Sunday, 15 November 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ends as TF 64 repulses Vice Admiral Kondo's force. Battleship South Dakota (BB‑57) is damaged by gunfire of Japanese battleship Kirishima and heavy cruisers Atago and Takao; destroyer Benham (DD‑397), damaged by torpedo, is scuttled by destroyer Gwin (DD‑433) in Savo Sound, Solomons; Gwin is damaged by gunfire. Gunfire from Admiral Lee's flagship, battleship Washington (BB‑56), sinks Kirishima and destroyer Ayanami southeast of Savo Island, 09°10'S,159°52'E.

            Navy SBDs (VS 10) and TBFs (VT 10), USMC SBDs (VMSB 132), Marine and Army coast artillery, and gunfire from destroyer Meade (DD‑602) sink four Japanese merchant transport/cargo ships off the northern coast of Guadalcanal: Kinugasa Maru, Hirokawa Maru, Yamazuki Maru, and Yamura Maru. Meade also rescues survivors from sunken destroyers Walke (DD‑416) and Preston (DD‑379) (see 14 November).

            Although the United States suffers the greater loss in warships in the savagely fought series of engagements on 12-15 November, the Japanese withdraw and never again send large naval forces into the waters around Guadalcanal; the ultimate outcome of the struggle for that island is decided.

            USAAF B‑17s bomb Japanese shipping at Rabaul, sinking supply ship No.3 Unkai Maru, 04°12'S, 152°00'E, and damaging transport Azuma Maru.

MEDITERRANEAN—Off North Africa, cargo ship Electra (AK‑21) is torpedoed by German submarine U‑173, 33°45'N, 07°52'W; cargo ship Almaack (AK‑27) is torpedoed by U‑155, 36°19'N, 07°52'W.

ATLANTIC—French submarine Le Tonnant, having been damaged by U.S. warships off Casablanca, French Morocco, is scuttled off Cadiz, Spain,

CARIBBEAN—Unarmed U.S. schooner Lucy Evelyn is shelled by what she believes to be an enemy submarine at approximately12°00'N, 75°00'W; apparently undamaged, she reaches Baranquilla, Colombia, soon thereafter, having suffered no casualties among the seven man crew.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

TWELFTH AF—C‑47’s fly airborne operation from Algiers to Youks-les-Bains. Escort is provided at intervals by RAF-Spitfires and Hurricanes. British First Army ground forces reach Tunisia at Taberka. 15th Bomb Squadron flying DB‑7’s from UK, arrives at Oran.

NINTH AF—B‑24’s from 2 groups are sent to bomb Tripoli, but unfavorable weather prevents them from reaching target. l group bombs a motor convoy, as well as airfield and crowded roads in Bengasi area. P‑40’s fly sweeps and Fighter Bomber missions against retreating enemy W of Martuba. Martuba airfields are captured by British 10 Corps and soon occupied by 57th Fighter Group.

FIFTH AF—A‑20’s strafe targets near Gona while B‑25’s and B‑26’s pound AA positions at Buna and Soputa as US-Australian ground forces prepare to move against Buna-Gona beachhead. B‑17’s hit shipping at Rabaul.

SOUTH PACIFIC—Adm Lee’s force of 2 battleships and 3 destroyers meets and turns back a larger Japanese force sinking the battleship Kirishima and a destroyer while losing a destroyer. This ends the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (12-15 Nov) which involved squadrons of the 11th Bomb Group, as well as the 69th, 70th, and 72d Bomb Squadrons, and the 39th and 339th Fighter Squadrons.

US ARMY

GUADALCANAL—The 4 surviving transports of Japanese convoy are sighted at Tassafaronga and attacked by artillery, naval gunfire, and aircraft from Henderson Field and the New Hebrides. All 4 are destroyed and supplies on beach are fired. This decisive defeat almost isolates Japanese on Guadalcanal.

LIBYA—10 Corps, British Eighth Army, seizes Martuba airfields.

ALGERIA-TUNISIA—British First Army reaches Tunisia at Tabarka, 80 miles W of Tunis. Tabarka is occupied by 36th Brigade, 78th Division. 2d Battalion of U.S. 509th Parachute Regiment lands in Algeria at Youk-les-Bains, near Tébessa and 100 miles S of Bône.

US MARINE CORPS

Rear Admiral Lee with two battleships and four destroyers turns back large Japanese naval group to end naval Battle of Guadalcanal.