MISSION SUMMARY

Mission Number 187

 

  1. Date:  1 June 1945
     
  1. Target:  Osaka Urban Area
     
  1. Participating Units:  58th, 73rd, 313th and 314th Bombardment Wings
     
  1. Number A/C Airborne:  509
     
  1. % A/C Bombing Primary:  91.6%  (458 primary and 16 opportunity)
     
  1. Type of Bombs and Fuzes:  M-17-30.7, 31.3, 31.9, 32.5, and 31 sec. nose:  M- 47 – instantaneous nose and non-delay tail:  E-46-33.3, 34.4, 35.2, 35.5, and 36.3, and 36.5 sec.  tail, and M-26 (T4E4) -14, 14.5, 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 nose fuzings.
     
  1. Tons of Bombs Dropped:  2788.5 Primary and 102.2 Opportunity
     
  1. Time Over Primary:  1028K  - 1200K
     
  1. Altitude of Attack:  18,000  - 28,500 feet
     
  1. Weather Over Target:  0/10  - 10/10
     
  1. Total A/C Lost:  10
     
  1. Resume of Mission:  Approximately 3.4 square miles were destroyed by this mission, north and northwest of the castle.  Total damage to Osaka is now 14.65 square miles or 24 percent of the built-up portion of the city.  Eighty-five E/A sighted made 221 attacks and damaged 4 B-29’s.  Claims were 16-9-4.  Flak was heavy, meager to intense, and accurate to inaccurate, accounting for 5 B-29’s.  Two A/C collided at assembly, 2 were lost due to mechanical reasons, and 1 to unknown causes.  Thirty-five A/C were non-effective.  Of the 4 crews that bailed-out, all but 2 men were rescued.  Fighter escort was formed by 148 P-51’s, but a majority turned back.  Twenty-seven P-51’s and 26 fighter pilots were lost due to severe weather conditions.  Eighty-one B-29’s landed at Iwo Jima.  Average Bomb Load:  12,364 lbs.  Average Fuel Reserve:  655 gallons.

 

 

 

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