Day 1069 August 4, 1942

Operation Pastorius. In the Department of Justice Building, Washington, a special military commission (7 US Army officers appointed by President Roosevelt) convicts 8 German saboteurs of sabotage and sentences them to death in the electric chair, including the informant George Dasch who had turned the operation in to the FBI.

North Atlantic. The attack continues on convoy ON 115, 330 miles East of St. John’s, Newfoundland. At 2.29 AM, U-607 sinks Belgian SS Belgian Soldier damaged by U-553 yesterday (21 dead, 39 survivors). At 3.58 PM 1100 miles southeast of Newfoundland, U-176 sinks British MV Richmond Castle carrying 5250 tons of frozen meat from Argentina to Britain (14 dead, 50 survivors).

At 1.59 AM 200 miles East of Trinidad, U-160 sinks Norwegian tanker MV Havsten (2 killed, Captain and a British radio officer taken prisoner by U-160, 29 survivors in lifeboats reached land on August 14). At 4.15 PM 600 miles East of Trinidad, U-155 sinks British MV Empire Arnold carrying 10,000 tons of supplies, trucks, tanks and aircraft from New York to British 8th Army in Egypt (9 dead, Captain taken prisoner by U-155; 37 crew, 8 gunners and 2 American military personnel in 2 lifeboats rescued on August 11 having sailed 480 miles in 7 days).

Eastern Front. At the Rzhev salient, 130 miles West of Moscow, Soviet General Zhukov sends 20th and 31st Armies to attack Rzhev from the south, complimenting the attack of Konev 29th and 30th Armies from the North.

In the Mediterranean 50 miles Southwest of Haifa, Palestine, an RAF Wellington bomber (221 Squadron) detects U-372 with radar and vectors in British destroyers HMS Sikh, HMS Zulu, HMS Croome and HMS Tetcott (which hunting for the U-boat that sank submarine depot ship HMS Medway on June 30). Depth charges from the Wellington and the destroyers force U-372 to surface, where she is scuttled (all 48 crew picked up by the British destroyers).