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• Claude Auchinleck assumed personal command of the British Eighth Army. Meanwhile, Arthur Coningham launched around-the-clock bombing of Erwin Rommel's advancing army in North Africa. The Luftwaffe, weakened by operations at Bir Hakeim and Tobruk, could only put up 50% of their available aircraft to counter the Allied attacks. This allowed the 8th Army to successfully occupy positions at El Alamein positions, whilst the German and Italians were left short of fuel and supplies. ww2dbase [Battle of Mersa Matruh | AC]
• Ernest King ordered the preparation for an offensive in the lower Solomon Islands; Santa Cruz, Tulagi, and other nearby islands were to be assaulted by US Marines. To that end, US PBY Catalina aircraft bombed Tulagi. US Army also began to form occupation garrisons for the occupation of these islands. The planned launch date for the offensive was set for 1 Aug 1942. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• Dong Zhao was named the deputy commanding officer of the 34th Army. ww2dbase [Dong Zhao | CPC]
• German submarine U-404 attacked an Allied convoy 75 miles off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, United States at 0116 hours, sinking Panamanian SS Nordal (all 32 aboard survived) and damaging US ship Manuela (2 were killed, 40 survived). Before dawn, German submarine U-153 sank British ship Anglo-Canadian 720 miles northeast of Saint Kitts; 1 was killed, 49 survived; the crew of U-153 gave survivors drinking water and cigarettes before leaving the scene of the attack. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Lieutenant General Neil Ritchie was fired by Claude Auchinleck following the loss of Tobruk, Libya. ww2dbase [AC]

• Three flying boats arrived at Constantine Harbor, Amchitka Island, US Territory of Alaska to pick up the last of the survivors of USS S-27, which had run aground six days prior. ww2dbase [S-27 | Constantine Harbor, Amchitka | CPC]
• USS Honolulu arrived at Kodiak Island, Alaska. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Kodiak | DS]

• Morosini, in the Atlantic Ocean at 2200 hours, was informed that fellow Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi would transfer 15 tons of fuel to Morosini. ww2dbase [Giuseppe Finzi | Morosini | CPC]

• Sir Arthur Harris of the RAF Bomber Command launched the third Thousand Bomber Raid, this time sending 1,067 aircraft (including some aircraft from Coastal Command and Army Cooperation Command) to attack Bremen, Germany; only 696 reported successfully reaching the city. The RAF Bomber Command lost 48 aircraft, half of which had inexperienced crews recruited from training squadrons flying worn out aircraft; the RAF Coastal Command lost 5 aircraft. 572 houses were destroyed, 6,108 were damaged. 85 were killed, while 497 were wounded and 2,378 were made homeless. An assembly shop at the Focke-Wulf factory was destroyed, while the Bremer Vulkan shipyard and nearby docks and warehouses were also damaged. ww2dbase [Bremer Vulkan AG | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Bremen, Weser-Ems | AC, CPC]

• USS Finback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Finback | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Joseph Rochefort officially assumed the role of the temporary chief of the Intelligence Center of Pacific Ocean Areas of the US Navy Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Joseph Rochefort | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• The order for carrier Katsuragi was issued. ww2dbase [Katsuragi | CPC]

• USS Nautilus sank Japanese destroyer Yamakaze with 2 torpedoes 60 miles south of Tokyo Bay, Japan; all 226 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Nautilus | CPC]

• Soviet 2nd Shock Army, trapped on the Volkhov River near Leningrad, Russia since 30 May 1942, was defeated; General Vlasov ordered the 180,000 survivors to break up into small groups to attempt to escape back to Soviet lines to the east; only 120,000 men would succeed. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Leningrad | CPC]

• Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in London, England, United Kingdom and was appointed the Commander of US Forces in Europe. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | London, England | TH]
• In the Palace of Westminster in London, England, United Kingdom, Winston Churchill's critics, led by Sir John Wardlaw-Milne, embarked on a vote on no-confidence in the Prime Minister. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | London, England | AC]

• At the conclusion of the Second Washington Conference, Roosevelt and Churchill decided to combine the atomic bomb research efforts of US and UK, among other topics of discussion. As Tobruk in North Africa fell under Axis control, Churchill headed back to Britain, pondering a shift in command in North Africa in order for him to maintain his political power in London. ww2dbase [Second Washington Conference | Washington | CPC]
• The US Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) S-1 Executive Committee held a meeting to discuss the location of manufacturing facilities for the Manhattan Project. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | Vannevar Bush | CPC]

• Saratoga delivered 25 P-40 Warhawk fighters and 18 SBD Dauntless dive bombers to Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Saratoga | Midway | CPC]

25 Jun 1942 Interactive Map