Mooring vessel HMS Steady mined and sunk off Newhaven.

Destroyer HMS Beaufort laid down.

GERMANY: Colonel Kammhuber is assigned to build up a night fighter organisation.

U.S.A.: Roosevelt wins the Democratic nomination for the presidential elections.

Destroyer USS Plunkett commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

At 0005, U-34 began shelling the Naftilos until she sank at 0110. All 28 crewmembers abandoned ship safely, but one man later died of wounds.

At 1040, the Fellside, a straggler from Convoy OA-184, was torpedoed and sunk by U-43 about 135 miles NW of Bloody Foreland. The master and 20 crewmembers were rescued and landed at Liverpool.

At 2222, the Manipur in Convoy HX-55A was torpedoed and sunk by U-57 eight miles NW of Cape Wrath. 14 crewmembers were lost. The master and 64 crewmembers were picked up by destroyer HMCS Skeena and landed at Rosyth.

At 0410, the OA Brodin was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-57 and sank after 45 minutes. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo at 0405, a surface runner.

GERMANY: Hitler appoints Alfred Rosenberg to the post of Reich minister of the occupied territories following a conference at Angersburg; he will be responsible for the exploitation of subject Soviet peoples and the elimination of Jews and Communists.

Guderian receives the Oak Leaves to the Iron Cross. (Peter Kilduff)(140)

U-487, U-488, U-489, and U-490 ordered

U-449 laid down

U-579 commissioned.

ITALY: The Regia Marina introduced a new cipher, so the Royal Navy had no preventive information about the planned cruise of Colleoni and Bande Nere. (Andrea Galliano)
 

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army and Navy restore the position of Political Commissars to stiffen resistance.

Field Marshal Keitel's son Hans-Georg dies from battle wounds.

Reinhardt Heydrich today issued his orders for the four SS Einsatzgruppen which are attached to the regular German army. They are to exterminate all Jewish and gypsy communities and terrorize the populace. Heydrich has given them the authority to slaughter other "politically intolerable elements," such as Communist Party and Soviet state officials, and "inferior Asiatic peoples."

CANADA: HMCS Grizzly assigned to Prince Rupert, British Columbia as a stationary guard ship and examination vessel. Built by Consolidated S.B. Corp., New York NY. 195/09 140x19x10ft, 12kts, crew 5/35, 1-6pdr, converted to p/v, HMC Dkyd Esquimalt, #172337, Post WW.II broken up 1945, Victoria, British Columbia.

U.S.A.: The 56-game hitting streak of the New York Yankees' star center fielder Joe DiMaggio ended today. In a night game before 67,468 fans at Cleveland's Memorial Stadium, he was held hitless by two Cleveland Indian pitchers, Al Smith and Jim Bagby. DiMaggio faced Smith 3 times; twice he hit the ball down the third base line but the Indians' third baseman, Ken Keltner, snagged the ball and threw DiMaggio out at first base. DiMaggio was also walked by Smith. In the eighth inning, with bases loaded and 1 out, DiMaggio faced Bagby and hit into a double play. DiMaggio's streak began on 15 May when he hit a single against the Chicago White Sox; during the 56-game streak, he batted .408 and hit 16 doubles, 4 triples and 15 home runs. (A little known fact is that DiMaggio had a 61-game hitting streak when he played for the San Francisco Seals in the Triple A Pacific Coast League.)

Destroyer USS Ingraham commissioned.

Washington: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull hold talks with Japanese Ambassador Nomura Kichasaburo in an attempt to resume discussions or hold a Pacific conference.

Marshall approves Gerow’s recommendations and forwards them to Stimson. (Marc Small)

NORTH AFRICA: A British attack is finally broken by German and Italian forces around Miteirya Ridge. Rommel is having increasing difficulty, once again, with supplies and suggests retreat to Cavallero and Kesselring.

In Libya, US Army, Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) B-24s bomb Bengasi harbor and B-17s hit Tobruk.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler orders reinforcements to be sent to the Balkans, believing that the Allies will strike there next.

U-747 commissioned.

U-880 laid down.

U-478, U-903 launched.

SPAIN: Spanish Generalissimo Francisco Franco makes his annual Civil War anniversary speech, this slams the door on monarchist hopes. (Glenn Steinberg)

ITALY: US forces take Agrigento and Porto Empedocle on Sicily.

General Sir Harold Alexander appointed Allied Military Governor of Sicily. (Glenn Steinberg)

Messina: Resplendent in riding breeches and burnished boots, Lieutenant-General George S. Patton Jr has arrived back from Algiers to lead the US Seventh Army in an extraordinary race to Messina against General Sir Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army.

While the rough terrain and determined German resistance are slowing progress by both armies, a serious rift between the two generals is causing concern in the Allied camp. The fiery Patton had agreed only reluctantly that his army should act as a "shield" to Montgomery, who had planned a fast thrust along the east coast.

When the Eighth Army found itself stalled as it neared Catania, a sudden switch of plans by Montgomery - aiming to attack on the west side of Mount Etna - found his men fighting in the same area as the Americans at Vizzini. It was then that Patton blew up. He flew to protest to General Sir Harold Alexander, the commander-in-chief. The urbane "Alex" was startled at Patton's fury - and gave the American his head.

The row is not just strategic. What worries Alexander is the personal feud between the two men. Patton dislikes Monty's "cocksureness" and his condescension to his less-experienced troops. He does not like the casual dress of Monty's "Desert Rats". Most of all, he does not like playing second fiddle. he wants an American victory.

AMGOT, the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories, is set up.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A major air attack is staged by the US on Japanese bases and shipping in the Northern Solomons, including Bougainville, Buin and Faisi. This is the heaviest Allied air raid on the Japanese so far in this war. It started yesterday evening and has lasted for more than 12 hours.

Waves of Liberators and Flying Fortresses hit the airfield of Kahili for nine long hours through the night, preventing enemy opposition from taking off and wrecking scores of aircraft on the ground. While bombing Buin-Faisi harbour swarms of Zeros rose to the defence, but 44 land planes and 5 floatplanes were shot out of the sky in a vicious 20-minute battle in which just six Allied aircraft are lost.
In the Northern Solomons during the morning 7 Thirteen Air Force B-24 Liberators, escorted by P-39Airacobras and P-40s and RNZAF P-40s, and 35 Navy TBF Avengers and 36 Navy and Marine SBD Dauntlesses, escorted by 114 Marine F4U Corsair and USAAF P-38 Lightning fighters, attack shipping off Buin, Bougainville Island. They sink one Japanese destroyer and claim 7 other vessels sunk. In the air battle, Marine F4Us down 38 fighters, P-38 pilots claim 6 A6M "Zekes," Marine SBD pilots claim 2 "Zekes;" and Navy SBD and TBF pilots claim 3 "Zekes." The US loses are 1 TBF, 1 SBD, 1 F4U and 2 P-38s.

South-West PACIFIC: Units of the Australian 3rd and US 41st Divisions move toward Salamaua, New Guinea, from Nassau Bay.

U.S.A.: Dick Johnson solos for the first time. (Dick Johnson)

Destroyer escorts USS Swenning and Willis laid down.

Light cruiser USS Vincennes launched.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser USS Oakland commissioned.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Longueil laid down Montreal, Province of Quebec.
Frigate HMCS Valleyfield launched Quebec City.
Minesweeper HMS Providence (ex HMCS Forest Hill) laid down Toronto, Ontario.

- Mission 478: In the morning 670 B-17s and B-24s and 433 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s are dispatched to hit tactical targets in France; 1 B-17 and 1 P-47 are lost.

- Mission 479: During the evening 34 B-17s and 106 B-24s escorted by 209 P-51s attack 12 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area without loss.

- Mission 480: 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.

- 16 B-24s participate in CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

FRANCE: Saint Foy de Montgomerie:     Rommel's party leaves Dietrich's headquarters at 4:00 p.m.  for his Chateau headquarters at La Roche Guyon, France. In his Horsch automobile are Corporal Daniel, Rommel's long-time driver, Major Neuhaus, Obergefreiter Holke, an air lookout, and Captain Lang, Rommel's aide. Nearing Livarot from the west, they see it is under attack, and turn south-southeast, towards Vimoutiers, instead of continuing on through the town east-southeast, towards Bernay.

     Corporal Daniel's left arm and shoulder are shattered by a 20mm cannon shell.  He looses control of the Horch and it skids across the road, hitting a tree stump, and turna over in a ditch. Rommel, hit in the face by glass and shrapnel, was thrown from the Horch, landing on the road. He hit his head, some 20 yards behind where the car stopped.  Neuhaus was hit on his revolverholster and the impact broke his pelvis.

     It is 45 minutes before Rommel gets some aid.  He was initially taken back to Livarot, where he was treated for his wounds. Lang initially said it was at a religious hospital, but later evidence indicates it might have been a pharmacy in the town.  Rommel and Daniel were moved to a Luftwaffe military hospital (Luftwaffenmnortlazasrett) in Bernay, 25 miles away.

    Corporal Daniel was given a blood transfusion, but later slipped into a coma and died that night from his wounds.

     The a/c involved was an RAF Spitfire sortie of two aircraft. This sortie was led by Squadron Leader J.J. "Chris" Le Roux, a South African ace with 23 aircraft kills recently deployed to Normandy from the Med theatre.  An attack is made by Typhoons of No. 193 Squadron led by Wg./Cdr. J. Baldwin. Among the pilots was Charley Fox, RCAF, who recalled: "He was thrown from the car, landed in a ditch and struck his head." Squadron Leader "Chris" Le Roux himself went missing over the English Channel a few weeks later, and probably never knew he had taken Rommel out of action.

Tonight Rommel lies unconscious in hospital at Bernay. Field Marshal Kluge assumes Rommel's duties.

(John Nicholas, Russ Folsom and Pete Margaritis)

US forces enter St. Lo.

US aircraft drop napalm for the first time, on a fuel depot at Coutances.

In France, with operations limited by weather, 69 Ninth Air Force B-26s hit fuel dumps at Rennes while 37 A-20 Havocs strike fuel dumps at Bruz and a marshalling yard at Dol-de-Bretagne; fighters escort transports, fly area cover, attack fuel dumps and landing field at Angers, dive-bomb defenses at Coutances in support of the US First Army, attack Nevers marshalling yard, and hit troop concentrations in support of the First Army assault in the Saint-Lo area.

ITALY: The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 162 B-24s to attack French targets including a marshalling yard and railroad bridges at Avignon and railroad bridges at Arles and Tarascon; P-51s and P-38s provide escort.

NORWAY: HMS Formidable, Indefatigable and Furious, escorted by HMS Duke of York raid Tirpitz at Kaafiord, Norway. The Germans are successful in concealing their ship with a heavy smokescreen and the TIRPITZ is undamaged.

U-994 attacked by a Norwegian 333 Sqn Mosquito and the boat was damaged and 5 men wounded. The boat reached Bergen the same day.

POLAND: Soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front trap 40,000 German troops at Brody.

The Soviet Army crosses the river Bug on a 40-mile front.

U.S.S.R.: 57,600 German PoWs are paraded through the streets of Moscow.

JAPAN: Admiral Nomura replaces Navy Minister Shimada in the Japanese Cabinet.

PACIFIC OCEAN: On Guam, underwater demolition teams begin blowing up obstacles to the invasion beaches.
Task Group 17.16 consisting of the submarines USS Guardfish (SS-217), USS Piranha (SS-389) and USS Thresher (SS-200) continues their attacks against Japanese shipping west of the Philippines by sinking a freighter and a cargo ship. Two ships damaged by Thresher yesterday, sink during the night.

Japanese submarine I-166 is sunk by HMS Telemachus in the Malacca Strait. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Peterborough arrived Bermuda for workups.
Corvette HMCS Barrie completed foc’sle extension refit Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
HM S/M Seawolf arrived Philadelphia for refit.
Frigate HMCS Loch Morlich commissioned.

U.S.A.: US President Roosevelt announces that he will leave the selection of a Vice Presidential candidate to the Democratic Convention. This political move assists in dumping Henry Wallace and will result in the nomination of Harry Truman.

Port Chicago Disaster - At 2222, there was an explosion at the Ships Pier, cause of which is unknown. The consensus of opinion of witnesses is that two explosions took place within five seconds of each other, and that the first explosion was the lesser of the two. Two merchant vessels were berthed here at the time. The SS Quinault Victory (Type VC-2) was outboard, starboard side to. The SS A. E. Bryan (EC-2) was inboard, starboard side to. The Quinault Victory had berthed at 1800, and was being prepared for the receipt of cargo. No ammunition was aboard the Quinault Victory at the time of the explosion. The A. E. Bryan had been loading since 13 July 1944. The foregoing vessels were the 79th and 80th ships to have berthed and loaded ammunition at the Magazine since start of operations 30 Nov 1942, during which period in excess of 280,000 tons of ammunition and high explosives had been loaded for overseas shipment. Involved in the explosion was a total of approximately 5080 tons of ammunition and high explosives, of which approximately 4485 tons were aboard the A. E. Bryan and approximately 595 tons were in thirteen box cars on the Ships' Pier partially unloaded or awaiting loading in the two vessels. In addition, three cars of inert material and one empty Magazine boxcar were on the pier and were lost in the explosion. At the time of the explosion, cargo being loaded consisted of: MK7 Incendiary Bombs in #1 Hold, MK47 Depth Bombs (Torpex loaded) in #2 Hold, Tail Vanes in #3 Hold, MK4 Fragmentation Bombs in #4 Hold, and 40mm in #5 Hold. Practically all the tonnage that had been loaded aboard the A. E. Bryan was lower hold stowage. Results of the explosion may be summarized as follows: (a) Both vessels, the SS Quinault Victory and the A. E. Bryan, together with the Ships' Pier, one 45 ton Diesel locomotive, the Joiner Ship, Bldg. A-7, and the adjacent marginal wharf under construction, were completely demolished. A Coast Guard fire barge moored at the east end of the Ships' Pier was also destroyed and all hands aboard lost. A nearby Coast Guard patrol boat suffered no injury to vessel or crew other than blast damage to its superstructure. A MK33 1000-lb AP bomb landed on a passing oil barge. While same did not detonate, it caused considerable damage to the barge, which nevertheless was able to proceed under its own power to destination. A total of 319 people were killed and 255 injured. The dead consisted of: 9 Naval officers engaged in supervision of ship loading at the pier; 202 Naval Enlisted Personnel (mostly black), comprising two working divisions at the pier; 1 Marine enlisted man on sentry duty at the pier; 5 Coast Guard Enlisted Personnel--the crew of the Fire Barge; 3 Magazine Civil Service employees--the train crew; 30 Armed Guard Personnel attached to the Quinault Victory and the A. E. Bryan; 66 Merchant Marine Personnel--crews of the two vessels; 3 employees of the Macco-Case Construction Co.--Contractors for the marginal wharf under construction. The injured consisted of: 245 Naval and Marine Corps personnel transferred to hospitals, the greater majority of which suffered slight injuries, principally from glass fragments; 10 Magazine civilian employees suffered lost time injures; Numerous other personnel were treated for minor injuries, the exact number of which we have no record. Every building on the Magazine suffered damage from the blast except the kennels for the sentry dogs. However, all damage to buildings may be classified as Class "C" damage except the Recreation Building, which was Class "B", and the Joiner Shop, which was Class "A". At the time of the explosion, there were a total of 218 boxcars of ammunition and components in the Magazine yards. None of this ammunition detonated as a result of the explosion at the Ships' Pier, including two cars of bombs, spotted in the open on Spur 10, a distance of only some 1100 feet from the scene of the explosion. Two cars of MK4 Smoke Pots caught fire in Barricade B-206, but the fire was extinguished without further loss or damage. Of the 218 cars, representatives of the Bureau of Ordnance inspected and approved all but three cars for shipment as serviceable ammunition. While various railroad cars themselves suffered damage from the blast, only 54 cars were in such bad order that contents had to be transferred to other cars for shipment. Further inspection of each round in each car is being made by qualified Bomb Disposal officers, prior to releasing material for shipment. Of the 218 cars on hand at the time of the explosion, at this writing 145 cars have already been shipped to other loading points or naval activities, and it is anticipated that the remaining 73 cars will be shipped by 5 August 1944. Barricades and inset magazines were practically undamaged by the explosion except BM 138 and the doors of all inset magazines, which were blasted inwards. There was ammunition in 30 of the 50 inset magazines, primarily consisting of warheads, which was undamaged. Except for the fire in the two cars previously mentioned, no fire resulted from the explosion. General Class "C" damage from the blast was suffered in e town of Port Chicago and adjacent communities, including Pittsburgh, Concord, Walnut Creek, and Martinez. The lighthouse on Roe Island was similarly damaged by the blast. The explosion was felt in a radius of some 40 miles. It is not possible to name all personnel and agencies from the many communities and activities which came to the assistance of the Magazine at the news of the disaster. Generally speaking the response of everyone who could get here was magnificent, and too much praise can not be given for their efforts. Among those who responded were: The Martinez Fire Department, The Mt. Diablo Fire District, of Concord, The Rio Vista Fire Department, The Crockett Fire Department, The Berkeley Fire Department, The Associated Oil Co. Fire Dept., of Avon, The Red Cross, The USO, The Salvation Army, The US Army, including units from Camp Stoneman, the 217th AAA group, and the 324th AAA Searchlight Battalion The US Coast Guard, Navy Yard, Mare Island, Naval Ammunition Depot, Mare Island. The Army, in particular, was of inestimable assistance in the immediate feeding and evacuation of Magazine personnel. The devotion to duty during the emergency of all personnel attached to the station was also of the highest order, including officers, enlisted personnel, and Civil Service employees. Rehabilitation and re-establishment of facilities commenced almost immediately. Employees of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company were on the Base to restore telephone communications within three hours after the explosion. The following day, invaluable assistance was further given by employees of the Navy Yard at Mare Island and the Naval Ammunition Depot at Mare Island, particularly in the restoration of utilities. Numerous services were restored the first day after the explosion, most remaining were restored the second, and all essential utility services were restored the third day. The assistance of T. L. Rosenberg, Electrical Contractors of Oakland, Calif., was particularly helpful in the restoration of light and power circuits. By the end of the week, transfer of ammunition from damaged box cars to certified cars had begun under the direction of Bomb Disposal and Magazine officers, the physical handling of ammunition being performed by station enlisted personnel, who volunteered their services. The first shipments of cars of ammunition were made 25 July and similar shipments have gone forward each day since then. Loading of ammunition aboard lighters at the Barge Pier (which was undamaged) was resumed 24 July, and the first lighter of warheads was shipped from the Magazine on 25 July. To date a total of three lighters have been loaded and shipped since the explosion. Following conferences of various public works officers and representatives of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Bureau of Ordnance, on 18th and 19th of July, plans for the immediate rehabilitation of Magazine facilities were formulated and contracts let for the repair of existing Magazine facilities and completion of the construction of other facilities that had been in progress, including the reconstruction of the partially completed marginal wharf destroyed in the explosion. At this writing, it is estimated that the first berth will be completed by 1 Sept 1944. The contracting firm of Barrett and Hilp was assigned the rehabilitation of the Magazine Administration Building and Marine Barracks, Buildings A-1 and A-2, together with certain other designated structures, and moved their men and equipment on the station 19 July. The 42nd Construction Battalion was assigned the rehabilitation of the remaining Magazine facilities, including in particular the structures in the Barracks area. The Seabees moved men and equipment on the station 20 July. To date, the work of all parties involved in the reconstruction of Magazine facilities is proceeding expeditiously. The makeup of the loading personnel became a large court-martial series and remains a civil rights cause celebre. Almost entirely black sailors, like men of the SOS (Services of Supply) in France in WWI, they were so assigned simply because nobody imagined them as anything more than labour gangs -- certainly not as proper sailors in warships. In the wake of that massive and deadly explosion, efforts to get very nervous black survivors to go right back to work around explosives provoked a virtual sit-down strike; they were not about to again get into something that would likely as not kill them, unless serious investigation and improvements were made to ensure safety. This amounted in Navy minds to a refusal to obey orders -- mutiny -- in time of war, thus a succession of heavy charges and courts-martial. (Jack McKillop and Dave Shirlaw)

Port Chicago is now a United States National Monument. More...

Submarine HMS Seawold commenced refit Philadelphia.

Submarines USS Caiman and Sea Owl commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On anti-submarine patrol over the Atlantic, a Catalina flying boat of 210 Squadron RAF piloted by Flying Officer John Alexander Cruickshank (b. 1920), RAFVR, sighted a U-boat. U-742 chose to fight it out on the surface and met the Catalina's attack with accurate anti-aircraft fire. One of the RAF crew was killed, and three others wounded, including Cruikshank, and the aircraft suffered serious damage. Cruickshank himself suffered 12 wounds, but ignored his injuries to bring the Catalina around for a second attack run. This proved on target, depth charges straddling the submarine and destroying her. The damaged Catalina then faced a 5.5-hour flight home. Cruickshank lost consciousness several times but managed to help land the aircraft safely. He received the Victoria Cross.

Royal Canadian Navy escorts war's largest convoy of 167 ships into Atlantic; meets no U-Boat opposition; RCN now controls all BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC escort forces.

U-347 sunk west of Narvik in position 68.36N, 08.33E, by depth charges from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 49 dead (all hands lost)

U-361 sunk west of Narvik in position 68.35N, 06.00E, by depth charges from an RAF 210 Sqn Catalina. 52 dead (all hands lost).
 

JAPAN:

- Carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 38 and Task Group 37.2 (HMS Formidable, HMS Implacable, HMS Indefatigable and HMS Victorious) attack targets in the Tokyo area but the afternoon missions are cancelled due to weather.

- Task Unit 34.8.2 (Rear Admiral Badger) with battleships IOWA, MISSOURI, WISCONSIN, augmented by NORTH CAROLINA and ALABAMA, and 10 destroyers and the attached battleship HMS King George V and 2 Royal Navy destroyers, bombard the Mito-Hitachi industrial area on Honshu about 80 miles northeast of Tokyo. The ships fired 1238 16-inch shells and 292 6-inch rounds. HMS King George V and the two British destroyers attack a separate target eight miles north of Hitachi according to Morison, they attack the same target as the US according to Tennant. KGV fired 267 14-inch shells today. The aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) provides night fighter protection for the task unit.

- 27 Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortresses mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters in the Nanao-Fushiki area, at Henashi Cape, Iwase and at Seishin during the night of 17/18 July; 1 other B-29 mines an alternate target.

CHINA: Nearly 150 Far East Air Forces B-24s, B-25s, and A-26 Invaders attack Chiang Wan Airfield at Shanghai which has the largest concentration of Japanese aircraft in the country.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Trail and Dundas paid off Sorel, Province of Quebec.
Corvette HMCS Athol and HMC ML 109 paid off Sydney, Nova Scotia.