Another Literary Casualty: Edgar Allen Poe Declared Total Loss

SUN 8 NOV 1942
Pacific
Motor torpedo boats PT-61, PT-39, and PT-37 engage two Japanese destroyers south of Savo Island, Guadalcanal; PT-61 and PT-39 and Mochizuki are damaged in the encounter.

Submarine Seawolf sinks Japanese gunboat Keiko Maru off Cape San Augustin, Mindanao, P.I., 06°22'N, 126°03'E.

U.S. freighter Edgar Allen Poe is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-21 in a spirited fight 56 miles southeast of Amadee Light, Nouméa, New Caledonia, 22°14'S, 166°30'E, during which two crewmen are killed. A part of the crew (including the 14-man Armed Guard) remains on board while New Zealand minesweeper HMNZS Matai and corvette HMNZS Kiwi tow the vessel to Nouméa, where she will be declared a total loss (see 9 November 1942).

Atlantic/Mediterranean
French North Africa is invaded in Operation TORCH. Allied Expeditionary Force under the supreme command of Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, USA, lands at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers. Allied Naval Force (Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, RN) is composed of three principal parts: Western Naval Task Force (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt) lands troops (Major General George S. Patton, USA) near Casablanca; Center Naval Task Force (Commodore Thomas H. Troubridge, RN) lands troops (Major General Lloyd R. Fredendall, USA) at Oran; and Eastern Naval Task Force (Rear Admiral Sir Harold M. Burrough, RN) put troops (Major General Charles W. Ryder, USA) ashore at Algiers.

U.S. naval vessels and carrier aircraft engage French naval forces at Casablanca, Morocco. On the morning of 8 November, French force (Rear Admiral Gervais de Lafonde in destroyer leader Milan) makes a valiant attempt to disrupt the landings off Casablanca, but is overwhelmed by gunfire from covering American ships.

U.S. ships damaged at Casablanca are battleship Massachusetts (BB-59), heavy cruiser Wichita (CA-45), light cruiser Brooklyn (CL-40), destroyers Ludlow (DD-438) and Murphy (DD-603), and high speed minesweeper Palmer (DMS-5) by French shore batteries off North Africa; high speed minesweeper Stansbury (DMS-8) by mine; and transport Leedstown (AP-73) by German aerial torpedo.

French ships sunk at Casablanca are merchant passenger liner Savoie Marseille and cargo ship Ile de Edienruder by Massachusetts; destroyer Fougeux by Massachusetts and heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa (CA-37); destroyer Boulonnais by light cruiser Brooklyn (CL-40) at 33°40'N, 07°34'W; destroyers Brestois and Frondeur by U.S. ships; submarines Oréade, Amphitrite, and Psyché by U.S. Navy carrier-based planes; submarine Sidi-Ferruch by planes (VGS-27) from aircraft escort vessel Suwannee (AVG-27); and merchant passenger liner Porthos, tanker Ouessant, and cargo ship Lipari. French ships damaged are battleship Jean Bart by battleship Massachusetts; submarine Le Tonnant by U.S. Navy ships; submarine Meduse by aircraft (VGS 29) from aircraft escort vessel Santee (ACV-29); and light cruiser Primaguet, destroyer leader Milan, and destroyers Albatros and Alcyon by naval aircraft.

French sloops Grandiere, Commandant Delage, and Gracieuse sortie on the afternoon of 8 November and pick up survivors from the French warships sunk in battle that morning. The latter two sloops will repeat the operation on 10 November.

French submarine Amazone makes unsuccessful attack upon light cruiser Brooklyn (CL-40).

Submarine Herring (SS-233) damages French cargo ship Ville du Havre off French Morocco, 33°34'N, 07°52'W.

German planes bomb Allied shipping off Algiers. U.S. freighter Exceller is damaged by near-misses; there are no casualties to the 32 merchant seamen and the 19-man Armed Guard.

Atlantic
British patrol boat rescues 34 survivors of U.S. freighter West Kebar, sunk on 29 October by German submarine U-129, and transports them to Barbados, British West Indies (see 10 and 18 November).