US NAVY
PACIFIC—USAAF B-17s and B-24s raid Kiska, damaging Japanese
destroyer Hibiki.
Submarine Plunger
(SS-179) is damaged when emergency identification flare explodes as she
makes signal to friendly aircraft; she suffers no serious injuries and remains
on patrol.
Submarine Swordfish
(SS-193) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Burma Maru northwest of
Pulo Wai, in the Gulf of Siam, 10°08'N, 102°34'E.
ATLANTIC—German submarine U-701 mines the waters off
Cape Henry, Virginia.
GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. tanker Cities Service Toledo, bound
for Portland, Maine, with a cargo of 84,000 barrels of crude oil, is torpedoed
by German submarine U-158, 20 miles east of Trinity Shoals Gas Buoy,
29°02'N, 91°59'W, and explodes; 11 of the 36 man merchant complement perish in
the inferno, as do four of the nine man Armed Guard. Norwegian tanker
Belinda, U.S. tanker Gulf King, and steamship San Antonio rescue
the 30 survivors from among the merchant seamen and bluejackets.
CARIBBEAN—U.S. steamship Sixaola is torpedoed and
sunk by German submarine U-159 off the coast of Panama, 09°54'N,81°25'W.
Of the 87 man crew, 29 perish in the attack. The 58 surviving crewmen, together
with the 6 man Armed Guard and the 108 passengers, take to five boats and six
rafts. U.S. steamship Carolinian rescues 32 survivors and transfers them
to motor torpedo boat tender Niagara (PG-52); Niagara herself
rescues 75 more. Army tug Shasta picks up 23 (see 16 June).
Gunboat Erie
(PG-50), at 10°12'N, 80°14'30"W, rescues master and 45 other survivors
of British steamship Fort Good Hope, which had been sunk by German
submarine U-159 at 10°19'N, 80°16'W. After salvaging the lifeboats, Erie
joins with a patrol plane in prosecuting a submarine contact, ultimately
dropping six charges with no result. Later, Erie transfers Fort Good
Hope's survivors and their boats to submarine chaser PC-209.
MEDITERRANEAN—Operation HARPOON: convoy WS 19Z (Force X)
transits the Straits of Gibraltar. The ships are soon detected by German
reconnaissance aircraft. Escort (Acting Captain Cecil C. Hardy, RN) for the
five freighters (two of the five, U.S. motorship Chant and Dutch
Tanimbar have Navy Armed Guard crews on board) and one tanker is provided
by antiaircraft cruiser HMS Cairo (flag), nine destroyers (eight British
and one Polish), four minesweepers and six motor gunboats; a covering force
(Force W), formed around British battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft
carriers HMS Argus and HMS Eagle, light cruisers HMS Kenya (flagship
for Vice Admiral Alban T.B. Curteis, RN), HMS Charbydis and HMS Liverpool, and
eight British destroyers. A second convoy MW 11 (Operation VIGOROUS) sets out
from Alexandria and Port Said, Egypt, and Haifa (see 13 June).
US ARMY AIR FORCE
EIGHTH AF—Another contingent of personnel for HQ and
subordinate commands arrive in UK.
HALPRO—13 B‑24’s of det under command of Col Harry A
Halverson en route from US to China take off during 11/12 Jun from Fayid to
bomb oilfields at Ploesti. Only 12 attack at dawn. 4 of the 13 land at base in
Iraq which was designated for recovery of the flight, 3 land at other Iraq
fields, 2 land in Syria, and 4 are interned in Turkey. Though damage to target
is negligible, the raid is significant because it is the first AAF—combat
mission in EAME Theater in World War II, and the first strike at a target which
later will be famous.
FIFTH AF—B‑17’s bomb building area and Vunakanau and
Lakunai airfields at Rabaul.
ELEVENTH AF—6 B‑17’s and 1 B‑24 bomb shipping in Kiska
Harbor. A cruiser is heavily damaged and one destroyer is seen burning.
US ARMY
SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—GHQ
authorizes construction of air bases at head of Milne Bay, New Guinea.
RUMANIA—U.S. air combat from Africa begins with attack on
Ploesti oil fields at dawn. Heavy bomber TF (coded HALPRO), under Col Harry A. Halverson
and temporarily based in Egypt, makes the attack. On return trip, several of
the B–24’s are forced to land in Turkey and crews are interned.
LIBYA—Indecisive tank battles occur in vicinity of El Adem
and Knightsbridge.
US MARINE CORPS
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