World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 20 Apr 1944

• The cruiser USS Milwaukee was transferred to the Soviet Navy, under Lend-Lease, and renamed Murmansk. ww2dbase [Milwaukee | AC]
• Amon Göth was given the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer in the reserve forces of the Waffen-SS. ww2dbase [Amon Göth | CPC]
• Oberstgeneral Hube was killed in a plane crash leaving Berchtesgaden, Germany. ww2dbase [TH]
• The American Liberty ship, Paul Hamilton, loaded with men and explosives, was hit by an aerial torpedo off Algiers, French Algeria and blew to pieces. Not one of the 580 men on board, the vast majority US Army Air Force personnel, survived. Only one body was ever recovered. ww2dbase [AC, DS]
• USS Seahorse sank Japanese submarine RO-45 west of Saipan, Mariana Islands, hitting her with three of four torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
• Allied leadership in the South Pacific determined that 90% of Rabaul, New Britain had been destroyed, and there was no further need to continue the aerial bombardment campaign against Rabaul. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | CPC]
• Léon Degrelle was promoted to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer. ww2dbase [Léon Degrelle | CPC]

• After over a month drifting at sea, three survivors of Greek steam merchant ship Peleus, sunk by German submarine U-852 on 13 Mar 1944, was picked up by Portuguese steam merchant Alexandre Silva in the South Atlantic. They were taken to Lobito, Angola. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | HM]

• USS Harder bombarded Woleai, Caroline Islands under the cover of a rain squall. ww2dbase [Harder | Woleai | CPC]

• Ding Delong was named the commanding officer of the Chinese 37th Army. ww2dbase [Ding Delong | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a raid against rocket launching sites in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 2 | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | RAF Thurleigh | Pas-de-Calais | DS]

• The Japanese siege of Kohima, India was beginning to be lifted. ww2dbase [Battle of Imphal-Kohima | Kohima, Assam | CPC]

• Italian motor torpedo boats sank British landing ship LST-305 off Anzio, Italy. ww2dbase [Battle of Anzio | Anzio, Lazio | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her 19th voyage with the Japanese Navy. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]
• Destroyer Yukikaze departed Kure, Japan to escort battleship Yamato and cruiser Maya to Lingga Roads, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• Seaplane tender Richthofen was interned at Pasaia (Spanish: Pasajes), Basque Country, Spain. ww2dbase [Richthofen | Pasaia, Euskadi | CPC]

• No. 214 Squadron RAF (of No. 100 group based at RAF Oulton at Aylsham, England, United Kingdom), established in Nov 1943, flew the first operational sortie with their Fortress Mk. III (SD) aircraft. These were extensively modified B-17G aircraft fitted out with electronic countermeasures and radar jamming devices. This Squadron would fly more than 1,000 sorties up to May 1945 losing just eight aircraft on operations. ww2dbase [B-17 Flying Fortress | Aylsham, England | AC]

• USS Ranger arrived at the Army Base, Staten Island, New York and began loading P-38 Lighting aircraft for further transportation to Casablanca. ww2dbase [Ranger | P-38 Lightning | New York | DS]

20 Apr 1944 Interactive Map