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• Jozef Tiso was born. ww2dbase [Jozef Tiso | CPC]

• Pierre Barjot was born in Le Blanc, France. ww2dbase [Pierre Barjot | Le Blanc, Centre | CPC]

• Prince Hiroyasu was made a gunnery instructor. ww2dbase [Hiroyasu | CPC]

• Omar Bradley was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. ww2dbase [Omar Bradley | CPC]

• Franklin Roosevelt met with US President Woodrow Wilson at 2300 hours in Washington DC, United States. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Washington | CPC]

• He Yingqin was named the director of academy affairs at the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. ww2dbase [He Yingqin | Guangzhou, Guangdong | CPC]

• Germany, in a note to Brussels, guaranteed the inviolability and integrity of Belgium. ww2dbase [CPC]
• 50,000 Japanese troops marched for Xinkou, Shanxi, China, supported by 30 aircraft, 40 pieces of artillery, and 50 light tanks and tankettes. ww2dbase [Battle of Shanxi | CPC]

• Chinese troops withdrew from the Wanjialing area in Jiangxi, China, the site of a victory three days prior. ww2dbase [Battle of Wuhan | CPC]

13 Oct 1938 Interactive Map

• General Wilhelm List was named the commanding officer of the German 12th Army. ww2dbase [Wilhelm List | CPC]
• With the offer for peace rejected by the French on 7 Oct and by the British on 12 Oct, Germany announced that the western powers desired war, and Germany could not be blamed for military action on the German-French border. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]

• German pocket battleship Deutschland sank Norwegian freighter Lorentz W. Hansen 420 miles east of Newfoundland. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | CPC]
• U-40 struck a mine in the Strait of Dover and sank. 39 were killed. 9 survived the sinking, but 6 would die before being rescued. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-40 | Strait of Dover | CPC]

• The 1,819-ton neutral Norwegian merchant steamer Kvernaas, captured by the Germans in Sep 1939, was released from Kiel, Germany along with its cargo of 2,585 tons of cellulose. ww2dbase [Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | HM]

13 Oct 1939 Interactive Map

• During the night, many British aircraft were launched to attack battleship Tirpitz in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, but in poor weather only 4 Hampden aircraft were able to locate the port. Not hits were scored on Tirpitz. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• British rescue tug HMRT Danube III hit a mine in the mouth of the Thames Estuary and sank off Sheerness, Kent in southern England; 11 were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]

• German submarine U-103 attacked Estonian ship Nora 200 miles west of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0846 hours with a torpedo; as Nora remained afloat, Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze of U-103 realized Nora's lifeboats were all destroyed during the attack, and broadcasted a distress message with the damaged ship's position; British sloop HMS Leith would arrive several days later and would rescue 19 survivors. German submarine U-37 sank British ship Stangrant west of Scotland, United Kingdom at 1957 hours; 8 were killed and 30 survived. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]

• At dawn, a British flying boat spotted Italian destroyer Camicia Nera towing destroyer Artigliere, which was damaged on the previous day during the Battle of Cape Passero east of Malta. Aircraft from HMS Illustrious forced Camicia Nera to cut the tow line, and then cruisers HMS York and HMS Ajax and four destroyers sank Artigliere with torpedoes. The British warships dropped rafts for the Italian survivors before departing; many of the survivors would be rescued by an Italian hospital ship on the following day. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | York | CPC]
• HMS York sank the abandoned Italian destroyer Artigliere in the Mediterranean Sea, which had been disabled by HMS Ajax on the previous evening. ww2dbase [Artigliere | York | CPC]

• Four raids of 25 to 50 aircraft attacked southern England, United Kingdom between 1230 and 1600 hours, consisted mostly of fighters. The Germans and the British each lost 2 fighters. Overnight, London was bombed from 1900 hours until 0600 hours of the next day; Middlesborough, Hull, Huddersfield, Grantham, Liverpool, and Manchester were also attacked overnight. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]

• German troops captured Kalinin (now Tver) and Rzhev northwest of Moscow, Russia; the Soviet 30th Army was encircled and wiped out at Rzhev. West of the Soviet capital, Soviet 18th and 19th Tank Brigades fell back from Gzhatsk (now Gagarin) toward Mozhaysk 30 kilometers closer to Moscow where the new main defensive line was being constructed. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | TH]
• A production order was placed for the improved Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter. ww2dbase [P-47 Thunderbolt | AC]
• General Fedyuninsky was ordered to plan a breakout from Leningrad, Russia by attacking the area south of Lake Ladoga, which was to take place by 20 Oct 1941. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | CPC]
• Heinrich Kreipe was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. ww2dbase [Heinrich Kreipe | CPC]
• Johannes Hähle turned in 7 photos with the title "Umfassungsschlacht ostw. Kiew" to his superiors. ww2dbase [Johannes Hähle | CPC]

• The German occupation administration in France formally began to regulate the transfer of food from the countryside to family members in cities; a weight limit of 50 kilograms was announced. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Philippe Pétain's visited a school in village Périgny in Allier department, France. Périgny was praised by the radio reporter M. Jean Masson as an ideal traditional village, thus selected for visit by Pétain. Children sang La Marseillaise, which was officially not allowed by Germany, at the end of the radio program. ww2dbase [Périgny, Auvergne | CPC]

• Allied convoy PQ-2 departed Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Liverpool, England | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort was promoted to the rank of commander, retroactively effective 1 Apr 1941. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | CPC]

13 Oct 1941 Interactive Map

• U-132 joined wolfpack Panther. ww2dbase [U-132 | CPC]
• USS Nicholas and the convoy of United States Army troops she was escorting arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Nicholas fired on incoming Japanese bombers during the day. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Nicholas | DS]

• USS S-31 departed Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska for her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Unalaska | CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini sighted an Allied Sunderland aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 0842 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. At 0929 hours, another aircraft was sighted, and she submerged again; distant explosions were heard while under the surface. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• Japanese battleships Haruna and Kongo bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, destroying more than 40 American aircraft on the ground; they retired up New Georgia Sound at 29 knots. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Henderson Field | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
• The 164th Infantry Regiment became the first US Army unit on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | CPC]

• German auxiliary cruiser Komet departed Le Havre, France, escorted by German 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla (T4, T10, T14, and T19), attempting to break out into the Atlantic Ocean. ww2dbase [T4 | T10 | T14 | T19 | Komet | Le Havre, Haute-Normandie | CPC]

• USS S-41 arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-41 | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• In the United States, the American public was made aware of the losses at the Battle of Savo Island. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]

13 Oct 1942 Interactive Map

• USS Nicholas departed Tulagi as part of an escort for LSTs bound for Vella Lavella Island, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• USS S-28 arrived at Attu, US Territory of Alaska, ending her seventh war patrol. ww2dbase [S-28 | Attu | CPC]

• TBF Avengers flying from USS Card attacked and sank German Type VIIC submarine U-402 in the mid-Atlantic using the Mark 24 FIDO acoustic homing torpedo. ww2dbase [TBF Avenger | Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | Type VII-class | U-402 | Card | Mark XXIV | DS]

• About 270 Allied aircraft were launched from bases in Australian Papua to attack the Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain. Poor weather would cause the raid to be canceled. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Jakarta, Java. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Jakarta, Java | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw arrived at Suva Harbor, Fiji. ww2dbase [Shaw | Suva | DS]

• Noor Inayat Khan was captured by agents of the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) organization in Paris, France. ww2dbase [Noor Inayat Khan | Paris | CPC]

• USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Scorpion | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Nashville entered the recently completed Drydock No. 4 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard where she remained for 3 days. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Nashville | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Marshal Pietro Badoglio's new Italian government announced a declaration of war against Germany. Meanwhile, US Fifth Army crossed the Volturno River in Italy. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | TH]

• 120,000 Soviet troops moved into the Chechen–Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in southern Russia ostensibly to repair roads and bridges but in actuality in preparation to control the local Chechen and Ingush (Ghalghai) population. ww2dbase [Deportation of Caucasian, Altaic, and Turkish Peoples | CPC]

• Red Army units reached Melitopol, Ukraine. ww2dbase [Melitopol | TH]

13 Oct 1943 Interactive Map

• USS Mingo arrivedat Fremantle, Australia, ending her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [Mingo | CPC]
• The A7M2 Reppu fighter, equipped with the Ha-43 engine, took its first flight. ww2dbase [A7M Reppu | CPC]

• USS Bergall sank a Japanese transport 10 kilometers east of Cam Rahn Bay, French Indochina, hitting her with 2 of 4 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Bergall | Cam Ranh | CPC]

• German forces abandoned Athens, Greece and, on the same date, left Rethymno in Northern Crete, retiring unharrassed to the region around Canea in the north west of the island. ww2dbase [Athens | AC]

• Salaspils Concentration Camp near Riga, Latvia ceased operations. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Salaspils | CPC]
• German Armeegruppe Nord withdrew to the Kurland (Latvian: Courland) pocket in western Latvia. ww2dbase [TH]

• USS Permit sank a Japanese patrol craft off Truk, Caroline Islands, hitting her with 1 of torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Permit | CPC]
• USS Miami operated off Okinawa, Japan. ww2dbase [Miami | CPC]

• USS Franklin launched strikes against Tainan, Taiwan. A Japanese special attack aircraft caused light damage to the flight deck. ww2dbase [Franklin | Tainan | CPC]
• Carrier aircraft from USS Lexington attacked the rail marshaling yard at Shinei District (now Xinying District), Tainan, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Lexington (Essex-class) | Tainan | CPC]
• US Navy carrier aircraft attacked Shinchiku Airfield in Shinchiku (now Hsinchu), Taiwan, destroying 4 hangars, 8 shops, and 2 barracks. ww2dbase [Shinchiku Airfield | Shinchiku | CPC]
• USS Hornet launched a reconnaissance mission over the Japanese Navy seaplane base at Toko Bay (now Dapeng Bay), southern Taiwan. ww2dbase [Hornet (Essex-class) | Toko, Takao | CPC]

• In Britain, V-1 flying bomb fell on the Suffolk town of Southwold and caused major damage but surprisingly no serious injuries; in all 337 houses were damaged, 68 shops, three churches and the fire station were all reported as being victims in some way to the blast. Another impacted on RAF Raydon near Ipswich, the bomb narrowly missed the bomb dump concealed in woods next to the perimeter, at the time of the strike bombs were being loaded onto transport trucks. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 1 | Raydon, England | HM]

• The first FR Fireball prototype aircraft was destroyed in a crash at Naval Air Station China Lake, California, United States. ww2dbase [FR Fireball | China Lake, California | CPC]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) departs Alameda, California, United States for the western Pacific. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Alameda, California | DS]

13 Oct 1944 Interactive Map

• The last of 11,461 Vickers Wellington aircraft to be built rolled off the production line. ww2dbase [Wellington | AC]

• HMS Formidable arrived in Sydney, Australia, disembarking 1,300 Australian troops and liberated prisoners of war. ww2dbase [Formidable | Sydney, New South Wales | CPC]

• US Marines stepped in to break up the violence that had broken out between Japanese nationals and an angry Chinese mob in the city of Tianjin, China. ww2dbase [Tianjin | CPC]

• USS Honolulu arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for five days of scheduled training. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Guantanamo | DS]

• Anti-Dutch tensions broke into violence in Medan, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. Louis Mountbatten would consider (and soon approve) additional reinforcements for Sumatra. ww2dbase [Medan, Sumatra | CPC]
• Renegade Communist youth leader Sutomo ("Bung Tomo") established a radio station in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, urging people to kill Europeans. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• Japanese Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara called for an extraordinary cabinet meeting to discuss constitutional revision. The meeting resulted in the decision to form a Constitutional Problems Investigation Committee headed by Joji Matsumoto. This committee would work independent of the constitution revision efforts headed by Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Fumimaro Konoe. ww2dbase [Tokyo | CPC]

• The Soviet Union encouraged the formation of a separate Communist Party in northern Korea, independent from the current Communist movement that was largely based in the south. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS Nicholas crossed the 180th meridian bound for the United States. ww2dbase [Line Crossing Ceremony | Nicholas | DS]

• The Soviet Directorate of the NKVD Troops for Guarding the Rear of the Red Army was disbanded. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A show open to the public was held at Wright Field, Ohio, United States, featuring M3 262, P-80, He 162, Me 163, Ju 290, Ba 349, Ju 388L, A6M, and Ohka aircraft. Among the guests was German test pilot Karl Bauer. ww2dbase [Dayton, Ohio | CPC]

13 Oct 1945 Interactive Map

13 Oct 1948 Interactive Map

• USS Wasp arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]

• William Dimoline stepped down from the Military Staff Committee of The United Nations. ww2dbase [William Dimoline | CPC]

• Manuel Ávila Camacho passed away. ww2dbase [Manuel Ávila Camacho | CPC]

• On the 200th anniversary of the US Navy, ex-USS Yorktown (Essex-class) was formally dedicated as a memorial and museum ship at Patriot's Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, United States. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Mount Pleasant, South Carolina | DS]

13 Oct 1975 Interactive Map

13 Oct 2005 Interactive Map