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• Captain Bunjiro Yamaguchi was assigned the commanding officer of light carrier Hosho. ww2dbase [Main Article | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
• The United States Navy Task Force 1, consisted of 7 battleships and 10 destroyers, set sail for the Hawaiian Islands, where it would remain to patrol the area during the Guadalcanal invasion. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The United States Navy Bureau of Ordnance admitted problems with torpedoes, but only that they were running 10 feet to deep, refusing to address the detonator failure issue. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The British Army Air Corps and Glider Pilot Regiment were established. ww2dbase [AC]
• Chiang Kaishek accepted Joseph Stilwell's X-Y Plan for an offensive into Burma on the conditions that British generals fully cooperate with the campaign and that the Allies would support the offensive from the air. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• American born fighter pilot Dominic S. "Don" Gentile of No. 133 squadron RAF, flying a Spitfire fighter, shot down both a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and a Junkers Ju 88 aircraft in the space of 10 minutes. This would earn him the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal. ww2dbase [AC]
• German submarine U-77 sank Egyptian sail boat St. Simon 35 miles northwest of Beirut, French Syria-Lebanon at 1335 hours; all aboard survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-155 sank Dutch ship Kentar at 0220 hours (17 were killed, 62 survived) and British ship Clan MacNaughton at 1800 hours (5 were killed, 77 survived) southeast of Barbados. 100 miles east of Trinidad, Italian submarine Tazzoli sank Greek ship Kastor; 4 were killed, 31 survived. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• German submarine U-601 sank Soviet collier Krest'janin 30 miles south of Belushya Guba, Novaya Zemlya islands, Russia in the eastern Barents Sea at 0023 hours; 7 were killed, 38 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-601 received orders to go into the Kara Sea as a part of Operation Wunderland. En route, she would sink Soviet transport Krestyanin with one torpedo, killing 7. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• George Kenney inspected Mareeba airfield in Queensland, Australia. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• USS S-44 spotted a potential target in New Britain-New Ireland region, but rough seas prevented her from attacking. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Anti-British nationalist leader Ba Maw installed a Japanese puppet government in Burma. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]

• Yukio Kasahara was named the chief of staff of Kenkichi Ueda (Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China). ww2dbase [CPC]

• Wilhelm Beck was named the commanding officer of German cruiser Prinz Eugen. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Preparation of site, including filling and grading, usably complete. ww2dbase [Main Article | DS]

• The keel of Unryu was laid down at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | Facility | Tabular Record of Movement | CPC]
• USS Narwhal sank Japanese freighter Meiwa Maru and tanker Koan Maru in the Tsugaru Strait between Hokkaido Prefecture and Aomori Prefecture, Japan. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Crown Prince Yi Un was attached to Japanese 1st Air Army. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Marshal Andrey Yeryomenko was appointed the commanding officer of the Soviet Southeastern Front, charged with planning the defense of Stalingrad in southern Russia. Meanwhile, German 4th Panzer Army attacked Kotelnikovo located 100 miles southwest of Stalingrad, surprising Soviet defenders. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• German 1st Panzer Army captured Salsk, Russia. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Georgy Zhukov launched a feint attack at Yukhnov, Russia, drawing German attention away from Rzhev where the main attack by 20th, 29th, 30th, and 31st Armies would soon commence. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS New Mexico completed a scheduled overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, United States, during which her 5-inch guns were removed in exchange for more anti-aircraft weapons. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

1 Aug 1942 Interactive Map