April 28th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: HMC ML 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120 and 121 ordered.
Frigate HMS Tweed commissioned.
GERMANY:
FINLAND: Finnish Parliament passes a law decreeing that all recipients of the Mannerheim Cross (the Finnish equivalent of the VC or MOH) would additionally receive the sum of 50 000 Finnish marks. It is a considerable sum, equivalent to a lieutenant's yearly pay.
Stockholm: SWEDEN protests against the mining of its territorial water by Germany.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British submarine HMS UNSHAKEN sinks an Italian torpedo boat, Climene.
TUNISIA: L/Cpl John Patrick Kenneally (b.1921), Irish Guards, stormed a body of enemy troops preparing to attack, who broke up in surprise. He repeated the exploit two days later. (Victoria Cross)
BOUGAINVILLE: A US submarine lands two coastwatchers and 14 commandos on this Japanese-occupied island. It evacuates Lt. Mackie and the 12 commandos who have been on the island for the last two years. It also evacuates Bishop Wade and Father Lebel. (Michael Alexander)U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Borum, Snyder and Witter laid down.
Destroyer USS Stephen Potter launched.
Destroyer escort USS Griswold commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: A series of running battles, between German U-Boats and Convoy
ONS-5, begin. These battles will last until May 6th. The convoy will
lose 13 transports. 7 U-Boats are sunk with damage to others. The ratio
of 2 transports to 1 U-boat is unacceptable.
This convoy is being protected by British escorts and Consolidated PBY-5A
Catalinas of the US Navy's Patrol Squadron Eighty Four (VP-84) based at Naval
Air Facility (NAF) Reykjavik, Iceland.
The effective air escort during the main battle was RCAF No. 5 Squadron from
Newfoundland which sank U-630
on 4th May. Earlier in the voyage, on 24th April, U-710
was sunk by RAF 206 Squadron. The surface escort accounted for the remainder of
the U-boat losses. The weather from 28th May onwards was atrocious. (Peter
Beeston)
US Navy hunter-killer group comprised of the auxiliary aircraft carrier USS Bogue (ACV-9) and four destroyers drives off five German U-boats deploying against convoy HX 235.