Monday, November 30, 1942. The Battle of Tassafaronga.

The U.S. Navy suffered a defeat in the Battle of Tassafaronga off of Tassafaronga Point, Guadalcanal.  

A night action, Japanese destroyers sank a U.S. cruiser and damaged three other American cruisers to the loss of one destroyer. American vessels opened fire first, but their flashes of their guns illuminated their positions.

The Navy had intercepted the Japanese vessels in their attempt to deliver food to Japanese forces on the island.  Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, a Navy historian, regards this battle as one of the worst defeats in U.S. naval history.  Having said that, in spite of the heavy losses, the Japanese destroyers did fail in their mission and the Japanese forces on the island were now cut off from food supplies.

German surface raider Thor went down in Yokohama Harbor, along with the supply ship Uckermark.  Thor had been raiding in the Indian Ocean.  A fire broke out on the Uckermark, and it took both of htem out.

Actor Charles "Buck" Jones, age 50, died from injuries he sustained in the Coconut Grove fire.