October 24
1947
Battle of Muzaffarabad
The capture of Muzaffarabad in late October 1947 — widely reported on October 24–25, 1947 — was an early and strategically decisive action in the first Indo‑Pakistani war over Jammu and Kashmir. Tribal lashkars and irregular columns moving from the North‑West Frontier and local insurgents surrounded and overwhelmed understrength State Forces, seizing the town that controlled river valleys leading to Srinagar. The loss helped drive Maharaja Hari Singh to accede to India on October 26 and prompted the Indian airlift of troops the next day; the town remained on the Pakistan‑administered side after a 1949 ceasefire. Read more
1944
USS Tang (SS-306): The Submarine That Turned on Its Own Torpedo
USS Tang, a Balao‑class submarine commanded by Lieutenant Commander Richard H. O’Kane, became one of the U.S. Navy’s most successful submarines in World War II before a fatal circular‑run torpedo struck her during an attack on a convoy off Formosa on October 24, 1944. Tang is credited with sinking 33 enemy ships (116,454 GRT); her loss killed 78 men and left 9 survivors who were captured. The incident exposed a lethal flaw in torpedo behavior and reshaped submarine tactics and safety procedures. Read more
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