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• US Navy VF-3 squadron pilot Lieutenant (jg) Edward H. O'Hare was approved for a Medal of Honor for shooting down five Japanese bombers attempting to attack USS Lexington 460 miles northeast of New Britain on 20 Feb 1942. Later analysis showed that he had only shot down three in the engagement, however. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-123 sank US freighter Alcoa Guide 200 kilometers east of North Carolina, United States, killing 6 of 34 aboard. At 1800 hours, U-572 sank Panamanian ship Desert Light 150 miles east of North Carolina; 1 was killed, 30 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• USS R-1 detected German submarine U-582 on the surface and fired three torpedoes; her commanding officer claimed one of them hit, damaging the target. ww2dbase [R-1 | CPC]
• Japanese troops decisively defeated the 1st Burma Division near Yenangyaung, Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [Egmont | CPC]
• The burning hulk of US tanker Gulfamerica, damaged by German submarine U-123 off Jacksonville, Florida, United States, finally sank. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-66 sank Dutch tanker Amsterdam 60 miles west of Grenada at 1745 hours; 2 were killed, 38 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• USS Tambor sank Japanese freighter Kitami Maru 50 miles southeast of Kavieng, New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago. ww2dbase [Tambor | CPC]
• German submarine U-403 fired 5 torpedoes at Allied convoy PQ-14 and made 2 hits on the civilian commodore's ship Empire Howard 200 miles north of Norway at 1245 hours; 29 were killed, 37 survived. Many of victims were killed by depth charges meant to hit U-403. Captain W. H. Lawrence of merchant ship Briarwood took over the civilian commodore role as his predecessor E. Rees was also killed. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
• German submarine U-81 sank French anti-submarine trawler Vikings 23 miles west of Beirut, French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon at 2038 hours; 41 were killed, 16 survived. At 2148 hours, U-81 struck again, sinking British ship Caspia; 27 were killed, 11 survived. At 2250 hours, U-81 attacked yet again, sinking three small Egyptian vessels. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Saburo Sakai and other pilots of the Japanese Navy Tainan Air Group arrived at Rabaul, New Britain via the transport ship Komaki Maru. ww2dbase [Saburo Sakai | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• The 11th Battalion of the British Royal Marines landed on Koufonisi, Greece by destroyers, destroyed a German radio station, captured some documents and equipment, and embarked the ships. The destroyers, HMS Kelvin and HMS Kipling, returned to Alexandria, Egypt by 1830 hours. ww2dbase [Koufonisi | CPC]

• British submarine HMS Turbulent sank Italian transport Delia 3 miles off of Brindisi, Italy at 1751 hours. ww2dbase [Brindisi | CPC]

• The Japanese Navy issued Order No. 18 for the capture of Midway and Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]
• Nachi arrived at Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan. ww2dbase [Nachi | Muroran, Hokkaido | CPC]
• Isoroku Yamamoto, aboard battleship Yamato in Hiroshima Bay, Japan, held a meeting with Vice Admiral Marquis Teruhisa Komatsu, Captain Noboru Ishizaki, Captain Katsumi Komazawa, Captain Kaku Harada, and other officers of the Sxith Fleet. Yamamoto wished the young midget submariners well in their forthcoming missions. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | Yamato | Hiroshima | CPC]
• Later in the day, after Vice Admiral Marquis Teruhisa Komatsu returned from his meeting with Isoroku Yamamoto, Katori departed Hiroshima Bay for Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Katori | Hiroshima | CPC]

• Japanese troops landed on Panay and Negros in the Philippine Islands before dawn. On Panay, lloilo City, Capiz, and the copper mines near San Jose were captured without resistance, but they found lloilo City in ruins, sabotaged by the retreating Filipino troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• A large group of Polish artists and actors were arrested by the Germans in the Artists' Cafe in Krakow, Poland. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Krakow | CPC]

• The German bombing on Middlesbrough, England, United Kingdom that began before midnight on the previous date ended; it injured 52, damaged some roads and homes, and caused interruptions to public utility services. During the day, the weekly Home Security Situation Report was filed, noting that for the week ending at 0600 hours on 15 Apr 1942, 20 were killed and 33 were seriously injured due to German bombing. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]

16 Apr 1942 Interactive Map