The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-08-09
l,5OO Planes Hit Jopon
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 Superforts August 2.
 On the heels of this announce ment, Mai Gen. Nathan s. Twining, commander of the 20th AAF, said yesterdays strike by 400 Superforts in three missions accomplished good to excellent results" Fleet dispatches reported that Halsey hurled more than 1,200 car- rier planes at northern Honshu. Against light anti-aircraft fire and no airborne opposition they ham, mered all day at seven key de- fense bases and early reports indi- cated they were taking a heavy toll of Japan's crippled air force.
 Suicide Attack
 Sung to desperation by Halsey's aggressive foray, the Japanese un- dertook Kamikaze suicide-plane attack on Halsey's ships for the first time since the Third Fleet invaded homeland waters early in July. United Press Correspondent Rich ard W. Johnson saw Kamikaze zoom down through an orange haze, smack the water few yards from one of Halsey's carriers, flare mo- mentarily and disappear in smoke.
 Tokyo cannot wait for invasion now," Johnson reported from aboard a warship off Japan in ex- blaming the Kamikaze attack. Helcat, Corsair and dive-bomber airmen carried out low-level straf- ing and bombing attacks against the select targets studding the central belt of Japan.
 One fighter group hit a big bomber and fighter base at Mish- ava. Hangars, shops and dispersal areas were shot up. One direct hit set fire to large hangar.
 Japanese shipping In Hachinohe harbor was another target. The air. men saw one ship blow up in ball Of fire which billowed 1000 feet when the bombs exploded. Carrier planes from the third fleet. laundering back into action after an 11-day rest, opened an at tack on shipping, air installations and other military targets scattered through northern Honshu at dawn, aaPacific fleet communique reported.
 The carrier planes still were at- tacking nine hours later. Tokyo con- flrmed the raids, said they began at 5:3O a. m. and estimated that more than 1000 planes were participat- ing.
 Wide Target Raid
 Another 300 land-based bombers and fighters raided western Honshu for three hours from a. m. to noon Tokyo time, Japanese broadcasts said. Part of the attacking force ap- peared over atom bombed Hiro- sh1ma and nearby Yamaguchi pre- lecture and others were sighted oyer the Iyo sea, off western Shikoku, Tokyo said.
 Although there was no immediate Allied confirmation of Tokyo's re- port of naval bbmbardment of Kamaishi, the city was shelled once before-on July IA by the Third fleet.
 Specific targets for the carrier based assault on northern Honshu also were not disclosed, but it was reported reliably that the Navy flyers were hunting out hidden air. fields" where the Japanese air force has been lying under camouflage in an attempt to escape destruction.
 The Japanese were known to be hoarding their last remaining air. craft for fight to the death against American invasion forces.
 Today's far-flung air and sea at- tacks followed four separate raids by total of almost 400 superfort- resses against Japan in the previous 24 hours. 6
 Severe Damage
 The B-29s dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on the Fukuyama industrial area 47 miles northeast of Kure, the Nakajima MuSaShino-Tamo aircraft plant in the Tokyo area, the Tokyo arsenal and the Kyushu steel city of Yawata yesterday.
 Three superfortresses were lost, but good to excellent results were re- ported at all four targets.
 North of Japan, army LiberatorS from the Aleutians bombed the Ka- taoka naval base at Shimushu in the northern Kuriles yesterday. Navy Privateers simultaneously straffed the Torishima Islands east of Para mushiru and bombed installations on Onekotan Island in the Kuriles.
 Other Privateers the previous day sank 5000 tons of enemy shipping and damaged 800 tons in the Tsu- shima Straits between Korea and Honshu. Vessels sunk included a submarine chaser, four small cargo vessels, trawles and 200-ton mo- tor schooner.
 Night flying Mitchells damaged a medium freighter transport and a small cargo vessel off the Honshu coast Tuesday.
 Far to the east, an American bat tleship and lighter fleet units bom- barded enemy installations on Wake Island yesterday, destroying II buildings, two ammunition dumps and an anti-aircraft gun emplace- ment. Other buildings and gun positions were damaged. The warships suffer- ed no damage During the armistic year of