Friday, 3 July 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—USAAF B-24s bomb and damage Japanese seaplane carriers Kamikawa Maru and Kimikawa Maru, and transport Fujisan Maru off Agattu Island.

           British submarine HMS Truant sinks Japanese army cargo ship No.1 Tamon Maru in Strait of Malacca, 3°14'N,99°48'E.

ATLANTIC—U.S. tanker Gulfbelle is torpedoed by German submarine U-126 about 21 miles north of Tobago, 11°43'N, 60°35'W; and is abandoned. Two crewmen perish on board in the explosion. The U-boat surfaces after torpedoing her quarry, but after the Armed Guard (all eight men of which have remained on board) lobs one shell over U-126, the enemy boat submerges and departs. British destroyer HMS Warwick subsequently tows the damaged Gulfbelle to Trinidad.

           U.S. freighter Alexander Macomb, in convoy BA 2, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-215 at 41°40'N,66°52'W; four of the ship's 41 man crew and six of the 25 man Armed Guard are killed in the attack. British trawler HMS Le Tiger rescues 31 survivors; Canadian corvette HMCS Regina 25.

           Unarmed U.S. freighter Norlandia, steaming from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Nuevitas, Cuba, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-575 at 19°33'N, 68°39'W; nine crewmen lose their lives. U-575's commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Gunther Heydemann, apparently genuinely solicitous of the needs of those whose ship he has just torpedoed, gives them a bottle of brandy before the boat departs (see 4 and 5 July).

US ARMY AIR FORCE

US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—B‑24’s attack Tobruk harbor during daylight hours and B‑17’s bomb supplies at Tobruk during 3/4 Jul.

TENTH AF—CATF airplanes bomb and strafe airfield at Nanchang, the probable base of the preceding night’s raiders on Hengyang. Several parked aircraft are destroyed. During the night Japanese airplanes again strike at Hengyang and once more fail to hit airfield.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s attack barracks area at Koepang and AF at Lae. 1 A‑24 bombs Tulagi.

ELEVENTH AF—7 B‑24’s and 2 B‑17’s bomb Kiska and Near Islands, encountering neither fighter opposition nor AA. Results not observed.

US ARMY

UNITED STATES—General Marshall authorizes creation of a mobile air force for SWPA and another for POA. Preparations for offensive in the Pacific continue at a rapid pace.

US MARINE CORPS

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