June 2, Tue.
Pacific
TF 17 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) and TF 16 (Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance) rendezvous about 350 miles northeast of Midway; Rear Admiral Fletcher is officer in tactical command of a force that consists of three carriers, seven heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, 16 destroyers, and two oilers. After fueling, the task force will detach the oilers and prepare for battle. As part of the pre-battle disposition, 25 fleet submarines (Rear Admiral Robert H. English) are deployed around Midway.
Indian Ocean
Japanese merchant cargo ship Kofuku Maru is sunk by mine off Rangoon, Burma.
Atlantic
German submarine U-404 sinks U.S. freighter West Notus (which she had shelled the day before) with explosive charge off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (see 3 and 4 June).
U.S. freighter Domino is machine-gunned by unidentified submarine off Nuevitas, Cuba; the ship suffers no casualties.
Unarmed U.S. freighter City of Alma is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-159 about 400 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 23°00'N, 62°30'W; district patrol craft YP-67 rescues the 10 survivors from the 36-man merchant complement.
Caribbean
U.S. merchantman Thomas Nelson rescues nine survivors from U.S. freighter Alcoa Pilgrim, sunk by German submarine U-502 on 27 May.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Rendezvous Near Midway
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2 comments:
Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese fleet - built around the core carrier group that included Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu - all veterans of the Pearl Harbor strike - was approaching Midway from the north after feigning at the Aleutians.
Yorktown would be lost, along with a few hundred American sailors, but those four Japanese carriers - the heart of her strike fleet - were never leaving Midway. Torpedo Squadron 8 would be wiped out, but they pulled the Japanese top cover down to the deck, and when the SBD bombers arrived, it was all over but the sinking...
Nostalgia Editor:
Does the term "Spoiler Alert!" mean anything to you?
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