Wednesday, 1 July 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Sturgeon (SS-187) sinks Japanese transport Montevideo Maru about 65 miles west of Cape Bojeador, Luzon, 18°37'N, 119°29'E. Unbeknownst to the submariners, Montevideo Maru is transporting 1,050 Allied POWs to Hainan Island. 

ATLANTIC—Convoy PQ 17 sails from Seidisfjord, Iceland, bound for North Russia. Among the ships in the close covering force that had departed Reykjavik, Iceland, the previous day are U.S. heavy cruisers Wichita (CA-45) and Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and destroyers Wainwright (DD-419) and Rowan (DD-405).

           U.S. freighter Warrior is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126 just north of Trinidad, 10°54'N, 61°01'W; three of the 42 man crew and four of the 14 man Armed Guard are lost. Survivors are rescued and transported to Trinidad.

GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. freighter Edward Luckenbach blunders into U.S. minefield five miles off Smith Shoal, Florida, light, and strikes two mines, 24°56'N, 81°53'W; one of the 42 man merchant complement perishes in the incident. The ship sinks with the superstructure above water. The 41 merchant seamen and the 12 man Armed Guard reboard the ship the next day, when they are transported to Key West by patrol craft.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—The first B‑17 (assigned to 97th Bomb Group) of the BOLERO air movement via N Atlantic route lands at Prestwick.

MIDDLE EAST—British forces check Axis advance at El Alamein.

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s bomb harbor at Tobruk during 1/2 Jul.

TENTH AF—First combat mission of CATF takes place before the formal activation (4 Jul) of the unit. 4 B‑25’s from Hengyang, escorted by P‑40’s, bomb docks at Hankow. Bad weather handicaps the bombardiers, and the effects of the raid are inconsequential.

FIFTH AF—B‑26’s bomb Salamaua. Other Medium Bomber and Heavy Bomber strikes abort due to bad weather.

ELEVENTH AF—The XI Provisional Bomber Command comprising the 28th Composite Group and its assigned squadrons is activated. Col William O Eareckson in command. A B‑17 flies weather reconnaissance over Kiska and lands early due to weather.

US ARMY

PACIFIC—TULSA II, a modified version of TULSA I, is drawn up as planning for offensive continues. 2d Marines, reinforced, 2d Marine Division, sails from California in 5 ships escorted by carrier Wasp.

MADAGASCAR—Lt General Sir William Platt, CinC East African Command, takes responsibility for occupied portion of Madagascar.

EGYPT—Enemy forces make their deepest penetration into Egypt with capture of fortified position of Deir el Shein, S of the El ‘Alamein fortress. Indian 18th Brigade Group, which has recently arrived from Iraq, is overrun in this action.

USSR—German Army Group South completes reduction of Sevastopol fortress in the Crimea and, to the N, continues toward the Don.

US MARINE CORPS

—

Tuesday, 30 June 1942

US NAVY

           Naval vessels on hand (all types of ships and craft)--5,612. Personnel: Navy--640,570; Marine Corps--143,528; Coast Guard--58,998. Total personnel--843,096.

PACIFIC—XPBS-1 transporting Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, and his staff to San Francisco crashes upon landing off Alameda, California. Nimitz suffers scratches and abrasions in the mishap but remains topside on the wreckage to direct rescue operations, refusing to leave that post until the wrecked flying boat has been searched for survivors.

           Coastal minesweeper Hornbill (AMc-13) is sunk in collision with U.S. lumber schooner Esther Johnson in San Francisco Bay, California.

           District patrol craft YP-270 sinks after running aground at Boca Santo Domingo, while en route from San Diego, California, to the Panama Canal Zone, 25°30'N, 112°06'W.

           District patrol craft YP-128 sinks after running aground in heavy weather three miles northeast of Monterey, California.

           Submarine Plunger (SS-179) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship No.5 Unkai Maru off the China coast near approaches to Shanghai, 30°04'N, 122°54'E.

INDIAN OCEAN—U.S. freighter Express, en route from Bombay, India, to Cape Town, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-10 at 23°30'S, 37°30'E; one lifeboat is swamped when the ship is abandoned, and two Armed Guard sailors and 11 merchant seamen are lost (see 6 July).

ATLANTIC—PBM (VP 74) sinks German submarine U-158 in western Atlantic, 32°50'N, 67°28'W.

           U.S. steamship City of Birmingham, en route to Bermuda, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-202 about 250 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 35°04'N, 61°01'W; six of the 113 man crew and two of 263 passengers are lost in the sinking. Escorting high speed minesweeper Stansbury (DMS-8), after depth-charging U-202, rescues 107 merchant seamen (one of whom dies of his injuries), 261 passengers and the 5 man Armed Guard.

           Coastal minesweeper Courier (AMc-72) rescues 30 merchant seamen (four wounded men have perished in the lifeboats) and the nine man Armed Guard from U.S. freighter Sam Houston, sunk by German submarine U-203 on 28 June. One crewman dies of wounds subsequently. Courier transports the survivors to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

           Gunboat Surprise (PG-63) rescues survivors from U.S. freighter Sea Thrush, sunk by German submarine U-505 on 28 June. A second group of survivors reaches St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on 3 July.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—Joint Anglo-American control of Burtonwood air depot begins with view toward subsequent exclusive control by AAF. VIII AF Service Command is designated US agent at Burtonwood.

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s bomb Tobruk harbor during 29/30 Jun; first US combat casualties in ME are recorded as 1 B‑ 24 is lost. General Brereton moves his det from Egypt to Palestine, as Rommel advances toward the Suez Canal.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s attack Dili, Koepang and Kendari; B‑25’s and B‑26’s hit Lae in New Guinea.

ELEVENTH AF—A B‑17 flies weather reconnaissance over Kiska.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—Hq Company of U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific Area (USAFISPA) is organized at Fort Ord, California.

NEW GUINEA—Australian Kanga Force, guarding Bulolo Valley, conducts its first offensive action, a raid on Salamaua. This is followed a few days later by a raid on Lae.

EGYPT—Upon completing withdrawal to prepared positions at El ‘Alamein, British 30 Corps takes responsibility for N flank and 13 Corps for S flank. 10 Corps staff is withdrawn to command Delta Force, which is to defend Alexandria and the Nile Delta.

USSR—Germans broaden offensive toward the Don in Army Group South sector. While 2d Army and 4th Pz Army continue toward the river at Voronezh, 6th Army begins drive to E in region SE of Belgorod. In the Crimea, battle for Sevastopol is in its final stage. On N front, German Army Group North eliminates last of Soviet pocket W of Volkhov.

US MARINE CORPS

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Monday, 29 June 1942

US NAVY

ATLANTIC—U.S. freighter Thomas McKean, en route to Cape Town, South Africa, is torpedoed, shelled and sunk by German submarine U-505 at 22°00'N, 60°00'W. Three Armed Guard sailors are killed in the attack. U-505 provides medical attention to the wounded in the lifeboats before departing (see 4, 12 and 14 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

NORTH AFRICA—Rommel’s Afrika Korps takes Matruh.

EIGHTH AF—Capt Charles C Kegelman (CO 15th Bomb Squadron), flying on mission with 12 RAF Bostons against Hazebrouck marshalling yard, becomes first member of Eighth AF to drop bombs on enemy-occupied Europe. First pilot fatality of Eighth AF in ETO is suffered when 1st Lt Alfred W Giacomini of 31st Fighter Group crashes a Spitfire while landing at Atcham.

TENTH AF—Col Robert C Oliver assumes command of X Air Service Command.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s hit airfields at Rabaul and Lae during 28/29 Jun.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—Admiral King proposes to Joint Chiefs of Staff that Admiral Ghormley command offensive to seize lower Solomons and that General MacArthur control moves against New Guinea and New Britain. This is a compromise on the question of whether the planned offensive in the Pacific shall be controlled by the Navy or by the Army.

NEW GUINEA—Company E of U.S. 46th Engineers arrives at Milne Bay to begin work on base.

CHINA—Chiang Kai-shek, meeting with General Stilwell, makes 3 demands “essential for the maintenance of the China Theater of War”: 3 U.S. divisions, 500-plane air force in China, monthly transportation by air of 5,000 tons of supplies into China.

EGYPT—Axis forces speed eastward to within 15 miles of El ‘Alamein despite action of 13 Corps, British Eighth Army.

US MARINE CORPS

—

 

Sunday, 28 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) is damaged by depth charges off central Honshu, 34°34'N, 140°13'E.

           Submarine Stingray (SS-186), attacking Japanese convoy, torpedoes and sinks gunboat Saikyo Maru about 190 miles north of Yap, Carolines, 12°41'N, 136°22'E; cargo ship Meiten Maru fires at Stingray's periscope without effect.

           PBYs (VP 14) bomb Japanese base at Tulagi.

ATLANTIC—Unarmed U.S. freighter Raphael Semmes is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-332 at 29°30'N, 64°30'W; 18 men from the 35 man crew, and one of the two passengers, perish. U-332 remains in the vicinity of the sinking, providing medical assistance and supplies to the survivors before departing (see 16 July).

           U.S. freighter Sam Houston is torpedoed, shelled and sunk by German submarine U-203 at 19°21'N, 62°22'W; three crewmen perish. U-203 briefly embarks the freighter's master for questioning but returns him to a lifeboat before departing (see 30 June).

           U.S. tanker William Rockefeller is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-701 approximately 16 miles northeast of Diamond Shoals, North Carolina, 35°07'N, 75°07'W; escorting Coast Guard cutter CG-470 (which attacks the U-boat without success) rescues all hands: 44 merchant seamen and the six man Armed Guard.

           U.S. freighter Sea Thrush, en route to Cape Town, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-505 at 22°40'N, 61°26'W. All hands survive the loss of the ship: 42 man crew, 11 man Armed Guard and 14 passengers (see 30 June).

           U.S. freighter Ruth is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-153 about 100 miles north of Cape Maysi, Cuba,21°44'N, 74°05'W. U-153 rescues one survivor and places him on a raft with three of his shipmates; they are the only survivors from a crew of 34 men. There are no survivors from the four man Armed Guard unit (see 4 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS US ARMY—General Eisenhower assumes command of ETOUSA, succeeding General Chaney.

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—General Brereton arrives at Cairo where USAFIME issues orders placing him in command of USAMEAF, which is activated immediately. USAMEAF is comprised of Halverson Det (HALPRO), Brereton’ det (9th Bomb Squadron and other personnel which Brereton brought from India), and Air Section of US Military North African Mission. Also activated is Air Service Command, USAMEAF, under General Adler. B‑24’s of HALPRO bomb harbor and shipping at Tobruk.

ELEVENTH AF—A B‑17 weather aircraft flies over Kiska. Solid weather front cancels bombing. On this and the following day US advance reconnaissance parties land on Adak from submarines.

US ARMY

MIDDLE EAST—U.S. Army Middle East Air Force is established in Middle East under command of Lt General Lewis H. Brereton. It at first consists of Halverson Detachment (HALPRO) and 9 B–17’s.

EGYPT—Enemy overruns 29th Brigade of Indian 5th Division as it attempts to cover withdrawal of 10 Corps in Fuka area. 10 Corps retires southward to El ‘Alamein.

USSR—Germans launch main summer offensive. On N flank of Army Group South enemy pushes eastward toward the Don from Kursk. Battle for Sevastopol continues, with Soviet forces losing ground steadily.

US MARINE CORPS

—

Saturday, 27 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) torpedoes and sinks Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Musashi Maru east of Nojimazaki, Japan, 34°38'N, 140°08'E.

ATLANTIC—Unarmed U.S. freighter Polybius is torpedoed by German submarine U-128 at 11°00'N, 57°30'W; ten crewmen perish. U-128's officers briefly question the survivors before the submarine departs. The 34 survivors are rescued over the next three days: by Dutch steamship Dracos on 28 June; an unidentified Allied ship on the 29th, and British steamship Clarona on the 30th.

           U.S. freighter Potlatch is torpedoed by German submarine U-153 at 19°20'N, 53°18'W; six crewmen perish. Of the 39 man crew, 33 survive, as do the 16 Armed Guard sailors. U-153 briefly questions the survivors and provides them with cigarettes before departing (see 29 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

HALPRO—B‑24’s bomb harbor at Tobruk during 26/27 Jun in effort to disrupt movement of supplies.

FIFTH AF—B‑26’s bomb Lae and Salamaua.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—By this date the 8 enemy agents that landed on Long Island and in Florida have been arrested. They have caused no damage. All are subsequently court martialed and six are executed.

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—General MacArthur completes plan, TULSA I, for offensive to secure New Britain-New Ireland- Admiralty Islands. area.

EGYPT—10 and 13 Corps of British Eighth Army are forced to withdraw eastward toward El ‘Alamein when enemy infiltrates between them and partially envelops former in Matruh area.

US MARINE CORPS

—

Friday, 26 June 1942

US NAVY

ATLANTIC—Naval Auxiliary Air Station (Lighter-than-Air), San Julian, Cuba, is established.

           Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare off U.S. Atlantic Coast.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—Air echelons of 31st Fighter Group are established at Atcham and High Ercall by this date. These are first combat personnel of VIII Fighter Command to reach UK. 

HALPRO—B-24’s fly a diversion for RAF Albacore attack on 2 merchant vessels at Tobruk.

TENTH AF—General Naiden becomes CG Tenth AF, succeeding General Brereton who departs for ME with General Adler, CG X Air Service Command, and several other key subordinates. Aircraft and crews of 9th Bomb Squadron follow. This move leaves the Tenth AF almost a skeleton.

SEVENTH AF—3 LB-30’s bomb installations on Wake Island. The raid takes place during 26/27 Jun and is staged through Midway.

ELEVENTH AF—5 B‑24’s drop incendiaries and fire bombs on Kiska Harbor installations.

US ARMY

NEW GUINEA—Elements of Maroubra Force (Company B of Australian 39th Battalion) are ordered to Kokoda.

CHINA BURMA INDIA—General Brereton leaves for Middle East and is succeeded as commander of U.S. Tenth Air Force by Brigadier General Earl L. Naiden.

EGYPT—Enemy armor breaches mine field of British Eighth Army S of Matruh.

US MARINE CORPS

—

Thursday, 25 June 1942

US NAVY

GENERAL—President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill conclude conference in Washington; decision is reached for combined U.S.-British research and development of the atomic bomb.

PACIFIC—Carrier Saratoga (CV-3) ferries 25 USAAF P-40s (73d Fighter Squadron) to Midway to provide fighter defense for the atoll, after the heavy losses suffered by VMF 221 during the Battle of Midway on 4 June. Saratoga also brings in 18 SBDs to bring VMSB 241 (also badly battered at Midway) up to strength.

           Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) torpedoes and sinks Japanese destroyer Yamakaze southeast of Yokosuka, Japan,34°34'N, 140°26'E.

           Submarine Grouper (SS-214) damages Japanese oiler No.3 Tonan Maru, 28°46'N, 136°36'E.

           PBYs (VP 71) bomb Japanese base at Tulagi; Rear Admiral John S. McCain (Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific Force) is present in one of the flying boats to observe operations.

EUROPE—U.S. Army establishes European Theater of Operations under Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

UNITED STATES—Arnold-Portal-Towers agreement concerning air forces for BOLERO is approved by JCS.

EIGHTH AF—HQ is established at Bushy Park, a London suburb.

FIFTH AF—B‑25’s bomb Salamaua.

SEVENTH AF—General Lynd becomes CG VII Bomber Command.

ELEVENTH AF—A field order bases the 404th Bomb Squadron at Fairbanks, to operate out of Nome, to which 1 squadron of the 54th Fighter Group is also sent. Another squadron of the 54th (P‑39’s) is sent to Ft Richardson. 2 B‑17’s, 4 B‑24’s and 1 LB-30 fly bombing and weather missions over Kiska, bombing N side of the harbor.

US ARMY

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA—Admiral King presents his views on projected offensive to General Marshall.

NEW GUINEA—General Basil M. Morris forms new unit, called Maroubra Force, to hold Kokoda Trail over Owen Stanley Range between Port Moresby and Buna. Maroubra Force consists of Australian 39th Battalion, less one company, of Australian 30th Brigade and a Papuan Battalion of 300. Allied garrison arrives at Milne Bay.

EGYPT-LIBYA—Axis forces continue rapidly toward Matruh despite air attacks. General Auchinleck takes personal command of British Eighth Army, relieving General Ritchie; after reviewing situation, decides to continue withdrawal from Matruh to El ‘Alamein.

US MARINE CORPS

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill conclude conference in Washinton; decision reached for combined efforts to develop atomic bomb.