Mess At Midway

SUN 16 JAN 1944
Pacific
Submarine Blackfish (SS-221) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks transport Kaika Maru about 275 miles southwest of Truk, 04°03'N, 148°41'E.

Submarine Flier (SS-250) runs aground and is damaged as she transits channel at Midway Island; submarine rescue vessel Macaw (ASR-11) becomes stranded as she attempts to assist the stranded fleet boat (see 12 February).

Submarine Redfin (SS-272) damages Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze, 250 miles north of the Spratly Islands, 14°40'N, 113°50'E.

Submarine Seahorse (SS-304) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Nikko Maru southeast of the Marianas, 12°49'N, 150°19'E.

Submarine Sturgeon (SS-187) damages Japanese destroyer Suzutsuki in Bungo Channel, 32°15'N, 132°29'E but fails to hit the destroyer's charge, cargo vessel Azaki Maru.

Submarine Swordfish (SS-193), despite presence of escort vessel, sinks Japanese gunboat Delhi Maru* off Honshu, 34°04'N, 139°56'E.

Submarine Whale (SS-239) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks army cargo ship Denmark Maru about 400 miles southeast of Okinawa, 23°09'N, 135°14'E; Seawolf (SS-197), nearby, damages transport Tarushima Maru, 23°00'N, 135°00'E, which Whale later finishes off, 22°50'N, 135°40'E.

PBYs attack Rabaul-bound Japanese convoy O-905, sinking army cargo ships Shunko Maru, 02°30'S, 149°42'E, and Hozugawa Maru and transport Meisho Maru about 45 miles northwest of New Hanover, 02°20'S, 149°42'E. Kosei Maru (see 17 January) and escorting submarine chasers Ch 24 and Ch 29 emerge unscathed.

U.S. forces sink Japanese submarine I-181 in Gidiagu Strait.

Atlantic
TBF (VC 13) from escort carrier Guadalcanal (CVE-60) sinks German submarine U-544 in mid-Atlantic, 40°30'N, 37°20'W.†

U.S. freighter Sumner I. Kimball, straggling from New York-bound convoy ON 219, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-960 in the North Atlantic, 52°35'N, 35°00'W. There are no survivors from either the 40-man merchant complement or the 29-man Armed Guard.

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*Delhi Maru is on her maiden voyage as a "Q-ship," her conversion having been completed 14 January.
†U-129 and U-516 are surprised at this fueling rendezvous as well, but both escape.