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• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Buin, Bougainville departing later on the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• All remaining British and American citizens in Germany were arrested; all remaining British and American citizens in occupied Europe were deported to Germany. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British General Wingate ordered his Chindits in Burma to withdraw. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]
• In the afternoon, British launched Operation Supercharge II to exploit Axis defenses in Tunisia near the Tebaga Gap. At 2300 hours, as the moon rose to provide some light, British tanks pushed through the gap and approached on El Hamma to the north. Tanks of the German 15th Panzer Division were released from reserve to counter the offensive. Axis troops began retreating from the Mareth Line in Tunisia toward Wadi Akarit. ww2dbase [Operations Pugilist and Supercharge II | CPC]
• Remy Van Lierde shot down a German Ju 52 transport aircraft over Belgium, which was his second kill. ww2dbase [Remy Van Lierde | CPC]
• USS Finback attacked the Japanese convoy which she initially intercepted on 24 Mar 1943 north of New Guinea, Dutch East Indies. She damged two transports with 3 of 6 torpedoes fired and was counterattacked with depth charges. ww2dbase [Finback | CPC]
• US B-17 bomber "Pluto", with US General Howard Ramey aboard, disappeared 20 minutes after having taken off from Port Moresby, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The 7,047-ton British cargo transport steamer Empire Standard was bombed and sunk by German aircraft at Algiers, Algeria. ww2dbase [Algiers | HM]

• German submarine U-339 was seriously damaged by six depth charges from a British Catalina aircraft from the Faeroe Islands (190 Squadron RAF, pilot J. Fish), and was forced to return to Trondheim, Norway. Once there U-339 was deemed unfit for service and was then transported to Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [HM]
• Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Bogue and her escorts detached from Convoy SC123 in the mid-Atlantic and set course back toward Argentia, Newfoundland. ww2dbase [Bogue | DS]

• The Chervony Kazak, a Russian sailing ship being used as an army supply vessel, was sunk by German torpedo boats near Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. No information was released about losses. ww2dbase [HM]

• Adolf Hitler informed Benito Mussolini that the Battle of Stalingrad had weakened the Soviet Union so much that the city would surely fall and the war would be won. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | CPC]

• Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Katori | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• The 1,524-ton Dutch motor vessel Prins Willem III, on a voyage in convoy from Silloth on Solway in England, United Kingdom to Algiers, Algeria was bombed by German He 111 aircraft. The damaged vessel was taken in tow by the British tug Hengist, but capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea north of Cherchell, Algeria. Eleven of her crew were lost. ww2dbase [HM]
• At 0207 hours German submarine U-755 fired a spread of three torpedoes at an unknown convoy north of Ceuta, the semi-autonomous Spanish city on the north coast of Africa, and observed a hit in the bow of the 1,147-ton FFL Sergent Gouarne (P 43), a Free French Patrol Boat (converted trawler) which broke in two and sank in 90 seconds.36.001,-2.49 ww2dbase [HM]
• At 1842 hours, German submarine U-77 fired three torpedoes at the convoy MKS-10 northwest of Oran, Algeria and observed columns of smoke rising above the target after the first torpedo hit. Two further detonations were heard However, only the City of Perth was hit. The vessel was taken in tow by the British armed trawler HMS Man O'War (FY 104) and beached south of Cape Figalo, Algeria and became a total loss. Two gunners were lost. The master, 78 crew members and 11 gunners were rescued by the armed trawler. ww2dbase [HM]

• In the Aleutian Islands, American warships intercepted Japanese troops attempting to reinforce Kiska, engaging in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. ww2dbase [Aleutian Islands Campaign | CPC]
• USS Whale attacked the Japanese ship she had been pursuing since the previous day east of Saipan, Mariana Islands; all 7 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• During the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, Japanese cruisers Nachi, Maya, Tama, and Abukuma with destroyers Wakaba, Hatsushimo, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, and Usugumo plus three transport ships engaged United States Navy cruisers Salt Lake City and Richmond escorted by destroyers Coghlan, Bailey, Dale, and Monaghan in one of the very few pure naval surface battles of World War II involving long-range guns. Nachi was forced to push one of her floatplanes overboard (concussion damage from her own guns), fired several Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes at the US forces (none of which hit), and received five hits (killing 14). Salt Lake City sustained moderate damage and was dead in the water for a short time. Bailey, Coghlan, and Monaghan made a bold torpedo attack that became known as the Charge of the Irish Destroyers. ww2dbase [Bailey | Monaghan | Salt Lake City | Nachi | Ikazuchi | Tama | Abukuma | Maya | Aleutian Islands Campaign | CPC]

26 Mar 1943 Interactive Map