US NAVY
PACIFIC—Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) sinks Japanese
gunboat Nampo Maru off Corregidor, 14°00'N, 120°00'E.
MEDITERRANEAN—Operation HARPOON: convoy WS 19Z (Force X) is
attacked by Italian light cruisers Eugenio di Savoia and Raimondo
Montecuccoli and five destroyers. In this surface action, British destroyer
HMS Bedouin is sunk and HMS Partridge damaged, but the screen for
WS 19Z proves impenetrable and the Italians retire. At the same time, however,
German JU 87s dive-bomb the convoy, damaging tanker Kentucky (she is
later scuttled). U.S. freighter Chant suffers two direct hits, catches fire,
and is abandoned, 36°25'N, 11°40'E; Ensign Regis J. Schaefer, USNR, Armed Guard
officer, remains on board to supervise the abandonment of the ship, and is among
the last men over the side. British minesweeper HMS Rye rescues Chant's
survivors: 49 of the 52 man merchant complement, 10 of 11 Armed Guards, and
25 British Navy and Army sailors and soldiers embarked to man the antiaircraft
battery. In related operations this day, a mixed formation of seven USAAF B-24s
(Halverson Detachment) and 2 RAF Liberators, together with RAF Beauforts,
attack Italian fleet; one USAAF B-24 scores a hit on Italian battleship Littorio
(see 16 June).
ATLANTIC—Destroyer Borie (DD-215) rescues nine
survivors (including the sole Armed Guard sailor to emerge from the ordeal)
from U.S. freighter Merrimack at 20°48'N, 85°30'W, that had been sunk on
9 June by U-107. Earlier that same day, merchant ship Argentina had
rescued the only other man to survive Merrimack's loss.
Salvage tug
Relief finds tanker F.W. Abrams, mined off Cape Hatteras, North
Carolina, on 11 June, beyond salvage. The wreck is scuttled with demolition
charges.
CARIBBEAN—U.S. freighter Tillie Lykes is torpedoed
(most likely) by German submarine U-502 approximately 150 miles
east-southeast of Punta Herrero, Mexico, 19°00'N, 85°00'W; there are no
survivors from the 29 man merchant crew and four man Armed Guard.
Gunboat Erie
(PG-50), off St. Andrews Island, rescues master and 22 survivors of U.S.
bulk carrier Lebore, which had been sunk by German submarine U-172 the
day before. Erie embarks the merchant sailors at 12°39'N, 81°20'W, and
then sinks their lifeboat with gunfire as a menace to navigation.
U.S.
freighter Kahuku rescues 46 survivors (35 merchant seamen and the 11 man
Armed Guard) from freighter Scottsburg, torpedoed and sunk by German
submarine U-161 the day before, and 17 from Panamanian steamer Cold
Harbor, torpedoed and sunk by U-502 the day before. Later that same
day, however, Kahuku is torpedoed by U-126 at 11°54'N, 63°07'W
(see 16 June).
U.S.
freighter West Hardaway is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-502
northwest of Trinidad,11°50'N, 62°15'W, and is abandoned by all hands
without loss (see 17 June).
U.S. tanker
Robert C. Tuttle, in convoy KN 109, strikes mine laid by German
submarine U-701 off Virginia Beach, Virginia, 36°51'20"N,
75°51'15"W; one merchant seaman is blown overboard and lost. Survivors (40
man merchant complement, a 6 man Armed Guard and a Navy signalman) take to
lifeboats which are taken in tow by submarine chaser PC-474. U.S. tanker
Esso Augusta, also in convoy KN 109, strikes mine laid by German
submarine U-701, a half mile south of the Chesapeake Bay entrance
lighted whistle buoy, 36°52'N,75°51'30"W; she suffers no casualties among
the 44 man merchant complement or the 13 man Armed Guard. Esso Augusta ultimately
returns to service.
Unarmed
U.S. freighter Arkansan is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126
west of Grenada,12°07'N, 62°51'W; four of the ship's 40 man complement are
lost (see 16 June).
U.S. tanker
Cherokee, in convoy XB 25, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-87
approximately 59 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts, 42°11'N, 69°25'W; 65
of the 103 man crew, as well as one of the 11 man Armed Guard and 20 of 46
passengers perish in the attack. Freighter Norlago rescues 44 survivors;
Coast Guard cutter Escanaba (WPG-77) 39 more.
US ARMY AIR FORCE
EIGHTH AF—General Spaatz, CG, arrives in UK. VIII Bomber
Command takes significant step toward development of organization for control
of combat operations by establishing 1st Bomb Wing, Provisional, at Brampton
Grange.
HALPRO—7 B‑24’s, along with 2 RAF B‑24’s and RAF
torpedo-carrying Beauforts, attack Italian fleet E of Malta. The B‑24’s bomb
and damage a battleship and a cruiser, while the Beauforts sink a cruiser.
ELEVENTH AF—A bombing mission to Kiska by 3 B‑17’s and 2 B‑24’s
is aborted due to weather.
US ARMY
LIBYA—29th Brigade
of Indian 5th Division (30 Corps) withstands 3 tank-supported attacks on El
Adem with assistance of aircraft. Maj General Klopper, CG of South African 2d Division,
is named commander of Tobruk fortress and instructed to defend it at all costs.
US MARINE CORPS
—
No comments:
Post a Comment