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Allied naval bombardments of Japan during the last weeks of World War II in 1945 targeted industrial and military facilities. Warships of the United States Navy, the British Royal Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Navy, mostly cruisers and battleships, caused heavy damage to several factories, as well as nearby civilian areas. One goal was to provoke the Japanese military into committing some of its reserve force of aircraft into battle, but the Allied forces were not attacked, and none of their warships suffered damage. US Navy ships attacked the cities of Kamaishi and Muroran, a joint American and British force bombed targets around the city of Hitachi, and cruisers and destroyers shelled areas including Nojima Saki and Shionomisaki. In the final bombardment on 9 August, Kamaishi was hit again by American, British and New Zealand warships. Up to 1,739 Japanese were killed, and as many as 1,497 were wounded. The Allies lost 32 prisoners of war during the bombardments of Kamaishi. (Full article...)