Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright

TUE 31 MAR 1942
Indian Ocean
Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) is damaged by depth charges off Christmas Island, 10°26'S, 105°41'E.

Caribbean
Commander of All Forces Aruba and Curacao, Netherlands West Indies, is established (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf).

Atlantic
Unarmed U.S. tug Menominee and the barges that she is towing--Allegheny, Barnegat, and Ontario--are shelled by German submarine U-754 about 50 miles off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay at 37°34'N, 75°25'W. U-754 sinks Menominee and barges Allegheny and Barnegat; Ontario, with its dunnage cargo, remains afloat and provides a life preserver for the three men who had been on board each barge. Of Menominee's crew of 18 men, however, only two survive the U-boat's gunfire. Coast Guard lifeboat from the Metomkin Inlet station rescues the men from the barges while tanker Northern Sun rescues the tug crew's survivors. Later the same day, U-754 torpedoes unarmed U.S. tanker Tiger as the American vessel, en route to Norfolk, waits to embark a pilot. One crewman dies in the initial explosion; the surviving 36 men of the ship's complement, in addition to a six-man Navy gun crew riding the ship as passengers, abandon the ship (see 1 and 2 April).

Unarmed U.S. tanker T.C. McCobb, en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi at 07°10'N, 45°20'W; one crewman drowns and one is killed by shellfire (see 8 and 10 April and 16 May).

Destroyer Roper (DD-147) and tug Acushnet (AT-63) rescue 124 survivors (including a newborn infant) of U.S. steamship City of New York, sunk by U-160 off Cape Hatteras on 29 March (see 12 April).