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• Captain and Surgeon Masato Honma became the new commanding officer of hospital ship Hikawa Maru. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• Prime Minister of South Africa Jan Smuts delivered a speech to both houses of the British Parliament: "The stage is set for the last, for the offensive". ww2dbase [CPC]
• Iro Ilk was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [Iro Ilk | CPC]
• US Major General Mark Clark, aboard British submarine HMS Seraph (which was under disguise as an American submarine), began negotiations with Vichy French commanders in North Africa in preparation of Operation Torch. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | CPC]
• US Navy Admiral Ernest King notified commanders in the Pacific area commanders that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had agreed to strengthen the air forces in the South Pacific by 1 Jan 1943. ww2dbase [Ernest King | CPC]
• ShCh-307 attacked an Axis convoy in the Gulf of Finland; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [ShCh-307 | CPC]

• Tenryu conducted post-repair trials off Rabaul, New Britain. Upon returning to port, a damaged 8-centimeter anti-aircraft gun mount was replaced. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Finnish submarine Vesihiisi sank Soviet submarine S-7 southwest of Aland Islands, Finland with one torpedo at 2041 hours; 44 were killed, 4 survived. ww2dbase [S-7 | CPC]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides departed her patrol area south of Truk bound for a new patrol area in the Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Silversides | DS]

• Destroyer USS Shaw crossed the 180th meridian en route from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to the Solomons. ww2dbase [Line Crossing Ceremony | Shaw | DS]

• USAAF 2nd Search Attack Squadron departed Edinburgh Field in Trinidad. ww2dbase [Carlsen Field | Chaguanas | CPC]

21 Oct 1942 Interactive Map