<text id=00he1106><title>Halting the Flow of Engines</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>Halting the Flow of Engines</hdr><body>
<p>On 13 December, the bombers hit the Nagoya engine plant of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co. Ltd and destroyed about one-fifth of the factory area. Only after the war was it learned that damage was so severe that it halted parts machining, forcing subsequent reliance on inventory and outside suppliers. It also forced the Japanese to start dispersing their plants. Nagoya's dispersal program was so poorly managed that no engines were assembled at the remote site.
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<p>A number of only mediocre missions followed, and Arnold began to get restive. He had no decisive results that he could use as examples of air doctrines and concepts. He had decided to swallow the bitter pill; the India-China operation just wasn't at all effective, and would have to be moved to the Marianas. LeMay was available, and he had stirred things up in India, improving them; why not send him to replace Hansell and do the same on Saipan?
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<p>The irony of events is that the last mission from Saipan under Hansell's command was a spectacular success. The B-29's losing streak was broken in a raid on the Akashi plant of Kawasaki Aircraft Engineering Co. Ltd, a major producer of engines and twin-engined fighters. Sixty-two B-29s pounded it out of the war. The plant was closed; whatever was salvageable was moved to a dispersed site.
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<p>The next day, 20 January 1945, LeMay relieved Hansell. Five days earlier, XX Bomber Command had flown its last B-29 mission from the Chinese bases. They flew a few more from India against closer targets, generally tactical ones chosen by theater commanders. On 29 March, they made a last low-level strike, against the oil facilities in Singapore, and called it a day. Some of their number were already on Saipan and, within a few days, the remainder of the command was headed there also.
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<p>Faced with almost insuperable difficulties, XX Bomber Command had dispatched only 49 missions during its 10-month stay in India and China. It averaged about two combat sorties for each aircraft per month, hardly an outstanding record.
