23 Feb 1943

- US carrier aircraft attacked Japanese installations in the Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [TH]
- Erwin Rommel ordered his forces in western Tunisia to move east to avoid being attacked on both sides. ww2dbase [Battle of Kasserine Pass | CPC]
- German U-boats using acoustic homing torpedoes sank seven tankers in a North Atlantic convoy. ww2dbase [AC]
- Yekaterina Budanova was awarded the Order of the Red Star. ww2dbase [Yekaterina Budanova | CPC]
- HMCS Trillium rescued 58 survivors of US merchant ship Chattanooga City and 53 survivors of US merchant ship Expositor, both of which were sunk by German submarine U-606 in the North Atlantic on the previous day. ww2dbase [Trillium | CPC]
- German submarine U-603 sank Norwegian merchant ship Glittre in the North Atlantic. ww2dbase [CPC]
- HMS Dianthus rescued 34 survivors of Norwegian merchant ship Glittre in the Atlantic Ocean. ww2dbase [Dianthus | CPC]
- Lydia Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Star and was promoted to the rank of junior lieutenant. ww2dbase [Lydia Litvyak | CPC]
- Alpino Bagnolini detected an aircraft with her Metox radar detector in the Atlantic Ocean at 0600 hours; she submerged to avoid detection, and recorded six depth charge detonations at 0655 hours. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]
- Submarine USS Growler entered South Brisbane Drydock for more extensive repairs to her damaged bow. ww2dbase [Growler | Brisbane, Queensland | DS]
- Japanese Navy Yokosuka 7th Special Naval Landing Force disembarked 1,807 men at Kolombangara, New Georgia. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Kolombangara, New Georgia | CPC]
- Repair ship Akashi began repairing destroyer Harusame at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
- Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Armory turned over to station. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
- USS Wahoo departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
- Task Force 67 consisting of cruisers USS Nashville, USS Helena (St. Louis-class), USS Honolulu, and USS St. Louis with destroyers USS Chevalier, USS Strong, USS Taylor, and USS Jenkins arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Honolulu | St. Louis | Nashville | Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo | DS]
- Germans brought 39 Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz II-Birkenau to Block 20 of Auschwitz I in occupied Poland. These prisoners, aged 13 to 17, were killed by phenol injections administered by SS-Unterscharführer Herbert Scherpe in the evening. These prisoners were originally from the Zamosc region of Poland. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]


23 Feb 1943 Interactive Map
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