Today in the History of the Pacific Theater

Oct 12, 1942
-Battle of Cape Esperance continues as TG 64.2 engages Japanese cruiser and destroyer force. As the result of damage received in the battle, Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka sinks; destroyers Murakumo and Shirayuki rescue survivors of Rear Admiral Goto's ships sunk in the engagement with TG 64.2.
-Despite efforts of a salvage party from destroyer McCalla (DD-488), destroyer Duncan (DD-485) sinks as a result of damage received off Cape Esperance. McCalla also conducts unsuccessful attempt to sink Japanese submarine I-2 off Guadalcanal.
-Destroyers Gwin (DD-433), Nicholas (DD-450), and Sterett (DD-407) shell Japanese artillery positions on Guadalcanal.
-SBD (VS 71) sinks Japanese destroyer Natsugumo off Savo Island; destroyer Murakumo, after being damaged by TBF (VT 8), Navy and Marine SBDs (VS 3, VS 71, VMSB 141) and Marine F4Fs (VMF 121, VMF 212, and VMF 224) off New Georgia, Solomons, is scuttled by destroyer Shirayuki.
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) is damaged by depth charges off northern Honshu, but remains on patrol.
-Motor torpedo boats PT-38, PT-46, PT-48 and PT-60 arrive at Tulagi, having been towed from Espiritu Santo to a point 300 miles south of that place by high speed minesweepers Southard (DMS-10) and Hovey (DMS-11).
-Transport Mount Vernon (AP-22) is stranded by storm, Sydney, Australia, harbor, but is not damaged in the accidental grounding.

Oct 12, 1943
-USAAF B-24s, B-25s, and P-38s, and RAAF Beaufighters, raid Rabaul, pounding Japanese shipping, town, harbor, and airfields in the vicinity, sinking transports Keisho Maru and Kosei Maru, cargo lighters No.1 Wakamatsu Maru and Kurogane Maru, and guardboat Mishima Maru; and damaging destroyers Mochizuki, Minazuki and Tachikaze, submarines I-177, I-180 and RO 105, special service ship Tsukushi, oiler Naruto, and auxiliary sailing vessels Tenryu Maru and Koan Maru.
-Submarine Cero (SS-225) torpedoes Japanese stores ship Mamiya off Chichi Jima; collier Asakaze Maru tows the damaged vessel to Saeki, Japan.

Oct 12, 1944
-TF 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) hurls heavy air strikes against Japanese shipping, aerodromes, and industrial plants on Formosa, regarded as the strongest and best-developed base south of the homeland proper, and on northern Luzon. Strikes draw heavy Japanese aerial counterattacks off Formosa during which destroyer Prichett (DD-561) is damaged by friendly fire. TF 38 planes sink transport Asaka Maru, cargo ship Shirotai Maru, army cargo ship Mitsuki Maru, and merchant tankers No.6 Horai Maru, No.23 Nanshin Maru, and No.26 Nanshin Maru off the Pescadores; and transports Bujo Maru and Joshu Maru, army cargo ship Yamahagi Maru, merchant cargo ships Gyoun Maru, Hakko Maru, No.11 Tenjin Maru, and No.1 Takatomi Maru, and merchant tankers No.5 Nanshin Maru, No.11 Nanshin Maru and No.20 Nanshin Maru, dredge Niitaka Maru, and damage tanker Eiho Maru and army cargo ship Shinto Maru off Takao. Also damaged at Takao is German ship Havenstein, Japanese cargo vessels Taisho Maru, Taihoku Maru, and, at Keelung, Hakozaki Maru.
-TF 38 planes also sink merchant cargo ship Shinan Maru in Putai harbor. Destruction of Japanese air power on Formosa paves way for USAAF B-29 bomber strikes on aircraft plant and airfield facilities on the island on 14 and 16 October 1944. Air strikes on the Formosa area sink Japanese transport Josho Maru, and army cargo ship Yamahagi Maru, off Takao; army ship Mitsuki Maru and merchant tanker No.6 Horai Maru, off Mako; Japanese cargo ship Shirotai Maru is sunk by mine off Mako.
-Motor torpedo boat PT-368, damaged by grounding, western New Guinea, is scuttled by demolition charges.
-Submarine Ray (SS-271) sinks Japanese transport Toko Maru near Cape Cavalite, Mindoro, and survives counterattack by Hiyodosi and Coast Defense Vessel No.2.
-Submarine Trepang (SS-412) damages Japanese destroyer Fuyuzuki off Omaesuki, 33°56.
-British submarine HMS Strongbow sinks Japanese cargoship Manryo Maru in Strait of Malacca.

 

Oct 13, 1942
-1st Marine Division is reinforced by 164th Infantry Regiment of Americal Division, the first major U.S. Army unit to reach Guadalcanal.
-Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I-7 reconnoiters Espiritu Santo.
-Japanese submarine I-30 is sunk by mine, three miles east of Singapore.

Oct 13, 1943
-Japanese planes attack four Lambu Lambu-based U.S. motor torpedo boats southwest of Choiseul; PT-boaters shoot down attacking Japanese floatplane, an event that proves "the greatest lift" to the sailors who tangle almost nightly (and heretofore largely unsuccessfully) with nocturnal enemy aircraft in that theater.
-Submarine Rasher (SS-269) attacks Japanese convoy proceeding from Ambon to Kendari, sinking cargo ship Kenkoku Maru.
-Submarine Seadragon (SS-194) attacks Kwajalein-bound Japanese ammunition ship Soya, escorted by auxiliary submarine chaser No.6 Shonan Maru; Seadragon damages neither enemy ship while No.6 Shonan Maru's attacks on the submarine prove equally unsuccessful.
-Tug Pawnee (AT-74) tows gutted U.S. freighter John H. Couch, torpedoed by Japanese planes on 11 October 1943 off Koli Point, Guadalcanal, to a point two miles east of Koli Point, where the merchantman capsizes.
-USAAF B-25 aircraft bomb Japanese shipping in Amoy, China, harbor, sinking auxiliary submarine chaser Kongo Maru.
-Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa 101 is damaged by mine near Madoera Island, N.E.I.

Oct 13, 1944
-During Japanese aerial counterattacks in the wake of TF 38 strikes on Formosa, carrier Franklin (CV-13) is damaged when a kamikaze slides across her flight deck and crashes nearby; heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70), in TG 38.1, is damaged by aerial torpedo only 85 miles from Formosa. While heavy cruiser Wichita (CA-45) takes Canberra in tow, Cruiser Division 13 (three light cruisers under Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose), four destroyers from TG 38.3, and two from TG 38.1 are detached to provide cover. Fleet tug Munsee (ATF-107) relieves Wichita of towing Canberra and the group sets course for Ulithi.
-Submarine Bergall (SS-320) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Shinshu Maru off Nha Trang, French Indochian.
-British submarine HMS Sturdy sinks Japanese merchant coasters Kosei Maru and Hansei Maru in Gulf of Boni, south of Celebes.
-Peleliu Island, Palaus, is secured.

 

Oct 14, 1940
-Department of State announces that the U.S. passenger liners Monterey, Mariposa, and Washington are being sent to the Far East to repatriate American citizens from that region in view of prevailing "abnormal conditions" there. This move is made because of the shortage of accommodations on the ships already engaged in the Far East trade. Monterey is to go to Yokohama, Japan, and Shanghai, China; Mariposa will proceed to Shanghai and Chinwangtao, China, and Kobe, Japan.

Oct 14, 1942
-Motor torpedo boats PT-60, PT-38, PT-46, and PT-48 (Lieutenant Commander Alan R. Montgomery) engage Japanese surface force (Rear Admiral Kurita Takeo) comprising battleships Haruna and Kongo, light cruiser Isuzu, and seven destroyers bombarding Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. Destroyer Naganami turns back the motor torpedo boats; Japanese bombardment destroys 48 of 90 planes at the field, putting the facility temporarily out of action. PT-60 is damaged by grounding on coral reef off Guadalcanal.
-SBDs (Guadalcanal-based VS 3) attack six-ship Japanese convoy escorted by eight destroyers heading southward toward Guadalcanal between Santa Isabel and Florida Islands, but inflict no damage.
-Japanese submarine I-7 shells Espiritu Santo.
-Submarine Finback (SS-230), attacking Japanese convoy, sinks army transport Teison Maru about 20 miles off Tansui harbor, on northwest tip of Formosa.
-Submarine Greenling (SS-213) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Takusei Maru six miles off Todo Zaki, off northeast coast of Honshu.
-Submarine Grampus (SS-207) lands Australian coastwatchers on coast of Vella Lavella.
-Submarine Sculpin (SS-191) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Sumiyoshi Maru 75 miles southwest of Kavieng, New Ireland.
-Submarine Skipjack (SS-184) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Shunko Maru about 450 miles west-southwest of Truk.

Oct 14, 1943
-Japanese planes attack six Lambu Lambu-based U.S. motor torpedo boats off Choiseul Bay, damaging PT-183.
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese fleet tanker Kozui Maru, and eludes hunter-killer operations carried out by aviation supply ship Takasaki.

Oct 14, 1944
-While TF 38 remains nearby to provide cover for the ongoing salvage of crippled heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70) that had been damaged the previous day, Japanese aerial counterattacks continue, inflicting damage on carrier Hancock (CV-19); light cruiser Reno (CL-96) (suicide plane); and destroyer Cassin Young (DD-793) (strafing). Light cruiser Houston (CL-81) is damaged by aerial torpedo, and destroyer Cowell (DD-547) is damaged when she fouls Houston as Cowell lies alongside assisting in salvage efforts. Heavy cruiser Boston (CA-69)--later relieved by fleet tug Pawnee (ATF-74)--takes Houston in tow. At this juncture, heavy air attacks on TF 38, together with enemy radio propaganda broadcasts that reflect a vast overestimation of the destruction wreaked by attacking Japanese aircraft, prompts Commander Third Fleet to withdraw TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) and TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) to the eastward to set upon any important Japanese fleet units that would attempt to finish off the "crippled remnants" of TF 38. The enemy, however, does not take the bait.
-During TF 38 operations against Japanese shipping and installations on Formosa, Navy carrier-based planes damage coastal minelayer Enoshima and auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 7 and Cha 151 off Takao.
-Submarine Angler (SS-240) sinks Japanese army transport Nanrei Maru south of Tablas Strait.
-Submarine Bonefish (SS-223) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Fushimi Maru in South China Sea off west coast of Luzon.
-Submarine Dace (SS-247) sinks Japanese merchant tankers Eikyo Maru and Nittetsu Maru and damages merchant ore carrier Taizen Maru off North Borneo.
-British submarine HMS Sturdy sinks Japanese Communication Vessel No.128 in Gulf of Boni.
-Carrier Saratoga (CV-3) and destroyer escort Howard F. Clark (DE-533) are damaged in collision during maneuvers off Oahu.

 

Oct 15, 1942
-Submarine Base, Fremantle-Perth, Australia, is established.
-Patrol Wing 14 (Captain William M. McDade) is established at San Diego, California, for operations in Western Sea Frontier.
-Heavy cruiser Portland (CA-33) bombards Japanese shipping and installations at Tarawa, Gilberts.
-Japanese heavy cruisers Chokai and Kinugasa (Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi) bombard Henderson Field, covering the movement of six destroyers and eleven transports to Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal. Planes from Henderson Field, including USMC and Navy SBDs (VMSB 141, VB 6, other unidentified units), USAAF B-17s and P-39/P-400s, Navy F4Fs (VF 5), and USMC PBY (personal "flag" plane of Commanding General 1st Marine Aircraft Wing), conduct a succession of attacks upon Japanese supply convoy off Tassafaronga undamaged by VS 3's strike the previous day. USAAF B-17s damage transport Azumasan Maru which, along with merchant cargo ship Kyushu Maru, is run aground, where uncontrollable fires destroy both ships. Air attacks also sink Sasago Maru and damage destroyer Samidare.
-Off San Cristobal, Solomons, destroyer Meredith (DD-434) takes on board the crew of tug Vireo (AT-144) at approach of planes from Japanese carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. Before Meredith can scuttle the tug with a torpedo to prevent her from falling into enemy hands, however, the destroyer is overwhelmed and sunk in the ensuing air attack, by bombs and aerial torpedoes; Vireo and her tow (a gasoline barge), though, having been abandoned, drift off, untouched by the enemy. Some Meredith survivors reach safety on board the tug.
-Submarine Skipjack (SS-184) engages Japanese auxiliary Kifuku Maru. Skipjack's torpedoes miss; Kifuku Maru returns fire with her guns and escapes into a rain squall.

Oct 15, 1943
-Submarine Tullibee (SS-284) attacks 10-ship Japanese convoy, sinking transport Chicago Maru.

Oct 15, 1944
-Command designated Minecraft, Pacific Fleet (Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp) is established; Rear Admiral Sharp breaks his flag in minelayer Terror (CM-5).
-TG 30.3 (Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose) is formed to cover the retirement of the crippled heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70) and light cruiser Houston (CL-81); an augmented TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) provides cover while TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) and TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) take up position to waylay Japanese fleet units that might try to attack the damaged ships. TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison), meanwhile, attacks Japanese installations near Manila, drawing an enemy aerial response that damages carrier Franklin (CV-13).
-Sweep Unit (Captain Robley W. Clark) arrives off Ngulu Atoll, Western Carolines. Light minelayer Montgomery (DM-17) destroys Japanese radio and weather station, and, accompanied by five motor minesweepers (YMS), enters the lagoon to begin minesweeping operations which will continue daily until 23 October.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as four TDRs are launched against Matupi Bridge, as part of coordinated attack by other Green Island-based PBJs (VMB 423), F4Us (VMF 218 and VMF 222) and SBDs (VMSB 244 and VMSB 341) against Simpson Harbor Rabaul. Poor picture reception and pilot error results in none of the TDRs hitting their targets.
-USAAF P-38 sinks Japanese auxiliary sailing vessel No.5 Yamato Maru off Bochi archipelago.
-Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch sinks Japanese oceanographic research vessel No.2 Kaiyo Maru off Surabaya, Java.

 

Oct 16, 1940
-Sixteen million men register for the draft under Selective Training and Service Act.

Oct 16, 1941
-Destroyers Peary (DD-225) and Pillsbury (DD-227) are damaged in collision during night exercises in Manila Bay, P.I.

Oct 16, 1942
-Japanese surface force (Rear Admiral Omori Sentaro), with heavy cruisers Maya and Myoko, and Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo, with light cruiser Isuzu and seven destroyers) shells Henderson Field.
-TF 17, formed around carrier Hornet (CV-8) (Rear Admiral George D. Murray), strikes Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, and seaplane base at Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel, Solomons.
-Seaplane tender (destroyer) McFarland (AVD-14) is damaged by Japanese dive bombers, Lunga Roads, Guadalcanal.
-After attacks by PBYs fail, USAAF B-26s (11th Air Force) sink Japanese destroyer Oboro about 20 miles northeast of Sirius Point, Kiska and damage destroyer Hatsuharu.
-Submarine Thresher (SS-200) mines the approaches to Bangkok, Thailand, in the first U.S. Navy submarine mine plant of World War II.

Oct 16, 1943
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 31 off Cape Lambert, New Britain.
-Submarine Mingo (SS-261) attacks Japanese escort carrier Chuyo north-northwest of Truk. Although Mingo claims two damaging hits, the carrier emerges from the encounter unscathed; destroyer Hatsukaze depth charges Mingo but does not damage her.

Oct 16, 1944
-Japanese torpedo planes attack TG 30.3 (Rear Admiral Laurance T. DuBose) and again damage light cruiser Houston (CL-81).
-Destroyer Ellet (DD-398), together with surveying ship Bowditch (AGS-4), two infantry landing craft (gunboat) and a submarine chaser arrive at Ngulu Atoll, western Carolines, and encounter no opposition.
-TF 38 planes sink Japanese torpedo boat Hato, 130 miles east-southeast of Hong Kong and damage auxiliary vessel Santos Maru.
-Submarine Besugo (SS-321) damages Japanese destroyer Suzutsuki off Toizaki.
-Submarine Tilefish (SS-307) sinks Japanese guardboat No.2 Kyowa Maru five miles north of Matsuwa Jima.
-Auxiliary minesweeper No.6 Hakata Maru is sunk by U.S. aircraft (probably a PB4Y) off Minami Daito Jima.
-USAAF aircraft (14th Air Force) sink Japanese cargo vessel Tensho Maru. They also damage auxiliary vessel Santos Maru and cargo ships Sagamigawa Maru, No.5 Okinoyama Maru, and No.3 Akatsuki Maru; and destroy army cargo vessel (in drydock at Kowloon) Bunzan Maru.
-USAAF P-38s sink Japanese auxilliary sailing vessel No.6 Take Maru off Cagayan, Sulu Archipalego.
-RAAF Beaufighters sink Japanese Communications Vessel No.135 off Ambon harbor.

 

Oct 17, 1942
-General Tojo Hideki becomes Japanese Premier as Konoye Government resigns.
-Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet (Admiral Husband E. Kimmel) sends two submarines to Midway and two to Wake on "simulated war patrols".
-Navy orders all U.S. merchant ships in Asiatic waters to put into friendly ports.

Oct 17, 1942
-Submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Holland Maru close inshore near the mouth of Bungo Suido, off Kyushu.

Oct 17, 1943
-Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I-36 reconnoiters Pearl Harbor.
-Submarine Tarpon (SS-175) sinks German auxiliary cruiser Michel (Schiffe No.28) off Chichi Jima, Bonins.
-USAAF B-24s damage Japanese troopship Hakusan Maru 80 miles from Kavieng.

Oct 17, 1944
-TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attacks Japanese installations at Legaspi and Clark Field, Luzon.
-Naval force (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands army troops (6th Ranger Battalion) on Suluan and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf to destroy Japanese installations that could provide early warning of U.S. forces entering the gulf. Unfortunately, the Suluan Island unit transmits a warning, prompting Admiral Toyoda Soemu, Commander in Chief Combined Fleet, to order operation SHO-1 for defending the Philippines against American invasion and bringing about a decisive battle.
-Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands supplies on northwest coast of Tawi Tawi, P.I.
-Motor minesweeper YMS-70 is sunk in storm off Leyte.
-During the third day of sweeping operations in Ngulu Atoll, Western Carolines, light minelayer Montgomery (DM-17) is damaged by Japanese mine while anchoring.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as four TDRs are launched against Japanese installations near East Rabaul. One of the four hits the objective; a second hits a target of opportunity; a third is lost due to the failure of a tube in the drone receiver; a fourth may have been shot down (light and inaccurate antaircraft fire is noted).
-Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch sinks Japanese minelayer Itsukushima and damages minelayer/netlayer Wakatake, off Bawean Island, N.E.I. Submarine chaser Ch 26 carries out determined counterattack, but Zwaardvisch escapes.
-British carrier-based planes sink Japanese collier Ishikari Maru off Nicobar.

 

Oct 18, 1939
-Naval landing force from gunboats Asheville (PG-21) and Tulsa (PG-22) and destroyer Whipple (DD-217) is withdrawn from Kulangsu, China, where it had been protecting the American Consulate and the Hope Memorial Hospital since 17 May.

Oct 18, 1942
-Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. relieves Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley as Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force, on board auxiliary Argonne (AG-31) at Nouméa, New Caledonia.
-Submarine Grampus (SS-207) torpedoes Japanese light cruiser Yura, but her "fish" fails to explode.
-Submarine Greenling (SS-213) sinks Japanese transport Hakonesan Maru close inshore off northeast coast of Honshu.

Oct 18, 1943
-Small carrier Cowpens (CVL 25) and destroyer Abbot (DD-629) are damaged in collision during maneuvers in Hawaiian Operating Area.
-Submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) attacks Yokosuka-bound Japanese escort carrier Chuyo. Although Flying Fish claims one hit, the enemy flattop bears a charmed life, having survived an attack by Mingo (SS-261) on 16 October 1943 as well, and continues on to her destination on schedule.
-Submarine Lapon (SS-260) torpedoes and sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Taichu Maru, and scores two "dud" hits on auxiliary minesweeper Keijin Maru.
-Submarine Silversides (SS-236) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Tairin Maru.

Oct 18, 1944
-TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attack principal Japanese airfields near Manila and shipping in the harbor, sinking passenger-cargo ship Hoeisan Maru, and army cargo ship Urato Maru and merchant cargo ship Tempi Maru. Meanwhile, TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) pounds enemy shipping off northern Luzon, sinking auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 95, transports Taiho Maru and Hokurei Maru (damaged on 5 October by Cabrilla), and merchant cargo ships Hoten Maru, Terukuni Maru, and Tsingtao Maru off Camiguin, northern Luzon; cargo ship Shinko Maru near Babuyan Channel; and landing ships T.135 and T.136 and minelayer/netlayer Maeshima off northeastern Luzon. Cargo ship No.3 Taibi Maru may have also been lost in these attacks at this time.
-The first bombardment ships begin shelling Japanese installations on Leyte.
-Seventh Fleet aircraft, meanwhile, sink Japanese ships Daikoku Maru, No.2 Gokuku Mar, No.8 Nankai Maru, Rinkyu Maru, Yoto Maru, and Zuin Maru in the Cebu area.
-Submarine Bluegill (SS-242) sinks Japanese army cargo ships Arabia Maru and Chinzei Maru, and merchant cargo ship Hakushika Maru in South China Sea, west-southwest of Manila.
-Submarine Raton (SS-270) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Taikai Maru and army cargo ship Shiranesan Maru in South China Sea, southwest of Luzon.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as three TDRs are launched against lighthouse on Cape St. George, New Ireland. None hit the target.

 

Oct 19, 1942
-Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I-19 reconnoiters Nouméa, New Caledonia.
-Destroyer O'Brien (DD-415), damaged by submarine torpedo on 15 September 1942, breaks in two and sinks en route to United States for repairs, 53 miles north-northwest of Tutuila, Samoa.
-Submarine Amberjack (SS-219) arrives at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, assigned temporarily to Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific, for duty. Over the next three days, two of the submarine's fuel tanks will be cleaned and converted to carry aviation gasoline. She will also take on board 100-pound bombs and embark USAAF enlisted ground crew for transportation to Guadalcanal.
-SBDs (VS 71, VMSB 141, VB 6) from Henderson Field attack three Japanese destroyers north of Guadalcanal, damaging Uranami.
-Submarine Grampus (SS-207) lands Australian coastwatchers on Choiseul Island, Solomons.

Oct 19, 1943
-Moscow Conference, attended by the Secretary of State and British and Soviet foreign ministers, convenes.

Oct 19, 1944
-TG 38.1 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) continue attacks on principal Japanese airfields near Manila and shipping in the harbor. Navy carrier-based planes sink army cargo ship Belgium Maru and merchant cargo ships Jogu Maru, Toshikawa Maru, Kurugane Maru and Tsukubasan Maru, damage oiler Ondo (damaged by Bluefish in November 1943), and damage cargo ship Urado Maru so severely that that ship is run aground. TG 38.1 and TG 38.4 then proceed south to provide direct support for the landings at Leyte.
-Off Leyte, destroyer Ross (DD-563) is damaged by mine; destroyer Aulick (DD-569), by shore battery.
-Seventh Fleet aircraft sink Japanese ships Kosei Maru, Kafuku Maru, Koei Maru, No.8 Kanekichi Maru, No.11 Akita Maru, and No.18 Taigyo Maru at Cebu.
-Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands men and supplies on southwest coast of Negros, P.I.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific in two flights (one TDR each) conducted this date against Japanese gun positions west of Ballale. In the first, one drone misses its target during its run; in the second, the drone drops part of its ordnance (two of the four-100-pound bomb clusters) on the target before it crashes.
-Destroyer escort Gilligan (DE-508) bombards Mille Atoll.
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese weather ship Shonan Maru in northern waters of Makassar Strait.

 

Oct 20, 1940
-Oiler Ramapo (AO-12) delivers district patrol craft YP-16 and YP-17 at Apra Harbor to augment the local defenses at Guam.

Oct 20, 1942
-Heavy cruiser Chester (CA-27) is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-176, 120 miles southeast of San Cristobal, Solomons.
-Submarine Drum (SS-228), attacking Japanese convoy off southern Honshu, sinks merchant cargo ship Ryunan Maru.
-Submarine Finback (SS-230), attacking Japanese convoy off west coast of Formosa, damages army passenger-cargo ship Africa Maru and cargo ship Yamafuji Maru. Both sink the next morning.
-Submarine Gar (SS-206) mines the approaches to Bangkok, Thailand.
-Submarine Tautog (SS-199) sinks merchant trawler Nanshin Maru in the Sulu Sea.

Oct 20, 1943
-Submarine Gato (SS-212) sinks Japanese transport Tsunushima Maru between Truk and Kavieng.
-Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Sana Maru off Banbon Bay, French Indochina.

Oct 20, 1944
-Naval Operating Base, Guam, is established.
-Under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, who makes good on his promise to "return" to the Philippines, and Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, Commander Seventh Fleet, TF 78 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) and TF 79 (Vice Admiral Theodore S. Wilkinson) land four divisions of the U.S. Sixth Army (Lieutenant General Walter Krueger) on Leyte. Fast carriers and battleships of the Third Fleet provide support, as do the older battleships and escort carriers of the Seventh Fleet.
-Japanese aerial counterattacks (horizontal bombers) result in damage to escort carrier Sangamon (CVE-26), salvage vessel Preserver (ARS-8), and (aerial torpedo) to light cruiser Honolulu (CL-48). Japanese shore batteries damage destroyer Bennion (DD662), and tank landing ship LST-452.
-Submarine Hammerhead (SS-364) sinks Japanese transport Oyo Maru, and army cargo ship Ugo Maru off Borneo.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue: three TDRs are launched against Japanese gun positions west of Ballale: one is lost, one makes a hit with its bomb but crashes before it can be directed into its ultimate target (the beached Japanese freighter serving as an antiaircraft gun site off the Kahili airstrip and christened the "Kahili Maru"), the last achieves a bomb hit and crashes into "Kahili Maru" as planned.

 

Oct 21, 1942
-Destroyer Grayson (DD-435) is damaged in collision with fleet tug Vireo (AT-144) during efforts to salvage the latter, Solomons area. Salvage party from Grayson ultimately brings the tug (abandoned on 15 September 1942) and its tow safely into Espiritu Santo after a 400 mile voyage.
-Japanese carrier Hiyo is damaged by engine room fire after departing Truk and thus will not be available to participate in the Battle of Santa Cruz.
-Submarine Guardfish (SS-217) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Nichiho Maru about 120 miles north-northeast of Formosa.
-Submarine Gudgeon (SS-212), attacking Japanese convoy in the Bismarck Sea, sinks transport Choko Maru about 110 miles west-northwest of Rabaul.

Oct 21, 1943
-Submarine Steelhead (SS-280) damages Japanese aircraft transport Goshu Maru southeast of Ulithi, Carolines.
-RAAF Beaufort damages Japanese light cruiser Kiso 53 miles from Cape St. George.
-Japanese cargo ship No.11 Chofoku Maru is sunk by mine while en route from Surabaya to Penang; cargo ship Rakuto Maru is damaged by mine off Padamarang Island.

Oct 21, 1944
-Leyte landings continue. Off invasion beaches, transport Warhawk (AP-168) is damaged in collision with battleship Tennessee (BB-43), while Japanese mortar fire damages tank landing ships LST-269, LST-483, and LST-704.
-TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) attacks Japanese shipping and installations near Panay, Cebu, Negros, and Masbate, Navy carrier-based planes sinking auxiliary minesweeper Wa.8, auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 15 and army tanker Doko Maru.
-British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese merchant cargo ships No.2 Chokyu Maru, No.3 Takasago Maru, and Otori Maru in Makassar Strait.

 

Oct 22, 1941
-Battleships Oklahoma (BB-36) and Arizona (BB-39) are damaged in collision in Hawaiian Operating Area.

Oct 22, 1942
-Naval Air Facility, Otter Point, Alaska, is established.
-Destroyers Mahan (DD-364) and Lamson (DD-367), detached from TF 16 to "shoot up the Japanese picket boat line" west of the Gilberts, sink gunboat Hakkaisan Maru southwest of Tamana.

Oct 22, 1943
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese transport Awata Maru, China Sea.
-Submarine Shad (SS-235) attacks Japanese light cruisers Naka and Isuzu, en route from Shanghai to Rabaul. Although Shad claims damaging both, neither enemy warship is hit.

Oct 22, 1944
-TF 38 planes sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 15 west of Tabals, P.I.
-Navy carrier-based planes (TF 77) sink Japanese motor sailships No.3 Akebono Maru and No.5 Taihei Maru (location unspecified).
-Submarine Darter (SS-227) detects a group of Japanese warships northwest of Borneo and trails them.
-Submarine Sea Dog (SS-401) sinks Japanese supply ship Muroto south-southwest of Kagoshima and gunboat Tomitsu Maru south of Akuseki Jima.
-British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese Communication Ship No.137 in Makassar Strait.
-U.S. freighter Augustus Thomas is strafed in San Pedro Bay, Leyte; one man of the 27-man Armed Guard is wounded.

 

Oct 23, 1940
-Japan gives one-year notice of abrogation of North Pacific Sealing Convention of 1911. This is just one of the many international conventions that Japan will withdraw from in the coming year as war approaches.

Oct 23, 1942
-Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese gunboat Seikyo Maru at entrance to Kii Suido, Honshu.
-USAAF B-17s damage Japanese submarine chasers Ch 31 and Ch 32 at Rabaul.
-Japanese submarine I-7 shells Espiritu Santo.

Oct 23, 1943
-Submarine Silversides (SS-236) sinks Japanese fleet tanker Tennan Maru and army cargo ships Johore Maru and Kazan Maru.
-USAAF B-24 damages Japanese cargo vessel No.1 Kinpo Maru off Greenwich Island.
-U.S. aircraft sink Japanese transport Kyowa Maru northwest of Buka Island, Solomons.

Oct 23, 1944
-Battle for Leyte Gulf (a succession of distinct fleet engagements) opens. While Darter (SS-227) continues to trail Japanese ships detected the previous day, submarine Bream (SS-243) torpedoes heavy cruiser Aoba off Manila Bay. Subsequently, Darter and Dace (SS-247) attack what proves to be the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo), one of the three main bodies of the Japanese fleet moving toward Leyte in a major effort to drive U.S. forces from the Philippines. Dace sinks heavy cruiser Maya while Darter sinks heavy cruiser Atago and damages her sistership Takao. This action takes place in the Palawan Passage.
-Destroyer escort Gilligan (DE-508) bombards Emidj Island, Jaluit Atoll.
-Submarine Croaker (SS-246) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakuran Maru in Yellow Sea, off west coast of Korea.
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon; she will repeat the operation on 24 and 25 October 1944.
-Submarine Sawfish (SS-276) sinks Japanese seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru west of Luzon.
-Submarine Snook (SS-279) damages Japanese merchant tanker Kikusui Maru in South China Sea, west of Luzon Strait.
-Submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks Japanese cargo ships Toun Maru and Tatsuju Maru and transport Wakatake Maru, and merchant cargo ship Kori Go in the Formosa Strait.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in two missions (three TDRs each) flown against beached Japanese ships in Moisuru Bay and off the south end of the Kahili airstrip. In the first mission, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru"; in the second, one TDR scores a direct hit on "Kahili Maru" while another hits a beached merchantman in Moisuru Bay.

[ 23. October 2005, 09:45 AM: Message edited by: Bill Murray ]

 

Oct 24, 1942
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Kenun Maru about 20 miles east of Shiriya Zaki, off northern tip of Honshu.
-Submarine Trigger (SS-237) damages Japanese oiler Nissho Maru in Bungo Channel.

Oct 24, 1943
-Japanese army cargo ship Kazan Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by Silversides (SS-236) the previous day; attempt by Japanese submarine chaser Ch 24 to scuttle the immobilized Johore Maru fails. Silversides herself later finishes off Johore Maru.
-PBYs sink Japanese destroyer Mochizuki and damages destroyer Uzuki south of Jacquinot Bay.
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese cargo vessel Nagaragawa Maru off Manokwari.
-Japanese destroyer Satsuki is damaged by grounding off Utano Island.

Oct 24, 1944
-Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as planes from TG 38.2, TG 38.3, and TG 38.4 attack the Japanese "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo) in the Sibuyan Sea. Planes from carriers Enterprise (CV-6), Intrepid (CV-11), and Franklin (CV-13), and small carrier Cabot (CVL-29) sink battleship Musashi south of Luzon. Aircraft from the three task groups also damage battleships Yamato and Nagato, heavy cruiser Tone, and destroyers Kiyoshimo, Fujinami and Uranami. TG 38.4 planes attack Japanese "Southern Force" (Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide) as it proceeds through the Sulu Sea; planes from Franklin sink destroyer Wakaba off the west coast of Panay; aircraft from Enterprise and Franklin damage battleships Fuso and Yamashiro. Japanese planes, however, attack TG 38.3; combat air patrol and effective use of rain squalls as cover limits the damage to small carrier Princeton (CVL-23), hit by bomb from dive bomber. In trying to save Princeton, however, light cruiser Birmingham (CL-62) and destroyers Morrison (DD-560), Gatling (DD-671), and Irwin (DD-794) are damaged by rolling against the stricken carrier or by fragments from the explosion of Princeton's magazines when fires gain the upper hand; in addition, Morrison's bridge is damaged by a jeep (used to tow aircraft) falling from Princeton's flight deck. Birmingham suffers the greatest destruction because she is alongside the carrier when the latter's magazines explode. The cruiser's decks literally run red with blood: 229 men killed, four missing, 211 seriously wounded and 215 with minor wounds. Ultimately, light cruiser Reno and Irwin scuttle Princeton.
During the aerial action that day, Commander David McCampbell, Commander Air Group 15, flying from carrier Essex (CV-9), again distinguishes himself in combat. With only one wingman, McCampbell attacks what is estimated as being over 60 hostile aircraft and downs nine, breaking up the attacking formation before it even reaches the fleet. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life" on this occasion and on 19 June, McCampbell is awarded the Medal of Honor.
-Elsewhere off Leyte, Japanese planes damage destroyer Leutze (DD-481); tank landing ship LST-552; and infantry landing craft LCI-1065. Oiler Ashtabula (AO-51) is damaged by aerial torpedo.
-U.S. freighter Augustus Thomas, anchored in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, is attacked by a Japanese plane. The ship's Armed Guard gunfire sets the aircraft ablaze but the kamikaze presses home his attack, a wing striking the stack of the nearby tug Sonoma (ATO-12) before it crashes the freighter's starboard side. The bombs detonate in the water between the two ships, and the exploding suicider sets Sonoma afire. There are no casualties on board Augustus Thomas (41-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard and 480 troop passengers), which is subsequently beached by tugs Chowanoc (ATF-100) and Whippoorwill (ATO-169). Sonoma subsequently sinks off Dio Island.
-U.S. freighter David Dudley Field is damaged by kamikaze off Tacloban, Leyte; there are no fatalities among the 40-man merchant complement, 30-man Armed Guard, 50 stevedores embarked to work cargo and 10 Army passengers. After repairs, the freighter will resume active service.
-Late on 24 October, Commander Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) orders TF 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) to proceed north to be in position to strike the "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo) on the morning of 25 October, but does not inform Commander Seventh Fleet (Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) of his action. Unbeknown to the Americans, remnants of the "Center Force" transit San Bernadino Strait and head for Leyte Gulf. Commander Seventh Fleet meanwhile makes his dispositions to meet the expected enemy onslaught: bombardment and support group TG 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) is augmented by close covering group TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey).
-Local airfields, however, are not yet ready to base night reconnaissance aircraft, and the only carrier equipped to operate such planes, small carrier Independence (CVL-22), is proceeding north with TF 38.
-Coordinated submarine attack group TG 17.15 (CommanderAlan B. Banister), meanwhile, operates against Japanese shipping in South China Sea west of Luzon Strait: Drum (SS-228) sinks merchant cargo ship Shikisan Maru; Icefish (SS-367) sinks army cargo ship Tenshin Maru; Seadragon (SS-194) sinks transport Eiko Maru and cargo ship Daiten Maru, and merchant passenger/cargo shipo Kokuryu Maru.
-Hospital ship Comfort (AH-6), fully illuminated in accordance with the dictates of the Geneva Convention, is bombed 22 miles southeast of Leyte.
-Tank landing ship LST-695 is damaged by Japanese submarine I-56 in Philippine Sea, west of Mindanao.
-Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) sinks Japanese submarine I-54, 70 miles east of Surigao.
-Submarine Besugo (SS-321) damages Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.132 south of Ashizuri Saki, Japan.
-Submarine Croaker (SS-246) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Mikage Maru and passenger/cargo ship Gassan Maru southwest of Quelpart Island.
-Submarine Darter (SS-227), damaged by grounding on Bombay Shoal, Palawan Passage, P.I. is scuttled by submarines Nautilus (SS-168) and Dace (SS-247) to avoid the boat's falling into enemy hands.
-Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese cargo ship Ikutagawa Maru east of Chichi Jima.
-Submarine Shark (SS-314) is sunk, probably by Japanese destroyer Harukaze, in Luzon Strait.
-Submarine Snook (SS-279) sinks army cargo ships Arisan Maru and No.1 Shinsei Maru. Merchant tanker Kikusui Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by Snook the day before.
-Submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Ebara Maru in Formosa Strait and damages tanker Matsumoto Maru, but is herself sunk by the circular run of one of her own torpedoes.
-TF 38 planes damage Japanese light cruiser Kinu and destroyer Uranami at Manila, and sink Japanese army ore carrier Fuyukawa Maru off Luzon.
-USAAF aircraft sink army cargo ship Taimei Maru off Sandakan, Borneo.

 

Oct 25, 1940
-Japanese naval land attack planes (13th Kokutai) raiding Chungking, China, follow a course that takes them directly over the U.S. Embassy and river gunboat Tutuila (PR-4). Due to what is later explained as a malfunctioning release mechanism, Japanese bombs fall north, east, and west of the embassy and the gunboat, the nearest falling 300 yards away. In response to American protests, Japanese naval authorities will advise the air commander in the region "to take necessary steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents".

Oct 25, 1942
-Submarine Whale (SS-239) lays mines off Honshu, Japan, at entrance to Inland Sea.
-Second division of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, consisting of motor torpedo boats PT-37, PT-39, PT-45, and PT-61, arrives at Tulagi.
-Off Guadalcanal, tug Seminole (AT-65) and district patrol craft YP-284 are sunk by gunfire of Japanese destroyers Akatsuki, Ikazuchi, and Shiratsuyu; submarine Amberjack (SS-219), which has arrived that morning to deliver her cargo and passengers at Tulagi, is unable to attain a firing position to help Seminole and YP-284. Later, high speed minesweeper Zane (DMS-14) is damaged by the same trio of enemy warships in Sealark Channel. Japanese destroyers, however, do not emerge from the day's action unscathed. Off Lunga Point, Marine shore batteries (and VMF 121 F4Fs) damage Akatsuki, while USMC F4Fs (VMF 121) damage Ikazuchi; USAAF P-39s damage Samidare and Akizuki. Amberjack later disembarks USAAF enlisted men (67th Fighter Squadron and 347th Fighter Group), 200 100-pound bombs and 9,000 gallons of aviation gasoline at Tulagi. Released from duty under ComAirSoPac, Amberjack sets course for Brisbane.
-USAAF B-17s sink Japanese auxiliary minelayer Kotobuki Maru at Rabaul.
-Japanese light cruiser Yura, damaged by SBD (VS 71) and USAAF B-17 or P-39 off Santa Isabel, Solomons, is scuttled by destroyers Harusame and Yudachi.
-Dutch submarine O-23 damages Japanese army cargo ship Shinyu Maru off Penang, Malaya.

Oct 25, 1943
-Submarine Tullibee (SS-284) attacks Japanese transport Teisho Maru (ex-German Havenstein), escorted by auxiliary minesweeper No.11 Misago Maru 12 miles off Oshima. Although Tullibee claims damage to the larger vessel, Teisho Maru survives unscathed. No.11 Misago Maru carries out counterattacks but with equal lack of success.

Oct 25, 1944
-Unites States and Great Britain resume diplomatic relations with Italy.
-Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as TG 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), augmented by TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) and TG 70.1 (39 motor torpedo boats) execute the classic maneuver of "crossing the tee" of the Japanese "Southern Force" (Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide) in the Battle of Surigao Strait. TG 70.1 begins the action against the Japanese ships. PT-137 torpedoes light cruiser Abukuma, but PT-493 is sunk by enemy secondary battery gunfire. DESRON 54 (Captain Jesse G.Coward) then attacks; McDermut (DD-677) sinks destroyer Yamagumo and damages destroyers Asagumo and Michisio. Subsequently, light cruiser Denver (CL-58) sinks Asagumo at entrance of Surigao Strait. DESRON 24 (Captain Kenmore M. McManes) enters the fray and Hutchins (DD-476) (McManes's flagship) sinks Michisio; DESRON 56 (Captain Roland M. Smoot) attacks; Albert W. Grant (DD-649) is damaged by both friendly and Japanese gunfire at this phase of the battle. Two Australian warships take part in this fleet action--heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire (in TG 77.3) and destroyer HMAS Arunta (in DESRON 24)--that see the destruction of battleships Fuso and Yamashiro. Heavy cruiser Mogami and destroyer Shigure are damaged.
-Meanwhile, the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo), which includes four battleships and five heavy cruisers, having passed into the Philippine Sea during the night, surprises TG 77.4 (Rear Admiral Thomas L.Sprague) off Samar. Kurita's force wreaks havoc on the six escort carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts of TU 77.4.3 (northernmost carrier force) (Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague). In this battle, which becomes a precipitate flight in the face of an overwhelming enemy force, Kurita's ships inflict severe damage but emerge bloodied by the Homeric efforts of the "small boys" (destroyers and destroyer escorts)(Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors) and planes from the escort carriers that compel Kurita to retire, inexplicably, without destroying the CVEs and their consorts in detail. In the Battle off Samar, Japanese surface gunfire sinks destroyers Hoel; Johnston; and destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413); and damages destroyer Heermann (DD-523); and destroyer escort Dennis (DE-405). Johnston damages heavy cruiser Kumano.
-Japanese surface gunfire (either battleship Haruna or Kongo) straddles escort carrier White Plains (CVE-66), St.Lo (CVE-63), and Kitkun Bay (CVE- 71) but scores no direct hits. Heavy cruisers Chikuma, Haguro, and Chokai; light cruiser Noshiro; and a destroyer sink escort carrier Gambier Bay (CVE-73). Japanse surface gunfire also damages Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) and Kalinin Bay (CVE-68); the latter claims one hit on a Japanese heavy cruiser with her single 5-inch gun. Navy carrier-based aircraft damage battleships Kongo (from near-misses) and Yamato and heavy cruisers Chikuma, Chokai, and Suzuya.
-Subsequently, Japanese planes attack escort carriers of TU 77.4.1 (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague). Suwannee (CVE-27) is damaged by kamikazes, and Santee (CVE-29) by suicide plane and Japanese submarine I-56. Kamikazes near-miss Sangamon and Petrof Bay (CVE-80). Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell is damaged by strafing.
-Following its ordeal off Samar, TU 77.4.3 (Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague) comes under Japanese air attack. Kamikazes sink St.Lo and damage Kalinin Bay and Kitkun Bay. At the same time, in the Battle off Cape Engano, carrier aircraft from the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike the Japanese "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo). Planes from carriers Essex and Lexington sink carrier Zuikaku 220 nautical miles east-northeast of Cape Engano, and carrier Chitose 235 nautical miles east of Cape Engano; carrier Chiyoda, damaged by planes from carriers Lexington and Franklin and small carrier Langley, is sunk by heavy cruisers New Orleans and Wichita and light cruisers Santa Fe and Mobile (CL-63) 260 nautical miles southeast of Cape Engano. Carrier Zuiho is sunk by planes from Essex, Franklin, Lexington, Enterprise, and small carrier San Jacinto east-northeast of Cape Engano.
-U.S. aircraft, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, damage Japanese battleships Yamato and Nagato and heavy cruiser Myoko in San Jose Strait; battleship Haruna, east of Samar; light cruiser Yahagi off Leyte; destroyer Kiyoshimo off Leyte. Heavy cruiser Chikuma, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Nowaki; heavy cruiser Suzuya, damaged by carrier- based aircraft off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Okinami; heavy cruiser Chokai, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Fujinami; heavy cruiser Mogami, damaged by heavy cruisers Minneapolis, Portland (CA-33), Louisville (CA-28), light cruisers Columbia (CL-56) and Denver, and collision with heavy cruiser Nachi, south of Bohol Island, P.I., is scuttled by destroyer Akebono; light cruiser Tama is sunk by aircraft from Essex and Lexington and submarine Jallao (SS-368), east of Luzon Strait; destroyer Hatsuzuki is sunk by the gunfire of four heavy cruisers and twelve destroyers east north-east of Cape Engano.
-Japanese air attacks continue against shipping off Leyte: U.S. freighter Adoniram Judson is attacked by Japanese planes off Tacloban; Armed Guard gunners claim splashing six. One bomb explodes close aboard, causing fragmentation damage and wounding two of the embarked stevedores. There are no casualties to the ship's company: 43 merchant seamen and 28 Armed Guards. Freighter John W. Foster, anchored in San Pedro Bay, is strafed; 7 of the 27-man Armed Guard, 3 of 170 embarked troops, and 1 officer, are wounded.
-Submarine Halibut (SS-232) sinks Japanese destroyer Akizuki east-northeast of Cape Engano.
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon.
-Submarine Seal (SS-183) sinks Japanese transport Hakuyo Maru, north of Urup, Kurils.
-Submarine Sterlet (SS-392) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Jinei Maru south of Yaku Jima.
-Fleet tanker Matsumoto Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by submarine Tang (SS-306) in Formosa Strait the day before.
-British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese motor sail ship No.47 Tachibana Maru in Flores Sea.
-Navy F4Us sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 62 north of Palaus.
-Other Japanese casualties include auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 52 sunk at Palau; and merchant tanker Shoho Maru sunk by USAAF aircraft in South China Sea.

 

Oct 26, 1941
-Submarines Narwhal (SS-168) and Dolphin (SS-169) arrive off Wake Island on simulated war patrols.

Oct 26, 1942
-Battle of Santa Cruz Islands occurs as TF 16 (Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) and TF 17 (Rear Admiral George D. Murray) engage a numerically superior Japanese force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi). Although the Japanese achieve a tactical victory, the failure of their simultaneous land offensive on Guadalcanal means that they cannot exploit it to its fullest. The dwindling number of Japanese carrier planes cannot eliminate Henderson Field, while fuel shortages compel the Combined Fleet to retire on Truk. Americans control the skies above the sea routes to Guadalcanal.
The victory, however, does not come cheaply in this, the fourth major carrier battle of 1942, for Enterprise (CV-6) is damaged by planes from carriers Junyo and Shokaku; Hornet (CV-8) is damaged by planes from Junyo, Shokaku, and Zuikaku; battleship South Dakota (BB-57) and light cruiser San Juan (CL-54) are damaged by planes from Junyo; destroyer Smith (DD-378) is damaged by a crashing carrier attack plane; during the operation of fighting Hornet's fires and taking off her survivors, destroyer Hughes (DD-410) is damaged in collision with the doomed carrier (as well as by friendly fire earlier in the action). The attempt to scuttle the irreparably damaged Hornet, by gunfire and torpedoes from destroyers Mustin (DD-413) and Anderson (DD-411) fails; destroyer Porter (DD-356) is accidentally torpedoed by battle-damaged and ditched TBF (VT 10), and, deemed beyond salvage, is scuttled by destroyer Shaw (DD-373).
-SBDs (VS 10) from Enterprise damage carrier Zuiho; SBDs (VB 8, VS 8) from Hornet damage carrier Shokaku and destroyer Terutsuki; TBFs (VT 6) from Hornet damage heavy cruiser Chikuma.
-Battle of Henderson Field ends as marines repulse Japanese land and air attacks.
-U.S. liner President Coolidge, chartered for use as a troop transport, blunders into U.S. minefield off Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides; the ship is beached to facilitate salvage, but slips into deep water and sinks. Four of the 5,050 Army troops are lost in the accident, as is one of the 290-man merchant complement. There are no casualties among the 51-man Armed Guard.
-Submarine S-31 (SS-136) sinks Japanese transport Keizan Maru off Paramushiro.
In the Indian Ocean, the U.S. freighter Anne Hutchinson is torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-504 some 90 miles off East London, South Africa; three crewmen are killed in the attack. The rest of the ship's complement (37 merchant sailors and the 17-man Armed Guard) take to two lifeboats.

Oct 26, 1943
-PBY damages Japanese destroyer Satsuki 15 miles east of Teop harbor.
-USAAF B-25s sink Japanese transport Yamatogawa Maru at Hai'ou, Hainan Island.
-USAAF P-38s damage auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 20, transporting troops and cargo, five miles off Buka.
-USAAF aircraft bomb Japanese shipping off Kiungshan, sinking transport Yamatogawa Maru, army cargo vessels No. 3 Shinwa Maru and Hokuzan Maru, and merchant cargo ship Hachiman Maru.

Oct 26, 1944
-Battle for Leyte Gulf concludes as Navy carrier-based and USAAF land-based planes attack retiring Japanese ships that have survived the previous days' action. TF 38 planes sink light cruiser Kinu southwest of Masbate; destroyer Hayashimo 40 miles south of Mindoro. Aircraft from carriers Hornet (CV-12) and Wasp (CV-18) sink light cruiser Noshiro south of Mindoro; planes from carrier Hancock (CV-19) sink landing ship T.102 in the Guimaras Straits; TF 38 planes damage heavy cruiser Kumano and destroyer Okinami in Sibuyan Sea. Planes from TU 77.4.2 sink destroyer Uranami 70 miles north-northeast of Iloilo, Panay. USAAF B-24s sink light cruiser Abukuma southwest of Negros Island; battleship Haruna is damaged by near-misses. In related action, U.S. cruisers and destroyers sink destroyer Nowaki 65 miles south-southeast of Legaspi, Luzon.
-Motor torpedo boat PT-132 is damaged by dive bomber.
-U.S. freighter Benjamin Ide Wheeler is attacked by Japanese plane off Leyte, and damaged by near-miss of bomb that wounds three of the ship's embarked troops.
-Submarine Drum (SS-228) sinks Japanese transport Tats_ra Maru and merchant passenger/cargo ship Taisho Maru and cargo ship Taihaku Maru north of Luzon.
-Submarine Icefish (SS-367) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Taiyo Maru west of Luzon Strait but is damaged by depth charges and is forced to terminate her patrol.
-Submarine Rock (SS-274) sinks Japanese merchant tanker No.7 Takasago Maru near Balabac Strait.
-British submarine HMS Tantivy damages Japanese ship No.2 Katsuma Maru.
-U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft sink merchant tanker No.31 Nanshin Maru west of Balabac Strait.
-Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations in the southwest Pacific conclude as four TDRs are flown against lighthouse on Cape St. George, New Ireland. One of the four hits squarely and demolishes the structure.
-USAAF aircraft sink merchant cargo ships Kaiko Maru and Doei Maru off South China coast.
-Other Japanese casualties include merchant cargo ship Seito Maru sunk by Austalian mine off Sumatra; and merchant cargo ship Kompira Maru sunk by aircraft, Shimushuri Island.

 

Oct 27, 1942
-Abandoned carrier Hornet (CV-8), damaged by bombs and torpedoes and attempted scuttling the previous day, is sunk by Japanese destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo.
-Battleship South Dakota (BB-57) and destroyer Mahan (DD-364) are damaged in collision while retiring from the Battle of Santa Cruz.
-PBY (VP 91) bombs and damages Japanese destroyer Terutsuki.

Oct 27, 1943
-U.S. and New Zealand troops land on Mono and Stirling Islands in the Treasury Island Group, Solomons; pre-invasion bombardment and covering for the landings are provided by U.S. naval vessels and aircraft. TG 39.3 (Captain Andrew G. Shepard) (two light cruisers and Destroyer Squadron 23) and aircraft from South Pacific Air Force provide cover for the landings. During Japanese retaliatory air strikes, destroyer Cony (DD-508) is damaged by horizontal and dive bombers 15 miles north of Mono, Treasury Islands. Tank landing ships LST-399 and LST-485 are damaged by mortar fire.
-Submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks Japanese transport Nanman Maru.
-Submarine Shad (SS-235) and Grayback (SS-208) sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Fuji Maru and damage cargo vessel Kamo Maru. Transport Oryoko Maru is hit by a dud torpedo.

Oct 27, 1944
-TG 38.3 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) and TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attack Japanese ships and installations in the Visayas and northern Luzon area. Navy carrier-based planes sink destroyer Fujinami 80 miles north of Iloilo, Panay; TF 77 planes sink destroyer Shiranui 80 miles north of Iloilo, Panay.
-Off Leyte, battleship California (BB-44) is damaged by strafing off Leyte; submarine chaser (rescue) PCER-848 is damaged by horizontal bomber; and motor torpedo boat PT-523 is damaged by dive bomber.
-U.S. freighter Benjamin Ide Wheeler is damaged by kamikaze that crashes the ship, killing one merchant sailor and one of the 27-man Armed Guard (whose heavy gunfire damages the inbound suicider) and sets fire to the gasoline cargo; salvage ship Cable (ARS-19) comes alongside and extinguishes the blaze while some of the ship's complement and passengers are transferred temporarily to nearby amphibious command ship Wasatch (AGC-9).
-Damaged heavy cruiser Canberra (CA-70) and light cruiser Houston (CL-81) reach Ulithi with their supporting ships, their Odyssey over.
-Submarine Bergall (SS-320) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks oiler Nichiho Maru and fleet tanker Itsukushima Maru to the west of Balabac Strait.
-Submarine Cero (SS-225) drives Japanese guardboat No.3 Kyoei Maru ashore, Luzon.
-Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese landing ship T.138 and army cargo vessel No.4 Tokai Maru 30 miles north-northeast of Iwo Jima.
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast off Luzon.
-U.S. motor torpedo boats sink Japanese motor sail ship Ky_ei Maru off Ormoc Bay.
-USAAF P-38s and P-47s sink Japanese motor sink sail ship Senshin Maru off Mactan Island.
-USAAF aircraft (14th Air Force) damage Japanese ship Kashii Maru in South China Sea.

 

Oct 28, 1942
-In the Indian Ocean, thirty-seven survivors from U.S. freighter Anne Hutchinson, torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-504 on 26 October 1942, are rescued by civilian fishing trawler and taken to Port Alfred, South Africa. Aircraft sight the drifting freighter, now broken into two pieces.

Oct 28, 1943
-District patrol craft YP-88 sinks after running aground off Cape Amchitka, Aleutians.
-Submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks Japanese fleet oiler Koryu Maru 500 miles east of Tacloban, P.I.

Oct 28, 1944
-TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) bomb Japanese shipping near Cebu, damaging landing ship T.101 off Ormoc, Leyte.
-Destroyer escort Dempsey (DE-26), assisted by tank landing craft LCT-406, sinks a Japanese torpedo-carrying craft off the main unloading beach, Peleliu. U.S. freighter United Victory is damaged by gunfire from Japanese surface craft; there are no casualties to United Victory's complement, which includes a 27-man Armed Guard.
-Destroyer Helm (DD-388), assisted by Gridley (DD-380) and TBF from small carrier Belleau Wood (CVL-24), sinks Japanese submarine I-46, 120 miles northeast of Surigao.
-Light cruiser Denver (CL-58) is damaged by kamikaze off Leyte. During Japanese air attack on U.S. shipping in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, freighter Cape Romano is damaged by bombs exploding close aboard; bomb fragments injure two of the 26-man Armed Guard and two of the 47-man merchant complement.
-Destroyer escort Eversole (DE-404) is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-45 off Leyte; I-45, however, is in turn sunk by destroyer escort Whitehurst (DE-634) 120 miles east-northeast of Surigao. The Whitehurst would evantually portray the fictional USS Haynes in the 1957 motion picture "The Enemy Below."
-Netlaying ship Viburnum (AN-57) is damaged by mine at Ulithi.
-Japanese transport Sumatra Maru is sunk by swimmer vehicles ("Chariots") launched from British submarine HMS Trenchant, Phuket Harbor.
-Japanese merchant tanker Baiei Maru is sunk by Japanese mine in Brunei Bay.

 

Oct 29, 1942
-Submarine Grenadier (SS-210) lays mines in Tonkin Gulf off Haiphong, French Indochina.
-PBY (VP 11) sinks Japanese submarine I-172 west of San Cristobal Island, Solomons.

Oct 29, 1943
-Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Wuhu Maru off Swatow.
-Navy or USMC F4Us damage small Japanese cargo vessel No.16 Kiku Maru near Tonolei.

Oct 29, 1944
-Naval Operating Base, Leyte, and Naval Air Station, Samar, are established.
-TG 38.2 (Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan) attacks Japanese airfields in the Manila area and shipping in Manila Bay, damaging heavy cruiser Nachi. During Japanese air attacks on the fast carriers operating off Leyte, a kamikaze crashes Intrepid (CV-11).
-Japanese guardboat No.3 Kyoei Maru is also lost on this date off Luzon; although the agent of her demise is unspecified, it is most likely Navy carrier-based aircraft, given the level of U.S. naval aviation activity in that area.
-PB4Y (VPB 115) sinks Japanese tanker Itsukushima Maru off Brunei Bay. Destroyer Shigure rescues survivors.
-Japanese army tanker Kokko Maru is sunk by RAAF mine off Balikpapan, Borneo.
-U.S. aircraft sink Japanese guardboat No.16 Kiku Maru at Rabaul.
-U.S. freighter John A. Johnson is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-12 1,000 miles northeast of Oahu and is abandoned when she breaks in two. I-12 surfaces, shells the wreck, setting both halves ablaze, before bearing down on the lifeboats and rafts and firing on them with machine guns and pistols. These brutal actions result in the death of 4 of the 41 merchant sailors, the Army security officer and 4 of the 28-man Armed Guard.

 

Oct 30, 1942
-TG 64.2 (Rear Admiral Norman Scott), comprising light cruiser Atlanta (CL-51) and four destroyers, bombards Japanese positions at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal.
-Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I-9 reconnoiters Nouméa, New Caledonia.
-Japanese land second invasion force at Attu, Aleutians.

Oct 30, 1943
-U.S. aircraft sink Japanese transport Ujigawa Maru off Rabaul, near Kieta, Bougainville, Solomons.
-USAAF B-24 attacks Japanese destroyer Satsuki 20 miles south of Mussau.

Oct 30, 1944
-Carrier Franklin (CV-13) and small carrier Belleau Wood (CVL-24) are damaged by kamikazes.
-Yacht Argus (PY-14) rescues survivors of U.S. freighter John A. Johnson, which had been sunk by Japanese submarine I-12 the previous day.
-Submarine Salmon (SS-182) damages Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.22 southwest of Toizaki, Kyushu, and teams with Trigger (SS-237) to damage merchant tanker Takane Maru, but Salmon is damaged by depth charges dropped by the three undamaged escorting coast defense vessels and deep submergence as she evades the escorts and is forced to terminate her patrol.
-USAAF P-38s (13th Air Force) damage Japanese submarine chaser Ch 36 near Sibitu Passage and sink merchant tankers Kosho Maru and No.8 Nanshin Maru off Sandakan, Borneo.
-USAAF aircraft sink Japanese ship Chuko Maru off Hong Kong.
-USAAF B-25s sink Japanese ship No.5 Uwa Maru off Lomblon Island.

 

Oct 31, 1940
-German auxiliary minelayer Passat begins laying mines in Bass Strait, the body of water between Australia and Tasmania.

Oct 31, 1942
-While en route to from French Frigate Shoals to Midway, district patrol craft YP-345 is lost without trace to unknown causes, about 80 miles northeast of Laysan Island.
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) damages Japanese army cargo ship Noto Maru off Rabaul.
-In the Indian Ocean, South African naval forces board the forward portion of U.S. freighter Anne Hutchinson, torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-504 on 26 October 1942; British tug HMS David Haigh tows the bow portion (the after part has sunk in the meantime) to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Oct 31, 1943
-Submarine Rasher (SS-269) sinks Japanese oiler Koryu Maru in the Straits of Makassar.

Oct 31, 1944
-Submarine Gabilan (SS-252) sinks Japanese oceanographic research vessel No. 6 Kaiyo Maru off Murotosaki, Japan.
-Submarine Guitarro (SS-363) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks cargo ship Komei Maru and army cargo ship Komei Maru off Botolan Point, Luzon and although damaged by the concussion generated by the explosion of one of these two ships, remains on patrol.
-Submarine Nautilus (SS-168), en route to Mios Woendi after completing her clandestine mission, finishes the destruction of submarine Darter (SS-227), aground on Bombay Shoal since 24 October, to prevent the boat from falling into enemy hands.
-Submarine Sterlet (SS-392) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Takane Maru, damaged the day before by Salmon (SS-182) and Trigger (SS-237), southwest of Kyushu.
-British submarine HMS Stoic sinks two Japanese sailing vessels and bombards warehouses and fuel tanks at Jangka Island.
-Motor gunboat PGM-9 bombards Japanese targets on Aguijan Island, Marianas.
-Other Japanese casualties include landing ship T.131 damaged by aircraft, northeast of Panay; and auxiliary submarine chaser Uruppu Maru is sunk by aircraft, near Mindoro Island.