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January 13th

1940/41/42

1940 - US freighter SS Narbo, bound for Italy, Yugoslavia & Greece, is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities. The Freighter SS Tripp, detained at Gibraltar by the British since 11 January, is released, but not before some items of her cargo are seized as contraband
1940 - U-101 launched
1940 - SS Sylvia sunk by U-20 NE of Aberdeen. All 20 crewmembers lost
1940 - The icebreaker Georgy Sedov completes an 812-day expedition
1941 - RAF bombers strike the U-boat base at Lorient during the night of 13/14 January
1941 - U-597 laid down
1941 - Destroyers USS Laffey & Woodworth laid down
1942 - Despite opposition, Admiral Karl Donitz, Flag Officer U-boats, begins Operation "Drum Roll" (Paukenschlag), the use of U-boats in the waters off the eastern coast of North America. The submariners are surprised to find peacetime conditions on the US coast, with lighthouses and marker buoys still lit. In addition there is no radio silence and positions of merchant ships are frequently given away in radio communications. These conditions and the inexperience of the USN escort vessels lead to a loss of 150,000 tons in the first month of the operation. The fact that "Drum Roll" could not begin until some weeks after the German declaration of war on the US indicates how unprepared the Navy was for this sudden development
1942 - Nineteen West Coast shipyards adopt around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week work schedules
1942 - At 0118, SS Frisco was hit by two torpedoes from U-130 off Long Island & sank. The master, the first mate, the second mate/radio operator and an ordinary seaman were killed. In the afternoon of 14 January, the Danish merchant Mjoanes picked up three survivors in a lifeboat in 46°24N/57°20W and taken to North Sydney, arriving two days later. Another lifeboat with 9 men was never seen again
1942 - At 0948, the unescorted & unarmed SS Friar Rock was sunk by U-130 about 110 miles SW of Cape Race. Two of three torpedoes fired by U-130 had hit the vessel, which sank later in 45.51N/50.52W. A ship rescued only seven survivors. One of them, the second mate, died ashore
1942 - Corvette HMCS Shawinigan arrived St John's for Newfoundland Command
1942 - Destroyer USS Forrest commissioned
1942 - Inter-Allied Conference met in London

1943/44/45

1943 - U-507 sunk NW of Natal, in position 01.38S, 39.52W, by depth charges from a USN VP-83 Catalina aircraft. 54 dead (all hands lost). U-507 (along with U-156 and U-506 and Italian submarine Cappellini) took part in the rescue operations after the sinking of SS Laconia in September 1942 off Africa. About 1500 men were saved by these boats and French ships from Dakar (which arrived on Sept 16, 4 days after the sinking)
1943 - Submarine USS Triton, on her fifth patrol, in the Bismarck Archipelago area, spots a large tanker while on the surface. In the morning twilight, Triton fires eight torpedoes. One hits & lightly damages Akebono Maru north of the St. Matthias Island group in position 00°45'S, 148°56'E
1943 - Submarine USS Whale, carrying out a submerged daylight patrol in the Marshalls on her second patrol, sinks SS Iwashiro Maru with three of four fish fired. The Japanese naval collier sinks about 40 miles north of Kwajalein in position 09°54'N, 167°07'E
1943 - U-421, U-536 commissioned
1943 - Corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec sank U-224 OLtzS Hans-Carl Kosbadt CO, West of Algiers, 36-28N 00-49E. Of U-224's crew of 45 there was 1 survivor. Ville de Quebec was escorting Gibraltar to North Africa convoy TE-13 when she detected U-224. She attacked with depth charges, which blew the submarine to the surface. Ville de Quebec then rammed the submarine just as the Weapons Officer, LtzS Dankworth, emerged from the conning tower hatch to survey the damage. He was thrown clear of the boat & became the only survivor. He was rescued 30 minutes later by HMCS Port Arthur. U-224 a VIIC type U-boat, built by F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel, launched 7 May 42, commissioned 20 Jun 42, in service 7 months, with a record of sinking 2 ships, for a total of 9,614 tons. OLtzS Kosbadt was her only commanding officer. Hans-Carl Kosbadt was born in 1917, at Warnemünde. He joined the navy in 1937. At the start of the war, he served at the Second Torpedo Officer in destroyer Wolfgang Zenker from Apr to Oct 39. From Oct 39 to Oct 40 he served in two different training posts before transferring to the U-boat force. After introductory training he served in UAA (Mar-Jun 41) and then as the First Weapons Officer in U-94 (Jun 41 - May 42) commanded by the 'Ace' OLtzS Otto Ites, Knights Cross. He was promoted to OLtzS on 19 Sep 41. Selected for command, he took his U-boat Commander's course from May to Jun 42 & was appointed as the commissioning CO of U-224 on 20 Jun 42
1943 - Destroyer escort USS Frost laid down
1943 - During a meeting of the milk cow U-117 & U-455, the doctor from U-117 transferred to U-455 & remained onboard
1943 - Sloop HMS Whimbrel commissioned

1944 - U-1201, U-1229 commissioned
1944 - U-1053, U-1208 launched
1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Albert T Harris & Charles E Brannon laid down
1944 - Light cruiser USS Duluth launched
1944 - While serving as a Flak boat, U-621 was attacked by an RAF 59 Sqn Liberator & suffered 1 man killed and 6 wounded. Matrosengefreiter Heinz Thomas was mortally wounded and later buried at sea. The commander decided to abort the patrol. U-621 took ten days to limp back to Brest
1944 - Frigate HMS Inman commissioned
1944 - Destroyer escort USS Hissem commissioned
1944 - Submarine HMS Vigorous commissioned
1944 - U-231 sunk NE of the Azores, in position 44.15N, 20.38W, by depth charges from RAF 172 Sqn Wellington. U-231 also shot down a Wellington from the same squadron in this action

1945 - Destroyer USS Myles C Fox launched
1945 - Heavy cruiser USS Bridgeport laid down
1945 - Lighter Covered (Non Self-Propelled) YC-912 lost in the North Pacific
1945 - U-2357, U-3024 commissioned
1945 - U-2540, U-2541 launched
1945 - The following U.P. report was released to the newswires - Despite punishing Allied blows, the Nazis are still able to operate as many as one hundred U-boats in the Atlantic, constituting a continued serious menace to Allied supply lines, British naval circles said tonight. However, insofar as is generally known here, there is no evidence that the Germans ever have attempted to launch flying bombs from submarines, despite Vice Admiral Jonas H. Ingram's warning that the US Atlantic coast might be hit by V-bombs landed from U-boats. There is also a general tendency here to doubt the statement attributed to Admiral Ingram that the Nazis have three hundred submarines in the Atlantic. British naval spokesmen and commentators are more inclined to believe that Germany's overall submarine strength is three hundred - a force that probably would permit from fifty to one hundred undersea craft to be actually operative at one time. To keep a force of three hundred U-boats within the Atlantic operating zone, a total force of approximately one thousand submarines would be necessary, one spokesman said, and added that Germany's submarine strength at its peak was 1500. The spokesman said that although the Allies had captured or bottled up all of Germany's Bay of Biscay submarine bases, she still had more and better bases than during the first World War, when she launched a highly successful U-boat campaign. The latest improvement publicized is a device enabling U-boats to recharge batteries beneath the surface
1945 - U-275 sailed on her final patrol
1945 - U-532 sailed from Jakarta on her final patrol
1945 - Just before 0900, a kamikaze carrying two 250 kg. (551-pound) bombs crash Casablanca-Class escort aircraft carrier USS Salamaua's flight deck killing 15 and wounding 80+. Damage is extensive; the flightdeck, the hangar deck, and spaces below blazed with a multitude of fires. One of the bombs, failing to explode, punches through the starboard side at the waterline. Power, communications, and steering fail; one of her engine rooms floods and the starboard engine quits. But, by 0910 hours, her gunners had splashed two of the kamikaze's compatriots. Temporary repairs enable the ship to return to San Francisco; arriving on 26 February