Tuesday, 12 May 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine S-44 (SS-155) torpedoes and sinks Japanese repair ship Shoei Maru 15 miles southwest of Cape St. George, 05°06'S, 152°30'E, and survives counterattacks by her victim's escort. Shoei Maru had been en route to try and salvage the damaged minelayer Okinoshima. Attempt to save Okinoshima (damaged the previous day by submarine S-42), by transport Kinryu Maru and destroyer Mochizuki, fails, and the doomed minelayer sinks.

GULF OF MEXICO—Unarmed U.S. tanker Virginia is torpedoed by German submarine U-507 as the former lies-to approximately one and a half miles off Southwest Pass, Louisiana, 28°53'N, 89°29'W, awaiting the arrival of a pilot. The explosion of the second and third torpedoes ignites the tanker's cargo (150,000 barrels of gasoline), and the rapid spread of the fire prevents the crew from launching boats or rafts. Of Virginia's 41 man crew, 27 perish in the inferno. Motor torpedo boat PT-157 rescues the 14 survivors.

ATLANTIC—U.S. tanker Esso Houston is torpedoed by German submarine U-162 approximately 150 miles east of Barbados,12°12'N, 57°24'W, and abandoned. After the U-boat has administered the coup de grace to the tanker, she surfaces nearby and her commanding officer offers assistance, helpfully informing the ship's master that one of the lifeboats is sinking. Survivors (38 man civilian complement and 4 man Armed Guard) congregate in two lifeboats (see 14 and 17May).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—39 officers and 348 enlisted men of HQ and the bomber, fighter, and service commands arrive at High Wycombe, UK, where VIII Interceptor Command sets up HQ.

TENTH AF—Heavy Bombers fly their first mission in direct defense of air cargo line to China when 4 B‑17’s from Dum Dum airfield heavily damage runways and set fire to several parked aircraft at Myitkyina. Myitkyina, which fell to the Japanese on 8 May, poses serious fighter threat to Allied base at Dinjan.

US ARMY

BURMA—Japanese force heading for Kengtung crosses the Salween.

USSR—While Germans continue Crimean offensive toward Kerch, Red Army opens 2-pronged attack toward Kharkov, thrusting SW across upper Donets on N and northward from Izyum salient on S. Attack at first goes well.

UNITED KINGDOM—First large detachment of U.S. Eighth Air Force arrives.

US MARINE CORPS

Last U. S. troops in Philippines surrender on Mindanao.