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• HMS King George V bombarded airfields in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. ww2dbase [King George V | CPC]
• German pilot Leutnant Rudolf Schmitt shot down a British Tempest fighter while flying a He 162 jet fighter. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Pastor Hornig, Dr. Konrad, Bishop Ferche, and Canon Kramer, the three leading religious leaders in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), unsuccessfully attempted to persuade German General of the Infantry Hermann Niehoff to surrender the city to the Soviets. ww2dbase [Silesian Offensive and the Siege of Breslau | CPC]
• USS Cero sank a Japanese transport east of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired; an additional 3 torpedoes were expended (but missed) in attacking other ships in the same convoy. ww2dbase [Cero | CPC]
• Kurt Schuschnigg was liberated by American troops. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The US submarine Lagarto was sunk by the Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka in the Gulf of Siam. ww2dbase [Lagarto | AC]
• The Fletcher-class destroyer USS Morrison was sunk by a Japanese special attack aircraft off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [AC]
• Deutschland was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Deutschland | CPC]
• Operation Iceberg II was commenced by the Allies to support the campaign on Okinawa, Japan. Meanwhile, Japanese special attack aircraft sank two destroyers and damaged a number of other warships off the island, including British carrier HMS Formidable and American minesweeper USS Shea (hit by 1 of 7 Ohka special attack aircraft launched on this day). ww2dbase [Okinawa Campaign | CPC]
• German forces in Denmark, the Netherlands, and northwestern Germany surrendered to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, to be in effect at 0800 hours on the next day. Meanwhile, in Germany, US Ninth Army accepted surrender of German Ninth and Twelfth Armies and US Third Army accepted the surrender by Feldmarschall Paul von Kleist. ww2dbase [Germany's Surrender | TH, CPC]
• Charles Sweeney became the commanding officer of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy which was a part of the USAAF 509th Composite Group designated to deliver the atomic bombs when they are ready. ww2dbase [Charles Sweeney | CPC]
• Orion was sunk off Swinemünde, Germany (now Swinoujscie, Poland) by bombs. About 4,000 people, most of whom refugees, were killed. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
• Fedor von Bock passed away. ww2dbase [Fedor von Bock | CPC]

• British troops entered Neuengamme Concentration Camp near Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Hamburg | CPC]
• US Seventh Army occupied Innsbruck, Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. ww2dbase [Southern Germany Campaign | Berchtesgaden, München-Oberbayern | TH]
• Hans Fritzsche was brought to the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany to identity the body of Joseph Goebbels. ww2dbase [Reich Chancellery | Joseph Goebbels | Berlin | CPC]

• USS Corregidor arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Corregidor | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• US Fifth Army moved up to the Brenner Pass on the Italo-Austrian border. ww2dbase [Operation Grapeshot and Operation Roast | Brenner, Sudtirolo | TH]
• Prince Philipp was arrested by US troops at Niederdorf in Sudtirolo (South Tyrol), Italy. ww2dbase [Philipp | Niederdorf, Sudtirolo | CPC]

• USS Haddock fired 6 torpedoes at a ship 5 miles south of Suruga Bay in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Haddock | Suruga Bay, Yamanashi | CPC]
• USS Luce was attacked by two Japanese special attack aircraft off Okinawa, Japan. The first was shot down near the port side of the ship, and the blast of the explosion caused power failures throughout the ship. The second aircraft crashed into the aft portion of the destroyer, knocking out the port engine, jamming the rudder, and flooding engineering spaces. The commanding officer gave the order to abandon ship at 0814 hours. Of the 312 on board, 126 were killed in the attack and the sinking. ww2dbase [Okinawa Campaign | Luce | Okinawa | CPC, DS]

• USS Spot arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Spot | Saipan | CPC]

• USS Springer set sail toward waters south of Japan on lifeguard duty. ww2dbase [Springer | CPC]
• USS Trepang sank Japanese Minesweeper Number 20 in the Yellow Sea. ww2dbase [Trepang | Yellow Sea | CPC]

• USS Mingo entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States for overhaul. ww2dbase [Mingo | Mare Island Navy Yard | Vallejo, California | CPC]

4 May 1945 Interactive Map