April 27th, 1942 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The first operational sortie is made by the de Havilland Mosquito night-fighter. Armed with four 20mm guns it can reach 407 mph. (22)
Minesweeper HMS Fitzroy is mined and sinks within 10 minutes
40 miles ENE of Gt. Yarmouth at 52 39N 02 46E. It is believed that she may have
struck a British mine, although this area was extensively mined by both sides.
(Alex Gordon)(108)
Destroyer FS La Combattante (ex-HMS Haldon) launched.
NORWAY: U-657 was damaged in an Allied air raid at Trondheim. One crewmember was injured.
GERMANY: The RAF bombs Rostock for the fourth night in a row. 70% of the city has now been destroyed and 100,000 are homeless.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Theresienstadt: 1,000 Jews are deported to their deaths at Belzec and Sobibor.
U.S.S.R.: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. TS "Svir" is sunk by aviation, at Leningrad.
MANCHUKUO: In the worst mining disaster in history, 1,527 miners have died at the Honkeiko colliery.
CANADA: In the House of Commons in Ottawa, a plebiscite was held to determine the necessity for conscription. After much discussion and political infighting, it was decided that conscription would be implemented "if necessary." The RCN was almost entirely a volunteer force and the conscription issue played no part in the history of the Canadian Navy.
Patrol vessel (ex-fishing vessel) HMCS Camenita commissioned.
U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt places the US economy on a full war footing.
Minesweeper USS Candid laid down.