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• British XXX Corps moved north, with Australian 26th Brigade at the spearhead, attacked Point 29 southwest of Tel el Eisa, Egypt. This was meant to draw Axis reserves to the area. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• USS S-31 patrolled the Onekotan Strait between Paramushiro and Onekotan in the Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]
• American SBD aircraft seriously damaged Japanese light cruiser Yura. ww2dbase [Yura | CPC]
• American troop transport President Coolidge hit mines and sank near Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides; all troops aboard survived the sinking, but large amounts of equipment and supplies were lost. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet troops launched the Nalckik-Ordzhonikidze Defensive Operation in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | CPC]
• USS Finback attacked a Japanese transport with three torpedoes east of Taiwan; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Finback | CPC]
• United States Navy Task Force 64 consisting of USS Washington, USS Atlanta, USS San Francisco, USS Helena, USS Lardner, USS Lansdowne, USS Buchanan, USS Fletcher, USS Walke, USS Benham, USS McCalla, USS Aaron Ward, and USS Laffey bound for Savo, Solomon Islands was joined by USS Nicholas as an additional escort. As Nicholas came alongside Washington to exchange mail, Nicholas struck Washington’s side. The battleship was undamaged but Nicholas sustained hull damage from her anchor being pressed into the ship. Nicholas was able to resume her full duties immediately, however. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Laffey (Benson-class) | Atlanta | San Francisco | Lardner | Lansdowne | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Washington | DS]
• USS St. Louis was detached from Task Force 8 and directed to sail to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California by way of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. ww2dbase [St. Louis | DS]
• Togo's conversion into an auxiliary cruiser was completed. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | CPC]

• Tenryu departed Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• With discipline declined, equipment abandoned and diarrhea and dysentery reaching epidemic proportions, the 2nd Battalion of US 126th Infantry Regiment arrived at Jaure, Australian Papua along the Kapa Kapa Trail in the Owen Stanley mountain range. The march had been so arduous that some men had wandered into the jungle never to be seen again. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | AC]

• USS Ranger departed Bermuda as part of Task Force 34 bound for the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch). ww2dbase [Operation Torch | Ranger | Port Royal Bay | DS]

• Before dawn, the Japanese launched an offensive on the southern flank of the American defensive line at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, aiming to capture Henderson Field; US Marines repeatedly drove back the waves of attacks. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Guadalcanal Campaign | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
• After nightfall, Japanese destroyers attacked American shipping in the Sealark Channel between the Florida Islands and Taivu Point of Guadalcanal. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Sealark Channel | CPC]

• 1st Lieutenant Lyman Middleditch, Jr. of USAAF 57th Fighter Group, flying a P-40F fighter, shot down one German Bf 109 fighter during an attack on the German fighter base Landing Ground 20 in Egypt. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Isaac Sweers arrived at Gibraltar. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]

• Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", shot down a P-40 fighter over an area of India now Bangladesh, his fourth victory. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | CPC]

• Erwin Rommel visited Rome, Italy to press for more supplies for the war in North Africa. He arrived in Egypt to assume command of all Axis units in North Africa by the evening. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | Rome | CPC]

• USS Whale arrived in waters south of the Kii Channel between the islands of Shikoku and Honshu, Japan and began to lay mines. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]

• Friedrich Paulus reported to Adolf Hitler that Stalingrad, Russia would be taken by 10 Nov 1942. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• USS Acnon departed Norfolk, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Ancon | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]
• USS Honolulu shifted from Mare Island Naval Shipyard to San Francisco, California. ww2dbase [Honolulu | San Francisco, California | DS]

25 Oct 1942 Interactive Map