The commander of the 313th Bomb wing was General James H. Davies. The first aircraft of the 313th BW arrived on Tinian (North Field) on December 21, 1944 and flew its first mission a month later. The four Bomb Groups of the 313th Bomb Wing are the 6thBG, the 9th BG, the 504th BG and the 505th BG. They flew 147 missions, more than any other Bomb Wing in the 20th Air Force.
In late March of 1945 the 313th Bomb Wing undertook a mining campaign agansit every significant channel and harbor in Japan and Korea. This resulted in the largets and most successful aerial blockade in WWII history. More Japanes shipping tonnage was sunk or demolished during the last five months of WWII by mines planted by the 131th BW - more than any orterh US military force in WWII, including submarines.
- . On 27 March 1945 the 313th Bombardment Wing embarked upon the most ambitious, and successful programs of aerial mine-laying in the history of warfare. After the initial mine fields in the Shimonoseki Straits and Inlay areas had been established by the combined efforts of all groups within the Wing, the mining offensive settled down to an almost every other night schedule with a force of usually only one group. This smaller force, however, operated continuously and with regularity, replenishing the major fields at frequent intervals, establishing new ones in the harbors along the northern coast of Honshu, and, beginning in July, planting new fields in all of the major ports of eastern
Korea.
The effectiveness of this mine-laying program has been far greater than anticipated. At a time when she could least afford it, Japan's sea lanes of communication were disrupted, the flow of supplies from China and Manchuria was choked off, and even within the home islands adequate distribution of food and war materials was prevented. The 313th Bomb Wing performed this vital task at a critical time when no other force could strike Japanese shipping in the home waters of Japan.
Conservative estimates as of 10 August 1945 indicate between 700,000 and 1,000,000 tons of Japanese vessels of 1000 tons or over have been sunk or damaged by mines laid by this Wing. This figure represents an estimated 45 % of all shipping sunk or damaged from all causes during the period of mine laying. Total Japanese shipping from all causes since the beginning of the war approximates 8,000,000 tons, with submarines accounting for 5,000,000 tons.
The following figures show what it took to accomplish the results obtained and cover the period 27 March 1945 through 15 August 1945:
TOTAL Mining A/C Airborne |
|
1,526 |
TOTAL Mining A/C Effective |
|
1,424 |
TONS of Mines Effectively Planted |
|
8,860 |
NUMBER of Mines |
|
14,000 |
AIRCRAFT LOST from ALL causes |
|
16 |
COMBAT and UNKNOWN |
9 |
|
OPERATIONALLY |
7 |
|
PERSONNEL CASUALITIES |
|
114 |
MISSING |
81 |
|
KILLED |
20 |
|
WOUNDED |
13 |
|
AIR-SEA RESCUE SAVED |
|
26 |
In conclusion it is safe to say that the mining operations conducted by the 313th
Bomb Wing, as far as intensity of effort was concerned, were the greatest of the war. In ETO, for example, 50,000 mines (including those Iaid by surface craft) were planted, but it took 41/2 years to do it. The 313th Wing laid 14,000 mines in 41/2 months, giving it an average monthly rate of over three times as great. And, moreover, this intensity of effort paid off by undoubtedly making a major contribution toward shortening the war with Japan.
S/
H. D. KENZIE