3 Jul 1942
  • German submarine U-215 sank US ship Alexander Macomb 150 kilometers east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States at 1230 hours; 10 were killed, 57 survived; Alexander Macomb sunk with 9,000 tons of war goods for the Soviet Union. British armed anti-submarine warfare trawler HMS Le Tiger counterattacked and sank U-215 with depth charges, killing all 48 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
  • Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Davao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
  • Japanese leadership officially canceled the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. ww2dbase [Battle of Coral Sea | CPC]
  • Japanese reinforced Kiska of the Aleutian Islands with 1,200 men, 24 aircraft, and 6 mini-submarines. Meanwhile, American B-24 aircraft bombed and damaged Japanese seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru, seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru, and oiler Fujisan off Agattu, and American submarines attacked four Japanese destroyers in the area, sinking three of them with torpedoes. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • USS Gar began her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
  • German pocket battleship Lützow, pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, and six destroyers departed from Narvik, Norway to intercept Allied convoy PQ-17 in the Barents Sea; en route, Lützow and three destroyers ran aground. The group was detected by the British and the Soviets, leading to the dispatching of 9 British and 7 Soviet submarines to intercept the German fleet; en route, Soviet submarines D-3 and M-176 hit German naval mines and sank. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
  • USS Flying Fish damaged a Japanese destroyer off Taiwan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]
  • German submarine U-161 sank Panamanian ship San Pablo in the harbor of Puerto Limón, Costa Rica at 0400 hours, killing most aboard and killing 23 stevedores. 50 miles north of Trinidad, U-126 damaged US tanker Gulfbelle, killing 2. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
Canada Egypt
  • German 15th Panzer Division, German 21st Panzer Divisions, and Italian XX Motorized Corps attacked Ruweisat Ridge near El Alamein, Egypt, making little progress. British aircraft flew 780 sorties on this day against the Axis offensive. ww2dbase [First Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]
Mexico Russia Ukraine
  • Adolf Hitler arrived at Poltava, Ukraine to meet with Fedor von Bock to discuss the offensive in southern Russia. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Poltava | CPC]
United States Photo(s) dated 3 Jul 1942
TBF-1 Avenger making a practice drop of a Mark XIII torpedo off Virginia, United States, 3 Jul 1942. This drop was made from 125 feet at 125 knots.Parade of military vehicles, Ann Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 3 Jul 1942; note Diamond T tank transporters and Matilda tanksDestroyer USS Dunlap firing Mark XV torpedoes during exercises south of San Diego, California, 3Jul 1942. Photo 1 of 2.Destroyer USS Dunlap firing Mark XV torpedoes during exercises south of San Diego, California, 3Jul 1942. Photo 2 of 2.
See all photos dated 3 Jul 1942

3 Jul 1942 Interactive Map

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




Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this article with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds

Search WW2DB
Famous WW2 Quote
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Winston Churchill, on the RAF


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!