August 11th, 1945 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Repair ship HMS Mull of Oa is launched.
Minesweeper HMS Orcadia is commissioned.
JAPAN: Shortly after midnight Japan receives unofficial notification of the rejection of Japan's conditional acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.
The Chief of Staff for the Army and Navy meet with Hirohito. They review the US response and offer their advice. "Reject the impertinent terms and fight to the very last." Hirohito realizes that they have not really heard his desire on the 10th to end the war.
Professor Asada, after investigating Hiroshima, returns to
Osaka University. He has a visitor, Lt. Saito from the Etajima Naval Academy. He
reports that his Commanding officer has deduced that the Hiroshima bomb was a
mixture of magnesium and oxygen. There was not much more to fear from this new
bomb than conventional bombs. There were 3 notations:
1) A special bomb was used;
2) burns can be prevented by covering the body;
3) rumour has it that the same kind of bomb will be dropped on Tokyo on August
12.
Professor Asada is shocked and convinces Lt. Saito to delay his report until Asada can report to Tokyo first.
During the day, a group of junior army officers around Col. Takeshita decide to mount a coup. They intend to overrule the "false advisors" of the Emperor and continue the war.
That evening the Emperor meets with all of the Imperial Family. He explains the object of his decision and asks for their support. After open discussion, the princes pledge their support.
War Minister Anami meets with Prince Mikasa. He asks the prince to ask the Emperor to change his mind. Anami later reports to his secretary "Prince Mikasa severely scolded me saying 'Since the Manchurian Incident the army has not once acted in accordance with the Imperial wish. It is most improper that you should still want to continue the war when things have come to this stage' "
Tokyo: The rapid moves towards peace in the last 24 hours have suddenly become deadlocked, with surrender negotiations between Japan and the Allies breaking down over the future role of Emperor Hirohito. The setback came today in a note from the US Secretary of State, James Byrnes, to the Japanese cabinet. It rejected the Japanese offer of unconditional surrender because it was in fact still conditional, containing a demand that Emperor Hirohito's prerogative as sovereign ruler should not be compromised.
The Byrnes note refuses to offer any such guarantee. It says that the Allies envisage an unconditional surrender as one where the emperor will be "subject to" the supreme commander of the Allied powers and that, ultimately, Japan's form of government will be established "by the freely-expressed will of the Japanese people."
The US response has thrown the Japanese cabinet into disarray. It strongly hoped that it had found a way to end the war after an all-night session in a palace air-raid shelter at which hardliners had argued for many more conditions. These included no US occupation of Japan, self-demobilization by Japan and the trial of all war criminals by Japanese courts. The doves, led by the foreign minister, Shigenori Togo, wanted unconditional surrender provided that the emperor was protected. With the votes even, the emperor was asked for his view. He backed Togo, whose proposals were then adopted unanimously.
In Japan:
- Okinawa-based B-24s, B-25s, A-26 Invaders, A-20s, and fighters of the US Far East Air Force fly about 530 sorties and cause extensive destruction to shipping and shore installations in the Inland Sea, in the Tsushima area, and of communications, transportation, and other targets throughout Kyushu Island.
- US carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 sink three IJN submarines at Kure.
BORNEO: After embarking Australian Army officers in Borneo, the US submarine USS Hawkbill (SS-366) lands the commandoes at Terampah Harbor, Matak Island, Anambas Islands and they destroy a gasoline dump, capture intelligence documents and rescues an Indian POW. Two radio stations are destroyed using the submarine deck gun. The submarine returned to Borneo on 13 August.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Manila: MacArthur designated the Allies' supreme commander to accept Japan's formal capitulation, says that the atomic bomb was unnecessary since the Japanese would have surrendered anyway.
CANADA: Frigate HMCS Lanark tropicalisation refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia, cancelled.
U.S.A.: Washington: As the world struggles to understand the scale of the devastation wreaked on the Japanese cities, the Allied press is full of excited speculation about the industrial and commercial potential of the newly-harnessed power of the atom.
A Tokyo radio station described the bomb as a "diabolical weapon", and the Allies as destroyers of "justice and mankind". President Truman, in a broadcast yesterday, spoke of guarding the secret of the bomb and ensuring that "its power be made an overwhelming influence towards world peace." He said: "We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes."
MEXICO: Mexicana DC-2-243 (ex USAAF C-39), msn 2075, registered XA-DOT, crashes in bad weather at Ixtaccihuatl; all 16 people on the aircraft are killed.