World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 26 Nov 1943

• Kiyoto Kagawa passed away. ww2dbase [Kiyoto Kagawa | CPC]
• German troops withdrew from Gomel, Byelorussia. ww2dbase [TH]
• The British troopship, Rohna, sailing from Algiers with 2,000 American soldiers and a crew of 200, was sunk by a glider bomb dropped from a German aircraft. 1,015 troops and 102 crew were killed. ww2dbase [AC]
• Robert Johnson became a flight leader with the USAAF 61st Fighter Squadron. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | CPC]
• USS Ray sank a Japanese transport north of New Guinea, hitting her with 3 of 4 torpedoes fired. Several hours later, she struck again, sinking another ship with 4 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]
• USS Seahorse sank Japanese tanker San Ramon Maru south of Japan, hitting her with two of three torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
• Francis Gabreski scored his fourth and fifth victories while covering the withdrawal of B-17 bombers that had bombed Bremen, Germany. ww2dbase [Francis Gabreski | CPC]

• USS S-35 departed Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, continuing her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [S-35 | Unalaska | CPC]

• The Cairo Conference ended with Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kaishek agreeing that Japanese-occupied northeastern China (Manchuria), Taiwan, and the Pescadores islands were to be returned to the Republic of China. The Anglo-Americans were, however, unable to persuade Chiang to re-instate his pledge to send Chinese troops in an invasion into northern Burma. ww2dbase [Cairo Conference | Cairo | CPC]

• USAAF launched its heaviest raid on Bremen, Germany, while the RAF hit Berlin, Germany for the fifth night in a row with 443 Lancaster and 7 Mosquito aircraft. Stuttgart, Germany was attacked in diversion by 84 aircraft. 34 RAF aircraft were lost during this night. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | TH]
• The turbojet powered Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter was demonstrated at Insterburg, Ostpreußen, Germany (now Chernyakhovsk, Russia) before Adolf Hitler, who, to everyone's surprise, insisted that it should be developed as a bomber. ww2dbase [Me 262 Schwalbe | Insterburg, Ostpreußen | AC, CPC]
• Ju 290A-5 aircraft, among other aircraft types, was shown to Adolf Hitler at Insterburg, Ostpreußen (East Prussia), Germany. Hitler liked the designed and asked to have one as his personal transport. One such aircraft was delivered to Hitler's personal pilot Hans Baur, but Hitler would never fly in it. ww2dbase [Ju 290 | Insterburg, Ostpreußen | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the port facilities at Bremen, Germany using a combination of high explosive and incendiary bombs. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Bremen | DS]

• USS Honolulu departed Pearl Harbor bound for exercises in Hawaiian waters. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• USS Ranger departed Hvalfjörður, Iceland bound for Boston, Massachusetts. ww2dbase [Ranger | Hvalfjörður | DS]

• Shokaku departed Yokosuka, Japan for Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• During the night, USS Alabama fired anti-aircraft guns against incoming Japanese raids. ww2dbase [Alabama | CPC]
• In a blinding rainstorm at night, submarine USS Bowfin accidentally found herself in the midst of a Japanese convoy of large merchant ships off French Indochina (Vietnam). Nearly ramming one large tanker, Bowfin fired torpedoes in all directions sinking two ship and probably damaging others. In the exchange, Bowfin was struck by gunfire with a ricocheting shot that came up into her island. Damage was minor but affected Bowfin’s diving ability until adequate repairs could be made. ww2dbase [Bowfin | South China Sea | DS]
• Off Palau, submarine USS Tinosa torpedoed and sank the 4,000-ton cargo ship Shini Maru. Tinosa also fired on a larger freighter with unobserved results but Tinosa believed this ship burned and sank. In the second attack, one torpedo upon firing became stuck in one of the stern tubes, half in the tube and half out. After evading a barrage of 34 depth charges, Tinosa surfaced at night and made an inspection. Two officers volunteered to go over the side and assess the situation. A wedge was placed in the arming impeller and the tube was fired again. The torpedo left the tube and sank. ww2dbase [Tinosa | DS]

• Allied convoy RA-54B departed Arkhangelsk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Arkhangelsk | CPC]

26 Nov 1943 Interactive Map