World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday May 8, 1942
Day 981

May 8, 1942: Front page of the News and Chronicle, London, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline report: "U.S. Fleet Sinks Eight Jap Ships"
(During the Battle of the Coral Sea the Japanese lost only one small aircraft carrier, Shoho, which was the first Japanese aircraft carrier sunk in World War II. An air attack against the Japanese invasion force bound for Tulagi in the Solomon Islands by aircraft from USS Yorktown CV-5, resulted in the loss of one destroyer and two small minesweepers. One cruiser-minelayer was damaged and it was sunk on May 11 by USS S-42 SS-153. The Japanese admit to the loss of 5 merchant ships between May 6 and May 8, but none lost to aircraft. Keep this in mind when you read the headlines below claiming from ten to seventeen ships sunk.

The U.S. lost much more than three aircraft. The carrier Lexington CV-2 was sunk with the loss of two hundred and sixteen men. This was the first American aircraft carrier sunk in World War II. [Not including Langley, which had been converted into a seaplane tender before it was sunk.] The destroyer Sims DD-409 and two hundred and twenty-five men were also lost. The fleet oiler USS Neosho AO-23 was sunk with the loss of one hundred and seventy-eight men. Finally, USS Yorktown CV-5 was seriously damaged, sixty-six men had been killed. In total almost 70 aircraft had been lost. The Japanese claimed that they had sunk two American aircraft carriers, a California class battleship and had badly damaged a British battleship, HMS Warspite, and an Australian heavy cruiser.)


May 8, 1942: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Leeds, England.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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Note the report in columns 3-4: "Nazi Jailers Prove Ignorant, Stupid"
(Part three of "I Was A Prisoner Of the Gestapo" by Frank G. Nelson.)


May 8, 1942: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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Note the report in column 8: "Henderson Sees 3-Gallon Gas Limit Weekly"


May 8, 1942: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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Note the report in column 4: "Steamer Is Sunk"
(The 1,973-ton freighter San Rafael was sunk on May 3 by U-125, only one of the thirty-eight men on board man was lost.)


May 8, 1942: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Two AVG Fighters Are Lost In China"
(Two members of the Flying Tigers lost in combat.)


May 8, 1942: Front page of The Southern Jewish Weekly, Jacksonville, Florida.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson, Arizona.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of the Teltower Kreisblatt, Kreis Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany.
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May 8, 1942: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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Page published May 8, 2023