Attu Action

WED 12 MAY 1943
Pacific
Battleship Pennsylvania (BB 38) neutralizes Japanese positions on the west arm of Holtz Bay, Attu Island, while battleship Nevada (BB 36) renders Japanese positions at head of Massacre Bay, Attu, ineffective. Japanese submarine I-31 attacks Pennsylvania nine miles northeast of Holtz Bay but the torpedoes miss their mark; I-35 likewise conducts an unsuccessful attack against light cruiser Santa Fe (CL-60). Destroyer Edwards (DD-619), assisted by destroyer Farragut (DD-348), subsequently sinks I-31 about five miles northeast of Chichagof Harbor, Attu, 53°00'N, 173°21'E.

Submarine Gudgeon (SS-212), despite her quarry's being skillfully camouflaged and moored close inshore, sinks Japanese army cargo ship Sumatra Maru off Bulusan, Luzon, 12°43'N, 124°08'E.

Submarine Steelhead (SS-280) lays mines off Erimo Zaki, Japan.

Mediterranean
Advanced Amphibious Training Base, Bizerte, Tunisia, is established.

Indian Ocean
U.S. freighter Cape Neddick, bound for Suez, via Durban, South Africa, is torpedoed by German submarine U-195 in the South Atlantic at 23°21'S, 01°22'W; she eventually reaches Walvis Bay, South Africa, under her own power. There are no casualties among the 51-man merchant complement or the 25-man Armed Guard.