New Month, Same Crap

OCTOBER

• FRI 1 OCT 1943
  Pacific
  Motor torpedo boat PT-68, damaged by grounding off Vincke Point, Huon Peninsula, eastern New Guinea, 05°56'S, 147°18'E, is scuttled by motor torpedo boat PT-191 to prevent capture.
  
  Destroyer Saufley (DD-465) is damaged by near-miss of bombs from Japanese horizontal bomber, Solomons, 07°42'S, 160°14'E.
  
  Tank landing ships LST-448 is damaged by horizontal bomber, Solomons, 07°45'S, 156°30'E.
  
  Mobile degaussing barge YDG-4 sinks nine miles southeast of Bulari Passage, after running aground off New Caledonia.
  
  Submarine Peto (SS-265) sinks Japanese transport Tonei Maru and Japanese army cargo ship Kinkasan Maru, Southern Carolines, 04°00'N, 143°50'E.
  
  Submarine Wahoo (SS-238) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Masaki Maru in Sea of Japan.
  
  Atlantic
  Naval Air Facility, Recife, Brazil, is established.
  
  Naval forces under Commander Naval Forces Europe (Admiral Harold R. Stark) are designated the Twelfth Fleet.
  
  Escort carrier Block Island (CVE-21) and destroyer Black (DD-666) are damaged in collision in Elizabeth River channel, Norfolk, Virginia.
  
  PV-1s (VB-128) attack German submarines U-402 and U-448 as the latter seek (unsuccessfully) convoy HX 258 in the North Atlantic.
  
  Mediterranean
  U.S. freighter Metapan, in convoy UGS 15, is mined and sunk at 37°20'N, 10°35'E. Fuel-oil barge Syncline (YO-63) rescues the 50-man merchant complement, the 23-man Armed Guard and the one passenger.

Only one quarter of this annus horribilis remaining!