Bombs Bursting In Air (Over The Netherlands)

SAT 4 JUL 1942
Pacific
Submarine Triton (SS-201) torpedoes Japanese destroyer Nenohi off Cape Sabak, off southeast tip of Agattu, Aleutians, 52°15'N, 173°51'E.

Arctic
North Russia-bound convoy PQ 17 is ordered to scatter as fears of German surface ship sortie from Norwegian waters prompts the detachment of major escort vessels to deal with the threat that does not materialize. German torpedo-carrying HE 111s attack PQ 17, 200 miles northeast of Bear Island: U.S. freighter William Hooper is torpedoed (75°57'N, 27°14'E) and abandoned; three crewmen lose their lives. The survivors (36 merchant seamen and the 15-man Armed Guard) are picked up by British rescue ships Rathlin and Zamalek. Attempted scuttling by British escort vessel fails; German submarine U-334 torpedoes and sinks William Hooper later the same day. As the convoy disperses, freighter Christopher Newport is torpedoed by HE 115 (75°49'N, 22°15'E); three crewmen are killed. Christopher Newport is abandoned, with the 36 merchant seamen and 11-man Armed Guard picked up by rescue ship Zamalek. British escort vessel's attempt to scuttle the damaged freighter fails (see 5 July). Freighter Washington is damaged by near-misses, but there are no casualties among her crew or Armed Guard.

The Greatest Blunders Of WW2: The Scattering Of Convoy PQ17

Atlantic
Destroyer Corry (DD-463) rescues four survivors of U.S. freighter Ruth, sunk by German submarine U-153 on 28 June.

Twenty-nine survivors from U.S. freighter Thomas McKean, sunk by German submarine U-505 on 29 June, reach St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (see 12 and 14 July ).

Fourteen survivors from U.S. freighter Norlandia, sunk by German submarine U-575 the previous day, reaches Samana, Dominican Republic (see 5 July).

Europe
First USAAF raid on Western Europe: USAAF aircrew flying American-built Bostons participate in low-level RAF raid on German airfields in the Netherlands.