October 16th, 1942 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Minesweeper HMS Circe commissioned.
Trawler HMS Ironbound commissioned and loaned to RCN.
NETHERLANDS: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the Stork diesel engine factory at Hengelo without loss.
During the night of 16/17 October, four RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands; one aircraft is lost.
FRANCE: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six (A-20) Bostons to attack Le Havre but they are turned back by bad weather.
During the night of 16/17 October, 23 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings of RAF Bomber Command 16/17 October are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five each lay mines off La Pallice, Lorient and St. Nazaire, four each off the Gironde Estuary and Nantes, and three off St. Jean de Luz. Three aircraft are lost.
GERMANY: U-340 commissioned.
U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine "Sch-308" of the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas is sunk by a U-boat, at Sedra-Kvarken strait. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
LIBYA: US Army, Middle East Air Force B-24s bomb shipping in Bengasi harbour but other B-17s and B-24s dispatched to attack Tobruk and Bengasi are forced to abort by bad weather.
INDIA: A cyclone kills 40,000 people in Bengal, mainly affecting the area south of Calcutta and badly disrupting supplies to the Burma front.
THAILAND: US submarines mine the approaches to Bangkok. One of these is theUSNsubmarine USS Thresher (SS-200) achieves the first U.S. Navy submarine mine plant of World War II.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: USS Hornet aircraft strike Japanese positions at Rekata Bay on Santa Isabella, north of Guadalcanal and on Guadalcanal itself.
During the night, a Japanese surface force (Rear Admiral Omori Sentaro), with heavy cruisers HIJMS Maya and HIJMS Myoko, and light cruiser HIJMS Isuzu and seven destroyers (Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo), shells Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
During the day, Seabees patch up Henderson Field runways enough for use by fighters. USMC SBD Dauntlesses and P-39and P-400 Airacobras fly 7 ground-attack missions against the Japanese invasion force landing at the Kokumbona-Doma Reef area just 8 miles (12.8 km) away however, the enemy continues to bombard Henderson Field by air strike and artillery and to land troops. Assisting in these attacks are aircraft from Task Force TF 17, formed around the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) (Rear Admiral George D. Murray), which strike Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, and the seaplane base at Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel Island. USS Hornet is spotted by an IJN search plane late in the morning and 9 "Val" dive bombers (Aichi D3A, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers) are dispatched from Rabaul, New Britain Island, to attack but they cannot find the carrier.
The seaplane tender (destroyer) USS McFarland (AVD-14) and two other ships make an emergency run to Guadalcanal to deliver aviation fuel. While unloading cargo and embarking wounded personnel in Lunga Roads, McFarland is attacked by the 9 "Val" dive bombers that could not find the Hornet.
While the first seven scored no hits, the eighth hits a gasoline barge in tow alongside the tender's starboard quarter setting 40,000 U.S. gallons (151,416.5 liters) afire. The blazing barge is cut loose as the ninth plane made its run. At least one bomb hits McFarland's stern, knocking out her rudder and steering engine. Her crew managed to splash one plane, but 5 men are killed, 6 are missing and 12 are critically wounded. As the Japanese aircraft pull out, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, who is leading 26 Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twelve (VMF-212) F4F Wildcats to Guadalcanal from Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands, arrives and single-handedly attacks them and shoots down 4 of the "Vals." Bauer had downed 4 "Zeke" fighters on 3 October and he is awarded the Medal of Honor for these two missions. USS McFarland is towed to Florida Island, where she moored to the beach in the upper channel (later called McFarland Channel) of Tulagi harbor.
By the end of the day, there are 66 operational aircraft on Guadalcanal.
During the day, Fifth Air Force B-17s attack targets in the Solomon Islands, including the airfield at Buin on Bougainville Island, and shipping off Moila Point and the Shortland Islands. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)
NEW GUINEA: On the Kododa Track in Papua New Guinea, the Japanese abandon Templeton's Crossing but the Australians locate them a little further north. US Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and B-25s hit the village of Pawaia, trails in the Kokoda area, the Buna-Kokoda trail, and villages at the mouth and along the Mambare River in New Guinea; and B-25s also bomb the Mubo-Salamaua trail.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: B-17s bomb an airfield at Rabaul, New Britain Island.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches a B-17 Flying Fortress, 6 B-26 Marauders, and 4 P-38 Lightnings to bomb Kiska Island. Based on a PBY report, the B-26s attack 2 IJN destroyers at low level and sink one and severely damage the other. One B-26 is shot down.
U.S.A.: In the arena of US public opinion, an article in The New York Times newspaper on 16 October states, "The shadows of a great conflict lie heavily over the Solomons-all that can be perceived is the magnitude of the stakes at issue. ... Guadalcanal. The name will not die out of the memories of the generation. It will endure in honor." US Navy Secretary Knox responds to a question of holding Guadalcanal: "I certainly hope so and expect so ... I will not make any predictions, but every man will give good account of himself. What I am trying to say is that there is a good stiff fight going on. Everybody hopes we can hold on."
Terrytoons releases the cartoon "The Mouse of Tomorrow" starring Mighty Mouse. This is Mighty Mouse's first appearance.
The British motion picture "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" is released in the U.S. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, this war film about an RAF bomber crew shot down in the Netherlands stars Eric Portman, Bernard Miles and Peter Ustinov as a Dutch priest.
The plot has the crew of an RAF Wellington "B" for Bertie going down in the Netherlands while returning from a bombing mission in Germany and, with the aid of the Dutch underground, attempting to return to England. The film is nominated for 2 technical Academy Awards.
Submarine USS Jack launched.
Destroyers USS Bullard and Kidd laid down.
CUBA: Cuba and Russia establish diplomatic relations.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy SC-104 has fought its way through a fierce running battle with a wolfpack from the Wotan U-boat group, despite howling south-west winds and heavy seas which hampered the escort. In total only eight of the convoy's 47 merchant ships have been sunk.
The U-boat pack spotted the convoy on 12 October, and in the next two nights it sank seven vessels, even though the Germans had great difficulty in getting sighting signals in the atmospheric disturbance created by the gales. On 13 October U-221 homed in on the main convoy and sank three ships in 40 minutes. On 14 October she sank two more. And in the small hours of today three other U-boats sank one ship each.
The escort group, according to Commander S. Heathcote, "pounced like terriers" on every sign of a U-boat. The rolling of the ships in the raging seas reduced the accuracy of the RDF and Asdic soundings, but repeated depth-charge attacks forced some U-boats to the surface, and an RAF Liberator sank U-661 yesterday. Last night Lt-Cdr John Waterhouse in the destroyer HMS VISCOUNT managed to ram and sink U-619, but the violence of the collision severely damaged the VISCOUNT, which has had to pull out of the escort. A third U-boat, U-353, was destroyed today by the senior officer's ship HMS FAME, at 53.54N, 29.30W, using aerial depth charges; two crew get to and spring the after hatch, 1 survives 28 hours until rescue as PoW. There are another 5 survivors but 39 die. (Mark Horan)
U-160 sank SS Castle Harbor and damaged SS Winona in Convoy TRIN-19.