Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix
The St. Croix remained
in New
Caledonia, readying to transport troops to the Philippines in May.
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Fighting continues on Okinawa and in the Philippines and New Guinea. Many ships are damaged or sunk by kamikaze aircraft near Okinawa; John's old ship, the Daly, is damaged by a kamikaze on the 28th.
Truman addresses the nation for the first time as President on the 16th. A few days later he is fully briefed on the Manhattan Project, and discussions begin on how to use the atomic bombs as they become available.
By the end of the month, Soviet armies mostly controlled the city of Berlin. Hitler made his last public appearance on the 20th. He married Eva Braun on the 29th, and they commited suicide together on the 30th. Control of the Reich passed to Goebbles; the next day, he and his wife poisoned their 6 children and then committed suicide. Control passed to Admiral Donitz who was in Flensburg.
Mussolini was captured and shot near Lake Como and his body was publicly displayed by partisans. US forces moved into southern Germany and Austria, attempting to seal any escape routes for Nazi officials and prevent the creation of a holdout Nazi government in the south.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 664-671.
- The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302.
- Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 236-250.
- USS_Saint_Croix
- Events of April, 1945
NEXT POST: MAY 15TH
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