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• German submarine U-98 mined waters off Jacksonville, Florida, United States. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarines U-379 and U-176 attacked Allied convoy SC-94 485 miles southeast of the southern tip of Greenland in the afternoon; at 1325 hours, U-379 fatally damaged British merchant ship Anneberg and sank US merchant ship Kaimoku (50 survived); at 1518 hours, U-176 sank British merchant ship Kelso (3 were killed, 40 survived), sank British merchant ship Trehata (23 were killed, 25 survived), and disabled Greek merchant ship Mount Kassion (47 survived). British corvette HMS Dianthus counterattacked U-379 by ramming and depth charges, sinking the German submarine; 40 were killed, 5 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | TH, AC]
• The Soviet Army launched a counter-offensive of Voronezh under Marshal Timoshenko. ww2dbase [TH]
• The Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee passed the Quite India resolution, and Mahatma Gandhi gave the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank park in central Bombay. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Republic XP-47B prototype aircraft crashed during flight trials. ww2dbase [P-47 Thunderbolt | AC]
• British submarine HMS Turbulent destroyed the hulk of Italian destroyer Strale, which had run aground intentionally on 21 Jun 1942, after being attacked by British torpedo bombers, to prevent sinking. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Proteus sank Greek sailing vessel Firesia in the Aegean Sea south of Naxos island, Greece. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Italian submarine Morosini became missing in the Bay of Biscay west of France. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Silversides sank Japanese freighter Nikkei Maru off southern Honshu island, Japan. ww2dbase [Silversides | CPC]
• German submarine U-601 entered the Kara Sea as a part of Operation Wunderland. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• USS S-31 arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [S-31 | Unalaska | CPC]

• At Australian Papua, 3 companies of Australian 39th Battalion departed Deniki separately shortly after dawn to attack the Kokoda Track; Company A would recapture the airfield in the morning, but the other two companies' attacks would be repulsed. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]

• US Marines captured the unfinished Japanese Lunga Point Airfield at Guadalcanal at 1600 hours, which would later renamed Henderson Field by the Americans. The US Marines also captured Tulagi (307 Japanese killed, 3 Japanese captured, 45 Americans killed), Gavutu, and Tanambogo (476 Japanese killed, 20 Japanese and Koreans captured, 70 Americans killed) islands in the afternoon. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | TH, CPC]
• Saburo Sakai, flying an A6M Zero fighter, shot down a F4F Wildcat fighter flown by James Southerland. His fighter was subsequently hit by gunner Harold Jones in a SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber, blowing away the canopy, causing a gashing wound on his head that blinded him in one eye. He was able to fly his fighter back to Rabaul, New Britain, collapsing only after having successfully landed. ww2dbase [Saburo Sakai | Guadalcanal | CPC]
• In the pre-dawn morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; in the Battle of Savo Island, Japanese cruisers Chōkai, Aoba, Kako, Kinugasa, and Furutaka used Type 93 torpedoes and gunfire to sink US cruisers USS Quincy, Vincennes, and Astoria and Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle (Canberra was badly damaged and was ultimately scuttled by a US destroyer). ww2dbase [Kako | Aoba | Furutaka | Canberra (County-class) | Kinugasa | Type 93 | Quincy (New Orleans-class) | Astoria (New Orleans-class) | Vincennes | Chokai | Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound, Solomon Islands | CPC]
• 26 Japanese G4M bombers and 12 Zero fighters based in Rabaul, New Britain attacked US ships off Guadalcanal at 1200 hours, damaging troop transport USS George F. Elliot and destroyer USS Jarvis (14 were killed); 18 G4M and 2 Zero aircraft were lost on this mission. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]

• B-25 bombers of US 10th Air Force attacked Tianhe Airfield in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; they claimed to have shot down two Japanese fighters over Guangzhou. ww2dbase [Tianhe Airfield | Guangzhou, Guangdong | CPC]

• USS New Mexico made rendezvous with Task Force 17 in the Hawaiian Islands for exercises. ww2dbase [New Mexico | CPC]

• USS Narwhal sank Japanese fishing boat Bifuku Maru 5 miles off the northeastern tip of Honshu island, Japan. ww2dbase [Narwhal | CPC]
• Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan and was drydocked at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. ww2dbase [Yokosuka Naval Arsenal | Katori | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• USS S-38 spotted Japanese transport Meiyo Maru escorted by a destroyer about 8 miles off of Cape St. George. At 2324 hours, she fired two torpedoes, scoring both hits, sinking Meiyo Maru 8 minutes later; 353 were killed. S-38 survived the depth charging by the destroyer after the attack. ww2dbase [S-38 | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Mako, Pescadores. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• Dwight Eisenhower established his headquarters in England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | England | TH]

• Six of the eight captured Nazi German saboteurs were executed in Washington DC, United States. The other two, George Dasch and Ernst Burger, were granted special treatment (30 years imprisonment and life imprisonment, respectively) by US President Franklin Roosevelt for their earlier cooperation that led to the capture of the other six. ww2dbase [Washington | TH, CPC]
• The Federal Grand Jury investigation on newspaper Chicago Tribune revealing classified military intelligence information made headlines on major US newspapers. Inadvertently this might have led to, though not proven, the changing of Japanese Navy radio communications encryption on 14 Aug 1942. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]

8 Aug 1942 Interactive Map