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• Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Eivind Berggrav, having been arrested by the German occupation administration in Norway for resistance on the previous day, was sent to the Bredtvet Concentration Camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• German submarine U-654 sank British ship Empire Prairie in the middle of the North Atlantic at 0220 hours, killing all 49 aboard. 20 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States, U-203 sank British tanker San Delfino with 7 torpedoes at 0508 hours; 28 were killed, 22 survived. In the same area, U-552 sank US tanker Tamaulipas at 0627 hours; 2 were killed, 35 survived. In the middle of the South Atlantic, German raider Thor stopped British vessel Kirkpool; Kirkpool's crew suffered no losses during the attack, but 16 would drown as the men abandoned ship; Thor rescued 30 survivors. Finally, Norwegian ship Chr. Knudsen disappeared some time during this day with her crew of 33; she was presumably sunk by German submarine U-85. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Thor | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 6 of the Fourth Fleet. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• Submarine Carbonero was ordered. ww2dbase [Carbonero | CPC]
• The order to build submarine Becuna was issued. ww2dbase [Becuna | CPC]
• Japanese and Chinese troops clashed at Szuwa River, Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• Light cruiser Voroshilov received light damage from German Ju 88 aircraft. ww2dbase [Voroshilov | CPC]
• USS Thresher sank a Japanese merchant ship 6 miles north of Oshima Island, Japan. ww2dbase [Thresher | CPC]
• Allied convoy PQ-14 found itself scattered shortly after dawn after a stormy night; 16 ships decided to return to Iceland while 8 ships sailed on for Russia. On the same day, Allied convoy QP-10 departed Murmansk, Russia; it was consisted of 16 merchant ships, escorted by 5 destroyers, 3 corvettes, 1 minesweeper, and 2 trawlers; QP-10 was almost immediately detected by German aircraft. Far to the west, PQ-15 departed Oban, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• USS Grayback completed her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Grayback | CPC]

• Tenryu arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Truk | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Marco Revedin was made the commanding officer of Comandante Cappellini while at Bordeaux, France, relieving Sergio Bresina. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• 254 British bombers (167 Wellington, 43 Hampden, 18 Stirling, 10 Manchester, 8 Halifax, and 8 Lancaster) attacked Essen, Germany; most bombs fell on the nearby residential areas instead, destroying 12 houses, killing 7 civilians, and wounding a further 30. During this attack, an 8,000-pound bomb was used for the first time, dropped by a Halifax bomber of No. 76 Squadron. 7 Wellington, 5 Hampden, 1 Halifax, and 1 Manchester aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Essen | CPC]

• Kamoi arrived at Taroa, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Taroa | CPC]

• The Japanese, overwhelmed with 76,000 captives at Bataan on the main Philippine island of Luzon, decided to march the prisoners 25 miles to Balanga for further transport. Without food, water, or medical supplies and facing brutal treatment by the Japanese, the prisoners of war would die in large numbers, and this march would soon be named the Bataan Death March. Just off Luzon, minesweeper USS Finch, damaged by Japanese air attacks on the previous day, was scuttled by her crew. Elsewhere in the Philippine Islands, 12,000 Japanese troops landed on Cebu on three invasion beaches; the 6,500 defenders at Cebu City evacuated the capital and moved inland; Australia-based B-17 bombers attacked the invasion force to little effect. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | TH, CPC]
• Lieutenant Commander H. H. Goodall assumed command of USS Canopus, replacing Commander Earl Sacket, for the purpose of leading USS Canopus out to deeper waters off of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippine Islands for scuttling. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | Canopus | CPC]

• Naka arrived at Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. ww2dbase [Naka | Singapore | CPC]

10 Apr 1942 Interactive Map