World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 10 Oct 1942

• British submarine HMS Unique (Lieutenant Robert Evelyn Boddington) disappeared while on patrol in the Bay of Biscay west of France. Her loss would be officially announced by the Admiralty on 6 Dec 1942. ww2dbase [AC]

• USS S-28 detected an unidentified target which was presumed to be Japanese. As she prepared for an attack, a ground in her fire control circuits caused an accidental firing from the No. 1 tube, thus prematurely ending the attack. She arrived in Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska that afternoon and then departed for San Diego, California, United States. ww2dbase [S-28 | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• 7 Australian PBY Catalina aircraft attacked Rabaul, New Britain at 0330 hours. At 0400 hours, 18 US B-17 Flying Fortress bombers attacked Rabaul's Simpson harbor while 3 B-17 bombers attacked nearby Lakunai airfield. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Minegumo at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | CPC]

• From Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany, Sigmund Rascher reported his findings from experiments involving putting concentration camp prisoners in full flight suits and placing them in freezing conditions, concluding that the warming of the subjects' heads and necks were vital for the subjects' survival. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Dachau Concentration Camp | CPC]
• German government increased rations by 10% for all foreign workers. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• USS Pollack departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pollack | CPC]

• The major Axis air offensive against Malta began. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | TH]

10 Oct 1942 Interactive Map