This was a night incendiary mission involving 35 aircraft from the 6th Bomb Group:
Target for the 1 July mission was Ube, located on Honshu about fifteen miles east of Shimonoseki. Thirty-nine airplanes were airborne with a bomb load of 1399 one hundred pound incendiaries. Two ships lost an engine soon after takeoff and were forced to jettison their bombs and become early returns. The thirty-seven others bombed the primary target and striking clusters burned out 1.8 sq mi of the built-up area. The Japs offered little defense – four fighters were sighted but none attacked the formations.
[Pirate’s Log, p. 49]
20th AF Mission 242
| Date: | 1 July 1945 |
| Target: | Ube Urban Area |
| Participating Units: | 313th BW |
| Number of A/C Airborne: | 112 |
| % A/C Bombing Primary: | 89% (100 A/C) |
| Type of Bombs and Fuzes: | AN-M47A2 (100lb incendiary bombs fuzed instantaneous nose) E46 (500lb incendiary clusters set to open 5,000 feet above target) |
| Tons of Bombs Dropped: | 714.6 tons |
| Time Over Primary: | 0147K – 0312K |
| Altitude of Attack: | 10,000 – 11,600 |
| Weather Over Target: | 0/10 – 5/10 |
| Total A/C Lost: | 0 |
| Resume of Mission: | Photo reconnaissance showed 23% of the built-up area had been destroyed. Seventy-one A/C bombed visually and 29 by radar. Twelve A/C were non-effective. Twelve E/A sighted made 3 attacks. No claims. Flak was heavy and medium, meager to moderate and inaccurate. Twenty-two A/C landed at Iwo Jima. Average bomb load; 14,958 lbs. Average fuel reserve: 716 gallons. |
