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• The first operational sortie of the new Republic P-47B Thunderbolt aircraft was undertaken by the US 8th Air Force based in the United Kingdom. US 8th Air Force would provide high altitude escorts and would engage in fighter sweeps. ww2dbase [P-47 Thunderbolt | AC]
• US bombers attacked Italian airfields at Castelvetrano and Trapani, Sicily, Italy, destroying 11 Italian and 8 German aircraft and damaging 16 Italian and 40 German aircraft, at the cost of only 2 B-17 bombers. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Desert War | CPC]
• Orde Wingate and his small group of Chindits crossed the Irrawaddy River in Burma by rafts built with locals' help. The final group of men were left behind on the east bank of the river as rearguard as the Japanese attack on this group intensified. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze made a troop transport run to Cape Gloucester (Tuluvu), New Britain, Bismarck Islands, then departed New Britain for Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | CPC]
• Frederick Aikman damaged a German Bf 109G aircraft. ww2dbase [Frederick Aikman | CPC]

• Cruiser Georges Leygues intercepted German blockade runner Portland in the Atlantic Ocean; Portland's crew scuttled the ship to prevent capture. ww2dbase [Georges Leygues | CPC]
• Alpino Bagnolini sighted a ship in the Atlantic Ocean at 0357 hours and another at 0455, neither of which responded to her recognition signals; given her distance to the French coast, the Italian submarine assumed them to be friendly. At 1448 hours, she arrived at Bordeaux, France, ending her tenth war patrol. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• Matome Ugaki, still recovering from dengue fever at Rabaul, New Britain, was given permission by the doctor to leave his bed. ww2dbase [Matome Ugaki | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• At Rabaul, New Britain, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto played a game of Shogi with Vice Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, discussing Pacific War strategy. When Yamamoto spoke of his intention to personally inspect forward bases to raise morale, Rear Admiral Takatsugu Jojima and Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa protested but failed to dissuade Yamamoto. Yamamoto's lieutenants were particularly worried about the fact that Yamamoto's detailed travel itinerary were sent over the radio. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Yugure and Suzutsuki departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yugure | Truk | CPC]

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

• Mutsu arrived at Kure, Japan and took on a full load of ammunition and supplies destined for the Aleutian Islands, but that mission would soon to be canceled. ww2dbase [Mutsu | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• USS Flying Fish damaged a Japanese freighter off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, hitting her with 2 of 4 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]
• Captain Katsuya Sato was named the commanding officer of Settsu. ww2dbase [Settsu | CPC]

• The Soviet GKO meeting at 2205 hours on this date was also joined by Soviet counterintelligence leaders Vsevolod Merkulov, Viktor Abakumov, Lavrentiy Tsanava, Nikolai Selivanovsky, Nikolai Korolev, Nikolai Khannikov, Isai Babich, Nikolai Mel'nikov, Filipp Golikov, and Aleksandr Shcherbakov. Most of them would leave at 2330 hours, leaving Joseph Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Georgy Malenkov to continue the discussion on reorganization of Soviet counterintelligence efforts. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | CPC]

• USS S-38 completed her overhaul at San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [S-38 | San Diego, California | CPC]

13 Apr 1943 Interactive Map