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• » 15 Jul 1942

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Makassar, Celebes. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• German troops captured Millerovo and Boguchar in southern Russia. ww2dbase [TH]
• USS Enterprise departed Pearl Harbor for the South Pacific. ww2dbase [Enterprise | CPC]
• In the western desert in Egypt, New Zealand Sergeant Keith Elliott won the Victoria Cross for leading an attack which captured four machine gun positions, an anti-tank gun and fifty prisoners despite being seriously wounded in the chest. ww2dbase [AC]
• German submarine U-201 attacked British ship Yeoman of Allied convoy OS-33 with torpedoes and gunfire 400 miles southwest of the Canary Islands at 0146 hours; 43 were killed, 10 survived and were rescued by Spanish tanker Castillo Almenara. In the same area, German submarine U-582 sank British ship Empire Attendant, also of Allied convoy OS-33, at 0330 hours; 59 were killed. In the South Atlantic, 1225 miles west of Portuguese Angola, German armed merchant cruiser Michel sank British transport Gloucester Castle with gunfire at 1900 hours; 93 were killed, 61 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Michel | CPC]
• German submarine U-571 disabled tanker Pennsylvania Sun 200 kilometers west of Key West, Florida, United States at 0749 hours; 2 were killed, 59 survived on 3 lifeboats. The tanker would later be repaired and would return to service. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• Bombardiere was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Bombardiere | CPC]
• Destroyer HMS Relentless was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of British frigate Musk was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-529 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of German submarine U-746 was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of German submarine U-861 was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-467 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Finnish minelayer Ruotsinsalmi and patrol boat VMV 16 sank Soviet submarine Shtsh 317 with depth charges near the lightship KallbÃ¥dagrund. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham, wounded during the fighting at Ruweisat Ridge in Egypt, refused to be evacuated and chose to lead his men in combat until he was unable to move. He would survive the battle and would become the only man in WW2 to be awarded the Victoria Cross and Bar decoration. ww2dbase [CPC]
• After sundown, US Army B-24 bombers attacked Benghazi harbor. Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Minesweeper HMAS Wallaroo was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Tug HMCS Lakeville was assigned to St. John's, Newfoundland. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Canadian military established its first photographic interpretation unit for the Pacific Theater. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of American destroyer escort Stewart was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of American destroyer escort Sturtevant was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Corvette USS Might was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Destroyer USS Thompson was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British No. 892 Squadron Fleet Air Arm took delivery of new Martlet IV fighters (a lend-lease version of the American F4F-4 Wildcat fighter). The squadron subsequently embarked of the light escort carriers HMS Archer and HMS Battler. ww2dbase [F4F Wildcat | AC]
• A heavy anti-aircraft battery and an automatic weapons battery of the US 4th Marine Defense Battalion arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In Operation Pinpoint, HMS Eagle launched 32 Spitfire fighters for Malta; 1 was lost en route. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]

• USS S-28 departed Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [S-28 | Unalaska | CPC]
• A salvage crew arrived at Akutan Island, US Territory of Alaska to recover a A6M2 Zero fighter that had crashed there during the Japanese attack in the prior month. ww2dbase [A6M Zero | Akutan | CPC]
• USS Grunion attacked the Japanese anchorage at Kiska, Aleutian Islands, sinking submarine chaser Ch-25 (all 68 aboard were killed), sinking submarine chaser Ch-27 (all 68 aboard were killed), and damaging submarine chaser Ch-26. ww2dbase [Grunion | Kiska | CPC]
• USS Honolulu arrived at Kodiak Island, Alaska. Rear Admiral William Smith shifted his flag from USS Indianapolis to USS Honolulu. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Kodiak | DS]

• Cruiser Köln completed a minelaying operation in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Köln | North Sea | CPC]

• Canadian frigate Swansea was laid down at Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. ww2dbase [Esquimalt, British Columbia | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi provided repair work for destroyer Arashio at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• New Zealand 4th Brigade and 5th Brigade captured the western end of Ruweisat Ridge near El Alamein, Egypt before dawn; without tank support, however, they suffered heavy casualties as German tanks repeatedly attacked, overrunning several positions by dusk and capturing 730 prisoners. At the eastern end of the ridge, Indian 5th Infantry Brigade, with British tank support, captured several Axis positions. ww2dbase [First Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]

• Wing Commander and ace Paddy Finucane (32 victories) failed to return from a fighter offensive sweep over northern France. Twenty-six of his kills had taken place during the 1940 Battle of Britain. ww2dbase [AC]
• Luigi Torelli arrived in Bordeaux, France in the evening. ww2dbase [Luigi Torelli | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Silversides | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• The second Blackburn B-37 prototype aircraft took to the air. ww2dbase [Firebrand | AC]

• The US Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first discussion on recapturing Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [Aleutian Islands Campaign | CPC]
• USS Sunfish was commissioned into service at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States with Commander R. W. Peterson in command. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Sunfish (Gato-class) | Vallejo, California | CPC]
• At 2025 hours, U-576 attacked Allied convoy KS-520 with four torpedoes 30 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States, sinking Nicaraguan ship Bluefields, damaging US ship Chilore, and damaging Panamanian ship J. A. Mowinckel; two US Navy Kingfisher aircraft counterattacked with depth charges as well as motor vessel Unicoi with deck guns, sinking U-576, killing all 45 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | U-576 | North Carolina | CPC]
• Camp Carson in Colorado, United States was officially activated, although the 89th Infantry Division had already been activated at the base in the month prior. ww2dbase [Camp Carson | El Paso, Colorado | CPC]

15 Jul 1942 Interactive Map