28 Apr 1888
- Henry Crerar was born.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1889
- Takeo Kurita was born.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1908
- Oskar Schindler was born.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1919
United States
United States
- USS R-5 departed Boston, Massachusetts, United States for New London, Connecticut, United States.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1920
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
- The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was formed.
- Crown Prince Euimin of Korea married Japanese Princess Masako of Nashimoto.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1932
- USS R-5 set sail for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1933
- In the Soviet Union, a Communist Party decree pointed out (correctly) that far too many careerist and political illiterates had been allowed into the party ranks during the collectivization and industrialization drive. Held in local public buildings, the party Chistka (Three-man purge commissions) was instructed to interrogate all local Communist officials, who were expected to declare their social origin, their activities for the Party and any derelictions of duty. The commissions had the authority to call witnesses, take statements and decide on a range of recommendations, ranging from confirmation of status down to expulsion from the party.
28 Apr 1934
- USS Astoria was commissioned into service with Captain Edmund S. Root in command.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1936
- Tetsuzo Iwamoto began receiving flight training by the Japanese Navy.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1937
- Basque forces, fighting on the side of the Spanish Republicans, surrendered at Durango and Guernica, Spain.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1939
- In a two-hour speech to the German Reichstag which was widely broadcast around the world, Adolf Hitler repudiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and expressed the wish to annex Danzig. In regards to the recent British-Polish treaty, Hitler claimed that it broke the terms of the 1934 German-Polish non-aggression treaty, thus the 1934 agreement was now void; he was, however, willing to negotiate a new one with Poland. Finally, addressing US President Franklin Roosevelt's letter of 14 Apr 1939, in which Roosevelt requested Germany to guarantee the borders of 31 nations, Hitler noted the result of the subsequent survey that revealed most of the nations (Poland excluded) responded they were not at all threatened by Germany.
» In-depth article
- General Duan Lang ordered his Chinese 79th Division to disengage south of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China after suffering high casualties during a Japanese counterattack.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: No. 13: Extract from Herr Hitler's speech to the Reichstag
» In-depth article - Historical document written: No. 14 & 16: Messages between Germany and Poland
» In-depth article - Historical document written: No. 21: Extract from Speech by Herr Hitler to the Reichstag
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1940
- Vittorio Veneto was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article
- The British War Cabinet ordered the withdraw of British troops at Trondheim, Norway to the dismay of Norwegian leaders. Meanwhile, troops of the British 15th Brigade held their line against attacks by the German 196th Division at Otta throughout the day before they fell back 25 miles to the north to Dombås overnight.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Fragmentary Paris Text
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Fragmentary Paris Text from Moscow
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1941
- German aircraft sank Greek torpedo boat Kyzikos and 2 other ships during the day. 2 companies of the German 5th Panzer Division captured the port of Kalamata, Greece, disrupting evacuation of Allied troops; though Allied forces would recapture the port by the end of the day, all British ships had already departed from Kalamata. Overnight, 4,170 Allied troops were evacuated from the Peloponnese Peninsula in southern Greece.
» In-depth article - Sergeant Jack Hinton of New Zealand 2nd Division led an attack to retake the quay at Kalamata, Greece, clearing out 3 machine gun nests and a mortar with grenades and capturing a 6-inch gun. He was shot in the stomach and taken prisoner. He would later win the Victoria Cross.
- At 0600 hours, German bombers attacked Tobruk, Libya. During the day, German Deputy Chief of Staff Friedrich Paulus ordered Erwin Rommel to delay the planned ground assault on Tobruk.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-123 detected Allied convoy HX121 150 miles south of Iceland and radioed the finding to 5 other submarines. At 0415 hours, U-552 sank a tanker. At 0725 hours, U-96 sank 2 tankers and 1 freighter. While attacking, U-65 was sunk by depth charges launched by British destroyer HMS Douglas, killing the entire crew of 50.
- German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin attacked British ship Clan Buchanan in the Arabian Sea 1,200 miles east of Mogadishu, British Somaliland. Before the crew of 110 surrendered and the ship scuttled, a distress signal was sent out, and British warships were dispatched to the area to hunt for Pinguin.
- British Stirling bombers of No. 7 Squadron RAF attacked Emden, Germany during the day.
» In-depth article - German bombers attacked Malta overnight, badly damaging destroyer HMS Encounter in the drydock and destroying minesweeper HMS Fermoy.
» In-depth article - Churchill, without reference to the Chiefs of Staff, issued a directive stating that there is no need at the present time to make provisions for the defence of Malaya and Singapore.
» In-depth article
- In Berlin, Germany, German ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg attempted to convince Adolf Hitler that the Soviet Union was generally friendly toward Germany, and the two nations could achieve greater friendship by working closer together.
- Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down his 8th kill, a British Blenheim light bomber, over the water off Tobruk, Libya.
» In-depth article
- British minesweeping trawler HMT Caroline, manned by Dutch sailors, hit a mine and sank off Milford Haven, Wales, United Kingdom, killing the entire crew.
- Charles Sweeney joined the United States Army Air Corps; he would later become the pilot of B-29 Superfortress bomber Bockscar that delivered the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1942
See all photos dated 28 Apr 1942
- The German Reichstag passed the legislation marking Hitler as the "Supreme Judge of the German People," formalizing his status above the law.
» In-depth article - Coast Watchers reported that a Japanese flying boat base was being built in the upper Solomon Islands.
» In-depth article - Erwin Rommel received the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy.
» In-depth article - HMS Edinburgh departed Murmansk, Russia.
» In-depth article - Allied convoy PQ-15, which had departed Iceland two days prior, was joined by British battleship HMS King George V, American battleship USS Washington, British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, 5 cruisers, 12 destroyers, and 4 submarines for its journey toward Murmansk, Russia; the convoy was spotted by German aircraft 200 miles northwest of Tromsø, Norway. On the same day, returning convoy QP-11 departed Kola Inlet in northern Russia; it was consisted of 13 merchant ships and was escorted by 6 destroyers, 4 corvettes, 1 trawler, and 4 minesweepers.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-136 sank Dutch ship Arundo 30 miles southeast of New York, New York, United States at 1535 hours; 6 were killed, 37 survived.
» In-depth article - Italian submarine Corallo sank Tunisian fishing boats Dar El Salam and Tunis with the deck gun off Cape Bon, Tunisia after taking off the crews.
- USS S-35 sailed west from Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska in response to a reported Japanese invasion fleet in the western Aleutian Islands, starting her second war patrol.
» In-depth article
- At 1100 hours, Coast Watchers reported incoming Japanese aircraft flying south from the Lae, New Guinea area. Shortly after, 8 Japanese Type 1 bombers and 11 Zero fighters attacked Port Moresby, Australian Papua. In the ensuing combat, two of the Kittyhawk fighters attempted to engage in dogfights with Zero fighters at a high altitude, which caused their engines to stall, leading to the two fighters' crash. After the attack, Port Moresby personnel discovered one of the Japanese bombers had delivered a bag containing 395 letters written by prisoners of war kept in Rabaul, New Britain; actually two khaki bags of mail were dropped, but one of them fell in the water.
» In-depth article
- Troops of the Chinese 28th Division arrived at Lashio in northern Burma. To the west, the Indian 17th Division crossed the Irrawaddy River at Sameikkon, Burma on its retreat toward India; Chinese 38th Division and British 7th Armoured Brigade formed a line between Sagaing and Ondaw to guard the retreat.
» In-depth article
- 88 British bombers (62 Wellington, 15 Stirling, 10 Hampden, 1 Halifax) attacked Kiel, Germany, destroying all three main shipyard facilities and killing 15; 6 bombers were destroyed in his mission.
» In-depth article
- Naka departed Seletar Naval Base, Singapore and arrived at Keppel Harbor, Singapore.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- Axis aircraft attacked Malta, sinking British tug HMS West Dean.
» In-depth article
- 21 British Halifax and 12 Lancaster bombers attacked German battleship Tirpitz at Trondheim, Norway; two Halifax bombers were destroyed.
» In-depth article
- Tatsuta Maru arrived at Takao, Taiwan.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- The historic Guildhall in York, England, United Kingdom was destroyed by fire started by a German air raid on the city.
» In-depth article
- The keel of submarine Dragonet was laid down by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
» In-depth article
See all photos dated 28 Apr 1942
28 Apr 1943
- Sweden protested the mining her territorial waters by Germany.
- Konstantin Rokossovsky was promoted to the rank of general.
» In-depth article - Lance Corporal John Patrick Kenneally ignored his wounds to make a one-man assault at Djebel Bou Azoukaz, Tunisia which caused the enemy line to break. Despite being wounded again, Kenneally survived to collect his Victoria Cross.
- German submarine U-650 sighted Allied convoy ONS 5 in the North Atlantic at 0800 hours. During the day U-375, U-386, U-528, and U-537 sailed toward U-650 and began planning the attack. Radio chatter between these submarines alerted commander of ONS 5 escorts Captain Peter Gretton.
» In-depth article - Otto Skorzeny was promoted to the rank of Hauptsturmführer and was given command of the commandos of the Oranienburg Special Training Unit.
» In-depth article - USS Scorpion was ordered to return to her home port.
» In-depth article
- Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Irako departed Truk, Caroline Islands for Iwo Jima, Japan with destroyer Tanikaze in escort.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- Viktor Abakumov personally arrested Major General Boris Teplinsky, the head of the Operational Department of the Air Force of the Siberian Military District on false charges of treason, conspiracy, and spreading anti-Soviet propaganda.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1944
- Yamato arrived at Manila, unloaded troops and supplies, and then departed.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS Franklin entered New York Navy Yard for repairs.
» In-depth article - USS Cassin Young sortied from Manus, Admiralty Islands with Task Force 58 for carrier strikes in the Central Pacific.
» In-depth article - Frank Knox passed away.
» In-depth article - The keel of USS Tirante was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, United States.
» In-depth article - Slapton Sands Incident: German E-boats torpedoed American landing ships in amphibious exercises off of the Devon coast in England, United Kingdom, killing 198 sailors and 551 soldiers.
- Matsu was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article - 26 B-24 bombers of the US 14th Air Force escorted by 10 P-51 fighters attacked Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Fighters of the Japanese 9th Sentai at nearby Xinxiang failed to react due to the faulty radar at Kaifeng. Storage warehouses, the Bawangcheng Bridge, and another nearby bridge on the Yellow River were damaged.
- USS Iowa completed her escort mission for carriers off New Guinea, Dutch East Indies.
» In-depth article - A force of 4,000 Chinese troops, 1,400 American troops (Merrill's Marauders), and 600 Kachin scouts began marching for Myitkyina, Burma.
» In-depth article - Oberleutnant Wilhelm Johnen, Staffelkapitän of German night fighter Squadron 5./NJG 5, whilst chasing an RAF bomber strayed into Swiss airspace where he was hit by flak and forced to land at Dübendorf where his Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4B./R3, which was equipped with the latest Lichtenstein SN-2b radar, was interned by the Swiss authorities. Fearful that the top-secret radar (which was the Luftwaffe's answer to the Allies "Window" anti-radar system) might fall into the hands of the Allies, the Germans eventually traded twelve new Bf 109G fighters in exchange for a Swiss guarantee that the interned aircraft with its new radar would be completely destroyed.
- Allied convoy RA-59 departed the Kola Inlet near Murmansk, Russia.
» In-depth article
- The South African and Rhodesian prime ministers arrived in London, England, United Kingdom for the Imperial Conference.
- Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd visited Franklin Roosevelt at Bernard Baruch's estate Hobcaw Barony near Georgetown, South Carolina, United States.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1945
See all photos dated 28 Apr 1945
- Sunken cruiser Köln's turrets fired against enemy troops advancing at Wilhelmshaven, Germany (near Neuenburg and Bockhorn).
» In-depth article - USS Trepang sank Japanese Transport Number 146 in the Yellow Sea.
» In-depth article - Canadian First Army captured Emden and Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
- Himmler's attempts to negotiate peace with the Western Allies was discovered Hitler, who stripped him of all his titles and ranks and ordered for his arrest.
» In-depth article - Mussolini was hanged by Italian partisans along with his mistress Clara Petacci and a dozen of his cabinet members.
» In-depth article - A group of Austrian resistance fighters became the last victims of gassings at Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
» In-depth article - Japanese special attack aircraft damaged 5 destroyers, 2 hospital ships, and victory ship Bozeman Victory off Okinawa, Japan. None of the four G4M bombers carrying Ohka special attack aircraft hit their targets.
» In-depth article - USS Sennet sank Japanese repair ship Hatsushima south of Japan, hitting her with 2 of 3 torpedoes fired.
» In-depth article
- In Burma, the XV Corps, which had been leapfrogging islands along the coast, reached and captured Taungup.
» In-depth article - Anglo-Indian troops captured Allanmyo, Burma. Elsewhere, Indian 17th Division reached the heavily-defended Pegu, where the Japanese built the final major stronghold north of Rangoon, which was 47 miles to the south.
» In-depth article
- USS Alabama arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
- American bombers attacked Japanese shipping at Saigon, Indochina, sinking 1 tanker and 6 other vessels.
- US Seventh Army captured Augsburg, Germany.
- In the bunker under the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Adolf Hitler awaited reports for the progress of the counterattack he had ordered Walther Wenck to commence; he would receive no such report as he counterattack never took place.
» In-depth article - Robert von Greim departed Berlin, Germany.
» In-depth article
- In Italy, British Eighth Army captured Venice and US Fifth Army captured Brescia. German Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff dispatched a messenger from Bolzano, Italy toward the Allies lines seeking a ceasefire.
» In-depth article - Brazilian infantry and US tanks attacked the remnants of German 148th Infantry Division at Fornovo di Taro, Italy.
» In-depth article
- Captain Chojuro Takahashi was relieved as the commanding officer of light carrier Ryuho; Captain Hojima was assigned to oversee the damaged carrier until the end of the war. On the same day, the carrier was attacked by US aircraft at Etajima near Kure, Japan, receiving no damage.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - USS Springer attacked Japanese transports in the harbor at Tomie (now part of Goto), Nagasaki, Japan; she scored no hits on the transports, but she was able to sink Submarine Chaser No. 17 during the counterattack, hitting her with 1 or 2 of 6 torpedoes.
» In-depth article
- Hungarian Count István Bethlen was transferred to Moscow, Russia for interrogation due to his past pro-British tendencies.
See all photos dated 28 Apr 1945
28 Apr 1946
China
China
- Chinese Nationalist troops launched a new offensive in northeastern China against Chinese communist forces.
28 Apr 1948
- ShCh-307 was converted to a floating charging station with the new designation PZS-5.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1952
- The Treaty of San Francisco, signed in Sep 1951, went into effect. On the same day, the Republic of China and Japan signed a the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty in Taipei, Taiwan. The state of war between most of the Allied nations and Japan finally officially ceased.
» In-depth article
28 Apr 1954
Photo(s) dated 28 Apr 1954
Photo(s) dated 28 Apr 1954
28 Apr 1984
- USS Iowa was recommissioned into service after modernization with Captain Gerald E. Gneckow in command.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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