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• USS Cassin Young screened carriers of Task Force 38 east of Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Cassin Young | CPC]
• Erwin Rommel was given a state funeral. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• Germany ordered the first Volkssturm call-up for all able-bodied men between the ages of 16-60. ww2dbase [TH]
• National German radio reported 50,000 officers have been killed since Sep 1939. ww2dbase [TH]
• Himmler was appointed as Commander of Heeresgruppe Oberrhein. ww2dbase [Heinrich Himmler | TH]
• Red Army units crossed the Norwegian border. ww2dbase [TH]
• Allied troops captured Venray, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [Battle of the Scheldt Estuary | CPC]
• Otto Skorzeny escorted Hungarian leader Miklós Horthy to Schloss Hirschberg in Franken, Germany via a special train. ww2dbase [Otto Skorzeny | CPC]
• USS Nicholas departed Hollandia, New Guinea escorting a convoy bound for Leyte Gulf, Philippines. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Three TDR drones were launched against lighthouse on Cape Saint George, New Ireland. None hit the target. ww2dbase [TDR | Cape Saint George, New Ireland | DS]

• Destroyer USS Shaw departed Ulithi bound for Hollandia (now Jayapura), New Guinea. ww2dbase [Shaw | Ulithi | DS]

• Yamato and Musashi's decks were painted black with soot for the intended night operation in the San Bernardino Strait before departing Lingga Roads for Brunei Bay, Boreno in the Dutch East Indies. Destroyer Yukikaze, among other ships, provided escort. ww2dbase [Musashi | Yamato | Yukikaze | Lingga Roads | CPC]

• Marcel Albert, flying a Yak-3 fighter, shot down a Fw 190 aircraft over Stallupönen, Ostpreußen, Germany (now Nesterov, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). ww2dbase [Marcel Albert | Stallupönen, Ostpreußen | CPC]

• USS Ticonderoga departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Ticonderoga | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Part of Air Group 45 on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Essex-class) | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]
• USS Ranger departed Pearl Harbor bound for San Diego, California for duty as a training carrier along the California coast, operating between San Diego and Alameda. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Ranger | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Kamoi took on a cargo of food while at Hong Kong. ww2dbase [Kamoi | CPC]

• Nachi departed Amami Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan with Cruiser Division 21 and Destroyer Squadron 1. ww2dbase [Nachi | Amami Oshima, Kagoshima | CPC]
• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Sasebo, Japan at 1721 hours and made rendezvous with convoy MI-23 consisted of Ebara Maru, Munakata Maru, Hikachi Maru, Matsumoto Maru, Koshin Maru, Einin Maru, Ritsuei Maru, Yamasono Maru, Enreki Maru, Shoei Maru, Hirota Maru, Unsen Maru, Yokai Maru, Shirotae Maru, Yuzan Maru No. 2, and survey ship Hakusa. ww2dbase [Stewart | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]

• USS Sterlet spotted a Japanese task force consisted of six destroyers and three cruisers; she failed to get into an attacking position. ww2dbase [Sterlet | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 135 was sunk by US aircraft off of the western coast of Luzon island, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | South China Sea | CPC]
• As a screening destroyer of the 'Taffy 3' escort carrier task group, USS Hoel took station east of the Philippine island of Samar as part of the covering force for the upcoming landings at Leyte Gulf. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Hoel | DS]
• About 160 miles east of Okinawa, submarine USS Saury picked up downed USS Bunker Hill aviator Lt(jg) D.R. Rehm, who had spent two-and-a-half days in a rubber life raft after ditching his F6F Hellcat due to engine failure. ww2dbase [Saury | DS]

• USS Marcus Island launched aircarft against Japanese positions in the Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | CPC]
• USS Wasp's aircraft attacked Japanese positions on Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]
• Landing ship No. 136 was sunk by US aircraft off of the western coast of Luzon island, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• USS Portland entered Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands in preparation for pre-invasion bombardments. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Portland | Leyte | DS]
• Task Group 77.2 consisting of battleships USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, USS West Virginia, and USS Mississippi with cruisers USS Honolulu, USS Portland, and USS Columbia arrived in Leyte Gulf, Philippines. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | Honolulu | Leyte Gulf | DS]

• USS Springer was commissioned into service with Commander Russell Kefauver in command. ww2dbase [Springer | CPC]
• Commander William Henry Ashford, Jr. was named the commanding officer of USS Sable. ww2dbase [Sable | CPC]

• USS Flying Fish arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her eleventh war patrol. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]
• USS Seahorse arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her sixth war patrol. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Seahorse | Midway | CPC]

18 Oct 1944 Interactive Map