Friday, 10 April 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Pacific Fleet is reorganized into type commands: Battleships (Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson); Aircraft Carriers (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.); Cruisers (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher); Destroyers (Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald); Service Force (Vice Admiral William L. Calhoun); Amphibious Force (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown, Jr.); Submarine Force (Rear Admiral Thomas Withers); and Patrol Wings (Rear Admiral John S. McCain). Old titles Battle Force and Scouting Force are abolished.

            Submarine Snapper (SS-185) evacuates military personnel from Corregidor.

            Minesweeper Finch (AM-9) is sunk by aerial bombs off Luzon, 14°22'N, 120°35'E.

            Crews of river gunboats Oahu (PR-6), Luzon (PR-7), and Mindanao (PR-8) are transferred ashore to man U.S. Army guns at Fort Hughes, Manila Bay.

            Japanese troops land on Cebu.

            Submarine Thresher (SS-200) torpedoes and sinks Japanese (ex-Portuguese) merchant cargo ship Maru six miles north of Oshima, near the entrance to Tokyo Bay, Honshu, Japan, 34°59'N, 139°29'E.

ATLANTIC—U.S. tanker Gulfamerica, silhouetted by the lights of Jacksonville, Florida, is torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-123 at 30°14'N, 81°18'W. Some of the tanker's crew perish in the torpedo explosion or gunfire when U-123 shells and machineguns the vessel; others drown as the ship is abandoned. Of the 41 man crew, 17 perish; 2 of the7 man Armed Guard die in the attack. District patrol vessel YP-32 aids in rescue of survivors. Gulfamerica capsizes and sinks on 16 April.

            Norwegian freighter Marpesia, off Surinam, rescues 19 survivors from U.S. tanker T.C. McCobb, sunk by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi on 31 March (see 16 May).

            Seaplane recovers 13 survivors from U.S. tanker Eugene V.R. Thayer, shelled on 9 April by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi (see 11 and 13 April).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

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US ARMY

VISAYAN ISLANDS—Japanese invade Cebu Island., garrisoned by about 6,500 troops under command of Col Irwin C. Scudder. Bulk of enemy assault force goes ashore on E coast at Cebu City, the rest on W coast in vicinity of Toledo. Cebu MP Regiment at Cebu City and 3d Battalion of 82d Infantry (PA) at Toledo fight lively delaying actions before withdrawing inland from both towns under pressure. General Chynoweth, CG Visayan Force, whose HQ is on Cebu, sends 3d Battalion of 83d Infantry to defend Cantabaco, where cross island highway branches.

BURMA—Patrols of Burma I Corps find that Japanese are moving forward toward the Minhla- Taungdwingyi.

GERMANY—RAF Bomber Command drops first 2-ton bomb during attack on Essen, night 10–11.

US MARINE CORPS

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