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• » 9 Apr 1942

• British submarine HMS Thrasher sank Italian merchant ship Gala 20 miles southwest of Benghazi, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German relief attempts toward the Kholm encirclement were met with limited success. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | TH]
• Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Eivind Berggrav was arrested by the German occupation administration in Norway for resistance. ww2dbase [CPC]

• German submarine U-123 sank US freighter Esparta within 10 kilometers of Cumberland Island, Georgia, United States at 0716 hours, killing 1 of 40 aboard. To the northeast, 20 kilometers off the coast of North Carolina, United States, U-160 sank US freighter Malchace at 0758 hours, killing 1 of 29 aboard. U-552 sank US tanker Atlas, killing 2 of 34 aboard. At 1004 hours, northwest of Iceland, U-252 sank Norwegian ship Fanefjeld, killing all 24 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]

• Just before 1200 hours, eight B-26 Marauder bombers attacked Simpson Harbor and Vunakanau airfield at Rabaul, New Britain, damaging ships in the harbor, port facilities, and several parked aircraft. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• In the morning, eight Zero fighters attacked Seven Mile airfield new Port Moresby, Australian Papua, damaging one Hudson aircraft and one Kittyhawk aircraft on the ground. In the afternoon, Type 1 bombers escorted by four Zero fighters attacked Seven Mile once again; Australian fighters failed to scramble fighters. ww2dbase [Port Moresby | CPC]

• Akagi launched air strikes against Trincomalee, Ceylon from the Indian Ocean. ww2dbase [Akagi | Raids into the Indian Ocean | Trincomalee | CPC]
• Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the harbor at Trincomalee, Ceylon at 0700 hours. Two hours later, empty British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire were detected 90 miles further south. At 1035 hours, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked and sank HMS Hermes (307 killed) and HMAS Vampire (9 killed); hospital ship Vita rescued survivors from both warships. At 1207 hours, 20 Japanese carrier dive bombers sank British oiler Athelstane (all aboard survived) and British corvette HMS Hollyhock (48 were killed, 17 survived) in the Indian Ocean. ww2dbase [Hermes | Raids into the Indian Ocean | CPC]
• Shokaku launched air strikes against Trincomalee, Ceylon from the Indian Ocean. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Raids into the Indian Ocean | Trincomalee | CPC]

• Irako supplied food to auxiliary gunboat Okuyo Maru at Makassar, Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Irako | Makassar, Celebes | CPC]

• Italian aircraft heavily damaged British destroyer HMS Lance at Malta; she would soon be written off as a total loss. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• 75,000 US and Filipino troops, remainder of the US II Corps under General Edward King on the Bataan peninsula at Luzon, Philippine Islands, surrendered to the Japanese at 1230 hours; it was the largest American surrender in history. Before doing so, they destroyed fuel dumps, ammunition stores, tug USS Napa, and floating drydock USS Dewey. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | Bataan | TH, CPC]
• Before dawn, Kuma was attacked by US motor torpedo boats PT-34 and PT-41 in the Cebu Strait between Cebu and Bohol in the Philippine Islands but sustained no damage; the only torpedo that hit Kuma failed to detonate. PT-34 would be found and destroyed by aircraft after daybreak, killing 2. ww2dbase [Kuma | CPC]

• Soviet light cruiser Voroshilov was damaged by German aircraft at Novorossiysk, Russia. ww2dbase [Voroshilov | Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai | CPC]
• Repeated Soviet attacks on German positions at Kerch, Russia failed to break through. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Kerch, Krym | TH]

• German bombers attacked Worthing in southern England, United Kingdom during the day, damaging a hospital and a gasometer and killing 2. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Worthing, England | CPC]

9 Apr 1942 Interactive Map