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• Franz Tecklenborg, Johann Simon Abegg, and Peter Ulrichs established the new shipyard company Abegg & Co in Bremerhaven, Germany. ww2dbase [Joh. C. Tecklenborg Schiffswerft- und Maschinenfabrik AG | Bremerhaven | AG]

16 Jul 1841 Interactive Map

• USS S-38 arrived at Anchorage, US Territory of Alaska. ww2dbase [S-38 | Anchorage | CPC]

• Joseph Stilwell began a period of leave in the United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• USS New Mexico was made the flagship of the US Pacific Fleet while she was at Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Hampton Roads, Virginia | CPC]

• S-37 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [S-37 | CPC]

• USS R-1, along with the rest of the Submarine Division 9, was transferred to Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | R-1 | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS R-5 arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | R-5 | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

16 Jul 1923 Interactive Map

• Joseph Bech was made the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. ww2dbase [Joseph Bech | CPC]

• Mitsunoshin Kamiyama was named the governor-general of Taiwan. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Japanese luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru departed Hong Kong for Seattle, her second round trip across the Pacific. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]

• Arturo Riccardi was made Commander of the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy. ww2dbase [Arturo Riccardi | CPC]

• An attempt was made to assassinate British King Edward VIII in London, England, United Kingdom. An Irish malcontent, Jerome Brannigan (otherwise known as George Andrew McMahon), produced a loaded revolver as the King rode on horseback at Constitution Hill, near Buckingham Palace. Police spotted the gun and pounced on him; he was quickly arrested. At Brannigan's trial, he alleged that "a foreign power" had approached him to kill Edward, that he had informed MI5 of the plan, and that he was merely seeing the plan through to help MI5 catch the real culprits. The court rejected the claims and sent him to jail for a year. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]

16 Jul 1936 Interactive Map

• Light carrier Hosho arrived off Shanghai, China and began launching aircraft to support the invasion. ww2dbase [Hosho | Shanghai | CPC]

• Ludwig Beck sent another message to German Army chief Walther von Brauchitsch, noting his concern that an invasion of Czechoslovakia would trigger military reaction by the western powers, which would spell doom for Germany. He also included in this message that Brauchitsch should incite German Army generals to resign en masse in protest of Adolf Hitler's reckless invasion plan. ww2dbase [Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland | Ludwig Beck | Walther von Brauchitsch | CPC]

• HMS Hermes was transferred from the Reserve Fleet for training duties at Devonport, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Hermes | Devonport, England | CPC]

• USS Nashville arrived in San Diego, California, United States as the ship was transitioning from the Atlantic to the Pacific. ww2dbase [Nashville | San Diego, California | DS]

16 Jul 1939 Interactive Map

• Vichy France revoked the French citizenship of naturalized Jews. Meanwhile, in German-occupied Alsace-Lorraine, 22,000 French citizens were forcibly deported to France. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Phoenix attacked Italian torpedo boat Albatros southeast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, with all torpedoes missing their target. Albatros responded with torpedoes of her own, sinking HMS Phoenix and killing the entire crew of 55. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Thor sank British ship Wendover in the South Atlantic, killing 4 and capturing 36 civilian crew and 1 Royal Navy gunner. ww2dbase [Thor | CPC]
• German submarine U-61 torpedoed British tanker Scottish Minstrel 130 miles northwest of Ireland, killing 9; 32 were later rescued by corvette HMS Gardenia. With her cargo of 9,200 tons of fuel oil burning, the tanker would remain afloat for another day before sinking. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• Vichy France de-naturalized its Jewish citizens. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyer Whaddon was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of British destroyer Dulverton was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British and Australian warships bombarded Bardia, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Italian bombers attacked the British base at Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Hugh Dalton was appointed the political chief of the British Special Operations Executive. ww2dbase [Special Operations Executive | CPC]
• The keel of British submarine Saracen was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Spanish agents met with the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and warned him that his fellow countrymen were sending him to be the governor of the Bahamas to remove him from power. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Carsten Grøm, master of Norwegian steam tanker Sarita which was sunken by German submarine UA two days prior, still adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, ordered all survivors to disembark rafts and to board the lifeboat, which kept course for Barbados. ww2dbase [UA | HM]
• The 8,194-ton ocean liner SS Lady Somers, serving as an auxiliary cruiser under Commander George L. Dunbar, with 175 crew and passengers, was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Morosini, Commander C. C. Athos Fraternale, in the North Atlantic. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | HM]

• 54 Japanese aircraft based in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China attacked Chongqing, China in two waves; 31 Chinese fighters (I-15bis, I-16, and Hawk III models) rose to intercept, claiming damage on several bombers. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Chongqing | CPC]
• Liu Zhesheng shot down two Japanese aircraft. ww2dbase [Liu Zhesheng | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive 16 for the preparation of an invasion plan for southern Britain in mid-Aug. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci set sail from Naples, Italy at 0930 hours for exercises, returning at 1625 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• The British submarine HMS Taku sank the Italian auxiliary minesweeper-schooner Vincenzo P. with gunfire in the Gulf of Sidra. ww2dbase [Sidr | HM]

• British submarine P33 attacked an Italian convoy south of Punta Sciaccazza, Pantelleria, Italy and sank the 5,293-ton Italian passenger-motor vessel Barbarigo. ww2dbase [HM]

• British destroyer HMS Imogen collided with cruiser HMS Glasgow in heavy fog off Pentland Firth and Duncansby Head, in northern Scotland, United Kingdom. She caught fire and was later abandoned, drifting 20 miles before sinking; 17 were killed and 133 were rescued. HMS Glasgow saw 2 killed and suffered a 6-foot hole above the waterline; she would be under repair at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom until 4 Sep. ww2dbase [Glasgow | Pentland Firth, Scotland | TH]
• Low cloud, fog, and heavy rain kept German aircraft grounded until the early afternoon. In the mid-afternoon, German bombers crossed the English Channel. One German Ju 88 bomber was shot down over the Isle of Wight by Spitfire fighters of No. 601 Squadron, and one German He 111 bomber was shot down in northeastern Scotland, United Kingdom during the bombing of Fraserburgh and Peterhead by Spitfire fighters of No. 603 Squadron. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• The 268-ton British merchant cargo ship Farfield (built in 1921 by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd. and owned at the time of her loss by Coppack Brothers & Co.) was sunk by German aircraft seven miles off South Stack Light off the north-west coast of Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom whilst enroute to Gloucester from Penmenmawr. Eight people lost their lives. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | South Stack, Wales | HM]

16 Jul 1940 Interactive Map

• Germany reversed a prior decree by allowing those who were 50% Jewish and those who were married to women who were 50% Jewish to serve in the military. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Vichy France enacted a law to exclude Jewish lawyers. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Alfred Rosenberg's appointment as the Reich Minister for Occupied Eastern Territories was confirmed by Adolf Hitler during a conference at Adolf Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia, Germany. In that conference, which was led by Hitler and also attended by Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel, Martin Bormann, and Hans Lammers, Hitler provided his vision of the future of Eastern Europe in which the Baltic States were to be incorporated into Germany, Crimea to be populated with ethnic Germans, Caucasus to be a German concession, and Leningrad given to Finland. ww2dbase [Alfred Rosenberg | CPC]
• US Army General Leonard Gerow recommended General George Marshall to activate the Philippine Army and to provide it additional funding. He also recommended that Douglas MacArthur to be asked to return from the retired list as the commander in chief in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | CPC]
• Charles de Gaulle protested the Armistice of Saint Jean D'Acre between the United Kingdom and Vichy France for it made no mention of the Free French. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]
• Soviet Army Lieutenant Jacob Jughashvili, son of Joseph Stalin, was taken prisoner by the Germans. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-408 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-701 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• French corvette Lobelia was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Adolf Hitler instructed that Ukraine and the Kola Peninsula in northern Russia were to be annexed into Greater Germany in the future, while East Karelia in northern Russia was to be given to Finland. In secret, he instructed other German leaders to prepare plans for a possible future annexation of Finland. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]

• Anatoliy Mikheev accused Semyon Timoshenko was being a traitor. Joseph Stalin did not order Timoshenko's arrest, but he would relieve Timoshenk as the defense commissar (NKO) several days later and would assume the title himself. ww2dbase [Semyon Timoshenko | CPC]

• General Wladyslaw Sikorski was presented with the Standard of the Polish Air Force at RAF Swinderby in England, United Kingdom. Smuggled out of Poland, via Stockholm in Sweden, the Standard would subsequently be held by each Polish Squadron in the United Kingdom during the war years. ww2dbase [Władysław Sikorski | Swinderby, England | AC]

• American transport USS West Point embarked 137 Italian and 327 German citizens off Staten Island, New York, United States and set sail for Lisbon, Portugal at 1455 hours. ww2dbase [Staten Island, New York | CPC]
• USS Astoria departed Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Astoria (New Orleans-class) | Vallejo, California | CPC]

• In the Western Desert in North Africa, British Sergeant Keith Elliott win the Victoria Cross for leading an attack which captures four machine gun positions, an anti-tank gun and 50 prisoners despite being seriously wounded in the chest. ww2dbase [AC]
• British minesweeping trawler Neave was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The German Navy issued orders for the construction of 10 submarines; these submarines would later be commissioned as U-323, U-324, U-325, U-326, U-327, U-328, U-903, U-904, U-1171, and U-1172. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-631 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley named Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher the commanding officer of the Solomons Expeditionary Force. ww2dbase [Frank Fletcher | CPC]
• US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley named Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes the commanding officer of carrier air groups for the upcoming operations in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley named Rear Admiral John McCain the commanding officer of land-based air groups for the upcoming operations in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [John McCain | CPC]
• US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley named Rear Admiral Richmond Turner the commanding officer of the Amphibious Force for the upcoming operations in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Richmond Turner | CPC]
• German submarine U-160 fatally damaged tanker Beaconlight with 2 torpedoes 10 miles northwest of Galera Point, Trinidad at 0934 hours; 1 was killed, 40 survived in 3 lifeboats; British tug HMS Roode Zee sank the wreck to prevent it from becoming a hazard. German submarine U-166 stopped small trawler Gertrude 30 miles northeast of Havana, Cuba; Gertrude was sunk by gunfire after the crew of 3 abandoned ship as ordered. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• British destroyer Rapid was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British escort carrier Ravager was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-161 attacked Allied convoy AS-4 500 miles north of Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands at 1543 hours; the Germans observed two hits, both of which were made on US transport Fairport, which sank with all 123 aboard surviving in two lifeboats and five rafts. In the South Atlantic, German armed merchant cruiser Michel, after shadowing the targets since morning, sank US tanker William F. Humphrey with 3 torpedoes and gunfire at 2100 hours (8 were killed, 40 survived); at the same time, Michel's speedboat Essau damaged the other ship, Norwegian tanker Aramis, with 2 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Michel | CPC]
• ShCh-320 fired two torpedoes at German merchant ship Gudron off the German coast; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [ShCh-320 | CPC]
• Nicholas Bican became the chief administrator of the Portland Assembly Center in Oregon, United States. ww2dbase [Portland Assembly Center | CPC]

• USS Honolulu departed Kodiak Island, Alaska and resumed Alaskan patrols. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Kodiak | DS]

• The Japanese began the construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | CPC]

• Corvette HMCS Kitchener arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ww2dbase [Halifax, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Australian 24th Battalion attacked Point 24 near El Alamein, Egypt in failure, suffering 50% casualties. Meanwhile, German tanks attacked along the Ruweisat Ridge, unable to break the lines held by Indian 5th Infantry Brigade, British 2nd Armoured Brigade, and British 22nd Armoured Brigade. ww2dbase [First Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]

• 9,000 French policemen conducted a round-up, gathering 12,887 Parisian Jews born outside of France. 6,000 of them were sent to Drancy Concentration Camp Camp located just outside the city, while the other 6,000 were detained at the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium where they had to share one water tap and ten toilets. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Drancy Concentration Camp | Paris | CPC]

• The USS Seadragon (Lieutenant Commander W. E. Ferrall, USN) sighted a Japanese transport ship at 0923 hours, beraing 301-degrees at a range of 16,000 yards. 10 minutes later, Seadragon sighted a convoy of four ships. The submarine sped toward the convoy, and once in attack position, fired two torpedoes at the second ship in the column from a range of about 1,250 yards; both missed, hitting the beach beyond after almost 5 minutes. All ships in the convoy then turned toward USS Seadragon and started firing their guns. Two more torpedoes were fired from the stern at the last ship of the column at the range of about 2,750 yards. The ship, 5,303-ton Japanese transport ship Hakodate Maru, en-route from Taiwan to Bangkok, Thailand, was struck by both of them and sank 2 miles off the coast north of Cape Varella, French Indochina. Seadragon meanwhile had submerged to 100 feet. At 1052 hours, Seadragon returned to periscope depth and could see only three ships. After the sinking, Seadragon set sail for Fremantle, Australia. ww2dbase [Seadragon | Hoa Tam, Annam | CPC, HM]

• German aircraft damaged Soviet destroyer Bodry and minelaying cruiser Komintern at Poti, Georgia. ww2dbase [Poti | CPC]

• 8 (of 21 launched) British Stirling bombers attacked Lübeck, Germany at dusk; 2 were lost on this mission. Elsewhere, small groups of bombers attacked various targets in the Ruhr region in Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• Adolf Hitler departed from the Wolfsschanze headquarters near Görlitz, Ostpreußen, Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Görlitz, Ostpreußen | CPC]
• Ju 290 aircraft took its first flight. ww2dbase [Ju 290 | CPC]

• USS Haddock arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Haddock | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Soviet forces evacuated Boguchar in Voronezh Oblast and Milerovo in Rostov Oblast in southern Russia as German troops advanced toward Stalingrad. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | CPC]

16 Jul 1942 Interactive Map

• Yamato was visited by the German Naval Attaché to Tokyo Konteradmiral Paul Wenneker, who wore a Japanese naval uniform. His tour of Yamato did not include the main turrets, and he was told that the primary armament of Yamato consisted of 40-cm guns rather than the actual 46-cm. ww2dbase [Yamato | CPC]
• In Sicily, Italy, Canadian troops captured Caltagirone, American troops captured Agrigento, while British troops secured the Primosole Bridge and marched for Catania. On the same day, Allied aircraft attacked Valguarnera, Vibo Valentia, Randazzo, and other targets in Sicily. ww2dbase [Invasion of Sicily and Italy's Surrender | TH]
• Apogon was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Apogon | CPC]
• British President of Edution R. A. Butler announced a plan to remodel secondary schools (for children between the ages of 11 and 15) in the United Kingdom, dividing the existing schools into grammar, modern, and technical tiers. ww2dbase [CPC]
• 14 B-26B bombers of USAAF VIII Air Support Command attacked the rail marshalling yard at Abbeville, France at 2000 hours. This was VIII Air Support Command's first combat operation. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British patrol vessel HMS Kilbernie was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British sloop Lapwing and corvette Rushen Castle were launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Theophil Wurm, the bishop of Württemberg, Germany, wrote to Adolf Hitler in protest of the deaths that were occurring in concentration camps. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-366 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-1192 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt jointly issued an announcement to the Italian people, urging them to remove Benito Mussolini from power and to seek surrender. On the same day, Allied aircraft dropped leaflets containing the same message over Italian cities. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• Before dawn, British Wellington bombers of the Allied Northwest African Strategic Air Force attacked Crotone, Reggio di Calabria, and Villa San Giovanni in southern Italy. During the day, American B-24 Liberator bombers of the USAAF Ninth Air Force Bari in southern Italy; 3 American bombers and 11 German fighters were shot down during the aerial battle. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Generaloberst Walter Model, already the commanding officer of the German Ninth Army, assumed a second role as the commander of the Second Panzer Army upon the arrest of Generaloberst Rudolf Schmidt by the Gestapo. ww2dbase [Walter Model | CPC]
• German submarine U-181 sank transport Fort Franklin southwest of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean at 1558 hours; 2 were killed, 53 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Destroyer USS Stembel was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Destroyer escort USS Dionne was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American destroyer escort Vance was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American frigate El Paso was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-306 attacked Allied convoy SL-133 in the Atlantic Ocean, damaging Kaipara at 0352 hours; she would attack again at 0801 hours with two spreads of two torpedoes, but none would cause any damage. Several hours later, TBF Avenger aircraft of US Navy Composite Squadron 13 from escort carrier USS Core sank German submarine U-67 with depth charges in the Atlantic Ocean; 48 were killed, 3 survived. At 2115 hours, German submarine U-513 sank transport Richard Caswell 150 miles southeast of Florianopolis, Brazil with two torpedoes; 9 were killed, 60 survived in 3 lifeboats and 2 rafts. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Lydia Litvyak shot down the German Bf 109G fighter pilot by Oberfeldwebel Hans Grünberg and another Bf 109G fighter while flying a Yak-1b fighter. ww2dbase [Lydia Litvyak | CPC]
• While supporting the Sicily, Italy operations, HMS Indomitable was torpedoed either by a SM.79 bomber (crewed by Captain Carlo Capelli and Lieutenant Ennio Caselli) of 204a Squadriglia of the Italian 41st Torpedo Bomber Group or a German Ju 88 bomber. The British carrier would be sent to the United States for repairs. ww2dbase [Invasion of Sicily and Italy's Surrender | Indomitable | CPC]
• USS Bailey departed the San Francisco area bound for San Diego, California. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]
• After midnight, destroyers USS Nicholas, USS O’Bannon, USS Radford, and USS Jenkins covered the force engaged in recovering 165 USS Helena survivors, 1 Japanese pilot taken as prisoner, 16 Chinese citizens, and 1 Australian coast watcher from the island of Vella Lavella. Upon retiring, Radford came across one of Nicholas's whaleboats left behind after Helena's sinking for the benefit of her survivors still in the water. In the boat were two Japanese sailors from the cruiser Jintsu sunk in the early morning of 13 Jul 1943. Radford took them prisoner. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Nicholas | DS]

• Yugure departed Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands at 2200 hours. ww2dbase [Yugure | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• More than 30 B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the US Thirteenth Air Force attacked Kahili Airfield on Bougainville, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Kahili Airfield | Buin, Bougainville | CPC]

• The keel of Canadian frigate Beacon Hill was laid down at Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. ww2dbase [Esquimalt, British Columbia | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Four new barracks turned over to station. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• British submarine HMS Tactician under Lieutenant Commander A. F. Collett, DSC, RN fired six torpedoes against the Italian submarine Luigi Settembrini that had traveled from Pola and was about to enter Brindisi harbour in southern Italy. No hits were obtained, but the Italians observed two torpedo tracks astern, one at about 200 meters and another just only 15 meters. Later on, she set course to return to the Gulf of Taranto. At 1300 hours, HMS Tactician sighted a trawler leaving Brindisi and proceeding up the swept channel. At 1350 hours the trawler was seen to proceed back towards Brindisi. The Tactician followed the trawler and at 1403 hours fired six torpedoes. No hits were obtained. Tactician now set course to retire from the Adriatic Sea. ww2dbase [Brindisi, Puglia | HM]

• USS S-35 and a Japanese destroyer gave chase to each other off Paramushiro, Hokkaido, Japan; no hits were scored by either side when night fell and they lost sight of each other. ww2dbase [S-35 | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• Italian submarine Dandolo damaged British light cruiser HMS Cleopatra (Captain J. F. Stevens, RN) with a torpedo off Sicily, Italy. HMS Cleopatra would receive temporary repairs at Malta and would later sail for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States for permanent repairs. All told, Cleopatra would be out of action for over a year. ww2dbase [CPC, HM]

• USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. St. Louis moored alongside repair ship USS Vestal. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | Honolulu | St. Louis | Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo | DS]

16 Jul 1943 Interactive Map

• Yet another pocket began to form in Ukraine as over 40,000 German troops were about to be encircled near Brody. ww2dbase [TH]
• After dark, New Zealand Lieutenant-Commander R. B. Goodwin became the only prisoner of war to make a successful escape from Hong Kong. He went over the Shamsuipo camp wire during the night and swam to the mainland of China, travelling overland to Kunming. He arrived back in New Zealand in Nov 1944. ww2dbase [AC]
• A total of 1,087 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers USAAF Eighth Air Force attacked Germany in three waves (407, 238, and 407 bombers, respectively), escorted by 240, 214, and 169 fighters, respectively, with most of the bombers targeting Munich, Stuggart, Augsburg, and Saarbrucken; a total of 11 bombers and 3 fighters were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• During the day, about 375 USAAF Ninth Air Force aircraft attacked German positions in the Saint-Lô and Rennes areas in France throughout the day. After dark, 5 B-17 bombers were launched to drop propaganda leaflets over France and another group of 24 B-17 bombers flew in support of French resistance groups. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | CPC]
• About 380 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force aircraft from Italy attacked Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and the Wiener Neudorf engine factory in and near Vienna, Austria. 10 bombers were shot down while American escorting fighters claimed to have shot down 30 of the 100 German fighters which rose to defend Vienna. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Chelsea (former USS Crowninshield), HMS Brighton (former USS Cowell), HMS Richmond (former USS Fairfax), and HMS St Albans (former USS Thomas) were transferred to the Soviet Union. They were renamed Dzerki, Zharki, Zhivuchi, and Dostoinyi, respectively. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet forces attacked Grodno, Byelorussia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet aircraft sank German anti-aircraft cruiser Niobe in Kotka harbor, Finland; the Soviet pilots mis-identified their victim as Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In the Mariana Islands, P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft of US Seventh Air Force from Saipan attacked Japanese targets at Tinian. At Merizo, Guam, Japanese Army troops massacred 30 civilians. ww2dbase [Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot | CPC]
• USAAF declared Kamiri airfield at Noemfoor, Biak Islands operational as a fighter base. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US submarine Bullhead was launched. ww2dbase [Bullhead | CPC]
• US destroyer Hugh W. Hadley was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of US destroyer Fred T Berry was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British aircraft attacked German submarine U-299, wounding the German commanding officer. U-299 would be forced to return to Norway for repairs. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Dragon was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Dragon | CPC]
• USS Astoria departed Trinidad for Puerto Rico. ww2dbase [Astoria (Cleveland-class) | CPC]
• USS Cabrilla sank a Japanese transport between Borneo and Philippine Islands, hitting her with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
• General Dwight Eisenhower recommended the formation of a combined Anglo-American airborne Army and nominated Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton to command with Lieutenant General Frederick Browning (who was actually senior) as his deputy. ww2dbase [Frederick Browning | AC]

• Just as anti-submarine aircraft from escort carrier USS Card developed a submerged target southwest of Mona Island by means of sonobuoys, the main bearings of the carrier’s single turbine burned out leaving the ship dead in the water. The aircraft launched two Mark 24 FIDO homing torpedoes without result. Contact was lost and the airborne aircraft were diverted to Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico. ww2dbase [Borinquen Field | Card | Mark XXIV | Caribbean Sea | DS]

• B-24 bombers of US Fifth Air Force attacked Yap, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yap | CPC]

• Claus von Stauffenberg hosted a party at his home at Wannsee, Berlin, Germany, which was attended by several anti-Hitler conspirators. ww2dbase [Claus von Stauffenberg | Berlin | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against railroad yards in Munich, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Munich, Bavaria | DS]

• USS Whale arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Whale | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]
• Submarine USS Bowfin departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Bowfin | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Submarine HMS Sirdar (Lieutenant J. A. Spender, RN) sighted an enemy submarine with six torpedoes in the northern end of the Strait of Malacca between Malaya and the island of Sumatra. Sirdar broke surface upon firing and was lightly damaged (radar and wireless transmitter) by machine gun fire from the enemy. The enemy submarine was attacked again a few hours later by the submarine HMS Templar (Lieutenant T. G. Ridgeway, RN); eight torpedoes were fired in this attack, but they all missed. At 0903 hours five explosions were heard, most likely the torpedoes exploding at the end of their run. The patrol report states that it was a Japanese submarine of the RO-60 class, these however did not operate in this area; furthermore, no Japanese submarines of other types were in the area at that given time. The enemy submarine they encountered was actually the German submarine U-1062, which had departed Penang, Malaya on the previous day for Europe. ww2dbase [Strait of Malacca | HM]

• Troops of the British 8th Army captured Arezzo, Italy while troops of the British XIII Corps crossed the Arno River. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gothic Line | Arezzo, Toscana | TH]
• Brazilian 6th Infantry Regiment arrived in Naples, Italy. ww2dbase [Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• Submarine USS Thresher (Lieutenant Commander D. C. MacMillan) fired 10 torpedoes toward Japanese convoy Tama 21C, en route from Takao in Taiwan to Manila in the Philippine Islands, sinking 2,838-ton Japanese transport Shozen Maru and fatally damaging 4,916-ton Japanese merchant ship Sainei Maru. USS Thresher's records claimed 6 hits and claimed the sinking of two transports and one destroyer. ww2dbase [Thresher | South China Sea | CPC, HM]
• USS Skate (Commander W. P. Gruner, Jr.) fired six torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the Sea of Okhotsk, claiming one hit that sank a Japanese tanker. Japanese records showed that two ships were lost, the 1,942-ton Japanese troop transport Nippo Maru and the 1,937-ton Japanese tanker Nikkaku Maru. ww2dbase [Skate | Sea of Okhotsk | HM]

• USS Ranger transited the Panama Canal and entered the Pacific. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Ranger | Panama Canal | DS]

• USS Ticonderoga departed Port of Spain, Trinidad for Norfolk, Virginia, United States. She was escorted by destroyers USS Broome, USS Simpson, and USS Winslow. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Port of Spain | DS]

• The Polish government-in-exile in London, England, United Kingdom published a paper which laid claim to the German territory of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig; the paper also reasserted the territory that the Germans called "Polish Corridor" was to remain within Polish borders. ww2dbase [London, England | CPC]
• Three V-1 flying bombs impacted in quick succession in Brixton, London, England, United Kingdom, hitting Ramsey Road (5 killed), Brixton Road (2 killed) and at Lubbock Street in nearby Battersea (16 killed). The Church of St John in Bermondsey was hit; this church had been badly damaged during the Blitz of 1940 and repairs had been completed. The church was used as an emergency aid station; two workers were killed when the roof collapsed. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | London, England | HM]

• USS Mississippi and USS West Virginia departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the latter after extensive repairs and modernization following damage received in the Pearl Harbor Attack. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | West Virginia | Mississippi | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

16 Jul 1944 Interactive Map

• UK Task Force 37 (HMS Victorious, HMS Formidable, and HMS Implacable) made rendezvous with US Task Force 38.2 about 500 miles north of Manus for a raid on the Japanese home islands; they were to be joined by HMS Indefatigable four days later. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Churchill arrived in Berlin, Germany for the Potsdam Conference and visited the bunker where Hitler committed suicide. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | AC]
• German Field Marshal Ernst Busch, formerly commander of Army Group Centre in Russia and later Army Group Northwest during the final months of the European war, passed away whilst in a military hospital in Nottingham, England, United Kingdom where he was being held as a prisoner of war. ww2dbase [AC]
• Canadian physicist Louis Slotin assembled the atomic bomb Gadget for Operation Trinity, and received the nickname "Chief Armorer of the United States". ww2dbase [Louis Slotin | CPC]
• The headquarters of the US Army Eighth Air Force was ordered to move from Britain to Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [CPC]
• During the day, 5 American P-47 fighters attacked Yanagawa, Japan while 94 American P-51 fighters based in Iwo Jima attacked Kameyama, Kiyosu, Komaki, Okazaki, Suzuko, and Akenogahara. After sundown, four B-29 incendiary bombing missions were launched against Japanese cities, with 119 aircraft over Namazu (destroying 3.6 square kilometers of the city), 124 over Oita (1.437 square kilometers), 94 over Kuwana (1.63 square kilometers), and 129 over Hiratsuka (2.69 square kilometers); damage caused on all four cities were severe. ww2dbase [Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities | CPC]
• 2 B-24 bombers of US Eleventh Air Force searched for Japanese shipping off Shimushiru in the Kurile Islands without success. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor and TBM Avenger aircraft of Composite Squadron 13 from escort aircraft carrier USS Anzio sank Japanese submarine I-13 860 kilometers east of Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [CPC]
• General Carl Spaatz became the commanding officer of the US Army Strategic Air Forces based at Guam, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Carl Spaatz | CPC]
• Escort carrier USS Bairoko was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of American destroyer Witek was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Bailey arrived at Balikpapan, Borneo, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]

• In Canada, corvettes HMCS Amherst and Whitby were decommissioned from service at Sydney, Nova Scotia and at Sorel, Quebec, respectively. ww2dbase [Sydney, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• Submarine HMS Vigorous (Lieutenant N. R. Wood, RN) damaged a Japanese coaster with gunfire off northwest Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. The gun crew reported 25 hits. ww2dbase [Sumatra | HM]

• The US Military Tribunal at Dachau, Germany sentenced Josef Dietrich to life in prison (later commuted to 25 years in prison) for the execution of US prisoners of war at Malmedy, Belgium in 1944. ww2dbase [Dachau Concentration Camp | Josef Dietrich | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

• USS Manta arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Manta | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Submarine USS Blenny (Commander W. H. Hazzard, USN) fired 12 torpedoes at the 2,400-ton Japanese gunboat Nankai (former Dutch minelayer Regulus), scoring 4 hits and sinking her in the Java Sea. Two hours later, she engaged and damaged 300-ton Japanese submarine chaser Ch-1 with her deck gun. The Japanese crew abandoned the damaged ship in a lifeboat, which was approached by USS Blenny; only one survivor allowed himself to be picked up, while all others jumped into the water. Blenny sank CH-1 with machine gun fire. ww2dbase [Blenny | Java Sea | CPC, HM]
• USS Baya (Lieutenant Commander B. C. Jarvis, USN) detected the 945-ton Japanese coastal patrol vessel Kari in the Java Sea via her SJ radar, beraing 273 degrees at the range of 20,100 yards; she shared this report with USS Becuna. USS Becua attacked at 0210 hours, but all torpedoes with a depth setting of four feet missed the target; this information was shared with USS Baya. Beginning at 0221 hours, USS Baya fired a total of 9 torpedoes, all set at zero depth, at the range of 3,000 yards, scoring one hit. At 0426 hours, two more stern torpedoes were launched, scoring an additional hit right below the funnel. The second hit nearly disintegrated Kari at about 220 nautical miles west-southwest of Makassar of Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Baya | South China Sea | CPC, HM]

• In Operation Trinity, the Americans successfully detonated an atomic bomb at Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico, United States. The test blast created temperatures 10,000 times the surface temperature of the sun and was felt 200 miles away. The explosion was the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT and throws a column of fire and smoke 35,000 feet into the night sky. The authorities hid the blast by claiming that an ammunition dump had gone up. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | Alamogordo Army Air Field | Leslie Groves | Robert Oppenheimer | Vannevar Bush | William Laurence | Alamogordo, New Mexico | AC]
• The cruiser USS Indianapolis sailed from San Francisco, California, United States with a top secret cargo - components of the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima unless the Japanese surrendered. The Indianapolis would take 10 days to sail to the island of Tinian, Mariana Islands where US B-29 bombers were waiting. ww2dbase [Indianapolis | San Francisco, California | AC]

16 Jul 1945 Interactive Map

• Albert W. Grant was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Albert W. Grant | CPC]
• Augusta was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Augusta | CPC]

16 Jul 1946 Interactive Map

• King Leopold of Belgium abdicated. He was succeeded by his son, Prince Baudouin. ww2dbase [Leopold III | AC]

• Chen Cheng was named the Chairman of the Committee for the Planning for the Governing of a Liberated Chinese Mainland; the committee was attached to the executive branch of the Chinese government. ww2dbase [Chen Cheng | CPC]

• The Philippines ratified the Treaty of San Francisco. ww2dbase [San Francisco Peace Conference | CPC]

• Kliment Voroshilov retired from the Soviet Party Presidium, which was the successor of the Politburo. ww2dbase [Kliment Voroshilov | CPC]

• Submarine Manta was sunk by aircraft as a target off Norfolk, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Manta | CPC]

• Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the second time. ww2dbase [Filipp Golikov | CPC]

• Hans Georg von Studnitz passed away in Rimsting, Germany. ww2dbase [Hans Georg von Studnitz | CPC]

• Charles Sweeney passed away. ww2dbase [Charles Sweeney | CPC]