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• In North Africa the RAF deployed its "secret" Hurricane IID Tank Buster Squadron which had been training to deliver low-level attacks on enemy tank formations using Hurricane fighters fitted with dual 40mm cannon. Within ten days the squadron would make 37 sorties, damaging 31 enemy tanks (although very few were completely destroyed). ww2dbase [Hurricane | AC]
• John Winant spoke to a group of British coal miners in Durham, England, United Kingdom and persuaded them from striking. ww2dbase [John Winant | CPC]
• General Lewis Brereton, commander of the US 10th Air Force in the China-Burma-India theater, was transferred to Egypt. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Speedboat Esau from German armed merchant cruiser Michel damaged US liberty ship George Clymer with a torpedo in the South Atlantic at 0200 hours. Near the Equator in the Central Atlantic, German armed merchant cruiser Stier sank Panamanian tanker Stanvac Calcutta with gunfire (12 were killed, 36 survived and were captured); Stier suffered two hits when Stanvac Calcutta returned fire with her 4-inch gun. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Michel | CPC]
• German submarine U-68 sank Panamanian tanker C. O. Stillman 60 miles southwest of Puerto Rico at 0307 hours; 3 were killed, 55 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• 628 Japanese-American internees, mostly from the neighboring state of Washington, arrived at the Portland Assembly Center in Oregon, United States. As of this date, the camp prisoner population was 3,676, which would be the camp's peak population. ww2dbase [Portland Assembly Center | CPC]

• Nachi provided support for the landings at Attu, Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Attu, Aleutian Islands | CPC]

• USS S-41 arrived at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [S-41 | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• 233 British bombers (124 Wellington, 40 Stirling, 27 Halifax, 20 Lancaster, 15 Hampden, 7 Manchester) attacked Emden, Germany, destroying 300 houses, killing 17 civilians, and wounding 49; 9 bombers were lost on this mission. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Emden, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• Japanese submarine I-16 sank Yugoslavian freighter Susak with her deck gun just off the coast of Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique. ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | CPC]

• Axis troops routed 3 Indian infantry battalions and 4 artillery regiments that failed to flee as the Operation Aberdeen offensive was called off on the previous day in Libya. With victory secured at this battle, Erwin Rommel moved the German 90th Light Division to reinforce the siege on Free French-held fort of Bir Hakeim. ww2dbase [Battle of Gazala | CPC]
• In Libya, Kittybombers repeatedly attacked Axis armor formations near the Knightsbridge box during the Battle of Gazala. ww2dbase [P-40 Warhawk | Gazala | CPC]

• Aircraft from USS Enterprise and USS Hornet attacked, damaging destroyer Arashio (37 were killed), destroyer Asashio (22 were killed), and cruiser Mogami (81 killed) and causing fatal damage to cruiser Mikuma, which would sink later in the day (650 killed, 240 survived). As US Navy Task Force 16 sailed eastward to refuel, thus breaking contact with the Japanese fleet, the Battle of Midway drew to a close. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-168 successfully navigated past American destroyers at 0430 hours north of Midway Atoll and closed in on the damaged carrier USS Yorktown at 1331 hours, firing 4 torpedoes. Destroyer USS Hammann was struck, sinking her immediately (84 were killed, 104 survived). Yorktown was also hit, but it would remain afloat despite the additional damage. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | CPC]
• While assisting damage control efforts aboard USS Yorktown, USS Hammann was struck by one Type 95 torpedo from I-168, breaking her in half, while Yorktown was struck by two of I-168's torpedoes. Hammann sank very quickly, then suffered a underwater explosion, most likely from her own depth charges, which killed many survivors in the water. 80 men were killed in the sinking. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | Hammann | Type 95 | CPC]
• The crew of Tanikaze buried six crewmen at sea in the Pacific Ocean; they were killed on the previous day during an American dive bomber attack. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | Tanikaze | CPC]
• Jack Kleiss, flying a SBD Dauntless dive bomber, scored three hits on Japanese cruiser Mikuma off Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Jack Kleiss | Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]

• German troops continued the bombardment of Sevastopol, Russia with large caliber weapons. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Sevastopol | CPC]

• Luigi Torelli departed Avilés, Asturias, Spain. She was spotted in the Bay of Biscay by two RAAF Sunderland aircraft. Strafed and depth charged, she suffered two killed and one wounded. Her return fire damaged one of the aircraft. The submarine was later beached at Santander, Spain with a large hole amidships. ww2dbase [Luigi Torelli | Avilés, Asturias | CPC]

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

• After returning to port from the day’s shakedown exercises, destroyer USS Bailey became grounded on Cow Island Ledge, a bar in the outer harbor of Portland, Maine, United States. The ship cleared herself almost immediately but her starboard propeller and shaft had sustained substantial damage. Bailey was ordered to the Boston Navy Yard for repairs. ww2dbase [Bailey | Portland, Maine | DS]

• Clarence Tinker led a flight of B-24 Liberator bombers from Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Clarence Tinker | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

6 Jun 1942 Interactive Map