These are the ten questions from War Dossier daily challenge #14, of 6 October 2026, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. Today's challenge is a different one and it is free to play.
Credit: US Navy · Licence: Dominio publico (PD-USGov)
The dossier entry: Batalla de las Islas Santa Cruz
On 26 October 1942, US and Japanese carriers clashed north of the Santa Cruz Islands. USS Hornet was badly damaged and abandoned, sinking early the next morning. Japan won a tactical victory in terms of sea control, but lost a disproportionate number of its most experienced aircrews.
Challenge answers
1 / 10
Which US aircraft carrier is shown being abandoned by its crew in this image from 26 October 1942?
USS Hornet
USS Enterprise
USS Wasp
USS Saratoga
The image shows USS Hornet listing, being abandoned by its crew during the afternoon of 26 October 1942.
2 / 10
What exact date is linked to the 1941 Moscow panic?
16 October 1941
22 June 1941
7 November 1941
5 December 1941
The episode was concentrated on 16 October 1941.
3 / 10
What was the main function of an observation tower like the Beobachtungsturm/Marinepeilstand?
Measuring bearing and range of ships: coastal artillery fire
Housing heavy anti-aircraft guns
Serving as an individual machine-gun post
Stopping the advance of tanks
Observers stationed in these towers determined the bearing and range of enemy ships and relayed that data by telephone to a plotting room, which then sent the firing solution to the coastal batteries.
4 / 10
Who prevented the demolition of the Antwerp harbour installations?
The Belgian Resistance
The German engineers
The Royal Air Force
The U.S. Navy
The Belgian Resistance seized the harbour installations before the Germans could destroy them.
5 / 10
What historic milestone did the Sherman 'Cobra King' achieve on 26 December 1944?
It was the first tank to break the siege of Bastogne
It was the first Allied tank to cross the Rhine
It was the first tank captured intact by the Germans in Normandy
It was the first tank to land on the beaches of Normandy
'Cobra King,' of the US 4th Armored Division, was the first tank to reach the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
6 / 10
What was the Flakvierling 38's combined cyclic rate of fire with its four barrels?
1,800 rounds per minute
160 rounds per minute
14 rounds per minute
450 rounds per minute
Combining its four barrels it reached up to 1,800 rounds per minute cyclic (about 800 in sustained practical fire), far above any single-barrel anti-aircraft gun.
7 / 10
What happened to the final Allied bombing missions over the Kanto plain after the announcement of Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945?
Formations still airborne were recalled and further attacks ceased
They continued unchanged for another full week
They intensified as immediate retaliation
They were converted into exclusive F-13 reconnaissance missions
Once the surrender became known, formations still airborne were recalled and conventional bombing ceased.
8 / 10
Which of these elements is an Allied measure for organizing maritime traffic, rather than a specific class of warship or a German tactic?
The Allied convoy system
The escort groups
The Liberty ships
The wolfpacks
The convoy system was above all a method for organizing maritime traffic, distinct from a ship class or an attack tactic.
9 / 10
Unlike the French leader absent from the Allied summits, who usually featured in the so-called family photos from those meetings?
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
De Gaulle, Churchill and Stalin
Roosevelt, De Gaulle and Stalin
The four Allied heads of government together
The family photographs showed Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, without the presence of the French leader.
10 / 10
Of the topics in this group, which one describes an Allied tactical countermeasure designed to saturate airspace and blunt the attacks, rather than a Japanese-originated offensive or operation?
The system known as the big blue blanket
The kikusui waves at Okinawa
Japanese propaganda about sacrifice
Vice Admiral Ugaki's last flight
Unlike a Japanese offensive or operation, this topic concerns a defensive response developed by the Allied side.
Today's challenge is another ten questions. No sign-up, nothing to install.
