August 11th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Escort carrier HMS
Slinger commissioned.
Frigate HMS Cosby laid down.
Minesweeper HMS Harrier is laid down.
GERMANY: U-1221 commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: 30 miles west of Kharkov the Red Army cuts the Poltava--Kharkov railroad.
ITALY:
Last night another landing on Sicily, east of Cape Orlando, at Brolo is made by US forces. The Germans fall back quickly.German forces begin a six-day evacuation of Sicily. Over the next six days and seven nights, the Germans evacuated 39,569 troops, 47 tanks, 94 heavy guns, 9,605 vehicles and 2,000+ tons of ammunition to Italy from Messina. In addition, 60,000 Italian troops were evacuated.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Parthian mined and sunk.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Admiral Halsey orders the occupation of
Japanese bases on Vella Lavella.
5 US Thirteenth Air Force B-24s hit a supply area on the eastern side of
Suavanau Point, Santa Isabel Island and on Papatura Fa Island. '
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, the US Eleventh Air Force dispatches B-24s, B-25 Mitchells, A-24 Dauntlesses, and P-38 Lightnings to pound Kiska Island targets in 11 attack missions; later, 10 reconnaissance, strafing and photo missions to Kiska are flown by 3 P-38s, 26 P-40s, 4 F-5A Lightnings and a B-24. In the Kurile Islands, 9 B-24s from Attu Island drop bombs and incendiaries on Paramushiru Island, including Kashiwabara Airfield and Shimushu Island where the Kataoka naval base and staging area are hit. 40 enemy aircraft challenge the attackers, which score 4 confirmed kills, 1 probable, and 4 possible.
CANADA: The Quebec Conference begins. President Franklin D Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston S Churchill discuss the entire spectrum of world operations and decide on the future action of Anglo-US armed forces.
Destroyer HMCS Hamilton assigned HMCS Cornwallis for training duties.
U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Harrier laid down.
Destroyer escorts USS Hayter and Hubbard laid down.
Destroyer escort USS George W Ingram commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three German submarines are sunk:
- U-468 is sunk near Bathurst, Gambia, in position 12.20N, 20.07W, by depth charges from an RAF Liberator Mk V of No 200 Squadron based at Yundum, Gambia; the Liberator was shot down by the U-boat crew. 7 of the 51 U-boat crewmen survive. F/O Lloyd Alan Trigg (b.1914), RNZAF, attacked this U-boat while on patrol. The U-boat fought back with its anti-aircraft guns, inflicting fatal damage on the aircraft. He died when his bomber was shot down by blistering anti-aircraft fire, but the U-boat sank soon after. (Victoria Cross)
- U-525 is sunk about 376 miles (605 km) west-southwest of the Azores, in position 41.29N, 38.55W, by depth charges and aerial torpedoes from a TBF Avenger and an F4F Wildcat of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the US escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11). All hand on the U-boat, 54-men, are lost.
- U-604 is scuttled by her crew in the South Atlantic, in position 04.30S, 21.20W. The
U-boat had been severely damaged by 4 Mark 47 depth charges from a USN PV-1 Ventura of
Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Nine (VB-129) based at NAF Ipitanga, Bahia, Brazil on
30 July. The crew of the PV-1 had spotted the U-boat on the surface and after attacking,
the U-boat had submerged, resurfaced and submerged again. On 3 August, U-604 was again
attacked by PB4Y-1 Liberators of Patrol Squadron One Hundred Seven (VP-107) based at NAF
Natal, Brazil and the destroyer USS Moffett (DD-362). The U-boat is so damaged that her
crew scuttles her and they are taken aboard
U-172 and
U-185 for the voyage home.
During the rescue U-172 is
attacked by an American Liberator
aircraft from Squadron VB-107, one man from its crew is killed [Maschinenobergefreiter
Fritz Schiemann]
U-64 Scuttled 11 Aug, 1943 in
the South Atlantic, in position 04.30S, 21.20W, after being badly damaged by
depth charges from 2 American aircraft, a Ventura (VB-129) and a
Liberator (VB-107). 14 dead and
31 survivors.