World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 16 Jul 1944

• Yet another pocket began to form in Ukraine as over 40,000 German troops were about to be encircled near Brody. ww2dbase [TH]
• After dark, New Zealand Lieutenant-Commander R. B. Goodwin became the only prisoner of war to make a successful escape from Hong Kong. He went over the Shamsuipo camp wire during the night and swam to the mainland of China, travelling overland to Kunming. He arrived back in New Zealand in Nov 1944. ww2dbase [AC]
• A total of 1,087 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers USAAF Eighth Air Force attacked Germany in three waves (407, 238, and 407 bombers, respectively), escorted by 240, 214, and 169 fighters, respectively, with most of the bombers targeting Munich, Stuggart, Augsburg, and Saarbrucken; a total of 11 bombers and 3 fighters were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• During the day, about 375 USAAF Ninth Air Force aircraft attacked German positions in the Saint-Lô and Rennes areas in France throughout the day. After dark, 5 B-17 bombers were launched to drop propaganda leaflets over France and another group of 24 B-17 bombers flew in support of French resistance groups. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | CPC]
• About 380 USAAF Fifteenth Air Force aircraft from Italy attacked Munchendorf Airfield, Winterhafen oil depot, Vienna marshalling yard, and the Wiener Neudorf engine factory in and near Vienna, Austria. 10 bombers were shot down while American escorting fighters claimed to have shot down 30 of the 100 German fighters which rose to defend Vienna. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Chelsea (former USS Crowninshield), HMS Brighton (former USS Cowell), HMS Richmond (former USS Fairfax), and HMS St Albans (former USS Thomas) were transferred to the Soviet Union. They were renamed Dzerki, Zharki, Zhivuchi, and Dostoinyi, respectively. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet forces attacked Grodno, Byelorussia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet aircraft sank German anti-aircraft cruiser Niobe in Kotka harbor, Finland; the Soviet pilots mis-identified their victim as Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In the Mariana Islands, P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft of US Seventh Air Force from Saipan attacked Japanese targets at Tinian. At Merizo, Guam, Japanese Army troops massacred 30 civilians. ww2dbase [Mariana Islands Campaign and the Great Turkey Shoot | CPC]
• USAAF declared Kamiri airfield at Noemfoor, Biak Islands operational as a fighter base. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US submarine Bullhead was launched. ww2dbase [Bullhead | CPC]
• US destroyer Hugh W. Hadley was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of US destroyer Fred T Berry was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British aircraft attacked German submarine U-299, wounding the German commanding officer. U-299 would be forced to return to Norway for repairs. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Dragon was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Dragon | CPC]
• USS Astoria departed Trinidad for Puerto Rico. ww2dbase [Astoria (Cleveland-class) | CPC]
• USS Cabrilla sank a Japanese transport between Borneo and Philippine Islands, hitting her with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
• General Dwight Eisenhower recommended the formation of a combined Anglo-American airborne Army and nominated Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton to command with Lieutenant General Frederick Browning (who was actually senior) as his deputy. ww2dbase [Frederick Browning | AC]

• Just as anti-submarine aircraft from escort carrier USS Card developed a submerged target southwest of Mona Island by means of sonobuoys, the main bearings of the carrier’s single turbine burned out leaving the ship dead in the water. The aircraft launched two Mark 24 FIDO homing torpedoes without result. Contact was lost and the airborne aircraft were diverted to Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico. ww2dbase [Mark XXIV | Card | Borinquen Field | Caribbean Sea | DS]

• B-24 bombers of US Fifth Air Force attacked Yap, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Yap | CPC]

• Claus von Stauffenberg hosted a party at his home at Wannsee, Berlin, Germany, which was attended by several anti-Hitler conspirators. ww2dbase [Claus von Stauffenberg | Berlin | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against railroad yards in Munich, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Munich, Bavaria | DS]

• USS Whale arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Whale | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]
• Submarine USS Bowfin departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Bowfin | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Submarine HMS Sirdar (Lieutenant J. A. Spender, RN) sighted an enemy submarine with six torpedoes in the northern end of the Strait of Malacca between Malaya and the island of Sumatra. Sirdar broke surface upon firing and was lightly damaged (radar and wireless transmitter) by machine gun fire from the enemy. The enemy submarine was attacked again a few hours later by the submarine HMS Templar (Lieutenant T. G. Ridgeway, RN); eight torpedoes were fired in this attack, but they all missed. At 0903 hours five explosions were heard, most likely the torpedoes exploding at the end of their run. The patrol report states that it was a Japanese submarine of the RO-60 class, these however did not operate in this area; furthermore, no Japanese submarines of other types were in the area at that given time. The enemy submarine they encountered was actually the German submarine U-1062, which had departed Penang, Malaya on the previous day for Europe. ww2dbase [Strait of Malacca | HM]

• Troops of the British 8th Army captured Arezzo, Italy while troops of the British XIII Corps crossed the Arno River. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gothic Line | Arezzo, Toscana | TH]
• Brazilian 6th Infantry Regiment arrived in Naples, Italy. ww2dbase [Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• Submarine USS Thresher (Lieutenant Commander D. C. MacMillan) fired 10 torpedoes toward Japanese convoy Tama 21C, en route from Takao in Taiwan to Manila in the Philippine Islands, sinking 2,838-ton Japanese transport Shozen Maru and fatally damaging 4,916-ton Japanese merchant ship Sainei Maru. USS Thresher's records claimed 6 hits and claimed the sinking of two transports and one destroyer. ww2dbase [Thresher | South China Sea | CPC, HM]
• USS Skate (Commander W. P. Gruner, Jr.) fired six torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the Sea of Okhotsk, claiming one hit that sank a Japanese tanker. Japanese records showed that two ships were lost, the 1,942-ton Japanese troop transport Nippo Maru and the 1,937-ton Japanese tanker Nikkaku Maru. ww2dbase [Skate | Sea of Okhotsk | HM]

• USS Ranger transited the Panama Canal and entered the Pacific. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Ranger | Panama Canal | DS]

• USS Ticonderoga departed Port of Spain, Trinidad for Norfolk, Virginia, United States. She was escorted by destroyers USS Broome, USS Simpson, and USS Winslow. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Port of Spain | DS]

• The Polish government-in-exile in London, England, United Kingdom published a paper which laid claim to the German territory of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig; the paper also reasserted the territory that the Germans called "Polish Corridor" was to remain within Polish borders. ww2dbase [London, England | CPC]
• Three V-1 flying bombs impacted in quick succession in Brixton, London, England, United Kingdom, hitting Ramsey Road (5 killed), Brixton Road (2 killed) and at Lubbock Street in nearby Battersea (16 killed). The Church of St John in Bermondsey was hit; this church had been badly damaged during the Blitz of 1940 and repairs had been completed. The church was used as an emergency aid station; two workers were killed when the roof collapsed. ww2dbase [Vergeltungswaffe 1 | V-Weapons Campaign | London, England | HM]

• USS Mississippi and USS West Virginia departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the latter after extensive repairs and modernization following damage received in the Pearl Harbor Attack. ww2dbase [West Virginia | Mississippi | Puget Sound Navy Yard | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

16 Jul 1944 Interactive Map