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• 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]
• Destroyers USS Nicholas and USS Fletcher arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• 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 [Leonardo da Vinci | 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 [Operation Vengeance | 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]
• Leonardo da Vinci sighted the 8,007-ton British freighter Manaar in the Indian Ocean at 0315 hours and hit her in the No. 1 Hold on the starboard side with a torpedo. The crew abandoned ship, but the ship did not sink. At 0430 hours, another hit was made in the No. 4 Hold on the port side. Still afloat, the Italian submarine fired 23 100-millimeter rounds from her deck gun between 0545 and 0710 hours, scoring 12 hits and finally sinking her. Four crew members were killed during the sinking, one officer was picked up by Leonardo da Vinci as a prisoner, and 93 survived. Leonardo da Vinci approached one of the lifeboats and disembarked Indian sailor Shamshen, who was the lone survivor from Dutch freighter Sembilan which was sunk by Leonardo da Vinci on the previous date. ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | 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 [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | 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 [Pollack | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

18 Apr 1943 Interactive Map