December 18, 1943 - Saturday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS Daly: 

USS Daly (DD-519) - Pacific Ocean, destination New Guinea

December 15th: Underway after 7 AM.  Temperatures 80s, light winds.

December 16th: At sea all day.  Reached Espiritu Santo area around noon, refueled in afternoon. Temperatures 80s, light winds.  John was last in this area over a year before, on O'Brien as it was being repaired.

December 17th: At sea all day; at noon, about 200 miles west of Espiritu Santo. Temperatures 80s, light winds.

December 18th:  At sea all day; at noon, about 420 miles WNW of Espiritu Santo.  Destination Milne Bay, New Guinea.  Courses and speeds are being changed regularly to avoid enemy submarines. 

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Preparations for the invasion of Kwajalein Atoll and the Marshall Islands are continuing and the invasion will be at the end of January. 

In the Solomons, fighting continues on Bougainville Island. Army forces under General MacArthur begin the Battle of Arawe as the first step in the campaign to capture New Britain.

In Italy, Allied forces continued slowly moving forward against German defensive lines, winning the Battle of San Pietro and forcing the German army out of the town.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 418-419. 
• Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 187-206.
• Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 350-365.
• War at the End of the World, James P. Duffy, pp, 1-275.
  
• Events of December, 1943 
  
• Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives, USS Daly, DD-519, December 1943

NEXT POST:  DECEMBER 22ND