Air Operations, Asia

200 B-24s and B-25s of the Far East Air Force from Okinawa bomb Kinagwan airfield in Shanghai.

Air Operations, CBI

• Nearly 150 FEAF B-24s, B-25s, and A-26s, and 54 FEAF P-47s, attack targets in the Shanghai area, port facilities at Shanghai, shipping on the Whangpoo River, airfields on Chusan Island, the Chiang Wan airfield at Shanghai and the airfields at Lunghua and Wusung.

• 4 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack rail yards at Dong Anh.
• 36 51st Fighter Group P-38s and P-51s attack defenses and transportation targets in northern French Indochina and adjacent areas of China.

Air Operations, East Indies

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s attack targets on Celebes.
• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Jesselton.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s attack Langkon.

Air Operations, Formosa

• V Bomber Command B-24s attack the airfield at Matsuyama.
• V Fighter Command P-38s attack various targets in northern Formosa.

Air Operations, Japan

• Despite lingering bad weather, Task Force 38 and Task Group 37.2 carrier aircraft attack various targets in the Tokyo area, especially the Yokosuka naval shipyard, where VF-88 fighter-bombers damage the battleship HIJMS Nagato at her moorings. In the attack, a Japanese destroyer, a submarine, 2 escort ships, and a patrol boat are sunk, and 5 small vessels are damaged.
• FEAF P-47s and P-51s based on Okinawa and Ie Shima attack targets across Honshu and Kyushu.

Air Operations, Philippines

V Fighter Command P-38s attack troops on Luzon.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

VMF(N)-533 F6Fs down 2 D4Y 'Judy' dive-bombers off Okinawa at 2136 and 2140 hours, respectively.

Air Operations, Central Pacific

Fleet Carrier Air Group 86 aircraft (USS Wasp) attack Wake Island.

Belgium, Politics

The Belgian Senate votes to forbid the return of Leopold III.

Brazil, Home Front

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force parades through Rio de Janeiro on its return from Italy.

Canada, Home Front

Explosions in a RCN Magazine rock Halifax. Firemen narrowly avert a cataclysmic detonation of the main magazine, containing 6,000 tons of ammunition, vast numbers of depth charges and mines. There are 15 casualties.

Dutch East Indies

Units of the Australian 7th Div in Borneo occupy the Sambodja oilfield, evacuated by the Japanese.

Italy, Home Front

Captured German mines explode destroying an American Red Cross club. 36 people are killed.

Pacific

• Allied air and naval attacks against a number of targets in the Tokyo area meet with almost no opposition from the Japanese. Yokosuka naval base and the surrounding airfields are hit hard. During the night there is a smaller bombardment of targets in the Cape Nojima area southeast of the Japanese capital. The Task Force then withdraws because a typhoon is forecasted.
• The coastal city of Hitachi is pounded by a fierce one-hour bombardment from US Navy warships, which fire 2,000 tons of shells.
• The US transport George F. Elliott (AP-105) is damaged from an unknown cause in the Okinawa area.
• The Japanese coast defense vessel No. 112 is sunk by the US submarine Barb (SS-220) off Karafuto, Japan.

Images from July 18, 1945

A US Navy reconnaissance photograph of Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 18 July 1945. Nagato is located at the upper left of the photo

Yokosuka Naval Aresenal

Crowd viewing broken glass outside Henry Birks & Sons Limited, Barrington St., Halifax, after the Bedford Magazine Explosion, 18 July, 1945

Damage from Bedford Magazine Explosion

On 18 July 1945, an ammunition barge blew up at the Naval Magazine jetty on Bedford Basin. Fire spread quickly to piles of ammunition. A chain reaction of fire, explosion and concussion rocked Halifax that day and into the next

Bedford Magazine Explosion

Attack on Yokosuka – A US Navy reconnaissance photograph of Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 18 July 1945.

Attack on Yokosuka

Jeeps and trailers loaded with members of the 58th/59th Battalion make their way along the muddy, corduroyed Buin Road near the Ogorata River on Bougainville, 18 July 1945

Moving on a Muddy Road

Balikpapan Area, Borneo, 18 July 1945. Members of gun crew of 3 Subsection, C Troop, 12 Battery, 2/6 Field Regiment, laying down a barrage on Japanese positions with their 25 pounder

25 Pounder in Action