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• Destroyer USS Landsdowne sank German submarine U-153 in the Caribbean Sea 50 kilometers northwest of the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal; all 52 aboard were killed. 20 miles north of Cárdenas, Cuba, German submarine U-84 sank US ship Andrew Jackson; 3 were killed, 46 survived. 2 miles east of Cuba, U-166 sank US ship Oneida; 6 were killed, 23 survived. 80 miles south of Mississippi, United States, U-67 sank US tanker R. W. Gallagher; 10 were killed, 42 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Makassar, Celebes. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Cruiser Köln departed Oslo, Norway for northern Norway. ww2dbase [Köln | CPC]
• Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commanding officer of German Army Group South, was fired from his command by Wilhelm Keitel for moving two Panzer divisions to assist the embattled 9th Panzer without Hitler's direct authority. ww2dbase [Fedor von Bock | AC]
• German submarine U-201 sank British ship Sithonia of Allied convoy OS-33 490 miles west of Canary Islands; 7 were killed, 21 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• USS Seadragon sank Japanese transport Shinyo Maru off Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina. ww2dbase [Seadragon | CPC]

• The floating wreck of Dutch merchant steamer Paulus Potter, damaged by German air attack 8 days prior, was discovered by German submarine U-225. The ship was a member of Allied convoy PQ-17. The second officer and two crew boarded the deserted ship and made an attempt to get her under way. However, the flooding in the engine room was too deep and after taking food, cigarettes and other useful material including a heavy chest from the bridge, they returned to the submarine. The chest contained the confidential papers pertaining to the convoy codes and positions which the Dutch in their haste had forgotten to throw overboard. U-225 then torpedoed and sank the Dutch merchant. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Barents Sea | CPC, HM]

• Kapitänleutnant Hans-Dieter Heinicke of U-576 sent a radio message back to base, noting that his submarine sustained light damage and would soon head back to Saint-Nazaire, France. ww2dbase [U-576 | CPC]

• Tanks of German 21st Panzer Division attacked Allied troops in the Tel el Eisa ridge region near El Alamein, Egypt and at a nearby South African position, driving Australian troops out of Point 24 at a heavy cost. ww2dbase [First Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]

• German submarine U-562 fired four torpedoes at a small Allied convoy just off the coast of Syria-Lebanon at the distance of 2,800 meters, but all torpedoes missed; she would continue to follow the convoy and conduct further attacks on the next day. ww2dbase [CPC]

• 194 British bombers (139 Wellington, 33 Halifax, 13 Lancaster, and 9 Stirling aircraft) attacked Duisburg, Germany, destroying 11 houses and killing 17 without causing damage to the intended industrial targets; 6 bombers were lost on this mission. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Duisburg, Essen | CPC]

• 12 Italian frogmen swam 5 kilometers from Algeciras, Spain to Gibraltar and planted limpet mines on British merchant ships; the resulting explosions would sink the ships Meta, Shuma, and Baron Dougla and would damage the ship Empire Snipe. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Fitted with an entirely new bow section, destroyer USS Shaw departed Mare Island Naval Shipyard bound for San Diego, California. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Shaw | Vallejo, California | DS]

13 Jul 1942 Interactive Map