SEPTEMBER 1942
  • Sep 1 . Seabees and 6- 5" guns arrive Guadalcanal.
  • Sep 2 . UnderSec James Forrestal visit ; returns to DC calling for support for Guadalcanal.
  • Sep 3 . Japanese minelayer is damaged by aircraft, Solomons area.
  • Sep 4 . Gregory (APD-3) and Little (APD-4) are sunk by Japanese destroyers off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal.
  • Sep 5 . Japanese Army though Owen Stanley Gap and start down to Port Moresby, New Guinea. Sep 6 . Dual between flying boats : PBY downs the Kawanishi.
  • Sep 7 . Army loses 11 of 14 P-400 in three days.
  • Sep 8 . Edson Raiders destroy artillery dump
    Sep 8 . Nine planes crash on mud soaked air field.
  • Sep 9 . Reconn seaplane from Japanese submarine I-25 drops incendiary bombs near Mount Emily, Oregon, in an attempt to ignite forest fires.
  • Sep 10. Japanese submarine I-30 returns from Lorient, France, having successfully run the Allied blockade.
  • Sep 11. Last of 6,000 Japanese troops landed Guadalcanal in two week period.
  • Sep 12. Enterprise heads to Pearl after temporary repairs at Tongatabu.
    Sep 12. Wasp delivered aircraft to Henderson Field.
    Sep 12. German U-156 torpedoes British transport Laconia, which has 1,800 Italian POWs on board. Open and diplomatic calls for aid, rescue begins.
  • Sep 13-16. Marine Battle of Bloody Ridge defends the beachhead.
  • Sep 14. AAF planes sink Japanese ammunition ship off Kiska, Aleutians, damage 2 subs.
    Sep 14. 7th Marine division sails from Espiritu Santo for Guadalcanal.
  • Sep 15. Beginning of the battle of Stalingrad, lasts 4½ months.
    Sep 15. Wasp sunk by three torpedoes from I-19 ; N Carolina (BB-55) and O'Brien (DD-415) damaged.
    Sep 15. Japanese battleships bombard Guadalcanal.
  • Sep 16. Hornet is the only carrier in service in the Pacific.
    Sep 16. Laconia Incident : USAAF B-24 bombs German submarines rescuing survivors of the British Laconia.
  • Sep 17. Guadalcanal beachhead is 5 miles by 2½ miles deep.
    Sep 17. Japanese overland assault stopped at Ioribaiwa, within sight of Port Moresby, New Guinea.
    Sep 17. Adm Doenitz forbids U-boats from rescuing survivors of sunken ships : the "Laconia Order".
    Sep 17. Groves promoted to Brigadier and takes over Manhatten Project to build a bomb.
  • Sep 18. Japanese Army in NG, starving, starts withdrawal over Owen Stanley Mountains.
    Sep 18. 7th Marines, 4,180 men, land on Guadalcanal bringing total to 22,500.
  • Sep 19. Nights are 12 hours long, allowing Japanese DD transports protection from SBD's.
  • Sep 20. Liberty ship production achieves level of sinkings.
  • Sep 21. New depth control on torpedoes ; had been running 10' too deep. (Other torpedo problems continue.)
  • Sep 23. Marines start move through interior to Matanikau River.
  • Sep 24. Japanese land on Maiana, Gilberts.
    Sep 24. US planes damage Japanese resupply destroyer and seaplane carrier.
    Sep 24. Crews from each end of Alaska Highway meet. Completed 28Oct42, dedicated on 20Nov42.
  • Sep 25. Japanese land on Beru, Gilberts.
    Sep 25. Japanese ferry 100 fighters, 80 bombers to Rabaul
    Sep 26. First Marine offensive action fails at Matanikau River.
  • Sep 27. Japanese land on Kuria, Gilberts.
  • Sep 28. 23 of 62 attacking Japanese planes shot down with one US lost.
  • Sep 29. Reconn seaplane from Japanese submarine I-25 bombs forest in Oregon with incendiaries.
  • Sep 30. TF-1 battleships return to San Francisco from Hawaii.
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