18 May 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: Belfast: Led by Private Marvin O'Neal from South Dakota, the largest contingent of American fighting men yet to arrive in the United Kingdom today disembarked after a convoy voyage hidden by fog. They include artillery and armoured units; soon after landing, 14-ton tanks rumbled from the docks.

Many of the men have Irish forefathers, as did some of the nurses from Harvard university, who arrived wearing trousers to the dismay of Irishmen waiting to whistle them ashore. A new US army helmet resembling the German "coal scuttle" also attracted attention. Some British authorities question the wisdom of the US Army publicizing links between emigrants and the old country, particularly as controversy still rages over the IRA's murder of Constable Patrick Murphy in Belfast a month ago. Six teenage gunmen face hanging as a result, but 207,000 people have signed a reprieve petition.

Cordell Hull, the American secretary of state, is pressuring the British foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, not to hang the killers because "hanging six for one would shock public opinion."

Rescue tug HMS King Salvor launched.

Sloop HMS Redpole laid down.

Minesweeper HMS Alarm commissioned.

GERMANY: Berlin: 27 Jews are shot for organizing a display of anti-Nazi posters.
Members of a resistance group which consists largely of Jewish youths tonight attacked an anti-Soviet exhibition being staged in the Berlin pleasure gardens. Eleven people were injured in the attack during which the protesters sought to set alight some of the exhibits assembled under the ironic title "The Soviet Paradise" by the Nazi authorities in the city.

Members of the resistance group, believed to be led by an electrician called Herbert Baum, left leaflets attacking "Gestapo lies" during their raid on the exhibition. The Gestapo is now leading the hunt for Baum and his colleagues.

U.S.S.R.: At the end of the Battle of Kerch, two entire Soviet armies have been annihilated by six German and Romanian Panzer and infantry divisions.

BURMA: Chiang Kai-shek sends the Chinese Fifth Army to take up defensive positions at Myitkyina.

AUSTRALIA: Melbourne, Australia: The third victim of the "Brownout Strangler", 40 year old Gladys Hosking was found dead this morning. Gladys and her friend Dorothy Pettigrew left the Melbourne University that dark, wet night. They said goodbye to each other. She was apparently later seen sharing an umbrella with an American serviceman. A short time later, Private Noel Seymour, an Australian soldier, saw an American soldier covered in mud. Private Seymour was guarding some Army vehicles positioned just outside of Camp Pell. The American asked Seymour how to catch a tram to Camp Pell. Seymour asked him where he had been and the American soldier replied that he had fallen in some mud coming through the park and indicated that he lived in Area One in Camp Pell in the street near the zoo. A few hours later Gladys Hosking's body was found in a slit trench near Camp Pell. (Denis Peck)

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The USAAF's 7th Air Force is placed on alert in anticipation of a possible attack on Midway Island. For the next ten days the old Martin B-18 Bolos on hand are used on sea searches to supplement the B-17 Flying Fortresses. The VII Bomber Command receives an influx of B-17s during this period, and one squadron is converted from B-18s to B-17s.

U.S.A.: United States signed agreement at Panama concerning the use of Panama defense areas by United States forces.

Escort carrier USS Prince William laid down.

Destroyer USS Spence laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three more unarmed U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines. U-156 sinks a freighter east of Barbados while U-125 sinks a tanker and a freighter in the Gulf of Mexico.

At 0606, the unescorted and unarmed Mercury Sun was hit by two torpedoes from U-125 about 125 miles south of Cape Corrientes, Cuba, while steaming a zigzag course at 8.5 knots. The torpedoes struck on the port side at the #4 and #5 tanks and broke the back of the ship. The carbon dioxide smothering system on the tanker successfully kept the cargo from igniting after the first torpedo hit, but when the second hit the ship burst into flames. 29 of the nine officers and 26 crewmen managed to abandon ship in two lifeboats. At 0635, a coup de grâce struck the vessel on the starboard side at #8 tank, but the ship remained afloat and sank about three hours after the first attack, sagging in the middle. The master, chief mate, second mate and three crewmembers were lost. The lifeboats stayed near the burning ship until daybreak and then sailed towards the coast. 28 survivors were picked up nearly 40 hours after the attack by the American steam merchant Howard and landed on 19 May at Mobile, Alabama. One seriously injured crewman was transferred to a US Coast Guard boat at the Tampa Sea Buoy.

At 1018, the unescorted and unarmed Quaker City was hit by one torpedo from U-156 about 300 miles east of Barbados. The torpedo struck in the stern near the waterline and caused the ship to sink in ten minutes. The explosion shattered the propeller, the rudder and the after part of the ship and killed ten crewmen. The surviving ten officers and 20 crewmen immediately abandoned ship in four lifeboats and were questioned by the Germans. They were given the course to Barbados before the U-boat left the area. On 22 May, seven survivors in one boat were picked up by USS Blakeley at 15°01N/57°38W and landed at Trinidad on 24 May. On 24 May, the 15 survivors in the boat of the master landed at Barbados and eight survivors in another boat made landfall on the north coast of Dominica on 26 May. An oiler later died ashore from injuries.

At 1852, the unescorted San Eliseo was hit on the starboard side under the bridge and amidships by two torpedoes from U-156. The tanker had been spotted five hours before and continued after counter-flooding, firing into the direction of the U-boat, which surfaced and tried to get into a new firing position. At 0439 on 19 May, a third torpedo was fired that hit on the starboard side aft of the bridge but apparently only caused minor damage because the tanker still continued. Even a fourth torpedo hit at 0739 on the starboard side near the engine room could not stop her. At 0917, a stern torpedo was fired at the ship from the port side but missed because the tanker zigzagged wild from 120° to 330°. The U-boat had finally to give up the chase because it was ordered by the BdU to set course on Martinique immediately and the chance to score another hit on the alarmed tanker was very small. The San Eliseo arrived at Barbados on 20 May for temporary repairs, later continued to the USA where she returned to service after permanent repairs were made.

At 0210, the Beth was hit by two torpedoes from U-162 and sank. 21 men, including the master reached Barbados in two lifeboats after 36 hours, nine others landed at Tobago in a third lifeboat on 20 May.

At 0615, the unescorted Fauna was hit by one stern torpedo from U-558 and sank after 17 minutes. The U-boat misidentified her victim as the Towa. The survivors landed on Providence Island the same day.

SS William J Salman sunk by U-125 20.08N, 83.46W.