Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Bostons bomb the Boulogne railway yard without a loss.
• 194 aircraft including 139 Wellingtons, 33 Halifaxes, 11 Lancasters and 9 Stirlings are sent to bomb Duisberg. This is the first of a series of raids on this industrial city on the edge of the Ruhr. The crews encounter clouds and electrical storms and report the bombs are scattered. Damage reports from the ground say 11 houses are destroyed and 18 are seriously damaged. 17 people are killed. 3 Wellingtons, 2 Stirlings and 1 Lancaster are lost on the raid. 4 more crash upon their return to England.
• In minor operations, 10 Blenheims make Intruder flights and 6 aircraft make leaflet flights. 1 Blenheim is lost.

Air Operations, Libya

During the night, USAFMEAF B-24s attack port facilities and shipping at Benghazi, and 9th Heavy Bomb Squadron B-17s attack Tobruk harbor. 1 B-24 is downed by flak.

Allied Planning

The operational plans for TULSA II(?) are slightly modified, and the relevant troop movements begin in Australia.

SS Oneida sunk off northeast Cuba by U-166 under Hans-Gunther Kuhlmann, 13 July 1942.

SS Oneida Sunk by U-166

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-153 is damaged by the submarine chaser PC-458 and Army aircraft off the coast of Panama. It is sunk by the US destroyer Lansdowne (DD-486).

  U-153

  Class	Type IXC
  CO	Kapitänleutnant Wilfrid Reichmann
  Location	Caribbean, off Colón
  Cause	Depth charge
  Casualties	52
  Survivors	None

  SS Oneida Sunk by U-166

  U-boat Sinking Ship - Life Magazine - July 13, 1942

• The unarmed US freighter Oneida (2309t), straggling from Convoy NG-359, is torpedoed and sunk by U-166 about 2 miles north of Cape Maysi, Cuba with the loss of 6 crewmen. 23 survivors reach the coast of Cuba in 2 life rafts.

Eastern Front

Misled by early success, Hitler alters the strategic plan for his summer offensive and designates Stalingrad as a major objective for Army Group B which previously has been given only a covering role.

The 4th Panzer Army reaches Boguchar, linking up with the XL Panzer Corps, encircling minor Soviet forces. The pocket yields just 14,000 prisoners, taking the total captured so far in the campaign to 80,000. Hitler takes this to be an indication that the Soviets are finished. The 4th Panzer Army is instructed to cross the Don at Konstantinovka and from there to head west toward Rostov to encircle the Soviet force that Hitler mistakenly believes is massed there. At the same time, the 1st Panzer Army is to move west along the Don to link up with the 4th Panzer.

What remained of Army Group B's spearhead is left immobile in the Don Elbow, supplies having been redirected to the panzer armies. Paulus' 6th Army is left stranded in the Don Elbow, giving the Soviets the opportunity to build up their defenses on the approaches to Stalingrad. Had Hitler carried the advance into the Don Elbow, it is likely that the 6th Army would have taken Stalingrad in mid-July. By the time the advance is resumed, the Soviets have had the time to deploy the 62nd and 64th Armies.

Gulf of Mexico

The US tanker R. W. Gallagher (7989t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-67 about 80 miles from Southwest Pass, Louisiana losing 8 crewmen and 2 of the Armed Guard in the attack. 32 crewmen and 10 Armed Guard sailors are rescued by the Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (WPC-130).

Pacific

• 3 Japanese submarines operate off Sydney over the next few weeks. 5 ships are sunk during July and August.
• The US submarine Seadragon (SS-194) sinks the Japanese auxiliary vessel Shinyo Maru 10 miles northeast of Cape Varella, French Indonesia.

Secret War

Roosevelt creates the Office of Strategic Services to replace the COI, Coordinator of Information. William J. Donovan is named Director.

Exterior view of the first large air raid shelter on New York's Lower East Side. It was half a block long and protected by 4,000 sandbags, 13 July 1942.

First Large Air Raid Shelter on New York's Lower East Side