Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Day 1074 August 9, 1942

At 3.24 AM 450 miles East of Trinidad, U-155 sinks British tanker MV San Emiliano (36 crew and 4 gunners lost, 8 crew picked up by a US Army transport ship).

At 6.49 AM 485 miles Southeast of the tip of Greenland, U-176 continues the attack on convoy SC-94 sinking British SS Radchurch which is drifting after being abandoned yesterday.

Case Blue. 4th Panzer Army reaches the Don Bend on the East side, threatening to surround Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies which are still holding German 6th Army West of the Don. Soviet cruiser Krasny Krym and destroyer Nezamozhnik make another run, evacuating troops from the Black Sea port of Novorossisk further South to Batum.

Solomon Islands. After losing 4 cruisers overnight (plus another cruiser and 2 destroyers badly damaged), the commander of the Allied Fleet (American Admiral Richmond Turner) decides the risk from Japanese bombers and warships is too great. Turner withdraws his ships, but most of the heavy equipment, ammunition and food for the Marines on Guadalcanal has not been unloaded and is still aboard the transports. At 1 AM, Japanese torpedo bombers from Rabaul sink US destroyer USS Jarvis as she limps to Sydney, Australia, for repair by US destroyer tender USS Dobbin following severe torpedo damage yesterday (all 233 on board killed).

Kokoda Track, Papua. Overwhelming numbers of Japanese troops recapture Kokoda airfield from Australian 39th Battalion, Company A.

South Atlantic. At 9.13 PM 400 miles Southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-752 sinks Dutch SS Mendanau (16 Dutch crew escape in a motorboat, 69 killed in the explosion or drown - mostly Indian Lascar sailors). At 10.37 PM 750 miles West of Freetown, U-130 sinks Norwegian tanker SS Malmanger (2 killed, captain and chief engineer taken prisoner and sent to POW camp in France, 30 survivors reach West Africa in 2 lifeboats). German armed merchant cruiser Stier shells British freighter MV Dalhousie then sinks her with torpedoes after the crew of 37 are taken on board.

Overnight, 192 RAF bombers (91 Wellingtons, 42 Lancasters, 40 Stirlings & 19 Halifaxes) raid Osnabrück, Germany, just over the Dutch border (206 houses destroyed, 62 killed and 107 injured). 3 Halifaxes and 3 Wellingtons are lost.

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