1945 in Aviation - Events - May

May

  • May 1 – The U.S. Navy's mixed-propulsion Ryan FR Fireball becomes the first aircraft incorporating jet propulsion to qualify for use aboard aircraft carriers.
  • May 2 – The British East Indies Fleet's 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron – consisting of the aircraft carriers HMS Emperor, HMS Hunter, HMS Khedive, and HMS Stalker – begin support of Operation Dracula, a British assault on Rangoon, Burma. Their aircraft fly 110 sorties, bombing Japanese forces in support of a British amphibious landing.
  • May 3 – Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers sink the German passenger ships SS Cap Arcona and SS Deutschland and the German cargo ship SS Thielbek in the Bay of Lübeck, unaware that the ships are carrying more than 10,000 concentration camp prisoners. About 5,000 people die aboard Cap Arcona (the second-greatest loss of life in a ship sinking in history) and about another 2,750 aboard Thielbek, and there also is a heavy loss of life aboard Deutschland.
  • May 3–4 – The fifth Japanese Kikusui attack on ships off Okinawa includes 125 kamikazes. They sink three destroyers and two smaller ships and damage the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, the light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62), four destroyers, a destroyer-minelayer, and three smaller ships.
  • May 4 – The British Home Fleet carries out its last operation of World War II, a raid by 44 Avengers and Wildcats from the aircraft carriers HMS Queen. HMS Trumpeter, and HMS Searcher against Kilbotn, Norway, sinking a German depot ship and submarine. It is the last air raid against Norway of World War II.
  • May 4–5 – Carrier aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet strike airfields on the Sakishima Gunto.
  • May 5–6 – The British aircraft carriers HMS Emperor, HMS Hunter, HMS Khedive, and HMS Stalker resume support of Operation Dracula, bombing Japanese forces south of Rangoon and attacking shipping off Burma's Tenasserim coast.
  • May 7 – The Royal Air Force sinks a German submarine for the last time in World War II.
  • May 8
    • Flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109, Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erich Hartmann scores his final aerial victory, shooting down a Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter over Brno, Slovakia. He is the highest-scoring ace in history, with 352 kills. He surrenders to Allied forces soon afterward.
    • VE Day; Germany surrenders, ending the Second World War in Europe.
  • May 9 – British Pacific Fleet carrier aircraft strike the Sakishima Gunto. Kamikazes hit the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Victorious.
  • May 10 – Sighting a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-45 (Allied reporting name "Nick" fighter flying high over Okinawa, U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Robert R, Klingman in an F4U Corsair gives chase for over 185 miles and intercepts the Ki-45 at 38,000 feet (11,583 m). Finding his guns frozen, he climbs well above the Corsair's service ceiling of 41,600 feet (12,680 m) and cuts off the Ki-45's tail with his propeller in several passes, causing it to crash. He then belly lands safely at Kadena field on Okinawa. He receives the Navy Cross for the action.
  • May 10–11 – The sixth Japanese Kikusui attack off Okinawa includes 150 kamikazes. They damage two destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), which suffers 353 killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. One of the most heavily damaged aircraft carriers to survive the war, Bunker Hill is out of service for the rest of World War II.
  • May 11 – The Martin-Baker company makes the first live firing of an ejector seat.
  • May 12 – A kamikaze hits the battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) at Hagushi anchorage, Okinawa.
  • May 12–13 – Carrier aircraft of Task Force 58 strike targets on Kyushu and Shikoku. The British Pacific Fleet's carriers strike the Sakishima Gunto.
  • May 14
    • A kamikaze crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), knocking her out of action for the rest of World War II.
    • The final Arctic convoy of World War II, Convoy JW 67, departs Scapa Flow for the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union escorted by the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen. It returns to the United Kingdom later in the month as Convoy RA 67. Queen's presence as an escort is deemed necessary in case any German submarine commanders opt to ignore Germany's surrender and attack the convoy.
  • May 15 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carrier HMS Emperor attack the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the Indian Ocean, but achieve only one near-miss.
  • May 16–17 – British Pacific Fleet carrier aircraft strike Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Gunto.
  • May 20 – 29 aircraft from the British aircraft carriers HMS Ameer, HMS Khedive, and HMS Stalker conduct devastating strikes against Japanese shipping, airfields, and communications in southern Burma and Sumatra.
  • May 23–25 – The seventh Kikusui attack off Okinawa involves 165 kamikazes. They sink a destroyer-transport and two smaller ships and damage a destroyer and a destroyer-transport on May 25.
  • May 24–25 – British Pacific Fleet carrier aircraft make the final strikes of the war against the Sakishima Gunto, where all Japanese airfields have now been knocked out.
  • May 24/25 (overnight) – Five Imperial Japanese Army Mitsubishi Ki-21 (Allied reporting name "Sally") bombers carrying Giretsu Kuteitai special airborne attack troops make a suicide raid on Kadena and Yontan airfields on Okinawa. Four are shot down, but the fifth belly lands on the principal runway at Yontan and disgorges ten giretsu troops, who destroy seven and damage 26 planes, blow up two fuel dumps, and kill two Americans and wound 18 before being killed. Japanese planes also bomb Ie Shima during the night.
  • May 27–29 – The eighth Japanese Kikusui attack off Okinawa involves 110 kamikazes. They sink a destroyer and damage two destroyers, three merchant ships, and an attack transport.

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