Fewer Fish For Japan, Crummy Seamanship & Friendly Fire

WED 12 APR 1944
Pacific
Motor torpedo boat PT-135, damaged by grounding one-half mile north of Crater Point, New Britain, 05°21'S, 152°09'E, is scuttled by crew and motor torpedo boat PT-137.

Submarine Halibut (SS-232), despite presence of at least three escort vessels, sinks Japanese army passenger/cargo ship Taichu Maru about 20 miles southwest of the Nansei Shoto, 28°08'N, 128°57'E.

USAAF B-24s, B-25s, B-26s, and P-38s bomb Japanese installations in Hollandia, sinking army cargo ship Narita Maru and fishing vessels Aiko Maru, Kompira Maru, and Kyoei Maru.

USSAAF A-20s (5th Air Force) sink Japanese army cargo ship Narita Maru in Humboldt Bay, Hollandia, 02°30'S, 140°52'E.

Atlantic
Rescue tug ATR-98 is sunk in collision with ocean-going tug Abnaki (AT-96) off the Azores, 44°04.8'N, 24°08'W.

Mediterranean
U.S. freighter Horace H. Lurton, steaming in convoy west of Algiers, is damaged by shell fired by nearby ship, injuring five men of the 44 merchant sailors and 28-man Armed Guard. Destroyer Breckinridge (DD-148) provides medical assistance.