Friday, July 14, 2017

Le Quatorze Juillet Afloat

TUE 14 JUL 1942
Atlantic
Last 13 survivors (a 14th man had perished in the interval between the loss of the ship and the survivors' making landfall) from U.S. freighter Thomas McKean sunk by German submarine U-505 on 29 June, reach the Dominican Republic.

North Russia
German submarine U-376 comes upon survivors of U.S. freighter Carlton (sunk by U-88 on 5 July). While the German offer of medical help is turned down, the U-boat sailors give the Americans rations, blankets and cigarettes (see 24 July). One boat full of survivors of U.S. freighter Alcoa Ranger, sunk by German submarine U-255 on 7 July, reaches Cape Kanin, USSR. Russian patrol craft subsequently take all of the survivors to Archangel.

Pacific
Unarmed U.S. freighter Arcata, steaming from Bethel, Alaska, to Seattle, Washington, is shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I-7 at 53°35'N, 157°40'W. Seven of the 29-man crew perish; three Navy and one civilian passenger survive the attack. I-7 machineguns the life rafts; one sailor suffers mortal wounds. Destroyer Kane (DD-235) rescues 11 of Arcata's survivors; fishing boat Yukon picks up 14.

2 comments:

Giovanna Nessuno said...

U 505 is the submarine on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

M. Bouffant said...

Memory-Jogged Editor:
Your editor knows that, but U-505 didn't register when he was copying & pasting. (Nor, I think, have I remembered it the nine other times [so far] U-505 did something in 1942.)