25 Yrs. Post-Armistice, Great War Continues In The Pacific

THU 11 NOV 1943
Pacific
Aircraft from TF 38 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) and TG 50.3 (Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery), which include three carriers and two small carriers, attack Japanese ships at Rabaul, sinking destroyer Suzunami and damaging light cruisers Yubari and Agano, and destroyers Naganami, Urakaze, and Wakatsuki.

Submarine Capelin (SS-289) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kunitama Maru northwest of Ambon, 03°08'S, 127°30'E.

Submarine Drum (SS-228) engages Japanese Truk-to-Rabaul convoy, unsuccessfully attacking submarine depot ship Hie Maru, 00°19'N, 149°40'E (see 17 November 1943). Later that day, a USAAF B-24 bombs the same convoy, damaging Hie Maru. Despite those attacks, the enemy ships reach Rabaul the following day.

Submarine Sargo (SS-188) sinks Japanese transport Kosei Maru east of the Nansei Shoto, 27°40'N, 130°24'E.

U.S. freighter Cape San Juan, bound for Townsville, Australia, is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-21 at 28°08'S, 178°06'W; 16 of the 1,348 embarked troop passengers are killed in the initial explosion and a further 114 drown during the abandonment. Liberty ship Edwin T. Meredith begins picking up survivors, joined later by Allied planes, destroyer McCalla (DD-488), destroyer escort Dempsey (DE-26) and motor minesweeper YMS-241 Edwin T. Meredith attempts to scuttle Cape San Juan with gunfire but the ship will remain afloat for another two days.