11 Mar 1942
  • Japanese troops landed on Mindanao, the southern-most of the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
  • Tatsuta Maru arrived at Wake Island. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
  • German submarine U-565 sank British cruiser HMS Naiad 30 miles north of Sidi Barrani, Egypt at 2000 hours; 82 were killed, 582 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Chiang Kaishek told Joseph Stilwell that he was now ready to commit three elite Chinese armies (5th, 6th, and 66th) to Burma. Stilwell would soon find out that Chiang had secretly ordered the Chinese commanders to avoid decisive confrontations, thus rendering the Chinese troops useless to Stilwell's command. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | CPC]
  • The 6 survivors of USS Edsall, sunken off Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean on 1 Mar 1942, were executed by their Japanese captors. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Japanese submarine I-2 attacked British passenger ship Chilka 340 miles west of Padang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies at 1400 hours, killing 7. Chilka signaled surrender at 1425 hours. The captain of I-2 gave the crew some time to abandon ship before proceeding to sink her. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Merchant ship Sevaples fell out of Allied convoy PQ-12 in poor weather. Allied convoy QP-8 arrived at Reykjavík, Iceland. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-701 sank British anti-submarine trawler HMS Stella Capella 38 miles east of Iceland at 0211 hours, killing all 33 aboard. German submarine U-94 sank Norwegian ship Hvoslef 2 miles east of Fenwick Island, Delaware, United States at 0316 hours; 6 were killed, 14 survived. Further south, U-126 sank US freighter Texan within 5 kilometers of the northern coast of Cuba. Italian submarine Tazzoli sank Panamanian ship Cygnet 5 mile east of the Bahamas; all 30 aboard survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
  • The 951-ton coastal collier Horseferry was attacked and torpedoed by a German E-boat, east of Cromer Knoll, Norfolk, England. Eleven of her crew were killed in the attack. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | North Sea | HM]
  • The 3,089-ton Norwegian steam merchant Ingerto strayed from Allied convoy ON-70 in the Atlantic Ocean and was reported as missing. ww2dbase [HM]
  • Morosini sighted smoke from a tanker in the Atlantic Ocean at 1153 hours. At 1245 hours, she made rendezvous with fellow Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi and passed on the intelligence regarding the nearby tanker. At 1838 hours, she fired two bow torpedoes, buth of which missed. The tanker opened fire with her stern gun, forcing Morosini to submerge at 1950 hours. At 2020 hours, Giuseppe Finzi reported that the tanker had escaped toward the south. At 2222 hours, she sighted British freighter Manaqui and began to maneuver to an attack position. ww2dbase [Giuseppe Finzi | Morosini | CPC]
Australia
  • George Brett dispatched 4 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, with skeleton crew, from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, via Daly Waters, Northern Territory; these aircraft were meant to be used to evacuate Douglas MacArthur and his family and staff from the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [George Brett | Darwin, Northern Territory | CPC]
Australian New Guinea Dutch East Indies Hawaii Pacific Ocean
  • With sister Zuikaku, Shokaku accompanied Vice Admiral Takasu Shiro's First Fleet (Ise and Hyuga) on a sortie to sweep for enemy believed to approaching Japan. ww2dbase [Shokaku | CPC]
  • USS Pollack (SS-180; Lieutenant Commander Stanley Moseley) fired six torpedoes at 1,454-ton Japanese cargo ship Fukushu Maru (none hit) and four torpedoes at 5,266-ton passenger ship Baikal Maru (1 hit, resulting in sinking) in the East China Sea. ww2dbase [Pollack | East China Sea | CPC, HM]
Panama Canal Zone Philippines United States
  • At 0758 hours, German submarine U-158 struck 2,609-ton US steam merchant Caribsea on the starboard side with a torpedo 20 kilometers east of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, United States, just off the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. The Caribsea rapidly settled and sank in less than three minutes in shallow waters. No distress signals could be sent and the crew of eight officers and 20 men had no chance to launch the lifeboats. The few survivors climbed onto two rafts that floated free and they later observed the submarine passing within 100 yards. The men on a raft made use of a small metal can as a reflector to attract the attention of the northbound Norlindo, which picked up two officers and five crewmen after ten hours. They were transferred to a US Coast Guard dispatch boat off Cape Henry. Only 7 would survive the sinking. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Harkers Island, North Carolina | CPC, HM]
US Pacific Islands
  • Japanese H8K flying boats attacked Midway Atoll, causing minor damage; one aircraft was shot down in this attack. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 11 Mar 1942
Humber Mk II Armoured Car, 11 Mar 1942; note 15mm BESA machine gunBritish M2A4 light tank, 11 Mar 1942Cruiser HMS Cumberland underway in wartime disruptive paint scheme, 11 Mar 1942, location unknown. Note large aircraft hangar enclosure on the afterdeck.Cruiser Mk V Covenanter III tank, 11 Mar 1942
See all photos dated 11 Mar 1942

11 Mar 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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Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal


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