World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 13 Mar 1943

• I-168 departed Paramushiro, Kurile Islands for the Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | CPC]
• In Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Japanese troops ended their assault on American forces at Hill 700. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]
• Chinese troops pushed Japanese troops back across the Yangtze River. ww2dbase [CPC]
• A plot to assassinate Hitler during a flight from Smolensk, Russia to Rastenburg, Germany failed. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
• In Burma, the No. 3 Column of the Northern Group of the Chindits was attacked by Japanese forces whose conservative probing attacks failed to eliminate the numerically inferior Allied irregulars. ww2dbase [Operation Longcloth | CPC]
• Adolf Hitler visited Günther von Kluge's field headquarters. Anti-Hitler conspirators spoke to Kluge beforehand, but they could not convince Kluge to take action to arrest Hitler. Without Kluge's help, the conspirators acted on their own, sneaking fused bombs disguised as brandy bottles aboard Hitler's aircraft, which took off for Berlin, Germany after dinner. The bombs failed to explode, and the conspirators had to take the risk, successfully, to retrieve the bottles before they were discovered. ww2dbase [July Plot | CPC]
• Captain Mead S. Pearson was named the commanding officer of USS Ancon. ww2dbase [Ancon | CPC]

• 180 survivors of HMS Lighting (G55), sunk by German motor torpedo boat S-158 on the previous day, were landed at Bône, Algeria by destroyer HMS Loyal. ww2dbase [Bône | CPC]

• Seven of the survivors of Honduran steam merchant Olancho, victim of German submarine U-183 two days prior, were picked up by the American seaplane tender USS Absecon (AVP 23) and taken to Jacksonville, Florida, United States. ww2dbase [Gulf of Mexico | HM]
• While on route from Durban, South Africa to Takoradi, Ghana, British West Africa carrying Italian prisoners of war, the 21,517-ton passenger steam ship Empress of Canada was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Leonado da Vinci, approximately 400 miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia. Of the approximate 1,800 people on board, 392 died. ww2dbase [HM]
• The 5,565-ton American steam turbine cargo ship Keystone en route from New York, New York, United States for North Africa carrying a cargo of 6,000 tons of war material, including gasoline, aircraft, tanks and trucks was torpedoed by German submarine U-172 (Kapitänleutnant Carl Emmermann) and sunk. Two crew were lost from a total crew of 73. The Portuguese steamship Sines rescued the survivors and landed them in the Azores. ww2dbase [HM]
• German submarine U-163 (Korvettenkapitän Kurt-Eduard Engelman) was sunk in the North Atlantic northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain by depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS Prescott (K 161). All 57 crew were lost. ww2dbase [HM]
• At 0530 hours, German submarine U-107 (Kapitänleutnant Harald Gelhaus) attacked the convoy OS-44 190 miles west of Cape Finisterre and reported hits on three ships. In fact, four ships were hit, the Clan Alpine, Marcella, Oporto and Sembilangan. The 4,990-ton Dutch merchant steamer Sembilangan was hit by one torpedo that ignited the cargo of ammunition and the ship disintegrated; the fourth engineer was blown overboard and later picked up by an escort vessel as the only survivor. The master, 35 crew members and seven gunners from the 2,352-ton British merchant steamer Oporto were lost; four crew members were picked up by the HMS Spiraea (K 08) transferred to HMS Gentian (K 90) and landed at Gibraltar. The master, 34 crew members and nine gunners from the 4,595-ton British ship Marcella were lost. The Clan Alpine was later scuttled by the British sloop HMS Scarborough (L 25) with depth charges; the master, 59 crew members and nine gunners were picked up by the sloop, transferred to the British merchant steamer Pendeen and landed at Gibraltar. ww2dbase [HM]

• At 1500 hours, a Japanese convoy containing cargo ship Momoyama Maru departed Hansa Bay, Australian Territory of New Guinea. At 1830 hours, US 5th Air Force B-17 bombers attacked the convoy northwest of Wewak, Australian Territory of New Guinea. Momoyama Maru was hit, killing nine. ww2dbase [Hansa Bay | CPC]

• Destroyer Yukikaze made a troop transport run to Kolombangara, New Georgia, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Yukikaze | Kolombangara, New Georgia | CPC]
• Pilots of US Marine Aircraft Group 21 arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by passenger aircraft. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal | CPC]

• The 3,968-ton Japanese cargo ship Kasuga Maru No. 2 was torpedoed and sunk by a Dutch submarine O-21 (Lieutenant Commander Sam C. Van Dulm) with two torpedoes while anchored off Karathuri, southern Burma. ww2dbase [Karathuri | HM]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the railroad yards at Amiens, France. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | RAF Thurleigh | Amiens | DS]

• Nachi arrived at Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]
• Chuyo arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, with Yugure and Hagikaze in escort. ww2dbase [Chuyo | Yugure | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• USS Sunfish sank Japanese cargo ship Kosei Maru off Tokara Islands, Japan in the East China Sea, hitting her with 3 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | East China Sea | CPC]
• USS Grayback fired six torpedoes at a Japanese transport and a destroyer in the South Pacific, sinking the transport with two hits. ww2dbase [Grayback | CPC]
• USS Wahoo attacked a Japanese ship in the East China Sea; the torpedo missed. ww2dbase [Wahoo | East China Sea | CPC]

• The Kraków Ghetto in Poland was liquidated. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Kraków | CPC]
• A celebration took place at the main rail station of Krakow, Poland, featuring the 2,000th transport of workers from Poland to Germany; the one-millionth forced laborer was "honored". ww2dbase [Kraków | CPC]

• Richard Sutherland once again presented the Elkton II plan for operations in the Pacific to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, United States. The plan continued to be treated coldly by the JCS, as it did not wish to devote additional resources to the Pacific theater of war. ww2dbase [Washington | CPC]
• HMS LST-412 departed New York, New York, United States with refinery equipment, sailing for Curaçao. ww2dbase [LST-412 | New York | CPC]

13 Mar 1943 Interactive Map