US NAVY
PACIFIC—Japanese naval forces occupy Lorengau, Manus
Island, Admiralty Islands, without opposition.
INDIAN OCEAN—In Operation C, Japanese carrier striking
force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) raids Colombo, Ceylon. After reconnaissance
floatplane from heavy cruiser Tone finds British heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall
and HMS Dorsetshire, carrier bombers from Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu
sink both ships. Japanese Second Expeditionary Fleet, Malay Force (Vice
Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo) is divided into three groups to disrupt Allied shipping
in the Bay of Bengal (see 6 April).
ATLANTIC—U.S. tanker Catahoula, about 100 miles into
her voyage from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, to Wilmington,
Delaware, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-154 at 19°16'N,
68°12'W; two merchant sailors perish in the explosion of the torpedo and five
drown when the ship is abandoned (see 6 April).
Coast
Guard cutter Dione (WPC-107) proceeds to the scene of the torpedoing of
unarmed U.S. tanker Byron D. Benson, attacked by German submarine U-552
the previous evening; high speed minesweeper Hamilton (DMS-18) does
likewise, and during the search for the submarine, rescues 27 survivors;
British trawler HMS Norwich City picks up one man. Byron D. Benson sinks
two days later.
US ARMY AIR FORCE
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US ARMY
LUZON—After
air and artillery preparation, Japanese resume offensive in the II Corps area,
concentrating on 21st Division, which yields Mt Samat and is left virtually
ineffective as a fighting force. Corps prepares to counterattack on 6th with
all available forces. Japanese invasion force of 4,852 troops sails from
Lingayen Gulf toward Cebu, in the Visayan Islands.
CEYLON—Japanese carrier-based planes attack Colombo.
US MARINE CORPS
Japanese occupy Manus lsland, Admiralties.
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