•

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••
. I
XXI
.,
BOMBER COMMAND
MQNTULY
ACTIVlT-Y
. REPORT
1 •

•,

" ..•.
, .

..
•

1 JUNE 1'115
 XXI BOMBER COMMAND

HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY

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3995 BOMBING SORTIES 421 MINING SORTIES

93 82 28 10
WEATHER STRIKE PHOTO FIGHTER ESCORT SEA SEARe H
SORTIES SORTIES SORTIES , SORTIES

** 102 HOURS FLOWN PER ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT

** 86 HOURS FLOWN PER ASSIGNEO CREW IN THEATER

6.4 LONG RANGE SORTIES PER AIRCRAFT ASSIGNED

*
*
2.0% OF AIRBORNE AIRCRAFT LOST

93". OF AIRBORNE AIC BOMBED ALL TARGETS

*
24594 TONS RELEASED ON ALL TARGETS

6.4 TONS CARRIED PER AIRBORNE AIRCRAFT

"RD scu
 A
INITIALS: /10.
DATE: 5 June 1 4 5

XXI oottBER cn,;:tJ;.ND

,
MONTHLY ACT.IVITY RE?ORT

5 Ju.:'!e 1945

PART I S':'RE:«j.TH OF THE CQ'.::aAND

Pf...~ II USE CF AIRCRAFT AUD CRU!S

P;.R1' III atAIlli'ENANCE AND OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING

USi!. OF AIRCRAFT AIID CRE.llS

PART IV EF?..GTIVENESS OF AHl.CAAFT ON MISSIOR3

PART V RESTJLTS

PAItT VI COST OF !.lISSIONS

rART VII APPENDIX

Prepared By
J3:d ~~atist1cal Control Unit

-1-
 PART I -- STRE.IIIGTH OF THE COMiMND

1. Hovoment of Units

Rith only a few exceptions, all units n5si~ned or attached to

Hel'dqual'ter:>, XXI Bomber Command and its five llings he-va non arrived in the
Ulcnter. 'rho rernaining one-third of the 58th Wing ground echelon ,;ill
arri'le in June ,.13 \li11 the 827th Chamiclli Company. All ground echelons of
thu 315th Wing are in rl1ace, but flight echelons are arriving slowly due
to fnilure to complete Northwest Field on schedule, and this movement ~ill
not be completed untU July. All units of the 509th Composite Group are
no's .in place or enroute (lXC£lpt for the 1st Ordnnnce Squadron, scheduled to
arrivL: in June and July. The 41st Photo Reconnnissance Squadron is due to
ani V<:l in t.)."e theater in June. All units of the Cotlbut Staging Center are
n~ in p~ucu at Iwo.

-, 2, Personnol Rtrength

At the Gnd of the nonth th.s strength of the COlTlll'Umd in the theater
~as 8,888 officers e.nd 46,192 enlisted nen, or u tot&l of 57,080 compared
to [tn ultimate strC'ngth of about 79,500 personnel.

3. AircrLft and Cl'a,,' Stronglh

As of 1 June, I:.ho COtllnand had 709 u.ircr~ft sod 8'12 crews in the
thc£'.tcr compl',red to 616 drcraf't <.nd 770 C1''::178 uS of 1 ~,!ay (-lnd a proj ected
Iluthorized :;trcngth of 993 ·,p.Jr:r heuvy nircr:."ft llnd 1639 very heLvy creVis on
I Dcc~mb(.t' 1945. Th" inc1'0[<.50 in strength for tho month w.::;.s lorg€ly dUel to
thE: arriv~l of 58t.h i'!ing aircraft, thc other Wings remc.ining at &bout the
same strength. The cssi~~cd cre~ to ~ircraft ratio for 1 June ~ms only 1,2
to 1, tho sllme ratio /1:; the previous J:lonth, The projected strength, ho;.:ever,
\'"ill ultim~tely bt::: 1.65 to 1.

Ba~"d on l,ltcst cru\" flo~, informution Hnd also on estimatBs from

the 58th r:.nd 7,3rd V:ings O!l the crews QxpectC'd to complete their tour of
duty in June, losses nill exceed repl: cElmcnts by u.bout 41 crews io June.
Approxir.:r-tl":J1y lOS crmls are expected to complete their tour of duty and
7$ crcv:s (4871.. plnnoed sorties }: 1.6% loss rute) ,Lrc expectr.:d to be lost
through attrition. This totl..l of 183 crew::: i" cOI,lpnred to the 142 crmls
expectL;d to arriv., during the month. The In.rge outflow of crem:; during
these first felf months of cretlS complHting their tours will not be as
serious as previously nnticiplitod b,"cl..us", of thu I"dditional crer,'s to be
Bent to the COmJn::nd beginning in July. HO'i11:1ver, until'these crews arrive
tho Conunll.nd does fnce t. dll':'linution of its effort and (tn apparent decretlse
in its cre\,: oxperiuoce. lovC'l. Til£: pruBent 101'1 CrGY1S to uircrllft rntio
and l!IC.."(lmu,ll effort conditiQns plus thE. fllilurr: to meet immotw-c theuter
requiremEJilts b;'r buildint ur. un eXC€lLf, of Cre1':8 ovur the required hr..ve
Ittreely prc'vcnted bomb V-0UPI; from ",quf,lizing their era\,: experi"ncE. c..t
dosired l<:vels. Hence, ClIO of 1 June th(, ?3rd lling found i tscH .;0'1 th 1..1%
of its pilots ond ~irpl.ulC cOII\l1t:l1dvrG hu.ving in excess of 21 crew credit
sorties, nnd tho 58th ring MYI,. The 313th Wing hrd 35% of its pilot credit
:,ortiu bunched in the 16-?O flortio cluss. It ~_s no·" oxpectud thnt enough
-.ddit.iOlV.l cTtmS will arrive in timo to preclude these lurga blocks of
creil~ from completing their 1:.0\'1' ~ithin disproportio~tely short periods
of' time.

- 2 -
 PARr I -- STRENGTH OI" THE Cm,tMND

L Movement of Uuits

';i1th only a fe.. exceptions, nIl unlts nssl~ned or attached to

He~dqual'ter:': X.1l'.:I Bomber Command and its five l/ln&5 he.vc now arrived in the
theater. 'fhe recaining one-third of the 58th \'ling ground echelon uill \
arrht.. in June r.s will the 827th Chemical Company. All ground echelons of
the J15th Wing nrc in plnca, but flight eeh£:lons are arriving slowly due
to feilure to CQ;!lr1ctc iJorthr:est Field on schedule. and this DQvecent '" ill
nt.ot bE" cOi.lpleted until July. All units of the 509t1~ Cocposite Group are
n~ lr. place or enroute except for the 1st QrCnnnee Squadron. scheduled to
oniv.,; in June IUld July. The 41st Photo Rcconnnissanee Squadron is due to
crriv~ in t.'le thent.er in JunE'. All unito of the Coahut Stltging Center ore
now in p:i!l.CU at 1\10.

•. 2. Forsoonol 8t.renrt,h
At t'le Gnd of tile r:onth th£ strcugt.h of the COllllll£.l1d in the theater
..as 8,MS officf'rs e.nd L.b,192 enlisted oen, 0'; l.1 totd of 57,080 compared
to t'n ultim.:.lte strength of about 79,500 personnel.

J. A.ircr, ft and ere" Strength

As of 1 June, the COl:'.llWld had 709 :.:.lrcr<lft s.ud 8'12 crews in the
thccter comp'.r'ld to 616 Hircr(:.ft uld 770 cr.:..;g (.I.S of I Hay t!nd a project€d
DuthOT:ized strcncth of 993 vcry heL~' r.ircr~.ft vnd 1639 very hev.vy crews on
1 [)t;cl.:r\bc.r ll)45. Thl: incre:~sc in :;trength for the month was lllrgcly du€ to
Ule lllTivLl of 58th l":inf aircrcft, the ot.her Wings remuining at .,bout the
5amc strenE'th. The cssi;tncd cre,', to rircrnft ratio for 1 June til:s only 1.2
to 1, UI{' snmc ratio 11S the previous conth. The projoctt::d strength, ho;:ever,
i"il1 ultimc:tcly be 1.65 to 1.

Unfed on l.J.test crt::\ flo'\", information "nd also on cst1lll1ltcs from

tho 58th and 73rd Y::!.ngs 0' the crc~1G cxpcctC'd to complete their tour of
duty ill June, lo::;sc~ nill exceed repl: Cf,;monts by u.bout 41 crews in June.
Approximnkly 105 crmls urc c:-.pccted to complCJte their tour of duty and
78 crcv:s (4871.. pLumed sartiN: ~: 1.6% 10fJS l:utO) tirE. expoctc,d to be lost
tbrough attri tion. Thi::; tot!..l of 183 crows j,n cOI,l~rod to tho 142 crcllS
cXJJ(~ctl)d to urriw durint the month. The l:~rge outflow of cre,ls during
t1HHiC fIrst fm .. l:lontils of cre.ls completing their tours will not be CIS
serious as previously rmticipatod bcc.. us~ 1)1' t.hu !,dditionnl C'r€=';:S to be
Gent to thu Cormn:~nd bt:!Einning in July. HO'i7u¥cr, until theso crews arrive
tJl(, COll\lM.nd docs fnce L.. diminution of its effort llJld fin oppnront decreuse
in its crc,: 'lxperluncc levl'L Th£: pr.... r;ellt 10.1 cru\"IZ to aircraft rntio
Bnd ~~im~~ effort conditions plus th~ feilur~ to meet i~~ture theater
rccluircJIl€'lts by bl:ildinl: u~ <J1 exccfI:'> of crc-:J3 over tho required h&ve
InrBCIJ prlv.. :lted bomb f!"oups from oo.quf.l1:-.ing tlluir crc..... cxperi"nce.. tot
doaired l"v&ls. Hence, itS of 1 June thi: 7Jrd mng found itsolf r;ith 41%
of it:'> pilots and ~irp1,~lle comrll..nd.. . rs h..ving in excess of 21 crew credit
~ort.1cs, -nd thr; 58th ling 1."1-. The J13th J1ng hrd 35J; of its pilot credit
sorti;: s hUlChcd in the 16-20 :>orti,~ clll.ss. It ~.s no.. o:xpcckd thnt enough
...ddition. I crCl" s Tiill nrri'le in tilllO to preclude these 1n.rgc. blocks of
cre,'s from comr-l("ting their to\'l' \':ithin dlsproportlonl'ltt'ly short periods
of time.

- 2 -
 PART II. USE OF AIRCRAFr AND cnE'i1S

l. li2.u r !J £. Sorties Flown Per 8-29 Aircraft am Crew

SuMM/,RY OF HOURS & SORTIES

58TH 73RD 313TH 314TH XXI Be
MAY APR MAY APR MAY APR l'tAY APR MAY
Aver B-~ A/c Asgd 154 179 192 173 177 146 186 512 710
fl.(.tcr B-29 Crews A,gd 168 249 235 217 213 180 223 659 841
Total Coobti. t Sorties 923 1409 1269 1112 1167 966 1191 3487 4558
Sorties Per A Ic Asgd 6.0 7.9 6.6 6./~ 6.6 6.6 6.4 6.8 6.4
Sorties Pe.r GreH Asgd 5.5 5.7 5.4 5.1 5·5 5·4 5·4 5.3 5.4
8-29 Hours F'lo..-m -

Per Ale Asgd - Conbat 85 108 91 88 92 98 96 96 91

Per Ale Asgd - Total 94 117 102 100 105 115 107 lOS 102
-. Per Cre;: tsgd - Gocbat 78 78 74 70 77 79 80 74 77
Per Cre,\;, AsgC. - Tot.al 86 84 8J SO 87 9J 59 84 86
f1Vi'f.: COI'l:IDrd totnl ir.cl"Ud.. s J15th \;ing M;:.y figures.
ks shown in the above table, 102.2 houre per assigned &ircraft were
flo\m Quring May compared to 107.8 hours i!l April arrl the planned figure
in April of 100 hours. 1'oi" decrease "as f>.xpected because of the arrival
of 58th an:! J15th fling aircraft, mich flen 94.1 hours am 37.,3 hours per
aircraft, respectivel;,.·, em because the planned flying time for the ?3rd,
.313th, arrl ,31.4th Wings called for approximately the DUClber of hours am
sorties per aircraft that 17ere performad. The 58th lacks one-third of its
maintel'llll'.ce personrnl, and the :3l5th will not become fully operational. un-
til July.
An exacination 01 each Wing's performance in terms of hours and sor-
ties flown per aircraft and crew on hand, discloses that the 7,3rd Wing,
l1ith an increase of 13 aircraft during t.he month arrl a decrease of 14 crews,
fle>'l fm"l'er sortie!> am hoUTs tum the previous mont~. The 313th Wing, with
a slight increase in aircraft and slight decrease in crews, bettered their
April rocord. The 3~t!l Wing, I1'ith un increase of about 40 aircraft an:!
Cre17$, flew le;1$ flying hoUTs than the month before arrl about the same
number of sorties.

Tho Cor.unand again fleil an exce~sive number of hours per assigned

creu in the theater in Mey, attaining 86.2 hours compared to 83.8 hours in
April, 86.4 in ~lQrch, an:! the 60 hours planning figure prescribed for long
torm utilization of crens. As indicated in Part I of this report, the
continuation of the ratio of assigned crews to aircraft at only 1.2 to 1
makes it difficult to reduce the excessive nunbcr of hours flOI'm per crew.
B-29 B-29
HOURS FLaI'lN PER A/c HOURS FLOWN pm CP..EW

COMBAT TRl'li OTHER TOTAL C~.mAT TRtli OTHER TarAL

34.75 1.37 1.69 37.81 26.02 1.03 1.16 28.31

50.20 1.51 3·10 55.41 )).91 1.02 2·50 37.43

JAN 36.80 9.93 11.25 57.98 26.97 7.28 8.25 42.50

FEB 42.09 12.79 5.11 59·99 ),3.40 10.15 4.05 47.60

lIAR 101.10 9.78 ").97 114.85 75-94 7.35 2.98 86.27

APR 95.51 11.10 1.20 107.81 74.20 8.62 ·93 83.75

KAY 91.22 9.28 1. 71 102.21 76.97 7.83 1.44 86.24
3. UtlH'l,nt1on of f;ircrhft on Mnx1mum Effort Mi3sion nt,yS

8L,.1% of tLircr,.,ft on hi.md or 74.1% of aircnft ll.lioignEld :.-ere

utilized on Il::'xill'lUm effort oission days durin6 Muy. There ,;erc fhe lll:lXi-
tlUI:1 effort missions during the month, two to NRgOYC., trIO to Tok}'o, nnd one
to YolcollllMa. OJ' tho 84.1% utilized, 80.6% ~7erE1 airborne on combnt rn1s:>ioos
Emu 3.5% 0n other l~i:::sions. The '73rd Wing utilized 89.2% of its nircr,d't
on bf'lId compl.lrGd to 84.7% for t.he 58th Wing, 83.0% for the 3l4th rling und
77.rJ1, for tho 313th Wing.

4. other U5~S of Aircraft

Itl f'ddition to the 3,ens bombing sorties conducted by very heavy

~ircrrft during bff:y, theN :'ere l.21 cdning r.orties, 93 o:e3.th£:r ~trike
mis~ions, 82 photo reconneis~~cc nnd r~dnr scope ml:J~ions, 28 fi[hter
na\'i.gntione.l rnd escort sorties, ::'nd 10 se:' scnrch sorties.

98% of the \:eather strikes \It:re €!ffective durine th.. month

compare-d to 92% in April. Mechnnicnl 1'~ilure \:"as the :Jole reason for the
2% non-€frcctiv~.

Photo roconnllissnnce pcrforr.mnce Iins at thr.! lowest ebb in thr'ee

montha, 34% 01' "irbornl.l aircraft "barting compnred to 16.7% in April and
17% in M~rch. and only 56% of the airborne uircr~ft, getting GOod to exel1ent
J:iloto r..;::;ults elXlparl!u to 63% in ldr'.rch end 78.2% in lIpril. The chief
reuson for the riGe in the non-offcctivo rate \:"QS bed t:eather. 1ergely
duc to the rC<lssigrummt of s£.vernl F-IJ'G to eech HillE in a.ddition to tho
Jrd Photo Rccon.ml.L>sr..nco Squt".dron, tho::;c nircrnft Ilvcrc.go:::d 52.6 hours in
'.tay compnrad to 41 hours hI April Lnd 28 in Morch. The 3rd ihoto Squadron
e.veraged ~5.J hours on tho nircrc..ft :l.n its posscssion. F-13 oircrc:ft,
hOt..::lvel', 'O..ere used for other purposes thr-.n reconn.:lissancc during the conth,
.md ant. UP::; lost on c botlbing mission.

Principle u:::c of the )0 8-24' 5 in the Cor.unnnd durin,s ~y n1':S for

.-rc:\th.,r rccolma1.ssnnce by tho 655th Her thcr Reeonnc.i:ssunco 5qlUidron. They
fl(,:\" 3'J.5 hours pnd 3.7 sordas IJel' drcr[tft, c:.nd 39.2 hours and 3.6 sorties
xx-r ere;" These sorties I,-ere 1()()'".' effcctivC,l.

5. Tnininr:

Trnining timo rcmnined fdrly constant for tk-y, 9% of totel

flying hours belll& used for tro.1ning purposes cornpl'rt.d to 10,£ in April
t.nd C1/. in Yarch. t1inf; fif;UI"es r:cri; 313th fiing - 12%, 31L,th WL""~ - 9%,
56th 'Ring - 8%. nnd 73rd lUng - 7%. The trnining rr0bl'CC cn.lling for
proficiency courses shor'od as of 2 Jum.. the '73rd fling f1il..h Co 2.2% llVert ge
proficiency rc.tlni:, tho 31Jt.h '~in[ 'lith 18%, the 31L,th Wing dth 15%
fOnd the 58th Wing IIith 6%.

Tho JIJth Wing h..::.d the most lea-d crOH flying- training time in
the thc['.ter for tho triO tteck period ended 2 June '.;1th 475 hours cOlllp&re:d
to 219 hOUTS for the 314th ~lng, 132 hours for the 58th Wing and lOB hours
for the 73rd Wine.

- 4 -
 PART III. MAINTEUiiJiCE AIID OTH1:!.R FACTORS AFFECTH'G liSt OF AIRCRAFT AND CR.-lOWS

1. Maintenance

For the past three r...onths, the percent of aircraft on hand which were
in cOIll.'D.ission da:"ly !".a.s shown 8. :.:;tenciy increase, the figures boitJg 47% for
.tarch, 52% I'm' hpril, am ~Z% for May. This increase should have per-
:uitted a higher pGrcent of aircraft on ham scheduleci for missions during
LiuY, altt.ough the p~rcent of scheduled &ctu.').lly cecreased from 24% of plane
days avaih.blc in April to n';t in May. These increases in the percent of
aircr~ft in canmis~ion furth£~ aggr~vate the 1011 ratio of crews to aircraft,
makir~ it increasingly difficult to cren all available planes.

As further shown in Parts IV and VI of this roport, both the number l

of ail'ct'aft aborb and aircraft losses due to maintenance increased slightly \
during Linj'. 6.4% of airborne aircraft aborted in May beCI.l.U$e of maintenar.ce \
and materiel f!:lilurlJll compared to 5.7f., in April and 5.8% in !.'iarch. (see \
tc.ble on p~gc 9). lit the same eime ~l% of aircraft losses 17erc due to r:J.e- \
chunic:::U. :roeasons in May cor.rpared to 11% in April. A large portion of these \
Vlere caused by failures on teJ:e-offb. It should be noted failures of both
equipment and m.:tir.tcnance personnel contributed to this abort increase,
while the por..:ent of 61,€ine fnilurG8 remained cotlste.nt.

Highlighting the maintene.nce picture of the month VlCS the performance

of the. 58th Wir..g, ,,.hieh flew within 6% of the COlllmand Rverage hours and
sorties per as:>igned nil'craf~ although it h~d 25% less maintenance: personnel
per Ale on ham. In addition. this Wing consistently imicated the highest
percentage of aircnft in COLll!u.asion daily am the lowest non-effectiv6 air-
craft ciue to mccLle.nical 0)' ln1l:.ntenfmce personr.el reasons.

In relation to the nu.iber of aircraft st:hGti.uled for nissior.s, the total

mcinteru::nce failures, both air am grou."1d., prc:::;cnt some importar.t relation-
ships \1hic:'l r.;;flect not only on the degree of ;:Jainter.ance, but also on the
differer.ces in the scheduling policy bet',;een the \'lings.

FAILUf..E TO BO?m ANY TARGE.'t

58Tf!. 73RD 313TH 314TH TOTAL

},1J..Y APR !lAY APR MAY APR i.'<AY MAR APR MAY

rOT PLANE DAY3 on HJ 4767 5.383 5939 5192 5480 4372 5753 12424 15364 21960

TuT ~VG se~IDULED 936 1)42 1189 1155 1~82 1098 1238 2023 3595 4545

%OF PLAnE 1I,:(S seiIED 1~.6 24.9 20.0'22.3 21.5 25.1 21.5 16.) 2)·4 20.7

. . F.rI.ILIJP,hS TO TAKE CfF** 18 40 )0 5'1 56 49 66 56 146 170

•.Ir:-..BO:.!IE. :".lmre FAILURES 2.4 32 37 46 39 )0 41 77 108 141-

AIRBORt~ MECE FAIL!JHF.B 10 12 25 22 26 10 19 39 44 80

tt/l.INT PEESQilNEL FAILURES 16 14 15 16 20 8 10 32 38 61

TOTAL 68 98 107 141 141 97 136 204 336 452

~ OF MAnIT FAILUR.ES TO seHED 7.3 7.) 9.012.211.9 8.911.0 10.1 9.) 9.9

D. OF SPARE Ale SUBSTITUTED 7 2 3 3 2 27 21 9 32 33

V GRomID & AIR ABOHTS DUE

TO ;.,{AII~ 61 96 104 138 139 70 115 195 304 419
~ Of NEr ABORTS TO SCHUiULED 6.5 7.2 8.7 1.L.9 1.l.~ 6.4 '7.~ '7.6 0.' '-}.2
. Including all failures resulting in failure to bomb any target .
.. IncluUng only those failures attributablo to maintenance or lIUlterieL
l.tq Tot: 1 pbn... D:.ys en ;i!111d to::- April incluci.e:-; 58th and for :.~ay in:::l'-ides 3l5th.
-5-
 2. \klL,tcnt'.Ilc", nt 11,0

During tho month of Muy, u stendily incrcnsing bncldo[; of grounded \

nircrr'.i't f't 1\·,0 .11m.."I. highlighted t.he exist~ncc of 1'. growing mointennnce
r
probleM. Th~ cxt~nt of cctivity nt INo for tho month is indicated by th~
tc.ble belo_ J cov.::ring t."te four-i:Cck period from 3 tk:ly to 30 Lt<>.y, 1945.

Ll\NDINGS AT mo JIrAJ,

'lEEK
ENDING
TotAL
SORTISS
REFUELInG

NU!1BEil
%"OF
SORTIES
M.AINTElI/lNCE

NW.BER
it OF
SORTIF.S NUMBER
TOTAL
% OF
SORTIES
\
9 ML~r 695 105 15.1 23 3.3 128 18.4
16 1o\.1.Y 1730 64 4.9 26 1.5 110 6.4
23 May 1018 26 2.6 9 .9 35 3·5
30 M-"1Y 1141 .--2J, -.2-'--'- 41 -1.& 102 ---.M
TCYrLL 4584 276 6.0 99 2.2 J?5 8.2

Th!.:l I'vc:rr.gc tlIilC it took to rcpnir rdrcrttft nt 1\/0 during the

month of ,"fl~' if! indicuted by 'the follor:ing tf'blc. Included in the elapsed
til.1t1 is sue:: ~im(l as ,mEl sp.nt by the reptlired drcraft lI\"miting pick up
for rctu..'"tl to its be.se, nn interv.::tl ..' verrging about 1-1/2 de.ys JXlr drplo.ne.

Ave O....YS PLlJffi5

NO. OF NO. OF DAYS LVER.\GE 'rIME ON H;,ND AT EtlO
COMPLETED EIJ,PSED BET"Ull PER COUPLETED OF PERIOD HAD
PERIOD PLANE'S ARRIV/IL & DEPARTURE PLANE BEEll AT Ii'."O

1 Ul·;t - 15 ~y 25 115 4.6 :.5

16 !.lay - :31 !.~y 44 436 9·9 6.8

The principle rOIlSO:lS thct aircr.::tft vert. grounded at 11'10 Cl'.n be

seen in thd t.r,blo bElloti, in Hhich the plnno d"..,ys &rounded arc shol'm for ench
week of tl:o period froe J Iby 1945 to 30 t.hy 1945 .

• BATTLE
DI','!AGE J\OCP
STATUS OF PLMiES AT Fro ( Pl:-.nc IlE'.ys Lost)

;.\'I.\1T
E!m
ENGINE
CH.\<ICE
arllER
ENGINE
HAIfl! msp
OI'HER
!V!INT TUfAL

4J 32 0 19 23 0 ? 124
46 47 24 35 44 2 10 208
35 3 10 103 33 0 14 198
~ ..J -l! 10"< ..M .J< ..li 221
213 91 34 259 142 2 46 ?8?

- 6 -

. .,. :-'. - .::~". li1~

• '~I'-
 ... ,','. '.'.....'.",';'"
:,;".:.:.'

J. .I.binten· ncc of Bom~r COl:!!lt'.nd Aircr:'1ft ,t the GUt'!D Air Depot

DurinC the ~onth of May, GlIam Air Depot showed tl. 5ubstl'ntial 1m-
provomC'nt over ~"r.!'ch I nd April in tho time ('cnsumod in tho ro~ir of 8-29
and F-13 ::-ircrclt, ns indlco.ted in the tp.ble belcm:

NO. OF "Ie 1;,VffiAGE Oi. 'is AVER/~GE ELAPSED

RETUP.NED TO Ale \lE1lE DAYS IlEFOOE
r'lOlrrH TACTICAL UNITS TIl DEPar liORK STARTED

~.£,rch 2 :J6 5
".pril 8 52 8.5
Uny 12 23 3.7

'l'hc bF.cklog of B-29 und F-IJ nircraft on hcmd in the depot in-
crc;>sed fro~ ~ ddl;,' nvcrc.ge of 12.8 plnnes on h.s..'1d in April to 13.4 plr.nes
on hr~d during~. This incr~ese is not believed to be excessive, since
the nvcI"':.gt> Of>cklog in teres of W'on hours durin& iMy sccr>.ed consistent f7ith
.. ilori< lo.~ds normc.lly r~'Guind for efficient operntions .

According: to informntion submitted by the depot, in the sections

of the depot performing inspection, cero repr:ir, sh~et mctd, nnd flibht
testing cctivities, tho distribution of oocklog and llr'n hours consumed
nppc:r...'>d as follor.s:

•.®.... DA!LY .aAClWN M.QNTHLY HOURS USED

TY'iL: OF ~
OF % OF
PIJIN1 q;l.r;HQ~g§ ~ Ut\NijOURS :Mill<
8-<:9 & F-l3 1.4,900 75.6 39,902 77.4
otM-r Aircrn.ft 4,600 24.4 11,662 22.6
,
! Tota.l 19,700 100.0 '1,564 100.0

The alightl:,. grc=.tcr proportion of rvnil:cble l:R.nhours beL,g spent on

8-29 circ~~t th~n the ratio of the two bncklog ficur~s is consistent
.lith the, prcsencp. of nircrl:ft in the "Othcr ll category being 1Ci'1er iJI'iority
than B-29 1 s rnd F-1J 1 s.

4. Aircrnft. Out of COr.ll".1ssion for Perls

• The !.Ocr s:l.tutltion in the COI:'ll'.nnd during tho mont.1 of t!ny sholVcd
continuJd itrip!"ovcment ovor previous months. Phno dnj's lost clue to f,OCP
was only O.9fJf, of total pl"rw d.'lys t!.vl'ilPble. Tho Guam Air Depot .fas
still continuing to fill 75% of pll AOCP rcques~in the oonth of l~y.
This is 1'. Eubstantial incrcnsL over the Feb. figure of 55~ '..nel ~I:'r. figure of
68%. There nes ho~ever n slight incr~ase jn the ~onth of t~j' in the %
of plcnc~ grounded for 3-4 d.~Y5, and 5-7 dnys as shown beloN;

DAYS PLhUES
CRammED

1-2 days 90.4% 83.2%

')-4 dnys 8.1$ 13.7%
5-7 dnys 1.5$ 3.1$

- 7 -
 This incrcnse in days grounded CIllj-" be due to f'. possible increl".sc in c-u-go
backlog f't the De!oOt int',slII'.lCh as 1"'0 has grently incre:1l500 tho dccends being
!:C'.de Upo!l tI'Pm;port nirerllft of the Depot.

DJr.lng the nonth of f'~Y1 39 J\OCP requests ~:erc received freI:! Iko.
Thv GUf'I:! Air De~ot filled 82% of these requisitions. or the 39 requests of
'Iblch Ulera i~ fJ. record, 26 were for R-3350 engines Clnd 8 requosts ,;erc for
aD C001C'rs. The nvurnge olapsed time bctl"le,m reC(uieition and receipt of
p:ll'k [rounding &-29 nircraft at 1..0 'f1e.S 6.3 dr>.ys.

5. Supn:;'y F".ctoro

T~c supply ~nd flow of cnginee 85 presently projected UTe sufflc-

i,"l!t to I:'eet the reqti.irements of the Cor.'~ thrt."l.1gil the month of September
~~ s~ou1d ~ot bec~;c ~ facto~ hir~erln~ operations. Shipments nrc set up
to provide (' mtudI:'iUll\ 60 dny stock l0vel of spt!.res t".nd tl minimum of 45 days
.-;tock level. .\s of 31 ~f.:"Y the r-verq,:c ho'Urs on cUJ:ltl.1ntive pulled engines
1'«'.5 ?5L 9 ~OU1"s. This ,/[\5 I'n increfl.se of 2:1. hours over the )0 l~pri1 figure
of 233.3 ~ours. The ave~nea hours on plulcd engines for the period 1-15
tlr'y re:.c~t.d ;:95.1 tours. The highest poriod :{et recorded on engine pulls
.m.5 I'D ll··er:'fe of 320.9 ho'-lrS for the 73rd \7i!lf for the 154 engines pullerl
in the t.'r.'0 '..rec'~ poried ending 31 iAey 1945. This figure exceeds the 319
hour pro~(:ction of tlle life ex?£!cta...'1CY of R-3350 engines Lt1 the thc~t€r.

Tho;:. supply of chaclct'..l rl!!lll~!dticn (B-46 , E-4B, Arf-I,f17f.l, AlHf7'6,

•
;.R-r.471.2 (NPj), howcv~r. pves p.vidence of filling considen'b1y below
rc~ulrcd stock levels. Inver-to!"1 ('s of J1 tiny wes 19,027 tons representing
2537 pot~ntilu sorties. Tho estimct.cd inventory for 30 June including
th... cxr:; ded .' :l"rh"td of JO,149 tons ilo 10,026 tons 01" OI:.1y 1336 sorties.
This fr.lle 105,82'-: tor:s short of the 60 n..:y stoclt lovel desired bJ.- the
COlllm:md.

D'..rrL"'r the p.rst rr.onth the Cor.uurnd set up requisition objectives

on ~h3 follrn-inr cle3ses of supply:

8. Aircraft Pnrts
b. Slgn=..l Parts (Ground)
c. Slgnnl Pnrts (Air)
d. Ordnance Parts (Ground)
c. Qrd.:1nnce Parts (Air)

ThE:sa books Tfere set up to IJhOfl projected JO days con,!;umptlorl on thesG

perts ~nd 60 ~~y levels ~hcr~ npplicnblc. Although not wl~1in the scope
of this orpcr. future reports "~11 co~puro stock levels ~itll objectives
pnd ~ill r_~~l:rze oth~r supply items which give evidence of hindering opera-
tions •

- 8 -
 6. Ilon-t.vdla.bili tv of Cornbn.t Crews All A Factor Effecting Utilization

ft~ averLga of 16.2% of nsslgnL~ creps ~ere not ~vai1nb1c for

cOlilb..,t during the t\.o week period ending J1 r~~y. With tho extrEIJCly 1011
cro~ to £ircr~ft rntio under which the Commend is opcr~ting, this pcrcen-
t· ~o becc~es increasingly significpnt. As shown in the tnblc bul~~, the
chief recsons for nan-rvailcbility ~ere crcwz not fully tr~ined, D.S. rt
lec~ cr~J ~choul in the United St~tes, end sickne&s.

CO:.!Ei.r CR,&",' mtBER I1VJ.ILABILITY

BASED ON il.Vffi;\GE FOR. ALL CREr! POSITIONS
16-J1 w.y

58th Wing 13rd lUng 313t.t. Wing 314th 'I1ing nIB;

~ OF % OF %OF % OF % OF
!.SGD .SGD ASGD ASGD ASGD
ri.ssigncd 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
AVIlllrblo 87.8 84.7 76.4 86.4 8).8
Not Avail-:b1e 12.2 15.3 23.6 13.6 16.2

'r Combct. Injuries .8 .5 .9 .3 .6

I, Sickn~ss

Pnss, Leave, Furlough

2.2
.1
1.5
.1
1.9
.1
2.6 2.0
.1
At Rest C".mp 2.6 1.7 1.8 1.6
Grounded For &:st .1 6.7 .4 1.8
DS (other tn~n TD Id
CI"t1 sch in US) .1 2.2 2.5 .4 1.3
DS to ld cru uch in US 1.9 1+.9 4.J 3.3 3.7
Not Fully Tr~inod 6.3 1.1 5·4 4.1 4.1

j Aw~lting Reclnasific~-
tion .8 .1 .3 .2
• , Othor 2.3 .4 .8

- 9 -
 z _.

PART IV. EFFiiCTIVENi:S3 OF AIRCRAFT ON MISSIONS

1. P~rcen~ of Airborne Aircrnft Bombing

;, OO:olBING Hn:MF.Y TP.llG:i1.T - tiAY % BOHElI¥} ALL TARGETS - r.tAy
100 I 100
9O.S
/J
90.6
~I
SO 0
.. S9.4
93·4
, .
92.2 91.9
/
92.6
/

1~
so /~
/ so /
/
/
/
/
60
/

/
40 r /

20 -
/
~ /

o f-L",:-"-,--,LLL---,-L/A.-r-lL..'L
58th 'l3rd ;'13t.h j14th

Th€ per~ent of tirborllO aircraft bombing the primary target rose

in i.';c.y to 89.4% comp<.red to 81,.6'/> in April and 84.5% in tJIc.rch. The per-
cent of uil'borrle aircraft bombing all targets waS slightly lower in t.l.o.y
tl:o.n the: pri:'viou..:; two mont.hs, 92.4% bombing all to.rg~ts ngnip.st 9J.1% in
both March arrl April. The 58th l'lil1g had the highest percentages and the
3lJth Wing the lowest.

2. Cause3 for Non-Effectiveness

Drn.. to an incTercs", in maintenance arxl mechanical failures, the abort

rate 17ent up for the s£:com modh in suecGssion. The /.tay I1Dort rate vias
7.6% airborne aircraft compared to 7.0% in April and 6.9% in March. These
r(l.te~ are det&i1ed in the follo~ing table:

FJ.ILUID: TO BO.',ffi AN'l TARGET

As A Percent Of Airborne
58TH 7:,RD J13TH JU·TH TOTAL
M...4.Y MAR APR Imy i.1AR APR t MAY iAf.R APn l.'iAY MAll. APR rMY

4Alh'1' & :/';"TEJUE.L FAILURES:-

Engine FnillU"es 2.6 2. 3.2 2.8 4.2 .1.2.1 3.2 .5 J.O J.2 ).2
:"ie:chanicH1 FnillU"€S -1.1 1.0 O. 2.2 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.6 1.1 1. 1·5 1.3 1.8
Faulty ~.leint & Insp 1.7 1.5 1.1 I.] 1.2 1.41.70.5 0.8 0.8 1.2 1.1 1.4
Total 5.516.0 4.5 6.7 5.6 7.6 7.3 5·2 5·1 5·9 5.S 5.7 ·4
.... CHE\'! FAILURF.§.-
Alc COmI:lll.nder I~ D.) 0.)
0.2 0.) 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.1 O.J 0.2 0.4
Co-Pilot -
0.1 - O.
Engineer -
0.2 0.2 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.1 0.1 0.1
Bomoc.rdier - 0.1 o.~ 0.1
0.1 - 0.2 - 0.9 0.2 0.03 0.3
Navigator - 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.04 0.1 0.05
RR~ar Radio Operator - o. - 0.1 - 0.10.;2 0.05
Gunners - 0.1 - 0.1 - - 0.04 - 0.02
fota1 I 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.5 1.4 0.5 0.8 0.5 1.2 1.2 0.8 O. 0.8

!E'Jl.THEF - 0.1 - 0.4 0.1 - 0.1 - 0.1 O.O~

.1m:n: ACTIO~~ 0:3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 - - 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1
1'T1l£R FAIlum:s
small Formation
D1 teiled Enroutc - 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 - - 0.1 0.0 O.O~
c.L~·<,;l",d Survivoro 0 • .2 0.1 - 0.1 - 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1
Unknot7n & Oth"l' - 0.1 0.2 0.2 O. 0.' 0.2 - 0.1 O. 0.2 0.2 0.2
Total 0.2 0.2 9.2 O.J 0., O. 0.2 - 0.1 0.) 0.3 0.3 o.
6.6 6.S 5.2 7.717.7 9.2Is.) 5.7.6.9.7.46.9 7.0 7.6
 1. Dcstruc~ion of Targets
-
PART V. RESULTS

AS sho":in in Appetrli.>: At during i.:ay the Comman::l perforned three

nif;ht an::. thrc(,. d"l.y urban Ill'en missions totaling 1950 sortie:>, 36 daylight
tl!.ctice.l missions tot&ll~ 768 sortios, 10 night. mining missions totaling
421 sorties, am: tr.o daylight o1ss1ons against irxiividual strategic tar-
gets totaling 277 "orties. In these missions, 15,934 tons of irrerrliar::
les, &,255 tons of bi&h (;xplosives, nn:l 2,LJJ6 tons of cines for n total
of 24,595 tons ;icre dropped on Japanese targets. Th", greatest tonnege in
one raid in MY histOF! ..e.s <lchicvc-d in the Nagoy& rll.id of 16 lda~', when
468 aircraft dropped 3696 tons out of /J. force of 522 aircrnft airborne.
This is corlpe.r~d to thG 8th AF record of 2923 tons by l2.48 aircraft. ngeinst
Cologne, 0. distance of c.bout )25 miles, on 17 October 1944.

As dctnil"ci on the I1highligh't.s" pug€> at the beginning of this report,

)8.8 zqU!l.re :::l.ilcs ir~luding r.umerous AJ\F' nuobcred targets \dthin tht.6€
Ilrt.a:.;Itl:.rL. burl}(;Q out. in M:::Y to bring the total to date to 92.7 square miles
of urbv.n ar,las. Destruction to ir.dividUl'~ indust.rirJ. pri..r:lll.ry targets for
May wus us follo~5:
C'.. KmmtUshi Ale Pla.nt, Kobe - 39% dumo.ged
b. Hiro Unvo.l i,jC Foctory, Kurc - 71.5% Clllmagcd
c. OshL'tIa Na..-c.l Oil Storage, Osh.iIDa - 90% d8.lllC.ged
d. OtE'..k!:; Oil Rcfin"ry, Dt3ko - 45% cic.zr.agcd
o. 1'oklVrn<.Ill. Cod Yard a am Naval Fuel Station - 49.ffI, damaged
f. Mitsubishi Ale r'forks, I'b.goyn - 46.5% dC'.mllgod for 0. total
of 68.5% to date-. May &.!:l.::::.ge ,fas II result of urban area
strikes .

• Not only ho.;:: the ect'X'~ dB.l:lllgo to precision tc.rgets increased, tim.
this f;l"eetcr destructiC!n :me been llchieved Ilt a. r~1ll.tively less cost. For
eXE.Cpi~, in tCrr:lS of sqiZ'.r... fuct of d.a:mge per c.ircrnft lost, there ~e3
ol'~:;' ona. r:lid !.lct..oen Novegbcr nnd FcbrUE.rY in . .m ch over 300,000 sq. ft.
of roof areo :;c.s dn;;w.god per nireraft lost. Hor-ever, in Unreh there -;res
OlK: .:::uch raid, follow<o:d by 5 In April 11m 3 in tdey. Moreover, during
these recent 13onths, t;~ere h:lvc been an incroasi~ DUIlbcr of raids in
which no 8ircraft uere lost.

llissiol1S against. airfields on Kyushu o.m Shikoku continued until

11 Mo.y in support of Dkinmffi 0f0ratiolW. Tho need for this assistnnco
l1as obvintud by thli< incno.s€d utilizc.tion of carrier-borm aircraft in
those opl.rations, noc. the Com;naoo oree nora wns able to concentrate on
strat~gic bombing. Darnago nsseaemont flgure~ comparable to the above
ure not {~certaino.ble for this type of turbet, but bombing accuracy datu
for the~CJ atrikGS is includE;d in a !luccooding paragraph.

Acccrding to the A-3 ~ning scction, strategic mining operations

~er~ ~t thuir hoight in ~Ul, llOO up to 27 Mas the C~und had placed

•
4,765 mines in JapnlXlse inlnrrl ....ators. The significance of the Imam
Sea to Jap:.nese shipVing cannot be ovor-emphadzod e.s i t contoins the
ports of Kur.... , Hiroehi!:lll, Kobe, Ose.kn, Tokuyama am others of lesser size.
In adcition to this it offers a flrotected 'l'l"stcrifay to shipping, a pril:mry
need cue to th(· penetration which our submarines and aircraft ~n:i t.heir
inndc;ucte le.t'.L t..r~nsportntion h::.va effected. Finally, thru the Sh.iJ:lono-
scki Stt"tdt.s I,; the shortest route to Northern waters. For these reasons,
.:rU.r.1ng the Inlnm Sen r.as received high prIority, nrd cach day that Jllp8.n-
c:se shipr ing move:t:cnts are cut i:3 u drain on the effectiveross of Japan as
a fighting mtion. Tbest; mining operaticns have been dirocted primnrily
egeinst three typc:s of t.:trg6ta, as follows:

a. Eo.st<.:rn nn1 Western ontrancos to Sbinonoseki Straits - 80% of

JL.pt'.ru;.sc shiPIJing in the inner zone normo.lly goes through thesc wnters.
Closure of these Str.:l.its has forcca diversion of the enemy l 5 shipping to
routes south of Kyushu whero it hus beon subject to vigorous c.ttccks by
our submarines and aircraft.
b. Me.jor Port.o - The 1arsout vert £or m(;.rchnnt ghippine in t.h(J
El:1p1re:: is in thE:! Kooo-Osaka o.r&a, and blockade mine fidds laid eround the
SIlI&.1l island of Awaji have bo~n VfJry ofi'l::ctive toward reducing merchant
 · ' UIlS:: IF;: j •
sr.ipping tlctivitlcs. Also, attrition mine fiddl:l planted in tho Imters
nrouni Kcbu nm Osakll hnve had this 8ll1ll0 effect becnuse mine suceping
close to 3h~ps CnL in confined wnters is a slow proce~5. Mi~~ng of the
ports of ftlgoyn, Tokyo, arrl tile SOilS of 1.11ynzu nr..d Tsurugu in Northern
Honshu hns lLIso beer. ncc~plished ;'Iith success.

c. Nc.1:nl 3e.scs - The main nuvnl bnso is at Kure am the majority

of navo.l ships have been sUltioncd in the Kurc-!lirosh1m.D. aren. The waters
hnvc boen mined to reduce the flc,xibility of Joptloose nuvnl operations by
the contin~~ threat ~h1ch mine fields prosent to shipping movement. This
hilS been chiefly n tncticru operation in support of tho OY.1nc.na CIJ.Clpn.i.gn.
\
2. Bombing Accuracy

Bombing f'.ccUTacy ds.t.r. for teo !:1onth is rO'Ughly divisible into two
sections; strikes agci.nst precision targets am strikes e.gninst Kyushu
airfiuld targets.

For thes", missions, lI.CCYr3CY i"igurcs ho.ve oocn obtained from the
Op€rat1or.s AI'llllysis Sectiol!, giving the circular error for as l!l8.IV for-
cations e.s sufficient pcetogn.phy wt..s c.vcl1L.ble, f1herc j>Ossible, ccl-
cul:l.tiens of the circular Error ';7crc bc.sed on actml bursts observed,
but if this .,'es iLpc£siblc, calculatior..s were r:w.de utilizing bo!r.bs-in-
air photogrnpb.y. Tl:is latter £lethoo, clthough net completely rolilible,
docs p<;rmit accurnte cclculatiCin.> nthln approx.imntely 1000 feet. The
following tabulation su:::ce.rizes tho da.ta for t.he mission.:. against pl"ll-
elaion tcrgcts.

BQ;.1Blm ACCURACY ON PREtISIQIi TARGl"TS

lIny 1945
NU'JDER OF roRliATIOt6 \:ITH CIRCtll..I\R ERROR OF
0-1000 1 1000-2000 1 ~OOO-.30001 Over 3DODI Total
58th 7 4 2 2 15
7,3rd 6 6 60 4* 22
Jll.th 1 7 o o 8
2lBC 11. 17 8 6 45
Incluies a total of c:1ght formatioru; which did not bomb on briefed
-II'
e.iming poin~ because of smoko conditiol~ (Mission li.6).
!mE: Dlltn fer 6 formations not includtld becnuse of insufficient. photos.

E:{arnlnntiCiIl of this table indicatG2 that on the wholc the Comrnandls

c.ccurncy llr.s bcell gooo. Of 1.5 mmings, only six rusulted in gross errors,
including foU!:" of th& 7Jrd Wing in which the briefl:id e.iming point was not
used. It sheuld be nott.d th:.lt t.h"'<Ic missi<.:ns \'lore: ccm:iucted against com-
purntiv..ly lightly dcf,,;ooc.:d tar15cts in the Ktu·tJ tux!. Kobe regions. This
undoubt~dly contributed to the snccessful bocbir~ results. Cocparison

•
~ong '.'Iings in::ice.tes that i l l of them attained approxiJ:uttcly the same
dcgree cf proficiency. The abovc'tubln includos or~y visual sighting~•
Inforcution is avuilable for fivc l'tid!l.r 3ightiIlBs on Mission 172 against
the Ka.;;...nl..hi Ale Plant, Kob". For these fCrr.ultions, the circular error
r1O.S ~,800', 12,000 1 , 1'1,250 1 , 18,)00' and 24,400 1 •

/.ll strikE.S cgclnst the Kyushu airfield insto.lle.tions u(;re flown by

the ;13th ani J14th ~Jir.gs, arrl frow. data. derived £rOD llvailable aerial
phOt.Lgrc.phs J comparisons between the bombing accuracy of tilcec lUngs t:JtJ.y
~ m.t.de ns foll0l7S:

OCM.BING ACCURACY ON KYUSHU MISSIONS

I.iay 1945
l~ OF FCRHATIOIiS I.~TH CIRCULAR ERROR OF
Ring 0_10001 1000-2000' 2000-3000 1 Over J(X)OI Tetd

.>13th 6 1 1 0 8
Jll.th 5 4 0 J 12
2l1lC II 5 1 J 20
D3to. fol' 12 r:rl.ssions oot included bccuusv of insufficient photos.

- -12-
 lo'rct'l the. ir..fo:L'!:l:.ltion Ilvllilttble, th~ 3!Jth fling ·"ould seem to have
till' high3!' bO'llbine accuracy for thG::;';' mi:::sionz. Thi~ tiiffer....,nce may
possibly ~ e;.pl.ciP.l::d by th{:. i:lethodg of briGfing used, tho JlJ~tn f!ing
du::igroting tin Air.J.i~ Point rather than the nssig'l:ad ff,PI.

3. J~p:.ru:s(. Ah'cruft Destroyed

1]1 J:::.punt;.E'(' drerl.lft 17€rC dtJstroyoo nnd 82 probc.bly de strayed in

L~;:\:r ':.C/ bring the totw to d!Lte: to 614 a:rcraft dostroyed am 387 probably
oe::rlroy..d. In ,.QQition, ]00 Jc.p::t:l8se aircraft have ooGn destrcyed or
dOJ!lt..6""d on thE' growii in strik",s I;'_enin.st airrigId:; on Kyu;;hu am ,shikoku.

'Ih~ p:.:rcent of cr:eny t:.ircrr-ft ott.'.lckil".g I'1hich wt:re clfJstroycd or

probl,bly d()~troy{.d rvucheci its highost level in ll!ay ~/it,h Do Conmand cver-
{...g~ of 16.9'i~ COllI:a!'(;.d 'te, 1£.7% in Apcil, tht;: pr(;Vi0lli; ~gh. Th<. 313th I:ing
c1(d"ln>,'d :<:1.8i" tht 34th ';iing i.6.9%, tho 58th ";ilng lJ,.4.~~ and th~ 73rd i<ilng
11.6%. Ho~~v~r, the numb~r cf cnu~y ui~craft attacks per B-29 over th~
to.;,'gr;t ".7t,,5 (.only 0.) in May cu;:1par£;d to O.S in April c.m 0.2 1:1 f,!crch.
The, Eli.>rial c0moct "00}; SC0rr,lI ::'cr th"J month shc'"led 2,3 ,:,oomy aircraft
d~stroy6d p~r B-29 circr~ft l03t t~ ene~y uCtiOl1 unci uru=no~n compered to
4.6 in A!JI'il am. 0,7 in i.larch. Of COt.:ri;;G ~h(, grc.llt 1.1ajority of losses
t¢ l::n~!!l:r action vlcr(. cCUl:;eo by fle.k rllth6r than ellli1.1y aircraft.

l.,. Ps;\'C:'010Eicc.l ·.:o.rf".r0

, ....'iug 11::..y, in conjun::tion wit!'! the Psychf'logic:.>.l ;·;arfo.ru Branch

of CIilCP;.C c.ne. t.b~ o',n, th" Comm~nri ir..itinted & prcg:'ru:\ of leaflet drop-
ping ove,r p'illCipu1 In.pun-..sl;> tnrge-ts, Orner this prClgr:..rn, pr:nphllJt3
\7r1tto.~1 b;y" t=I£:rchvl('gic(~ r:::<.-fr..rio. (;xperts D,.l"o;.. londr::d in specio.lJ.y design-
c-d C2sec r..rKl thGn I',;h.o.s"d UV6r J:l.fXll1 by 1l1rcl"!.ft of the 7.3ro. \line flying
ge~th~r $trlkl Qission$. Although sev~ral tons ~f l~aflGts ~cr& dropped
G-Xpc.!'ir:H:mt~!ll~"
in ti!'!.1'ch, t:-J.b- .<)ctUDJ. progrurll die. not COL1.";lCnCl: until Uny,
Jl.mong tht! turge<ts upon \ihich 1ccflcts l1ere C:I'opped during the month nrc
TckY0, Ynr;ata, HC',m.rJlIut:.U, KebB, Naf',{yll, Ka.goshir.l:~ ~l.lrl Yokohor:w., A tot(l].
of 418 propugnooz. bunbs containing npproxL-;.at<lly 9,069,000 l~nflc;ts end
48,000 n,,";fspc.pG:rs hau been droppeci by the tlnc. of th~ month,

5, Bunb ani Fuel rata

Th", Corunr:.lX, Clvcn:.g<:<u th(' le.rgc:.>t bor.'lb 10nd on rEcord during May,
€nch pIn!!£; carr;yir..g nn average cf 12,705 pounds cQ:npured co 11,522 in
April (.ru:~ 1~,:':"95 in Mc.rch, Tho 73rd r.ing <,,,Vi:::raged 13,673 puun1s, tho
313th :,inG 13,065 pourrls, t..lu_ 58th ~"!it1g 1~,651 pound!'>, e.rrl th" 311,.th
"ing ::tJ ,-1-65 pou.."rls. Lpril figurer; were 12,880 for th£ 73rd Wing, 12,088

• fur tilt.. 313tli ?ling Ql1l..- 9,074 ftlr the JUth i!ing. To put the, 34th fling
on (. cl..m')(~r£\tiv,,", bush; bL.C~USD of thl::! gl'C:1tt..r distunce the:.' must fly,
c.ppru.d.!l,~tdy 3000 pounh. shuuld b0 ac~o.cd tu t.he-ir figures,

Av€:rt.g·_ fUl,l r...,Cm'n;"d. ,'{.<.:r€.f..%c1 furthor in [.1l'_y tc 750 gollollS,

eompurui to 901 in April and 9~9 in Eierch. The 7jrd i"!ine nvo.n.gr,d 699
gc.llcl"'.s, th.. 58th ';li:!g 7';:.1 gdlor.... , tho. 34th ml'lf:: 782 eD.11Clns, v.rrl the
313ti1 j,ing 793 go-Hum,

-13-
 PART VI, COST OF MISSIONS

1. Aircraft und Cre~ Losses

• Beth e.1r-cr&ft erri Crctl loss ::,utes increased in May for tho secom
c.cnsf:.cutive conth, Tho aircraft loss rate was 18.(.% of U.E. compared
to 18.2% in April ani 14.3% in March. This was equivalent to 2% of
airborx c..ircraft in r,luy, 1.6% in April am 1.3% in MarciL The cre~
loss rate Rn5 17.7% of V.Z., 0. slight decrease from the 18.2% April
fi~ure but higher then the 11.2% rete of I.larch. HOl'evar, express£id on
l.I. sortie besia, cr",,: mtunber casuul.ties wero 1.5% of airbCJrre co::lpared
to 1.4% in Apl'i1 aoo. 1.0% in March.

lnasllruc~ 8S 41. of thv 90 aircraft lost during thl: month were lost
cn TokJ,To milJ5ions, it Iil£.] be c;x~ctl;)d that losses T:'.B..y level uff 0.3 the
chief Tokiu ~ee targets ere destroyed. An exact analysis of causes
fer aircrdt losses is difficult this conth bccaust:' of the luge per-
cc,nt.o.ge of unknown losses, HcwO;lver, 1.\5 shm;n below, the percent lost
to C1cchanica.l reasons inc.l·eascd 10% ovor the April Ratti,
'---~C"""US""'bS<nFO""R;nB-~2"9"jJ"ZC"LOSSno"ES""---,
Cd,'S&> FOR B-29 CPS; LOSSES

Ene::lY ctic.n
/.prt
25!.JJi, 19
w',Y I
2~ 1
I

l'nc::lY Action 32
jJlR
52% 25
MAY
28%
I
I

Combat Opcr 7 11% 11 ~~ I iAcchaniclll 7 11% 19 21% I

_ Ul'.krown 11. 23~ 34 -..up ~ccidcnt, i~ec. & Pero 5 8% 12 13% I

Reclo.se & Roc,rg 16 2&j, 14 II

17<J, War Weary 4 6$ j
Rc.tO-tiol'. 6 ?% I I I
Unknown 1.4 23~ 34 J8%
Totc.! 62 l<JO%, 84 100% I 62 100% 90 IClO%

2. Effect c~ Lo~s~s of Figntcr Escort

During 1l.pril ani May fighter esccrt '1785 iUrnishod for fcur missions.
One of these :!lis:;;ions nea against Kyu:;hu airfields am no eoc-my fighters
wt:<re etX:t.unte-r£.>d.. On "t.b.~ threo reooining IJissivns. th<i- att.acking fo:"ce
cn:::ot;I!ten-d Ene!ily opposition. with the foiloring T(;Sul.tS. On cission
58, 6. totul of 531 at.wc:Cs resulted in thE. loss of only 1 8-29 to enel!:y
drcrcl't e..PJd flak and 2 P-51' 8. On mission 63, no 8-29' 8 wt:re lost an:!
4 ?-51'3. On mi::sion 186 to YokohOlr.a, 2 8-29 l s c.OO :2 P-511s. On these
trJee missions, the fighters claim 57 encny aircraft destroyed nnd 27
probublcG, ruprescnting urrlatermincd enount of duplication with 8-29
claims. FrOl:l thc.:;c tllssions, it. can be stated that fighter escort hns

• hdpcd to keep 8-29 losses t:.t a 10,; level, although data is roOt suffi-
cient for a final dotermination on this subject.

3. ~fcct o~ Lo~ses of two Facilities

During April J04 B-29s lankd fit Iwu JiIna \'{hile pnrticipating on
bowhill6 3m ;::llr..i.ng oissioru: to th", .repo.nese cailllan::l. This was 9.1%
of tho sortiGs for th.:1t month, In ATc.y, 369 8-29s made landings on Iwo
while participnting on boobing & minlne; cU.ssic.·ns for 8 •.4% of sorties.
Thi~ figure ~ou1d have been substantially high~r and losse-s less uore
it not for tho l:liverse I7ctlther cc.nditiC'llS \'Ihieh pro:vailed at Il1u when
c.ircruft werE: returning frum sev6ral C1iszions. On Mission 174, lL.. May,
fcow lost nircrllft :u·e c.ircctly chargea.ble; to the bad weather e.t Iwo.
On Mission 183, 2; ilay, the fog procltrlc-d lare.ings at Il70 an:! three
nircrn.ft w... ra lost as n r"emlt. Of the 78 crew Oel:loor8 aboard these
St;vcn nircrnft, 66 or 65$ p8.rt'.chutttd to ~fcty.

-14-
.. , ~
',' ',"
, ,.
"
.."
 4. Bnt~lt. Dtu,ICE<C

• The J:.l;;rccnt cf cJ.rcraft 'txmbing which were bcttle-dN:1:iged de-

e:r\.. tlc(.d in M~J tv 15% eU:l.pu.rcd tt 17.1~ in April ~:Tl 8.9% in !.~arch.
T~e J14th ~i~ suffered the nOEt d~Ggc riith c rete of 17.~~. The
58th ',ling imci 15.2%, the 7)rd liing 14.1% Did th(= J1)th Wir.g 1).6%.
f'fJri..l.. 1'Lt.,S h:.:.d !xol;n 18.8% for th~ 31)th ',"ling, 15.7% for the 7)rd
,fir:g ~,m 15.5% fer 1:.1:... 314th IJing. FInk '.:a::; still tn... r:~jor c..'l.USO
;'f.>!' aircr=tft lo:lt cnd dc.oagc--d, c.~ irxlicLted by the folloil'ir.g tLblu.

PE.aCBI.."l' OF TD1J,L Lie LOST Hill DJ.?{hCED

J:.:.nucry Febru.~.ry March April ~

E~£i:lY "ircl'~ ft 51.6% ;'4.61 5.)% 14.8% 8.5%
Flak 12.7% 42.ifI, 77.8% 61.;% 72.2%
Flak end Aircraft 15.9'£ 8.0% ).2~ 15.7% 6.5%
Acci60nt & V.(.c~~rdcnl 2.5% 4.'1% 2.0% 2.2% ).0%
.. Own Guns
Other & Ur.kI'lOml
','.0%
10.2%
4.)%
5.6,
O.8~
10.9%
1.7%
4.1%
1.4~
8.4%

• ;. nil' SOD. H,:,scuc

Tho.) Ll,;rC(,nt vf crcn tlCt1bE.rs rCllcued fr.,:1 thol:,c dOl'm at sec.

rv~c slighl:.lY iL ~3Y to 47> fr~n the )5~ April figure. A total of
227 crc\-; m,:::bcrE ...·... ro Im::t ",t U€o::l Quri~ thE; D.onth, i:rlu.l!~ 122
kncnn tG heve di~ch~d, ?2 b6iling cut OVer rontGr, and 33 in c!rcrcft
c~'ll$hing c.t :;;ct;. In addition, 75 of 78 crow J;l(.tlb<::'s }>o~..r::chuted over
1;0;0 so.fely, fL(; incrci oing pt.rccnt rc:-,cusd in i,luy Wc.s t:.nlc ubtedly
partly the; result of .:lon incrElt,sing nlrnbcl' of c.ir-:3t.:c. rcscU(... fJlciliti"$.
A cc:..,:..rison of fc.cilitiLs in April (.m iA<.~y f",!lows:

~ J.IR-.:>EA filiSCUE F,.CI:"ITIE.S

I _ Fecilit~
NU!lbEr of ::;ubuurioos
A£ril
50
May
77
Ntt:lbcr of st1perem.boa (8-,9) 55 75
rhDbc=r of dmbos 48 8)
thDbe!' r f surface: ships ~ ...1l!.
198 )05

•
Sur ties )487 4558
Sorties Pu' F'llcili ty 17.6 14.9

•
 •
• SECRET
.- -~
• ' .
COMPARISON OF MISSION ST~

Avero.ga Number
ToPe .t Number of Numbor Number Aircraft ~ of AIrborne Tone Enemy Attacks Per
Mi..ions Mission. Airborne Bombing Loet Aircraft Lost Bombin& Altitude Dropped ~9 :Bombing
MARCH
i DAYLIGHT PRIORITY TJRGET 1 194 177 1 .5~ 27.000 532 o
'I NIGHT PR10RITY TMlGI T 2 265 238 5 l.~ 7.400 t. 7.700 1583 1
NIGHT URUlJ AREA 5 1595 1470 21 1.3~ 6.800 t. 7.200 9580 18
MINING (n~') 2 200 181 5' 2.5% 5.000 t. 6 000 1082 8
TACTIC.A.L SUPPORT (nl-Y) 2 316 291 1 .3% 16.300 t. 16,400- 970 56
KARCH IJOTAtS 12 2570 2357 33 1.3~ 137 47 19
Dl.YLIGHT PRIORITY TJRGET 638 759 13 APRIL 1.6% 8.000 t. 20,500 3342 172
nGHT PR10RITY TARGLT 7, 366 333 8 2.2% 6.500 t. 7,900 2510 14
"'GIlT llR1AlT AREA 3 692 641 21 3.0% 8.300 t. 9,'00 4070 28
lUNING (fIGHT) 5 57 45 0 0.0% 5.600 t. 2b.100 257 o
TACTICAL SUPPORT (IlI.Y) 63 1390 1267 13 .9% 13.400 t. 18.100 6051 70
APRIL !X)TALS 82 W'3 3045 55 1. 6~ 1023 0 79
;lAY
nA.YLIGIiT PRIORITY TiRGEr 2 277 245 3 1.1% 17.900 to 21,400 1059 105
!lIGHT" URA:"" Ll{EA 3 1566 1463 47 3.0~ 11,500 to 14.500 10665 13
n.\.YLIGH'l' tRBn.if AlIEA 3 '?,64 1241 22 l.6~ '9,300 t. 20,000 6613 31
"mIlTG (nGIlT) 10 "21 375 5 1.2% 5.700 to a,bOD 2406 4
TACTICAL SUPPORT (DLY) 36 766 689 10 1.3% 13,200 to 20,100 3531 61
MAY TOrALS 54 4416 401 3 87 2.0% 24496 32
MARCH - MAY
DA.YLIGHT PRI03.1'1Y Tl.RGB·:r 10 1309 1181 17 1.3% 6.000 t. 27.000 4933 132
lJIGST PRIORITY TARGLT 6 631 571 13 2.1% 6.500 t. 7,900 4093 8
tnGh"T UR3AN A.r.1I'.A 11 3f(P 3514 89 2.3% 6,800 t. 14.500 24335 18
DAYLIGHT UImAJJ AP.E.A 3 13b4 1241 22 1.~ 19.300 to 20,000 6813 31
MINING (:-lIGHT) '17 678 601 10 1.5% 5,000 to 26.500 3747 5
TACTICAL SUPPORT (n,..y) 101 24~ 224L ..R'I____ 1.0% 1}~200 to 20,100 10552 65
146 10329 9415 175 1.7% 54473 44
TOTi<L
. . . :':~:.:-.;;
 •
• • • : ., .
TOJ.APJJJ MAR _
TO
NOV DEC JAll FEB MAR APR !!!!. MAY ~

21% 66% 44% 50% 64% 65% 69% 67% 61%

!fe 30mbin& Primary Target to Ale Airborne·
J./O :BomblJ1g All Targets to A/e Airborne· 79% 62% 62% 67% 93% 93% 92% 93% 91%

79% 63% 62% 67% 93% 93% 92% 93% 91%

;"/0 Ef'fe.Jtho to A/C Airborne

!/O Non-EffEC; for All Causes to A/e Airborne 21% 17% 16% 13% 7% 7% 6% 7% 9%
!/C Non-EffEC.· for Mechanical Reasons to Ale Airb': 19.0% 14.7% 12.3% 7i4f.. 4.7% 4.6% 5.2% 4.6% 5.9%

Ale Loat or Battle Damaged to A/e Over Target·· 6.6% }2.6% 39.1% 26.0% 10.4% 16.9% 17.2% 15.9% 17.6%
1;6% 4.~% 5.7% 3.3% 1.3% 1.6% 2.0% 1.6% 2<1%
~/c Lost to A/e Airborne

19.8 6.4 91.0 82,2 62.2

30urs Flown per Ale
On Hand 58th \ling
115.2 117.1 99. 1 110il 64.9
(AdJuated tc a 30-day basis) 73rd 1Jlng 37.6 54.0 60.1 70.7
31ath 't1ing 23. 0 49;0 54,0 105. 0 100,1 101,7 102.1 67.7
31 th \ling 76.2 121.4 115.,2 10g.4 110..5 106.6
f 3 .1 34.'6 34•6
315th Uing
Total.
-37. S 53. 6 56.1 64.3 111 ..1 107.6 98.9 104;7 89.7

Combat Sortles per A/e On Hand 58th \"ling f f 5.61 5.18 5.16
(AdJustod to n 3D-day baSis) 73rd ''ling 3.25 4;34 3.86 3.65 ~.20 1..85 6.41 7.13 5.57
3lath mng 1.17 3. 21 ;47 6.42 6.39 6,42 5.26
.92 6.76 6.63 6.21 6.45 6;14
31 th Ving
f 3.52 ~ 3.3 6
}15th Ufng
-3.25 -- -- -3;35 -6.77 -
A/c h d btl I Total 4.29 2,90 6.81 6.21 6.53 5.55
*, on on u no Bort as and or flying time.
A/C bomuing primary target and e.ll targets are compared to airborne A/C, excluding homing and diversionary A/C, Guperdumbos, etc ••

., f" WniCh wero not expected to bomb.

Q. bpmbl.qg tar.get.s .on 19'panese l10me islands 1s taken as the nearest measure available of A/C over target. A/C lost
__ ' __ -____ ~~"'_". _'7_ in this relationship
<::l:'r:~'"