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• Destroyer USS Saufley departed New York bound for Norfolk, Virginia. ww2dbase [Saufley | DS]
• Daniel James, Jr. married Dorothy Watkins. ww2dbase [Daniel James | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci fired two stern torpedoes at Dutch ship Frans Hals, which had been pursued since the previous date, in the Atlantic Ocean at 0105 hours; both narrowly missed. At 0142 hours, she fired two bow torpedoes; both missed. At 0200 hours, Frans Hals sent a distress signal. After several more missed torpedoes, Leonardo da Vinci fired two bow torpedoes at 0437 hours at the distance of 400 meters and the dove to avoid further hits from Dutch guns; one hit. At 0515 hours, the Italan submarine surfaced due to water entering through a shell hole in the conning tower, and observed a large oil slick. The Italian commanding officer Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia assumed that Frans Hals had been sunk, although she actually made her escape while Leonardo da Vinci was submerged. At 1330 hours, Leonardo da Vinci sighted an American PBY-5A aircraft (Lieutenant (jg) G. E. Waugh, VP-83) and submerged for cover, but it was too late, and the aircraft dropped four depth charges which caused only minor damage. At 1940 hours, she again sighted an aircraft and submerged. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]

• Three US Marine battalions attacked Japanese positions west of Point Cruz on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | CPC]
• USS Plunger attacked Tenryu off Santa Isabel Island, Solomon Islands; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Plunger | Santa Isabel | CPC]

• Chiang Kaishek met with Joseph Stilwell regarding the planned offensive into Burma, pledging 15 divisions by 15 Feb 1943. ww2dbase [Chiang Kaishek | Joseph Stilwell | CPC]

• After sun down, Allies launched renewed attacks at the weakened Axis defensive positions near El Alamein, Egypt. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]

• British freighter Daldorch departed Iceland in Operation FB. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• USS Finback sank a small vessel east of Taiwan with gunfire. ww2dbase [Finback | Okinawa | CPC]
• Irako sailed south from Fukajima east of Kyushu island, Japan with minelayer Nasami in escort. ww2dbase [Irako | Fukajima | CPC]

• British Ventura aircraft flew their first combat mission against a factory in Hengelo in the Netherlands. ww2dbase [Ventura | CPC]

• USS Haddock fired 3 torpedoes at oiler Tekkai Maru, sinking her with 1 hit in the East China Sea. ww2dbase [Haddock | East China Sea | CPC]
• Submarine USS Spearfish received new orders cancelling the orders of the previous day and ordering her to resume her course for Brisbane, Australia. ww2dbase [Spearfish | Solomon Sea | DS]

• Polish political prisoner Heinz Radomski was caught while attempting to escape from sector BIb of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp. He was later executed on 24 Jul 1943 in the washroom of Block 11. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

• Merchant seaman Duncan Scott-Ford was hanged at Wandsworth prison in London, England, United Kingdom following his conviction for selling information to the enemy. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]

• US government demanded Finland to cease hostilities against the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Captain Colin Campbell relieved Captain George Rood as commanding officer of cruiser USS St. Louis at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Vallejo, California | DS]
• USS Honolulu departed San Francisco, California escorting a convoy bound for New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Honolulu | San Francisco, California | DS]

3 Nov 1942 Interactive Map