Saturday, April 18, 2020

Sea Owl Sinks RO 46

WED 18 APR 1945
Pacific
Off Okinawa, light cruiser Mobile (CL-63) is damaged by on-board explosion, 26°13'N, 127°52'E; light minelayer Tolman (DM-28) is damaged by grounding, 26°16'N, 127°32'E; and tank landing ship LST-929 is damaged in collision with tank landing ship LST-267 26°21'N, 127°43'20"E.

Destroyers Heermann (DD-532), McCord (DD-534), Mertz (DD-691), and Collett (DD-730), assisted by destroyer Uhlmann (DD-687) and TBM (VT 47) from small carrier Bataan (CVL-29) sink Japanese submarine I 56 150 miles east of Okinawa, 26°42'N, 130°38'E.

Submarine Seahorse (SS-304) is damaged by depth charges in Tsushima Strait, 33°45'N, 128°26'E, and is forced to terminate her patrol.

Submarine Sea Owl (SS-405) sinks Japanese submarine RO 46 500 yards off Wake Island 19°17'N, 166°35'E.

Japanese transport Teizui Maru (ex-German Mosel) is sunk by mine near western entrance to Shimonoseki Strait, 34°04'N, 130°50'E.

Atlantic
U.S. freighter Cyrus H. McCormack, while in convoy HX 348, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-1107 70 miles southwest of Brest, France, 47°47'N, 06°26'W; British rescue ship Gothland picks up the survivors, but two Armed Guard sailors (of the 12-man detachment) are lost along with four of the 40-man merchant crew.

U.S. freighter Swiftscout is torpedoed by German submarine U-548 about 145 miles northeast of Cape Henry, Virginia, 37°30'N, 72°45'W; Armed Guard gunfire drives the attacker down, but U-548 returns to torpedo the ship a second time, sinking her. Only one man is lost (none of the 10-man Armed Guard) and the survivors are rescued by steamship Chancellorsville.