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• I-168 sent a regular situation report while in the Isabel Strait; this would be the last message from the submarine. At 1754 hours, at dusk, she observed an enemy submarine in the Steffen Strait between New Ireland and New Hanover. She fired a torpedo at what turned out to be USS Scamp, which crash dove and evaded the attack. At 1812, USS Scamp returned fire with a spread of four torpedoes at periscope depth, hitting her with the loss of all hands. ww2dbase [I-68 / I-168 | CPC]
• Heavy fighting in Sicily, Italy led to Feldmarschall Kesselring's decision to plan a possible evacuation of his forces to the mainland. ww2dbase [Invasion of Sicily and Italy's Surrender | TH]
• In Italy, Mussolini was moved from Rome to Ponza Island. ww2dbase [Operation Eiche | TH]
• Adolf Hitler held a conference with Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Erwin Rommel, and Karl Dönitz. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]

• USS Permit arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, ending her ninth war patrol. ww2dbase [Permit | Dutch Harbor, Unalaska | CPC]

• After nightfall, a repeated bombing of Hamburg, Germany by 787 RAF aircraft created a fire storm in which an estimated 42,000 people perished, most of them by carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. The fire storm, in which the heat and humidity of the summer night was a contributory factor, raged for three hours until there was nothing left to burn. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hamburg | AC]

• USS Flying Fish arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Flying Fish | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Marine Fighting Squadron 223 (VMF-223) on board. Part of Marine Fighting Squadron 222 (VMF-222) departed. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Wahoo arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Destroyer USS Shaw shifted from Berth B-18 to Drydock No. 1 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Shaw | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• USS Haddock continued to stalk a convoy which she had spotted on the previous day in the Pacific Ocean. She fired 13 torpedoes across the span of the day, making two hits, damaging one oiler. ww2dbase [Haddock | CPC]

• German submarine U-255 sank Soviet survey ship Akademik Shokalski off Novaya Zemlya archipelago in northern Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Arkhangelsk | CPC]

• USS Ray was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Commander B. J. Harral in command. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]
• Task Group 21.14 (TG 21.14) was formed at Norfolk, Virginia as an anti-submarine Hunter-Killer group centered around escort carrier USS Card with the TBF Avengers and F4F Wildcats of Composite Squadron VC-1 embarked and with escorts of Clemson-class destroyers USS Barry, Goff, and Borie. TG 21.14 departed Norfolk bound for the Central Atlantic that same day. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Card | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]

27 Jul 1943 Interactive Map