Allied naval bombardments of Japan during World War II

Allied naval bombardments of Japan
Part of the Pacific War, World War II
USS Indiana bombarding Kamaishi, Japan on 14 July 1945
Date July–August 1945 Location Four Japanese cities, and several military facilities and towns Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  New Zealand	Japan
Casualties and losses
32 (POWs killed in the bombardments of Kamaishi)	Up to 1,739 killed Up to 1,497 wounded Damage to industrial facilities Damage to urban areas

During the last weeks of World War II, warships of the United States Navy, the British Royal Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Navy bombarded industrial and military facilities in Japan. Most of these bombardments involved battleships and caused heavy damage to several of the factories targeted, as well as nearby civilian areas. A major goal of the attacks was to provoke the Japanese military into committing some of its reserve force of aircraft into battle. However, the Japanese did not attempt to attack the Allied bombardment forces, and none of the involved warships suffered any damage.

The major bombardments began on 14 and 15 July 1945, when US Navy warships attacked the cities of Kamaishi and Muroran. The next attack was made by a joint American and British force against the city of Hitachi during the night of 17/18 July. Groups of cruisers and destroyers subsequently shelled the Nojima Saki and Shionomisaki areas on 18 July and the night of 24/25 July, respectively. On 29 July, American and British warships attacked Hamamatsu, and on the night of 30/31 several American destroyers shelled Shimizu. The final bombardment took place on 9 August, when Kamaishi was attacked again by American, British and New Zealand warships. Two US Navy submarines conducted small-scale attacks during June and July 1945; one of the submarines also landed a small raiding party.

The Allied naval bombardments disrupted industrial production in the cities targeted, and convinced many Japanese civilians that the war was lost. Up to 1,739 Japanese were killed in the attacks, and as many as 1,497 were wounded. The only Allied casualties were 32 prisoners of war, who were killed in the bombardments of Kamaishi.

By mid-1945, cities and industrial facilities in the Japanese home islands were under sustained attack from United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers based in the Mariana Islands. Attacks by Allied submarines and surface ships had also cut most of the country's trade routes, and US Navy aircraft carrier task groups had raided locations in the home islands on several occasions. Shortages of fuel had confined most of the Imperial Japanese Navy's surviving ships to port and forced them and the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service to hold its air units in reserve against the Allied invasion that was expected to be launched late in the year. Prior to the war, the Japanese military had assessed that coastal artillery was no longer suited to the country's circumstances. As a result, only a few strategic ports were protected by artillery capable of engaging enemy warships, and most of these guns were of relatively small calibers.

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