Thursday, April 5, 2018

Suwa Maru Damaged (Again); U.S. Tanker Sunoil Lost W/ All Hands

MON 5 APR 1943
Pacific
Destroyer O'Bannon (DD-450) sinks Japanese submarine RO 34 near Russell Island, Solomons, 08°15'S, 158°58'E.

Submarine Finback (SS-230) inflicts further damage upon Japanese troopship Suwa Maru (previously damaged by Tunny (SS-282) on 28 March and beached) off Wake Island, 19°20'N, 166°35'E (see 27 July).

Atlantic
German submarine U-563 torpedoes U.S. tanker Sunoil, a straggler from convoy HX 231, at 58°16'N, 38°00'W. Armed Guard gunfire forces the attacker to submerge, but U-563 torpedoes and finishes off the ship later the same day. British destroyer HMS Vidette, sent from HX 231 in response to the tanker's distress call, never locates any survivors; Sunoil is lost with all hands (43 merchant seamen and a 26-man Armed Guard).

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