July 13th, 1942 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF 52nd Fighter Group HQ is established at Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The group is equipped with the Spitfire Mk V.Sloop HMS Pheasant laid down.
Destroyer HMS Zephyr laid down.
U.S.S.R.: Hitler designates Stalingrad as a major objective for Army Group B.
Von Bock is dismissed from the command of Army Group B and replaced by von Weich.
4 Pz. Armee is transferred from A/G B to A/G A. (Jeff Chrisman)
Soviet submarine SC-405 sunk in Minefield Tiger near Seskar island. All hands lost.
The Paulus Potter was in station #11 of Convoy PQ-17, when the convoy was dispersed on Admiralty order on 4 Jul 1942. The ship continued her journey together with the British SS Bolton Castle and the American SS Washington. The next day, they were attacked several times by German Ju 88 aircraft of the III/KG 30 ENE of Bear Island and all three ships were hit by bombs or badly damaged by near misses. The British ship caught fire and sank after an explosion, the American ship stayed afloat but sank the next day and the Dutch vessel was abandoned by the crew in lifeboats after two hits when they believed that she would sink. The 51 crewmembers, 14 gunners and eleven Russian passengers suffered terribly from exposure and hunger before they made landfall after five days at Novaya Zemlya where they managed to make a fire from timber they found on the shore and caught some ducks to cook them. On 14 July, the men came across the survivors from Washington and together they rowed southwards, where they found the abandoned American SS Winston-Salem, which had run aground. They boarded the vessel and eat their first real meal in ten days. Later they were taken off by a Soviet whaling vessel and on 17 July transferred to the British steam merchant Empire Tide, anchored in the Matochkin Strait. On 20 July, the ship was part of a small convoy of five merchants and eleven escorts that left for Archangel where they arrived four days later. Today the abandoned Paulus Potter was found drifting by U-255 during a sweep at the 76th parallel. The II WO and two mates boarded the ship and tried to start the engines, but this was not possible because the engine room was flooded. They searched the ship and took blankets, cigarettes and other useful materials with them, including a heavy box with confidential documents found on the bridge. The ship was sunk by a coup de grāce at 0825.
NORTH AFRICA: In Libya during the night of 13/14 July, the US
Army, Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) dispatches B-17 Flying Fortresses to bomb Tobruk
harbor and B-24 Liberators to hit ships and harbor at Bengasi; heavy AA fire accounts for
the loss of 1 B-24.
CHINA: Japanese marines capture Juian.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: PBY-5 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Seventy One (VP-71) attempt a daylight raid of Japanese installations on Tulagi and Gavutu but weather forces cancellation of the mission.
CANADA: 46-foot wooden Boom Attendant Vessels ordered from JH LeBlanc Shipbuilding CO Weymouth, Nova Scotia - HMC HC 156, HC 163, HC 208, HC 209 and HC 210.
German U-boats sink three more merchant ships in Gulf of St. Lawrence; Quebec outcry for protection forces secret Commons session.
U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt has today approved the formation of a central intelligence agency for America. Called the Office of Strategic Services, it has grown out of an organization called the Office of the Co-ordinator of Information and is headed by "Wild Bill" Donovan, a millionaire lawyer from Wall Street. Donovan, a forceful "can do" man, has close ties with Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) and has carried out missions for Mr. Churchill.
Major General George C. Kenney, Commanding General 4th Air Force in the western U.S., is ordered to Australia to replace Lieutenant General George H. Brett as Commanding General, Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Area.
CARIBBEAN SEA: German submarines sink two U.S. merchant vessels.
U-166 sinks unarmed Oneida freighter with one torpedo about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Cape Maysi, Cuba. The torpedo was seen by a lookout but it was too late to take evasive action and it struck on the starboard side amidships just aft of the engine room. The explosion blew away about 20% of the side and caused the ship to sink within three minutes. The survivors among the eight officers and 21 crewmen abandoned ship on two rafts because there was no time to launch the lifeboats. Two officers and four crewmen were lost; three of them on watch below. The survivors made landfall five miles northwest of Cape Maysi several hours later. They walked to the Cape and were taken in the Cuban schooner Zoila to Baracoa, Cuba.
At 0735, the unescorted R.W. Gallagher was hit on the starboard side by two torpedoes from U-67 about 80 miles from Southwest Pass, Mississippi. The first torpedo struck at the #3 tank just forward of amidships and the second hit abaft the midships house between the #8 tank and the pump room. The explosions buckled parts of the ship and started a fire that quickly spread the length of the vessel and into the water. The tanker immediately took a 30° list to starboard, capsized at 0900 and sank at 1130. With the steam whistle jammed, the eight officers, 32 crewmen and twelve armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in one lifeboat, one raft and by jumping into the water because the fire had destroyed the other boats and rafts. The master was the last man that jumped overboard after he waited for 40 minutes on the bow. Two officers, four crewmen and two armed guards were lost. USCGC Boutwell picked up the survivors within one hour and three of the most seriously wounded were taken by a USCG plane from Biloxi Air Station to Lake Pontchatrain, transferred to the USCGC CG-6264 and taken to the Marine hospital in New Orleans. Two crewmen died ashore from severe burns after reaching the hospital
At 0408, the unescorted Andrew Jackson on a nonevasive course was attacked by U-84 with two torpedoes about 20 miles off Cardenas Light, Cuba. Only one of the torpedoes struck just aft of amidships. The blast killed three men on watch, destroyed the engines and vented through the deck above the engine room, collapsing portions of the stern. The eight officers, 30 crewmen and 11 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned the ship before a second torpedo struck, which sank the ship immediately. The survivors landed at Vavendaro on the north coast of Cuba in three lifeboats 12 hours after the attack. The master Frank Lewis Murdock was also in command of the Yaka, which was damaged by U-624 in Convoy ONS-144 and sunk by U-522 on 18 Nov 1942. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0221, the Sithonia, dispersed from Convoy OS-33, was torpedoed and sunk by U-201 west of the Canary Islands. Seven crewmembers were lost. The master and 20 crewmembers made landfall after 18 days at Timiris, Senegal and were interned by the Vichy French authorities at Port Etienne. The chief officer and 24 crewmembers were picked up after sailing about 820 miles in 14 days by a Spanish fishing vessel and landed at Las Palmas.