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• Hitler traveled to Finland to meet with Marshal Mannerheim. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | TH]
• Michio Kobayashi passed away. ww2dbase [Michio Kobayashi | CPC]
• French troops at Bir Hakeim, Libya repulsed another Axis attack. ww2dbase [Battle of Gazala | CPC]
• Mitsuo Fuchida was injured after being thrown by an explosion aboard Akagi, breaking both ankles. ww2dbase [Mitsuo Fuchida | CPC]
• Shortly after midnight the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli bound for a patrol area off Puerto Rico was attacked by Squadron Leader Jeaff Greswell's (No. 172 Squadron RAF) Leigh Light equipped Wellington bomber. The attack (the first to be made using a Leigh light) caused extensive damage to the Italian submarine, which was forced to abort her mission and return to port for repairs. ww2dbase [Wellington | AC]
• USS Astoria became the temporary flagship of Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher as USS Yorktown was hit by Japanese aircraft. ww2dbase [Astoria (New Orleans-class) | CPC]
• German submarine U-126 sank Norwegian tanker Høegh Giant 400 miles east of Guyana at 0140 hours; all 39 aboard survived. Just after dawn, German armed merchant cruiser Stier stopped British ship Gemstone, took off the crew, and sank her with a torpedo 750 miles northeast of Natal, Brazil. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Stier | CPC]
• German submarine U-159 sank Norwegian ship Nidarnes 20 miles west of Cuba at 0400 hours; 13 were killed, 11 survived. 150 miles northwest of Trinidad, U-502 sank US tanker MF Elliott at 2156 hours; 13 were killed, 29 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Trusty sank Japanese cargo ship Toyohashi Maru 20 miles south of Phuket, Thailand. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-27 attacked Australian coastal freighter Barwon off Gabo Island 260 miles south of Sydney, Australia at 0535 hours, failing to sink her. At 1645 hours, I-27 struck again, sinking Australian cargo ship Iron Crown; 37 were killed, 5 survived. An Australian Hudson bomber dropped two 250-pound bombs on I-27 but failed to do any damage. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Morosini reported that she had crossed the 10-degree West meridian in the Atlantic Ocean at 1800 hours. At 1845 hours, she was informed that an Allied convoy of three tankers escorted by three corvettes was located west of Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Morosini | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]

• Reinhard Heydrich, while en route to the airport, was ambushed by British SOE-trained Czech agent Jan Kubis and Slovak agent ozef Gabcík in the suburb of Liben near Prague, Czechoslovakia. Gabcík attempted to fire a STEN gun at Heydrich's car, but the weapon jammed. Heydrich ordered the driver to stop so he could confront Gabcík, and the thus far unseen Kubis took the chance to throw an anti-tank mine at the car, fatally wounding Heydrich. ww2dbase [Special Operations Executive | Reinhard Heydrich | Prague | CPC]

• The keel of U-1059 was laid down at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft | U-1059 | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille originally received orders that he was to be sent back to Germany to be awarded Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, but on this date Albert Kesselring would personally arrive in Libya to deliver the citation (without the physical award). On the same day, he was ordered to prepare to become commanding officer of the squadron 3 Staffel I./JG-27. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• Akagi launched strikes against Midway Atoll. She was subsequently attacked by numerous enemy land and carrier-based aircraft. At 1026 hours, she was attacked by three aircraft from USS Enterprise, suffering one direct hit amidships in the vicinity of the island, starting a fire in the hangars. A second hit ripped through the fantail and exploded under the port quarter. The third bomb released at her was a near-miss port-side forward. Although normally the damage would had been moderate, the vessel was currently engaged in preparing a strike, with the result that the single bomb hit induced explosions among armed and fueled aircraft within hangars and start a raging aviation gasoline fire. Since she was in a maximum turn at the time, Akagi's rudder was damaged, and soon jammed at 20 degrees to port, leaving her going in wide circles. Unable to command the fleet from her now, at 1046 hours Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo transferred flag first to Nowaki, then to Nagara. Akagi's engines worked erratically, with the ship starting and stopping, but she went dead in the water for good at 1350 hours. By 1600 all non-essential personnel had left the ship, though Captain Aoki and a damage control party remained aboard. The vessel burned through the evening and next night, but remained afloat. ww2dbase [Akagi | CPC]
• Light carrier Hosho's aircraft located the burning wreck of carrier Hiryu off Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Hosho | CPC]
• Kaga was struck by at least four bombs during the Battle of Midway and suffered a great fire. She was scuttled at 1925 hours by two torpedoes from destroyer Hagikaze. 814 were killed in her loss. ww2dbase [Kaga | CPC]
• Starting at 0700 hours, US carriers launched torpedo bombers and dive bombers against the Japanese fleet in the Midway region. Japanese carriers wiped out the first few waves of US air attacks, but at about 1030 hours dive bombers were able to hit Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi. USS Yorktown was hit by Japanese dive bombers at about 1200 hours and by torpedo bombers at 1440 hours, forcing Rear Admiral Fletcher to transfer his flag to cruiser Astoria. At 1703 hours, the last undamaged Japanese carrier Hiryu was hit by a dive bomber. Soryu would sink at 1913 hours (711 were killed, 392 survived), and Kaga would be scuttled at 1925 hours (811 were killed, 900 survived). ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
• In the Battle of Midway, USS Hammann shot down two Japanese aircraft attacking USS Yorktown, but nevertheless Yorktown would be disabled by the Japanese. Hammann rescued about 500 survivors from Yorktown. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | Hammann | CPC]
• Jack Kleiss, flying a SBD Dauntless dive bomber, scored bomb hits on Japanese carriers Kaga and Hiryu off Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Jack Kleiss | CPC]
• Pilot Eugene Lindsey and gunner Charles Grenat were killed off Midway Atoll when their TBD Devastator aircraft was shot down by Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters while attacking carrier Kaga. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Gene Lindsey | CPC]
• Yugure escorted the Aleutian Guard Force. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Yugure | CPC]

• Luigi Torelli was attacked and seriously damaged by a British Coastal Command Wellington bomber in the Atlantic Ocean. She was towed by Spanish tugs to Avilés, Asturias, Spain to receive temporary repairs. ww2dbase [Luigi Torelli | Avilés, Asturias | CPC]

• The Royal Air Force aerodrome at Thurleigh was formally assigned for use by the United States Army Air Forces. The USAAF designated the base as Station AAF-111. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Thurleigh, England | DS]

• Fletcher-class destroyer Hoel was laid down at the Bethlehem Shipyard, San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Hoel | San Francisco, California | DS]
• USS Nicholas was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States with Lieutenant Commander William Brown in command. ww2dbase [Boston Navy Yard | Nicholas | Boston, Massachusetts | DS]

• Japanese carriers launched 72 bombers and 36 fighters against the airfield at Midway Atoll at 0430 hours, hitting the atoll at 0620 hour and doing limited damage. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]
• I-168 observed the first Japanese attack on Midway Atoll through the periscope. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | I-68/I-168 | Midway | CPC]

4 Jun 1942 Interactive Map