July 1st, 1943 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Bamborough Castle laid down.Destroyer HMS Saumarez commissioned.
GERMANY: U-986 is commissioned.
ITALY: Romanian Marshal Antonescu arrives in Rome. He meets with Mussolini suggesting the Italy, Hungary and Romania leave the war together. While he feels it is a sensible action at this time, he is afraid to take the lead with Hitler.
FINLAND: The founding meeting of Finnish-American Society is held. It's chairman is Eljas Erkko, former minister of foreign affairs and the owner of Finland's largest daily newspaper. Among the membership are MP's from all the political parties, except from the ultra-right-wing Patriotic People's League. Unsurprisingly, Germans react with fury, and demand that Finnish government blocks the Society's registration process. This comes at a time when the Fenno-German diplomatic relations are already in bad shape, but Finns reject the German demand by stating that the Society is formed by private persons and there are no legal grounds why the its registration can't be accepted.
NEW GUINEA: US forces advancing from Segi Point capture Viru harbour. In New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs support Australian troops that landed near Nassau Bay.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Japanese air attacks continue against Allied shipping off Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands in the morning. The IJN dispatches 40+ aircraft to attack Allied shipping off New Georgia Island. US Navy F4F Wildcat pilots shoot down four of 12 Aichi D3A Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers, Allied Code Name "Val" and one of 18 Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters, Allied Code Name "Zeke" off Rendova between 1015 and 1100 hours local. At the same time US Army Air Forces P-40s shoot down 9 "Vals" and 7 "Zekes" between Munda and Rendova Islands between 1020 and 1140 hours.
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The USN submarine USS Gar (SS-206) lands commandoes on Timor Island.
PACIFIC: On 27 May 1943 USS Runner departed Midway Island for the Kurile Island chain and waters off northern Japan. No report was heard from her. Captured Japanese records indicated that she sank the cargo ship Seinan Maru on 11 June in Tsugaru Strait off Hokkaido, and the passenger-cargo ship Shinryu Maru on 26 June off the Kurile Islands. Runner was declared overdue and presumed lost in July 1943 and struck from the Navy list on 30 October 1943. Most likely she was mined. The loss date is an approximate one.
U.S.A.: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: In the Aleutian Islands, the 632d and 633d Bombardment Squadrons (Dive), 407th Bombardment Group (Dive) based at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida begin operating from Amchitka Island with Douglas A-24 Dauntlesses. The squadrons will return to Florida in August 1943.
CANADA: In 1941, the Canadian government decided to start a non-commercial transatlantic air service with air mail service to the Canadian military as the primary purpose. An RAF Avro Lancaster Mk. III, s/n R5727, was obtained and modified into a passenger aircraft and given the civil registration CF-CMS since it was to be operated by Trans-Canada Air Lines. The first flight across the Atlantic took place on the night of 1/2 July from Prestwick, Scotland to Dorval Airport, Montreal, Quebec via Iceland.
Corvette HMCS Shediac completed refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia and joined WLEF EG W-8.
U.S.A.: A memo by Major General Barney Mc Giles, Chief of the Air Staff, for General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General, USAAF, stresses great need for more fighter escort for Eighth Air Force strategic bombing missions from England. The present ratio of less than one fighter group to four heavy bomber groups is held to be completely insufficient and a minimum ratio of one to two is suggested.
"Pay-as-you-go" income tax withholding begins in the U.S.
The second USS Satterlee (DD-626) is commissioned into the US fleet.
Destroyer USS Newcomb is launched.
Minesweepers USS Pirate, Pivot, Pledge, Project, Device and Diploma laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Haverfield and Merrill laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Fechteler and Moore commissioned.
Destroyer USS Satterlee commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
Bay of Biscay: With only a token force of seven U-boats remaining in the North Atlantic now that the "air gap" has been closed, British naval and air forces are being deployed to tackle the enemy in the Bay of Biscay. Substantial damage has been inflicted, and two weeks ago Admiral Dönitz ordered submarines to cross the bay submerged and in pairs.
More effective U-boat detection devices, plus Allied ability to read German codes, is still putting the German navy on the defensive, however. A particular target for the Allies are the "milch cows", U-boat tankers which are used for refuelling other boats.
SS Tutóia sunk by U-513 at 24.43S, 47.19W.