US NAVY
PACIFIC—Submarine Sailfish (SS-192) damages Japanese
army cargo ship Aobasan Maru, 11°31'N, 109°21'E.
Submarine Thresher
(SS-200) sinks Japanese torpedo recovery vessel Shinsho Maru at
entrance to Kwajalein Atoll, Marshalls, 08°43'N, 167°33'E. Thresher is
damaged by bombs and depth charges and is briefly hooked by a grapnel trailed
by the searching Japanese, but remains on patrol.
GULF OF MEXICO—U.S. tanker Benjamin Brewster is
torpedoed by German submarine U-67 approximately 60 miles west of
Southwest Pass, Louisiana, 29°05'N, 90°05'W, and a good portion of the ship's
cargo of 70,578 barrels of aviation gasoline and lubricating oil catches fire.
In the resulting conflagration, 25 crewmen die. Survivors (10 merchant seamen
and the five man Armed Guard) are rescued the following morning by fishing
boat, whence they are transferred to the Coast Guard.
ATLANTIC—U.S. freighter Santa Rita is torpedoed by
German submarine U-172 approximately 700 miles northeast of Puerto
Rico,26°11'N, 55°40'W, and abandoned; three men are killed in the torpedoing, a
fourth drowns during the abandonment. U-172 then shells the ship, makes
the master a POW, and sends a boarding party to scour her victim for provisions
before shelling and sinking her. Destroyers Livermore (DD-429) and Mayo
(DD-422) and a crash boat rescue the 48 merchant seamen, two passengers and
the 9 man Armed Guard who survive the loss of the vessel.
NORTH RUSSIA—Ordeal of dispersed USSR-bound convoy PQ 17 to
German submarines and planes continues: U.S. freighter Hoosier is
straddled by bombs and damaged irreparably, 69°45'N, 39°35'E. The 42 man crew
and 11 man Armed Guard abandons ship and is rescued by British corvette HMS Poppy.
Free French manned British corvette
HMS La Malouin takes the crippled merchantman under tow, but
discontinues the operation and recovers her salvage party put on board the
freighter earlier when the escort vessel sights German submarine U-255 trailing
at a distance of four miles. La Malouine's attempt to scuttle the
freighter fails. U-376 later finishes off Hoosier with a torpedo
and the latter sinks early the following morning. This same day, survivors from
U.S. freighters Fairfield City, (sunk on 5 July) and Olopana (sunk
on 7 July) reach Novaya Zemlya (see 12 July). Corvette HMS La Malouine rescues
22 merchant seamen and 8 Armed Guards, survivors from U.S. freighter John
Witherspoon (sunk by German submarine U-255 on6 July).
US ARMY AIR FORCE
EIGHTH AF—7 P‑38’s arrive in UK via N Atlantic route, this
being the first time single-seater AAF aircraft have flown this route.
US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE—6 B‑24’s dispatched against
shipping are attacked by fighters; 1 B‑24 is lost and the others return to base
without bombing targets.
ELEVENTH AF—5 B‑24’s fly photo, weather, and bombing
missions to Kiska but return with the bombs due to weather.
US ARMY
SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA—Australian
7th Brigade commander and advance elements of the brigade leave Townsville,
Australia, for Milne Bay, New Guinea.
USSR—German Army Group South is divided into 2
groups. Army Group A, on S consists of 1st Pz, 17th, and 11th
Armies. Army Group B comprises 2d, Hungarian 2d, 4th Pz,
and 6th Armies. Group A is to seize Rostov, where major Soviet forces
are believed concentrated, then continue S through the Caucasus. Group B is
to drive along the Don to Stalingrad, thence along the Volga to Astrakhan.
US MARINE CORPS
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