May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

Saturday 2 May 1942

U-boats at the Hel submarine training base in Poland on the Baltic Sea, May 1942. The two U-boats closest to the camera are Type VIIC.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese are on the move in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) on 2 May 1942. Their Operation Mo has as its first objective the occupation of Tulagi, where the Japanese intend to establish a seaplane base. Coastwatcher Jack Read on Bougainville Island spots large Japanese ships departing the Buka Island area near northern Bougainville, and later coastwatcher D.G. Kennedy on New Georgia (further south on the way to Tulagi) spots the same. Alerted of these sightings on Tulagi, Australian commando commander Captain A. L. Goode and Royal Australian Air Force commander Flight Officer R.B. Peagam order the immediate destruction of their facilities and evacuation of personnel. Flyable PBY-5 Catalina flying boats already have left. The evacuation will be completed by the early hours of 3 May.

The Japanese also have their Carrier Strike Force, led by aircraft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku, on the way from Truk. Its commander, Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi, attempts today to deliver eighteen Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter planes to Rabaul, but poor weather interferes. Ultimately, Takagi is able to deliver the fighters (this is unclear and disputed in the sources), but he must keep trying until the 3rd. The bad weather also prevents Takagi's force from refueling until the 4th. These delays seriously disrupt the entire Japanese timetable for Operation Mo and prevent the Carrier Strike Force from arriving at Tulagi on time to have any effect.

A portrait of General MacArthur on the Australians Women Weekly, 2 May 1942

A separate Japanese force out of New Ireland establishes a seaplane base at Thousand Ships Bay, Santa Isabel Island, to support the projected landings at Tulagi, while the Japanese 3rd Kure Special Landing Force occupies the Florida Islands (Nggela Islands) north of Guadalcanal.

The US Navy has a good idea of the Japanese plans because of radio intercepts. Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, commander of Task Force 17, has stationed fleet carriers USS Yorktown (TF 17) and Lexington (TF 11) about 300 nautical miles (350 miles, 560 km) northwest of New Caledonia. TF 17 completes its refueling today, but TF 11 takes longer and signals it will not be ready until the 4th. Yorktown aircraft (SBDs (VS 5) and TBDs (VT 5)) spot Japanese submarine I-21 near Nouméa and attack but score no hits. Reporting by radio to Tokyo, the Japanese commander does not indicate that the attacking aircraft are carrier-based, so the nearby US Navy carriers remain undetected.

Corregidor.

On Corregidor Island, Philippine Islands, the embattled US garrison (many of the 4th Marine Division) continues to hold out against a vicious around-the-clock pounding from Japanese shore artillery and bombers. Malinta Tunnel is overcrowded - to step outside is to invite death. Potable water is running out, now down to a six-day supply. The US Navy scuttles the river gunboat USS Mindanao off South Harbor. The US Navy is sending submarine USS Starfish to pick up a couple of dozen more lucky people, it is scheduled to arrive on the 3rd.

US Navy submarine USS Trout torpedoes and sinks 5015-ton Japanese freighter Uzan Maru off Shikoku, Japan.

Japanese 10,930-ton seaplane carrier Mizuho, torpedoed off Omaezaki, Japan, by USS Drum on 1 May 1942, sinks about 40 nautical miles (74 km) offshore. There are 472 survivors (31 wounded) and 101 deaths.

USS Sunfish (Cdr R.W. Peterson) is launched on 2 May 1942 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California (US Navy).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Japanese tighten their grip on Mandalay, Burma, on 2 May 1942. Their advance units range far to the west of the former capital. Their occupation of the city and rapid move westward blocks the escape route for part of the 1st Burma Division. It attacks the Japanese 33rd Infantry Division at Monywa, west of Mandalay, in an attempt to rejoin the main British forces north of Mandalay, but fails to make progress.

North of Lashio, the Northern Shan States Battalion, Burma Frontier Force, along with elements of a detachment of the Chin Hills Battalion, continue to block the Japanese advance north toward the regional center at Bhamo. The Allied troops are holding a key bridge across the Shweli River. The bridge has been rigged for detonation, but nobody knows how to set off the charges. The battle for the bridge rages throughout the day while the Japanese troops await reinforcements.

Eastern Front: General Franz Halder, fresh off a week-long leave in Berlin, returns to, as he puts it in his war diary, a "Quiet day along the entire front, except on the Volkhov, where local fighting continues." The Germans have cut off a large Red Army force to the west of the Volkhov River, which now is fighting for its life. Operations along the rest of the front are at a standstill due to the spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") which always peaks around this time of year.

European Air Operations: A pause in major operations by both sides continues today, likely due in part to the weather (the RCAF in England reports "Weather visibility 2000 yards, improving by midday"). The RAF sends 96 bombers of Nos. 3 and 5 Groups on minelaying all along the coast from the German North Sea coast on south to Brittany, France. Two bombers are lost. Another 11 bombers drop leaflet over France.

Picture Post magazine, 2 May 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: The battle in the Barents Sea explodes when German destroyers Z7 "Hermann Schoemann," Z24, and Z25, which attacked convoy QP 11 on 1 May 1942 and sank a freighter, find badly damaged Royal Navy cruiser HMS Edinburgh (Captain H W Faulkner). The German destroyers spot the cruiser at 06:17 about 250 miles east of QP 11. It is moving at only two knots and is escorted by seven ships: destroyers Foresight and Forester, four British minesweepers, and Soviet guard ship Rubin. Despite these poor odds, the German commander Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, flush off his victory against the convoy, decides to attack.

Hinrichs has a problem, however. A snow shower separates his destroyer, Z7, from the two other Kriegsmarine Narvik-class destroyers. Despite this, Hinrichs attacks alone. Edinburgh can only steam in circles, but its guns remain fully operational. It scores a devastating hit on Hinrich's ship that causes it to sink later in the day.

Light cruiser HMS Edinburgh, with its stern blown off, unloads its crew to another ship before sinking in the Barents Sea, 2 May 1942.

During the afternoon, the other two German destroyers arrive on the scene. Z25 scores hits on both Forester and Foresight, disabling the former and badly damaging the latter. At 18:52, a German torpedo hits Edinburgh directly opposite its previous damage done to it by U-456. The blows Edinburgh's stern clean off. The German destroyers then withdraw and rescue the crew of Z7, which is still afloat, before scuttling it (other survivors from Z7 are picked up later by U-88). Edinburgh, now in very bad shape, is sunk with a torpedo from Foresight. The action of 2 May 1942 unquestionably is a German naval victory, though the convoys that are the main prize still have suffered minimal losses.

Polish submarine ORP Jastrząb (LtCdr  Bolesław Romanowski) is serving with the Royal Navy, but it is hard to distinguish friendly submarines from unfriendly ones under the gray, overcast skies of the Barents Sea. It is in the vicinity of Convoy PQ 15, perhaps loosely escorting it but more likely just on the lookout for German surface ships, when destroyer HNoMS St. Albans and minesweeper Seagull spot it. There are divergent accounts after this point, but the particulars are immutable. The two ships force the submarine to the surface and strafe the deck (killing five men including a British liaison officer and wounding six more). They damage the submarine so badly that it must be scuttled. ORP Jastrząb, incidentally, was former US Navy submarine USS S-25 that was given to the British, and thence the Polish Navy, in November 1941.

A portrait of Anne Frank in May 1942, shortly before she and her family went into hiding in Amsterdam.

U-402 (Kptlt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 602-ton US Navy patrol yacht USS Cythera (PY-26). This is a former civilian yacht owned by William L. Harkness that served in both World War I and II. There are 69 deaths. The U-boat picks up the only two survivors of the sinking and makes them prisoners of war.

U-66 (KrvKpt. Richard Zapp), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7624-ton Norwegian tanker Sandar southwest of Grenada in the Caribbean. There are three deaths and 37 survivors, who are picked up by US freighter Alcoa Pilot.

A view of Halifax on 2 May 1942, showing Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and various US Navy transports (Nova Scotia Archives H.B. Jefferson Nova Scotia Archives 1992-304 / 43.1.4 64).

Battle of the Mediterranean: U-573, badly damaged on 29 April 1942 by depth charges dropped by an RAF Lockheed Hudson, limps into port at Cartagena, Spain. Since Spain is a neutral country, it can only offer a limited time period before under international law it must intern the submarine. For instance, when German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee docked at Montevideo in December 1939, it was given only 72 hours for repairs.

The Spanish are much more accommodating to the Germans than the Uruguayans had been. They allow three months rather than just three days for repairs to be made before they will take action. Naturally, the British embassy in Madrid protests, but both sides must treat Spain with great sensitivity because it controls access to the Mediterranean - where a major campaign is underway. 

Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Heinsohn, however, knows that even three months is insufficient to repair the submarine in Spain. Ultimately, the crew returns to the Reich for further service and the German government sells U-573 to Spain on 2 August 1942 for 1.5 million Reichsmarks. U-573 continues in service there until 1970. U-573 ends her career with on sinking of 5289 tons (Norwegian freighter Hellen on 21 December 1941) and no casualties among her crew - a rarity in the U-boat service.

U-573 while still in the Kriegsmarine.

While U-573 gets away, another U-boat does not. Royal Navy destroyers HMS Wishart and Wrestler use depth charges to sink U-74 (Oblt. Karl Friederich), on its eighth patrol out of La Spezia, off Cartagena, Spain. The U-74 is a victim of bad luck, as a Catalina flying boat spots U-573 nearby, and it vectors in the Royal Navy ships that find U-74 instead. U-74 ends its career having sunk 37,144 tons of shipping.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Proteus torpedoes 3682-ton German freighter Otto Leonhardt off Sfax, Tunisia. The ship's captain manages to beach the vessel, but it is a complete write-off.

In Malta, invasion fears are at a peak as heavy bombing raids continue. Delayed-action bombs dropped near Zejtun Church and on houses south of Zejtun-Tarxien road explode, killing 21 civilians and wounding another 30. 

Bomb damage to HMS Wallace, 2 May 1942 © IWM A 9895. 

US Military: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives on Midway Island for an inspection and to present decorations. He departs on the 3rd.

American Homefront: Chestnut stallion Shut Out wins the Kentucky Derby with jockey Wayne D. Wright.

There is a hybrid eclipse of the sun.

Future History: Jacques Rogge is born in Ghent, Belgium. He becomes an orthopedic surgeon and later goes on to become the 8th President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. As of this writing, Rogge serves as the Honorary President of the IOC.

Pix magazine of 2 May 1942 features an article on "The Japanese Attitude to Women," a subject that will occupy researchers and diplomats well into the 21st Century due to the military's use of "Comfort Women."

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

2021

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

Thursday 30 April 1942

Convoy escorts scuttle Soviet freighter SS Ashkhabad off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, after it was torpedoed by U-402 on 30 April 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese put Operation Mo, the projected capture of Port Moresby, into gear on 30 April 1942. They send carriers, Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Shoho, now replenished and rested after the Indian Ocean raid, to start the operation from the fleet base at Truk (Chuuk Lagoon).

RAAF P-39 fighters flying over the Stanley Mountain Range strafe Japanese planes and installations on the north coast at Lae and Salamaua. They lose one P-39F (41-7128).

Two Consolidated PBY-4 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron 101 (VP-101), based in Perth, Western Australia, fly a hazardous, lengthy, and circuitous route to the Philippines. They rescue 30 nurses from Corregidor Island, the lone Allied position holding out in the region, without incident. Many nurses, however, still remain on the fortified island, along with thousands of trapped soldiers. All are suffering deprivations and constant shelling from the Japanese artillery on the mainland and bombing attacks.

US Navy submarine USS Greenling (SS-213) stalks Japanese ammunition ship Seia Maru off Eniwetok. It fires torpedoes four separate times today and tomorrow. However, the torpedoes are faulty (a common problem during this period due to faulty fuses). The chase continues into 1 May 1942 but, despite even attempting a surface night attack, cannot sink it.

The Borger (Texas) Daily Herald headlines the Japanese capture of Lashio, Burma, in its 30 April 1942 edition.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Having taken Lashio, the Japanese send troops north toward Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River. They encounter opposition at a bridge across the Shweli River at Manwing by troops of the Northern Shan States Battalion, Burma Frontier Force. This defensive force left Lashio when the Chinese departed on 29 April. It manages to hold up the Japanese there for several days.

The Chinese Sixty-Sixth Army, still a powerful force although levered out of Lashio, withdraws along the Burma Road into China via Kutkai and Wanting. The Chinese 200th Division, which is isolated to the south and finds the way back to China blocked at Lashio, turns in the other direction and heads for Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin) in the direction of Mandalay. While this sends them in the general direction of the remaining British forces, the ultimate goal is to return to China as well. Doing so, however, will entail a lengthy detour around the advancing Japanese forces.

The British, meanwhile, continue to prepare for the inevitable loss of Mandalay as they retreat. Engineers destroy the bridge at Ava, the former capital of Burma, near the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Myitnge rivers just south of Mandalay. Their ultimate fall-back position, of course, is across the border in India.

A German defensive position on the Eastern Front, April 1942.

Eastern Front: The Soviet Lyuban offensive is generally defined as ending on 30 April 1942. In reality, this effort ceased posing a threat to the Wehrmacht weeks ago due to the German response Unternehmen Raubtier ("Operation Wild Beast") that encircled the large Soviet force. It is estimated that the Volkhov Front loses 308,367 (95,064 killed or missing) out of an initial force of 327,700 during the operation - which is comparable to the later German losses at Stalingrad. General Andrey Vlasov, commander of the 2nd Shock Army, remains trapped in the dwindling pocket to the west of the Volkhov River. He cannot leave it without orders from Stalin - who habitually does not give such orders to failed commanders and troops. In any event, the spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") has stopped almost all operations for the time being.

European Air Operations: After many days of relentless attacks, both the RAF and Luftwaffe take the day off from major attacks. RAF Bomber Command does send 24 Boston bombers on escorted raids against Le Havre and Flushing docks, the Abbeville railway yards, and Morlaix airfield. These are all common targets and the raids are accomplished without loss. This begins a period of several days without major RAF attacks, though subsidiary operations such as minelaying continue.

"A photograph clearly showing the severe damage to the stern of HMS EDINBURGH caused by a German torpedo whilst traveling with convoy QP11. The damage was so great that HMS EDINBURGH had to be sunk by a torpedo of the British destroyer HMS FORESIGHT." © IWM MH 23866.

Battle of the Atlantic: Today is a great day for U-boats in the Barents Sea, off the US coast, and near the United Kingdom.

The brewing confrontation in the Barents Sea heats up on 30 April 1942. Two Allied convoys - PQ 15 and QP 11 - are converging in opposite directions north of Norway and the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe are ideally situated to wreak havoc. The Germans begin attacking, with U-88 and U-436 attacking freighters but missing, but score few successes. The main forces have not been committed pending further developments by advanced units already in place.

U-456 (Kptlt. Max-Martin Teichert), on its fourth war patrol out of Kirkenes, begins the battle when it torpedoes and damages the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Edinburgh (13 deaths), which is escorting QP 11. Edinburgh was a late addition to the convoy escort and is hit soon after it arrives. The U-boat scores two hits, one in the forward boiler room and the other at the stern. Under half power, with the rudder and two of four propellers destroyed, Edinburgh heads back toward Murmansk scored by destroyers Foresight and Forester. Other ships leave Murmansk to aid the stricken cruiser, including British minesweepers Gossamer, Harrier, Hussar, and Niger, the Soviet destroyers Gremyashchy and Sokrushitelny, the Soviet guard ship Rubin, and a tug. 

While the cruiser does not sink (yet), its damage causes the Allies problems. The attack exposes more Allied ships to attack and reduces the convoy escort by three ships. The Kriegsmarine attempts to take advantage of this favorable change in circumstances by dispatching the three destroyers of Zerstörergruppe "Arktis" (Z7 "Hermann Schoemann" (KptzS Schultze-Hinrichs), Z24, and Z25), under the command of Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, to attack QP 11 and finish off the Edinburgh. It will take them until the afternoon of 1 May 1942 to reach the convoy.

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is spotted by RAF reconnaissance while warming up for a potential dash to the Arctic convoys from its base at Trondheim, Norway, 30 April 1942 (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 110804).

U-402 (Kptlt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and badly damages Soviet freighter Ashkhabad south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The 47 crewmen abandon the freighter and are rescued by HMT Lady Elsa. The Ashkhabad remains afloat and naval authorities decide to salvage her. However, before tug USS Relief can make it to the location, two escorts (USS Semmes and HMT St. Zeno) scuttle Ashkhabad as a hazard to navigation.

U-552 (Kptlt. Erich Topp), on its eighth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks Canadian troop transport SS Nerissa In the Atlantic northwest of Ireland about 200 miles (320 km) from Liverpool. Topp is on the surface when he spots the transport approaching from the northwest and then stalks the ship for almost two hours. One of three torpedoes hits the Nerissa astern, and Topp soon closes to pump another torpedo into it. There are 84 survivors and 207 (124 passengers and 83 crew) deaths. The survivors are picked up at first light by HMS Veteran. The Nerissa is remembered as the only troopship to have Canadian casualties en route to England during World War II.

SS Nerissa, sunk by Erich Topp's U-552 on 30 April 1942.

U-162 (FrgKpt. Jürgen Wattenberg), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 8941-ton British freighter Athelempress about 180 nautical miles (330 km) east of Barbados. There are three deaths and 47 survivors, who are picked up by Norwegian freighter Atlantic.

U-752 (Kptlt. Karl-Ernst Schroeter), on its fifth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 4956-ton Norwegian freighter Bidevind about 74 miles southeast of Ambrose Lightship in the Atlantic east of Delaware and south of Long Island. All 36 crewmen survive (three injuries). The wreck, at 190 feet (58 m), becomes a popular deep-dive site for advanced local sport divers.

U-507 (KrvKpt. Harro Schacht), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 2881-ton US tanker Federal about 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) north of Gibara, Cuba. There are five deaths and 28 survivors, some of whom are picked up by a Cuban fishing trawler while others make it to shore in a lifeboat.

U-576 (Kptlt. Hans-Dieter Heinicke), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks Norwegian freighter Taborfjell about 95 nautical miles (176 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The ship is carrying unrefined sugar from Matanzas, Cuba. There are 17 deaths and three survivors, who are picked up by HMS P552.

SS Taborfjell, sunk by U-576 on 30 April 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Axis air offensive against Malta continues on 30 April 1942. The Germans and Italians have averaged 200 bomber sorties over the island since Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring began the offensive in March 1942. Today's attacks begin at 11:20 and continue throughout the day as usual. The Luftwaffe's rescue operations have become increasingly brave and a Dornier Do 24 flying boat is seen offshore rescuing a downed German pilot. While rescue operations under prewar agreements are considered humanitarian operations immune from attack, in reality, they have been deemed game since the Battle of Britain for alleged reconnaissance operations.

Hitler and Mussolini at Schloss Klessheim for their two-day meeting at the end of April 1942 (National Digital Archives Poland).

Axis Relations: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini continue their summit meeting at Schloss Klessheim in Salzburg, Germany. Hitler unleashes a monologue lasting an hour and forty minutes on the Duce covering a wide variety of military, economic, social, and philosophical topics but noticeably silent about the future Franco-Italian frontier and similar topics of particular interest to Italy. Hitler is quoted as saying "Soon the laughter of the Jews will fall silent forever," "The Aryan is the Prometheus of mankind," and "Violence is the mother of order and the source of all true greatness - I have restored to violence its true meaning." Anticipating the final collapse of the Soviet Union by the fall, he elaborates on his post-war plans, many of which revolve around social engineering.

The Salzburg meeting marks the first time at these conferences that Hitler talks about a definitive end to the war due to a decisive summer campaign in the Soviet Union. He convinces Mussolini to agree to send more Italian troops to the Eastern Front, but his plans for the Mediterranean that is of much more urgent concern to Mussolini are left vague. Hitler reveals the Wehrmacht, in conjunction with Italian forces, plans to invade Malta in Operation Hercules (Unternehmen Herkules), with a tenuous launch date of mid-July 1942. The plans have been approved but are on hold pending developments in North Africa.

However, Operation Hercules is a divisive issue within the German hierarchy. While local Wehrmacht commanders including Generals Albert Kesselring and Erwin Rommel, both in attendance, strongly support Operation Hercules, They believe it would secure the Mediterranean for Axis shipping (which has taken heavy losses from the Royal Navy). Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering is concerned. He believes that invading Malta could turn into a near-disaster like the ultimately successful but costly paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger) invasion of Crete (Operation Mercury) in May 1941. Hitler himself is very hesitant about the operation for the same reasons and wants to focus on the Eastern Front. The operation is never launched.

USS Peto (SS-265) side launching at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI, 30 April 1942. It will be commissioned on 21 November 1942 after becoming the first submarine to use the mid-western waterways to reach New Orleans, LA. It has a distinguished career in the Pacific Theater of Operations (US Navy photo).

US/Vichy France Relations: US Ambassador to France Admiral William Leahy bids farewell to his Embassy staff in Paris before beginning the long journey back to the United States. No new ambassador is slated to replace him, effectively ending diplomatic relations. The U.S. Embassy will remain open, run by Charge d’Affaires Pinckney Tuck, until the landing of US troops in French North Africa in November 1942 ("Operation Torch").

US Military: Admiral Harold R. Stark assumes command of U.S. Naval Forces Europe. This is actually a demotion, as Stark has been Chief of Naval Operations since August 1939. Stark is under a cloud due to the losses at Pearl Harbor and eventually must face a court of inquiry over this with negative findings for him. However, Stark makes the best of a bad situation and oversees the buildup of US naval forces from his headquarters in London, culminating in the successful D-Day landings.

The US Navy commissions 35,000-ton battleship USS Indiana at Newport News, Virginia. She will serve primarily in the Pacific Theater of Operations and be decommissioned in 1947.

Two Vought SB2U Vindicator aircraft collide during training exercises off Sandy Point, Block Island. The two-man crew of one plane survives, the other two men (Ensign David Kauffman and Lt. (Jg.)  Howard Lapsley) perish.

USS Indiana on 27 January 1944 (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-222923).

US Government: The House naval committee rejects a bill to raise the statutory workweek from 40 hours to 48 hours, limit war profits, and freeze the status quo of open and closed workplaces for the duration of the war. This bill is likely in response to a recent US Supreme Court decision allowing reasonable profits from the manufacture of goods for the United States military during World War I. President Roosevelt is against the bill, which elicits strong passions on both sides.

Eleanor Roosevelt (center, dressed in white) poses with members and organizers of the Hollywood Victory Caravan on the White House lawn, 30 April 1942 (Gene Lester, Library of Congress Digital ID# bhp0124).

Holocaust: In Dzyatlava, Western Belarus, German soldiers wake up resident of the Zdzięcioł Ghetto with gunshots. The Judenrat issues a statement from the German authorities that all Jewish residents are to assemble at an old cemetery on the fringes of the ghetto. Those who refuse are brought by force to that location by Germans and their local Belarusian and Lithuanian collaborators. After a typical Holocaust selection process where some victims are selected for execution based on age and gender, these roughly 1000 people, perhaps more, are marched to nearby Kurpiasz (Kurpyash) Forest and shot and buried know unmarked graves (about 100 are given reprieves based on documents they carried). Another similar massacre takes place on 10 August 1942 and subsequent days for a total of about 3000 victims or more. This is known as the Dzyatlava massacre and a plaque commemorates it.

Japanese Homefront: The Imperial Rule Assistance Association, which supports the government and its goals of his Shintaisei ("New Order") movement, dominates local elections. it wins 381 out of 466 seats.

Evacuation of the Santa Maria Japanese to Tulare Assembly Center from the Christ United Methodist Church, 219 N. Mary Dr., Santa Maria, California on April 30, 1942 (University of California).

American Homefront: Lieut. Gen. John DeWitt, head of the Western Defense Command, issues new evacuation orders for 5100 additional people of Japanese descent from Alameda, Contra Costa, and Los Angeles Counties. Evacuations will continue until 20 May 1942.

Film studio 20th Century Fox releases "My Gal Sal," a musical directed by Irving Cummings starring Rita Hayworth and Victor Mature. It profiles 1890s composer and songwriter Paul Dresser. The biopic is a typical mixture of reality and Hollywood artifice, with some of the songs having no connection to Dresser. The film features comedian Phil Silvers and Terry Moore (later girlfriend, maybe wife, of Howard Hughes and still alive as of this writing in 2021) in early roles.

The big news in The Napa Register on 30 April 1942 is the defeat of the 48-hour workweek (Napa Valley Register).

April 1942

April 1, 1942: Convoys Come to the USA 
April 2, 1942: Doolittle Raiders Leave Port
April 3, 1942: Japanese Attack in Bataan
April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt
April 5, 1942: Japanese Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon
April 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal
April 7, 1942: Valletta, Malta, Destroyed
April 8, 1942: US Bataan Defenses Collapse
April 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan
April 10, 1942: The Bataan Death March
April 11, 1942: The Sea War Heats Up
April 12, 1942: Essen Raids Conclude Dismally
April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction
April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt
April 15, 1942: Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
April 16, 1942: Oil Field Ablaze in Burma
April 17, 1942: The Disastrous Augsburg Raid
April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid bombs Japan
April 19, 1942: British in Burma Escape
April 20, 1942: The Operation Calendar Disaster
April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

April 23, 1942: The Mystery of Plane 8

April 24, 1942: When Will Help Arrive?

April 25, 1942: Bath Devastated in Baedeker Blitz

April 26, 1942: Hitler Expands His Powers

April 27, 1942: Luftwaffe Bombs Norwich

April 28, 1942: Brewing Clash in the Arctic

April 29, 1942: Japanese Preparing Operation Mo

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

2021

April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction

Monday 13 April 1942

Senator Harry S. Truman at the New York Central RR Depot in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 13,1942. Truman's Commission is in Michigan to review affairs at the Ford Motor Company, which is producing bombers for the government (Photo credit Harry S. Truman Library & Museum).

Battle of the Pacific: The Bataan Death March that began on 10 April continues in the Philippines on 13 April 1942. It is a six-day march to the San Fernando railhead and more groups of men are starting out every day. The roads north from Mariveles and Bagac are full of shuffling men, routinely mistreated, given minimal food and water, and executed if they fail to keep pace. The first groups that began the march from Mariveles on 10 April and Bagac the following day now are beginning to converge at Pilar, where they march together toward the train. 

While Bataan and Cebu have fallen, the Allies still maintain a presence in the Philippines. Australian-based B-25s stage through Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao to bomb shipping off Cebu and Davao port installations. They make a second attack on Davao during the day. The US Army Air Force loses one B-17E during this mission. The bombers evacuate personnel on their way back to Australia. Separately, the 5th Air Force sends seven A-24 bombers to attack Lae, New Guinea. The escort of 8 P-40E Kittyhawks of No. 75 Squadron loses one plane.

US Navy submarine USS Grayling, operating off the southwest tip of Shikoku, Japan, torpedoes and sinks Japanese freighter Ryujin Maru.

Five Liberty Ships under construction at South Portland Shipyard, 13 April 1942.

After steaming west out of Pearl Harbor for five days at a steady twenty knots through rain, fog, and rough seas, Admiral "Bull" Halsey's Task Force 16 catches up with the task force led by USS Hornet that is heading toward Japan. Hornet carries the Doolittle raiders whose mission is to bomb Tokyo. The combined task force now comprises two aircraft carriers (USS Hornet and Enterprise), three heavy cruisers (Salt Lake City, Northampton, and Vincennes), one light cruiser (Nashville), eight destroyers, and two fleet oilers.

From this point forward, the combined task forces (Halsey is in overall command) will continue toward Japan with USS Enterprise providing scouting and air cover. Unknown to the Americans, Japanese Naval Intelligence already has detected their radio transmissions (at this point Halsey imposed radio silence) and knows that something is up. However, the Japanese await word from their naval picket line ships stationed about 600 miles east of Japan before taking any action.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese attacks in the Irrawaddy River valley toward the Yenangyaung oil fields are forcing the British back to the northwest. The British still hope to hold the oil fields, but it is not looking good. They now are using the Burma Frontier Force, not real troops but an internal security unit, as infantry.

Time magazine for 13 April 1942 features Sir Stafford Cripps on the cover. His mission to India to arrange a deal with Indian nationalists recently failed.

Eastern Front: In the Crimea, Soviet General Kozlov gradually is bringing his forces back to their starting points after his failed fourth offensive on the Parpach Narrows. His Crimean Front has taken massive casualties in these offensives, but Stalin is contemplating launching a fifth offensive against the advice of his generals. The Luftwaffe, which is building up its power in the area to that of an Air Fleet that usually supports an entire Army Group, is working to isolate Crimean Front. The constant air attacks are causing Kozlov's men to run down their supplies.

General Seydlitz's Operation Brückenschlag relief attack toward Demyansk continues making slow progress north along the Lovat River toward Ramushevo. Simply advancing, however, is no guarantee of success. His forces already have taken 10,000 casualties and reinforcements are not available in abundance. The original OKH plan was for Seydlitz to take Ramushevo before authorizing a breakout from the Demyansk and Kholm pockets, but conditions in the Demyansk and Kholm pockets are deteriorating and now there is no certainty that Seydlitz' men can take Ramushevo before the spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") stops things completely. As General Franz Halder notes cryptically today in his war diary, "Difficult situation at Kholm."

A fire devastates Kewanee, Illinois, in the early morning hours of 13 April 1942 (The Kewanee Historical Society).

Realizing the danger, Hitler authorizes a breakout by Generalmajor H. Zorn's II Corps that maintains the integrity of the Demyansk pocket - a difficult feat - to begin on 14 April. This is Operation Fallreep. It will be led by the Totenkopf SS Division.

At Fuhrer Headquarters, General Franz Halder is keeping close track of troop losses. The original plan was for casualties to diminish during the winter and spring months, but that has not happened. Instead, casualties have remained high. Halder notes the following casualty figures:

• First ten days of March: 3478 (58 officers)
• Second ten days of March: 3139 (67 officers)
• Third ten days of March: 5947 (37 officers)

These are not extraordinary figures by the standards of World War II, but the show that a period that was supposed to provide a respite has done nothing of the sort.

An Army MP on duty in Columbus, Ohio, 13 April 1942.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids Hull at 00:05 on 13 April. There is some property damage, four killed, and five seriously wounded. The bombs drop in the Willerby Road/Woodlands Road/Springhead Ave. area.

RAF Bomber Command schedules a light day of activity after the heavy attack on Essen on the night of 12/13 April. It sends 47 aircraft on minelaying operations in the Frisian Islands and off the German coast, four Wellington bombers over Boulogne, and three bombers on leaflet flights. It loses a Stirling bomber during the minelaying operation.

Battle of the Atlantic: As 16-freighter QP-10 continues heading from Murmansk to Iceland with a heavy escort, Axis attacks increase in intensity. While the PQ convoys heading to Murmansk are better known, the return convoys turn into deadly gauntlets north of Norway. Today, German destroyers Z24 and Z25 search for the convoy but turn back due to rough weather, but the Germans have multiple ways to attack Arctic convoys and use all of them today. U-435 attacks Royal Navy destroyer HMS Punjabi, but misses, and U-209 also attempts an attack but fails. These actions, however, are only a prelude to the action.

U-436 (Kptlt. Günther Seibicke), on its fifth patrol out of Kirkenes, begins the attacks on QP-10 at 01:00 when it torpedoes and sinks 5823-ton Russian freighter Kiev. The ship sinks within seven minutes and there are six dead, including one woman passenger.

In this photograph published in Life magazine on 13 April 1942, General MacArthur and General Sutherland are shown walking outside the east entrance to Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor. By this time, these two officers have been in Australia for almost a month. However, Corregidor remains under US Army control under General Wainwright. 

U-435 (Kptlt. Siegfried Strelow), on its third patrol out of Kirkenes, follows up U-436's success at 03:30 when Strelow torpedoes and sinks 6008-ton Panamanian ore freighter El Occidente. As with many ore freighters hit by torpedoes, El Occidente sinks quickly and there is no time to launch the lifeboats. There are 20 dead and 21 survivors.

Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers appear over QP-10 at 05:00 and shadow it for an hour. When they attack around dawn, they hit 5486-ton British ore freighter Harpalion. With its rudder and steering gear inoperative, the crew abandons ship after repairs fail. A destroyer escort, HMS Fury, then shells the ship to keep it from falling into enemy hands but fails. U-435 reports later finding the hulk and sinks it with a spread of three torpedoes at 15:50.

Thousands of miles to the southwest, U-154 (KrvKpt. Walther Kölle), on its second patrol out of Lorient, gets another victory in a successful patrol in the Caribbean. Kölle, after a grueling 16-hour chase, torpedoes and sinks 8032-ton British tanker Empire Amethyst at 05:52 about 150 miles northeast of Aruba. The tanker erupts into a fireball and breaks in two, with the stern sinking within five minutes. There are no survivors of the 47-man crew.

U-402 (Kptlt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes 5249-ton British freighter Empire Progress south of Cape Race at 23:26. It takes four torpedoes, one of them a dud, but Empire Progress finally sinks at 00:17 on the 14th. The ship was a member of Convoy ON-80 that had been dispersed. there are 12 dead and 38 survivors.

Fishermen's Club Banquet, Biola University, 13 April 1942 (Biola University Digital Archive alumni1-012).

U-123 (Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen), on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, continues a highly successful patrol off the east coast of the United States with two sinkings in rapid succession. Using his last torpedo, Hardegen torpedoes and sinks 2609-ton US sugar freighter Leslie about three miles southeast of the Hetzel Shoals Gas Buoy at 05:11. There are four dead and 28 survivors.

Hardegen follows this up by sinking 2647-ton Swedish freighter Korsholm. at 07:45. Hardegen, now out of torpedoes after already sinking or damaging nine ships on this patrol, uses his deck gun to dispose of Korsholm about 70 miles off Cape Canaveral. There are nine dead and 17 survivors. With this sinking, Hardegen provest that he is a master of the economy of force and efficient use of his resources. He also demonstrates the usefulness of deck guns. And, not to give anything away - but he's not through yet on this patrol.

Off Falmouth, naval trawler HMT Lord Snowden collides with another ship and sinks.

German landing craft PiLB 210 is lost today for uncertain reasons.

Newsweek magazine, 13 April 1942 features a cover story about the "ship shortage."

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe bombing offensive against Malta continues and today sinks Royal Navy trawler HMT Coral.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Thrasher sinks 2297-ton German freighter Atlas near Benghazi.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet freighter Partizan Zheleznay hits a mine and sinks in the Kerch Gulf. There are six deaths. This is part of the Luftwaffe's interdiction of supplies to General Kozlov's Crimean Front.

Propaganda: German radio announces that mass graves of murdered Polish officers have been found in Katyn, Poland. It is implied that these men were murdered by Soviet occupation forces prior to Operation Barbarossa. The Germans begin an investigation.

Iranian/Japanese Relations: Iran breaks diplomatic relations with the Empire of Japan. This is likely provoked by the recent Japanese Indian Ocean Raid.

Life magazine for 13 April 1942 features Army Supply Chief General Somervell.

US Military: Upon Admiral Chester Nimitz's recommendation, Vice Admiral Robert L Ghormley is appointed Commander-in-Chief South Pacific (COMSOPAC). Ghormley is "connected" and a good friend of President Roosevelt somewhat along the lines of Harry Hopkins. Nimitz's first choice was Admiral Pye, who temporarily held Nimitz's own position for a brief period after Pearl Harbor, but Pye remains "in the doghouse" because he recalled the Wake Island relief attempt in December 1941 (Wake fell immediately thereafter, though that was hardly Pye's fault). Ghormley is a staff officer without recent active commands and no aircraft carrier experience, and carriers recently have become the focus of the war in the Pacific, so he is operating at somewhat of a disadvantage. The assignment seems rushed and sudden, but Ghormley does have a long resume of experience both in the United States and abroad at the highest level of naval affairs.

German Military: Count Claus von Stauffenberg, currently serving in the organizational department of the OKH, makes a rare appearance in General Franz Halder's war diary today. He reports that "OKW (overall military command organization) shows a desire to activate troops of its own." This, of course, would diminish the power of OKH, which controls the army and considers the Eastern Front its own preserve. The growing tension between the influence of OKW and OKH over army operations is a recurrent feature of the middle war years.

British Military: The military announces that Rear-Admiral Lord Mountbatten has been appointed Chief of Combined Operations. He now is a member of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. Appointment effective 18 March 1942.

Anton Schmid, executed by his superiors on 13 April 1942.

Holocaust: Anton Schmid (January 9, 1900 – April 13, 1942),  a German sergeant (Feldwebel), is executed in Vilnius, Lithuania. Arrested in late January and condemned to death on 25 February 1942, Schmid is shot by his superiors for helping about 250 Jewish men, women, and children escape from extermination by the Nazi SS during the European Jewish Holocaust. Yad Vashem will recognize Schmid as Righteous Among the Nations.

British Homefront: A horrible friendly-fire accident takes place at Imber, Wiltshire, UK. In the "Imber Incident," a crowd of spectators is watching a firepower demonstration when pilot error and poor weather lead to a tragedy. Six Hawker Hurricanes and six Supermarine Spitfires fly in formation and fire their guns at a target (stationary vehicles). Everything goes well until one of the Hurricane pilots mistakenly fires at the crowd of spectators instead of the target. There are 25 military casualties (16 officers) and 71 wounded. The pilot is later found guilty of error in mistaking the spectators as target dummies but remains in the service.

Wild rumors spread after the incident about the number of deaths, the identity of the pilot as American (Sergeant William McLachlan is actually British, KIA 29 June 1942), and other matters. A similar live-fire demonstration on 16 April 1942 for Winston Churchill and US General George Marshall proceeds without incident.

American Homefront: Golfer Byron Nelson wins the Masters golf tournament in a playoff against Ben Hogan. This is the last Masters tournament until 1946.

The Federal Communications Commission reduces the minimum weekly programming time for television stations from 15 hours to 4 hours. This minimum will not be raised again until 1946. The US War Production Board already, on 1 April 1942, has halted the production of television and radio sets for domestic use. Television programs on the air at this time include CBS Television Quiz, The Face of War, CBS Television News, Boxing from Jamaica Arena, Stars of Tomorrow, The Adam Hats Sports Parade: Wrestling at Ridgewood Grove, and Sports with Bob Edge. Many of these and other programs (12 in total) will end in May or June 1942 due to these relaxed FCC requirements.

Future History: Isaac Brown is born in Memphis, Tennessee. He becomes a utility player for the Detroit Tigers from 1969 through 1974. "Ike" Brown singled in the winning runs in Game 3 of the 1972 ALCS. He becomes a popular figure in Detroit, beginning each day saying "It's a beautiful day" regardless of the weather. Isaac Brown passes away on 17 May 2001.

Senator Harry S. Truman, center, leads his commission to investigate possible corruption at the Ford Motor Company in Michigan, 13 April 1942. Incidentally, the Truman Commission traveled by train despite the fact they are posing in front of a bomber (Photo credit Harry S. Truman Library & Museum).

April 1942

April 1, 1942: Convoys Come to the USA 
April 2, 1942: Doolittle Raiders Leave Port
April 3, 1942: Japanese Attack in Bataan
April 4, 1942: Luftwaffe Attacks Kronstadt
April 5, 1942: Japanese Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon
April 6, 1942: Japanese Devastation In Bay of Bengal
April 7, 1942: Valletta, Malta, Destroyed
April 8, 1942: US Bataan Defenses Collapse
April 9, 1942: US Defeat in Bataan
April 10, 1942: The Bataan Death March
April 11, 1942: The Sea War Heats Up
April 12, 1942: Essen Raids Conclude Dismally
April 13, 1942: Convoy QP-10 Destruction
April 14, 1942: Demyansk Breakout Attempt
April 15, 1942: Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
April 16, 1942: Oil Field Ablaze in Burma
April 17, 1942: The Disastrous Augsburg Raid
April 18, 1942: The Doolittle Raid bombs Japan
April 19, 1942: British in Burma Escape
April 20, 1942: The Operation Calendar Disaster
April 21, 1942: Germans Relieve Demyansk

April 22, 1942: Gasoline Rationing in the US

April 23, 1942: The Mystery of Plane 8

April 24, 1942: When Will Help Arrive?

April 25, 1942: Bath Devastated in Baedeker Blitz

April 26, 1942: Hitler Expands His Powers

April 27, 1942: Luftwaffe Bombs Norwich

April 28, 1942: Brewing Clash in the Arctic

April 29, 1942: Japanese Preparing Operation Mo

April 30, 1942: U-Boats Attack!

2021