Mission Date:
05 June 1945

The two Osaka strikes were interspersed with an attack on the urban are of the sister city of Kobe. We hand twenty-seven B-29s out on this one and twenty-four of them dropped on the target.

It was estimated that twenty-seven Jap fighters were met with gunners claiming three destroyed, eight probable destroyed and eight more damaged. Anti-aircraft fire reached the proportions of intense and accurate, but a number of crews reported it as meager and inaccurate when they went over. Over the target clouds were 2/10ths, but some of the planes dropped by radar because of the heavy smoke clouds over the target city.

Kobe was Japan's most important transportation center and also much heavy industry; shipbuilding activities and shipping interest were there. The designated target area for this mission contained several large steel plants, a rubber factory, an important railroad station, part of the commercial district and a densely built-up area.

Damage to Kobe, including a part of nearby Mikage, resulting from this attack was estimated at 4.35 square miles, or 28 percent of the built-up portion of the city. Seventeen numbered targets were either damaged or destroyed. Total damage to Kobe up to that time was 4.85 square miles.

Arcrft Up	Bmbd Target	Lost	Rtrn Early	Crews Arcft #
10 - 60th 09 - 61st 08 - 62nd	24	0	3	44-69986, 4x-xx018 - Engine Trouble 42-94072 - Prop govenor malfunction
Source: 39th microfilm Reel: B1028 Frame: 1831