World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 31 Oct 1943

• USS Seahorse sank a small Japanese vessel with her deck gun south of Japan. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]

• The Hallfried, a Norwegian freighter of 2,968 tons, owned by P. Kleppe of Oslo was on route to Ardrossan in southwestern Scotland, United Kingdom with the combined convoys MKS-28/SL-138. The German submarine U-262 (Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Heinz Franke) fired 4 torpedoes (2 FAT and 2 T-3 types) then fired a GNAT torpedo at a destroyer that was acting as esc1943-10-31 The Hallfried, a Norwegian freighter of 2,968 tons, owned by P. Kleppe of Oslo was on route to Ardrossan in southwestern Scotland, United Kingdom with the combined convoys MKS-28/SL-138. The German submarine U-262 (Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Heinz Franke) fired 4 torpedoes (2 FAT and 2 T-3 types) then fired a GNAT torpedo at a destroyer that was acting as escort. Franke reported four detonations but only the Hallfried had been hit. Two of them struck her on the port side, first just forward of the bridge followed by the second at the engine room which caused the vessel to sink immediately. Only three of the crew managed to get away and were picked up after 45 minutes by the British destroyer HMS Wrestler (D35) 2 of the survivors in the water had lifevests on, but the third, who had been asleep when the attack occurred did not (in the same cabin there had also been 2 stokers and 1 of the British messboys, who all made it up on deck). They were pulled under by the suction as were the rest of the crew who were on deck. The English Able Seaman Thomas Shaw was able to get onto a raft that had floated free, while the other 2 were too far away to reach it. It was not unusual for British lads to join Norwegian ships and the Hallfried had 8 British in her crew, the eldest 22, the others just 17 years of age.46.01,-20.45ort. Franke reported four detonations but only the Hallfried had been hit. Two of them struck her on the port side, first just forward of the bridge followed by the second at the engine room which caused the vessel to sink immediately. Only three of the crew managed to get away and were picked up after 45 minutes by the British destroyer HMS Wrestler (D35) 2 of the survivors in the water had lifevests on, but the third, who had been asleep when the attack occurred did not (in the same cabin there had also been 2 stokers and 1 of the British messboys, who all made it up on deck). They were pulled under by the suction as were the rest of the crew who were on deck. The English Able Seaman Thomas Shaw was able to get onto a raft that had floated free, while the other 2 were too far away to reach it. It was not unusual for British lads to join Norwegian ships and the Hallfried had 8 British in her crew, the eldest 22, the others just 17 years of age. ww2dbase [Battle of Matapan | HM]
• TBF-1 Avenger aircraft flying from USS Card in the mid-Atlantic flown by Lt(jg) W.S. Fowler and Lt(jg) Leston “Sam” Balliett launched a coordinated attack on German submarine U-584 using Mark 24 FIDO acoustic homing torpedoes. U-584 was lost with all 53 hands. U-91 was also attacked at the same rendezvous point but escaped unharmed. ww2dbase [TBF Avenger | Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | Card | Mark XXIV | DS]

• The US Navy scored its first radar aided aerial victory when an F4U-2 Corsair fighter destroyed a Japanese aircraft it had intercepted over New Georgia. ww2dbase [F4U Corsair | New Georgia | AC]

• Martin Gottfried Weiss stepped down as the commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Dachau Concentration Camp | Martin Gottfried Weiss | Dachau, München-Oberbayern | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: 76th Construction Battalion (76th SeaBees) arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• US Fifth Army resumed the stalled offensive north of the Volturno River in Italy. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | TH]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Sasebo, Japan. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]
• An American reconnaissance flight from Suichuan Airfield, Jianxi Province, China detected a Japanese shipping concentration in the Sasebo-Nagasaki area. Claire Chennault requested for permission to attack, but Henry Arnold rejected the request, noting that he did not wish to alert the Japanese of American air strength in China while he worked on a plan for concerted B-29 strikes from China. ww2dbase [Claire Chennault | Sasebo, Nagasaki | CPC]
• Tomokazu Kasai completed advanced flight school in Japan. ww2dbase [Tomokazu Kasai | CPC]

• USS Gunnel completed a period of overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Gunnel | Vallejo, California | CPC]
• USS Enterprise departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard after overhaul. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Enterprise | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

31 Oct 1943 Interactive Map