July 28th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF's VIII
Air Support Command and VIII Bomber Command based in England, both fly missions.
VIII Air Support Command Mission Numbers 6 and 7: The
primary targets are in Belgium and FRANCE:
1. 18 B-26B Marauders are dispatched
against the coke ovens at Zeebrugge, Belgium; 17 hit the target at 1105 hours.
2. 18 B-26Bs are dispatched against
Tricqueville Airfield, France but the mission is recalled when the accompanying
fighters do not join up.
VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 78: The aviation industry in Germany is targeted but bad weather hampers the raids. The targets are:
1. 58 of 182 B-17 Flying Fortresses dispatched bomb the
Fieseler Works at Kassel, Germany at 1027-1054 hours; they claim 27-15-22
Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost.
2. 37 of 120 B-17s dispatched bomb the
Fw 190 plant at Oschersleben, Germany; they claim 56-19-41 Luftwaffe aircraft;
15 B-17s are lost.
This is the deepest US bomber penetration into Germany
to date. The raid achieves good results however, 22 B-17s are lost as fighters
score first effective results with rockets. 105 P-47 Thunderbolts, equipped with
jettissonable belly tanks for the first time on a mission, escort the B-17s
into Germany; other P-47s, going more than 30 miles (48 km) deeper into Germany
than they have penetrated before, meet the returning bombers. They surprise
about 60 German fighters and destroy 9 of them; 1 P-47 is lost.
Frigate HMS Aire commissioned.
Minesweeper HMS Cato commissioned.
Corvette HMS Rosebay commissioned.
Frigate HMS Halstead laid down.
Sloop HMS Opossum laid down.
GERMANY: During the night of 28/29 July, RAF bombers drop 2,326 tons of bombs in 43 minutes on Hamburg, Germany which virtually sets the city on fire, killing 42,000 German civilians. Low humidity, a lack of fire-fighting resources (exhausted from battling blazes caused by the previous nights' raids), and hurricane-level winds at the core of the storm literally fanned the flames, scorching 8 square miles (20.7 sq km) of Hamburg.
ARCTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-647 is reported missing north of the Shetland Islands, U.K., position unknown, possibly mined. All 48 crewmen are lost.
ITALY: Allied surrender terms are broadcast to the Italians by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Glenn Steinberg)
SICILY: On the ground in Sicily, the US Seventh
Army takes Nicosia and pushes toward Santo Stefano di Camastra and the Canadians
take Agira. Allied cargo vessels begin arriving at Palermo, and Lieutenant
General Harold R Alexander, 15 Army Group Commanding General, moves his HQ to
Sicily.
In the air, Northwest African Tactical Air Force light bombers hit Regalbuto,
Milazzo, and Centuripe; A-36
Apaches and P-40s hit heavy traffic on the Troina-Randazzo road, bridges and
roads north and west of Cesaro, the landing ground at Falcone, and buildings
near Randazzo. Almost 100
Ninth Air Force P-40s hit shipping at Catania and Santa Teresa di Riva, fly
patrol over the Straits of Messina, and bomb encampments.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and USN aircraft hit gun positions and other targets at Webster Cove on New Georgia Island.
US ground attacks on New Georgia continue. They are principally toward Horseshoe Hill.
NEW GUINEA: There is also an Australian division operating against Lae and Salamaua. This division includes US infantry and artillery. (Michael Alexander)
BOUGAINVILLE: The submarine USS Guardfish returns to the island to remove the remaining Australian coastwatchers, Read and Robinson, Sototo (a Fijian missionary) and his five scouts, and 14 others. (Michael Alexander)
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS:
The Japanese finish evacuating their remaining troops from Kiska.U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing.
Heavy cruisers USS Chicago and Los Angeles laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Lowe and Manlove launched.
CARIBBEAN SEA: German submarine U-159 is sunk about 171 nautical miles (317 kilometres) south-southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (15.57N, 68.30W). The sub is sunk by depth charges from a PBM-3C Mariner of USN Patrol Squadron Thirty Two (VP-32) based at NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. All 53 crewmen are lost.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-404 is sunk about 158 nautical miles (292 kilometers) north-northwest of La Caruna, Spain (45.53N, 9.25W) by depth charges from two B-24 Liberators of the USAAF's 4th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) and an RAF Liberator of No. 224 Squadron, all based at St. Eval, Cornwall, England. All 51 crewmen are lost.
On 26 Jul 1943, the John A. Poor sailed from Boston to Halifax with 8500 tons of general cargo in station #14 of the Convoy BX-65, but lost contact in heavy fog. The ship streamed her anti-torpedo nets and continued alone at 8 knots, wandering into mines laid on 1 Jun by U-119 in 42°51N/64°55W. At 1030, a heavy concussion occurred off the starboard side; the ship suffered only minor damage and continued her voyage. One hour later another explosion occurred off the starboard side, and the master, thinking he saw a U-boat, turned the vessel. 15 minutes later a violent explosion damaged the steam lines, the boilers, the generators, cracked the spring bearings and stopped the vessel, but there was no hull damage. The armed guards fired the guns (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) at a nonexistent enemy. The eight officers, 34 crewmen and 28 armed guards remained on board, one crewman was injured when he was blown off the generator platform into the bilges and had to be hospitalized at Halifax. At 1830, the patrol boat #123 came alongside and informed the master that tugs were en route, but the watch below got one boiler lit and the vessel proceeded under own power at 4,5 knots after the torpedo nets were retrieved. 30 minutes later, the tug North Star took her in tow, but the 300 HP towboat was not powerful enough for towing a ship of this size, so the vessel continued under her own power. At 1750, the tug Foundation Aramore took over the vessel 45 miles off Sambro Light and towed her to St George Island, Halifax, arriving on 31 July. The John A. Poor was repaired and eventually arrived in Avonmouth via St John's. She did not get back to the US until 12 Nov 1943 when the ship arrived at Philadelphia.
The unescorted Rosalia was hit by two torpedoes from U-615 and sank in flames about 10 miles south of Curaçao. Submarine chaser HNLMS H-8 and the rescue boat MBR-50 picked up the survivors.