U-Boats

SUN 16 APR 1944
Pacific
Submarine Paddle (SS-263) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks Japanese army transport Mito Maru and merchant cargo ship No.1 Hino Maru in the Ceram Sea, 02°25'S, 127°24'E.

Submarine Redfin (SS-272) continues to pursue the convoy attacked the previous day, sinking army cargo ship Yamagata Maru in Moro Gulf, southwest of Mindanao, 06°52'N, 123°47'E.

RAAF Catalinas mine the principal entrances to Woleai to prevent the Japanese from using them during the projected Hollandia operations. The operation is repeated on 18 and 19 April.

Movement of Japanese convoy TAKE No.1, carrying elements of the Imperial Army's 32d and 35th Divisions to reinforce garrisons in the Halmaheras and in northwestern New Guinea, gets underway as four transports, and escorts, depart Pusan, Korea (see 18 April).

Battleship Colorado (BB-45) runs aground on Kuia Shoal, off Kahoolawe, T.H., but suffers no serious damage.

Atlantic
Battleship Wisconsin (BB-64)--the last battleship in the U.S. Navy--is commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

U.S. tanker Pan Pennsylvania, in United Kingdom-bound convoy CU 1, is torpedoed by German submarine U-550 150 miles east of Ambrose Light, 40°05'N, 69°40'W, and abandoned. Ten of the 31-man Armed Guard sailors perish in the action, as do 15 of the 50-man merchant complement; survivors are picked up by destroyer escorts Joyce (DE-317) and Peterson (DE-152). Later, destroyer escort Gandy (DE-764) is damaged when she intentionally rams German submarine U-550 off Nantucket Shoals, 40°09'N, 69°44'W, and teams with Peterson and Joyce to sink the U-boat. During the action, shells from the destroyer escorts set afire Pan Pennsylvania's abandoned wreck (see 18 April).

Mediterranean
German submarine U-407 attacks convoy UGS 37 about 17 miles off Derna, Libya, torpedoing U.S. freighters Meyer London and Thomas G. Masaryk, 32°51'N, 23°00'E; the latter, out of control at one point, nearly rams Meyer London. There are no casualties on board either ship (including the 27-man Armed Guard in each freighter). French-manned British corvette HMS La Malouine rescues Meyer London's crew; another escort vessel rescues the other ship's complement. British rescue tug HMS Captive later tows Thomas G. Masaryk and beaches her in Maneloa Bay, Libya, where the damaged ship is subsequently written off as a total loss. Meyer London sinks.