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• The Main Body of the Japanese Midway invasion fleet set sail; it was consisted of Battleship Division 1 (Yamato, Nagato, Mutsu), light carrier Hosho, seaplane/submarine tenders Chiyoda and Nisshin, light cruiser Sendai of Destroyer Squadron 3, nine destroyers, and Supply Group No. 1; the Main Body remained 600 miles behind the Carrier Striking Force. Meanwhile, the transport fleet set sail from Saipan in the Mariana Islands; it was consisted of 15 transports. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]
• The Commonwealth CA-12 Boomerang fighter made its maiden flight, only fourteen weeks after its design had been approved and an initial order for 105 machines placed. ww2dbase [Boomerang | AC]
• A lifeboat containing survivors of Dutch ship Polyphemus, which was sunk by German submarine U-578 on 27 May, was stopped by U-566; after some questioning, the German crew provided the survivors some water and pointed them toward the east coast of the United States. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• German submarine U-156 sank British ship Norman Prince 60 miles west of Saint Lucia, Lesser Antilles islands at 0103 hours; 16 were killed, 32 survived. At 0217 hours, U-107 sank British ship Western Head 10 miles south of Rio Seco, Cuba; 24 were killed, 6 survived. Finally, U-50 sank British ship Allister 54 miles south of Grand Cayman island at 2337 hours; 15 were killed, 8 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-21 launched her floatplane for a reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Hero, HMS Eridge, and HMS Hurworth forced German submarine U-568 to surface and be scuttled 40 miles northeast of Tobruk, Libya with a depth charging that lasted 16 hours; all 47 aboard survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Turbulent fired four torpedoes at an Italian convoy 135 miles northwest of Benghazi, Libya at 0700 hours; one torpedo struck and sank Capo Arma, while another circled back over the submarine and then proceed to strike and sink destroyer Emmanuele Pessagno. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Swordfish sank Japanese transport Tatsufuku Maru, already damaged by USS Seal on the previous day, between Dutch Borneo and the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Swordfish | CPC]
• Allied convoy QP-12 arrived at Reykjavík, Iceland. To the east, PQ-16 sailed in the opposite direction. As PQ-16 neared Murmansk, Russia, they were joined by Soviet destroyers Grozny, Sokrushitelny, and Kuibyshev at 1150 hours and then 6 British destroyers several hours later. At 2200 hours, the convoy broke into two groups, one sailing for Murmansk and another sailing for Arkhangelsk further east. At 2330 hours, the Murmansk group came under attack by 18 German aircraft and the Arkhangelsk group by 15 German aircraft; no ships were sunk, and several aircraft on both sides were shot down, including one piloted by Double Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Safonov, killing him. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• A Free French Bren Carrier patrol led by Captain Lamaze and accompanied, in person, by Colonel Mitakvari of the Foreign Legion, was surprised while patrolling in the open desert by a section of Italian M13 tanks which managed to get between the patrol and its perimeter defences. They were only rescued by the timely intervention of Captain Messmer (9th company 3/13th battalion) who would later become the Minister of Defence in the Charles de Gaulle regime in the 1960s. ww2dbase [AC]

• Soviet submarine A-3 sank Romanian vessel Sulina in the Black Sea. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet submarine ShCh-214 sank Turkish vessel Hudarvendigar in the Black Sea. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Long range Catalina flying boats of No. 11 and No. 20 squadrons RAAF made their first raid against the Solomon Islands base at Tulagi, which had already been attacked by US carrier aircraft earlier in the month. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Tulagi | AC]

• 77 British aircraft (31 Wellington, 20 Halifax, 14 Lancaster, 9 Stirling, 3 Hampden) attacked the Gnome et Rhône aircraft engine factory at Gennevilliers northwest of Paris, France, causing little damage; 34 French civilians were killed, 167 were injured; 5 bombers were lost in this mission. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Gennevilliers, ÃŽle-de-France | CPC]

• USS Finback arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Finback | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Yorktown was refloated and moved out of Dry Dock No. 1 at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, US Territory of Hawaii. She received fuel and a new air complement from nearby Naval Air Station Kaneohe. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Honolulu departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bound for Dutch Harbor, Alaska. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Yamato departed Hashirajima island in Hiroshima Bay, Japan at 0600 hours for Operation MI. ww2dbase [Yamato | Hashirajima, Yamaguchi | CPC]
• Light carrier Hosho departed Hashirajima, Japan for the Midway invasion. ww2dbase [Hosho | Hashirajima, Yamaguchi | CPC]
• Yugure departed Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan at 0600 hours. ww2dbase [Yugure | Tokuyama, Yamaguchi | CPC]

• An Italian supply convoy got through the British minefield and reached the Axis forces in the "Cauldron" south of Tobruk, Libya, which British General Neil Ritchie still failed to realize was the main assault force. To the north near the coast, the Storch observation aircraft which General Ludwig Crüwell was aboard was shot down, leading to his capture. ww2dbase [Battle of Gazala | CPC]

• En route to the Aleutian Islands, USS S-28 received new orders due to a potential Japanese attack at Midway, thus starting her first war patrol. ww2dbase [S-28 | CPC]
• USS Permit fired two torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Makassar Strait; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Permit | Makassar Strait | CPC]

• Soviet resistance in the Izium, Ukraine ceased. ww2dbase [Second Battle of Kharkov | Izium, Kharkov | TH, CPC]

• German bombers attacked Grimsby, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Grimsby, England | CPC]

29 May 1942 Interactive Map