Tirpitz Sunk By R.A.F.

SUN 12 NOV 1944
Pacific
Landing craft repair ships Egeria (ARL-8) and Achilles (ARL-41) are damaged by kamikazes off Leyte, 11°11'N, 125°05'E. U.S. freighters off Leyte come under attack from Japanese planes as well. Leonidas Merritt is crashed by two suiciders off Dulag, Leyte, but her crew controls the fires; 1 of the 28-man Armed Guard is killed, as are a merchant seaman and one of the embarked stevedores. Thomas Nelson is hit by a kamikaze, but despite ultimately successful firefighting efforts, 133 of the 578 embarked troops are killed, as are 3 of the 28-man Armed Guard; 88 men are injured. Jeremiah M. Daily is struck by a suicide plane, and the explosion and fires account for the deaths of 100 of the 557 troops on board, in addition to 2 of the 29-man Armed Guard and 4 of the 39-man merchant complement; 43 more men are injured and 50 troops jump overboard to escape the flames (they are rescued by nearby boats and craft). William A. Coulter is struck by two kamikazes, but there are no fatalities among the 41-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard and four passengers. Morrison R. Waite is strafed and then crashed by a Japanese plane, and the resultant fires kill 21 troops and wound 41 (of the 600 embarked at the time); 2 of the 29-man Armed Guard are wounded in action. Alexander Majors's Armed Guard gunners deflect a kamikaze with a well-placed 5-inch round, but the plane strikes the mainmast and, along with its bomb, explodes and showers the forward part of the ship with burning gasoline that compels the Armed Guards at the forward guns to leap overboard to save themselves. Two of the merchant crew are killed and 16 injured, but there are no fatalities among the Armed Guard sailors and the Army passengers. All six of the freighters ultimately return to the west coast of the United States under their own power for repairs.

Destroyer Nicholas (DD-449) sinks Japanese submarine I-37 south of Yap Island, 08°04'N, 138°03'E.

Submarines Barb (SS-220) and Peto (SS-265) continue attacks against Japanese convoy MOMA-07 in the East China Sea. Barb sinks army cargo ship Naruo Maru and damages merchant cargo ship Gyokuyo Maru, 31°39'N, 125°36'E (see 14 November 1944); Peto sinks army cargo ship Tatsuraku Maru, 31°18'N, 125°30'E.

Submarine Redfin (SS-272) damages Japanese ship Asogawa Maru, 12°45'N, 118°14'E.

PROJECT MIKE continues as USAAF B-24s (42d Bomb Squadron), finding cloudy weather at the primary objective, Chichi Jima, opt for the alternate, Haha Jima, and lay 15 mines in effective locations.

Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 84 is sunk by aircraft off Banggi, North Borneo.

PB4Y attacks Japanese convoy SIMA-04 (see 2 November 1944) and sinks merchant cargo ship Atsuta Maru off Malampaya Sound, 11°50'N, 119°19'E.

USAAF P-51s damage Japanese auxiliary-powered sailing vessel Namikiri Maru at entrance to Haiphong River, French Indochina.

Atlantic
German battleship Tirpitz is sunk by RAF Lancasters, Tromso Fjord, Norway.

Mediterranean
Destroyer Woolsey (DD-437) shells German howitzer emplacement east of San Remo, Italy, and encounters "fairly accurate" 88-millimeter gunfire in return; shrapnel showers the ship but she suffers no casualties.