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• Italian submarine Morosini sank Dutch tanker Oscilla 145 miles northeast of Antigua; 4 were killed, 51 survived. At 1824 hours, German submarine U-504 sank British ship Stangarth 300 miels north of San Juan, Puerto Rico on her maiden voyage, killing all 46 aboard. German submarine U-332 sank US tanker Australia 20 kilometers off North Carolina, United States at 1955 hours; 4 were killed, 36 survived. To the northeast, U-404 sank British tanker San Demetrio 60 kilometers east of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. At 2317 hours, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, U-68 sank British ship Baron Newlands 6 miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia; 18 were killed, 20 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Japanese aircraft raided Darwin, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• HMS Begonia was loaned to the US Navy and was renamed USS Impulse. ww2dbase [AC]

• Morosini fired two bow torpedoes at Dutch tanker Oscilla, which she had sighted before midnight on the previous date, in the Atlantic Ocean at 0503 hours; the Italians recorded both torpedoes hitting, but survivors recalled only one explosion. At 0520 hours, a stern torpedo was fired; it might had hit the target and failed to detonate. At 0523 hours, another stern torpedo was fired; it also might had hit the target and failed to detonate. At 0534 hours, the fifth torpedo was fired, hitting the target on the port side. At 0553 hours, Morosini opened fire with her 100-millimeter guns, hitting the tanker 81 times. The tanker sank; 52 survived, 4 were lost. The survivors were later picked up by the American freighter Explorer. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Morosini | CPC]

• A number of US B-26 Marauder bombers were launched from the US Territory of Hawaii for Brisbane, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Shokaku and Zuikaku returned to Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Zuikaku | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Japanese massacred the entire village of Parit Tinggi, Negeri Sembilan in Malaya; more than 100 were killed. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Parit Tinggi, Negeri Sembilan | CPC]

• USS Permit arrived at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands, delivering ammunition and evacuated 36 US Navy cryptanalysts. ww2dbase [Permit | Corregidor, Cavite | CPC]
• 2 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (Lieutenant Frank Bostrom and Captain Bill Lewis) flew from Batchelor Field, Darwin, Australia to Mindanao, Philippine Islands to pick up Douglas MacArthur. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | Bukidnon | CPC]
• 46 radio intelligence personnel were evacuated from the US Navy Station CAST facility at Corregidor island, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | Corregidor, Cavite | CPC]

• Belzec Concentration Camp was established in occupied Poland for the purpose of holding and exterminating Jews from Lublin and Galicia. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Belzec Concentration Camp | Belzec, Lublin | CPC]

• Japanese killed 142 civilians, mostly ethnic Chinese, in Tanjong Kling, Malacca in Malaya. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Tanjong Kling, Malacca | CPC]

• Soviet ambassador in London, England, United Kingdom expressed wish for a second front in Europe. ww2dbase [London, England | CPC]

16 Mar 1942 Interactive Map