Day 1067 August 2, 1942

U-510’s Korvettenkapitän Karl Neitzel causes a diplomatic rift with neutral Uruguay during the first attack of his first war patrol. At 5.45 AM 250 miles Southeast of Bermuda, Neitzel misidentifies Uruguayan SS Maldonado as Greek, stops her with shots across the bow and then sinks her after all 49 hands abandon ship in 4 lifeboats. Maldonado’s captain Mario Giambruno is imprisoned by U-510, taken back to Lorient, France, and then immediately repatriated through Switzerland (returning to Uruguay in November). Neitzel will be reprimanded for his conduct but allowed to continue as U-510’s captain.

At 8.42 AM 55 miles West of Penang, Malaya, Dutch submarine HrMs O-23 spots a Japanese convoy of 5 merchant ships of 3000-5000 tons which left Singapore overnight. O-23 sets on fire Japanese Army transport ship Zenyo Maru which burns out and is abandoned (8 crew and 19 anti-aircraft gunners killed) and sinks freighter Ohio Maru.

At 9.27 AM 145 miles Southeast of Reykjavik, Iceland, U-254 sinks British SS Flora II carrying 358 tons of fish and 200 tons of ice (all 25 crew, 4 gunners and 1 passenger in 2 lifeboats picked up by Icelandic trawler Juni and landed at Reykjavik).

Case Blue. German 4th Panzer Army captures Kotelnikovo and is in position to advance 100 miles Northeast on Stalingrad, along the South bank of the Don River. Soviets scramble to defend an attack from this unexpected direction (a fortunate outcome of Hitler’s contradictory orders). Despite fuel shortages, Army Group A continues making rapid progress South into the Caucasus.

At 6.18 PM 200 miles East of Trinidad, U-160 sinks British SS Treminnard (captain taken prisoner by the U-boat, the remaining 29 crew and 9 gunners picked up by Argentinian SS Rio San Juan).