World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 23 Aug 1942

• Dwight Eisenhower submitted an appraisal of the current situation to the Combined Chiefs stating that in his opinion an invasion of northwestern Africa would not be possible before 10 Nov 1942. A full month later than the date proposed by the Combined Chiefs. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | AC]
• USS Long Island arrived at Efate, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Long Island | CPC]
• USS Skipjack damaged a Japanese oiler in the Dutch East Indies, hitting her with one of four torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Skipjack | CPC]
• Soviet submarine M-36 sank German tug Ankara 40 miles off the Danube Delta, Romania. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-506 sank British ship Hamla 150 miles southwest of Freetown, British West Africa at 2337 hours; all 40 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• HMS Boreas (H 77) disembarked 15 survivors of steam tanker Mirlo, lost to German submarine U-130 on 11 Aug 1942, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. ww2dbase [HM]

• Japanese and American aircraft engaged in combat over Darwin, Australia between 1200 and 1245 hours; 7 Japanese bombers, 8 Japanese Zero fighters were shot down by P-40 Warhawk fighters of US 49th Fighter Group. This was to be the last Japanese attempt to raid Darwin. ww2dbase [Darwin, Northern Territory | CPC]
• USS S-44 arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [S-44 | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• After dark, Japanese destroyer Kagero bombarded Henderson Field from nearby Savo Sound, causing little damage. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Henderson Field | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
• The remainder of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment (1,411 troops) and several hundred Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops departed Truk, Caroline Islands aboard 3 transports for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; they were escorted by a powerful fleet of cruisers and destroyers up close and an even larger force, including fleet carriers and battleships, from a distance; at 0950 hours, the convoy was spotted by a US PBY Catalina aircraft, but the resulting carrier strike launched at 1410 hours failed to locate the convoy. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Truk | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille returned to his unit at Sanyet El Qutaifiya, Egypt. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• USS Finback arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. ww2dbase [Finback | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• USS Wahoo departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Wahoo | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
• Yugure bombarded Ocean Island, Hawaiian Islands. ww2dbase [Yugure | Ocean | CPC]

• USS S-41 fired three torpedoes at a Japanese submarine in the New Georgia Sound, scoring two hits and claimed it as a probable sinking. ww2dbase [S-41 | New Georgia Sound | CPC]

• The attack on Stalingrad in southern Russia opened with massive air raid lasting 48 hours involving more than 4,000 sorties while German ground units continued to reach the Volga River north and south of the city. At Chebotarevskiy 115 miles to the northeast, 700 Italian horse-mounted cavalry troops overran a Soviet artillery position by surprise, capturing 500 troops, 4 guns, 10 mortars, and 50 machine guns. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | TH, CPC]
• In what amounted to little more than a publicity stunt, the German 1.Gebirgsjäger Division soldiers hoisted the Reichskriegsfahne flag on Mount Elbrus, which was the highest point in the Caucasus Mountains. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Karachay-Cherkess | TH]
• USS Tuscaloosa, USS Rodman, USS Emmons, and HMS Onslaught arrived at Vaenga Bay near Murmansk, Russia; they disembarked personnel of two RAF Bomber Command squadrons, torpedoes, ammunition, and medical supplies. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]
• Soviet ice breaker Alexander Sibiryakov departed a port in northern Russia with 350 tons of supplies for the weather station in the Severnaya Zemlya islands on the eastern edge of the Kara Sea. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USAAF 1st Bombardment Squadron, operating B-18 Bolo bombers, arrived at Edinburgh Field in Trinidad. ww2dbase [Carlsen Field | Chaguanas | CPC]

• Destroyers USS Shaw and Allen departed San Francisco, California bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii escorting 5 ships. ww2dbase [Shaw | San Francisco, California | DS]
• USS Ranger and Augusta departed Norfolk, Virginia bound for Quonset Point, Rhode Island. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Augusta | Ranger | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]
• USS Washington, with USS Nicholas as an escort, departed New York bound for the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [New York Navy Yard | Washington | Nicholas | Brooklyn, New York | DS]

23 Aug 1942 Interactive Map