Virginia Dare Breaks Up

WED 8 MAR 1944
Pacific
Japanese planes bomb Eniwetok, Engebi Island, destroying ammunition, petroleum products and distillation units but leaving airstrip undamaged.

Submarine Lapon (SS-260), in attack on Japanese convoy southeast of Hong Kong, damages merchant cargo ship Toyokuni Maru in South China Sea, 19°21'N, 116°09'E; merchant cargo ship Nicherei Maru takes the damaged freighter in tow (see 9 March).

British submarine HMS Sea Rover, in attack on Japanese convoy, sinks transport Shobu Maru in Strait of Malacca, 03°38'N, 99°12'E.

PBY sinks Japanese fishing boat No.5 Ebisu Maru off Tadji, 03°10'S, 142°13'E.

USAAF P-38s sink Japanese fishing boat No.38 Taigyo Maru off Aitape.

U.S. aircraft sink Japanese guardboat No.2 Nanshu Maru off Duke of York Isle, St. George Channel, 04°12'S, 152°30'E.

Mediterranean
U.S. freighter Virginia Dare, irreparably damaged by Allied mine on 6 March off Tunis, breaks up after encountering heavy weather; she is subsequently written off as a total loss.