World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 15 May 1942

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru was detected by American submarine USS Tautog before dawn south of Truk; as the sun rose, USS Tautog noted the hospital ship markings and abandoned her attack. Hikawa Maru arrived at Truk later that day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Davao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• The retreating Allied columns reached Assam in northeastern India. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• German submarine U-156 sank Norwegian ship Siljestad 420 miles northeast of Barbados at 0254 hours (2 were killed, 31 survived); several hours later, as Yugoslavian ship Kupa responded to the distress call and arrived to pick up survivors, she was attacked and sunk by U-156 at 2100 hours (2 were killed, 39 survived). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Damaged British cruiser HMS Trinidad was scuttled by 3 torpedoes from HMS Matchless 170 miles north of Norway after her crew was taken off by destroyers HMS Matchless, HMS Foresight, and HMS Forester. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Ernest King allowed Chester Nimitz to move the two carriers currently in the South Pacific to move up to the Central Pacific area, but King noted that he was still not convinced that Midway Atoll was the primary target of the suspected Japanese offensive. Later in the same day, Nimitz responded to the message, stressing that he believed the Japanese was likely to launch a three-prong attack against Midway Atoll, Aleutian Islands, and, likely at a two-to-three-week delay, Port Moresby in Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]
• Damaged by German aircraft two hours prior on the previous date, the abandon ship order was given by the captain of HMS Trinidad at 0000 hours; at 0120 hours, she was scuttled by a torpedo from HMS Matchless north of Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• Lützow departed Kiel, Germany for Ofotfjord in northern Norway. ww2dbase [Deutschland | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Serviced Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44), gasoline and oil ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• British General Harold Alexander arrived at Imphal, India. ww2dbase [Harold Alexander | Imphal, Manipur | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell arrived in India. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• Irako arrived at Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Irako | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• Aichi received a request to design the world's first propose-built submarine-borne attack aircraft. ww2dbase [M6A Seiran | CPC]
• Nachi arrived at Ominato Guard District, Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan for a scheduled refit. ww2dbase [Nachi | Mutsu, Aomori | CPC]

• Submarine USS Growler transited the Panama Canal on her way to the Pacific Theater. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Growler | Balboa | DS]

• The Australian Sparrow Force conducted a raid on Japanese barracks at Dili, Portuguese Timor. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Dili | CPC]

• Soviet test pilot Grigory Bakhchivandzhi made the first powered flight in the experimental Berezniak-Isaev BI-1 rocket-powered interceptor at Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, reaching an altitude of 840 meters and reaching the speed of 400 kilometers per hour. ww2dbase [BI | Sverdlovsk | AC, CPC]
• He 111 bombers of German Luftwaffe group I./KG 100 attacked Taman harbor, Russia with the heavy 1,800-kilogram SC 1800 bombs, causing heavy damage. ww2dbase [Taman, Krasnodar Krai | CPC]

• Soviet troops attempted a renewed offensive toward Kharkov, Ukraine, but failing to regain momentum. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Kharkov | Kharkov | CPC]

• USS Wahoo was commissioned into service with Marvin Kennedy in command. ww2dbase [Wahoo | CPC]
• Oveta Hobby was made the Director of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. ww2dbase [Oveta Hobby | CPC]
• The first of the 489 Liberty Ships built at the Kaiser Richmond Shipyards was laid down in Shipyard No. 1. The ship was delivered 97 days later as the SS Edward Rowland Sill and served until 1967. ww2dbase [Kaiser Richmond Shipyards | Liberty-class | Richmond, California | DS]

15 May 1942 Interactive Map