U-Boat Won't Quit

FRI 29 DEC 1944
Pacific
Submarine Hawkbill (SS-366) sinks Japanese merchant Lighter No.130 in Java Sea, 05°35'S, 113°29'E.

Europe
German submarine U-772 attacks convoy TBC 21 in the English Channel, 50°28'N, 02°28'W. Freighter Arthur Sewall is torpedoed and the explosion in the engine room kills one man and wounds 5; there are no casualties among the 29-man Armed Guard. Towed to Weymouth, England. Arthur Sewall is later written off as a total loss. Freighter Black Hawk is also a victim of a torpedo from U-772; the blast wounds four of the ship's 41-man merchant complement (one of whom dies later) but there are no casualties among the 27-man Armed Guard. Black Hawk is abandoned, the survivors being taken on board British corvette HMS Dahlia. Towed subsequently to Warboro Bay, England, Black Hawk is written off as a total loss.