Tuesday, 30 June 1942

US NAVY

           Naval vessels on hand (all types of ships and craft)--5,612. Personnel: Navy--640,570; Marine Corps--143,528; Coast Guard--58,998. Total personnel--843,096.

PACIFIC—XPBS-1 transporting Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, and his staff to San Francisco crashes upon landing off Alameda, California. Nimitz suffers scratches and abrasions in the mishap but remains topside on the wreckage to direct rescue operations, refusing to leave that post until the wrecked flying boat has been searched for survivors.

           Coastal minesweeper Hornbill (AMc-13) is sunk in collision with U.S. lumber schooner Esther Johnson in San Francisco Bay, California.

           District patrol craft YP-270 sinks after running aground at Boca Santo Domingo, while en route from San Diego, California, to the Panama Canal Zone, 25°30'N, 112°06'W.

           District patrol craft YP-128 sinks after running aground in heavy weather three miles northeast of Monterey, California.

           Submarine Plunger (SS-179) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship No.5 Unkai Maru off the China coast near approaches to Shanghai, 30°04'N, 122°54'E.

INDIAN OCEAN—U.S. freighter Express, en route from Bombay, India, to Cape Town, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-10 at 23°30'S, 37°30'E; one lifeboat is swamped when the ship is abandoned, and two Armed Guard sailors and 11 merchant seamen are lost (see 6 July).

ATLANTIC—PBM (VP 74) sinks German submarine U-158 in western Atlantic, 32°50'N, 67°28'W.

           U.S. steamship City of Birmingham, en route to Bermuda, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-202 about 250 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 35°04'N, 61°01'W; six of the 113 man crew and two of 263 passengers are lost in the sinking. Escorting high speed minesweeper Stansbury (DMS-8), after depth-charging U-202, rescues 107 merchant seamen (one of whom dies of his injuries), 261 passengers and the 5 man Armed Guard.

           Coastal minesweeper Courier (AMc-72) rescues 30 merchant seamen (four wounded men have perished in the lifeboats) and the nine man Armed Guard from U.S. freighter Sam Houston, sunk by German submarine U-203 on 28 June. One crewman dies of wounds subsequently. Courier transports the survivors to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

           Gunboat Surprise (PG-63) rescues survivors from U.S. freighter Sea Thrush, sunk by German submarine U-505 on 28 June. A second group of survivors reaches St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on 3 July.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—Joint Anglo-American control of Burtonwood air depot begins with view toward subsequent exclusive control by AAF. VIII AF Service Command is designated US agent at Burtonwood.

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s bomb Tobruk harbor during 29/30 Jun; first US combat casualties in ME are recorded as 1 B‑ 24 is lost. General Brereton moves his det from Egypt to Palestine, as Rommel advances toward the Suez Canal.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s attack Dili, Koepang and Kendari; B‑25’s and B‑26’s hit Lae in New Guinea.

ELEVENTH AF—A B‑17 flies weather reconnaissance over Kiska.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—Hq Company of U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific Area (USAFISPA) is organized at Fort Ord, California.

NEW GUINEA—Australian Kanga Force, guarding Bulolo Valley, conducts its first offensive action, a raid on Salamaua. This is followed a few days later by a raid on Lae.

EGYPT—Upon completing withdrawal to prepared positions at El ‘Alamein, British 30 Corps takes responsibility for N flank and 13 Corps for S flank. 10 Corps staff is withdrawn to command Delta Force, which is to defend Alexandria and the Nile Delta.

USSR—Germans broaden offensive toward the Don in Army Group South sector. While 2d Army and 4th Pz Army continue toward the river at Voronezh, 6th Army begins drive to E in region SE of Belgorod. In the Crimea, battle for Sevastopol is in its final stage. On N front, German Army Group North eliminates last of Soviet pocket W of Volkhov.

US MARINE CORPS

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