1942-Jun-01

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Flight: 12.6 hours. "Hit by Japanese Twin Engine Bomber off Wake Is., several injuries".

Patrolled within sector 200d to 020d, 700 miles out from Midway.

At 0940, a twin-engine Japanese bomber made a surprise attack from the port quarter. Only the PBY's bow gun was able to return fire on that pass. The bomber then got above the PBY and dropped its bombs, but all missed. During the next 11 passes, the bomber discovered the PBY's port .50-caliber had malfunctioned and began to attack from that side. The PBY's crew moved the .30-caliber tunnel gun into the port blister and returned fire. The bomber broke off after the 12th pass and PPC Lyons escaped into cloud cover. The PBY had fired approximately 300 rounds. Sea2c Grove, who volunteered as a gunner for this patrol, received a minor shrapnel wound in the stomach when a 7.7mm round from the bomber hit and exploded the CO₂ bottle in his life vest.