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• The US Army Air Force began launching B-29 bomber raids, each with very few planes, against Japanese cities. The goal of such missions was to make such small raids a frequent occurrence to increase the success rate of the planned atomic bomb missions. ww2dbase [Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | CPC]
• Achille Van Acker recommended abdication for King Leopold III of Belgium. ww2dbase [Leopold III | CPC]
• USS Nicholas and the replenishment group she was escorting rendezvoused with carrier Task Force 38 northeast of Chichi Jima for refueling and replenishment. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Preparations for Invasion of Japan | DS]

• Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville was decommissioned off Sorel, Quebec, Canada. ww2dbase [Sorel, Quebec | CPC]
• Canadian corvette HMCS Prescott was decommissioned off Sorel, Quebec, Canada. ww2dbase [Sorel, Quebec | CPC]
• Canadian corvette HMCS St. Lambert was decommissioned off Sorel, Quebec, Canada. ww2dbase [Sorel, Quebec | CPC]
• Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Ambler was decommissioned off Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]
• Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Reindeer was decommissioned off Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]
• Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Caribou was decommissioned off Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]
• Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Moose was decommissioned off Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]
• Canadian motor launch HMC ML 078 was decommissioned off Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• British carrier HMS Reaper departed Cherbourg, France with a captured German Ar 234 aircraft aboard. ww2dbase [Ar 234 Blitz | Cherbourg, Basse-Normandie | CPC]

• At Potsdam, Germany, Harry Truman declared that the Allies would demand no territory upon victory. ww2dbase [Potsdam Conference | Potsdam, Mark Brandenburg | CPC]

• USS Ticonderoga re-joined Task Group 38.3; Air Group 87 aircraft struck Nagoya, Osaka, and Miko in Japan. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | DS]
• HMS Indefatigable joined UK Task Force 37 and US Task Force 38.2 for an attack on the Japanese home islands. On the same day, an US Army B-29 bomber failed to attack the Imperial Palace in Tokyo with a large "Pumpkin" bomb. ww2dbase [Preparations for Invasion of Japan | Imperial Palace Complex | Tokyo | CPC]
• US 11th Air Force launched 8 B-24 bombers against Matsuwa Airfield, Matsuwa, Hokkaido, Japan in the Kurile Islands. Meanwhile, 94 Iwo Jima-based US P-51 fighters strafed airfields at Kamezaki, Meiji, Okazaki, Nagoya, Kagamigahara, Hamamatsu, and Komaki; 3 fighters were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | CPC]

• USS Sea Robin fired a torpedo at a Japanese ship in the East China Sea; the torpedo missed. ww2dbase [Sea Robin | East China Sea | CPC]
• USS Baya attacked a Japanese patrol craft in the South China Sea with her deck gun. ww2dbase [Baya | South China Sea | CPC]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay departed San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, Philippines bound for Guam, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | San Pedro, Leyte | DS]

• The US Congress ratified the Bretton Woods monetary agreement. ww2dbase [Washington | CPC]

20 Jul 1945 Interactive Map