This day in military history..

26th March 1945.
My uncle John RAF VR was murdered by Japanese guards on the Sandekan Death March aged 22

Rest in Peace uncle John, I wont forget you.
 
Mar 30
598 Siege of Tamis ends
1296 Sack of Berwick-upon-Tweed
1814 Coalition troops occupy Paris
1865 Battle of Five Forks begins
1885 Battle of Kuska
1939 He-100 Fighter sets world speed record of 463.82 MPH.
1942 U-585 sunk by mine north of Murmansk
1943 U-416 sunk by mine off Bornholm, raised, repaired, returned to service
1944 Destroyer HMS Laforey sunk by U-223, and U-233 sunk in turn by 5 R.N. ships north of Palermo. KM Sub Chaser RA-256 sunk by Allied aircraft at Livorno. Operation Desecration One: Carrier Raid on Palau: Destroyer Wakatake, Patrol Boat PB-31, Sub Chaser CH-6, Aircraft Transport Goshu Maru, Repair ships Urakame Maru and Akashi Maru, Destroyer Tender Kamakaze Maru are sunk, along with another 30 ships sunk or damaged on the 30-31st.
1945. U-965 sunk by Frigates HMS Conn and Rupert north of Scotland. Bombed and sunk in the following places..Wilhelmshafen: KM Frigate F-6, Minesweeper M-329, U-96,429. Hamburg: U-348, 1167, 2340, 350. Bremen: U-430 and 870. E Boats S-186, 194, and 224 sunk by aircraft. Aux. Sub Chaser Shinan Maru sunk by B-25s off Yulin. Red Army captures Danzig and invades Austria
1972 NVA Spring Offensive begins
 
Mar 31
1866 Spanish ships bombard Valparaiso, Chile
1899 US captures Malolos, Capital of the 1st Philippine Republic
1921 RAAF Est.
1939 Slovak-Hungarian War ends
1941 Cruiser HMS Bonaventure sunk by Italian sub Ambra south-east of Crete. Trawler HMS Lord Selborne sunk by mine at the mouth of the Humber. Italian sub Pier Capponi sunk by sub HMS Rorqual south of Stromboli.
1942 Japan captures Christmas Island
1943 Trawler HMS Caulonia ran aground and sank off Rye Bay
1945 IJN sub I-8 sunk in a running gun battle with Destroyer USS Morrison.
 
Apr 1
1935 German Armed Forces are re-established outside the Treaty of Versailles, and the Wuftwaffe est.
1939 1st flight Japanese Zero
1941 Italian Cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere sunk by sub HMS Urgent off Stromboli. Italian Destroyer Leone strickes uncharted submerged rock & is scuttled off Massawa. British occupy Asmara.
1942 Subs HMS P 36 and Pandora bombed/sunk at Malta. Trawler HMS Solomon sunk by mine off Cromer. KM Trawler UJ-1203 sunk by mine in Gulf of Finland
1943 USN Patrol Boat YP-235 sunk by an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico
1945 U-747 bombed/sunk, and U-1131 bombed/scuttled at Hamburg.
1992 Bosnian War begins
2001 Chinese J-8 Fighter collieds with a USN EP-3 over the South China Sea, J-8 crashes and EP-3 lands in China & is briefly interned
 
April 2
1453 Siege of Constantinople begins
1755 British capture the Suvarnadurg fortress in India
1801 naval Battle of Copenhagen
1781 Frigate USS Alliance captures British Privateers Mars and Minerva
1865 Siege of Petersburg ends. Richmond is evacuated. The CS Navy scuttles the Ironclads of the James River Squadron
1941 Trawlers HMS Cramond Island and Fortuna bombed/sunk off Abb's Head
1943 U-124 sunk by Corvette HMS Stonecrop and Sloop HMS Black Swan west of Oporto. R.N. MTBs 63 and 64 sink each other in a collision off Benghazi. MTB 267 is damaged by a storm, while sailing from Benghazi to Malta, and is scuttled
1944 U-360 sunk by Destroyer HMS Keppel south-west of Bear Island
1945 Fast Transport (Destroyer-Transport) USS Dickerson damaged by Kamakazes off Okinawa, scuttled on the 4th. U-321 sunk by Polish manned RAF Wellington south-west of Ireland. Frigate CD-186, Landing Ships T-17 and T-145 sunk by USN aircraft off Amami Oshima.
1982 Argentina invades the Falklands
 
April 3
1865 Union troops occupy Richmond
1941 Five Italian Destroyers sunk in the Red Sea: Cesare Battisti scuttled, Daniele Manin and Nosario Sauro bombed/sunk, Tigre and Pantera sunk by Destroyer HMS Kingston. Patrol Boat HMS Bahram sunk by mine off Spurn
1942 Soviet Destroyer Shaumian wrecked in the Black Sea
1943 IJN Sub Chaser CH-13 sunk by USS Pickerel
1944 U-288 sunk by Swordfish from HMS Activity and Avengers and Martlets from HMS Tracker
1945 KM Minelayer Brummer, Minesweepers M-802, R-59, and R-261, U-3505,1221, and 2542 all bombed/sunk at Kiel. USN Minesweeper YMS-71 sunk off Sanga Sanga, Philippines
1946 Gen. Homma executed for the Bataan Death March
 
4 April
1776 HMS Glasgow fights off a squadron of Contenental Navy ships, but her Tender, HMS Hawke, is captured. 1st capture by the Contenental Navy
1933 USN Zepplin Akron crashes off N.J.
1941 Greek Torpedo Boat Proussa bombed/sunk off Corfu. Italian Torpedo Boat Giovanni Acerbi bombed/sunk at Massawa. Mooring Vessel HMS Buffalo sunk by mine off Singapore. Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Voltaire sunk by KM Raider Thor west of the Cape Verdes. French Sloops Conqurant and Suippe bombed/sunk off Falmouth
1942 Greek sub Glavkos bombed/sunk at Malta
1944 I-169 sunk in diving accident at Truk.
1945 U-237, 749, and 3003 bombed/sunk at Kiel. US LSM-12 and LST-675 wrecked at Okinawa. US LCI(G)-82 sunk by Assault Demolition Boats at Okinawa. IJN Frigate Mokuto sunk by mine in the Shimonoseki Strait.
 
5 April
1242 Battle of Lake Peipus
1818 Battle of Maipu
1941 U-76 sunk by 3 R.N. ships south of Iceland
1942 Cruisers HMS Cornwall & Dorsetshire bombed/sunk off Ceylon. Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Hector and Destroyer HMS Tenedos bombed/sunk at Colombo. Minesweeper HMS Abingdon bombed/sunk at Malta, along with Destroyer HMS Gallant, beached earlier in the year with mine damage.
1943 U-167 bombed by RAF Hudson and scuttled off the Canary Islands. U-635 sunk by RAF B-24 south-west of Iceland. RO-34 sunk by Destroyers USS Bannon and Strong off the Russell Islands.
1945 Sea Plane Tender USS Thornton damaged in 2 collisions off Okinawa and beached, abandoned at Kerama Retto. U-242 sunk by mine in St. George's Channell. U-677 bombed/sunk at Hamburg
1992 Siege of Sarajevo begins (ends 29 Feb. 1996) longest Siege in recent history
 
April 6
46 B.C. Battle of Thapsus
402 Battle of Pollentia
1453 Siege of Constantinople begins
1779 US squadron captures British Privateer Hibernia
1862 Battle of Shiloh begins
1865 Battle of Saylor's Creek
1911 Battle of Deciq
1917 US declares War on Germany
1938 1st flight P-39
1940 U-50 sunk by mine in North Sea.
1941 Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia. Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Cormorin burns/sinks in the Atlantic. Armed Yacht HMS Torrent sunk by mine off Falmouth. Greek Aux. Georgios and Armed Yacht HMS Surf bombed/sunk at Piraeus
1942 Tug HMS West Cocker bombed/sunk at Malta. Indian Navy Sloop HMIS Indus bombed/sunk at Akyab, Burma. Destroyer HMS Havock run aground off Tunisia, scuttled
1943 U-632 sunk by RAF B-24 south-west of the Azores. Italian Sub Chaser VAS 202, and MTBs MAS 533 and 576 bombed/sunk at Trapani.
1944 U-302 sunk by Frigate HMS Swale north-west of the Azores. KM Minesweeper R 192 wrecked off Ceciny during a battle.
1945 Destroyers USS Bush and Colhoun sunk by Kamakazes. Destroyers USS Leutze, Morris, and Newcomb damaged and not repaired. Destroyer-Minesweeper USS Emmons sunk. US LST-447 damaged by Kamakaze, sinks next day, all off Okinawa. Destroyer Amatsukaze bombed, beached, scuttled and Frigates CD-1 and CD-134 bombed/sunk, all three in the Formosa Strait. IJN Minesweeper W-12 torpedoed by sub USS Besugo, beached, torpedoed again and sunk off Komodo Island
1965 TSR-2 cancelled
 
1776 USS Lexington captures Tender HMS Edward
1779 US squadron captures 7 British merchantmen
1862 Battle of Shiloh ends. Battle of Island No. 10 begins
1865 Battle of Appomattox begins
1939 Italy invades Albania
1941 Trawler HMS Rachebonne bombed/sunk off The Lizard
1942 Tugs HMS Hellespont and Emily bombed/sunk at Malta
1943 Destroyer USS Aaron Ward, Oiler USS Kanawha and Minesweeper HMNZS Moa bombed/sunk at Tulagi. U-644 sunk by HMS Tuna north-west of Narvik
1944 U-856 sunk by Destroyer USS Champlin and Destroyer Escort USS Huse east of N.Y. IJN sub I-2 sunk by Destroyer USS Saufley.
1945 U-1195 sunk by Destroyer HMS Watchman south-east of the Isle of Wight. Cruiser Isuzu damaged by sub USS Gambilan, and sunk by sub USS Charr in the Java Sea. Battle of the East China Sea: Battleship Yamato, Cruiser Yahagi, and Destroyers Asashimo, Hamakaze, Isokaze bombed/sunk Kasumi bombed and scuttled. R.N. MTB-494 rammed and sunk, and MTB-5001 sunk, by E-Boats in the North Sea. E Boats S 177 and 176 sunk by R.N. MTBs. USN Motor Gunboat PGM-18 sunk by mine in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. USN LST-447 sunk by Kamakazes at Kerama Retto.
1989 Soviet sub Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea
2003 US captures Baghdad
 
April 8
876 Battle of Dayr al-Aqul
1740 R.N. captures Spanish Ship-of-the-Line Princess.
1862 Battle of Island No. 10 ends
1863 Ironclad USS Keokuk sinks off Charleston from previous days battle damage in an exchange with Ft. Sumter
1864 Battle of Mansfield
1898 German Army adopts the '98 Mauser
1940 Destroyer HMS Glowworm sunk by Cruiser Adm. Hipper. KM Troopship Rio de Janiero sunk by Polish sub Orzel, both off Norway
1941 Italian MAS Boats 204, 206, 210, 213, 216, Minelayer Ostia, Destroyer Vincenzio Giardino Orsini all scuttled at Massawa
1942 Mooring Vessel HMS Moor sunk by mine at Malta. Whalers HMS Thorgrim and Svana bombed/sunk by Italian aircraft off Alaxandria
1944 U-2 sunk in a collision with trawler Helmi Sohle west of Pillau. U-962 sunk by HMS Crome and Cygnet north-west of Cape Finesterre
1945 KM Aux. Franken bombed/sunk at Hela, Luftwaffe Seaplane Tender Hans Albrecht Wedel bombed/sunk by Soviet aircraft. U-774 sunk by HMS Bentinch and Calder north-west of Ireland. U-1001 sunk by HMS Byron and Fitzroy south-west of Land's End. U-2509 and 2514 bombed/sunk at Hamburg. U-3512 bombed/sunk at Kiel. USN Minesweeper YMS-103 damaged by a mine the previous day, is beached and abandond.
 
April 11
1241 Battle of Muhi
1512 Battle of Ravenna
1544 Battle of Ceresole
1809 naval Battle of the Basque Roads begins
1856 2nd Battles of Rivas
1862 Battle of Ft. Pulaski ends
1863 Siege of Suffolk, Va begins
1865 Mobile Campaign: Confederates evacuate Battery Tracy and Battery Huger, ending the Siege of the last 2 defensive works on the east side of Mobile.
1940 KM Naval Trawler Schiff 9 and Patrol Boat VP-105 sunk by mines off Bergen, Troopship August Leonhardt sunk in the Kattegat by HMS Sealion, Troopship Ionia sunk by sub HMS Triad off Larvik, and Aux Minesweeper Schiff 111 strikes a rock and is beached, refloated, repaired and returned to service.
1941 HMS Othello and Boom Defence Ship HMS Yorkshire Belle sunk by mines in the Humber
1942 Destroyer HMS Kingston bombed/sunk at Malta. Trawler HMS St. Cathan sunk in a collision with Dutch merchant Hebe off S. Carolina.
1943 Destroyer HMS Beverly sunk by U-188 mid Atlantic. Italian MTB MS 13 and Minesweeper RD 20 sunk by Allied aircraft at Trapani
1944 U-108 bombed/sunk at Stettin, raised and decommisioned, scuttled April '45. Minesweeper R 27 sunk by mine in Pilava-Konigsberg Canal. R-204 sunk by Soviet aircraft at Feodosia, raised, repaired, and put in Soviet service.Destroyer Akigumo sunk by USS Refin south-west of Zanboango, Philippines
1945 KM Minesweepers TS-10 and M-376 bombed/sunk off Hel, Poland. IJN Sub Chaser CH-7 bombed/sunk in the Andaman Sea.
1952 Battle of Nanri Island begins
 
April 12
238 Battle of Carthage
1204 Crusaders capture Constantinople
1861 Bombardment of Ft. Sumter begins,US Civil War begins
1862 The Great Locomotive Chase
1863 Battle of Bayou Teche begins
1864 Ft. Pillow Massacre
1865 Confederate Army of Mobile evacuates Mobile, US troops captures Montgomery, Al.
1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge ends
1935 1st flight Bristol Blenheim
1940 French Sub Chaser C107 sunk in a collision in the Loire. KM Tanker Moonsund stopped by sub HMS Snapper and sunk after crew abandoned ship. KM Sub Chaser UJ-117 sunk by mine in Danish Straits. Captured Norwegian Patrol Ships Senja and Michael Sars bombed/sunk by British at Narvik, raised, repaired and returned to KM service. Norwegian Guard Ship Sperm scuttled at Vikedal
1941 Trawler HMS Rypa sank in a storm in Loch Ewe. Yugoslav River Monitors Drava, Morava, Sava, and Vardar scuttled or bombed/sunk. Morava and Sava raised, repaired and put in Croatian service.
1942 PT-35 scuttled while under repair at Cebu to prevent capture. US Aux. minesweeper YAG-4 shelled/sunk off Corrigidor.
1944 PT-135 scuttled after running aground off Crater Point, New Britain. USN Rescue Tug ATR-98 sunk in collision with Tug USS Abnaki west of the Azores. IJN sub I-174 bombed/sunk by USN PB4Y off Truk
1945 U-486 sunk by sub HMS Tapir north-west of Bergen. U-1024 captured by R.N. ships off the Isle of Man, sinks next day. USN LST 493 wrecked/sunk off Plymouth, U.K. LCT-66 lost at Pearl Harbor, unknown causes. LCS(L)-33 and Destroyer USS Manert L Abele sunk by Kamakzes off Okinawa. IJN sub RO-64 sunk by mine in Hiroshima Bay.
 
April 13
1777 Battle of Bound Creek
1861 Ft. Sumter surrenders
1868 British captures Maqdala
1940 Norwegian Minelayer Froya scuttled, then torpedoed by U-34 off Trondheim. Torpedo Boat Storm sinks after running aground the day before off Stagholmene. KM Minesweeper M-1108 sunk in a collision in the Great Belt.
2nd naval Battle of Narvik: KM Destroyers Diether Von Roeder and Eric Giess sunk by Battleship HMS Warspite and R.N. Destroyers. Destroyer Eric Koellner damaged by Warspite and George Thiele, Hans Ludemann, Bernd Von Arnim and Wolfgang Zenker damaged by R.N. Destroyers, all scuttled. Destroyer Hermann Kurne sunk by Destroyer HMS Eskimo. Fleet Tanker Jan Wellem sunk, U-64 bombed/sunk by airplane from Warspite, only sub sunk by an airplane from a Battleship in the War. Norwegian Patrol Boat Kelt bombed/sunk by aircraft from HMS Furious.
1941 Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Rajputana sunk by U-108 in the Denmark Strait
1942 Trawler HMS Coral bombed/sunk at Malta. Trawler HMS Lord Snowden sunk in a collision off Falmouth
1943 Norwegian Destroyer Eskdale sunk by KM MTBs S-90 and 112 in the English Channel
1944 Destroyer Ikazuki sunk with all hands by sub USS Harder south-east of Guam
1945 Red Army captures Vienna. KM Torpedo Boat T-16 bombed/sunk off Frederikshavn. Torpedo Boat TA 45 sunk by R.N. MTBs in the Adriatic.
1972 Battle of An Loc begins
 
April 14
43 B.C. Battle of Forum Galorum
69 1st Battle of Bedriacum
1205 Battle of Adrianople
1471 Battle of Barnet
1639 Battle of Chemnitz
1940 R.N. Marines land at Namsos, Norway. Norwegian Torpedo Boat Teist scuttled in the Skagerrak. KM Supply Ship Barenfels bombed/sunk at Bergen, Troopship Florida sunk by HMS Snapper off Orost, Sweden, U Boat Support Ship Oldenburg sunk by HMS Sunfish in the Skagerrak. Minesweeper M-1101 damaged by a mine in the Kattegat, beached the next day.
1941 Free French Gunboats Conquerante and Suippe bombed/sunk at Falmouth
1942 U-85 sunk by Destroyer USS Roper off Cape Hatteras. U-252 sunk by Sloop HMS Stork and Corvette HMS Vetch south-west of Ireland. Sub HMS Upholder sunk by Italian Torpedo Boat Pelago in the Med.
1943 Trawler HMS Adonis sunk by E Boats off Lowestoft. U-526 sunk by a mine off Lorient
1944 Bombay Explosion/Disaster: Indian Navy LSI HMIS El Hind & a dozen other ships lost in a cargo explosion on cargo ship Ft. Stikin. U-448 sunk by Frigate HMCS Swansea and Sloop HMS Pelican north-east of The Azores.
1945 U-235 sunk by KM Torpedo Boat T-17 in the Kattegat. U-1206 scuttled after surfacing do to, either a malfuntioning Head, or more likely striking a submerged wreck, and being detected by Allied ships. Minesweeper R-126 sunk by mine in the Great Belt. Frigates CD-31 and Nomi sunk by sub USS Tirante at Saishu Island
1969 N. Korea shoots down USN EC-121 over the Sea of Japan
1988 USS Samuel B Roberts damaged by mine in the Persian Gulf
1994 USAF F-15s shoot down 2 US Army UH-60s over Iraq.
 
April 15
1071 Robert Guisard captures Bari
1395 Battle of Terek River
1450 Battle of Formingny
1632 Battle of Rain
1642 Battle of Kilrush
1864 Red River Campaign:Ironclad USS Eastport strikes a torpedo and is beached 40 miles south of Grand Ecore, La
1900 Siege of Catobig begins
1940 KM Minesweepers Carsten Janssen and H M Behrens sunk by HMS Snapper. U-49 sunk by Detroyers HMS Rearless and Brazen off Harstad. Patrol ship VP-811 sank in the North Sea, raised, repaired, returned to service. Gunnery Training ship Brummer sunk after being torpedoed the day before by sub HMS Sterlet in the Kattegat. Norwegian subs A-3 and 4 scuttled at Tonsberg.
1942 PT-41 scuttled on Mindanao
1943 Italian sub Archimede sunk by USN PBY off Brazil. USN Patrol Boat YP-453 ran aground and sank on the Bahama Bank. Trawler HMS Adonis sunk by E Boats off Lowestoft.
1944 IJN Minesweeper W-7 sunk by sub HMS Storm off the Nicobars
1945 Frigate HMS Ekin damaged beyond repair by a mine off Ostend. KM Minesweeper M-368 sunk in collision with a U Boat. U-103 bombed/sunk at Kiel. U-285 sunk by Frigates HMS Grinda and Keats south-west of Ireland. U-1063 sunk by Frigate HMS Loch Killin west of Land's End. U-1235 sunk by Destroyer Escorts USS Stanton and Frost. Patrol Boat VS-58 sunk by mine north-east of Kiel
1952 1st flight B-52
1986 US bombs Libya
 
April 17
1555 Siege of Sienna ends, as does the Sienna Republic
1863 Grierson's Raid begins
1864 Battle of Plymouth begins
1865 Wilson's Raid: Union troops capture Columbus, Ga., the Columbus Navy Yard, & the incomplete Ironclad CSS Jackson. Gunboat CSS Chattahoochee is scuttled by her crew.
1941 Yugoslavia surrenders: Destroyers Beograd and Dubrovnik captured, and Zagreb scuttled, at Cattero. Wrecked destroyer Ljubjuna captured at Sebnico. Minelayer Zmaj at Split.
1943 U-175 sunk by USCG Cutter Spencer south-west of Ireland
1944 R.N. MTB 266 sinks at Alexandria from damage from gunfire suffered on 9 March '44. U-342 sunk by RCAF PBY south-west of Iceland. U-986 sunk by Minesweeper USS Swift and USN Patrol Boat PC-619 south-west of Ireland.
1945 Brazilian troops capture Montese, Italy from the Germans. R.N. MTB 697 sunk by mine in the Adriatic.
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion begins
1975 Khmer Rouge capture Phnom Penh, Cambodian Civil War ends
 
April 19
531 Battle of Callincium
1677 French capture Cambrai
1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord
1809 Battle of Raszyn. Battle of Thann
1862 Battle of New Orleans begins
1863 naval Battle of Plymouth: CSS Albemarle sinks USS Southport and damages/drives off USS Miami
1880 Battle of Ahmed Khel
1941 KM Minesweeper M-1101 sunk by Free French Sub Minerve in the North Sea. Trawler HMS Kopanes bombed/sunk near Coquet Island
1942 Italian MTB MAS 1D sinks off Mljet Island due to bottom damage.
1943 Italian Destroyer Alpino sunk by British aircraft at La Spezia.
1944 U-974 sunk by Norwegian sub Ula at Stavenger
1945 Unfinished Italian Aircraft Carrier Aquila scuttled at Genoa by the Germans. KM Minesweeper M-403 bombed/sunk in the Kateggat. U-251 sunk by Mosquitos in the Kattegat. U-548 sunk by Destroyer Escorts USS Buckley and Ruben James. Destroyer-Minelayer USS Tolman ran aground on a reef off Japan, refloated April 24, repaired and returned to service. Aux Sub Chaser CHa-97 sunk by sub USS Sennet in the Kii Channel.
1989 USS Iowa turret explosion
 
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