Tuesday, 21 July 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Japanese forces occupy Buna, New Guinea, having been frustrated in their attempt to capture Port Moresby by sea (first at Lae-Salamaua and then at the Battle of the Coral Sea) in the first step of an overland campaign to take the same objective.

            U.S. freighter Coast Farmer is sunk by Japanese submarine I-11 in the South Pacific at 35°23'S, 151°00'E. RAAF crash boat rescues the 40 survivors (who include the 7 man Armed Guard).

GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. freighter William Cullen Bryant, in convoy TAW 4J, is torpedoed by German submarine U-84 in the Straits of Florida, 24°08'N, 82°23'W; all hands (40 man crew, 12 man Armed Guard, and 2 USN signalmen) abandon ship but later reboard the freighter; salvage vessel Willett (ARS-12) and civilian tug Moran tow William Cullen Bryant to Key West, Florida. She subsequently returns to service.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

UNITED STATES—Roosevelt calls Admiral Leahy, Ambassador to France and former Chief of Naval Operations, to serve as CoS to CinC of US Army and Navy.

EIGHTH AF—General Eisenhower assigns to Eighth AF the mission of carrying out, in collaboration with RAF, the degree of air ops with the view of attaining air domination over W France by 1 Apr 43.

FIFTH AF—B‑26’s attack convoy off Salamaua as invasion force heads for Buna, where it begins landings during 21/22 Jul. This move by the enemy forestalls Allied ops which were to have secured the same general area.

SOUTH PACIFIC—Initial squadron of B‑17’s of 11th Bomb Group arrives at Plaines des Gaiacs from Hawaii.

ELEVENTH AF—4 B‑24’s fly search and bomb missions over Kiska but make no contact because of weather.

US ARMY

PACIFIC—Solomons Expeditionary Force (TF 61) is ordered to rendezvous SE of Fiji Islands. on 26 July. Allied planes sight and attack enemy convoy approaching New Guinea, despite poor visibility, which prevents Japanese naval planes at Lae, however, from supporting enemy. After naval gunfire bombardment of Buna, Japanese begin landing near Gona, night 21–22, forestalling Allied Operation PROVIDENCE, which was to have secured the same general area. Japanese naval forces at Salamaua provide diversion by raiding Mubo and Komiatum, and enemy submarines become increasingly active.

EGYPT—British Eighth Army opens attack against center of enemy’s line late in day, employing infantry to clear mine fields for passage of armor.

US MARINE CORPS

Japanese land at Buna, New Guinea.

Monday, 20 July 1942

US NAVY

GENERAL—Admiral William D. Leahy reports to President Roosevelt as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy.

PACIFIC—Naval Operating Base and Naval Air Facility, Dutch Harbor, Alaska, are established.

ATLANTIC—German submarine U-66 mines the waters off Castries, St. Lucia.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—Hal Bomb Squadron and 9th Bomb Squadron (19 B‑24’s and 9 B‑17’s) are organized as 1st Provisional Group under Col Harry A Halverson’s command at Lydda.

TENTH AF—3 B‑25’s bomb docks and warehouses at Chinkiang on the Yangtze River. 4 escorting P‑40’s strafe junks on the river. This is last CATF bombing raid of Jul.

ELEVENTH AF—General Butler moves adv HQ to Umnak. 3 B‑17’s bomb Kiska (especially barracks) with incendiaries and demolition charges. 4 P‑38’s try to intercept 4 fighters reported by Navy aircraft. No contact made.

US ARMY

PACIFIC—USAFIA, largely a supply organization, is discontinued, and U.S. Army Services of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area (USASOS SWPA) is established under command of General Richard Marshall. GHQ SWPA moves forward in Australia from Melbourne to Brisbane to be nearer scene of offensive. Maj General Alexander A. Vandegrift, CG 1st Marine Division, issues tactical orders for invasion of Solomons.

CHINA BURMA INDIA—Dr. Lauchlin Currie arrives in China to discuss U.S.-Chinese relations with Stilwell and the Chinese.

US MARINE CORPS

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Sunday, 19 July 1942

US NAVY

ATLANTIC—Carrier Ranger (CV-4) in TF 22 ferries 72 USAAF P-40s (earmarked for ultimate delivery to Burma) to Accra off the Gold Coast of Africa.

            With the successful operation of convoys off the East Coast of the United States, Admiral Doenitz orders the last U-boats deployed there (U-89, U-132, U-402, U-458, and U-754) reassigned to other hunting grounds.

            Unarmed U.S. tug Keshena is sunk by mine east of Okracoke Island, North Carolina, 35°00'N, 75°45'E, while engaged in salvage work on torpedoed and mined Panamanian-flag tanker J.A. Mowinkel. Two men perish in the explosion, but the surviving crew (14 men and 1 woman) is rescued by a launch and taken to the Coast Guard station at Okracoke.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s hit Bengasi while B‑17’s attack Tobruk in continuing effort to disrupt movement of supplies.

TENTH AF—In response to a Chinese request, 2 B‑25’s strike in pt of Chinese ground forces at Linchwan, a Japanese-held city under siege for some time. The Chinese CO later reports that the raid broke the stalemate and the city was entered the next day.

ELEVENTH AF—Search missions are flown over Attu and Agattu.

US ARMY

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—From Rabaul, Japanese invasion force of about 1,800 men sails for Buna, New Guinea. Lugger arrives at Buna with supplies and machine guns of Company B, Australian 39th Battalion.

CHINA BURMA INDIA—General Stilwell submits to Chiang Kai-shek a plan, dated 18th, calling for Allied co-operation in regaining Burma as a necessary preliminary to getting aid to China.

US MARINE CORPS

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Saturday, 18 July 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Amphibious Force, South Pacific Area (Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner) is established.

NORTH RUSSIA—British minesweeper and escort vessel rescue 22 survivors from U.S. freighter Honomu, sunk on 5 July (see 22 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

INTERNATIONAL—Hopkins, General Marshall, Admiral King, Churchill, and British COS begin conference in London on proposed invasion of N Africa (TORCH) .

TENTH AF—3 B‑25’s from Kweilin bomb Tien Ho airfield.

ELEVENTH AF—A B‑17 flying weather and photo reconnaissance over Kiska crashes on Umnak Island.

US ARMY

USSR—Continuing southward on broad front, Germans take Voroshilovgrad, coal and coke center of Donets basin, and to SE reach the Don at Tsimlyansk.

US MARINE CORPS

Amphibious Force, South Pacific Area, is established under command of Rear Admiral Turner.

Friday, 17 July 1942

US NAVY

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US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—Halverson Det is redesignated Hal Bomb Squadron. B‑24’s bomb Bengasi harbor. B‑17’s hit Tobruk.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s bomb harbor at Rabaul.

ELEVENTH AF—3 B‑17’s and 7 B‑24’s fly weather, bombing and photo missions. Shipping is bombed- North and South Heads of Kiska are photographed. Fighters down 1 B‑17.

US ARMY

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—Movement order for Operation PROVIDENCE, occupation of Buna area, New Guinea, is issued. Serial One is to leave Port Moresby on 31 July. D Day is to be 10–12 August.

UNITED KINGDOM—General Marshall, Admiral King, and Harry Hopkins arrive in England to urge that SLEDGEHAMMER be undertaken in 1942.

US MARINE CORPS

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Thursday, 16 July 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Seadragon (SS-194), attacking Japanese convoy off coast of French Indochina, sinks merchant cargo ship Hakodate Maru north of Cape Varella, 12°55'N, 109°29'E.

ATLANTIC—Advanced Group, Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Bennett) is established to conduct amphibious training in Great Britain.

            Unarmed U.S. fishing boat Gertrude is sunk (demolition charge or gunfire) by German submarine U-166 approximately 30 miles northeast of Havana, Cuba, 23°32'N, 82°00'E (see 19 July).

            U.S. freighter William F. Humphrey battles German auxiliary cruiser Michel (Schiffe 28) in the South Atlantic about 800 miles west of the mouth of the Congo River, 05°37'S, 00°56'E, but is sunk by gunfire and torpedoes (the latter fired by motor torpedo boat Elsan (LS 4) after a gallant fight. Of the seven man Armed Guard, two sailors are killed while a third is wounded; Michel recovers 26 merchant seamen and 3 Armed Guard sailors, but the rest of the survivors manage to avoid capture (see 22 July).

            U.S. steamship Fairport, in Persian Gulf-bound convoy AS 4, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-161 at 27°12'N, 64°30'W; destroyer Kearny (DD-432) rescues all hands: 43 man crew, 16 man Armed Guard, and 66 passengers.

            Survivors (17 crewmen and one passenger) from unarmed U.S. freighter Raphael Semmes, sunk by German submarine U-332 on 28 June, are rescued by U.S. freighter Explorer.

GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. tanker Pennsylvania Sun's master and three of his officers and a salvage party reboard their ship (torpedoed the previous day by U-571) and, aided by salvage vessel Willett (ARS-12) quell the remaining fires and save the ship, which is towed to port. Repaired, she subsequently returns to service.

CARIBBEAN—Survivors of U.S. freighter Tachira, sunk by German submarine U-129 on 12 July, reach Punta Herrera, Mexico.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

TENTH AF—4 B‑25’s from Kweilin, with P‑40 escort, bomb storage area at Hankow, starting a fire that is later reported to have burned 3 days. The Medium Bombers land at Hengyang during return flight to refuel, but are attacked by Japanese airplanes and have to take off immediately. Amidst the confusion a P‑40 pilot mistakes a B‑25 for a Japanese aircraft and shoots it down, the first bomber lost since CATF began operations in China. The crew is saved.

FIFTH AF—1 B‑17 bombs Salamaua.

SEVENTH AF—B‑17’s of 11th Bomb Group begin leaving Hickam Field for S Pacific.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—Breaks off consular relations with Finland, effective 1 August 1942. General Harmon, with small forward echelon of USAFISPA, starts air journey from Washington to S Pacific.

PACIFIC—Admiral Ghormley issues Operation Plan No. 1-42, covering Task One of projected offensive. TF’s 61 and 63 are formed. TF 61, under Vice Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, is the Solomons Expeditionary Force, which includes Air Support Force under Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes and Amphibious Force commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner. TF 63, under Admiral McCain, consists of all Allied land based aircraft in S Pacific.

EGYPT—30 Corps of British Eighth Army enlarges salient W of El ‘Alamein with capture of ridge 3 miles W of railway station. 13 Corps exerts pressure against S flank of enemy.

US MARINE CORPS

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Wednesday, 15 July 1942

US NAVY

UNITED STATES—Naval Air Transport Service Squadron (VR 3) is established at Kansas City, Kansas, for operations in the U.S.

PACIFIC—Submarine Base, Midway Island, is established.

            Submarine Grunion (SS-216) sinks Japanese submarine chasers Ch 25 and Ch 27 west of Sredni Point, Kiska, Aleutians, 52°02'N, 177°42'E.

            Salvage party, transported to Akutan Island in district patrol vessel YP-72, continues salvage of ZERO fighter discovered on 10 July.

ATLANTIC—German submarine U-576 attacks convoy KS 520, torpedoing U.S. bulk carrier Chilore about 20 miles east of Okracoke Inlet, North Carolina, 34°45'N, 75°29'W, as well as Panamanian freighter J.A. Mowinkel and Nicaraguan merchantman Bluefield. Chilore later blunders into a U.S. minefield, fouling two mines and receiving further damage. Two of her 42 man crew are lost when a lifeboat capsizes; there are no casualties among the 9 man Armed Guard. U-576's time to savor her triple triumph, however, is short, for an OS2U (VS 9) and U.S. merchant vessel Unicoi combine to sink that U-boat off the North Carolina coast, 34°51'N, 75°22'W. Chilore later capsizes and sinks at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.

GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. tanker Pennsylvania Sun is torpedoed by German submarine U-571 about 125 miles west of Key West, Florida,

            24°05'N, 83°42'W; the crew (42 merchant seamen and the 17 man Armed Guard) abandon the burning ship. Destroyer Dahlgren (DD-187) rescues the survivors and transports them to Key West (see 16 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s strike harbor and ships at Bengasi during 15/16 Jul.

TENTH AF—India-China Ferrying Command is activated to replace Assam-Burma-China Command.

ELEVENTH AF—3 B‑24’s on a bombing mission to Kiska turn back due to weather.

US ARMY

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—Plan is drawn up for Operation PROVIDENCE, occupation by Allied forces of Buna area on N coast of New Guinea.

CHINA BURMA INDIA—India-China Ferry Command is activated.

EGYPT—In tank-supported counterattack, enemy recovers part of ground lost in Ruweisat Ridge area.

USSR—Russians admit loss of Boguchar and Millerovo. German Army Group A continues rapidly toward Rostov, 1st and 4th Pz Armies reaching Kamensk, on the Donets.

US MARINE CORPS

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