Minefield Blunder

WED 1 JUL 1942
Pacific
Submarine Sturgeon (SS-187) sinks Japanese transport Montevideo Maru about 65 miles west of Cape Bojeador, Luzon, 18°37'N, 119°29'E. Unbeknownst to the submariners, Montevideo Maru is transporting 1,050 Allied POWs to Hainan Island.

Atlantic
Convoy PQ 17 sails from Seidisfjord, Iceland, bound for North Russia. Among the ships in the close covering force that had departed Reykjavik, Iceland, the previous day are U.S. heavy cruisers Wichita (CA-45) and Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and destroyers Wainwright (DD-419) and Rowan (DD-405).

U.S. freighter Warrior is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126 just north of Trinidad, 10°54'N, 61°01'W; three of the 42-man crew and four of the 14-man Armed Guard are lost. Survivors are rescued and transported to Trinidad.

Gulf of Mexico
U.S. freighter Edward Luckenbach blunders into U.S. minefield five miles off Smith Shoal, Florida, light, and strikes two mines, 24°56'N, 81°53'W; one of the 42-man merchant complement perishes in the incident. The ship sinks with the superstructure above water. The 41 merchant seamen and the 12-man Armed Guard reboard the ship the next day, when they are transported to Key West by patrol craft.