World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 26 Oct 1942

• USS S-28 began performing training missions for the West Coast Sound School and for the Amphibious Forces Training Group. ww2dbase [S-28 | CPC]
• 850 Jews were arrested in Norway. Meanwhile, in Nürnberg, Germany, 95 scientists gathered to review the result of Dr. Sigmund Rascher's freezing experiments using concentration camp prisoners as subjects. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• British Private Percy Gratwick used grenades, rifle, and bayonet to take enemy positions at El Alamein, Egypt but was then shot and killed. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [AC]
• In the morning, Rommel committed much of his reserves to the Point 29 region in Egypt. Meanwhile, noting that Rommel had taken the bait, Montgomery planned to pin down Axis troops around Point 29 while launching a new offensive to the southwest. ww2dbase [Second Battle of El Alamein | CPC]
• Allied convoy UCF 1, containing troops and equipment for the invasion of French North Africa, was met by a covering force of battleships and cruisers which had sailed from Casco Bay, Maine, United States. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | CPC]
• USS S-31 stalked Japanese cargo ship Keizan Maru starting at 0825 hours in Otomae Wan, Paramushiro, Kurile Islands. At 0922 hours, she fired two torpedoes, both scoring and sinking the cargo ship. While withdrawing after the attack, S-31 ran aground on reef multiple times, finally reaching deep waters at 1000 hours. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]
• US Navy Ensign George L. Wrenn of VF-72 from the USS Hornet engaged Japanese aircraft attacking the US fleet. He shot down five Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers during the sortie. The Hornet was sunk during the battle and Wrenn had to be recovered aboard the USS Enterprise. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | F4F Wildcat | AC]
• Men of the 1st Battalion of US 164th Infantry Division repulsed a Japanese attack on the southern flank of the Lunga Perimeter at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, another attack against Hill 67, initially penetrating into the American line, was eventually driven back by US Marines. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell announced his intention to establish his forward base at Ledo, India for the planned offensive into Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• ShCh-307 sank Finnish merchant ship Betty H. south of the Ã…land Islands in the Gulf of Finland. ww2dbase [ShCh-307 | CPC]
• USS Nashville and USS Bailey departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska. ww2dbase [Bailey | Nashville | DS]

• USS S-35 departed Unalaska, US Territory of Alaska for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-35 | Unalaska | CPC]
• USS St. Louis arrived at Dutch Harbor, Alaska and departed almost immediately due to increasing gale, setting a course for Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island | DS]

• Alpino Bagnolini sighted three aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1433 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• Tenryu evacuated 260 Sasebo No. 5 Special Naval Landing Force troops from Welle Island (now Sanaroa), D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Welle Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands | CPC]

• Shokaku was heavily damaged by bombs during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. Four to six bombs struck the flight deck; one struck aft of the island and the rest were grouped around the amidships and aft elevators. Large fires were started, and the flight deck was completely buckled by the blasts. Though sixty officers and men were killed, since no aircraft were aboard, no fuel was active and damage control was able to extinguish the fires and save the ship. Admiral Nagumo transferred his flag to destroyer Arashi. Then, with the damaged light carrier Zuiho, Shokaku was detached and ordered home to Truk escorted by Hatsukaze and Maikaze. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Solomon Islands Campaign | CPC]

• Isaac Sweers departed Gibraltar for the Azores. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]

• Submarine USS Growler departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for her third war patrol; this time in the shipping lanes between Truk and Rabaul. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Growler | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | DS]

• Nachi arrived at Paramushiro (Paramushir), Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]

• Norwegian trawler Arthur, commanded by Norwegian Lieutenant Leif Larsen working for the British Special Operations Executive, entered Trondheimsfjord, Norway with two Chariot manned torpedoes secreted beneath the vessel. The Chariots were torn off the hull when just 10 miles short of their target, German battleship Tirpitz, and the mission had to be abandoned. ww2dbase [Chariot-class | Special Operations Executive | Trondheimsfjord | AC]

• At the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, US forces achieved victory but saw USS Enterprise, USS South Dakota, and USS San Juan damaged. Aircraft carrier USS Hornet (Yorktown-class) was badly damaged from aerial bombs and torpedoes and then finally hit by three Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo which caused her to sink 30 minutes later. On the Japanese side, carriers Shokaku and Zuiho were damaged by dive bombers from USS Hornet and USS Enterprise, respectively. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Solomon Islands Campaign | Type 93 | South Dakota | Hornet (Yorktown-class) | Enterprise | Zuiho | San Juan | CPC]
• USS Whale sank a Japanese freighter south of the Kii Channel between the islands of Shikoku and Honshu, Japan, hitting her with 2 of 5 torpedoes fired. Shortly after, she damaged two other freighters, hitting them with 2 of the 6 additional torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• USS Juneau served as a part of the anti-aircraft screen during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. ww2dbase [Juneau | CPC]
• Tanikaze participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands and then escorted the damaged heavy cruiser Chikuma toward Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Tanikaze | CPC]
• Kumano screened the carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Kumano | Zuikaku | Shokaku | Zuiho | DS]
• Destroyer USS Shaw went to assist destroyer USS Porter that had been struck by a runaway American aerial torpedo. Shaw took Porter's crew aboard and then scuttled Porter. ww2dbase [Solomon Islands Campaign | Shaw | DS]

• The Soviet 15th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment was formed in the Moscow Military District from the 137th Tank Brigade. Equipped with Churchill III and IV tanks supplied by the British under Lend-Lease the Regiment was initially assigned to I Guards Mechanized Corps but was removed from the Corps in Jul 1943 to serve as an independent infantry support regiment. It was disbanded in Feb 1944 to provide manpower for the new heavy assault gun regiments. ww2dbase [Moscow | AC]

• In light of the positive report from Friedrich Paulus from Stalingrad, Russia, Adolf Hitler, from his Wehrwolf headquarters near of Vinnytsia in Ukraine, ordered some of the German units in that region to prepare to move north once Stalingrad was conquered. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Vinnytsia | CPC]

• USS Sunfish departed San Francisco, California, United States. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | San Francisco, California | CPC]

26 Oct 1942 Interactive Map