship sunk by a kamikaze.
SINGAPORE: British frogmen sink the Japanese cuiser TAKAO with limpet mines.
CANADA: Minesweepers
HMCS Oshawa and Rockcliffe paid off.
Destroyers HMCS Cayuga and Micmac launched
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
U.S.A.: A USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell, "Old Feather", enroute from Bedford AAFld, Massachusetts, to Newark AAFld, New Jersey, hits the fog-shrouded Empire State Building in New York City directly on the 79th floor. There are three men aboard the B-25, the pilot, Lt. Col. William F. Smith, Jr., the flight engineer and a sailor hitching a ride home; all are killed. Also killed are 11 employees of the War Relief Services, a Roman Catholic charity; 23 others are injured. The aircraft's wings are sheared off and one engine tears across the 78th floor, through the opposite wall destroying a penthouse on the roof of a neighboring 12-story building. The other engine and the fuselage punch an 18 by 20-foot (5.49 by 6.10 m) hole in the building. Fortunately, it is a Saturday or the casualties would have been greater. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate ratifies the United Nations Charter.
Minesweeper USS Tanager commissioned.
Destroyer USS Corry launched.
Submarine USS Cusk launched.
The top pop tunes today are (1) "The More I
See You" by Dick
Haymes; (2) "Dream" by The Pied Pipers; (3) "Sentimental
Journey" by Les
Brown and his Orchestra with vocal by Doris Day which was ranked Number 3
for the year; and (4) "Oklahoma Hills" by Jack Guthrie.