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• Marshal Badoglio replaced the Fascist government in Italy and began negotiations with the Allies in secret. Upon his first actions as the head of state was to dissolve the Fascist Party. ww2dbase [Pietro Badoglio | TH]
• Adolf Hitler ordered an operation to be commenced to rescue Mussolini from his arrest. ww2dbase [Operation Eiche | CPC]
• USS Mingo fired four torpedoes at a Japanese tanker; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Mingo | CPC]
• Hubert Lanz stepped down as the commanding officer of XXXXIX Gebirgskorps. ww2dbase [Hubert Lanz | CPC]
• Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman of Task Force 36 broke his flag aboard USS Saratoga. ww2dbase [Saratoga | CPC]
• Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman of Task Force 36 broke his flag aboard USS Saratoga. ww2dbase [Saratoga | CPC]
• USS Bailey departed San Diego bound for San Francisco, California. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]
• USS Nicholas departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides escorting a convoy to the Guadalcanal area, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Fighters of US 35th Fighter Group began to arrive at Tsili-Tsili Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Tsili-Tsili | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler called for Otto Skorzeny to discuss the rescue of Benito Mussolini, but Skorzeny missed the initial call as he was drinking with a friend at Hotel Eden on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Otto Skorzeny | Berlin | CPC]
• Joseph Goebbels traveled to Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany to coordinate some news regarding the capture of Benito Mussolini. In the evening, he noted in his diary the details of the devastation of Hamburg, Germany by Allied bombing. ww2dbase [Joseph Goebbels | Rastenburg, Ostpreußen | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against Hanover, Germany with the group experiencing heavy losses. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hanover | DS]

• USS Scorpion arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Scorpion | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• USS S-31 arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia, ending her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Nouméa | CPC]

• USS Haddock fired 2 torpedoes at a convoy in the Pacific Ocean; both torpedoes missed. Depth charges drove off Haddock temporarily. ww2dbase [Haddock | CPC]
• USS Portland fired on radar contacts south of Kiska Island in the Aleutians that were later determined to be false radar echoes and would become known as the Battle of the Pips. ww2dbase [Portland | DS]
• Submarine USS Thresher crossed the International Date Line eastbound so her logs repeated 26 Jul 1943 the next day. ww2dbase [Thresher | DS]

• Suffren disembarked two survivors of British merchant ship City of Canton at Durban, South Africa. ww2dbase [Suffren | Durban | CPC]

• While underway in Chesapeake Bay for the day, escort carrier USS Card landed TBF-1 Avengers and F4F-4Wildcats of Composite Squadron VC-1. ww2dbase [F4F Wildcat | TBF Avenger | Card | Chesapeake Bay, Virginia | DS]
• The keel of Antoine Saugrain was laid down at Yard No. 2, Kaiser Richmond Shipyards, Richmond, California, United States. ww2dbase [Kaiser Richmond Shipyards | Antoine Saugrain | Richmond, California | CPC]

• Submarine USS Thresher arrived at Midway, refueled, and departed bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi. ww2dbase [Thresher | Midway | DS]

26 Jul 1943 Interactive Map