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• Spanish General Muñoz Grandes passed the command of the German 250th Infantry Division of Spanish volunteers to General Esteban-Infantes; Muñoz Grandes was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves upon his departure. ww2dbase [Emilio Esteban Infantes | CPC]
• Axis rear guards engaged the attacking Allied forces near Marsa Brega and El Agheila in Libya as the main Axis force evacuated to the west. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• Light carrier Ryuho was attacked by US submarine USS Drum 160 mlies east of Hachijojima, Japan at 0910 hours, suffering one torpedo hit on the starboard side, which forced her to return to Japan for repairs. ww2dbase [Ryuho | CPC]
• Raizo Tanaka personally led a night time fast destroyer supply run and suffered injuries when his destroyer was torpedoed by a US Navy PT boat. ww2dbase [Raizo Tanaka | CPC]

• USAAF 33rd Fighter Group achieved its first aerial victory as 1st Lieutenant Charles Poillon of 58th Fighter Squadron, flying a P-40 fighter, shot down a German Ju 88 aircraft near Youks-les-Bains Airfield near Tébessa, Algeria. ww2dbase [Tébessa | CPC]

• Destroyers USS Lansdowne and Shaw departed Tulagi, Solomon Islands in escort of the badly damaged cruiser USS New Orleans bound for Sydney, Australia. ww2dbase [Lansdowne | New Orleans | Shaw | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]
• Amagiri and Yugure departed Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands at 1230 hours on a transport run to Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel Island, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Amagiri | Yugure | Shortland Islands | CPC]

• Bluie West Eight airfield in Greenland was assigned to the Eastern Defense Command of the US Army. ww2dbase [Bluie West Eight | South Greenland | CPC]

• USS Tunny arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Tunny | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Sasebo, Japan. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]

• USS Sunfish fired two torpedoes at a Japanese warship in the Pacific Ocean; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | CPC]

• Operation Winter Tempest was launched towards Stalingrad, Russia with German 3 Panzer Divisions and 10 other divisions. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | TH]

• M3 submachine gun entered US military service. ww2dbase [M3 'Grease Gun' | CPC]

12 Dec 1942 Interactive Map