Air Operations, CBI

• 7 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and nearly 100 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack Japanese forces withdrawing through eastern and southern China.

Air Operations, Japan

• More than 70 FEAF B-24s attack Japanese warships and other shipping at Kure.
• FEAF B-25s and 319th Medium Bomb Group A-26s attack the Kanoya airfield complex on Kyushu.
• B-25s and FEAF P-51s sweep shipping in the Inland Sea.
• 137 FEAF P-47s based on Ie Shima attack artillery positions, rail yards, industrial targets, warehouses, and other targets across Kyushu.
• 21 P-47s attack shipping at Yatsushiro.
• More than 140 VII Fighter Command P-51s based on Iwo Jima attack military installations and airfields at 9 locations in the Tokyo area.
• VII Fighter Command P-51s sink a Japanese destroyer-escort off the Chiba peninsula.
• US Navy aircraft from Task Force 38 and Royal Navy aircraft from Task Group 37.2 mount massive attacks against airfields and naval targets around the Inland Sea. The battleship-carrier HIJMS Hyuga is sunk and other Mobile Fleet warships are damaged at Kure by Task Force 38 carrier bombers. In return for this completely symbolic gain, however, very heavy anti-aircraft fire brings about the staggering loss of 133 US carrier aircraft and 102 airmen. US carrier-based F6Fs down 13 Ki-84 'Frank' fighters, 3 Ki-61 'Tony' fighters, 4 F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance planes, and an N1K 'Rex' floatplane figher over Japan between 0625 and 0845 hours. A VBF-87 F6F downs a B6N 'Jill' torpedo bomber 7 miles from Task Force 38 at 1711 hours. Royal Navy Hellcat night-fighters from HMS Formidable also down 3 night intruders.
• During the night 76 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Tsu. 61 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Aomori. 122 73rd Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Ichinomiya.
• 93 313th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Ujiyamada 90 314th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack Ogaki. 29 314th Very Heavy Bombt Wing B-29s attack Uwajima. 76 315th Very Heavy Bomb Wing B-29s attack an oil refinery at Shimotsu. 7 B-29s attack targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, Philippines

• XIII Bomber Command B-24s support US 8th Army ground forces on Negros.
• B-25s and XIII Fighter Command P-38s support US 8th Army ground forces on Luzon.
• P-38s attack Japanese troops on Jolo Island.

Air Operations, Pacific

2,000 Allied planes bomb Kure, Kobe and targets on the Inland Sea. The US destroyer Callaghan is sunk by a suicide plane off Okinawa, the last ship to be destroyed by kamikazes although the next day a suicide plane damages the destroyer Cassin Young.

Burma

The Japanese 28th Army attempts to escape across the Sittang River suffering catastrophic losses. Over 13,000 are killed or drowned.

Diplomatic Relations

Attlee and Bevin arrive at Potsdam for further consultations.

Japan, Policy

The Japanese Premier Zenko(?) Suzuki holds a press conference in which he says that the Japanese government will take no notice of the Potsdam Declaration. At least that is the interpretation that is put on his speech by the Allies, but it is possible that the word he use was intended to mean 'make no comment on for the moment' and that more might have been done to encourage a diplomatic response. It is upsetting to the Japanese that the declaration has not been delivered through the proper diplomatic channels via a neutral power and this contributes to their decision to take no immediate action on it.

Pacific

• There are more attacks by the US 3rd fleet against the naval base at Kure and other targets. This time the American bombers sink the aircraft carrier Amagi, the heavy cruiser Tone, the old cruiser Izumo, the light cruiser Oyodo, the destroyer Nashi and the submarine I-371.
• The Japanese, incapable by now of any reaction in their own country, send yet more kamikaze pilots to attack the American ships in the Okinawa area. These attacks sink the destroyer Callaghan (DD-792) and damage the destroyer Prichett (DD-561).

United States, Home Front

A B-25 bomber lost in the fog collides with the Empire State Building in New York City. 19 people are killed.

The Senate ratifies the UN Charter by a vote of 89 to 2.

Images from July 28, 1945

The Empire State Building on fire following the crash by a U.S. Army B-25 bomber on July 28, 1945

Empire State Building On Fire

On Saturday, July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog by Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith, Jr., crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors

Damage to the Empire State Building

Japanese battleship Haruna under attack on 28 July

Japanese Battleship Haruna Under Attack

Japanese battleship Haruna under attack on 28 July

Japanese Battleship Haruna Under Attack

Japanese battleship Haruna under intense attack by US Navy carrier-based aircraft, near Kure, Japan, 28 July 1945

Japanese Battleship Haruna Under Attack

Aerial photograph showing a burning Japanese battleship Ise, west of the Ondo-no-seto, Kure, Japan.

Aerial Photograph Showing Japanese Battleship Ise

A woman is helped down the long flights of stairs from the upper floors after an army B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building. July 28, 1945

Leaving the Empire State Building

Raids on Japan, July 1945. Japanese battleship Haruna under attack by American and British carrier planes in Kure Bay, Japan, July 28, 1945. (US Navy Photograph)

Raids on Japan