World War 2
Destruction of Japan
For some time the island of Japan remained beyond the range of land-based American bombers. It was the capture of the Mariana Islands in June-August 1944 that gave the United States Air Force a springboard from which they could launch their B-29 heavy bombers against Japan's cities.
From November 1944 the American B-29's of the 21st Bomber Command had concentrated on precision attacks on Japanese war industry, achieving only limited success. At the beginning of 1945, American strategy had changed, now the emphasis was switched to a general urban bombing offensive aimed at demoralizing the Japanese population and exploiting the particular vulnerability of the close-packed Japanese cities to these treacherous raids.
The pinnacle of the American B-29 bomber raids came on the evening of the 9th of March 1945, when nearly 300 B-29's launched a devastating fire raid which destroyed over 250'000 buildings, killed at least 100'000 people and drove another one million homeless and wounded civilians into the countryside.
The B-29 Bombers we’re introduced to combat in 1944, it was used exclusively in the Pacific. It’s advanced technology included pressurisation in the nose and parts of the fuselage and remote-controlled gun turrets. Cruising at 220mph at a height of 30’000ft, the B-29 could carry 5’000 pounds of bombs over a range of 1’600 miles or a maximum payload of 20’000 pounds over short ranges. While the bombers levelled Japan’s cities, US submarines tightened the grip on Japan by sinking the shipping on which Japanese War industry depended for its oil and raw materials.
Operating with almost complete freedom, 21st Bomber Command levelled city after city. By the end of June, approximately half of the built-up areas of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kawasaki and Kobe had been consumed by the vicious firestorms. Coastal shipping movements were halted as American bombers showered thousands of acoustic and magnetic mines all around the waters of the Japanese islands. By the end of July there were virtually no targets left for the B-29's.