October 13th, 1942 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HNLMS Zwaardvis (ex-HMS Talent) laid down at Clydebank.
Sloop HMS Kite launched.
GERMANY: During the night of 13/14 October, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 288 aircraft, 100 Wellingtons, 82 Lancasters, 78 Halifaxes and 28 Stirlings, to bomb Kiel; 246 aircraft bomb the target. Eight aircraft, five Wellingtons and one each of the other types are lost. A decoy fire site is operating and at least half of the bombing are drawn away into open countryside, but the rest of the attack falls on Kiel and its immediate surroundings. Casualties are 41 killed and 101 injured.
U-773 laid down.
U.S.S.R.: One Corps of the German 4th Panzer Army reach the Volga River in the southern part of Stalingrad. The Soviets continue to hold areas to the north in strength.
BALTIC STATES: The German authorities declare all Jewish property confiscated.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep, patrol, and interception missions west of El Alamein, Egypt; fighters claim 2 Bf 109s destroyed and 1 damaged.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Rear Admiral Richmond Turner, Commander of Amphibious Force, South Pacific Force, brings reinforcements to Guadalcanal. 210 men of the First Marine Aircraft Wing and 85 Marine replacements join 2,850 men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment in the transports USS McCawley (AP-10, ex SS Santa Barbara) and USS Zeilin (AP-9, ex SS President Jackson). The Marines are no longer alone on Guadalcanal.
Unloading despite air attacks, the vessels embark the 1st Raider Battalion and sail for New Caledonia. Troop strength is thus brought up to 23,088 men, excluding forces on Tulagi. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, divides the Lunga perimeter into regimental sectors, massing the greatest strength on the west. At 1202 hours local, as the Army reinforcements are being put ashore, 27 "Betty" bombers (, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) escorted by 18 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters), all based on Rabaul on New Britain Island, attack Henderson Field. The runway is cratered and 5,000 U.S. gallons (18,927 liters) of aviation fuel is destroyed. Forty two Navy and Marine F4F Wildcats and 13 USAAF P-39and P-400 Airacobras take off but only one bomber and a fighter are destroyed; one F4F is lost but the pilot is recovered.
At 1350 hours local, a second attack by 18 "Betty" bombers and 18 "Zeke" fighters occurs while the Cactus Air Fighters are being refuelled. The Henderson Field runway is further damaged.
A Japanese convoy of six transports and 8 destroyers is spotted, 200 miles (321.9 km) north of Guadalcanal, by the afternoon search of the Cactus Air Force. Under the direct command of Admiral Takama Tamotsu, Commander of Destroyer Squadron 4, 4,500 new soldiers, a battery of both 10cm and 15cm artillery, the 1st Independent Tank Company, and various supplies are headed for Japanese positions on Guadalcanal.
Six B-17s bomb Buka Island and Tonolai on Bougainville Island.
About 1830 hours local, the first shell from a Japanese 15cm howitzer, unloaded from the HIJMS Chitose, lands on Henderson Field. "Pistol Pete" is finally in battle.
Also heading down the Slot towards Guadalcanal tonight is Admiral Kurita with the battleships HIJMS Kongo and HIJMS Haruna on a bombardment mission. They carry special Type 3 shells designed for antiaircraft use, but equally deadly for bombardment use. For tonight spotting is assisted by a naval gunnery officer atop Mount Austen and another leading a group of spotter and illumination aircraft.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: 15 Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses again bomb Rabaul, New Britain Island, concentrating on Vunakanau and Lakunai Airfields.
NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Australian troops on the Kokoda Track make no progress in advancing northward. One section of 2/25th Battalion finds evidence of Japanese cannibalism of dead Australian soldiers.
In Papua, New Guinea, a USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 bombs Buna.
NEW HEBRIDES: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 launches a "Glen" reconnaissance aircraft (Kugisho E14Y, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to reconnoiter American installations on Espiritu Santo Island.
CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Edmunston, Quesnel, Timmins, Dundas and New Westminster arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.
U.S.A.: Marine Photo Squadron VMD-154 departs San Diego bound for operations out of Espiritu Santo in the Solomons.
Destroyers USS Philip and Renshaw launched.
Minesweeper USS Broadbill commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-221 sank SS Ashworth, Fagersten and Senta in Convoy SC-104.
U-159 sank SS Empire Nomad.
1 man was killed and 3 wounded on U-453 in an accident during handling the machine gun. [Matrosengefreiter Horst Saupe + on 13th Oct., Steuermannsgefreiter Helmut Lorenz died 2 months later].