October 24th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMS Wigtown Bay laid down.
NORTH SEA: U-673 sank at 0115hrs in the North Sea, north of Stavanger, Norway, in position 59.20N, 05.53E, after running aground near Smaaskjär following a collision with U-382. Raised on 9 Nov 1944 and moved to Stavanger. Surrendered to Norway. Broken up.
NETHERLANDS: The 2nd Canadian Division is advancing long the Beveland Isthmus. Inland the British XII Corps reach Hertogenbosch.
When S.D. (Sicherheitsdienst, the security service of the SS) officer Herbert Oelschagel is murdered by the Dutch resistance on 23 October in Amsterdam, the German reprisal is swift and severe. Today, 29 civilians are arrested and pedestrians on the Apolloaan are forced at gunpoint to witness their execution. At the same time, several buildings are deliberately set on fire.
RAF Hawker Typhoons of Nos. 193, 197, 257, 263 and 266 Squadrons, led by Gp. Capt. D. E. Gillam raid the Headquarters of the German Fifteenth Army at Dordrecht. Attacking with both 500-lb and 1,000-lb bombs, the Typhoons completely destroy the target, killing over 70 enemy staff officers. (22)
FRANCE: French automaker and accused German collaborator Louis Renault dies on this day in a Paris military prison hospital of undetermined causes. During World War I, Renault served his nation with the "Taxis de la Marne," a troop-transport vehicle, and in 1918, with the Renault tank. With the German occupation of France during World War II, the industrialist, who had served his country so well during World War I, mysteriously offered his Renault tank factory and his services to the Germans, perhaps believing that the Allies' cause is hopeless. The liberation of France in 1944 saw the arrest of Louis Renault as a collaborator, and the Renault company is nationalized. The 67-year-old Renault, who likely suffered torture during his post-liberation detainment, died soon after his arrest and before he is tried.
In the U.S. Seventh Army's VI Corps area, the 3d Infantry Division commits its full strength to a drive on St Die as the 30th Infantry Regiment, having moved north, joins in an attack to right of 7th Infantry Regiment. The 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, takes the town of Mortagne, on the German side of the Mortagne River.
In the French 1stArmy area, General Jean de Lattre, commander of the 1st Army, issues secret instructions to I Corps for an offensive toward Belfort, Operation INDEPENDENCE. I Corps is to be strongly reinforced for the operation. Extensive deceptive measures are taken to conceal the place of projected attack and take the Germans by surprise.
GERMANY: The USAAF Eighth Air Force dispatches 415 P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs to attack aircraft and ground targets in the Hannover-Kassel area; 73 bomb flak positions at Elburg, a factory near Nienburg, and miscellaneous ground targets; bad weather causes other fighter-bombers to jettison bombs in the English Channel and Zuider Zee in the Netherlands; the fighter-bombers strafe transportation and other ground targets with good results.
Bad weather cancels all USAAF Ninth Air Force operations except fighter patrols by the IX and XXIX Tactical Air Commands over western Germany; the fighters attack rail targets.
During the night of 24/25 October, RAF Bomber Command sends 57 Mosquitos to bomb Hannover; 54 bomb the city without loss. Other Mosquito targets are: four bomb Oberhausen, three hit Aschaffenburg, two hit the marshalling yard at Aschaffenburg and one bombs Rheine; there are no losses. Lancasters and Halifaxes lay mines in the Kattegat.
U-2344 launched.
U-2516 commissioned.
NORWAY: Eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Oslo without loss.
GREECE: British units enter Lamia, about 95 miles (153 kilometers) northwest of Athens.
ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, Mt Termine falls to the South African 6th Armoured Division. In the II Corps area, the Germans regain Vedriano and capture most of Company G, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. The 88th and 85th Infantry Divisions continue an attack the on right flank of corps during the night of 24/25 October but make little headway. In the British XIII Corps area, the 78th Division consolidates positions on Mt. Spadura while the 61st Brigade, 6th Armoured Division, pushes toward Mt. Taverna, reaching Orsara.
In the British Eighth Army's V Corps area, the Indian 10th Division drives quickly toward the Ronco River on the south flank of the corps; the 4th Division advances its left flank to a road junction of Madonna di Cerbiano and its right, along Highway 9, to Castellaccio. The Canadian I Corps pursues retreating Germans toward the Ronco River.
Weather grounds USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers but 300+ XXII Tactical Air Command fighters and fighter-bombers attack targets in support of the U.S. Fifth Army south of Bologna and hit communications and shipping in the Turin-Genoa and eastern Po Valley areas, destroying 14 locomotives and 100+ railroad cars.
INDIA: The U.S. Army China-Burma-India Theater is split into two theaters, India- Burma Theater (IBT) and China Theater (CT). Headquarters India-Burma Theater is established at New Delhi with Lieutenant General Daniel I. Sultan in command.
CHINA: The U.S. Army China-Burma-India Theater is split into two theaters, India- Burma Theater (IBT) and China Theater (CT). The China Theater headquarters is established at Chungking Major General Albert C. Wedemeyer. Major General Claire Chennault, Commanding General USAAF Fourteenth Air Force, is temporarily in charge of China Theater, pending assumption of command by General Wedemeyer. Headquarters USAAF Fourteenth Air Force is reassigned from US Army Forces, China-Burma-India Theater to US Forces, China Theater.
About 80 USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings on armed reconnaissance over southeast China, southwest China, and eastern Burma hit runways, storage facilities, town areas, troops, horses, gun positions, and other targets of opportunity around Amoy, Lohochai, Tanchuk, Sinthe, Menghsu, Pingnam, Mangshih and Chefang, China and Lashio, Burma.
BURMA: Headquarters Tenth Air Force is reassigned from US Army Forces, China-Burma-India Theater to US Forces, India-Burma Theater.
Between 24 and 27 October, USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers and B-25 Mitchells steadily support Allied troops on the northern Burma front, attacking road and rail communications, troop concentrations and supply dumps, and sweeping airfields; the strikes include close support of British troops advancing on the right flank of the front known as the "Rail Corridor," and of Chinese forces pushing down the left flank along the Myitkyina-Bhamo road.
JAPAN: On Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands, three USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Kashiwabara and Kurabu Cape; four B-25 Mitchells weather-abort a photo mission to the island; two others on a shipping sweep off Kurabu hit a freighter, which is observed listing and smoking, and strafe two submarine chasers.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES:
In the X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 1st Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, moves by water to Babatngon and sets up a defense perimeter, from which patrols move along the coast. Troop C, reinforced, of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, after a delay because of a Japanese air attack on shipping in Tacloban harbor, witch causes minor damage, sails to La Paz, on Samar Island and establishes a beachhead and blocks the road to Basey; after nightfall they repel a Japanese thrust against the block. The main body of the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, begins an overland journey northward along Highway1 and reaches Guintiguian. The control of Juanico Strait is thus secured. In the Palo area, the 1st Battalion of 34th Infantry Regiment takes Hill Nan without opposition and is passed through by the 3d Battalion, which takes the next Hill, Mike, before Hill C, also without opposition, preliminary fire having been highly effective. The 2d Batta
lion, 19th Infantry Regiment, continues efforts to take Hill B, finding the Japanese well entrenched on a crest higher than its own. The 19th Infantry Regiment, moving south along Highway1 in an effort to make contract with the XXIV Corps, takes San Joaquin, south of Palo. In the XXIV Corps area, the 96th Infantry Division’s 383d Infantry Regiment, still beset by supply problems, holds their current positions and patrols to locate possible supply routes to the rear. A patrol finds the Japanese established at Tabontabon. The 382d takes Anibung and Hindang. In the 7th Infantry Division zone, the 17th Infantry Regiment clears Burauen and, after a brief pause, starts toward Dagami. The 32d Infantry Regiment, turns northwest toward Bun airstrip from San Pablo airfield but is so strongly opposed that it falls back to San Pablo with assistance of 3d Battalion.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Buayoan Airfield on Mindanao Island while B-25 Mitchells on armed reconnaissance hit small shipping and troops.
U.S. freighter SS Augustus Thomas, anchored in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, is attacked by a Japanese plane. The ship's Armed Guard gunfire sets the aircraft ablaze but the kamikaze presses home his attack, a wing striking the stack of the nearby tug USS Sonoma (ATO-12) before it crashes the freighter's starboard side. The bombs detonate in the water between the two ships, and the exploding suicider sets Sonoma afire. There are no casualties on board Augustus Thomas (41-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard and 480 troop passengers), which is subsequently beached by tugs USS Chowanoc (ATF-100) and Whippoorwill (ATO-169). Sonoma subsequently sinks off Dio Island, near Dulag.
Admiral Sherman's TG 38.3 is the target of Japanese land based air strikes. USS Princeton is fatally damaged.
TG 38.2 scout planes find Admiral Kurita's Center Force which include the super battleships YAMATO and MUSASHI. During the day several attacks from 3 of TF 38s task groups strike. Amongst the weapons deployed to defend against the US air attack are the "San-Shiki" incendiary shrapnel projectiles. These shells (nicknamed "Beehive") were fired from the 18.1-inch guns and consisted of 6,000 twenty millimetre steel balls that would explode by using a time fuse. Battleship Musashi sinks after taking multiple torpedo and bomb strikes, in the early afternoon. One cruiser is damaged and turns back. Due to the weight of these attacks, Kurita turns back. Then during the evening, he again turns east to find the US invasion forces. Nishimura's Southern Force takes only negligible damage from air strikes during the day. (Ken Friedman and Edward J. Rudnicki and Michael Turton)
Admiral Oldendorf assembles battleships from his bombardment forces to intercept Nishimura. These include several battle ships which were returned to service from Pearl Harbor.
During the night Admiral Halsey turns north with the US 3rd Fleet for Ozawa's carriers; the decoy force. Kurita has had ships sunk and damaged and has withdrawn and Oldendorf will handle Nishimura.
Submarine USS Darter grounded in the Palawan Passage while tracking the Japanese Center Force fleet and scuttled by her crew to prevent her capture. Her crew was taken onboard the submarine USS Dace and taken to Fremantle, arriving there on 7 November 1944.
BORNEO: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers hit the Sandakan, British North Borneo area and sink a Japanese sink army cargo ship off Sandakan.
EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces P-38 Lightnings bomb the Amboina reservoir areas on Ceram Island.
NEW GUINEA: USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs and fighter-bombers again attack Babo, Moemi, Sagan, Manokwari, Otawir Airfields and other Vogelkop Peninsula area targets in Dutch New Guinea.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: Guam-based USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Yap Island. .
PACIFIC OCEAN: Battle of Leyte Gulf.
The Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as planes from Task Groups 38.2, 38.3 and 38.4, sailing to the east of the Philippine Islands, attack the Japanese "Center Force" (Vice Admiral KURTIA Takeo) in the Sibuyan Sea in the central Philippine Islands. TG 38.2 scout planes find Admiral KURITA's Center Force. Planes from the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (CV-6), Intrepid (CV-11), and Franklin (CV-13), and small aircraft carrier USS Cabot (CVL-29) sink battleship HIJMS Musash about 141 nautical miles (262 kilometers) southeast of Manila, Luzon, in position 12.50N, 122.35E. Aircraft from the three task groups also damage battleships HIJMS Yamato and Nagato, heavy cruiser HIJMS Tone, and destroyers HIJMS Kiyoshimo, Fujinami and Uranami. Battleship Musashi sinks after taking multiple torpedo and bomb strikes, in the early afternoon. One cruiser is damaged and turns back. Due to the weight of these attacks, Kurita turns back. Then during the evening, he again turns east to find the US invasion forces.
Vice Admiral NISHIMURA Shoji and Vice Admiral SHIMA Kiyohide's Sourthern Force takes only negligible damage from air strikes during the day. TG 38.4 planes attack the"Southern Force" as it proceeds through the Sulu Sea; planes from USS Franklin sink destroyer HIJMS Wakaba off the west coast of Panay about 168 nautical miles (311 kilometers) south of Manila, Luzon, in position 11.50N, 121.25E; aircraft from USS Enterprise and Franklin damage battleships HIJMS Fuso and Yamashiro.
Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, commander of the Bombardment and Fire Support Group, Seventh Fleet, assembles battleships from his bombardment forces to intercept NISHIMURA. These include six pre-WWII battleships, USS California (BB-44), USS Maryland (BB-46), USS Mississippi (BB-41), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), USS Tennessee (BB-43), and USS West Virginia (BB-48), four heavy cruisers (one Australian), four light cruisers and 28 destroyers (one Australian). Five of the six battleships are at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
During the day, Japanese aircraft attack TG 38.3; combat air patrol and effective use of rain squalls as cover limits the damage to small carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23). Shortly before 1000 hours, a lone Japanese dive-bomber comes out of the clouds above USS Princeton and at 1,500 feet (457 meters) the pilot releases his bomb and it hits between the elevators, crashes through the flight deck and hanger, then explodes. Initial fires soon expand as further explosions send black smoke rolling off the flight deck and red flames along the sides from the island to the stern. Covering vessels provide rescue and fire-fighting assistance and shield the stricken carrier from further attack. At 1524 hours, another, much heavier explosion, possibly the bomb magazine, blew off the carrier's stern and with it the after flight deck. The light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62), alongside to fight fires, suffers heavy damage and casualties. The cruiser's decks literally run red with blood:
229 men are killed, four missing, and 211 seriously wounded and 215 with minor wounds. Efforts to save Princeton continue, but at 1604 hours the fires win. Boats are requested to take off remaining personnel and shortly after 1706 hours, the destroyer USS Irwin (DD-794) begins to fire torpedoes at the burning hulk. At 1746 hours, light cruiser USS Reno (CL-96) relieves Irwin and at 1749 hours, the last, and biggest, explosion occurs. Flames and debris shot up1000-2000 feet (305-610 meters). Princeton's forward section is gone and her after section appears momentarily through the smoke. By 1750 hours she sinks about 154 nautical miles (285 kilometers) east-northeast of Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands, in position 15.21N, 123.31E, but 1,361 of her crew survive. Included in that number is Captain John M. Hoskins, who had been the prospective commanding officer of the ship and lost his right foot with her, but who, despite the loss, would become the first commanding officer of the fifth Princeton (CV-37).
During the aerial action today, Commander David McCampbell, Commander Air Group Fifteen (CVG-15), flying from the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9), again distinguishes himself in combat. With only one wingman, McCampbell attacks what is estimated as being over 60 hostile aircraft and downs nine, breaking up the attacking formation before it even reaches the fleet. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life" on this occasion and on 19 June, McCampbell is awarded the Medal of Honor. McCampbell later becomes the Navy’s leading ace with 34 aerial victories.
Late today, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander Third Fleet, orders Task Force 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) to proceed north to be in position to strike the "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral OZAWA Jisaburo) on the morning of 25 October, but does not inform Commander Seventh Fleet (Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) of his action. Unbeknown to the Americans, remnants of the "Center Force" transit San Bernadino Strait and head for Leyte Gulf. Commander Seventh Fleet meanwhile makes his dispositions to meet the expected Japanese onslaught: bombardment and support group Task Group 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) is augmented by close covering group TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey). Local airfields, however, are not yet ready to base night reconnaissance aircraft, and the only carrier equipped to operate such planes, small carrier USS Independence (CVL-22), with Night Carrier Air Group Forty One [CVLG(N)-41], is proceeding north with TF 38.
USN hospital ship USS Comfort (AH-6), fully illuminated in accordance with the dictates of the Geneva Convention, is bombed 22 miles (41 kilometers) southeast of Leyte Island.
USN destroyer escort USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-54 about 135 nautical miles (250 kilometers) southeast of Tacloban, Leyte Island, Philippine Islands, in position 09.45N, 126.45E.
Yesterday, the USN submarine USS Darter (SS-227) made contact with the Japanese Center Force approaching Palawan Island and a radio message is flashed to the U.S. fleet. Just after 0000 hours today, Darter ran aground on Bombay Shoal in Palawan Passage. After attempts by the submarines USS Nautilus (SS-168) and Dace (SS-247) to float the sub failed, and all confidential material and equipment is destroyed and the entire crew taken off to Dace. When the demolition charges planted in Darter failed to destroy her, Dace fired torpedoes which exploded on the reef due to the shallow water. As Dace submerged, Darter is bombed by a Japanese plane.
Off the west coast of the Philippine Islands, coordinated submarine attack group TG 17.15 operates against Japanese shipping in South China Sea west of Luzon Strait: The target is a convoy of 17 ships sailing from Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands, to Japan. USN submarine USS Snook (SS-279) sinks two Army cargo ships; one of the ships is the merchant freighter SS Arisan Maru. This 6,886 ton ship is one of the unmarked “Hell Ships” transporting Allied POWs. In the holds are about 100 civilians and 1,782 American POWs being transported as slave laborers to work in the mines and factories of Japan. Crowded so close together they could not lie down, the holds soon became a hell-hole as the temperature soared to over 100 degrees F (38 degrees Centigrade). The lack of fresh air caused many to go mad as the holds became fouled by the stench of sweating bodies, urine and human excrement. The ship is hit by torpedoes fired by the Snook and it splits in two but the two parts remain afloat for about two hours. Most of the Japanese crew and guards are the first to escape by the few available lifeboats. Those guards left behind are set upon by the enraged POWs and killed. Only seven men survive the sinking by clinging to wreckage. Five reached the Chinese coast and two are picked up by a Japanese destroyer. Other ships sunk are: USS Icefish (SS-367) sinks an army cargo ship and USS Seadragon (SS-194) sinks a transport, a cargo ship and a merchant passenger/cargo ship. One of the attackers, USS Shark (SS-314), is sunk, probably by Japanese destroyer HIJMS Harukaze, about 155 nautical miles (288 kilometers) southwest Kao-hsiung, Formosa, in position 20.41N, 118.27E. (Skip Guidry)
0100 hours: USS Icefish (SS-367) sinks a cargo ship at 19-58 N, 118-33 E.
0200 hours: USS Snook (SS-279) sinks a cargo ship at 20-46 N, 118-18 E.
0300 hours: USS Croaker (SS-246) sinks a cargo ship at 32-56 N, 125-54 E.
0400 hours: USS Besugo (SS-321) sinks a patrol frigate at 30-19 N, 13249 E.
0500 hours: USS Snook (SS-279) sinks a cargo ship at 20-25 N, 118-44 E.
0800 hours: USS Drum (SS-228) sinks a cargo ship at 20-09 N, 118,35 E.
1100 hours: USS Seadragon (SS-194) sinks an armed cargo ship at 20-23 N, 118-47 E.
1100 hours: USS Kingfish (SS-234) sinks a cargo ship at 27-15 N, 143-19 E.
1200 hours: USS Seadragon (SS-194) sinks a transport-cargo ship at 19-34 N, 118-32 E.
1400 hours: USS Seadragon (SS-194) sinks a transport at 20-35 N, 118-32 E.
1900 hours: USS Tang (SS-306) sinks two transports, two tankers and a destroyer at 25- N, 119- E.
USS Shark (SS-314) sinks a cargo ship at 20-41 N, 118-27 E. (Skip Guidry)
Submarine USS Shark sunk by destroyer HIJMS Harukaze in the Luzon Strait. All hands lost. 11 years to the day after the keel was laid for Shark.
Submarine USS Tang sunk by her own circular-running torpedo near Turnabout Island near Taiwan. There were 9 survivors, including her captain. They became POWs.
U.S.A.: Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-404 was commissioned at San Francisco. LTJG R. S. Hall, USCGR, was her commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific and Western Pacific areas. She was decommissioned 31 October 1945.
Minesweeper USS Peregrine laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-673 (Type VIIC) runs aground near Smaaskjär (north of Stavanger, Norway) at position 59.20N, 05.53E. following a collision with U-382, and sinks at 0115. Raised on 9 Nov 1944 and moved to Stavanger. Surrendered to Norway and broken up. (Alex Gordon)
U-958 sank SS Linnea and SS Piikiö.