World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 3 Jun 1942

• German submarine U-156 sank British schooner Lillian with her deck gun; 3 were killed, 22 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• German General Rommel sent French General KÅ“nig a hand-written note, urging the surrender of Bir Hakeim in Libya to avoid needless bloodshed: "To the troops of Bir Hakeim. Further resistance will only lead to pointless loss of life. You will suffer the same fate as the two Brigades which were at Got el Ualeg and which were exterminated the day before yesterday - we will cease fighting as soon as you show the white flag and come towards us unarmed". KÅ“nig ignored the request. ww2dbase [Battle of Gazala | AC]
• Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman was named the commanding officer of the US Navy Gulf Sea Frontier. ww2dbase [CPC]
• A new British government plan for the coal industry was submitted to parliament in a White Paper, and Major Gwilym Lloyd George was appointed Minister of fuel, light and power. ww2dbase [AC]
• HMS Eagle launched 31 Spitfire fighters for Malta. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-24 attacked Australian coastal freighter Age with her deck gun and a torpedo 35 miles east of Sydney, Australia at dusk; Age was able to escape. 90 minutes later, I-24 came across Australian ship Iron Chiefton and sank her with a torpedo; 12 were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS S-35 spotted Japanese aircraft en route to raid Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska. ww2dbase [S-35 | CPC]
• USS St. Louis and USS Nashville joined with USS Indianapolis, USS Louisville, and USS Honolulu to round out Task Force 8 on patrol in the Gulf of Alaska. Upon hearing reports from Dutch Harbor, Alaska of an air attack by carrier planes, Task Force 8 immediately began searching for Japanese carriers operating south of the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [Indianapolis | Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Honolulu | Louisville | St. Louis | Nashville | DS]

• German submarine U-172 sank US ship City of Alma 400 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico at 0410 hours; 29 were killed, 10 survived. At 1000 hours, U-404 sank Swedish ship Anna 245 miles northwest of Bermuda after 5 hours of pursuit; all 17 aboard survived. 40 miles west of Nova Scotia, Canada, U-432 forced the occupants of two small US fishing boats to abandon the vessels before sinking them with her deck gun at 2100 hours. To the south, German submarine U-126 gave Norwegian tanker Høegh Giant east of Guyana. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Leonardo da Vinci fired a stern torpedo at Panamanian sailing ship Reine Marie Stewart, which had already been stopped by the Italian submarine on the previous date, 20 miles off of the coast of Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate in the Atlantic Ocean at 0655 hours; it missed. At 0730 hours, another torpedo was fired, hitting the target amidships, sinking her. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]

• Joseph Stilwell arrived in Chongqing, China. Later on the same day, Stilwell met with Chiang Kaishek who urged for more Lend-Lease supplies; in the same meeting, Stilwell asked Chiang to purge the Chinese officer corps of those responsible for the recent poor performance in Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | Chiang Kaishek | Chongqing | CPC]

• Luigi Torelli departed Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Luigi Torelli | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
• Morosini departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1700 hours, starting her tenth war patrol. ww2dbase [Morosini | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

• 170 British bombers attacked Bremen, Germany, killing 83 at the cost of 11 bombers lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Bremen, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• Tenryu entered drydock No. 3 at Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Japan for the installation of additional anti-aircraft weaponry and armor. ww2dbase [Maizuru Naval Arsenal | Tenryu | Maizuru, Kyoto | CPC]
• Nachi departed Paramushiro (Paramushir) Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille engaged in the longest single aerial battle of his career over Bir Hacheim, Libya, shooting down six P-40 fighters (at 1222 hours, 1225 hours, 1227 hours, 1228 hours, 1229 hours, and 1233 hours), pushing his score up to 75. He used up only 12 cannon rounds and about 360 machine gun rounds in this fight. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Bir Hacheim | CPC]

• In the morning, US PBY Catalina aircraft discovered the location of the Japanese transports west of Midway Atoll. At 1230 hours, nine Midway-based B-17 bombers launched from Midway, reaching and attacking Japanese transports 660 miles to west at 1830 hours, inflicting no damage; meanwhile, US Navy Task Forces 16 and 17 changed course in an attempt to gain a more favorable battle for the upcoming battle. On the Japanese side, submarines arrived to form a cordon to detect American warship movements from the Hawaii Islands toward Midway Atoll; they did not realize that the American carriers had already passed. Far to the north, aircraft from Japanese carriers Ryujo and Junyo bombed Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska; one of the Zero fighters sustained damage and unsuccessfully crash-landed on Akutan Island. In response, US Navy dispatched a task force of 5 cruisers and 4 destroyers to counter the Japanese attacks in the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]
• Light carrier Hosho sailed ahead of the Southern Force into the Midway area. ww2dbase [Hosho | CPC]

• German aircraft continued to attack Sevastopol, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Sevastopol | CPC]

• Naka departed Singapore. ww2dbase [Naka | Singapore | CPC]

• German bombers attacked Poole, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Poole, England | CPC]

• I-168 circled Midway Atoll to provide weather data and other observations to the headquarters of the Combined Fleet. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

3 Jun 1942 Interactive Map