World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » Events
• » 22 May 1944

• U-530 departed Lorient, France for Trinidad. Aboard, she carried a Naxos radar detector to be given to the Japanese when she was to meet with Japanese submarine I-52. ww2dbase [U-530 | CPC]
• USS Trepang was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Trepang | CPC]
• USS Pollack attacked a Japanese convoy in the Pacific Ocean, sinking destroyer Asanagi and damaging a freighter; ten torpedoes were expended in this tatack. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]
• Lieutenant Kenneth Elliot Meredith was named the commanding officer of HMCS Trillium. ww2dbase [Trillium | CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze suffered minor propeller damage when it accidentally struck a reef near Tawi-Tawi, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | CPC]
• USS Ray attacked a nine-ship Japanese convoy south of the Philippine Islands with seven torpedoes, scoring five hits; Tempei Maru was sunk and two other ships were damaged. A short moment later, she fired another torpedo from a stern tube, damaging another ship. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]

• Joseph Stilwell promoted John McCammon to the rank of brigadier general to command all American and Chinese troops in the Myitkyina area in Burma, despite his recent arrival and lack of field command experience. On the front lines, after dark, men of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), tired from spending so long fighting in the Burmese jungles without rest, allowed a Japanese force to march right past their foxholes as they slept, losing several men, including Lieutenant Warren Smith who might not had woken from his sleep when he was killed. By this date, the strength of 2nd Battalion of US 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) was down to only about 400 soldiers who were fit for combat. ww2dbase [Battle of Myitkyina | Joseph Stilwell | John McCammon | Myitkyina | CPC]

• Gao Youxin, flying a P-40N Warhawk fighter based in Xi'an, China, attacked a column of Japanese vehicles near the town of Chang-ya and claimed heavy damage. He was forced to crash land by anti-aircraft fire and was eventually able to evade capture. ww2dbase [Gao Youxin | Chang-ya | CPC]

• Lieutenant Colonel Francis Gabreski of US 56th Fighter Group shot down three German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft in one day over northwestern Germany. ww2dbase [Francis Gabreski | AC, JR]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against dock facilities at Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Kiel | DS]

• USS Puffer attacked a Japanese carrier in the South China Sea, firing 6 torpedoes and claiming 1 hit. ww2dbase [Puffer | South China Sea | CPC]

• In a Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle the word "Omaha" appeared as one of the answers. This caused considerable consternation among Allied invasion planners as "Omaha" was the codename for the French beach due to be assaulted by the US 1st Division on D-Day. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | AC]

22 May 1944 Interactive Map