The Battle of Cape Matapan ended in Allied victory. The heavy cruisers Pola and Zara were among the five Italian warships sunk. British battleships HMS Barham, HMS Valiant, and HMS Warspite continued to shell the Italian fleet off Cape Matapan, Greece. Italian cruiser Fiume, cruiser Zara, destroyer Alfieri, and destroyer Carducci were sunk, while destroyer Oriani was heavily damaged. At 0400 hours, British destroyers HMS Jervis and HMS Nubian approached damaged Italian cruiser Pola, captured her crew, and sank her with torpedoes. British ships rescued 905 Italian sailors but hurriedly departed at daybreak, fearing Luftwaffe attack; the Royal Navy would provide coordinates of remaining survivors to Italian ship Gradisca to continue to rescue. The Battle of Cape Matapan would close with 5 Italian warships lost, killing 2,303 men; the British suffered only 3 killed, the air crew of a single torpedo bomber lost on 28 Mar 1941.
The Royal Navy announced: “Significant operations took place in the eastern Mediterranean on Friday when our naval formation under the command of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham encountered strong Italian forces. The enemy vessels tried to escape but several of them were brought to battle. It is presumed that so far at least one battleship of the Littorio class has recieved a direct hit, and two enemy cruisers are believed to be badly damaged. The aircraft of the Royal Navy and the RAF carried out raids whose results are not yet known. Greek naval forces also took part in these operations.”
After 3 days of inaction caused by sandstorms, German tanks and armored cars advanced at El Agheila, Libya, engaging British counterparts in the desert between El Agheila and Mersa Brega. Behind Allied lines, Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed an Allied train carrying gasoline. On land, the Afrika Korps conducts a supply operation to Marada. The Luftwaffe flies in support and destroys a British train carrying gasoline. The most important news of the day, though, is that German 5955-ton freighter Ruhr makes it into Tripoli under tow following a torpedo hit by HMS Utmost. The Ruhr carries 585 men total of the 606 Flak Battalion, a truck unit, and a medical unit. It also has 160 vehicles, 448 tons of fuel for them, 120 tons of ammunition, 208 tons of rations and 104 tons of supplies for the Luftwaffe. The 1927 ton Heraclea, sunk on the 28th, carried a smaller load of 206 men, 100 vehicles, 144 tons of fuel, 45 tons of ammunition and 39 tons of rations. The Afrika Korps is keeping a very close eye on these convoys, and this is the first convoy that constitutes a serious loss to the troops on land.
Things are growing increasingly tense between the Axis and Yugoslavia following the coup in Belgrade. When 2880 ton Yugoslavian freighter Dubac arrives as scheduled in Genoa, the Italians seize it.
With Yugoslavia falling apart, Croatian strongman Ante Pavelić meets with Mussolini, who has been backing him financially for years. Pavelic has been living in Florence for some time without Mussolini ever meeting him, but Mussolini now invites him to Rome. Mussolini gives Pavelic the okay to form a new Croatian State Government. Pavelic grants Italy the right to Dalmatia along the coast while requesting the release of remaining interned Ustaše. Mussolini provides Pavelic with access to a Florence radio station, from which Pavelic will begin making broadcasts advocating Croatian independence on 1 April.
In Albania, there is patrol and artillery activity. The RAF strafes Berat, Dukai, and Ducati.
Operation LUSTRE, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. The New Zealand 5th Infantry Brigade is the latest unit to arrive by sea from Alexandria.
Operation PICNIC proceeds on Malta, with the Independent Company, Special Service Battalion arriving on Gozo, Malta’s sister island.
The Middle East Air Force in Egypt announced: “Yesterday in Italian East Africa, British aircraft once again operated forcefully in the Asmara area. In Asmara itself, rail station buildings, railroad cars and motorised columns were hit be repeated bombs. Free French aircraft led an assault on an enemy base between Gondar (Ethiopia) and Asmara and destroyed a large number of military installations with precision-aimed bomb hits.”
South African 1st Brigade relieved the Nigerian Brigade in the Allied assault into Italian-occupied Abyssinia, capturing railway town of Dire Dawa and its airfield. The Italians have abandoned Diredawa (Dire Dawa), so the South African 1st Brigade fully occupies it today. As the third-largest city in Abyssinia, it is an important crossroads, airbase and railway junction. The Italian citizens of the city actually welcome and invite the British troops to come and restore order, because armed native troops who stayed behind reportedly have been treating their former overlords unkindly. Diredawa is on the railway line to Addis Ababa. Capturing it opens a clear path to the capital.
The Italians are implementing a scorched-earth policy of blowing up roads and bridges. This is the only thing slowing up the British advance.
The British 4th and 5th Indian Infantry Divisions breaking past Keren continue heading for Massawa on the coast. It is a key port on the Red Sea and defended by 10,000 men and 100 tanks. It also has a large Italian destroyer contingent. Commander Rear Admiral Mario Bonnetti, however, knows that the best hopes of a successful defense were far away from the port at Keren, not on its outskirts. Bonnetti forms a sketch defensive line at Ad Teclesan.
German and Italian ships begin breaking out of Massawa, a sure sign of a port’s impending loss. Today, German freighter Bertrand Rickmers heads for the Indian Ocean. Past escape attempts from other ports have seen only a small fraction of ships make it past the British blockade.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka again met with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin, Germany. Ribbentrop offered Matsuoka that, should the Soviet Union attack Japan while Japan embarked on a military campaign against British possessions in Asia, Germany would lend military assistance. Matsuoka countered, noting that the Soviet Union seemed to be friendly toward Japan.
Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies tours the East End of London and the docks there. He notes:
“Docks have suffered and seem strangely silent but several ships are berthed, and business, modified, goes on. Surrounding areas almost evacuated. Facades of terraces stand, but thousands of houses gutted or vacant.”
Prime Minister Winston Churchill has lunch with private secretary John Colville, after which he lectures Colville on the fates of those dare to invade Russia. Churchill is in a very good mood following the news of the victories at Keren and Cape Matapan and the coup in Yugoslavia.
Philippe Pétain created a General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs. Vichy France established an office to deal with Jewish affairs, placing Xavier Vallat at its helm. Vallat is a World War I veteran who lost his left leg and right eye in the conflict. Vallat is a huge anti-Semite, but also is a huge patriot and thus opposes Germany as well. He also, unlike many on the right, is not a monarchist. It is easy to see why Pétain likes him, and Vallat was one of the marshal’s biggest supporters during the final days of the Third Republic. However, the Germans do not particularly like Vallat — which again gives Pétain a chance to show his “independence” by picking him.
In an article in the New York Times the Governor of the French Province of Haute Garonne says: “…we cannot count on the next harvest before mid-July. That leaves ahead of us three very bad months. …any time after early June we may expect to be at the bottom of our larder. …the peasants will be resentful. People in the cities will be worse. …there is a real danger of riots in Toulouse…”
German submarine U-48 attacked Allied convoy HX.115 120 miles south of Iceland between 0619 and 0806 hours, sinking 3 freighters. Most survivors were picked up by British corvette HMS Dianella.
The Polish Telegraphic agency reported today that the Gestapo [Nazi secret police] had initiated a new wave of terror and persecutions in Poland. The agency said March saw a renewal of mass arrests and deportations, most of the deportees being sent to the Osweicim (Auschwitz) concentration camp, near Kraków, where there were at least 20,000 prisoners. It was reported that more than 3,000 had died in the camp in the last eight months. The agency reported that 85 percent of Kraków’s 100,000 Jews had been forced by the Germans to leave. The remaining 15,000, of whom 40 percent were workers and craftsmen, were confined to a ghetto in the Podgorze district. The newest anti-Jewish measure of the German authorities, the agency reported, was a ban against the general use of railways.
A fresh wave of disorders swept Syria tonight and six natives were killed and scores injured in clashes with French and Senegalese troops.
RAF Bomber Command: Day of 29 March 1941
4 Blenheims off Belgium and Holland. 1 aircraft attacked a tanker heavily defended by Flak ships. 6 further Blenheims to attack the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, now reported off Brest after their raid on shipping in the Atlantic; the Blenheims returned because of lack of cloud cover. No losses on this day.
RAF Bomber Command: Night of 29/30 March 1941
25 Hampdens minelaying off Brest; only 14 succeeded in laying mines. 1 aircraft lost.
The RAF raids Tripoli.
U-48, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Herbert Schultze, made attacks on convoy HX.115.
British steamer Germanic (5352grt) was sunk in 61-18N, 22-05W. At 0627 hours on 29 March 1941, U-48 fired one torpedo at the British steam merchant Masunda in station #33 of convoy HX.115 about 170 miles south of Reykjavik, but the ship evaded the torpedo that missed ahead and the Germans claimed it struck the British motor tanker Athelprince beyond. However, this tanker in station #53 had failed to make the emergency turn carried out by the convoy after Hylton was torpedoed and came close to Germanic (Master Richard Mortimer) in station #43 which was the ship actually hit by the torpedo. They had seen its track approaching from the port quarter too late before it struck at the after end of the engine room just forward of #4 hold. The explosion threw up a huge column of water and a terrific amount of debris, wrecked the engine, killed the four men on watch below and injured six crew members. No distress signals were sent because the aerials were gone. While the ship settled by the stern, the master, 34 crew members and one gunner (the ship was armed with one 4in and two machine guns) began to abandon ship in the starboard lifeboat as the other on the port side had been destroyed. The injured men were lowered into the boat lying alongside, one of them had been found lying on deck with a badly battered face after he apparently had been struck by debris of the port lifeboat. After ten minutes the boat left after everyone except the engine room staff was accounted for, but returned 15 minutes later when they saw a light flashed aboard. The chief and second engineer had been knocked unconscious as they were both in the vicinity of the explosion and recovered only after the boat left, suffering from severe shock but were otherwise not badly injured. They were taken aboard and the boat waited nearby in order to reboard their ship at daylight. At dawn the abandoned Hylton was spotted in some distance and her survivors rowed over to the lifeboat of Germanic to ask if some men could be transferred from their overcrowded boat, but they were also filled to capacity. Soon HMS Sabre (H 18) (Lt P.W. Gretton, DSC, RN) appeared and towed both lifeboats back to their vessels to check if they could be saved. The master wanted to go back aboard to recover some of the gear and asked a nearby armed trawler to take the injured men and the Arab crew members off first, but the trawler left to assist in the hunt for the U-boat. The survivors from both ships were eventually picked up by HMS Dianella (K 07) (T/Lt J.G. Rankin, RNR) and landed at Londonderry. While they were taken aboard the wreck of Germanic sank by the stern at about 1230 hours. The 5,352-ton Germanic was carrying wheat and was bound for Liverpool, England, United Kingdom.
Belgian steamer Limbourg (2483grt) was sunk in 61-18N, 22-05W. At 0655 hours on 29 March 1941 the Limbourg (Master Louis Spiessens) in station #23 of convoy HX.115 was hit on the starboard side amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-48 and sank within one minute with a heavy list to starboard about 170 miles south of Reykjavik, Iceland. She sank so fast that only two crew members survived: one of the stewards was thrown overboard by the explosion and the able seaman Polydore Paeye rescued himself on a raft which had been damaged when struck by one half of the destroyed starboard lifeboat. Paeye had seen the U-boat astern about 30 minutes before the attack, so close that it cut the log line but the 4in gun on the stern was not manned (the ship was also armed with two machine guns). At about 1300 hours, the survivors were picked up by HMS Kingcup (K 33) (Lt R.A.D. Cambridge, RNR). The 2,483-ton Limbourg was carrying phosphate and was bound for Aberdeen, Scotland.
British steamer Hylton (5197grt) was sunk in 60-20N, 18-10W. At 0619 hours on 29 March 1941 the Hylton (Master Watson Edward O´Connell) in station #21 of convoy HX.115 was hit on the starboard side amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-48 about 170 miles south of Reykjavik, Iceland. She was the ship of the convoy vice commodore Vice Admiral Sir C.G. Ramsey, CB, KCB, RN. The torpedo apparently penetrated one of the side fuel tanks, the engine room and exploded in the #2 deep tank that held 900 tons of wheat. The engines were stopped at once and the ship took a heavy list to starboard. No distress signals could be sent as the aerials came down. The gunlayer spotted the U-boat immediately after the attack a little abaft of the starboard beam in a distance of 40 yards between the columns of the convoy, but could not open fire at it. As the davits of the starboard lifeboat and the jolly boat had been destroyed, the crew stood by the port lifeboat until the order to abandon ship was given 30 minutes after the hit with a view to get the boat away before the list rendered this impossible. The master, the commodore, six naval staff members, 33 crew members and two gunners (the ship was armed with one 4in and one machine gun) abandoned ship in the only remaining boat in slight sea with the intent to stand by until daylight. At dawn, the survivors rowed to a lifeboat from Germanic in order to transfer some men from their crowded boat, but it was also full and soon HMS Sabre (H 18) (Lt P.W. Gretton, DSC, RN) appeared and towed the lifeboat back to Hylton which was kept afloat by the cargo of lumber with the after deck submerged. However, the sea had increased during the night and parts of the deck cargo were floating around the ship that made boarding too dangerous. The wreck of Hylton was scuttled by HMS Venomous (D 75) (Cdr H.P. Henderson, RN) with gunfire at about 1400 hours. In the meantime the survivors from both ships were picked up by HMS Dianella (K 07) (T/Lt J.G. Rankin, RNR) and landed at Londonderry. The 5,197-ton Hylton was carrying wheat and was bound for Tyne, England, United Kingdom.
U-46, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass, sank Swedish steamer Liguria (1751grt) from convoy OB.302 in 60N, 29W. At 17.50 hours on 29 March 1941 the unescorted Liguria (Master G.A. Melander), a straggler from convoy OB-302, was hit amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-46 and sank within six minutes after breaking in two about 300 miles south-southwest of Reykjavik. During the afternoon on 3 April, the Athenic came across the survivors and picked up eight men from a raft and three more from a small dinghy. Their food had run out and all were frost-bitten from the knees downwards. The second engineer died of exposure shortly thereafter and was buried at sea. On 4 April, the ship was herself torpedoed and sunk by U-76 (von Hippel), but there were no casualties and the next day all survivors were picked up by HMS Arbutus (K 86) (Lt A.L.W. Warren, RNR) and landed at Liverpool on 8 April. The 1,751-ton Liguria was carrying coal and was bound for Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands.
Minelayer HMS Abdiel, escorted by destroyers HMS Kelly, HMS Kashmir, HMS Kelvin, and HMS Jackal, laid mines in minefield GY in the English Channel.
Anti-aircraft ship HMS Curacoa departed Scapa Flow at 1130 to meet convoy WN.5 in the Pentland Firth. She provided cover to this convoy until meeting convoy EN.93 off Buchan Ness at 2300, continuing with it until Pentland Firth. Ship Curacoa arrived at Scapa Flow at 1430/30th.
British barge Emma (81grt) was lost and steamer Grenaa (1262grt) was damaged on mines at Rotherhithe. There were no casualties on the barge. The stern was blown off the barge. She was grounded and considered not repairable. On steamer Grenaa, four crewmen were killed and three crew members missing from a nineteen man crew. Steamer Grenaa was temporarily repaired on the beach at North Woolwich. She was later drydocked.
British tanker Oiltrader (5550grt) was sunk by German bombing 52-34N, 2-01E. The entire crew was rescued.
German tanker Nordmark replenished U-105 and U-106 at sea.
Yugoslavian steamer Dubac (2880grt) was seized by Italian authorities on the steamer’s arrival at Genoa.
British trawler Kimberley (190grt) was sunk by German bombing near 62D Boy, twenty two miles southeast of Flamborough Head. The entire crew of the trawler were rescued.
British trawler Exeter (165grt) was sunk by German bombing five miles southwest of Ballycotton. The entire crew of the trawler were lost.
British trawler Horace E. Nutten (209grt) was lost to a cause unknown in Moray Firth.
Norwegian steamer Veni (2982grt) was damaged by German bombing in 59-11N, 10-11W. The steamer was repaired at Grangemouth.
Italian battleship Veneto, damaged by a British torpedo plane, arrived at Taranto.
Lt C. W. R. Peever and Sub Lt A. C. Wallace RNVR, of 803 Squadron shot down a German JU-88 near aircraft carrier HMS Formidable. Wallace’s Fulmar was damaged in the encounter and landed in the sea. Wallace and Leading Airman F. P. Dooley were picked up by destroyer HMS Hasty.
Light cruiser HMS Ajax and Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth were detached from the Fleet to cover LUSTRE convoys in the Aegean.
Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Bonaventure and destroyers HMS Decoy and HMAS Waterhen joined the Battle Force. Cruiser Bonaventure was detached to convoy GA.8 to arrive at daylight on the 30th. Destroyer Decoy joined convoy AN.23. Destroyer Waterhen returned to Alexandria.
Destroyers HMAS Stuart, HMS Griffin, and HMS Hereward were detached to Piraeus and departed later that day with convoy GA.8 of supply ship Breconshire and British steamers Cameronia (16,287grt). The convoy arrived at Alexandria on the 31st.
Destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Hasty were sent to Suda Bay to escort damaged Marie Maersk (8271grt) and British steamer Dumana (8427grt) to Piraeus.
Light cruiser HMS Sheffield, aircraft carrier HMS Argus, submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone, troopship Highland Monarch, and destroyers HMAS Napier, HMAS Nizam, HMS Wrestler, and HMS Velox arrived at Gibraltar.
American heavy cruiser USS Vincennes (CA-44) arrived Simonstown from Pernambuco, having departed on the 17th. The cruiser departed the next day for New York with a large gold bullion shipment. The cruiser arrived in New York on 16 April.
Convoy SL.70 departed Freetown escorted by light cruiser HMS Dragon to 31 March, corvette HMS Calendula to 4 April, and anti-submarine trawlers HMS Kelt and HMS Pict to 4 April. Armed merchant cruiser HMS Bulolo relieved cruiser Dragon on the 31st and continued to 19 April. Light cruiser HMS Birmingham joined on 5 April and escorted to 20 April. Ocean boarding vessel HMS Marsdale joined on the 19th to 23 April. Destroyers HMS Beagle to 23 April, HMS Harvester for day only, HMCS St Francis to 23 April, and HMS Winchelsea for day only, corvettes HMS Heather, HMS Hepatica, HMS Orchis, and HMS Windflower for the day only joined on 20 April. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 23 April.
President Roosevelt summoned Americans of every political creed tonight to stand united in a determination that “with all our resources and all our power, we shall help those who block the dictators in their march toward domination of the world.” Arising from an “alliance of dictator nations,” the president warned, is a threat to America, its union, its democracy, and its cardinal principles of freedom a threat which “draws more tightly around us day by day.”
Charging that President Roosevelt had abandoned any attempt to solve our present economic ills and was determined to substitute “an economy based upon a larger relationship to foreign Wars,” Senator Nye, North Dakota Republican, tonight urged Americans fight eternally against a trend toward war. In his first address of a western tour, Senator Nye declared the Lend-Lease bill and the $7,000,000,000 appropriation for defense materials and aid to Britain were just the beginning, and that soon there would be a demand for convoys to escort American materials to England.”
Despite increasing German pressure on Japan to enter the war against Britain, feeling grew in Washington today that developments in Yugoslavia had tipped the scales against such a step by Tokyo. Those of this view expressed belief the Balkan setback to axis diplomacy would lead Japan to proceed cautiously and to weigh carefully the possible consequences of any action against Britain.
Settlement of a two-day strike at the Cambria works of the Bethlehem Steel Co. plant was announced early today by a representative of the company. Sydney E. Evans, management representative, said the settlement, reached after an all-day conference with federal and state mediators, was subject to ratification by the Steel Workers Organizing committee (C.I.O.) Terms of the settlement were the same as those that ended a walkout at the company’s main plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, yesterday.
Avoidance of strikes through the submission of all industrial disputes to mediation and arbitration was urged on the membership of the American Federation of Labor by its president. William Green, in today’s issue of The American Federationist.
The U.S. Coast Guard receives a report that the crew of Italian merchantman SS Villarperosa, interned at Wilmington, North Carolina, is sabotaging the ship. The Coast Guard investigates reports that the crews of Italian and German vessels in American ports had received orders to “sabotage and disable” them.
Heavy cruiser USS Vincennes (CA-44), taking a break from neutrality patrol activities and landing support operations at Puerto Rico, arrives at Simonstown (Cape Town), South Africa. This is pursuant to continuing Operation FISH, the transfer of Allied gold to the United States. It is there to pick up a large shipment of gold bullion to pay for arms purchased by Great Britain. The dockyard workers quickly load the gold, and the Vincennes is scheduled to stay in port for only 24 hours before heading for New York.
OPOR (Office of Public Opinion Research) asked: “Should the United States take steps now to keep Japan from becoming more powerful, even if this means risking a war with Japan?” Yes — 59%, No — 26%, No opinion — 15%.
Collier’s Magazine publishes Charles Lindbergh’s political “A Letter to Americans.” Lindbergh accuses Great Britain of being the “agitator” behind the war. He will use the word again in his speeches. He strikes a chord with those opposed to the draft when he writes that “we should not be conscripting our youth for a foreign war they do not wish to fight,” which is a refrain that will become much more popular in the 1960s and thereafter than in the 1940s. He concludes that the US can only become “a strong and victorious nation” and “preserve our ideals”:
“… if you, and I, and people like us, take the reins in hand once more, as our forefathers have done in times of crisis.”
This also anticipates much later struggles over war and peace issues, but the appeal damages his image in many minds. Those in favor of intervention will use these words to suggest a supposed allegiance by Lindbergh to Germany.
The publication of Lindbergh’s letter today coincides nicely with an America First rally held today at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
Hanson Baldwin of the New York Times Observes:
“Welding torches, riveting hammers, gantry cranes and draftsmen’s pencils may be determining the fate of the world. The “battle of the shipyards,” perhaps the most dramatic and least publicized phase of our tremendous attempt to make the United States an “arsenal of democracy,” is literally, at the moment, the most important single factor in the war. Its importance is underscored by the impending visit of Sir Arthur Salter, British expert on economic warfare and shipping, on an extraordinary mission, the purpose of which is to arrange complete coordination of Anglo-American shipping and to discuss a very considerable expansion of the present shipbuilding program. For the German assault upon shipping, which has sent 5,318,000 tons of vessels to the bottom in the first eighteen and a half months of war, is approaching a critical phase; this year — the crucial year of 1941 — probably will see the German challenge met or Britain overwhelmed, And the shipyards, American shipyards in particular, bear a major share of the burden of meeting the need for ships.”
In New York City, it is the final ride for urban cowboys. Until now, cowboys on horseback have led rail cars up and down 10th Avenue carrying freight to the Meatpacking District. Today is the final ride for this group of urban warriors, as the freight line is now elevated. The need for urban cowboys was created by a 1850s city ordinance permitting freight trains to ride down city streets on condition that they observed a 6 mile per hour speed limit and that “a proper person… precede the train on horseback to give necessary warning in a suitable manner on their approach.” Construction of the High Line by Robert Moses’ West Side Improvement Project in 1934 obviated the need for trains on the streets, though they lasted for another seven years — until today. Incidentally, the High Line itself lasted for a few more decades, into the 1980s, and now large portions of it are preserved as a park.
World premiere performance of Benjamin Britten’s “Requiem Symphony” by the New York Philharmonic under John Barbirolli. at Carnegie Hall, New York City.
“Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)” by Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra with vocals by Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell; reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. The song had been featured in the motion picture “First Love” starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack. This song, which debuted on the charts on 22 March 1941, was charted for 14 weeks, was Number 1 for 10 weeks and was ranked Number 1 for the year 1941.
“Amapola” is a standard of the genre recorded by many artists, including Bing Crosby. Deanna Durbin sang it in her 1939 film “First Love” and, much later, Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone used it as a refrain in “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984). It is often done as an instrumental. Amapola is one of the songs GIs would think about and refer to sarcastically as they marched through the poppy fields of Europe after D-Day.
It is “Moving Day” for American radio broadcasters. Pursuant to the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, between the US, Canada, and Mexico, 80% of North America’s radio frequencies are reassigned to new channels. This takes effect at 03:00 and promotes the standardization of radio broadcasts throughout the Western Hemisphere. Among other things, the agreement establishes clear-channel frequencies that provide more protection from electromagnetic interference at night. The practical effect is that listeners must scramble around the dial to find their favorite stations and shows by the likes of Bob “Pepsodent” Hope and Jack Benny. This agreement remains in effect until 1981.
The Wisconsin Badgers defeat the Washington State Cougars 39–34 in the 3rd championship game of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Badgers’ forward John Kotz is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
Captain Rogge is on board raider Atlantis cruising off the east coast of Africa when the lookouts spot Italian submarine Perla. It is among the vessels trying to escape from Massawa. Since the entire Italian position in East Africa is collapsing, the submarine’s commander, Lt. Bruno Napp, has chosen to follow orders and try to round the Horn of Africa and sail back to Bordeaux. The Perla is a coastal submarine, not built for such a lengthy journey, and its crew is starving from lack of supplies. Rogge supplies the submarine but suggests that the submarine go somewhere closer to be interned. Napp states that he will follow orders and continue his journey, come what may. Napp, in fact, heroically makes it back to Bordeaux in May after 81 days at sea.
New Zealand Division light cruiser HMS Leander departed Mauritius.
The Japanese continue pulling back slowly after their failure at the Battle of Shanggao. The Chinese 19th Army Group of the 9th War Area presses against the Japanese 11th Army in the vicinity of Yangkunghsu and Lungtuanhsu.
Light cruiser HMS Danae arrived at Penang.
USS Antares (AKS-3) arrives at Palmyra Island, and USS Boggs (DMS-3) arrives at Johnston Island. They bring with them separate elements of the First Defense Battalion, including 5-inch artillery. The soldiers begin constructing fortifications.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 122.37 (-0.31)
Born:
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., astrophysicist and Nobel laureate (Physics, 1993, for the discovery of a new type of pulsar), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Terence Hill [Mario Girotti] Italian-American-German actor (“Super Fuzz”; “They Call Me Trinity”), and filmmaker, in Venice, Italy.
Violeta Andrei, Romanian theater and film actress, in Brașov, Kingdom of Romania.
Jim O’Mahoney, AFL linebacker (New York Jets), in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2007).
Naval Construction:
The U.S. Navy Accentor-class coastal minesweeper USS Detector (AMc-75) is laid down by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co. (Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy 77-foot Elco patrol motor torpedo boat USS PT-34 is laid down by the Electric Launch Company Ltd. (Elco), (Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-211 is laid down by F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel (werk 640).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-383 and U-384 are laid down by Howaldtswerke AG, Kiel (werk 14 and 15).
The U.S. Navy Accentor-class coastal minesweeper USS Ostrich (AMc-51) is launched by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (Bristol, Rhode Island, U.S.A.).
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Burra (T 158) is launched by the Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. (Goole, U.K.); completed by Amos & Smith.
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Shapinsay (T 176) is launched by Cochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. (Selby, U.K.); completed by Amos & Smith.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-452 is launched by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 283).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-752 is launched by Kriegsmarinewerft (KMW), Wilhelmshaven (werk 135).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Narcissus (K 74) is launched by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd. (Aberdeen, Scotland).
The Royal Navy harbor defence motor launch HMS HDML 1009 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy harbor defence motor launch HMS HDML 1034 is commissioned.
The Вое́нно-морско́й флот СССР (ВМФ) (Soviet Navy) “S” (Stalinec)-class (2nd group, Type IX-modified) submarine S-34 is commissioned.
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