U.S. President Roosevelt Dies, Will Rogers Torpedoed

THU 12 APR 1945
United States President Roosevelt dies in Warm Springs, Georgia; Vice President Harry S. Truman succeeds to the Presidency.

Europe
Off Plymouth, England tank landing ship LST-493 sinks after running aground, 50°20'N, 04°09'W.

U.S. freighter Will Rogers, bound for Antwerp, Belgium, in convoy BB 80, is torpedoed by German submarine U-1024 30 miles southwest of Holyhead, England 53°45'N, 04°44'W. Beached off that place under her own power, the ship is repaired and returned to active service, and suffers no casualties among the merchant complement or the 27-man Armed Guard.

Pacific
In the final mining mission carried out in support of the Okinawa campaign, five USAAF B-29s mine Shimonoseki Straits.

Off Okinawa, destroyer Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) is sunk by Baka, 27°25'N, 126°59'E--she is the first U.S. Navy ship to be sunk by that type of weapon; destroyer Stanly (DD-478) is damaged by Baka, 27°12'N, 128°17'E; high speed minesweeper Jeffers (DMS-27) is damaged by Baka and kamikaze, 26°50'N, 126°35'E; kamikazes sink support landing craft LCS-33 and damage battleship Idaho (BB-42), 26°26'N, 127°32'E; battleship Tennessee (BB-43), destroyer Zellars (DD-777), destroyer escort Riddle (DE-185), 26°00'N, 128°00'E; destroyers Purdy (DD-734), 27°16'N, 127°50'E, and Cassin Young (DD-793), 27°17'N, 127°50'E; destroyer escorts Rall (DE-304), 26°36'N, 127°39'E, Walter C. Wann (DE-412), 26°17'N, 127°20'E, and Whitehurst (DE-634), 26°04'N, 127°12'E, and light minelayer Lindsey (DM-32), 26°28'N, 127°15'E; minesweeper Gladiator (AM-319) is damaged by near-miss of kamikaze, 26°05'N, 127°35'E. Friendly fire accounts for damage to battleship New Mexico (BB-40), 26°31'N, 127°37'E and destroyer Bennion (DD-662); while attack cargo ship Wyandot (AKA-92) is damaged in collision with medium landing ship LSM-312, 26°21'N, 127°44'E; tank landing ship LST-555 is damaged by grounding, 26°20'N, 127°45'E. Kamikazes also attack U.S. freighter Minot Victory, but Armed Guard gunners inflict sufficient damage on the suicider that it only strikes the ship a glancing blow and then disintegrates; there are no fatalities on board the merchantman among the 57-man merchant complement, the 27 Armed Guard sailors and nine passengers.

Submarine Chub (SS-329) is damaged by aerial bombs, Java Sea, 06°03'S, 113°56'E, but remains on patrol.

Submarine Silversides (SS-236) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Shiratori Maru east of Tanega Jima,30°45'N, 131°57'E.

British submarine HMS Stygian sinks Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa 104 and damages auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 104 and Cha 114 off north coast of Bali, 08°05'S, 115°06'E.

Mines sink Japanese submarine RO 64 off Kobe, Japan, 34°14'N, 132°16'E, and merchant cargo ship Minatogawa Maru off Wakamatsu.

B-24 aircraft (service and nationality unspecified) sinks Japanese ship No.2 Hakushi Maru off Badjowe, 04°33'S, 120°23'E.

Fire of undetermined origin destroys buildings and damages Finger Bay dock, Adak Island; the blaze also damages floating drydock YFD-22 and floating workshop YR-36. Gasoline tanker Ogeechee (AOG-35) is saved from further damage by escort patrol vessel PCE-895 which pulls her out into Finger Bay.