Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-06-30
B-29s StepUp
Blows atJaps;
New Base Won
9th Oil Plant Roided;
Yonks Seize Island oil
Kume for Airstrips
By the Associated Press.


GUAM, June 30.-A midnight
B-29 attack on Japan's fourth
largest oil refining plant was
announced today as a fleet COM
munique disclosed American &C
QUESTION without bloodshed OF
an island offering airstrip sites
80 miles west of Okinawa.
Raiding the enemy homeland for
the second time in one day, SO
Super Forts bombed the Kudumatsu
Oil refining plant, on the Inland
Sea coast of Southwest Honsllu,
with high explosives,
This attack extended to the
eighth rich target the B-29 knock
out campaign against japanese oil
installations which already has de-
stroyed large percentage of the
enemy's facilities for producing the
vital fuel.
No Jap Troops Encountered.
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz's
communique said Kume Island. so
miles west of Okinawa and within
300 miles of Formosa and 370 miles
from Kyushu, was taken by Ameri-
can patrols which covered the whole
island without encountering any
Japanese troops. The Tokyo radio
had claimed heavy fighting" was
in progress there when it reported
American landings last Tuesday.
(The Tokyo radio today said
several American destroyers and
mineSweeperS made a coastal
reconnaissance of Okinoerabu
Island, 40 miles west of Okinawa
and about 275 miles south of
Kyushu, southernmost japanese
home island
(Another Tokyo broadcast yes
terday said B-29s raided the
southwest area of Hokkaido
Island and one was damaged by
interceptors.)
Wide Destruction to Plants.
The 21st Bomber Command, an
nouncing the Kudumatsu raid, dis
closed that since the big bombers
began hitting oil installations on
Japan May 10 they have caused
the following destruction:
Koriyama chemical plant, 70 per
cent destroyed; Hodagaya chemical
plant at Koriyama, SO per cent:
Otake oil refinery, As per cent;
Tokuyama naval oil storage and
Tokuyama synthetic fuel plant, all
oil storage tanks knocked out, so
per cent of plants roof area de-
stroyed and 80 per cent of the by
product storage tanks wiped out;
Oshima naval oil storage facilities
at Tokuyama, TO per cent of the
storage tanks and 80 per cent of the
buildings destroyed.
Photo reconnaissance assessment
of the damage done the Utsube River
oil refinery near Yakkaichi in a raid
before midnight June 26 has not yet
been completed.
The raid at Kudumatsu followed
a predawn strike Friday by nearly
800 Super Forts at the big naval
base of Sasebo and two other port
cities on Kyushu and the industrial
city OF Okayama on Honshu, which
started such big fires they cast
glow through the obscuring Clouds
The Kudumatsu strike was the
fourth B-29 raid on Japan in
week.
Search Planes Also Active.
Fleet search planes, which al
ready have sunk or damaged ap-
proximately 100000 tons of enemy
shipping in enemy home waters,
also were active yesterday. They
sank a small cargo ship south of
Honshu, and hit warehouses and
railroad tunnels at Katsuura Har-
Dor, southeast Of Tokyo, feet head
quarters said in todays commu-
nique.
In Manila, Gen. Macarthur to-
day reported that ''blockading pa
troll planes" dealt blows at oil stores
around Shanghai, China; hit docks
at Canton, destroyed or damaged
railroad bridges, transportation
equipment and other installations
in the Indo China -Hainan sector
and set freighter af1re in the Chu-
kai River of Malaya.A
Other planes made the milk run"
to Formosa, sinking a medium
freighter-transport, destroying eight
luggers and leaving a minelayer
dead in the water On Formosa,