World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 15 Mar 1942

• Adolf Hitler predicted a victory over the Soviet Union by the end of the summer of 1942. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
• British cruisers HMS Dido and HMS Euryalus bombarded the Greek island of Rhodes. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British tanker British Resource, fatally damaged by German submarine U-124 on the previous day, sank. After dawn, a PBO-1 Hudson aircraft flying cover for Allied convoy ON-72 sank German submarine U-503 245 miles southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland, killing the entire crew of 51. At 0604 hours, U-158 sank US tanker Olean 15 kilometers southeast of Swansboro, North Carolina, United States; 6 were killed, 36 survived. At 0722 hours, U-158 struck again in the same area, sinking US tanker Ario; 7 were killed, 26 survived. Italian submarine Tazzoli sank British ship Athelqueen 270 miles east of Palm Beach, Florida, United States (3 were killed, 46 survived), but would collide with the wreck of Athelqueen, forcing her to end her patrol early for repairs in Bordeaux, France. At about 1200 hours, U-161 sank US Coast Guard lighthouse tender Acacia with her surface guns; all 36 aboard survived and were rescued by destroyer USS Overton. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Harold Alexander admitted to Joseph Stilwell that the British had only 4,000 well-equipped fighting men in Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• German submarine U-161 sank US Coast Guard lighthouse tender Acacia with her surface guns south of Haiti; all 36 aboard survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• Soviet submarine ShCh-210 became missing while operating off Cape Shabla, Bulgaria; she had likely struck a Romanian naval mine. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Morosini sighted masts of Dutch tanker Oscilla in the Atlantic Ocean at 2005 hours and began to maneuver to an attack position. ww2dbase [Morosini | CPC]

• Nine Japanese bombers attacked Madang, Australian Territory of New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Madang | CPC]

• Tenryu arrived at Buka island, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Buka, Bougainville | CPC]

• Kaga departed Staring Bay near Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Kaga | Staring Bay, Celebes | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci arrived at Bordeaux, France at 1930 hours, ending a war patrol. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
• The German occupation administration in France passed a new law that dictated heavy fines or prison time for French civilians who were caught buying food on the black market or smuggling food. However, many officials and policemen would be lenient with this law in cases of people obtaining small amounts of food illegally to feed their own families. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS St. Louis and convoy arrive in Hawaii with half of the convoy entering Hilo Harbor, half entering Honolulu Harbor, and St. Louis entering Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Japanese killed 76 civilians, mostly ethnic Chinese, in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan in Malaya. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan | CPC]

• US Air Force 67th Pursuit Squadron arrived at New Caledonia, along with a force of 45 P-40 fighters. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Honolulu departed Nouméa, New Caledonia bound for Tutuila, Samoa. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Nouméa | DS]

• US Army General Douglas MacArthur departed Philippine Islands by B-17 bomber for Australia. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• At Auschwitz I Concentration Camp, 28 prisoners died in the hospital. At Auschwitz II-Birkenau, SS guards killed 131 prisoners without reason before noon, and in the afternoon about 250 prisoners (including 103 Soviet prisoners of war) died from wounds sustained during torture. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• The Heito Prisoners of War Camp, also known as Taiwan Prisoners of War Camp No. 3, was closed in southern Taiwan. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Nachi arrived at Mako, Pescadores Islands, Taiwan. She departed later on the same day. ww2dbase [Nachi | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• German motor torpedo boats attacked British coastal convoy FS749 20 miles off of England, United Kingdom in the North Sea, sinking destroyer HMS Vortigern; 110 were killed, 14 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German motor torpedo boats attacked British coastal convoy FS749 20 miles off the English coast in the North Sea, with S-104 sinking British destroyer HMS Vortigern; 110 were killed, 14 survived. ww2dbase [England | CPC]

15 Mar 1942 Interactive Map