B-29 bombing missions to Hokkaido Island

[R Leonard]

From a report by CDR C E A Owens, RN, liaison officer with TF-8 staff to the commander of the BPF date 26 Aug 1945:

19. On July 14th despite distinctly unfavourable weather, TF 38 launched strikes against Northern Honshu and Hokkaido from a position approximately 80 miles from Land. Fog unfortunately covered the primary airfields, but the coast line and a few airfields near it were clear and the damage caused to shipping was worthy of note. A total of 76 ships of 41,000 tons were sunk and 100 ships of 58,000 tons were damaged, these included all 7 ferries in the Railroad Ferry System between Hokkaido and Honshu a most valuable prize. The above figures include the following:

SUNK
5 Medium Cargo Vessels
7 Small Cargo Vessels
4 Train Ferries
1 DE
1 Patrol Craft
28 Luggers
27 Small Craft

DAMAGED

7 DE
3 Train Ferries
1 Large Cargo Vessel
7 Medium Cargo Vessels
6 Small Cargo Vessels
6 Small Oilers
15 Small Freighters
38 Luggers

20. Weather hampered operations considerably against airfields, but nevertheless 27 aircraft were destroyed on the ground and 40 damaged in the air no opposition was encountered, but 2 Betty’s to shadow the Force and were turned away before sighting by the CAP, one being shot down.

21. Poor visibility at the Force caused cancellation of strikes after 1300. A total of 336 tons of bombs were dropped and 1800 rockets fired. Our losses were 13 Aircraft shot down and 11 lost operationally.

22. The flying off position on the 15th on July had been altered 30 miles to the SE in order to be in warmer waters where there was less probability of fog. Even so, conditions were again poor, both at the carriers and in the target area, but fortunately the coast line was clear in places and again Japanese shipping suffered considerably - 17 ships of 30,000 tons being sunk and 13 ships of 18,600 tons damaged. Many land targets were hit and the toll of locomotives for the 2 days rose to 84 exploded and 41 damaged. 10 A/C in combat and 7 operationally were lost, but only 6 pilots. Lack of Air Sea Rescue facilities in the way of lifeguard submarines and Dumbos mad necessary the abandoning of 3 pilots shot down near Otaru.

23. While the air operations were in progress the surface ships were also enjoying themselves, two bombardments by heavy ships and one cruiser and destroyer sweep taking place. The results of indirect fire bombardments were each carried out in daylight by 3 battleships and a cruiser division against the steel works at Kamaishi and Muroran were on the whole disappointing Photographic evidence showing that only 9% and 1% of roof damage respectively, had been done to the targets. On the whole the lack of damage was due to bad air spotting under difficult conditions which led the ships to believe at the time that their salvoes were falling on the target. CTF’s 38 Staff, although realizing the moral effect of a ship bombardment both to the fleet and to those at the receiving end, were of the opinion that the dispersal of strength and the complications they entailed to any strike program made them unproductive specially as it was considered that more damage could have been inflicted to these plants by the total CAP flown to cover these three groups during their absences for TF38, that is 120 fighters sorties each carrying a 1000 lb bomb. The cruiser and destroyer sweep on the night of 13-114 July close in shore between latitudes 40 and 41 North in an area which had been covered by strike aircraft, drew the expected blank. Good ship recognition saved a heavy attack on the Bombardment group bombarding Muroran, as for an unexplained reason, one large strike suddenly saw them through the clouds when they had no idea friendly ships were in the area.

24. In the evening of July 15th, TF 38 retired to the fueling rendezvous where next day all ships were fueled and re-armed in readiness for the two day strikes in the Tokyo area. TF 37 less Indefatigable, was in the fueling area and joined Third Fleet. That morning a meeting was held in Missouri which was attended by the staffs, of TF 37, TF 38 and ACI to clear up any outstanding points and was a great success. As expected TF 37, under tactical control of Commander Third Fleet was stationed 12 miles on the Northern flank of the 3 groups of Task Force 38 and for all intents and purposes acted as the 4th Task Group of Task Force 38, but to keep within the law all signals to CTF 37 made by CTF 38, were repeated and not addressed to him. No difficulties were foreseen or expected in working together except the tightness of TF 37's fueling arrangements.

End of extract

[RSwank]

Does some of this sound familiar?? (See post #2.)

From this link describing an attack on Chiba (which is near Tokyo, 100s of miles from Sapporo) on July 6, 1945:

https://military-history.fandom.com/...n_World_War_II

Air Raid of July 6, 1945
On the night of July 6, 1945, 129 B-29 Superfortress from the USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing departed from Saipan. Five aircraft were forced back, but the remaining 124 aircraft arrived over Chiba at 0139 hours and commenced a firebombing attack with 889 tons of E-46 500 lbs incendiary cluster bombs and 500 lbs T4E4 fragmentation cluster bombs on the central part of the city from an altitude of 9900 to 11,500 feet, lasting until 0305 hours.[4] The E46 incendiary bombs were set to open at 5000 feet, releasing incendiary devices on the largely wooden city. The resultant firestorm destroyed 43.5% of the city. The estimated civilian casualties in the July 6 raid was 1,204 killed. The B-29 bombers returned to the Mariana Islands without damage or loss, although 14 aircraft were forced to divert to Iwo Jima due to mechanical problems.



889 tons divided by 124 planes come out to a little over 7 tons of bombs per plane. (See post #5.) Note the maximum bomb load of a B-29 was 10 tons and the maximum was not carried on long distance raids.

I think this Chiba report was somehow garbled or copied in part and became part of the description of the "supposed" B-29 Sapporo attack (post #2).
The casualties as given in post 2 may be the actual 2 day totals resulting from the navy attacks on all of Hokkaido.

[R Leonard]

But Chiba is across the bay from Tokyo, some 520 miles from Sapporo.

[R Leonard]

Summary reports Com3dFlt for 14 & 15 July 1945:

OPERATIONAL SUMMARY
Task Force 38

Target – Hokkaido and Northern Honshu
(A) Date . . . 14 July 1945.
(B) Offensive sorties . . . 871 (including 11 spotters, 12 spot CAP, 83 photo, 48 SubCAP, 13 Rescue CAP, 8 weather search).
(C) Defensive sorties . . . 302 CAP, 106 Bombardment CAP, 103 Radar Picket CAP.
(E) Bombs, Rockets dropped . . . 336.4 tons, 1809 rockets.
(F) Own aircraft losses by combat . . . Total 13 – 3 F6F, 3 F4U, 4 SB2C, 2 VT.
(G) Own aircraft lost operationally . . . Total 11 – 4 F6F, 2 F4U, 3 SB2C, 2 VT.
(H) Persons lost – combat . . . 5 pilots - 1 F6F, 1 F4U, 2 SB2C, 1 TBM.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 crewmen – 2 SB2C, 2 TBM.
(I) Persons lost operationally . . . 4 pilots – 1 F6F, 2 SB2C, 1 TBM.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 crewmen – 1 SB2C, 2 TBM, 1 Chief Aerographer’s Mate.
(J) Ships sunk . . . Total 24 ships, 52 small craft totaling approximately 41,000 tons – 3 train ferries at Aomori (photos for two), 1 train ferry at West Tsugaru Strait (photos), 1 DE at Fukushima (photos) 1 medium AK at northeast Aomori Wan (photos), 1 small AK at Fukugama Wan (photos), 2 small AK in west Tsugaru Strait (photos), 1 large lugger in west Tsugaru Strait (photos), 1 train ferry in west Tsugaru Strait, 1 large AK 5 miles west of Fukushima, 1 large AK 3 miles south of Hakodate, 4 luggers in Hakodate area, 3 picket boats in east Tsugaru Strait, 1 medium AK at Kushiro, 1 lugger At Kushiro, 23 small boats at Kushiro, 1 PC at Kamaishi. 2 luggers at Kamaishi, 1 small AK at Nomure, 1 trawler in east Tsugaru Strait, 1 ODD at Hakodate, 1 Medium AK at Hakodate, 14 luggers at Hakodate, 1 small AK 17 miles east of Shiriya Pt., 1 medium AK at Muroran, 1 FF (Kaibokan) at Muroran (photo), 6 luggers at Muroran.
(L) Ships damaged . . . Total 45 ships, 88 small craft totaling approximately 58,000 tons – 1 train ferry beached and burning at Aomori (photos), 2 small AK in west Tsugaru Strait (photos), 2 small AK in Fukugama Wan (photos), 1 train ferry at Hakodate, 1 train ferry at south central Mutsu Wan, 1 DE 30 miles north of Hachinohe, 1 small AK 1 mile north of Oma Saki, 1 DE or PF 3 miles south of Hakodate, 1 DE or PF at central Tsugaru Strait, 1 large AK at Ishinomaki Wan, 4 small AO at Ishinomaki Wan, 1 small AK at Ishinomaki Wan, 3 small AK at Hakodate, 1 medium AK at Hakodate, 1 lugger at Hakodate, 1 lugger 15 miles southeast of Hakodate, 1 dredge 2 miles north of Shiriya Saki, 1 LST 1 mile south of Shiriya Saki, 1 Tug in east Tsugaru Strait, 7 luggers in Tsugaru Strait, 8 small craft in Tsugaru Strait, 1 medium AK at Kushiro, 1 small AK at Kushiro, 2 luggers at Kushiro, 25 small craft at Kushiro, 1 medium AK off Shiranuka, 1 small AK off Otonoshike, 1 small AK off Otonoshike, 3 Medium AK at Nomure, 7 small craft along south coast of Hokkaido, 2 medium AK at Hakodate, 1 small AK at Hakodate, 3 PF (Kaibokan) at Muroran, 2 small AO at Muroran, 3 luggers at Muroran, 1 DE near Erimo Saki, 1 PC at Sihikade, 2 small AK 5 miles south of Shiriya Saki, 4 luggers 5 miles south of Shiriya Saki, 1 small AK at Mukawa, 2 luggers at Mukawa, 10 luggers at Uchiura, 8 luggers in Tsugaru Strait.
(M) Airborne aircraft destroyed . . . 1 BETTY.
(O) Airborne aircraft damaged . . . 1 BETTY.
(P) Aircraft destroyed on ground . . . 7 S/E, 20 T/E.
(R) Aircraft damaged on ground . . . 21 S/E, 19 T/E
(U) Ground targets destroyed . . . 36 locomotives, 4 freight cars, 1 RR bridge at Obihiro, 4 hangars at Shigetsu, 1 large building at Shiranura, 1 oil storage tank at Nonnai, 1 radio station 5 miles east of Hakodate.
(V) Ground targets damaged – 17 locomotives damaged by rockets and strafing, 3 bomb hits on Hakodate warehouses, 13 bomb hits on north and south ferry slips at Hakodate, Shiriya Saki lighthouse rocketed, 7 RR trains strafed and rocketed, 1 hangar burned at Misawa (photo), 1 hangar burned at Matsushima, Shiriya Saki radio station rocketed and strafed, 6 bomb hits on Wanishi Coke Ovens, 3 hits on adjacent buildings, 1 warehouse bombed at Hakodate, 1 factory building bombed at Sarabute, 2 at Tomakomai, Wanishi RR yards bombed at strafed, Sawara barracks fired, Orirushi RR bridge hit with rockets, 300 feet of RR line at Shiraoi torn up by bombs and rockets, 20 blocks burned, oil depot fired at Akkeshi SS, Shibetau marshalling yards rocketed, triple loading sheds and conveyor at Kushiro Coal mine bombed, paper mill at Kushiro fired, Ikeda RR station bombed, Erimo Saki radar station strafed, many other buildings and installations in south Hokkaido bombed, strafed, and rocketed.

OPERATIONAL SUMMARY
Task Force 38

Target Hokkaido-North Honshu.
(A) Date . . . 15 July 1945
(B) Offensive sorties . . . 966 (includes 10 spotters, 13 spot CAP, 125 photo, 82 Rescue and SubCAP.
(C) Defensive sorties . . . 296 CAP, 116 Bombardment Group CAP,99 Radar picket CAP.
(E) Bombs, Rockets dropped . . . 335 tons; 2,093 rockets.
(F) Own A/C lost – combat . . . Total 11 – 5 F4U, 4 F6F, 2 TBM.
(G) Own A/C lost operationally . . . Total 7 – 3 F4U, 3 F6F, 1 TBM
(H) Personnel lost - combat . . . 5 pilots 3 F4U, 1 F6F, 1 TBM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . crewmen 2 TBM
(I) Personnel lost – operationally . . . 1 pilot
(J) Ships sunk . . . 20 ships, 45 small craft, totaling 30,000 tons. 1 train ferry; 1 medium AO; 7 medium AK; 7 small AK; 1 DE; 3 tugs; 31 luggers; 14 small craft
(L) Ships damaged . . . 16 ships 86 small craft totaling 30,000 tons. 1 medium AO; 2 small AO; 7 medium AK; 3 small AK; 1 PF; 1 PC; 1 Chidori Class TB;1 dredging barge; 49 luggers; 37 small craft.
(P) Enemy A/C destroyed on ground . . . Total 10 – 5 S/E 4 Jake. 1 Emily.
(R) Enemy A/C damaged on ground . . . Total 6 – 6 S/E.
(U) Ground targets destroyed . . . 48 locomotives; 20 city blocks of Kushiro burned.
(V) Ground targets damaged . . . 28 locomotives; warehouses, RR yards; factory buildings, paper mills, ammo dumps, canneries, RR stations, docks, throughout Hokkaido,

[Leendert]

Website history.navy.mil provides several pictures of the 14/15 July 1945 USN bombing missions to Hokkaido, including the sinking of the ferries. Just enter Hokkaido in 'search'.

In June 1945 there had been a B-29 recce mission to Hokkaido.

Out of scope: would the B-32 have had the range from Guam?

Regards,
Leendert

[RSwank]

Leendert,

Found this article on the B-32:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/re...minator-188717

They did have a 20% longer range than the B-29 (with the same bomb load).

When based in the Philippines they did fly some combat missions over Formosa and the Philippines. They were then moved to Okinawa but apparently only flew recon missions over Japan. The last airman killed in the war, Sergeant Anthony Marchione, was in a B-32 making a photo recon run over Tokyo on August 18th, 1945. The plane was attacked by Japanese fighters.

[25Kingman49]

Thank you, Rolland,
Here are a couple of maps to help visualize the location of these places.
Akita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Akita#/map/0
B-29 original operational range map (this range was stretched by the end of the war from bases in the Marianas)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing...AF-V-map5t.jpg
original source for this map.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/V/AAF-V-1.html
The likelihood of B-29 attacks on Sapporo and Hokkaido in general seem to be dwindling. Still looking forward to any response by Pacific Wrecks on this topic where it appears they have data of these attacks but failed to cite sources for their data.

[25Kingman49]

Thank you, Leendert.
The Hokkaido photo galley content from the Naval History and Heritage Command referenced by Leendert in Post No. 25 can be viewed here for those interested.
https://www.history.navy.mil/content...tml?q=Hokkaido

[25Kingman49]

Here is another article similar to the one by Rolland in Post No. 26 relative to B-32 vs B-29 with a few supporting photos. The lack of a pressurized cabin in the B-32 was a significate handicap of this airframe compared to the B-29 capabilities.
https://warisboring.com/the-dominato...0the%20B%2D29.
An aside, Sgt Anthony James “Tony” Marchione last airman killed in the war remembered here
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...ames-marchione