Tuesday, January 9, 2018

American Carnage

SAT 9 JAN 1943
Pacific
Submarine Gar (SS-206) damages Japanese oiler Notoro in Makassar Strait, N.E.I., 01°46'N, 119°01'E.

Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) sinks Japanese transport Yoshinogawa Maru just east of Kieta, Bougainville, 06°13'S, 156°00'E; even though she is damaged early in the engagement, Yoshinogawa Maru depth-charges Nautilus, but the latter escapes unharmed.

Submarine Searaven (SS-196) damages Japanese army cargo ship Yubae Maru, 07°38'N, 134°12'E.

Submarine Tautog (SS-199) damages Japanese light cruiser Natori southeast of Ambon, 04°07'S, 128°32'E.

Atlantic
German submarine U-384 attacks Belfast, Ireland-bound U.S. freighter Louise Lykes in the North Atlantic at 58°55'N, 23°40'W; although the U-boat will ultimately destroy the merchantman, Armed Guard gunfire nearly turns the tables on the enemy. Sadly, none of Louise Lykes's people (including the 24-man Armed Guard) survive.

German submarine U-124 continues assault on convoy TB 1, begun shortly before midnight the day before, about 100 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. U-124 torpedoes freighters Collingsworth and Minotaur at 07°12'N, 55°37'W; each ship sinks four minutes after being struck. Tanker Broad Arrow sinks as the result of damage received in U-124's initial attack. Submarine chaser PC-577 rescues survivors from all four ships sunk by the U-boat. Of the Armed Guards on the four merchantmen, only one sailor of the eight-man guard on board Broad Arrow survives; five of the 18-man Armed Guard perish in the abandonment of Birmingham City; Collingsworth's detachment loses four of 24 men; Minotaur's 15-man Armed Guard, however, survives intact.

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