Sunday, 21 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—PBY (VP 24) recovers two man crew from Enterprise (CV-6) TBD (VT 6) 360 miles north of Midway. Their plane had to land in the water on 4 June; these are the last survivors of the Battle of Midway to be recovered.

           Submarine S-44 (SS-155) sinks Japanese gunboat Keijo Maru 12 miles west of Gavutu, Solomons, 09°00'S, 160°00'E.

           Japanese submarine I-25 shells Fort Stevens, Oregon.

NORTH RUSSIA—U.S. freighter Alcoa Cadet is mined in Kola Inlet, Murmansk, USSR, and breaks in two. Ships in the vicinity rescue the survivors (33 merchant seamen and 10 passengers).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

INTERNATIONAL—Arnold-Portal-Towers agreement is signed. It deals with US air commitments and provides for strong air force for BOLERO.

HALPRO—9 B‑24’s bomb Bengasi harbor after RAF Wellingtons light the target with flares and incendiaries.

ELEVENTH AF—WD authorizes XI AF Service Command—hitherto Provisional Service Command— which is activated at Elmendorf. It is charged with maintaining and supplying all of the Eleventh’s bases. Weather cancels all missions except an armed weather sortie over Kiska. Fighters fly local patrols.

US ARMY

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS—Arnold-Portal- Towers agreement, stemming from London conference of 26 May and subsequent discussions in Washington, is signed. This agreement, which concerns U.S. air commitments and provides strong air force for BOLERO, is approved by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on 25 June and by Combined Chiefs of Staff on a July.

LIBYA—Tobruk falls to enemy. General Ritchie decides to withdraw to Matruh, Egypt, and orders 13 Corps to delay enemy while 30 Corps begins organization of the Matruh position.

US MARINE CORPS

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Saturday, 20 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Japanese submarine I-26 shells Estevan Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

           Submarine S-27 (SS-132) crew reach deserted village at Constantine Harbor and inhabit it until rescue comes (see 23 June).

ATLANTIC—U.S. freighter West Ira is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-128 about 120 miles southeast of Barbados,12°04'N, 57°35'W; one man of West Ira's merchant complement of 48 is killed, there are no casualties among the 10 man Armed Guard. Survivors are for the most part rescued between three and five days later; the last survivor comes ashore on 1 July at Barbados.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

UNITED STATES—General Chaney, CG ETOUSA, is recalled from UK and will be replaced by General Eisenhower.

EIGHTH AF—General Marshall’s letter of instruction to General Eisenhower reveals plan to integrate all US air units in UK into Eighth AF. Broad objective of AAF in ETO is to attain ‘air supremacy over Western Continental Europe’ in preparation for future invasion of the Continent.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s bomb runway at Lae.

SEVENTH AF—General Hale becomes CG Seventh AF, and Col Albert Hegenberger becomes temporary CO VII Bomber Command.

ELEVENTH AF—1 LB-30, 1 B‑17 and 7 B‑24’s take off on a search and bombing mission over Kiska. 3 aircraft abort mission due to weather, 3 bomb through overcast with unobserved results, and 3 others search in vain for B‑24 lost on the preceding day.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, in a closed session in Washington, decide upon a northwest African campaign.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA—Maj General Willis H. Hale becomes commander of U.S. Seventh Air Force, although Navy has operational control of the force.

LIBYA—Axis forces, with strong artillery and close air support, open assault on Tobruk and penetrate deeply into the fortress, destroying tanks and artillery of British garrison. General Klopper receives permission to break out but is unable to do so since his transport is cut off in harbor area. 30 Corps sends 7th Armored Division to relief of Tobruk garrison, but it fails to arrive in time to assist.

USSR—Germans reach N shore of Sevastopol harbor and continue assault on last coastal fort in N fortifications.

US MARINE CORPS

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Friday, 19 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley assumes command of South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force with headquarters at Auckland, New Zealand.

           Submarine S-27 (SS-132) runs aground off St. Makarius Point, Amchitka, Aleutians; all hands reach safety ashore. Crew, provisions, clothing, guns, medical supplies are ferried ashore by rubber boat (see 20 June).

           Japanese water carrier Wayo Maru is damaged by aircraft (nationality unspecified), Rabaul.

           Seaplane tender (destroyer) Ballard (AVD-10), directed to the scene by a PBY (VP 11), rescues 35 survivors (one of whom dies shortly after rescue) from Japanese carrier Hiryu that had been scuttled by destroyers Kazegumo and Yugumo on 5 June. They had been members of the engineering department, left below for dead in the abandonment of the ship.

ATLANTIC—District patrol craft YP-389 is sunk by German submarine U-701 five to six miles northeast of Buoy No.4, Cape Hatteras mine area, North Carolina.

CARIBBEAN—U.S. schooner Cheerio is shelled by German submarine U-161 approximately eight miles southeast of Mona Island, Puerto Rico, 18°02'N, 67°40'W; patrol plane interrupts U-161's attack but not in time to prevent the U-boat from inflicting irreparable damage. All hands (nine men) survive the attack; Coast Guard cutter CG-459 rescues them with the help of a second patrol plane that arrives on the scene.

           Tug Crusader Kingston rescues the last three survivors from a raft from U.S. freighter Norlantic, sunk by German submarine U-69 on 13 May.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY FORCES IN MIDDLE EAST—General Maxwell, formerly head of US Military North African Mission, assumes command of USAFIME.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s pound shipping and Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul.

ELEVENTH AF—B‑24’s taking off to bomb Kiska abort due to fog. 1 of them and 2 of its crew are lost when forced to land in the water. A B‑17 is dispatched to attack a reported submarine but makes no contact.

US ARMY

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA—Admiral Ghormley takes command of South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force.

MIDDLE EAST—USAFIME is activated by order of General Maxwell, with HQ in Cairo, Egypt, replacing U.S. North African Military Mission.

US MARINE CORPS

Vice Admiral Ghormley assumes command of South Pacific Area and South Pacific Forces.

Thursday, 18 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—USAAF B-17s, B-24s, and an LB-30 (11th Air Force) bomb Japanese shipping in Kiska harbor, sinking fleet tanker Nissan Maru, 51°58'N, 177°40'E.

           Japanese cargo ship Tairyu Maru is stranded and wrecked off Gyoji Island, Korea, 34°33'N, 125°53'E.

ATLANTIC—U.S. freighter Seattle Spirit is torpedoed by German submarine U-124 at 50°23'N, 42°25'W; four merchant seamen perish in the attack. Survivors (33 merchant sailors, the 11 man Armed Guard and seven passengers) are rescued by steamship Perth and Canadian corvette HMCS Agassiz. Agassiz scuttles the irreparably damaged merchantman with gunfire.

           Cuban boats rescue survivors of U.S. freighter Millinocket, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-129 the previous day.

           Naval Air Facility, La Fe, Cuba, is established.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

INTERNATIONAL—Churchill arrives in Washington for series of conferences (until 25 Jun) with Roosevelt. Subjects discussed include war production, shipping, help for China, diversion of Germany from Eastern Front, and atomic research.

EIGHTH AF—HQ opens in London with General Spaatz commanding. Air Ministry publishes tentative list of 87 airfields to be made ready for Eighth AF.

ELEVENTH AF—1 LB-30, 3 B‑17’s and 4 B‑24’s make a precision high-altitude attack on Kiska Harbor. A transport is left burning and sinking, another is mauled, and 2 scout planes are possibly shot down. 1 B‑24 crashes at sea; part of its crew is saved.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—Prime Minister Churchill arrives for series of Anglo-American conferences with President Roosevelt in Washington.

LIBYA—Axis forces drive to Gambut. This is a blow to the Tobruk garrison, since air support from forward landing grounds in Gambut area is now denied the garrison.

USSR—Germans report reduction, after 12 days of hard fighting, of northern part of Sevastopol fortifications except for one coastal fort.

UNITED KINGDOM—General Spaatz, in London, takes command of U.S. Eighth Air Force.

US MARINE CORPS

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Wednesday, 17 June 1942

US NAVY

ATLANTIC—German submarine U-202 puts four agents ashore on Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, Florida; fishermen discover the landing. Subsequently, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents capture the Germans.

           U.S. freighter Columbian is attacked by what she believes is a German submarine at 07°18'N, 41°03'W; although the ship is damaged by shell fragments and machine gun fire, Armed Guard gunfire drives off her attacker without further incident. Columbian suffers no casualties among her 42 man merchant complement or 17 man Armed Guard.

           U.S. freighter Millinocket is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-129 off the north coast of Cuba,23°12'N, 79°58'W; nine of 29 merchant seamen perish, as do 2 of the 6 man Armed Guard. U-129's captain briefly questions the survivors and then provides the Americans with a first aid kit for the wounded (see 18 June).

           U.S. collier Santore, in convoy KS 511, strikes mine laid by German submarine U-701 off Virginia Beach, Virginia, 36°52'N, 75°51'W; three merchant seaman are lost. Survivors (34 merchant sailors and the 9 man Armed Guard) are rescued by the Coast Guard.

CARIBBEAN—Survivors (37 merchant seamen and 13 Armed Guard sailors) from U.S. freighter West Hardaway, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-502 on 15 June, reach Margarita Island, Venezuela.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

HALPRO—The det is ordered to vicinity of Cairo to report to General Russell L Maxwell, designated CG USAFIME.

SEVENTH AF—P‑40’s of 73d Fighter Squadron aboard the Saratoga are flown off the carrier at Midway to replace Navy airplanes lost in the Battle of Midway. The P‑40’s begin dawn and dusk patrols which continue until the P‑40’s are relieved on 23 Jun 43.

ELEVENTH AF—A Kiska Harbor bombing mission is canceled due to weather as is patrolling mission by Heavy Bombers.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—German submarine lands 4 enemy agents on Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

MIDDLE EAST—Maj General Russell L. Maxwell accepts appointment as head of USAFIME.

LIBYA—Enemy gains control of coastal road to Bardia, completing isolation of Tobruk.

US MARINE CORPS

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Tuesday, 16 June 1942

US NAVY

CARIBBEAN—Submarine chaser PC-460 rescues 42 survivors from U.S. steamship Sixaola, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-159 off the coast of Panama on 12 June.

           Gunboat Erie (PG-50) and destroyer Tattnall (DD-125), south of St. Andrews Island, rescue survivors of U.S. bulk carrier Lebore, which had been sunk by German submarine U-172 on 14 June. Among those rescued are the 8 Armed Guard sailors from Lebore, and the 49 survivors of the Dutch steamship Crijnssen, which Lebore had rescued on 11 June when U-504 had sunk the Netherlands-flag ship at 18°14'N, 85°11'W.

           Provision storeship Pastores (AF-16) rescues 36 survivors of U.S. freighter Arkansan, sunk by German submarine U-126 the day before.

           U.S. freighter Kahuku, torpedoed by U-126, sinks; six of her 36 man crew as well as three of her 10 man Armed Guard perish in the attack. Lost as well are nine passengers: six of the 46 survivors from U.S. freighter Scottsburg, sunk by U-161 on 15 June and three of the 17 survivors of Panamanian-flag steamer Cold Harbor, sunk by U-502 the same day. Coastal yacht Opal (PYc-8) and district patrol vessel YP-63 rescue the 91 survivors from the three ships.

MEDITERRANEAN—Operation HARPOON: of the six ships in convoy WS 12Z, only two reach Malta; two escorting destroyers are lost, while a light cruiser, three destroyers and a minesweeper suffer varying degrees of damage.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

FIFTH AF—B‑26’s, B‑25’s, and B‑17’s pound Lae and Salamaua, hitting runways and buildings and starting several fires.

US ARMY

LIBYA—General Auchinleck authorizes General Ritchie to organize the garrison of Tobruk as he wishes. 4 infantry brigades with supporting artillery and tanks are disposed within Tobruk. Rest of British Eighth Army is to act as mobile columns outside the fortress. General Klopper is authorized to withdraw the garrison if necessary. Acroma garrison holds out against enemy tank attacks. Other enemy tank columns drive on Sidi Rezegh and feint toward El Adem. El Adem garrison withdraws after nightfall.

US MARINE CORPS

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Monday, 15 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) sinks Japanese gunboat Nampo Maru off Corregidor, 14°00'N, 120°00'E.

MEDITERRANEAN—Operation HARPOON: convoy WS 19Z (Force X) is attacked by Italian light cruisers Eugenio di Savoia and Raimondo Montecuccoli and five destroyers. In this surface action, British destroyer HMS Bedouin is sunk and HMS Partridge damaged, but the screen for WS 19Z proves impenetrable and the Italians retire. At the same time, however, German JU 87s dive-bomb the convoy, damaging tanker Kentucky (she is later scuttled). U.S. freighter Chant suffers two direct hits, catches fire, and is abandoned, 36°25'N, 11°40'E; Ensign Regis J. Schaefer, USNR, Armed Guard officer, remains on board to supervise the abandonment of the ship, and is among the last men over the side. British minesweeper HMS Rye rescues Chant's survivors: 49 of the 52 man merchant complement, 10 of 11 Armed Guards, and 25 British Navy and Army sailors and soldiers embarked to man the antiaircraft battery. In related operations this day, a mixed formation of seven USAAF B-24s (Halverson Detachment) and 2 RAF Liberators, together with RAF Beauforts, attack Italian fleet; one USAAF B-24 scores a hit on Italian battleship Littorio (see 16 June).

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Borie (DD-215) rescues nine survivors (including the sole Armed Guard sailor to emerge from the ordeal) from U.S. freighter Merrimack at 20°48'N, 85°30'W, that had been sunk on 9 June by U-107. Earlier that same day, merchant ship Argentina had rescued the only other man to survive Merrimack's loss.

           Salvage tug Relief finds tanker F.W. Abrams, mined off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on 11 June, beyond salvage. The wreck is scuttled with demolition charges.

CARIBBEAN—U.S. freighter Tillie Lykes is torpedoed (most likely) by German submarine U-502 approximately 150 miles east-southeast of Punta Herrero, Mexico, 19°00'N, 85°00'W; there are no survivors from the 29 man merchant crew and four man Armed Guard.

           Gunboat Erie (PG-50), off St. Andrews Island, rescues master and 22 survivors of U.S. bulk carrier Lebore, which had been sunk by German submarine U-172 the day before. Erie embarks the merchant sailors at 12°39'N, 81°20'W, and then sinks their lifeboat with gunfire as a menace to navigation.

           U.S. freighter Kahuku rescues 46 survivors (35 merchant seamen and the 11 man Armed Guard) from freighter Scottsburg, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-161 the day before, and 17 from Panamanian steamer Cold Harbor, torpedoed and sunk by U-502 the day before. Later that same day, however, Kahuku is torpedoed by U-126 at 11°54'N, 63°07'W (see 16 June).

           U.S. freighter West Hardaway is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-502 northwest of Trinidad,11°50'N, 62°15'W, and is abandoned by all hands without loss (see 17 June).

           U.S. tanker Robert C. Tuttle, in convoy KN 109, strikes mine laid by German submarine U-701 off Virginia Beach, Virginia, 36°51'20"N, 75°51'15"W; one merchant seaman is blown overboard and lost. Survivors (40 man merchant complement, a 6 man Armed Guard and a Navy signalman) take to lifeboats which are taken in tow by submarine chaser PC-474. U.S. tanker Esso Augusta, also in convoy KN 109, strikes mine laid by German submarine U-701, a half mile south of the Chesapeake Bay entrance lighted whistle buoy, 36°52'N,75°51'30"W; she suffers no casualties among the 44 man merchant complement or the 13 man Armed Guard. Esso Augusta ultimately returns to service.

           Unarmed U.S. freighter Arkansan is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126 west of Grenada,12°07'N, 62°51'W; four of the ship's 40 man complement are lost (see 16 June).

           U.S. tanker Cherokee, in convoy XB 25, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-87 approximately 59 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts, 42°11'N, 69°25'W; 65 of the 103 man crew, as well as one of the 11 man Armed Guard and 20 of 46 passengers perish in the attack. Freighter Norlago rescues 44 survivors; Coast Guard cutter Escanaba (WPG-77) 39 more.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—General Spaatz, CG, arrives in UK. VIII Bomber Command takes significant step toward development of organization for control of combat operations by establishing 1st Bomb Wing, Provisional, at Brampton Grange.

HALPRO—7 B‑24’s, along with 2 RAF B‑24’s and RAF torpedo-carrying Beauforts, attack Italian fleet E of Malta. The B‑24’s bomb and damage a battleship and a cruiser, while the Beauforts sink a cruiser.

ELEVENTH AF—A bombing mission to Kiska by 3 B‑17’s and 2 B‑24’s is aborted due to weather.

US ARMY

LIBYA—29th Brigade of Indian 5th Division (30 Corps) withstands 3 tank-supported attacks on El Adem with assistance of aircraft. Maj General Klopper, CG of South African 2d Division, is named commander of Tobruk fortress and instructed to defend it at all costs.

US MARINE CORPS

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