World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Tuesday, January 13, 1942
Day 866

January 13, 1942: Front page of the News and Chronicle, London, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Leeds, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "War Crimes Conference To-Day"


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "R.A.F. Survivors Of Sunk Ship At Rio"
(Twenty survivors, including six RAF passengers, who were on the Swedish ship Shantung, were landed at Rio de Janeiro. The ship sank after catching fire on Christmas evening.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Sub Sinks Ship 160 Miles Off Nova Scotia"
(This report is about the freighter Cyclops. It could be said that Cyclops was the first victim of the U-Boat offensive against the United States known as Operation Paukenschlag [Operation Drumbeat.] Cyclops was sunk by U-123 while that boat was en route to the U.S. east coast and it was sunk on Jan. 11th [Jan. 12 German time] which was one day [German time] before the official start date of the operation, which was set to begin on Jan. 13th, but U-Boat commanders had permission to attack ships while en route to the operational area provided they were over 10,000 gross tons. At 9,076 tons, Cyclops was close enough for Kapitänleutnant Hardegan. The 10,000-ton rule was to keep the Americans from figuring out that a wolfpack was approaching their shores. If a number of small ships were attacked, the course of the U-Boats could be plotted. However, they already knew. On Jan. 12th the British warned the U.S. that several U-Boats were en route to the United States east coast. Little if anything was done to prepare for the onslaught, the Americans were unprepared in every respect. With few anti-submarine ships, or aircraft patrols and not having the tactical knowledge of over two years of fighting U-Boats that the British had, the first foray into American waters for Hitler's U-Boats would be a great success for the Germans and a costly mistake for the Americans.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson, Arizona.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in columns 6-7: "Germans Claim Sinking of British Battleship Barham"
(This was true, HMS Barham was sunk on Nov. 25, 1941 by U-331. The Germans claimed to have damaged a battleship in a report on Nov. 27, but at that time they did not know that the ship sank.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Teltower Kreisblatt, Kreis Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Unterseeboote versenkten im Atlantik einen britischen Zerstörer.
(U-Boat sank a British destroyer in the Atlantic.)
[I have no record of a British destroyer being sunk in the Atlantic on or near this date. HMS Kimberley was hit by a torpedo fired from U-77. Her stern was blown off, but the ship did not sink. It was towed back to port and repaired. This happened in the Mediterranean off Tobruk, Libya.]
2. Scharfe Verfolgung der Briten nach Süden und Westen.
(Sharp pursuit of the British south and west.)


January 13, 1942: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Die Bedeutung des Sprunges nach Celebes - Japans Strategie durchkreuzt USA.-Pläne um Australien.
(The meaning of the jump to Celebes - Japan's strategy thwarts US plans for Australia.)
2. Singapur zum Tode verurteilt.
(Singapore sentenced to death.)



   
Page published January 13, 2023