WW2 Events occurring on Sunday, March 25, 1945

WW2 Events occurring on Sunday, March 25, 1945

	Combat in Western Europe After D-Day
	The U.S. 1st Army began to break out of their bridgehead at Remagen, Germany.
	The U.S. 3rd Army crossed the Rhine River in Germany at Boppard and Nierstein.
	Except for several small enemy footholds, throughout the day the British 51st Infantry Division under the British Second Army’s British XXX Corps mopped up all of Rees, Germany.
	Operation Detachment - The Battle for Iwo Jima
	A 300 man Japanese force launched the Japanese action of the Iwo Jima campaign in the vicinity of Airfield No. 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the Japanese force for 90 minutes and suffered heavy casualties (53 were killed, and another 120 were wounded.)  Iwo Jima today -- it's still a gut-clutcher
	Operation Iceberg - The Battle for Okinawa
	U.S. Navy Task Force 54 (Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo), the "Fire Support Force consisting of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, bombarded Kerama Retto and the southeast coast of Okinawa, Ryukyus. The fire was executed only at long range, however, for mine-sweeping operations which had commenced the previous day were still proceeding well offshore.
	The USS Nevada was hit by a kamikaze aircraft. The plane crashed onto the main deck of Nevada, next to turret No. 3 killing 11 and wounding 49, and knocked out both 14 inch guns in that turret and three 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons. The USS Nevada stayed on station.
	Also off Okinawa: Kamikazes damaged the destroyer USS Kimberley, light minelayer USS Robert H. Smith, and the high speed transport USS Gilmer. The high speed transport USS Knudsen was damaged by a horizontal bomber.
	U.S. Navy Task Force 58 planes sank 2 Japanese merchant cargo ships near Naha, Okinawa and damaged the auxiliary submarine chaser Sobun Maru.
	The Western Pacific Theater
	USAAF B-24 Liberators from the 5th Air Force sank the Japanese Kori Go Maru in the Yangtze estuary near Shanghai, China.
	Allied Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
	The submarine USS Tirante, commanded by Lt. Commander George L. Street, III, torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary net layer Fuji Maru off Tori Jima, Japan.
	The submarine USS Blenny, commanded by Lt. Commander William H. Hazzard, sank the Japanese guard boat Kairyu Maru off the north coast of Java.