7-25-14
(on July 16, 1945, in the desert near Los Alamos, New Mexico, a newly-developed bomb was tested [cynically called “The Trinity Test”] for the first time.)
The ships of the Task Force were within one hundred miles of Honshu, Japan by July 24. The carriers would unload deckloads of fighters and bombers, targeting major industrial cities (e.g. Kobe) and the Kure Naval Base in the Inland Sea. The ships slowly moved northward up the coast, and by the 29th, the heavy ships, including the Boston, pummeled targets in and around Hamamatsu with their big guns.
The War was coming to a close, but nobody knew it yet.
July 25, 1945: This morning planes took off the carriers to bomb the Kure Naval Base. Several bogies were snooping around, a Myrth was shot down over 38.1. During the late afternoon a group was picked up heading our way, but C.A.P. shot most of them down. A few of them got through. The British task group shot down a Grace and later another was shot down. We are retiring from the area and we will fuel tomorrow.
July 28, 1945: Early this morning planes took off to hit the Jap Naval Base at Kure. More hits were reported on Jap battle wagons and heavy cruisers. There were no Jap planes that came near the force during the day. Bogies were reported, but they all turned out to be our own planes. We retired from the area at about 1800 hours.
from Frank Studenski’s War Diary