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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