Air Operations, Australia

49th Fighter Group P-40s down 7 A6M Zeros and damage 3 G3M 'Nell' bombers in the Darwin area at 1230 hours.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

During the morning, 7 Egyptian-based HALPRO B-24s and 2 RAF Liberators attack Italian Navy units that are attempting to intercept a British supply convoy bound for Malta. The bombers attack the warship with 500-pound bombs and score a direct hit on the battleship Littorio. The Italian force withdraws from the area.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-552 sinks 5 ships from convoy HG-84.
• The first US ship is lost as a result of German mines dropped by U-boats off the east coast. The SS Robert C. Tuttle, an 11,000-ton tanker en route to Philadelphia from Key West, hits a mine, explodes and is run ashore at Virginia Beach.

  Startled spectators from the Virginia Beach oceanfront to the Hotel Chamberlin at Old Point Comfort looked on with horror on the afternoon of June 15, 1942 when a series of German mines laid at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay began to explode, ultimately sinking three ships, damaging another.

  Spectators at Virginia Beach Witness Exploding Mines

• The British anti-submarine trawler Kingston Ceylonite (448t), on loan to the US Navy, sinks on a mine in the Chesapeake Bay with the loss of 20 of her crew.

Britain, Home Front

Unemployment is Britain is now below 100,000.

Caribbean

• The US freighter West Hardaway (5702t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-502 northwest of Trinidad without loss. All hands abandon ship.
• The unarmed US freighter Arkansan (6997t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-126 west of Grenada with the loss of 4 of the 40-man crew.

Eastern Front

The 6th Army completes its attack in the Volchansk area. The 28th Army has been comprehensively defeated and has retreated across the Donets. The fighting attracts the attention of the Bryansk Front, which reports to the Stavka that is is detecting a significant build up of German forces in the Kolpina, Shchigra and Kursk areas. The Stavka accepts this information but interprets it as a German attempt to draw attention away from the main attack that they expect in the Yukhnow and Orel sectors.

Mediterranean

The HARPOON convoy goes on with only a close escort of cruisers and destroyers and is engaged by a similar Italian force.

There is an air-naval battle off Pantelleria involving the VIGOROUS convoy in which 2 British destroyers are sunk and the British light cruiser Newcastle is hit. The destroyer Bedouin is sunk by an aircraft torpedo with the loss of 28 of her crew. 213 survivors are taken prisoner. The destroyer Hasty is badly damaged by the German motor torpedo boat S-55 with the loss of 12 crewmen. The British destroyer Hotspur scuttles the Hasty. There are no losses on the Newcastle. The British destroyer escort Airedale is badly damaged by bombing losing 45 of her crew. 133 of the crew are rescued before being scuttled by her sister ship the Aldenham. Also badly damaged in the air attack is the Australian destroyer Nestor with the loss of 4 crewmen. She is taken in tow by the British destroyer Javelin but has to be scuttled on the 16th. The merchant convoy has now been reduced to 6 ships. The Italians lose the cruiser Trento. Ammunition is running short after the many attacks and it is known that the battleships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto are approaching with a cruiser and destroyer escort. The convoy, therefore, turns back. The Littorio is damaged later by air attack and the heavy cruiser Trento sunk by a submarine, providing some consolation for the failure. Also during the operation almost all the German aircraft from North Africa have been involved in the attacks, giving 8th Army some respite.

HMS Welshman Arriving at Valletta

North Africa

Early in the day part of 15th Panzer Div blocks the main road east of Tobruk just a little too late to catch the South African Div. In the evening the main body of 21st Pzr reaches Sidi Rezegh. Rommel reports that he has won the battle against the British 8th Army and his only remaining objective is to take Tobruk.

The 29th Brigade of the 5th Indian Div drives off attacks by German and Italian troops with tank and air support in the area of El Adem. Maj-Gen Henrik B. Klopper, commanding the 2nd South African Div, is given the command of the Tobruk fortress, with the task of defending it to the last man.[MORE]

Pacific

The US submarine Seawolf (SS-197) sinks the Japanese gunboat Nampo Maru off Corregidor.