20 April In History

MON 20 APR 1942
Mediterranean
Operation CALENDAR: Carrier Wasp (CV-7), as part of the effort to reinforce fighter defenses of the embattled British island of Malta, launches 47 RAF Spitfires. Within four days, however, heavy German bombing raids on the besieged isle's airfields reduce the number of flyable Spitfires to six, necessitating a second ferry mission (see 9 May).

Atlantic
Unarmed U.S. freighter West Imboden, her presence advertised by an accidental fire in her stack, is torpedoed by German submarine U-752 about 200 miles off Nantucket lightship, 41°14'N, 65°54'W,

and abandoned as she is being shelled by the U-boat. U-752 nears one of the lifeboats and asks about casualties. "That's good," one German officer responds when told that the American merchant sailors have come through unharmed.