1945

9-10 March: Over the course of a single night, American strategic bombers destroy great swathes of Tokyo using incendiary bombs. The engagement is the single most destructive bombing raid in the history of military aviation, cut Tokyo's industrial productivity in half, and is estimated to have killed around 100,000 people.

April

1 April: Operation Iceberg, the American-led invasion of Okinawa by the Allies, commences. The ensuing Battle of Okinawa takes place between 1 April and 22 June and sees some of the fiercest fighting in the entire Pacific Theater.
- 6-7 April: Operation Ten-Go - the final major naval battle carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II - takes place. A fleet of warships consisting of the battleship Yamato, the light cruiser Yahagi, and a set of eight destroyers (Yukikaze, Asashimo, Hamakaze, Isokaze, Suzutsuki, Hatsushimo, Fuyutsuki and Kasumi) were tasked with sailing to Okinawa in a desperate final attempt to fight off the Allies, where Yamato was to serve as a stationary battery until it was destroyed. However, the fleet was sighted by U.S. Navy submarines in the Bungo Channel and later intercepted by surface ships and aircraft, leading to a decisive battle between Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. The battle ended with the sinking of Yamato - which exploded violently following a sustained assault by naval aircraft - along with Yahagi, Asashimo, Isokaze, Hamakaze, and Kasumi. The remaining destroyers (Fuyutsuki, Suzutsuki, Yukikaze, and Hatsushimo) were able to escape in varying states of repair; Yukikaze survived the battle (and the remainder of the war) almost completely undamaged.

May

8 May: Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II in Europe, though some pockets of continued fighting take place in the Western Theatre until 11 May.

June

12 June: Kathy Horan is born in the United States.
22 June: The Battle of Okinawa concludes, with the Allies emerging victorious.
26 June: The United Nations is established.

July

16 July: Trinity, the world's first detonation of a nuclear weapon, is held at the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico, marking the beginning of the Atomic Age.
28 July: The Empire State Building sustains damage when a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber crashes into it in heavy fog. All three crew members aboard the bomber die, along with a further 11 people in the Empire State Building; 24 people are injured. The damage was repaired quickly, with the building open for business less than 48 hours later.
31 July: In a mission named Operation Struggle, two Royal Navy XE-class midget submarines, XE1 and XE3, are tasked with attacking Japanese warships in Singapore's harbor, with XE3 attacking Takao with limpet mines. Having already been damaged by USS Darter on October 23, 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Takao is crippled by XE3 and will never sail again, its role in the Japanese efforts to repel the Allies' attempt to regain control of Singapore reduced to that of a stationary anti-aircraft battery.

August

3 August: The Kyushu J7W1 Shinden makes its maiden flight. Two more test flights are conducted on the 6th and 9th of August, the same days as the two nuclear bombings.
6 August: The United States drops the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan using the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, leading to the deaths of 90,000 to 146,000 people.
9 August: The United States drops the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki using the B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, killing 39,000 to 80,000 people.
15 August: Emperor Hirohito announces the surrender of Japan to the nation.

September

2 September: The Japanese formally sign the surrender document aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, officially marking the end of World War II. From the time of the surrender until 28 April 1952, Japan is subject to occupation by Allied forces.

In fiction

As the end of the war in Japan takes place, Hachiro Jinguji and a team of engineers leave Japan with the unfinished Gotengo and its blueprints, completing the submarine's construction at a secret island facility over the course of the next six years. (Atragon)
Nazi forces give the still-beating heart of Frankenstein's monster to the Imperial Japanese Navy, which in turn brings it to Hiroshima for study. The heart is irradiated when the United States destroys the city with the Little Boy nuclear bomb. Granted remarkable regenerative abilities, the heart grows a new body over the next fifteen years. (Frankenstein vs. Baragon)
American bombers attack and destroy the battleship Yamato, killing all aboard. Reigo attacks the ship, and finishes it off. (Reigo: King of the Sea Monsters)
Ishiro Serizawa and his father survive the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, encountering a newly-awoken Shinomura that flies away. Godzilla, attracted by the radiation, briefly surfaces in Hiroshima Bay. Ishiro's father leaves him with his grandparents in Kyoto and becomes a sailor. (Godzilla: Awakening)
Kantaro Tagruato establishes Tagruato in Kyushu, Japan. (Cloverfield alternate-reality game)^{[citation needed]}
A small number of Shinden interceptors are manufactured in preparation for a defense against an anticipated invasion attempt of the Japanese main islands by the United States; however, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki end World War II before such an operation comes to pass. Following the end of the war, most of Japan's aircraft are confiscated by the Allies, save for a single Shinden, which sits forgotten inside an old hangar for the next two years. (Godzilla Minus One)

June

28 June: Jack Prescott is born in Princeton, New Jersey. This date and location will be provided later by the Department of the Navy at the request of Fred Wilson.^[1] (King Kong [1976])

August

During the final days of World War II, a dinosaurian beast known by the locals as "Godzilla" raids a Japanese military airbase on Odo Island and kills everyone there but mechanic Sosaku Tachibana and reluctant kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima. (Godzilla Minus One)

December

Koichi Shikishima returns home to Tokyo, only to find it ravaged by the massive firebombing that took place in March 1945. A few days after returning to Tokyo, Shikishima takes in a young woman, Noriko Oishi, and a baby she rescued, Akiko. (Godzilla Minus One)

Gallery

The mushroom cloud above Nagasaki caused by the atomic bomb

References

This is a list of references for 1945. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

↑

Comments

Showing 12 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...

[1] ↑

[1]