Acting On Intelligence ...

WED 10 MAR 1943
Pacific
Acting on intelligence that 18 Japanese in a lifeboat (survivors from Battle of the Bismarck Sea) had drifted ashore on Kiriwina in the Trobriand Islands, motor torpedo boat PT-114 captures the enemy soldiers and takes them to Milne Bay the following day.

USAAF B-24 (5th Air Force) damages Japanese fleet tanker Kaijo Maru south of Buton Passage, Celebes, 04°45'S, 123°10'E; Kaijo Maru is run aground on Landaila Reef, where she is abandoned (see 17 March and 23 September).

Atlantic
Light cruiser Savannah (CL-42) and destroyer Eberle (DD-430) intercept German blockade runner Karin (ex-Dutch Kota Nopan) in the South Atlantic 400 miles west northwest of Ascension Island, 07°00'S, 21°00'W. Boarding party from Eberle, while attempting to retrieve intelligence documents, suffers seven killed and two wounded when scuttling charges explode on board Karin. Savannah takes on board the German survivors as POWs.

German submarine U-185 attacks convoy KG 123, torpedoing U.S. tanker Virginia Sinclair at 20°11'N, 74°04'W, and freighter James Sprunt at 19°49'N, 74°38'W. Submarine chaser SC-742 rescues all but seven of Virginia Sinclair's complement, but James Sprunt, laden with general cargo and explosives, dis-
integrates, killing all hands (44 merchant sailors and the 25-man Armed Guard) and showering nearby ships with debris.

German submarines attack convoy HX 228; U-221 torpedoes U.S. freighter Andrea F. Luckenbach at 51°04'N, 29°40'W. Explosion of the after magazine blows off the stern and kills 10 of the 28-man Armed Guard outright. British oiler Appleleaf rescues 17 Armed Guard sailors and 46 of the 55-man merchant complement. U-444 torpedoes freighter William C. Gorgas at 51°35'N, 28°30'W; British destroyer HMS Harvester rescues the 27-man Armed Guard and 33 of the 43-man merchant complement, but is herself later torpedoed and sunk by U-432. Ultimately, only four Armed Guard sailors and eight merchant seamen from William C. Gorgas survive Harvester's's sinking, rescued by Free French-manned British corvette HMS Aconit. U-757 administers the coup de grâce to William C. Gorgas.

German submarine U-255 torpedoes U.S. freighter Richard Bland, straggling from convoy RA 53, at 66°48'N, 14°15'W; the ship breaks in two. During the abandonment in rough seas, 17 of the 26-man Armed Guard and 19 of 42-man merchant complement perish. Survivors are rescued (27 by British destroyer HMS Impulsive); the forward portion of the ship is eventually towed to Iceland and salvaged.

Open lighter YC-1278 is destroyed off Atlantic Coast.

Indian Ocean
German submarine U-182 torpedoes U.S. freighter Richard D. Spaight in the Mozambique Channel, 28°00'S, 37°00'E; after the freighter is abandoned, the U-boat completes the work of destruction with gun-
fire, then questions and aids the crew before clearing the area. Two boats of survivors (42 of 43 merchant sailors and the entire 24-man Armed Guard survive) reach Richards Bay, South Africa (within three days), Cape St. Lucia, and Cuanalobi Beach (five days later).

British light cruiser HMS Nigeria rescues 30 survivors of U.S. freighter James B. Stephens, torpedoed by German submarine U-160 off the coast of South Africa on 8 March 1943; British trawler HMS Norwich City rescues 19 (see 14 March).