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• Ioseb Jughashvili was exiled to Siberia, Russia after spending 18 months in prison for coordinating a strike at a factory. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | CPC]

• Royal Sovereign was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Royal Sovereign | CPC]

• Douglas MacArthur departed Brest, France. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | Brest, Bretagne | CPC]

• Lawrence was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Lawrence | CPC]

• S-33 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [S-33 | CPC]

• Crown Prince Hirohito visited Taiwan Institute of Research, Taihoku Normal School, Taihe Elementary School, Taiwan Army headquarters, Taiwan High Court, Taihoku No. 1 Middle School, and Taiwan Medical School in Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan. ww2dbase [Showa | Taihoku | CPC]

18 Apr 1923 Interactive Map

• Chinese Nationalists set up a government in Nanjing, China. ww2dbase [Nanjing | CPC]

• Japan requested western powers to stay out of China. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Captain Shojiro Mizusaki was named the commanding officer of Settsu. ww2dbase [Settsu | CPC]

• Sun Du was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. ww2dbase [Sun Du | CPC]

• The Marquess of Linlithgow, Victor Hope, was made the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, succeeding the Earl of Willingdon, Freeman Freeman-Thomas. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Nevada departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Nevada | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

18 Apr 1936 Interactive Map

• Slovakia passed anti-Semitic laws. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• British submarine HMS Sterlet disappeared off Norway. It was either sunk by German anti-submarine trawlers UJ-125, UJ-126, and UJ-128, or sunk after hitting a mine. ww2dbase [TH]
• The German submarine U-99 was commissioned with Captain Otto "Smiling Otto" Kretschmer in command. U-99 would be responsible for sinking 282,000 tons of Allied shipping before being cornered and sunk in Mar 1941. Depth charged to the surface and sunk, U-99's captain and crew were taken prisoner by Donald Macintyre of the corvette HMS Walker. ww2dbase [AC]

• Seeadler laid anti-submarine mines in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden. ww2dbase [Seeadler | Kattegat | CPC]

• The Norwegian government declared war on Germany after several days of fighting. On the same day, German troops advanced past Oslo, but were held up by Norwegian forces north of the city in the village of Bagn. The British 148th Brigade arrived in Ã…ndalsnes overnight; commanding officer Brigadier Morgan was given conflicting orders, one ordering him to march north to Trondheim, while the other ordered him to march south to support Norwegian troops in the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys north of Oslo. Meanwhile, troops of the German 181st Infantry Division began to arrive at Trondheim as reinforcements via aircraft, transport ships, and submarines. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | TH]

• German 3rd Regiment and 2nd Panzer Division crossed the Pinios River in Greece while German 6th Mountain Division reached Mount Olympus in Greece, putting the Australian and New Zealand troops at the Pinios Gorge in danger. As German troops continued to move south in Greece, Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis committed suicide in the evening; in response to this suicide, Athens was placed under martial law by the government to maintain stability. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
• Indian 20th Infantry Brigade landed at Basra, Iraq unopposed. It was originally based in Karachi, India and had arrived in Iraq in 8 transports which were escorted by carrier HMS Hermes, cruiser HMS Emerald, cruiser HMNZS Leander, 6 sloops, and gunboat HMS Cockchafer. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Urge sank Italian tanker Franco Martelli in the Bay of Biscay north of Spain. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Newark and HMS Volunteer collided just off the northern coast of Ireland. Both were seriously damaged and would be under repair at Belfast until Aug 1941. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Australian General Leslie Morshead reorganized the defenses at Tobruk, Libya, creating additional reserve brigades and building secondary defensive lines, all in order to create additional depth to the city's defenses. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis attacked Egyptian passenger liner ZamZam without warning 1,400 miles west of South Africa at 0600 hours, mistaking it for a British troop ship. All 129 crew and 202 passengers escaped in lifeboats before the Germans scuttled the ship with demolition charges. Life magazine photographer David Sherman, who was aboard ZamZam during the attack, took a photograph of Atlantis. ww2dbase [Atlantis | CPC]
• German dive bombers sank empty British troopship HMS Fiona 50 miles northwest of Sidi Barrani, Egypt, killing 54. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Navy Admiral Husband Kimmel wrote a letter to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Stark requesting additional resources for base construction at Wake Island and for a US Marine Corps defense battalion to be stationed there. ww2dbase [Husband Kimmel | CPC]
• The groundbreaking ceremony for the future Consolidated-Vultee aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas, United States was held, attended by General Gerald Brant and local civic leader Amon Carter. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The United States declared that the Pan-American Security Zone, last defined with the 3 Oct 1939 Declaration of Panama, to be extended to 26 degrees west longitude, 2,300 nautical miles east of New York on the east coast of the United States. It was just 50 nautical miles short of Iceland, which was a major Allied convoy staging area. ww2dbase [Invasion of Iceland | CPC]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt told a Press Conference that he did not think that public opinion in America was yet fully aware of the gravity of the military crisis in Europe or its implications for the safety of the United States. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | AC]

• German armed merchant cruiser Michel stopped British tanker Patella with gunfire 136 miles east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at dawn, killing 3; the remaining crew of 60 were taken off before the ship was scuttled. German submarine U-136 damaged US tanker Axtell J. Byles 5 kilometers off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Michel | CPC]
• General MacArthur was appointed to command the Southwest Pacific Theater. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | TH]
• USS Lexington ferried US Marine Fighter Squadron 211 and its F2A Buffalo aircraft to Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands. ww2dbase [Lexington (Lexington-class) | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru departed Makassar, Celebes. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• The US Army Forces Far East became inactive. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Marine Corps Major General Charles F. B. Price arrived at Pago Pago, American Samoa to command the Headquarters Samoan Area Defense Force. ww2dbase [CPC]
• François Darlan stepped down as the Vichy French Vice Premier as well as the Minister of the Navy. ww2dbase [François Darlan | CPC]
• Hudson bombers of No. 139 Squadron RAF from Akyab island, Burma attacked Japanese facilities on the Andaman Islands which had been the Squadron's base until it was abandoned in Mar 1942. ww2dbase [AC]
• The I Group of the German Jagdgeschwader 27 wing was transferred for combat duties near Gazala, Egypt. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Torbay sank German army transport Bellona 60 miles east of Cape Colonna, Italy at 1125 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]

• On a passage from Buenos Aires, Argentina for New York, United States via Rio de Janiero, Brazil the 7,417-ton neutral Argentinian motor tanker Victoria with linseed oil was spotted 200 kilometers east of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States by the German submarine U-201 under command of Adalbert Schnee. A torpedo was launched from the submarine which struck the Victoria on her port side between No.s One and Two holds. The master of the tanker immediately ordered the engines stopped and a distress call to be made, however as the ship seemed not to be settling the crew remained on board. An hour later at 0145 hours Schnee ordered another torpedo to be fired which also struck on the port side near to the bridge, he then surfaced and only then saw that the tanker was a neutral vessel. He immediately reported the mistake to the Commander of Submarines of the wolfpack, who ordered him to submerge and leave the area. The crew abandoned ship after the second hit in two lifeboats which were shortly thereafter separated by wind in the darkness. The distress signal had been picked up by the American Minesweeper USS Owl (AM 2) which was towing the oil barge YOG-38 to Bermuda. She arrived after seven hours and inspected Victoria at dawn; the tanker was lying on an even keel with two gaping holes in her port side. She seemed to be salvageable so a boarding party of eight men was transferred to the tanker and they worked the whole day to start the diesel engines, but the rough seas prevented an engineer that was needed aboard could be transferred during the afternoon. Consequently the men had to remain aboard the next night. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | HM]
• German Type IXC U-Boat U-505 was attacked by an Allied aircraft in the mid-Atlantic but suffered little damage. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | U-505 | DS]

• B-26 Marauder bombers of US 5th Air Force attacked Simpson Harbor and Lakunai airfield at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago at 1030 hours. Akomaki Maru was sunk (killing 11), as was Komaki Maru as her load of aviation fuel detonated. Lakunai airfield received light damage. After the attack, 80 Australian prisoners of war were executed by the Japanese for having cheered during the attack. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Although the 113th Regiment of the Chinese 38th Division under General Sun Liren and the British 7th Armoured Brigade had reached near Yenangyaung, Burma, they could not prevent the Japanese troops from capturing the city; the final elements of British troops fleeing out of the city destroyed the power station to prevent Japanese use. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | Yenangyaung | CPC]

• Pierre Laval became the 123rd Prime Minister of France. ww2dbase [Pierre Laval | Vichy | CPC]

• 16 US Army Air Force B-25 bombers launched from USS Hornet attacked Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, and other targets in the Japanese home islands at about 1200 hours. Most of the bombers would fly on to crash land in or bail out over China, while one landed in Russia and the crew were interned by the Soviets, who had a non-aggression treaty in place with Japan. ww2dbase [Doolittle Raid | Hornet (Yorktown-class) | TH, CPC]
• Submarine tender Taigei was lightly damaged by US air attack at Yokosuka, Japan; 7 casualties were recorded. ww2dbase [Ryuho | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• Nachi departed Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan. ww2dbase [Nachi | Muroran, Hokkaido | CPC]

• USS Wasp passed through the Strait of Gibraltar en route to Malta. ww2dbase [Wasp (Wasp-class) | Strait of Gibraltar | CPC, DS]

• The 1st Battalion of the 63rd Infantry Regiment of the 61st Philippine Division under Captain Julian Chaves pushed back Japanese troops at Mount Dila-Dila on Panay, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• Shokaku arrived at Mako, Pescadores Islands. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Shokaku | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• USS Marlin arrived at New London, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Marlin | New London, Connecticut | CPC]

18 Apr 1942 Interactive Map

• German 17.Armee attempted to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead at Novorossiysk in southern Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | TH]
• The Soviet Union claimed that the German Gestapo was responsible for the Katyn Massacre. ww2dbase [Katyn Massacre and Related Atrocities | CPC]
• 47 P-40 and 12 Spitfire fighters intercepted a large Axis air convoy off Tunisia, shooting down 24 German transport aircraft, 10 German fighters, and some Italian fighters. So many lives were lost that the Germans dubbed the action Palm Sunday Massacre. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Desert War | AC]
• Lieutenant Philip Cabell Evans was named the commanding officer of HMCS Trillium. ww2dbase [Trillium | CPC]

• The 4,906-ton Norwegian motor tanker Hoegh Carrier had come under German control in 1940 and had served out of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She was located, attacked, and sunk by British aircraft off Den Helder, the northernmost part of the Netherlands. Two of her crew were killed in the bombing. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
• The 7,459-ton Panamanian Merchant Steamer Empire Bruce was hit in the stern by a torpedo fired from German submarine U-123 (Horst von Schroeter) whilst sailing 100 mile southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The crew abandoned the ship which was carrying 9,000 tons of linseed and the vessel sank after being hit by two more torpedoes two hours later. The Master, J. Edwards, his 41 crew members and seven gunners were picked up by the British Minesweeper HMS MMS-107 and landed in Freetown the following day. ww2dbase [HM]

• Admiral William Halsey and General Douglas MacArthur met at Brisbane, Australia. They agreed that the tentative date for the New Georgia invasion was to be 15 May, and that a US Marine Corps defense battalion, a US Navy construction battalion, and a US Army regimental combat team should be transferred to the theater to support the invasion. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• The two aircraft carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki took off from Rabaul, New Britain at 0600 hours. Over the island of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, they were shot down by American fighters over Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, killing Yamamoto. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | Bougainville | TH, CPC]

• The 8,132-ton British motor tanker Corbis, loaded with 13,000 tons of diesel oil, was struck at 0356 hours by two torpedoes from German submarine U-180 (Werner Musenberg) about 500 miles from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Another torpedo struck at 0410 hours and stopped the tanker and set her on fire and caused her to sink after a short time. The Germans reported four lifeboats but three of them were swamped; the master, 47 crew members and two gunners were lost. ww2dbase [HM]
• The 8,007-ton British steam transport ship Manaar was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Leonardo Da Vinci in the Indian Ocean whilst on route to India from Durban, South Africa. Four crew members were killed and the master was taken prisoner by the Italians. ww2dbase [HM]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her 12th voyage with the Japanese Navy. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Robert Johnson flew his first combat mission over the Dutch coast but saw no action. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | CPC]

• A transport of 2501 Jews from the ghetto in Thessaloniki, Greece arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. Only 605 were registered into the camp; the remaining 1,896 were sent to the gas chambers. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Viktor Abakumov was summoned to meet with Joseph Stalin. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | CPC]

• No. 619 Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [RAF Woodhall Spa | Woodhall Spa, England | CPC]

• Submarine Dragonet was launched at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sponsored by Mrs. J. E. Gingrich. ww2dbase [Dragonet | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | CPC]
• Submarine Escolar was launched at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sponsored by Mrs. J. Bilisoly Hudgins. ww2dbase [Escolar | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | CPC]

• USS Pollack arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Pollack | Midway | CPC]

18 Apr 1943 Interactive Map

• Aircraft of No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted bombing operations against Helgoland, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• The British Foreign Office banned all coded messages from foreign embassies and said that diplomatic bags were to be censored. Only the fighting Allies were to be excluded from the ban. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The US submarine Gudgeon was reported lost, presumed sunk, off the Maug Islands, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Gudgeon | AC]

• Flight-Lieutenant Pat Boyd led a group of Beaufighter aircraft in a strike against a Japanese military camp at Soe, Timor, Dutch East Indies at about 1200 hours. Several buildings and vehicles were destroyed, and cyclists near the base were strafed and killed. ww2dbase [Soe, Timor | CPC]

• RAF Bomber Command's No. 5 Group attacked Rouen, Juvisy-sur-Orge, Noisy-le-Sec, and Tergnier, killing a total of 1,383 French civilians. The strategically important rail marshalling yards at Juvisy-sur-Orge was virtually destroyed. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Juvisy-sur-Orge, ÃŽle-de-France | CPC, AC]

• Evripidis Bakirtzis stepped down as the head of the Political Committee of National Liberation (PEEA) of Greece. ww2dbase [Evripidis Bakirtzis | CPC]

• Soviet troops captured Balaklava, Russia. ww2dbase [Balaklava, Krym | TH]

• Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Hitchcock, Jr., the famous American polo player who had been instrumental in the development of the P-51 fighter, was killed in an air crash while flight testing an aircraft at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Salisbury, England | AC]

18 Apr 1944 Interactive Map

• Ernie Pyle was killed on Ie Shima off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Ernie Pyle | CPC]
• Over 300,000 encircled German troops in the Ruhr region of western Germany surrendered. US First Army entered Düsseldorf. ww2dbase [Fall of the Ruhr | TH]
• US Ninth Army captured Magdeburg, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
• British Second Army captured Lüneburg and Ãœlzen, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
• The Western Allies reported that German prisoners taken since the Normandy invasion had reached two million, with the exact count at 2,055,575. ww2dbase [AC]
• 2nd Byelorussian Front broke the Oder defensive line between Schwedt and Stettin, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
• As some German troops surrendered Helgoland to the Allies peacefully, SS men shot some of them for the traitorous act. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet 1st Byelorussian Front finally penetrated the Seelow Heights defensive lines at Berlin, Germany. Joseph Goebbels burned files in his office as Soviet troops approached. ww2dbase [Battle of Berlin | TH]
• USS Rock bombarded a Japanese radio station at Batan, Batanes Islands, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Rock | CPC]
• USS Cabrilla attacked a Japanese convoy off northern Japan with six torpedoes, one of which damaged a transport. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
• USS Parche attacked a Japanese transport east of Kamaichi, Japan; all 3 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Parche | CPC]
• USS Seahorse was damaged by two Japanese patrol vessels off Japan; she fired one torpedo in return, but it missed. She set sail for Guam, Mariana Islands for repairs. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
• RAF Bomber Command abandoned a plan to use modified Lancaster bombers for in-flight fueling when Tiger Force was deployed to Okinawa, Japan for long-range missions against the Japanese home islands, preferring to wait until the new Avro Lincoln aircraft fitted with saddle tanks can became available. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Chub arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Chub | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• US troops began fighting in the old city section of Nürnberg, Germany; meanwhile, US 3rd Army sent units across the Czechoslovakian border. ww2dbase [Southern Germany Campaign | Nürnberg, Franken | TH, CPC]
• German pilot Johannes Steinhoff was seriously burned during a takeoff accident with his Me 262 jet fighter at München (Munich), Germany. ww2dbase [München, München-Oberbayern | CPC]
• The column of prisoners of war that SS-Feldgendarmerie personnel forced out of Marlag und Milag Nord prisoners of war camp in Westertimke, Germany on 2 Apr 1945 crossed the River Elbe near Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Marlag und Milag Nord | Ost-Hannover | HM]

• German 29th Panzergrenadier Division unsuccessfully attempted an armored counterattack against the British bridgehead north of the Fossa Marina canal near Argenta, Italy. ww2dbase [Operation Grapeshot and Operation Roast | Argenta, Emilia-Romagna | CPC]

• USS Sargent Bay arrived in Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Okinawa | CPC]

• Canadian tanks reached the shores of the Ijsselmeer lake, effectively cutting off the 120,000 strong German 25th Army in Holland. ww2dbase [AC]

• B-25 bombers attacked Giran Airfield in northern Taiwan. ww2dbase [Giran Airfield | Giran, Taihoku | CPC]

18 Apr 1945 Interactive Map

• Daly was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Daly | CPC]
• Craven was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Craven | CPC]
• Gridley was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Gridley | CPC]

• The Royal Canadian Air Force retired its fleet of Ventura aircraft. ww2dbase [Ventura | CPC]
• Jozef Tiso was executed by hanging. ww2dbase [Jozef Tiso | CPC]

• Chiang Kaishek stepped down as the Premier of the Republic of China. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | CPC]
• Chan Chak was made a senior adviser to the Chinese central government. ww2dbase [Chan Chak | CPC]

• Manuel Roxas passed away. ww2dbase [Manuel Roxas | CPC]

• Ireland (Eire) gained full independence from the United Kingdom, forming the new Republic of Ireland. It also terminated its Commonwealth membership. ww2dbase [AC]

• The keel of the new 60,000-ton aircraft carrier, USS United States, was laid down at Newport News, Virginia, United States ten days after the purchase of 39 giant six-engine B-36 bombers was announced. The US Air Force was well aware that the purchase price of 234 milion dollars would be challenged by Congress and compared unfavourably with the estimated cost for the carrier of only 189 million dollars. The Air Force went so far as to claim that the Navy was lying about the price, for it knew that the real cost would be close to 500 million dollars. ww2dbase [AC]

• Sergei Khudyakov was executed in Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [Sergei Khudyakov | Moscow | CPC]

18 Apr 1950 Interactive Map

• Douglas MacArthur received a ticker-tape parade in San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | San Francisco, California | CPC]

18 Apr 1952 Interactive Map

• Beardsley Ruml passed away. ww2dbase [Beardsley Ruml | CPC]

• USS Wasp embarked US Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze and departed Boston, Massachusetts, United States for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Boston, Massachusetts | CPC]

• Submarine Cabrilla was sold for scrap. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]

• Shigetada Horiuchi passed away. ww2dbase [Shigetada Horiuchi | CPC]

• Max Wünsche passed away. ww2dbase [Max Wünsche | CPC]