June 22nd, 1943 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The rocket-firing version of the Bristol Beaufighter, the mark VIC is first used in strength today. (22)
GERMANY: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 65: In the first large-scale daylight raid on the Ruhr, 235 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to hit the chemical works and synthetic rubber plant at Huls in the main attack; 183 bomb the target and claim 46-21-35 Luftwaffe aircraft; this plant, representing a large percentage of the country's producing capacity, is severely damaged. Sixteen B-17s are lost. Eleven YB-40s accompany the Huls raid; one is lost.
In a second raid, 42 B-17s are dispatched to bomb the former Ford and General Motors plants at Antwerp; 39 hit the target; they claim 1-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; four B-17s are lost. An additional 21 B-17s fly an uneventful diversion.
FINLAND: Koivisto islands are evacuated and troops transported to west side of Bay of Vyborg.
U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet and Ladoga Flotilla: GB "Kama" - by aviation, close to Lavensari Is. (later raised and went into service) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
Moscow: On the second anniversary of the invasion, Radio Moscow claims that 6.4 million Germans have been killed or taken prisoner.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 2131, U-593 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy Elastic about eight miles northeast of Cape Corbelin, Algeria and hit the USS LST-333 and LST-387 with one torpedo each. The first was beached and declared a total loss, while the latter was towed to Dellys and later repaired. The torpedoing of these two ships hampers the training for the forthcoming invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). The torpedo struck USS LST-333 on the starboard side in the stern. The explosion demolished the stern section, carried away the screws and rudder and stopped the engines. About 20 minutes after the hit, the landing crafts USS LCT-244 and LCT-19 took the landing ship in tow and proceeded slowly towards the beach. After one hour, the submarine chaser USS SC-503 came alongside and took off 32 injured crewmembers and 24 injured passengers and brought them to Algiers. After five hours of towing, the stern of the landing craft came aground near Dellys. The crew and passengers were taken off by the landing craft and brought to Dellys. The USS LST-333 later sank during a salvage attempt on 6 July.
ALGERIA: Algiers: The Committee of National Liberation, a Free French group, decide that General Giraud will retain command of the French forces in North Africa and that General de Gaulle will command French forces elsewhere. This is a victory for Charles de Gaulle.PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-7 is damaged by destroyer USS MONAGHAN (DD-354) near Kiska Island. (Marc James Small)(220, 221 and 222)
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the plan for the invasion of Kiska Island in the Aleutian Islands.
CANADA: Tug HMCS Glendevon laid down Vancouver, British Columbia.
U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Durik laid down.
Destroyer escort USS Rich launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2046, U-572 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy UGS-10 and sank the Lot with two of them. The fleet oiler USS Merrimack and an escorting corvette picked up the survivors.