Air Operations, CBI

• 5 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and 2 14th Air Force P-51s attack bridges at 2 locations and rail targets.
• 16 fighter-bombers attack various targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack Fort Brook, Oelin, and Tarakan Island.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Kudat.
• P-38s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.

Air Operations, Japan

• 73 VII Fighter Command P-51s based on Iwo Jima attack Matsudo and Tokorozama.
• 15th Fighter Group P-51s down a Ki-46 'Dinah' reconnaissance plane and 8 fighters over Honshu between 1300 and 1330 hours.
• During the night, 464 XXI Bomber Command B-29s attack Tokyo urban areas with 3,262 tons of incendiary bombs. 6 six B-29s attack other targets.
• 26 B-29s are lost, the largest loss of B-29s in a single day.

Air Operations, Philippines

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s, and V Fighter Command support of US 6th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• XIII Fighter Command fighter-bombers support US 8th Army ground forces on Cebu.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

• US Navy, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a Ki-84 'Frank' fighter near Amami O Shima at 0710 hours.
• VF-49 F6Fs down a C6N 'Myrt' reconnaissance plane and an A6M Zero over US picket destroyers at 0755 and 0805, respectively.
• 318th Fighter Group P-47s down 8 D3A 'Val' dive bombers and 26 Japanese fighters over Ie Shima and northwest of Okinawa between 0743 and 0925.
• US Marine Corps F4Us down 6 Japanese bombers and 36 fighters between Kyushu and Okinawa in several large engagements between 0745 and 1130 hours.
• A VF-30 F6F downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber near Task Force 58 at 1040 hours.
• Air attacks throughout the Ryukyus from about 0030 hours and on throughout the day by an estimated 165 kamikaze aircraft result in the sinking of a transport and a large landing ship and damage to 3 destroyers, 2 destroyer-escorts, 2 transports, and 2 minesweepers.

Allied Planning

The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the general directives for Operation OLYMPIC, the invasion of metropolitan Japan. The date fixed for its start is November 1.

Burma

Bassein, 87 miles from Rangoon, is occupied by Allied forces.

Okinawa

After a series of assaults by the 4th Marine Regiment, the Japanese casemates and underground positions on Machishi Hill are eliminated. The 29th Regiment mops up in Naha.

In the day's suicide attacks the high-speed transport Bates (APD-47) is sunk, the destroyer Stormes (DD-780) and the high-speed transport Roper (APD-20) are damaged. The destroyer Cowell (DD-547) is accidentally hit by US naval gunfire in the day's action.

Secret War

Allied European Commands are asked not to reveal the Ultra Secret.

United States, Home Front

There are over 60 casualties in a blast at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland.

Images from May 25, 1945

Views in Kiel and District, 25 May 1945. Various aspects of life in the German naval base and type of U-boats used by the enemy as they were inspected by British submarine officers. 18 Seehunds (2-man U-boats), which had been in service lying at anchor.

Kiel Naval Base

C Pro C members guarding German Biber minisubs, Ijmuiden, Netherlands, 25 May 1945

German Biber Minisubs

Ki-21 of the Daisan Dokuritsu Hikotai (3rd Independent Squadron) at Yontan Airfield, 25 May 1945

Ki-21 (Sally) at Yontan Airfield

German Field Marshal Schorner captured in Austria (May 25, 1945)

German Field Marshal Schorner