Articles by WWII at 70

Trondheim, Norway. British submarine HMS Trident torpedoes German cruiser Prinz Eugen, destroying her stern. Prinz Eugen is towed to Lofjord, where her stern is cut away and plated over. She will be steered back to Kiel with 2 manually-operated rudders (out of service for nearly a year until January 1943).

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Overnight 675 miles East of Newfoundland, U-155 locates convoy ONS-67, sinking British tanker MV Adellen (36 killed, 12 survivors) and Norwegian MV Sama (19 dead, 20 survivors) at 7.03 AM.

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U-boats take a toll on Allied traffic through the Caribbean. At 1.23 AM 125 miles Southeast of Ocean City, Maryland, U-432 sinks US freighter Azalea City carrying 7806 tons of linseed from Trinidad to Philadelphia (all 38 hands lost). At 3.32 PM 7 miles off Dutch island of Curaçao, U-67 sinks Norwegian tanker Kongsgaard (38 killed by burning oil, 8 survivors). At 10.44 AM 300 miles Southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, U-107 torpedoes empty Norwegian tanker Egda, which counterfloods to correct a list to port and proceeds to Halifax under her own power. At 11.13 PM 20 miles West of Trinidad, U-161sinks British tanker Circe Shell (1 killed, 57 survivors).

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Battle of Badung Strait continues. At 1.30 AM, Dutch cruiser HNLMS Tromp and 4 US destroyers USS John D. Edwards, Parrott, Pillsbury, and Stewart arrive in Badung Strait. In another an exchange of torpedoes and gunfire, USS Stewart is temporarily immobilised and HNLMS Tromp is badly damaged by 11 5-inch shells (10 killed, 30 wounded), while Japanese destroyers Asashio (4 killed) and Oshio (7 killed) are both hit. At 2.20 AM, 2 Japanese destroyers Arashio and Michisio join the fray. Michisio is pummeled by shells from all 4 US destroyers (13 dead, 83 wounded), which then retire to get away from the danger and confusion, allowing Michisio to be towed to safety.

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Overnight, Japanese troops land unopposed at Denpasar, Bali. At 7 AM, 13 US heavy bombers and 7 dive bombers attack the 4 Japanese destroyers and 2 transports in raids lasting all day (transport ship Sagami Maru is badly damaged by a bomb in the engine room). At 10 PM, Japanese destroyers Asashio and Oshio escort the crippled Sagami Maru through the Badung Strait when Dutch cruisers HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java and 3 destroyers arrive. In an exchange of torpedoes and gunfire, Dutch destroyer HNLMS Piet Hein is hit with torpedoes and sinks (64 killed). Cruisers De Ruyter & Java and US destroyers USS John D. Ford & USS Pope retire.

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German bombers sink British minesweeping trawler HMT Botanic in the North Sea.

WWI-era US destroyer USS Truxton runs aground and disintegrates in heavy weather on Ferryland Point, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. Despite the help of locals, 119 crew die (33 survivors).

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At 4.30 AM, Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita flies a two-seater Yokosuka E14Y floatplane from Japanese submarine I-25 over Sydney Harbour for reconnaissance of the airfield. By 7.30 AM, the floatplane is stowed and I-25 heads South towards Melbourne.

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In 71 days, Japanese have captured Hong Kong, advanced down the Malay peninsula and captured Singapore, invaded Southern Burma and threaten Rangoon, occupied most Philippines island and compressed the American defenders into the Southern Bataan peninsula, captured Borneo and several minor islands in the Dutch East Indies (although Sumatra and Java are still in Allied hands), captured Wake Island and occupied other outlying islands in the middle of the Pacific.

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Singapore. Churchill gives General Wavell “discretion to cease resistance”, which Wavell passes on to Malaya commander General Percival. At 9.30 AM, Percival meets with senior military and civilian leaders. Low on ammunition, with dead and wounded piling up and no fresh water supply, they agree that further resistance is futile. Percival dispatches a delegation at 11.30 AM with a white flag and a Union Jack, following Japanese instructions, but they are sent back by the Japanese who want Percival to surrender in person. At 5.15 PM, Percival returns with the white flag and Union Jack to meet General Yamashita in the Ford Motor Factory at Bukit Timah. After 50 minutes of one-sided negotiations, Percival agrees to an 8.30 PM ceasefire and surrender. Japanese have 5092 casualties (1714 killed) but capture 500 mortars, artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. 65,000 Indian, 35,000 British, 15,000 Australian and 15,000 Malay troops go into captivity, where many will die. Numerous Allied troops escape overnight on small boats including Australian General Gordon Bennett who will be reprimanded for not seeking permission from Percival, his superior officer. To impose order on the island, Japanese will slaughter 5000 Chinese civilians as an example.

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At 3.37 AM Southeast of Nova Scotia, U-576 sinks British catapult armed merchant ship Empire Spring (all 53 hands lost).

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At 3 AM in the Gulf of Taranto, Italy, Italian torpedo boat Circe spots British sub HMS Tempest on the surface and attacks. HMS Tempest dives but suffers repeated damage from multiple depth charges, finally surfacing at 9 AM due to chlorine gas leaking from a cracked battery. Tempest’s crew abandons ship but 39 men are lost (24 rescued and taken prisoner). Tempest sinks as Circe is preparing a tow.

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At 2 AM, German bombers sink British destroyer HMS Maori (at anchor in Malta’s Grand Harbour) with a bomb that explodes in the engine room (2 killed, 6 wounded but most crewmen are asleep ashore). Destroyer HMS Decoy moored nearby is damaged by the explosion (2 killed).

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Singapore. In a series of organizational and communication disasters, Allied troops give up successive defensive positions despite limited Japanese pressure. As they fall back to the Jurong Line, Australian 22nd Brigade’s General Taylor misinterprets contingency plans and orders a retreat past Jurong Road. This exposes the flanks of neighbouring Indian units and precipitates an uncoordinated series of withdrawals to Woodland Road (the main road running South across the island from the causeway). Overnight, the pursuing Japanese outflank Woodland Road positions and capture the vital high ground at Bukit Timah, dominating the city of Singapore and 2 reservoirs on which the residents depend for water. Indicating the speed of the retreat, Japanese find a large cache of food and petrol in what had been considered an Allied rearguard area earlier in the day.

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At 1.33 AM South of Iceland, U-136 fires 4 torpedoes at convoy SC-67 sinking Norwegian MV Heina (all 30 hands picked up by Canadian corvette HMCS Dauphin) and Canadian corvette HMCS Spikenard (57 killed, 8 survivors on a raft picked up 19 hours later by British corvette HMS Gentian).

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U-85 and U-654 attack convoy ON-60 450 miles East of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Just after midnight, U-654 torpedoes Free French corvette Alysse, which was launched as HMS Alyssum for the Royal Navy and loaned to the Free French in June 1941 (36 killed, 34 survivors rescued by Canadian corvettes HMCS Moosejaw and HMCS Hepatica. HMCS Hepatica attempts to tow Alysse which sinks next day). At 8.20 PM, after a 7 hour chase, U-85 sinks British SS Empire Fusilier (9 killed, 32 crew and 6 gunners were picked up by Canadian corvettes HMCS Barrie).

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Singapore. 30,000 Japanese face an Allied force of 90,000 (40,000 combat veterans, 35,000 poorly-trained and untested troops plus 15,000 rearguard non-combatants) across Johore Strait. The best landing sites are mangrove swamps in Northwest Singapore where the Strait is 600 yards wide. Contrarily, General Percival expects the attack to come on the Northeast side where the water is twice as wide (a notion reinforced by landings yesterday on the island of Pulau Ubin); consequently, a thick concentration of trained and rested British troops of 18th Division defends this sector. At 10.30 AM, Japanese artillery opens up on the entire North shore of Singapore and 5th & 18th Divisions begin loading into 300 small rubber boats with outboard motors plus some larger, slower barges. At 10.30 PM, shelling stops and first wave of 4000 troops gets ashore on the Northwest coast defended by Australian 22nd Brigade. Allied artillery is not called down on the landing fleet due to overground wires cut by Japanese shells; however, Australian machinegunners open up on 2nd and 3rd waves as the landing craft return. Searchlights placed to illuminate the mangrove swamps fail to come on, hindering defensive firing and allowing Japanese to infiltrate through the jungle and bypass the defenses. Overnight, Australian 22nd Brigadeis surrounded and overrun and 13,000 Japanese push towards their objective of Tengah airfield.

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Siege of Leningrad Day 153. Eastern Front. Soviet offensive Northwest of Moscow to relieve Leningrad is also stalling out. Germans hold another salient South of Lake Ilmen, from their railhead at Staraya Russa to Demyansk. Soviet 11th Army, 34th Army, and 3rd Shock Army press in on the German defenses.

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Eastern Front. Soviet counteroffensive is running out of steam in a series of ragged engagements West of Moscow. German Gruppe Scherer continues to hold Kholm, supplied by airdrops, in the rear of Soviet 3rd Shock Army which is held up at the town of Velikie Luki. Germans hold a giant salient from Vyazma to Rzhev but Soviet infantry, cavalry and parachute attacks all fail to cut the supply route through Vyazma. Moreover, Model’s German 9th Army at Rzhev has cut off Soviet 29th and 39th Armies, which were themselves trying to surround Rzhev.

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Soviet submarine Shch-421 sinks German steamer Konsul Schulte in the Porsanger Fjord, off Honningsvaag (Northernmost point of mainland Norway).

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Siege of Leningrad is in its 150th day.

At 9.49 AM, ABDA Strike Force (sailing to intercept Japanese troop convoy in the Makassar Strait) is spotted in the Bali Sea by Japanese aircraft heading to bomb Allied naval base at Surabaya on Java, Dutch East Indies. Japanese bombers instead attack the Allied cruisers. USS Marblehead is damaged by 2 direct hits destroying the steering and a near miss leaving a hole near the waterline (15 crew killed). With USS Marblehead immobilized, the attack switches to USS Houston (hit once near the aft gun turret, 48 killed) and then Dutch cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter (minor damage, 7 killed). 4 Japanese aircraft are shot down. The planned interception of the troop convoy is abandoned and ABDA Strike Force returns to bases on Java for repairs.

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