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• Lieutenant Commander Sakae Nakajima became the commanding officer of I-168. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | CPC]
• Robert Oppenheimer was appointed, by Leslie Groves, to coordinate the scientific research of the Manhattan Project at Site Y, a location yet to be finalized. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | CPC]
• Alfred Jodl suggested to Adolf Hitler to order Vichy France to strengthen its defenses in North Africa as intelligence indicated a possible Allied attack; Hitler rejected the suggestion as he thought the Italians would object to any moves that strengthened France. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | CPC]
• USS Skipjack attacked a Japanese ship south of the Palau Islands; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Skipjack | CPC]
• The Soviet submarine ShCh-311 was attacked and sunk off Porkkala Peninsula in Kirkkonummi, Finland by Finnish patrol boats VMW-13 and VMW-15. ww2dbase [AC]
• Dudley Morton was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. ww2dbase [Dudley Morton | CPC]

• Alpino Bagnolini sighted a ship on the horizon in the Atlantic Ocean at 1030 hours. At 1043 hours, she identified the target as a destroyer, and submerged to avoid detection. She lost hydrophone contact with the target at 1254 hours. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• George Kenney and Kenneth Walker awarded US servicemen at Townsville and Mareeba in Australia. After the ceremonies, Kenney ordered Walker to use instantaneous fuses on aerials bombs, not delayed fuses that Walker had preferred. ww2dbase [George Kenney | Townsville, Queensland | CPC]

• After a naval bombardment, 3,000 to 4,000 men of Japanese 230th and 16th Infantry Regiments landed at Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Despite interference from US Marine Corps SBD aircraft, 80% of the men and supplies successfully made to shore. With the arrival of these reinforcements, General Hyakutake ordered a new offensive against Henderson Field to take place on 18 Oct. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Henderson Field | Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal | TH]

• Joseph Stilwell departed Chongqing, China or Delhi, India. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | Chongqing | CPC]

• Portland shelled Tarawa Atoll in the Gilberts. The Japanese on Tarawa then execute 22 captured Australian coast-watchers. ww2dbase [Portland | Tarawa | DS]

• At 0937 hours, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's carrier fleet received a sighting report of a US light cruiser and a tugboat towing a floating drydock east of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Shokaku launched 8 fighters and 21 dive bombers and Zuikaku launched 9 torpedo bombers to attack the Americans. At 1025 hours, they came upon what turned out to be destroyer USS Meredith, fleet tug USS Vireo, and a gasoline barge southeast of San Cristobal, Solomon Islands. USS Meredith was sunk after multiple bomb and torpedo hits; 192 were killed, 81 survived. The Japanese lost one dive bomber and two torpedo bombers. ww2dbase [Zuikaku | Shokaku | Chuichi Nagumo | CPC]
• While retiring from the Solomon Island area, USS Nicholas and the convoy she was escorting came under Japanese dive-bombing attack with no casualties. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Guadalcanal Campaign | DS]

• German Stuka dive bombers of Luftflotte 4 flew 900 individual sorties against Soviet positions at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory in Stalingrad, Russia, wiping out several Soviet regiments. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad Tractor Factory | Stalingrad | CPC]

• German Luftwaffe unit I./KG 100 (flying He 111 bombers) briefly returned to Stalino (now Donetsk), Ukraine to conduct three bombing raids on Stalingrad, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalino | CPC]

• USS Marble completed her repairs New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States and departed for South America. ww2dbase [Marblehead | New York Navy Yard | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]
• Destroyer USS Saufley departed Casco Bay, Maine bound for Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada. ww2dbase [Saufley | Casco Bay, Maine | DS]

15 Oct 1942 Interactive Map