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• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk and arrived at Mereyon, Yap; she would depart later on the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Rommel communicated to Hitler that Germany should seriously consider ending the war on favorable terms when it was still possible; for a unknown reason, this letter was delayed in its delivery, not reaching Hitler until 20 Jul. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• US 83rd Infantry Division became part of the US VIII Corps. ww2dbase [CPC]
• A British No. 206 Squadron RAF Liberator bomber sank German submarine U-319 with depth charges in the North Sea; the aircraft was also lost during the successful attack. Also in the North Sea, another Liberator bomber from No. 159 Squadron RAF attacked U-561, but was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Claus von Stauffenberg aborted an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler when Hitler departed a conference earlier than expected. ww2dbase [Claus von Stauffenberg | CPC]
• US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy launched more than 600 bombers to attack four oil refineries in the Ploesti and Teleajenul areas in Romania. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese-American Staff Sergeant Kazuo Otani of the US 442nd Infantry Regiment was killed while fighting near Pieve di Santa Luce, Italy. He repeated exposed himself to German fire in order to give directions to his platoon, and crawled under fire to give medical aid to a wounded soldier. He would later be awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet forces launched an offensive at the Finnish line in northern Karelia on the border of Finland and Russia; Finnish 5th Division counterattacked near Nietjrvi in the afternoon. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Soviet Second Baltic Front captured Opochka, Russia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-679 damaged Soviet torpedo boat TK-57. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-181 sank transport Tanda in the Indian Ocean. In the Mozambique Channel between continental Africa and Madagascar, U-198 sank transport Director; 1 was killed, 56 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In the Mariana Islands, US Seventh Air Force P-47 fighters based on Saipan attacked targets on Tinian. ww2dbase [Mariana Islands Campaign | CPC]
• US Navy Bombing Squadron109 PB4Y Liberator bombers based at Isley Field on Saipan, Mariana Islands attacked Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, and Haha Jima. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Minesweeper HMCS Rossland was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American minesweeper Ptarmigan was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Minesweeper USS Diploma was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

• In the Caroline Islands, US B-24 bombers attacked Truk and Yap. ww2dbase [Truk | CPC]

• The US Eighth Air Force based in Britain launched two missions over France, with 169 P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers attacking German transportation southeast of Paris (3 aircraft lost) and 6 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers dropping propaganda leaflets over French cities after sundown. Four B-26 Marauder bombers of the US Ninth Air Force hit the L'Aigle rail bridge in the afternoon, while fighters also of the Ninth Air Force attacked various targets at Saint-Lô, Argentan, and Falaise. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | CPC]
• French Milice members executed 28 prisoners who participated in a revolt on the previous day at Santé Prison in Paris, France. ww2dbase [Paris | CPC]

• Claus von Stauffenberg met with Adolf Hitler at Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany at 1300 hours. General Friedrich Olbricht activated Valkyrie in Berlin, Germany two hours prior to the meeting, expecting his troops to be in position to seize key positions in the capital at about the same moment Hitler was to be killed by a bomb that Stauffenberg brought into the meeting. Hitler departed the meeting early unexpectedly, and Olbricht hastily called off the operation, announcing that the troop movement was simply a drill. ww2dbase [July Plot | Rastenburg, Ostpreußen | CPC]

• USS Pollack departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her eleventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pollack | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Two divisions of the British 8th Army attacked Arezzo, Italy. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gothic Line | Arezzo, Toscana | CPC]
• Kazuo Otani was struck down by machine gun fire near Pieve di Santa Luce, Toscana, Italy after drawing German fire to give his men time to reach cover and then tending to a wounded fellow soldiers in an exposed position. He would be awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross medal for this action. ww2dbase [Kazuo Otani | Pieve di Santa Luce, Toscana | CPC]

• Landing ship No. 134 was completed. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 136 was launched. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• USS New Mexico departed Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [New Mexico | Eniwetok. | CPC]
• Destroyer USS Shaw arrived at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands after a month supporting the invasion operations on Saipan. ww2dbase [Shaw | Eniwetok | DS]
• Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay departed Eniwetok, Marshall Islands bound for Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Eniwetok | DS]

• While underway, USS St. Louis experience a racing engine that suggested a lost propeller or a broken shaft. ww2dbase [St. Louis | DS]

• 7 people were killed outside London Bridge railway station in London, England, United Kingdom by a V-1 bomb that also demolished a block of apartments. First Lieutenant Donald M. Raine of 412th Fighter Squadron of USAAF 373rd Fighter Group, flying his P-47 fighter, brought down the first of his squadron's V-1 bombs over the village of Kingsnorth in Kent. Pilots were becoming nervous about the bombs they shot down hitting houses and civilians. The Air Ministry put the defence of London as a priority. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | HM]

• US President Roosevelt arrived in Chicago, Illinois, United States aboard his personal train Ferdinand Magellan and met with the chairman of the Democratic Convention Robert Hannegan to discuss the upcoming re-election. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Chicago, Illinois | CPC]

• USS Archerfish arrived at Midway, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Archerfish | Midway | CPC]

15 Jul 1944 Interactive Map