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• Weather data for 21 Aug 1942

• USS Tambor sank Japanese collier Shinsei Maru No. 6 off Ponape, Senyavin Islands, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• USS Gar ended her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki arrived at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Kiyono Ichiki passed away. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was awarded the German Cross in Gold. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
• German submarine U-506 sank British ship City of Wellington 100 miles southwest of Freetown, British West Africa at 2243 hours; 7 were killed, 66 survived. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• 14 Zero fighters of Japanese 6th Air Group arrived at Lakunai airfield near Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Japanese 41st Infantry Regiment landed at Buna, Australian Papua; to the southeast, Australian 18th Infantry Brigade landed on the coast of Milne Bay. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• The first major assault by Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and his 770 men commenced at about 0000 hours with poor intelligence that led him to severely underestimate American strength. At 0130 hours, a wave of 100 Japanese troops rushed across the river, supported by machine guns and mortar fire, only to be mowed down at the line manned by 2,500 Marines. At 0230 hours, another wave of 150 to 200 Japanese rushed again, suffering similar fates. A third wave attacked at 0500 hours, again suffering near 100% casualty rate. At 0700 hours, US 1st Marine Regiment counterattacked supported by light tanks and aircraft, enveloping and destroying the remnants of 2nd Battalion of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment. The Battle of the Tenaru (Ilu) River ended with the Japanese suffering 740 killed (including Ichiki) and 15 captured; the Americans suffered 44 killed. During the day, men of the 2nd Battalion of the US 5th Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal from Tulagi as reinforcements. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH, CPC]

• USS Wahoo began a period of training at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille departed Rome, Italy for Libya. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

21 Aug 1942 Interactive Map