From:
SeaWaves Magazine
April 11th 1942
1942 - USS Trout torpedoes a Japanese fleet tanker west of Shionomisaki, Japan
1942 - Escort carrier HMS Ravager laid down
1942 - Destroyer HMAS Quickmatch launched
1942 - Minesweeper USS Bond laid down
1942 - Destroyers USS Hailey & Hazelwood laid down
1942 - Light fleet carrier USS Langley laid down
1942 - Submarine USS Grunion commissioned
1942 - Destroyers USS Chevalier & Gansevoort launched
1942 - Minesweeper USS Starling launched
1942 - Destroyer HMS Kingston damaged by aircraft in Valletta at Malta while in dry dock. She rolled over and became a constructive total loss.
1942 - ASW trawler HMS St Cathan lent to the United States Navy in February 1942. Sunk in a collision with the Dutch merchantman Hebe off Little River, South Carolina
1942 - U-446 launched
1942 - At 0422, the unescorted Gulfamerica on her maiden voyage was hit by one torpedo from U-123 about five miles off Jacksonville, Florida. Illuminated by the lights of the Jacksonville Beach resort, the tanker had stopped steaming a zigzag course only 20 minutes before the attack. The torpedo struck at the #7 tank on the starboard side and caused a tremendous explosion and fire. The master ordered the engines stopped and the ship abandoned as the radio operator sent distress calls. The armed guards manned the 4in after gun (the ship was also armed with two .50cal guns), but did not fire on the U-boat. The eight officers, 33 crewmen and seven armed guards began abandon ship in an orderly manner, but then U-123 tried to bring down the radio antenna with the AA gun and fired about 12 shells from the deck gun into the engine room on the port side. In the resulting confusion, a lifeboat capsized, while another with the master and ten crewmen got away in ten minutes. Ten minutes later another boat with only three men left and three others abandoned ship on a liferaft, later they picked up two men from the water. Five men had been killed by the torpedo blast or the machine gun fire and 14 men drowned after jumping overboard. A total of two officers, two armed guards and 15 crewmen perished. The survivors were all rescued by US Coast Guard patrol boats and taken to Mayport, Florida. The tanker settled by the stern with about a 40° list to starboard but did not sink until 16 April
1942 - At 1855, the unescorted Grenanger was torpedoed and sunk by gunfire by U-130
1942 - SS Ulysses sunk by U-160 at 34.23N, 75.35W
1942 - At 1320, the unarmed Harry F Sinclair Jr was torpedoed by U-203 7 miles south of Cape Lookout, while steaming on a zigzag course at 13.5 knots with USS Herbert & a USCG boat as escort off the port quarter. A torpedo struck on the port side under the pump room between the #4 and #5 tanks. The explosion immediately created a blazing inferno amidships and the crew of eight officers and 28 crewmen left the ship in three lifeboats and one raft, but the men in one of the lifeboats perished in the flames. Neither the radio operator nor any of the deck officers survived, a total of four officers (including the master) and six crewmen died. The survivors in the lifeboats were picked up about two hours later by armed trawler HMS Hertfordshire & the destroyer rescued the two men on the raft. All survivors landed in Morehead City, North Carolina. On 15 April, armed trawler HMS Senateur Durhamel towed the burned out Harry F Sinclair Jr into Morehead City. She was eventually towed to Baltimore, arriving on 24 June, where the ship was repaired and returned to service in 1943 as Annibal