27 Aug 1942
  • Tatsuta Maru arrived at Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa (now Maputo, Mozambique). The nearly 1,000 interned Allied personnel aboard were exchanged with the British for Japanese diplomats and supplies. She also took on 48,818 Red Cross parcels meant for Allied prisoners of war currently in Japanese custody. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
  • Walter Krupinski received the German Cross in Gold medal. ww2dbase [Walter Krupinski | CPC]
  • Oberstleutnant Ernst K¸hl was named the commanding officer of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • British ship Empire Kumari, damaged by German submarine U-375 on the previous day, sank in Haifa Bay, Palestine. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-511 attacked Allied convoy TAW-15 with two torpedoes 15 miles east of Haiti at 0629 hours, sinking British tanker San Fabian (26 were killed, 33 survived), sinking Dutch tanker Rotterdam (10 were killed, 37 survived), and damaging US tanker Esso Aruba; Esso Aruba was beached at Guantanamo Bay to prevent sinking but she would later be repaired. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
  • HMS Umbra sank Italian transport Manfredo Campiero 30 miles west of Crete, Greece. ww2dbase [CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-156 sank British ship Clan MacWhirter 190 miles north of Madeira island at 0100 hours; 12 were killed, 74 survived. At 1348 hours, U-517 sank US passenger ship Chatham off Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada; 14 were killed, 548 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
Australian Papua
  • 8 Japanese dive bombers escorted by 12 Zero fighters attacked the Gili Gili airfield at Milne Bay, escorted by 12 Zero fighters, causing minimal damage; 1 Japanese aircraft was shot down by Australian Kittyhawk fighters. At 2000 hours, Japanese attacked Australian troops at Gama River on the Milne Bay coast, killing 43 and driving the Australians back. In land, along the Kokoda Track, Japanese troops made advances at Isurava and Australian 2/16th Battalion was dispatched from reserve to reinforce the defenses. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]
British Western Pacific Territories France
  • A tractor factory in France, previously owned by French Jew Robert Rothschild, was turned over to German firm Friedrich Krupp AG. ww2dbase [CPC]
Germany
  • 306 British bombers attacked Kassel, Germany, destroying 144 buildings, damaging 3 Henschel aircraft factories, killing 28 military personnel and 15 civilians, and wounding 64 military personnel and 187 civilians; 31 bombers were lost on this mission. On the same day, Soviet bombers attacked Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Kassel, Kurhessen | CPC]
Hawaii
  • US Marine Corps squadron VMF-214 took delivery of 12 F4F-3 Wildcat fighters while at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa in the US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Ewa Marine Corps Air Station | Kapolei, Oahu | CPC]
Poland Russia
  • In addition to being responsible for the defense of Stalingrad in southern Russia, Georgy Zhukov was appointed as Stalin's First Deputy Commissar for Defense. ww2dbase [Georgy Zhukov | TH]
  • German 16th Panzer Division, out of fuel to move further, dug in north of Stalingrad, Russia to wait for the German 6th Army to catch up to reinforce its position. 16 miles south of Stalingrad, German 4th Panzer Division made slow progress due to heavy resistance near Lake Sarpa. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]
  • As Soviet Volkhov Front attacked toward Leningrad Russia, Soviet 8th Army attacked outwards from within the city, briefly opening a small corridor. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | Leningrad | CPC]
  • Admiral Scheer approached Port Dikson in northern Russia at 0105 hours, intending to attack the command center of the Soviet Northern Sea Route with a 180-man landing party, not knowing the port was well-defended with 50 NKVD troops, 300 militia, 2 anti-tank guns, 1 anti-aircraft gun, 1 750mm howitzer, and large caliber coastal guns. As Admiral Scheer approached to bombard, Soviet flagship Dezhnev was disabled at 0145 hours (7 were killed), followed by Soviet ship Revolutionary. To Admiral Scheer's surprise, 152mm coastal guns opened fire; although the Soviet coastal gun crews could not see through the thick smoke from Dezhnev and Revolutionary and could only fire in Admiral Scheer's general direction, it was enough to force Admiral Scheer to break off the attack. At the end of the engagement, Port Dikson saw its radio station, oil depot, coal storage, and power station damaged or destroyed. ww2dbase [Admiral Scheer | Dikson, Krasnoyarsk Krai | CPC]
  • At Morozovskaya Airfield in southern Russia, Oberstleutnant Ernst Kühl took command of German Luftwaffe group KG 55, replacing Oberst Benno Kosch. ww2dbase [Morozovskaya, Rostov | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • German bombers attacked Leeds, England, United Kingdom in the late hours of the day, lasting until the next day. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Leeds, England | CPC]
  • The keel of carrier Glory was laid down by Harland and Wolff at Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Glory | Belfast, Northern Ireland | CPC]
United States Photo(s) dated 27 Aug 1942
2-inch mortar team of UK Royal Scots Fusiliers, Scotland, United Kingdom, 27 Aug 1942Laying the keel of submarine Dorado, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 27 Aug 1942

27 Aug 1942 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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