In the Solomon Islands... The Battle of Tassafaronga. American attempts to stop the regular night supply run of the "Tokyo Express" under Admiral Tanaka again develops into a major battle. Tanaka has 8 destroyers and Admiral Wright has 5 heavy cruisers and 7 destroyers. Wright uses radar to find the Japanese force and fire the first salvo. However, the American attack is ineffective with only one hit on a Japanese destroyer which sinks later. The Japanese sink one cruiser and damage 3 very seriously. Despite this success, Admiral Tanaka is reprimanded for failing to deliver the supplies needed by the starving Japanese forces on the island.

In New Guinea... The American forces attacking Japanese positions at Buna make their first real headway.

In Burma... The advance of the British 123rd Brigade in the Arakan has now reached Bawali Bazaar. Extremely bad weather slows the advance and makes road building very difficult.

In Japan... The German raider Thor is destroyed by fire in Yokohama harbor ending a cruise which sank 10 ships totaling 56,000 tons of shipping in 10 months.