World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 28 Aug 1942

• German submarine U-94 attacked Allied convoy TAW-15 off Haiti. American PBY Catalina aircraft, Canadian corvette HMCS Halifax, Canadian corvette HMCS Snowberry, and Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville counterattacked, forcing the submarine to the surface. HMCS Oakville then rammed U-94 twice, leaving it dead in the water. A Canadian boarding party captured the submarine, killing two in the process. It was soon realized that the Germans had already scuttled the ship, and the boarding party successful returned to HMCS Oakville. U-94 sank with 19 of her crew; 26 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 7th Marine Regiment departed from Pago Pago, Tutuila, Samoa aboard transports President Adams and President Hayes. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US destroyer USS Gamble attacked Japanese submarine I-123 60 miles east of Savo Island, Solomon Islands at 0800 and attacked with depth charges, sinking I-123 at 1147 hours; all aboard were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Admiral Scheer made rendezvous with German destroyers near Bear Island, Norway. ww2dbase [Admiral Scheer | CPC]

• German submarines U-165 and U-517 attacked Allied convoy SG-6 in the Strait of Belle Isle just outside of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada at 1432 hours, with U-165 damaging US ship Arlyn and US fleet oiler Laramie (4 were killed, 103 survived), and U-517 finishing Arlyn off (12 were killed, 37 survived. At 1908 hours, U-566 attacked Allied convoy SL-119 with three torpedoes 390 miles west of Porto, Portugal, damaging Dutch ship Zuiderkerk (all 68 aboard survived; ship later scuttled by British sloop HMS Erne) and damaging British ship City of Cardiff (21 were killed, 63 survived). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini sighted the conning tower of an unidentified submarine in the Atlantic Ocean at 1355 hours; she turned away to avoid detection. At 1422 hours, she sighted a destroyer at the distance of about 15,000 meters; she submerged to avoid detection, and she detected two other ships with her hydrophones. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• Tenryu arrived at Rabaul, New Britain, departing for Milne Bay, Australian Papua later in the day. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• At dawn, Japanese troops attacked across the unfinished Turnbull airstrip near the coast of Milne Bay, Australian Papua, exposed to strafing by Australian Kittyhawk fighters and small arms fire, suffering heavy casualties that led to the attack being called off. Deeper in land, Japanese 144th Regiment surprised Australian 39th Battalion at Isurava, forcing the Australian troops back one mile to regroup. To the north, 769 Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops departed Rabaul, New Britain to reinforce the operations on Milne Bay. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]

• General Harukichi Hyakutake attempted to reinforce Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands with 3,500 men, but the convoy was detected, attacked by Henderson Field-based US aircraft at 1805 hours, and turned back. Japanese destroyer Asagiri was sunk (122 were killed, 270 survived), and destroyers Shirakumo (2 were wounded) and Yugiri (32 were killed) were damaged; US Marine Corps lost only one aircraft in the engagement. As another Japanese fleet successfully landed troops at Taivu Point at night, it would convince the Japanese to shift strategy to reinforce only at night; these night time supply runs would later be nicknamed "Tokyo Express" by the Americans. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Henderson Field | TH, CPC]

• Near Truk, Caroline Islands, Yamato was attacked by USS Flying Fish. Flying Fish's Lieutenant Commander Glynn Donaho mis-identified Yamato as a Kongo-class battleship as US Navy was unaware of the existence of Yamato-class at the time. Two of the four Mark 14 steam torpedoes missed, while the other two detonated prematurely. The latter two detonations led to Donaho's conclusion that he scored two hits. Yamato launched at least one E13A1 floatplane to join the depth charge attack already started by Yamato's four escorts, which failed to destroy USS Flying Fish. Later in the day, Yamato arrived at Truk; she would remain the headquarters and flagship of the Combined Fleet. ww2dbase [Yamato | Truk | CPC]
• Repair ship Akashi began repairing seaplane tender Chitose and light cruiser Jintsu at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
• USS Flying Fish detected Japanese battleship Yamato on the horizon in the Caroline Islands and attacked in failure; she fired 4 torpedoes and recorded 2 hits, but Japanese records revealed that all torpedoes missed. She also fired 3 torpedoes at a destroyer, all of which missed. She endured three rounds of counterattacks for the remainder of the day. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]

• Minister of National Education Abel Bonnard made a radio broadcast, declaring that teachers were not at fault for the French defeat, and all former opinions held by teachers were to be forgotten. This reflected Vichy French government's new focus on the education of the French youth as the means to revive France, which needed many qualified teachers. ww2dbase [CPC]

• 159 British RAF bombers attacked Nürnberg, Germany; another group of 113 bombers attacked Saarbrücken, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | TH, CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kure, Japan for her 5th voyage with the Japanese Navy. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• USS Washington, with USS Nicholas as an escort, arrived at the Panama Canal, transited through, and docked at Balboa, Canal Zone. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Washington | Nicholas | Panama Canal | DS]

• Soviet 8th Army pushed forward another mile against lines held by troops of German 223rd Infantry Division near Leningrad, Russia; behind the German lines, German 18th Army moved into position to launch a counterattack. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Leningrad | CPC]

• German bombers attacked Bristol, England, United Kingdom; 2 buses were hit by bombs in the center of the city, killing 44. Elsewhere, St Ives in England and Cardiff in Wales were also attacked. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]

28 Aug 1942 Interactive Map