October 14th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Sloops HMS Starling and Wild Goose are launched.
ENGLISH CHANNEL: German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) HK Komet (Raider B) attempts to pass down the Channel on the way out for a second cruise. A force of British escort destroyers and motor torpedo boats (MTBs) attack off Cherbourg, France, and in spite of a strong escort, she is torpedoed and sunk by MTB-236.
NETHERLANDS: Two of the five RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.
GERMANY: U-318 is laid down.
U-530 is commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Submarine "Sch-213" sunk by surface ASW ships, in Portitski entrance of Dunai.
SC-302 is sunk by depth charges south of Porkkala by Tupolev SB-2 code SB-10 from 2/LeLv 6. (Sergey Anisimov and Mikko Härmeinen)(69)
Stalingrad: The Wehrmacht launched yet another massive assault on Stalingrad today, with three infantry divisions and two Panzer divisions deployed on a three-mile front. The sky has been full of German aircraft bombing and strafing almost constantly, over 3,000 sorties have been flown against these targets by von Richthofen's Luftlotte 7.
In the city the Germans' main objectives have been the Dzerzhinsky tractor factory, which fell today and the Barrikady gun factory. The ground outside these buildings is littered with German dead, caught by an artillery and katyusha barrage as they prepared to attack. Fighting is going on inside the battered, burning buildings. Workshops have become battlefields. The enemies are so close that they can hear each others' breathing. They crawl towards each other. Then in go the grenades. There is a rattle of gunfire, the deadly lick of a flame-thrower, screams of agony and another room is cleared.
The slaughter is terrible. Some divisions of the Russian 62nd Army have been wiped out. The 13th Guards exists in name only. Units formed from poorly-trained civilians have taken appalling casualties, but the survivors have become expert street fighters.
Units of the German Sixth Army advance in bitter fighting and surround the heavily defended Tractor Factory in the northern part of Stalingrad, following a series of devastating attacks (over 3,000 sorties) by bombers of the Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte 7.
Vinnitsa: Hitler orders the suspension of all activity on the eastern front except for Stalingrad and the Terek river in the Caucasus.
Soviet submarine SC-213 sunk by German subchaser Xanten near Hortizki Estuary. All hands lost.
Soviet submarine SC-302 reported missing with all hands lost. Believed damaged by mines and sunk by Finnish aircraft.
LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-17s hit shipping at Tobruk, Libya, scoring 2 direct hits on a large vessel and demolishing a smaller ship moored alongside.
EGYPT: US Army, Middle East Air Force P-40s fly patrols, reconnaissance and interception missions between El Alamein and Burg el Arab.
NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack Lae. In Papua New Guinea, B-25s hit a bridge 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Port Moresby, and the area of the Wairopi bridge; on the Kokoda track, the Japanese offer fierce resistance to the Australian 7th Division's drive in the vicinity of Templeton Crossing and more cannibalized and mutilated bodies of Australian troops on found on the track; and the USAAF Fifth Air Force begins flying begins flying a coastal force, the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32d Infantry Division and the Australian 2/6th Independent Company, to Wanigela.
PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarines sink 3 IJA cargo ships and a transport.
- In the East China Sea, USS Finback (SS-230), attacking a Japanese convoy, sinks a Japanese army transport about 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) north of Tansui, on the northwest tip of Formosa, in position 25.20N, 121.25E.
- USS Greenling (SS-213) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 101 nautical miles (187 kilometers) northeast of Sendai, Honshu, Japan, in position 39.33N, 142.15E.
- In the Bismarck Sea, USS Sculpin (SS-191) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 53 nautical miles (99 kilometers) west-northwest of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, in position 03.51S, 151.21E.
- USS Skipjack (SS-184) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship about 456 nautical miles (845 kilometers) west-southwest of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, in position 05.35N, 144.25E.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 0130 hrs 'Louie the Louse' a Japanese observation plane wakes the US forces on Guadalcanal. The Japanese battleships Kongo and Haruna pass Savo Island and slow to 18 knots. Louie brackets Henderson Field with flares and at 29,500 yards Kongo fires her first salvo, Haruna soon follows. The other ships of the force, the light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu, and 7 destroyers, also bombard the island. The Japanese sailors topside are reminded of a fireworks display. This continues until 0256 hours. They fired 973 shells and were opposed by the 5" coast defence guns on Guadalcanal and 4 motor torpedo boats PT-60, PT-38, PT-46 and PT-48 (Lieutenant Commander Alan R. Montgomery) from Tulagi. Destroyer HIJMS Naganami turns back the motor torpedo boats. The attacks of the PTs were assumed by Admiral Kurita to be his screen detecting a submarine.
The damage is widespread around Henderson Field and Fighter One and includes 48 of 90 planes and fuel stocks at the field, putting the facility temporarily out of action. The men of the Army's 164th Infantry Regiment have spent their first night on Guadalcanal wondering if this is like all nights there.
The Japanese have sent their battleships to bombard Henderson Field and destroy more than half the aircraft of the Cactus Air Force. This destruction will allow the successful resupply of their forces on Guadalcanal. They have a supply convoy coming down the slot. It will arrive this evening.
During the morning Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch sends 17 SBD at Espiritu Santo and 20 Wildcats to Henderson Field. He also organizes an airlift of fuel using C-47/R4D aircraft carrying 10 55 gallon drums each.
At about 1200 hours, 26 "Betty" bombers (Mitsubish G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) bomb Henderson Field causing heavy damage. At 1300 hours, 18 "Betty" bombers escorted by ten "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) attack and are met by 24 F4F Wildcats and P-39Airacobras; 9 bombers and 3 fighters are shot down with the loss of 2 Wildcats and a P-39.
The IJN resupply convoy consisting of 6 transports and 8 destroyer transports is sighted in the afternoon and 4 SBDs of Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3) and 3 P-400 Airacobras attack at 1445 hours but score no hit.
At 1745 hours, 7 SBDs, 6 P-39s and P-400s, refueled from gasoline found in a damaged B-17, attack but again score no hits; a P--400 is shot down by AA fire and another crashes on landing. These attacks do not stop the convoy which reaches Guadalcanal at midnight along with another run of the Tokyo Express.
During the day, 12 SBDs of Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) in USS Enterprise (CV-6) are dispatched to Guadalcanal for service with the Cactus Air Force from Fighter One airfield. Meanwhile, due to the low fuel supply, the B-17s that had been based at Guadalcanal are withdrawn to Espirtu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands.
On Vella Lavella Islands, Australian coastwatchers are landed on the coast of Vella Lavella Island by the USN submarine USS (SS-207). (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
USS Skipjack (SS-184) sinks an attack transport at 05-45 N, 144-25 E.
USS Sculpin (SS-191) sinks an oiler at 03-12 S, 149-50 E or 03-20 S, 150-03 E. (Skip Guidry)
NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: Also during the day, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-7 shells Espiritu Santo. This follows the reconnaissance flight by the submarine-based aircraft yesterday.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches 9 B-24 Liberators, 6 B-26 Marauders, a B-17 Flying Fortress and 12 P-38 Lightnings to bomb and strafe Kiska Island installations and shipping; fire bombs are dropped on hangars and the Main Camp area where a large fire is started; 2 torpedo attacks on shipping in Gertrude Cove score no hits; the P-38s destroy 3 floatplanes on water; a P-38 is shot down.
U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Sheldrake is commissioned.
Minesweeper USS Candid is launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: In Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia, Canada and Newfoundland, the 2,200-ton steel hulled Newfoundland Railway Fleet SS Caribou is struck by a torpedo at 0330 hours local fired by the German submarine U-69. The ferry was en route from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and escorted by the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Grandmère (J 258), is sailing in a zig-zag course. HMCS Grandmère is equipped with ASDIC (sonar) but not radar and she does not "see" U-69 which had surfaced to recharge her batteries. The sub crew spotted the two ships and fired one torpedo that strikes the ferry and she immediately starts sinking about 21 nautical miles (38 kilometers) southwest of Port aux Basques. There are 237 people aboard the ferry, 46 crewmen, 73 civilians and 118 military personnel; 136 people lost their lives. In spite of this the Battle of St. Lawrence is rapidly ending after taking 700 lives, 23 ships.
After an attack on convoy SC-104, U-607 was attacked by the convoy escort HMS Viscount, and was so badly damaged by depth charges that she returned to base.
Following British landing craft were lost aboard the SS Southern Empress which was sunk by U-221 in Convoy SC-104 - HMS LCM-508, HMS LCM-509, HMS LCM-519, HMS LCM-522, HMS LCM-523, HMS LCM-532, HMS LCM-537, HMS LCM-547, HMS LCM-620 (each 52 tons) and HMS LCT-2006 (291 tons).
U-221 sank SS Susana in Convoy SC-104.
U-607 sank SS Nellie in Convoy SC-104.
U-618 sank SS Empire Mersey in Convoy SC-104.
U-661 sank SS Nikolina Matkovic in Convoy SC-104.
U-592 sinks SS Shchors.