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• German submarine U-126 damaged US ship Colabee 10 miles north of Cuba at 0441 hours, forcing her to run aground to prevent sinking; 23 were killed, 14 survived. Two hours later, at 0643 hours, U-404 sank Chilean freighter Tolten within 5 kilometers of Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, killing 25 of 26 aboard. German submarine U-332 sank US schooner Albert F. Paul 100 kilometers east of the Bahamas at 0720 hours, killing the entire crew of 8. At 1747 hours, U-332 struck again, sinking Yugoslavian ship Trepca; 4 were killed, 33 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell met with Harold Alexander. Stilwell's diary entry for the day noted that he was unimpressed with the British general. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | Harold Alexander | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-164 sank Norwegian merchant ship Mabella 100 miles northeast of Madras, India. ww2dbase [CPC]
• HMS Eagle completed engine repairs. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]
• Merchant ship Sevaples and Soviet anti-submarine whaler Stefa, both of which fell out of Allied convoy PQ-12 several days prior, found each other while at sea as Sevaples was being attacked by a German aircraft; Stefa shot down the German attacker. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• USS Permit sank the scuttled PT-32 of US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 in Philippine waters. ww2dbase [Permit | CPC]
• After sundown and into the next date, Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz swam across a Greek harbor to the German submarine U-133 and placed explosives on the ship which was preparing to leave on a combat mission. U-133 destroyed on 14 Mar 1942, killing 45 crew members. ww2dbase [Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz | JR]

• Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli sank 6,422-ton British merchant steamer ship Daytonian 330 miles off Palm Beach, Florida, United States; 1 was killed, 58 survived. Daytonian was on a voyage from Mobile, Alabama, United States to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with general cargo. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | HM]
• The 1,459-ton Swedish cargo ship Hermod was on a voyage from Rotterdam, the Netherlands to Helsingborg, Sweden when she was torpedoed by a British MTB-boat and sank off Terschelling, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
• The 4,398-ton German-controlled Belgian steam merchant Liège was torpedoed by a British motor torpedo boat and sank off Terschelling, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
• At 0458 hours German submarine U-68 attacked the convoy GAT-49 about 200 miles northwest of Curaçao, torpedoed the 7,506-ton American tanker Cities Service Missouri. 30 minutes later, she struck the 2,680-ton Dutch steam merchant ship Ceres with two torpedoes, the first hitting under the bridge and the second under the No. 5 hatch. All eight officers, 35 crewmen and 11 armed guards left the American tanker in three lifeboats and one raft. At 0740 hours the ship plunged stern first with her bow straight in the air. Three hours later, destroyer USS Biddle (DD 151) picked up the American survivors. A boatswain drowned trying to get on the destroyer and a machinist died of wounds and burns on board. The survivors were later brought to Curaçao. Meanwhile, the two torpedoes caused heavy flooding, causing her to sink quickly. The Dutch crew and the passengers immediately abandoned ship and were picked up by an escort vessel. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | Caribbean Sea | HM]

• USS S-38 arrived at Fremantle, Austalia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Fremantle, Western Australia | CPC]

• Five B-17 bombers of the US 40th Reconnaissance Squadron from Australia were launched to attack Rabaul, New Britain; only one arrived over the target to drop the bomb load, which caused little damage. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• Japanese minesweeper Tama Maru No. 2 sank. She was damaged by US Navy carrier aircraft in the Lae-Salamaua area of Australian Territory of New Guinea three days prior. ww2dbase [HM]

• Five Japanese Zero fighters strafed military installations at Port Moresby, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Port Moresby | CPC]

• Lieutenant Commander Stephen Beattie, commanding officer of destroyer HMS Campbeltown, was captured by the Germans at Saint-Nazaire, Pays de la Loire, France. ww2dbase [Raid on Saint-Nazaire | Stephen Beattie | Saint-Nazaire, Pays de la Loire | CPC]

• Overnight, 135 RAF bombers attacked Köln, Germany, killing 62 and wounding 84. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Köln, Köln-Aachen | CPC]

• USS Gar (SS-206; Lieutenant Commander Donald McGregor) sank Japanese victualling stores ship Chichiubu Maru off Mikura Jima 100 miles south of Tokyo Bay, Japan with three of four torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Gar | Tokyo | CPC]

• The British submarine HMS Taurus (P 339) sank the French tug Ghrib and the lighter Labillon with gunfire off Cassis, southern France. ww2dbase [HM]

• German armed merchant cruiser Michel departed Vlissingen, the Netherlands in the evening, escorted by 9 minesweepers and 5 torpedo boats. ww2dbase [Michel | CPC]

• Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita, flying in a submarine-based (submarine I-25) E14Y aircraft, conducted a photographic reconnaissance mission over Auckland, New Zealand. ww2dbase [Nobuo Fujita | Auckland | CPC]

• 1,200 sick prisoners from the hospital within Auschwitz I camp who were judged as not able to recover were transferred to the BIb sector of Birkenau camp, where they were killed. Their bodies were transported back to Auschwitz I to be cremated. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]
• In Poland, The Belzec Concentration Camp opened for operation with a transport of 6,000 Jews from Mielec, Poland. ww2dbase [Belzec Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Belzec, Lublin | CPC]

• A major Soviet attack was launched out of Kerch Peninsula in Russia in an attempt to relieve the besieged city of Sevastopol. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Krym | TH]

• British submarine HMS Una sank Italian fishing boat Maria Immacolata with her deck gun 5 miles off Tunisia. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Stephen Beattie was made the commanding officer of destroyer HMS Campbeltown. ww2dbase [Stephen Beattie | CPC]

• US Coast Guard located 11 survivors of American steam merchant ship John D. Gill floating on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean at 0600 hours. The raft had been released by able seaman, Edwin F. Cheney, Jr. after the ship was struck by German submarine U-158 during the previous night. Cheney was later awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for his bravery. The occupants of the raft were put onboard the USCG Agassiz (WSC-126) and taken to Southport, North Carolina, United States. The ship sank at 0900 hours. ww2dbase [Kure, North Carolina | HM]

13 Mar 1942 Interactive Map