Probably the most awesome mining weapon the US possessed was the B-29 Superfortress bomber. Some 900 mines were laid by them in early 1945 in a campaign called 'Operation Starvation'. It's impact was as dramatic as it's name. The Japanese were as short of minesweepers as they were carriers and battleships by then. The Shimononseki Waterway was closed to shipping for a fortnight, prompting a 50% fall in imports in addition to what damage the subs were already doing. In all, B-29s dropped 12,000 sea mines, which accounted for 63% of all Japanese shipping losses during their period of participation.
Historically, US subs pretty much kept out of major Japanese anchorages until late in the war when mine detection equipment was finally fitted.
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