US NAVY
PACIFIC—Transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6) is damaged by
grounding off Tulagi, Solomons on Southern Cross Reef.
Submarine
Flying Fish (SS-229) is damaged by depth charges off Truk and ends her patrol,
07°46'N, 151°57'E.
Submarine
Guardfish (SS-217) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Teikyu Maru (ex-Danish
Gustav Diederickson) 13 miles southeast of Chikyu Mizaki, Hokkaido, Japan,
42°08'N, 141°15'E.
ATLANTIC—Storm separates the four rafts upon which
survivors of U.S. freighter West Lashaway (sunk by German submarine U-66 on 30
August 1942) have gathered (see 13, 18 and 24 September 1942).
US ARMY AIR FORCE
TWELFTH AF—Col Claude E Duncan
becomes CO XII Bomber Command.
US ARMY MIDDLE EAST AIR
FORCE—B‑24’s hit docks and jetties at Tobruk harbor. B‑25’s bomb aircraft and
landing ground and, with RAF, attack troops and vehicles in battle area around
Alam-el-Halfa ridge. P‑40’s fly escort and sweep missions over battle area in
conjunction with RAF.
TENTH AF—P‑40’s hit barges and
junks carrying rice in the Poyang Bake region, strafe HQ and runways at
Nanchang airfield, attack railroad stations and warehouses at Hua Yuan, and
sink a launch, damage 4 junks, and wreck a train on Wuchang Peninsula.
FIFTH AF—P‑400’s bomb and
strafe forces in Kokoda and Alola areas as Japanese continue to push toward
Port Moresby.
SOUTH PACIFIC—The mission of
the 67th Fighter Squadron P‑400’s on Guadalcanal is shifted from air defense to
close support for Marine ground forces and attacks on shipping, tasks for which
they are better suited.
ELEVENTH AF—6 bombers and 12 P‑38’s
fly cover and photo reconnaissance over Nazan and Kuluk Bays, and Amchitka and
Semisopochnoi Islands.
US ARMY
SAMOA—7th Marines and part of 5th Defense Battalion embark
for New Hebrides.
NEW GUINEA—Australians continue to clear N coast of Milne
Bay but are unable to stem Japanese drive toward Port Moresby. About 1,000
Japanese reinforcements from Rabaul land at Basabua, night 2–3.
EGYPT—Massing armor S of ‘Alam el Halfa ridge, enemy halts
to await frontal counterattack, but British armor remains in prepared
positions.
USSR—Army Group A continues to press toward Novorossisk
and Grozny. Threat to Novorossisk increases as German and Rumanian forces from
the Crimea cross Kerch Strait and join other Axis forces in the area.
US MARINE CORPS
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