OTDIH 2nd August 1943

70-years ago today…

The U-boat war continued:

On 2 August 1943 there were 85 U-boats at sea. Of these, 17 boats (20%) would be lost during their patrol.

U-218 (Kptlt. Richard Becker), a Type VIID U-boat on its fifth war patrol, was attacked by a Wellington bomber from 547 Squadron, RAF Coastal Command. The U-Boat was damaged and 6 crew members were wounded during the attack. The mine-laying patrol was abandoned and the boat returned to Brest. (U-218 was scuttled, post-war, during Operation Deadlight. The wreck was explored by Innes McCartney in June 2001.)

U-653 (Kptlt. Gerhard Feiler), a Type VIIC U-boat on its seventh war patrol, was attacked by an American B-24 Liberator bomber east of Trinidad. The air attack was unsuccessful and the U-boat survived without damage.

The British merchant City of Oran was torpedoed and damaged by U-196 (KrvKpt. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat), a Type IXD2 U-boat on her first war patrol (225-days!), in the Indian Ocean, approx 100 nm northeast of Memba Bay, Tanganyika. The rescue tug HMS Masterful picked up 86 survivors and scuttled the City of Oran with gunfire.

Arriving on the field of battle:

HMS Begum (D38), an Ameer-class escort carrier, formerly the USS Bolinas (CVE-36), was commissioned into the Royal Navy, Capt. John Egerton Broome, DSC, RN commanding.

And a future President of the United States began his legend:

PT-109, an ELCO ’80 torpedo boat, (Lt jg John Fitzgerald Kennedy, USNR commanding) was rammed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri in Blackett Strait, Solomon Islands. JFK would be played by Cliff Robertson in the movie PT-109.

OTDIH 29 July 1943

70-years ago today…

HM Submarines score a victory in the Aegean:

HMS Trooper (Lt. G.S.C. Clarabut, RN commanding) sunk the Italian submarine Pietro Micca (1371 GRT) with torpedos south of the Strait of Otranto.

The global reach of the U-boats seems undiminished:

British motor merchant ‘Cornish City’ (4952 GRT) carrying 9600 tons of coal was sunk by torpedoes from U-177 (KrvKpt. Robert Gysae) in the Indian Ocean southeast of Madagascar. The master, 31 crew, and 5 DEMS gunners were killed. The survivors took to rafts and were later picked up the RAN destroyer HMAS Nizam.

Yet the reach of Allied air power is increasing:

U-615 (Kptlt. Ralph Kapitzky) came under attack by a USAAF B-18 Bolo aircraft in the Atlantic. This marked the beginning of one of the longest U-boat hunts during the war as U-615 fought its way through multiple air attacks for the next 8-days.

And from the shipyards:

HMS Pretoria Castle was commissioned as an escort carrier. Originally launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast as the passenger ship Pretoria Castle for the Union Castle line, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty in October 1939 and converted into an armed merchant cruiser. In July 1942, she was purchased outright by the Admiralty for conversion into an escort carrier. The work was completed at Swan Hunter, Tyneside in July 1943 and she became a trials & training carrier.

HMCS Winnipeg, an Algerine class minesweeper built at Port Arthur, Ontario, was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy (T/A/Lt.Cdr. William David Falconer Johnston, RCNR commanding).

HMCS Winnipeg (J 337)

 

 

OTDIH 25 July 1943

70-years ago today…

Allied losses:

Soviet minesweeper T-904 (557 GRT) struck a mine laid by U-625 (Kptlt. Hans Benker commanding) in the Yugorsky Strait.

Allied successes:

USS Pompon (Lt.Cdr. E.C. Hawk commanding) torpedoed and sunk the Japanese cargo ship Thames Maru (5871 GRT) and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese troop transport Kinsen Maru (3081 GRT) north of the Admiralty Islands.

HMS Safari (Lt. R.B. Lakin, DSO, DSC, RN commanding) sunk the Italian minesweeper FR70/La Coubre (120 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire west of Elba.

HMS Unrivalled (Lt. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN commanding) sunk the Italian tug Iseo (80 GRT) with gunfire 1-mile south of Cape Vaticano.

Near misses:

Soviet Malyutka class submarine M-112 fired 2 torpedoes at a German barge off Yalta. Both torpedoes missed their target.

HMS Tally-Ho (Lt.Cdr. L.W.A. Bennington, DSO, DSC, RN commanding) sighted two unidentified U-boats in the Atlantic (one at position 45°50’N, 05°17’W, the other at 45°54’N, 05°18’W)

Operation Gomorrah begins:

The saturation bombing of the German port city of Hamburg began on 24 July 1943 and lasted for 8-days and 7-nights. The Royal Air Force conducted night raids while the USAAF carried out daylight raids. During the raids, firestorms occurred, creating an 1,500 °F (800 °C) inferno with 150mph (240 kmph) winds. Over 42,000 German civilians were killed during the raids.

Entering the fray:

HMS Tantivy (Cdr. Michael Gordon Rimington, DSO, RN commanding) was commissioned into the Royal Navy.

HM S/M Tantivy (Navy Photos/Mark Teadham)