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• USS S-28 began an overhaul, during which she would receive a fathometer, a Kleinschmidt distilling unit, and SJ radar. ww2dbase [S-28 | CPC]
• Norman Scott passed away. ww2dbase [Norman Scott | CPC]
• Daniel Callahan passed away. ww2dbase [Daniel Callahan | CPC]
• Allied troops captured Tobruk, Libya. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• In Algeria, men of British No. 6 Commando captured the harbor of Bone, while other troops captured Djedjelli. ww2dbase [Advance into Tunisia | CPC]
• US Navy pilot Lieutenant H. S. Blake flying a PBY-5A Catalina with Patrol Bombing Squadron VPB-92 detected Vichy French submarine Le Conquerant 700 miles off Casablanca, French Morocco, which refused to answer recognition signals when challenged. Blake attacked, blowing off the conning tower, and sank the submarine with all aboard lost. ww2dbase [PBY Catalina | Operation Torch | CPC]
• Adolf Hitler promised France that Germany would leave the French fleet at Toulon, France alone. ww2dbase [Scuttling of the French Fleet | CPC]
• Hauptmann Wilhelm Antrup and Oberleutnant Albert Koller of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Frederick Aikman shot down a German Ju 88 aircraft in North Africa. ww2dbase [Frederick Aikman | CPC]
• USS Nicholas arrived off Nouméa harbor, New Caledonia. Nicholas made rendezvous with oiler USS Sabine that Nicholas escorted to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• USS Ranger began her withdrawal from the Moroccan coast and began steaming westward bound for Bermuda. ww2dbase [Ranger | Operation Torch | DS]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides departed her patrol area bound for Brisbane, Australia. ww2dbase [Silversides | DS]

• Damaged in the naval battle before dawn, Hiei struggled to return to base. After persistent attacks by aircraft attacks, it was decided that she was to be scuttled. After all men were taken off, she was scuttled by torpedoes north of Savo Island in the Solomon Islands. She became the first Japanese battleship to be lost in combat. ww2dbase [Hiei | Savo | CPC]
• The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended before dawn with the US Navy task force under Rear Admiral Daniel Callahan driving off a Japanese naval bombardment group. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]
• Japanese troops arrived at Munda Point, New Georgia, to construct an airfield. Detecting this movement, three squadrons of US B-24 bombers flew to Iron Range airfield in northern Queensland, Australia to stage an attack on the future airfield. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Munda Point, New Georgia | CPC]
• Tenryu departed Shortland Island, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Shortland Island | CPC]
• USS Helena detected Japanese warships with her radar off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 0124 hours, but poor communications and general confusion caused a lack of proper action from the task force. The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was joined after the two sides sighted each other. USS Helena assisted in the sinking of destroyer Akatsuki and seriously damaged destroyer Amatsukaze. Captain Gilbert Hoover, commanding officer of USS Helena and the senior surviving US officer, gave the order for all Americans to disengage from battle after 40 minutes of fighting. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Helena (St. Louis-class) | CPC]
• USS Jueanu, while sailing for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for repairs sustained during the previous night, was intercepted by I-26, which fired two Type 95 torpedoes. One struck on the port side, sinking the light cruiser very quickly. 687 lives would eventually be lost; only 10 survived. ww2dbase [Juneau | Type 95 | Solomon Islands | CPC]
• After dark, Japanese cruisers challenged the US naval forces again by coming close to shore and bombarding Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Guadalcanal Campaign | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
• Portland was struck with a torpedo in her starboard quarter during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Battle of Savo Island). The torpedo explosion took off Portland's two inboard propellers, jammed the rudder at five degrees to starboard, and froze the No 3 main turret. Portland could only steam in circles but still managed to fire her forward main batteries effectively, starting fires on the Japanese battleship Hiei and sinking the abandoned destroyer Yudachi. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Portland | Ironbottom Sound, Solomon Islands | DS]
• Cruiser USS Atlanta was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyer Akatsuki; destroyer USS Barton was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze; and destroyer USS Laffey was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from unidentified Japanese destroyers. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Atlanta | Laffey (Benson-class) | Type 93 | Iron Bottom Sound | DS]

• Kamikaze arrived at Ominato, Aomori Prefecture, Japan for patrols in the Tsugaru Strait area. ww2dbase [Kamikaze | Ominato, Aomori | CPC]

• German submarine U-431 (Wilhelm Dommes) sank Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers in the Mediterranean Sea with two torpedo hits; 108 of the crew of 194 were lost. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]

• USS Haddock fired 6 torpedoes at convoy in the Yellow Sea 50 miles west of the Korean coast, damaging an oiler with 1 hit. She was given chase by escort craft. ww2dbase [Haddock | Yellow Sea | CPC]

• A Sunderland Mk II flying boat (W 6054) crashed on landing in Plymouth Sound in southern England, United Kingdom in thick fog at approximately 2100 hours. The aircraft from No. 10 squadron Royal Australian Air Force was on a flight from Gibraltar to Plymouth piloted by Flight Lieutenant Wynton Thorpe with a crew of 11 and five passengers. With only 15 minutes of fuel left the pilot attempted a blind landing, but with the altimeter still reading 600 feet the Sunderland ploughed into the sea. The aircraft flipped on its back, split in half and the pilot was thrown into the sea. The eleven crew were left in the sea for 90 minutes before rescue, but none of the passengers survived. The remains of this Sunderland were found spread over a wide area on the north side of the breakwater between the Fort and the lighthouse. The propeller and reduction gear was recovered in 1985 and shipped to the RAAF Museum near Perth, Australia. ww2dbase [Plymouth, England | HM]
• King George VI of the United Kingdom visited the 306th Bomb Group at RAF Thurleigh. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | George VI | Thurleigh, England | DS]

• Carrier Crown Point, still under construction at Camden, New Jersey, United States, was renamed Langley. ww2dbase [Langley (Independence-class) | Camden, New Jersey | CPC]
• Carrier Oriskany was renamed Wasp while still under construction at Bethlehem Steel Company's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Quincy, Massachusetts | CPC]

13 Nov 1942 Interactive Map