LANGLEY, DESTROYER, TANKER SUNK BY JAPANESE IN SOUTHWEST PACIFIC BATTLES; 700 LIVES LOST (4/4/42)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 4/4/42 | Frank L. Kluckhohn, Lawrence E. Davies, Charles Hurd, Harrison Forman, Byron Darnton

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Battle of Bataan, 1942
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – American Carrier Operations, 7 December 1941-18 April 1942
Micronesia, Melanesia and New Guinea: Japanese Centrifugal Offensive-Japanese Fourth Fleet and South Seas Detachment Operations, December 1941-April 1942
Luzon, P.I., 1941: Centrifugal Offensive, 10 December 1941-6 May 1942-Fourteenth Army Operations on Luzon
Netherlands East Indies, 1941: Japanese Centrifugal Offensive, December 1941-April 1942, Sixteenth Army and Southern Force (Navy) Operations
Southern Asia, 1941: Japanese Centrifugal Offensive (and Continued Operations), January-May 1942
Eastern Europe, 1941: Soviet Winter Offensive – Operations, 6 December 1941-7 May 1942
North Africa, 1940: Rommel’s Second Offensive, 21 January-7 July 1942

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Foe Bombed 3 Ships (Kluckhohn) – 2-3
U.S. Sailors’ Heroism Related by 2 Surviving Commanders (Davies) – 3-4
War News Summarized – 4
Enemy Vessels Hit * – 5-6
Big Convoy Raided by 4 U.S. Warhships – 6
Bataan Forces Again Repulse Foe as Push Dwindles to Minor Raids – 7
Reinforcement of Flying Tigers Now Assured, Leader Declares (Forman) – 7
U.S. Fliers Reveal Heavy Toll in Java (Darnton) – 8
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 11-12

* Does the photo on page 6 resemble Dan Rather?

[Rebelbase]

As always, thanks for all your hard work!

[BroJoeK]

---

April 1942:

• Sobibór death camp is nearly operational; gassings begin in May.

• More than 4400 Jews die of starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto.

• The first transports of Jews arrive at the camp at Majdanek, Poland, which will begin gassing Jews later in the year.

• The London Sunday Times runs but does not highlight a news item about the Nazi executions of 120,000 Romanian Jews.

• German headquarters at Arras, France, is attacked by the French Resistance.

• In Russia, a collaborationist group, Druzhina (Bodyguard), is established and led by Soviet defector Lieutenant Colonel V. V. Gil.

• Jews are mocked and hanged at Mlawa, Poland.

"Action Française (French Action) was a Fascist movement that emerged in France in 1899.
Disillusioned with the chaos that characterized the Third Republic, the group began increasingly to admire Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
At the cornerstone of the movement's political program was virulent antisemitism complemented by hatred of Freemasons, Protestants, and French residents of foreign origin.
In the minds of Action Française members, these "enemies" had forced the group to fight a titanic battle for France's nationalistic and racial integrity.
Supporters of Action Française played an important role in the Vichy France regime."

---

April 1, 1942*:

965 Slovakian Jews are deported to Auschwitz.
"When the Schultz clothing firm opened in the Warsaw Ghetto in September 1941, it employed approximately 150 workers to produce uniforms for the German Army.
By July 1942 there were nearly 4500 workers.
The massive deportations during the summer months, however, led to a precipitous decline in the number of employees.
The pictures shown here, a model of the complex and employees inspecting army uniforms, were part of an official album compiled by the firm's manager to demonstrate its importance and forestall its closure."

---

April 3, 1942*:

This day's deportations from Augsburg, Germany, empty the town of Jews, ending a Jewish presence that was established in 1212.
They are deported to the Belzec death camp.
"The Schultz clothing company operated in Warsaw until early 1943, when the entire enterprise was transferred to the Trawniki, Poland, labor camp."

---

* = Sorry, your intrepid "reporter" was again delayed in sneaking across the border with the day's latest news. ;-)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/apr42/f04apr42.htm

Japanese fleet sighted from Ceylon
Saturday, April 4, 1942 www.onwar.com

Japanese aircraft carrier ZuikakuIn the Indian Ocean... Admiral Kondo’s Japanese Fleet is sighted by a seaplane from Ceylon. The fleet has four battleships of the Kongo class. Admiral Nagumo leads the portion containing their main carriers, Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku. Intelligence received by British Admiral Somerville predicted that the Japanese would attack on the 1st or 2nd of the month. He has retired to Addu Atoll. As the HMS Hermes, Cornwall and Dorsetshire are on other mission, Somerville feels the Japanese cannot be successfully engaged at this time. He disperses the remainder of the fleet from Colombo.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

April 4th, 1942 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: US naval TF 39 arrives in Scapa Flow. CV Wasp and BB Washington are part of this TF. They are supplementing the British Home Squadron while Operation Ironclad against Madagascar is run.

FRANCE: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons and four Wellingtons, escorted by RAF Fighter Command fighters, to attack the St. Omer railroad yards; 12 aircraft attack but their bombs fall in fields near the town. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY: Hitler orders raids on British historic towns as revenge for the bombing of Lübeck: they are called Baedeker raids after the German tourist guidebooks.

Göbbels writes in his diary of his relief that the tough and resilient north Germans have been bombed rather than the softer southerners.

JAPAN: After a heated debate, Admiral NAGANO Osami, Chief of the Navy General Staff, agrees to a simultaneous Aleutian-Midway operation. (Jack McKillop)

MALDIVE ISLANDS: The crew of an RCAF Catalina Mk. I of No. 413 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron based at Koggala, Ceylon, on a reconnaissance flight reports sighting a Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean about 360 miles (579 kilometres) southeast of Ceylon. Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville, Commander of the British Eastern Fleet, sails from Addu Atoll in the Maldive Islands, located about 400 miles (644 kilometres) southwest of Ceylon, with the faster ships (Force “A”) to attack and orders the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and Dorsetshire to join him southwest of Ceylon. The two cruisers are at Colombo, Ceylon. (Jack McKillop)

Colombo: The Royal Navy’s 200 years of supremacy in the Indian Ocean have ended. Its shoestring fleet of five battleships - all but one of them pre-1918 - and the distinctly middle aged carrier HMS HERMES has been scattered by the threat of Nagumo’s fleet of five carriers and four battleships - all veterans of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese fleet cruises the defenceless eastern coasts of Ceylon and India. The British fleet is 600 miles away, and is no match for Nagumo’s ships and First Air Fleet.

Today the British heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire sail from Colombo at 2200 hours to rejoin the British Eastern Fleet. (Jack McKillop)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the II Corps area on Bataan, the Japanese attack is again preceded by a demoralizing artillery bombardment in conjunction with air attacks. The main line of resistance of Sector D collapses as the 41st Division, Philippine Army (PA), withdraws again and the 21st Division, PA, is forced from their main line of resistance to the reserve line in front of Mt Samat. After nightfall, the Japanese regroup for an assault on Mt Samat. Sector C has to refuse its left flank because of enemy breakthrough.

The Luzon Force sends two regiments of the Philippine Division, the U.S. 31st Infantry and the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, to support the II Corps. (Jack McKillop)

AUSTRALIA: The RAAF forms No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron at Canberra, and equips it with 5 B-25s. (Jack McKillop)

P-40E pilots of the USAAF 9th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) based at Darwin, Northern Territory, shoot down seven Mitsubishi G3M2, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Nell”) and two Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters (”Zeke”) over Darwin between 1330 and 1405 hours. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: The Allies concur in the establishment and divisions of the Southwest Pacific Area and the Pacific Ocean Area proposed on 30 March. (Jack McKillop)

The U.S. grants recognition to Free French administration in Equatorial Africa and appoints a Consul General to Brazzaville. Americans are granted permission to use the airfield at Point Noire, Congo in exchange for eight Lockheed Hudson bombers. (Jack McKillop)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two unarmed US tankers are sunk by German U-boats: one is lost 225 miles (362 km) north of Puerto Rico by German submarine U-154 and the second 8 miles (13 km) off North Carolina by U-552. The ship’s cargo of 91,500 barrels of crude oil catches fire. (Jack McKillop)

[Stevenc131]

The Japs were only 2 months away from being taught a major lesson in the Pacific at this point.

[PzLdr]

Nagumo didn’t have four battleships at Pearl Harbor [see “Colombo” entry]. He had two. The five carriers mentioned [plus KAGA] were at Pearl Harbor.

[CougarGA7]

• 1942 - A Japanese battle fleet launches an air raid on Ceylon in the Indian Ocean.

[CougarGA7]

A fine tribute to America's 1st Aircraft Carrier.

Here's some footage of the Langley in 1922 as the Navy was going through the learning curve of landing on a flattop.

Early Carrier Landings - CV1 Langley

[Lancey Howard]

The now-frequent tales of heroism (page 3) break my heart and make me wonder what happened to America?
How did we let the Democrats slowly destroy this nation during the past 50 years?