ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 232550
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 October 1943 |
| Time: | 14:40 |
| Type: |  North American B-25D Mitchell |
| Owner/operator: | 11th BSqn USAAF |
| Registration: | 41-30455 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Haikou, Hainan Province -
 China
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
A total of eight B-25s of 11th BS, 14th Air Force, based at Nanning, mount three separate missions against the harbor at Kiungshan [Qiongshan] and a concentration of Japanese shipping in the nearby Hainan Strait, claiming five ships sunk or badly damaged. Four Japanese ships were sunk: transport Yamatogawa Maru, army cargo vessels No. 3 Shinwa Maru and Hokuzan Maru, and merchant cargo ship Hachiman Maru. 7 crew of the Yamatogawa Maru were killed. Losses aboard the other ships are not known.
Japanese IJNAF fighters scrambling to intercept the American raiders claimed to have shot down two for the loss of two fighters in Hankou area. One bomber, the B-25D 41-30455, was downed by a Japanese fighter during the third attack, and another B-25 crash lands due to damage inflicted by a Japanese fighter over the target.
Returning crews reported that 41-30455 had just completed its bombing run in Kiungshan Bay when a Zero made a frontal pass on it, pushing it to less than 100 feet. As the Japanese fighter flew over the bomber, the right wing of the latter seemed to explose and fly away from the fuselage. The B-25 immediately rolled to the right and dived into the sea. It went straight down and disappeared with very little splash at 1440 hrs. No parachute was seen and all that remained in the sea was a white spot of churning water. Only four airmen were aboard the downed B-25 and all four were killed:
2nd Lt Herbert F Hempe (pilot)
2nd Lt Gerald H Dornbach (co-pilot)
2nd Lt Wayen J Aberle (bombardier/navigator)
S/Sgt Loren Morris (flying engineer/air gunner)
They are all listed on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery.
Sources:
MACR 1058 (https://www.fold3.com/image/28605629)
"Air War Pacific Chronology. America’s air war against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941 – 1945", by Eric Hammel , ISBN 9780935553260
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese-1943.htm
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html
http://www.op316.com/word/senbotukisenlist.pdf
https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/china_hainan_kiungshan.html
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CH/31/Qiongshan.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Jan-2020 14:29 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 28-Jan-2020 14:31 | Uli Elch | Updated [Registration] |
| 28-Oct-2021 06:15 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Dec-2021 12:29 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Operator] |
| 14-Aug-2023 09:22 | RDV | Updated [[Operator, Other fatalities, Operator]] |
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