252 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 1944–1955
△ The B-29 Superfortress
The Superfortress was one of the
most advanced weapons of World
War II, costing more than $3 billion
to develop. It featured an analog
computer-controlled firing system
for its machine guns.Jan 14, 1945 A precision
bombing raid on the
Mitsubishi Aircraft Works
in Nagoya fails.Mar 16–17, 1945 The center
of Osaka is reduced to ashes
by a firebombing raid.Feb 24, 1945 B-29s attack Tokyo
from Saipan in the Mariana Islands.
Mar 9–10, 1945 Tokyo is firebombed;
Operation Meetinghouse destroys
a quarter of the city.May 29–30, 1945
A third of Yokohama is
destroyed by firebombs.Jun 15, 1944 The Imperial Iron
and Steel Works in Yahata are
bombed by more than 50 B-29s
based in China.FromTaskForce^38Fr
om(^) T
as
k
Fo
rce
(^58)
Fr
om
T
as
k
Fo
rc
e^
38
Fro
m^
Ta
sk
Fo
rce
58
From
Che
ngdu
,
Chin
a
Fr
om
O
kin
aw
a
From Task Force 38
From Marianas
From Marianas
From Iwo Jima
Sado
Hon
shu
Kyushu
Shikoku
H
ok
k
a
id
o
T
s
u
s
h
im
a^
S
t
r
a
i
t
S
e
a
o
f^
J a
p a
n
(
E
a s
t^
S e
a )
P
A
C
I
F
I
C
O
C
E
A
N
K O R
E
A
Fujisawa
Numazu
Hiratsuka
Kanazawa
Okayama Nagoya
Himeji
Fukuyama
Nobeoka
Oita
Uwajima
Kochi
Matsuyama
Imabari
Kure
Aki
Tokushima
Takamatsu
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Sasebo
Kyoto Hachioji Tokyo
Yokkaichi
Kobe
Akashi
Osaka
Sakai
Matsue Tottori
Sakata
Utsunomiya
Hitachinaka
Mito
Choshi
Kawasaki
Kawaguchi
Yokohama
Niigata
Nagaoka
Chiba
Maebashi
Isesaki
Kofu
Kumagaya
Takaoka
Toyama
Fukui
Tsuruga
Shizuoka
Hamamatsu
Shimizu
Toyohashi
Okazaki
Uji-Yamada
Kuwana
Tsu
Wakayama
Gifu
Ogaki Ichinomiya
Kagoshima
Yahata
Kita-Kyushu
Fukuoka
Shimonoseki
Ulsan
Pusan
Koje-do
Yeosu
Goheung
Ube
Moji
Kumamoto
Omuta
Saga
Muroran
Aomori
Hakodate
Hachinohe
Kamaishi
Otaru
J
A
P
A
N
RAIDING FROM THE MARIANAS
OCTOBER 12, 1944–MARCH 8, 1945
By October 1944, the US had built the first
of five new air bases in the Mariana Islands,
south-east of Japan. Each was capable of
accommodating 80 B-29s, the first of which
arrived on October 12. A three-month precision-
bombing campaign began, but results were
poor. Bad weather made accurate bombing
difficult, and bomber casualty rates were running
at nearly six percent by February 1945.
2
Bombing raids from the Mariana Islands
A CHANGE OF TACTICS
MARCH 9–AUGUST 15, 1945
In March, General Curtis LeMay, in charge of the
air forces in the Marianas, decided to switch from
daytime to nighttime bombing and to focus on
the large-scale firebombing of Japan’s major cities.
On the night of March 9, 16 sq miles (41 sq km) of
Tokyo were burned out; the cities of Osaka, Kobe,
and Nagoya were razed over the next nine days.
3
Primary
firebomb targets
Secondary
firebomb targets
EARLY RAIDS FROM CHINA
JUNE 15, 1944–JANUARY 6, 1945
The air offensive against Japan began in June
1944 with a series of nine precision bombing raids
made by B-29s flying from Chengdu in China. The
attacks did little damage. Only about 880 tons
(800 metric tons) of bombs were dropped, and the
long distance from the base meant that planes were
only able to reach Japan’s third largest island, Kyushu.
1
Bombing raids from China
US_252-253_The_bombing_of_Japan.indd 252 20/03/19 3:56 PM