The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II--1941 (original) (raw)

• Dec 1, Mon.
  Atlantic
  Patrol Wing 9 (Lieutenant Commander Thomas U. Sisson) is established at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
  German submarine U-575 encounters and tracks unarmed U.S. tanker Astral, the latter en route from Aruba, N.W.I., to Lisbon, Portugal, with a cargo of 78,200 barrels of gasoline and kerosene. After seeing that Astral is unarmed and bears prominent neutrality markings, however, the U-boat's commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Gunther Heydemann, allows the American ship to pass unmolested. Subsequently, another submarine in the vicinity, U-43, encounters Astral and attacks her, but her torpedoes miss their mark (see 2 December).
  TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), accompanied by salvage vessel Redwing (ARS-4) and oiler Sapelo (AO-11), while escorting convoy HX 162, encounters heavy weather that scatters 35 merchantmen. Destroyers Charles F. Hughes (DD-428), Madison(DD-425), Lansdale (DD-426), Wilkes (DD-441) and Sturtevant(DD-240) all suffer storm damage of varying degrees (see 7 December).
  Destroyer Livermore (DD-429), escorting convoy ONS 39, is dispatched to investigate darkened merchantman steaming on opposite course. Livermore trails her and after determining her to be Panamanian freighter Ramapo, en route to join convoy SC 56, allows her to continue her voyage after being warned not to radio a report of contact with a convoy.
  Pacific
  President orders a "defensive information patrol" of "three small ships" established off the coast of French Indochina; he specifically designates yacht Isabel (PY-10) (reserve flagship for Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet) as one of the trio of vessels (see 3 and 6 December). Schooner Lanikai is acquired and commissioned, but the start of the war results in her planned mission being cancelled. The third vessel, schooner Molly Moore, is selected for the mission but is never taken over. Lanikai's civilian career had seen her used as a "prop" in the filming of motion picture "Hurricane" that starred Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall.
  U.S. passenger liner President Harrison arrives at Olongapo, P.I., with the remaining elements of the 4th Marine Regiment (Colonel Samuel L. Howard, USMC) withdrawn from Shanghai. President Harrison soon sails to bring out the last marines from China (see 8 December).
  As river gunboats Luzon (PR-7) and Oahu (PR-6) (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford, Commander Yangtze Patrol, in Luzon), submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR-6) and minesweeper Finch(AM-9) proceed toward Manila, they become the object of curiosity by Japanese forces in the vicinity; first a floatplane circles the formation, then seven Japanese warships of various types.
• Dec 2, Tue.
  U.S. freighter Dunboyne receives first naval Armed Guard crew. By the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy will arm some 6,236 merchantmen; approximately 144,970 officers and enlisted men will defend these merchant vessels in every theater of war.
  Atlantic
  German submarine U-43 again attacks unarmed U.S. tanker _Astral_and this time torpedoes and sinks her at 35°40'N, 24°00'W. There are no survivors from the 37-man merchant crew.
  Weather encountered by convoy ONS 39, being escorted by TU 4.1.4 (Captain Alan G. Kirk) worsens to the extent that the watch on board destroyer Plunkett (DD-431) cannot be relieved because officers and men cannot safely traverse the weather decks.
  TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) clears Reykjavik, Iceland, to rendezvous with convoy ON 41, which due to poor weather will be 48 hours late to the MOMP. Over the ensuing period at sea, TU 4.1.5 battles "consistently severe" weather conditions that will cause varying degrees of damage to all of the ships in the task unit. Although ships of the unit carry out attacks (see 5, 9 and 11 December), there will be no U-boat attacks on the merchantmen under their protection.
  TU 4.1.6 (Commander Gilbert C. Hoover), escorting convoy HX 161, encounters heavy weather; destroyer Bernadou (DD-153) suffers storm damage; destroyers Roe (DD-418) and Lea (DD-118) each lose a man overboard. Neither sailor is recovered (see 4 December).
  Pacific
  Submarine Trout (SS-202) arrives off Midway Island on simulated war patrol.
• Dec 3, Wed.
  Atlantic
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Sagadahoc is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-124 in South Atlantic, 21°50'S, 07°50'W. One man of the 37-man crew is lost.
  Destroyer Mayo (DD-422), in TU 4.1.5 en route to MOMP and convoy ON 41, encounters two British ships, HMS _Tenacity_and merchantman Meademere, burning navigation lights south of Iceland; when they fail to answer challenge, Mayo illuminates them with starshells, at which point they turn off lights and answer challenge promptly.
  Pacific
  Yacht Isabel (PY-10) sails for coast of French Indochina, deployed in accordance with President Roosevelt's "defensive information patrol" order.
  Submarine Argonaut (SS-166) arrives off Midway Island on simulated war patrol.
• Dec 4, Thu.
  Pacific
  River gunboats Luzon (PR-7) and Oahu (PR-6) (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford, Commander Yangtze Patrol, in Luzon), followed later by submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR-6) and minesweeper Finch (AM-9), reach Manila.
  River gunboat Mindanao (PR-8) (Captain Lester J. Hudson, Commander South China Patrol, embarked) sails from Hong Kong, British Crown Colony, for Manila. She is the last U.S. Navy ship to depart Chinese waters prior to war. Luzon Stevedoring Company tug _Ranger_follows subsequently, carrying spare parts and 800 3-inch shells for _Mindanao's_main battery (previously stored ashore at Hong Kong). Only two U.S. naval vessels remain in Chinese waters: river gunboat Wake (ex-Guam) (PR-3) at Shanghai to maintain communications until a radio station is established at the Consulate General with Navy equipment, and river gunboat Tutuila (PR-4) at Chungking, where she furnishes essential services to the U.S. Embassy. Wake had received her new name on 23 January 1941 to clear the name Guam for a new large cruiser (CB 2).
  Carrier Enterprise (CV-6) ferries USMC F4Fs (VMF 211) to Wake Island; TF 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) then shapes a course to return to Pearl Harbor. TF 8 is slated to reach Pearl on 6 December. Heavy weather on 5-6 December, however, will result in a delay in fueling the force's destroyers and push back the time of arrival in Pearl from the afternoon of the 6th to the morning of the 7th. That same day, a routine scouting flight from the carrier sights Honolulu-bound tug Sonoma (AT-12) with Pan American Airways barges PAB No. 2 and PAB No. 4 in tow. Sonoma, armed with only two .30-caliber machine guns, will eventually reach Honolulu on 15 December 1941, with her tows.
  Japanese naval land attack plane (Chitose Kokutai) reconnoiters Wake Island undetected.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) reaches MOMP to escort convoy ON 41 which has been delayed by bad weather.
  TU 4.1.6 (Commander Gilbert C. Hoover), encounters "mountainous" seas as it continues to escort convoy HX 161; destroyer Roe(DD-418) suffers two sailors hurt when torpedo breaks loose atop her after deckhouse.
• Dec 5, Fri.
  Pacific
  Japan assures the U.S. that her troop movements in French Indochina are only precautionary.
  Carrier Lexington (CV-2) in TF 12 (Rear Admiral John H. Newton) sails for Midway to ferry USMC SB2Us (VMSB 231) to that atoll. Like Enterprise (CV-6)'s deployment to Wake, _Lexington's_to Midway is in response to the "War Warning" of 27 November.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.3 (Commander George W. Johnson) assumes escort duty for convoy HX 163 in North Atlantic.
  Destroyer Babbitt (DD-128), in TU 4.1.5 escorting convoy ON 41, depth-charges suspected submarine contact without result.
• Dec 6, Sat.
  Pacific
  Yacht Isabel (PY-10) is sighted by floatplane from Japanese seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru at about 13°24'N, 112°21'E. Later in the day, Isabel receives orders to return to Manila.
  Atlantic
  Destroyer Decatur (DD-341), in TU 4.1.4 (Captain Alan G. Kirk), escorting convoy ONS 39, carries out depth charge attack on suspicious contact, 51°54'N, 41°53'W.
• Dec 7, Sun.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), accompanied by salvage vessel Redwing(ARS-4) and oiler Sapelo (AO-11), while escorting convoy HX 162, reaches the MOMP; 21 of the 35 merchantmen scattered by the storm encountered on 1 December have rejoined by this time.
  Pacific
  Unarmed U.S. Army-chartered steam schooner Cynthia Olson is shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I 26 about 1,000 miles northwest of Diamond Head, Honolulu, T.H., 33°42'N, 145°29'W. She is the first U.S. merchantman to be sunk by a Japanese submarine in World War II. There are no survivors from the 33-man crew or the two Army passengers.
  Japanese Type A midget submarine attempts to follow general stores issue ship Antares (AKS-3) into the entrance channel to Pearl Harbor; summoned to the scene by the auxiliary vessel, destroyer Ward(DD-139), on channel entrance patrol, with an assist from a PBY (VP 14), sinks the intruder with gunfire and depth charges. Word of the incident, however, works its way with almost glacial slowness up the chain of command.
  Army radar station at Opana Point, Oahu, soon thereafter detects an unusually large "blip" approaching from the north, but the operator reporting the contact is told not to concern himself with the matter since a formation of USAAF B-17s is expected from the west coast of the United States. The army watch officer dismisses the report as "nothing unusual." The "blip" is the first wave of the incoming enemy strike.
  Consequently, "like a thunderclap from a clear sky" Japanese carrier attack planes (in both torpedo and high-level bombing roles) and bombers, supported by fighters, totaling 353 planes from naval striking force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) attack in two waves, targeting ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, and nearby military airfields and installations. Japanese planes torpedo and sink battleships Oklahoma (BB-37) and West Virginia (BB-48), and auxiliary (gunnery training/target ship) Utah (AG-16). On board Oklahoma, Ensign Francis G. Flaherty, USNR, and Seaman First Class James R. Ward, as the ship is abandoned, hold flashlights to allow their shipmates to escape; on board West Virginia, her commanding officer, Captain Mervyn Bennion, directs his ship's defense until struck down and mortally wounded by a fragment from a bomb that hits battleship Tennessee (BB-43) moored inboard; on board Utah, Austrian-born Chief Watertender Peter Tomich remains at his post as the ship capsizes, securing the boilers and making sure his shipmates have escaped from the fireroom. Flaherty, Ward, Bennion, Tomich and Bennion's falling in action sets in motion a chain of events that will result in Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller becoming the first African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross. Miller, a brawny, broad-shouldered former high school football player, is recruited to carry the mortally wounded captain from the bridge. Their egress temporarily blocked by fires, however, the men are compelled to remain on the bridge. Miller mans a .50-caliber machine gun and later tells interviewers modestly that he believes he may have damaged two low-flying Japanese planes. Sadly, Miller will not survive the war; he will perish with escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56) on 24 November 1943 off the Gilberts.
  Japanese bombs also sink battleship Arizona (BB-39); the cataclysmic explosion of her forward magazine causes heavy casualties, among them Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Commander Battleship Division 1, who thus becomes the first U.S. Navy flag officer to die in combat in World War II. Both he and Arizona's commanding officer, Captain Franklin van Valkenburgh, are awarded Medals of Honor, posthumously. In addition, the ship's senior surviving officer on board, Lieutenant Commander Samuel G. Fuqua, directs efforts to fight the raging fires and sees to the evacuation of casualties from the ship; he ultimately directs the abandonment of the doomed battleship and leaves in the last boat. He is awarded the Medal of Honor.
  When Arizona explodes, she is moored inboard of repair ship Vestal (AR-4); the blast causes damage to the repair ship, which has already been hit by a bomb. Vestal's captain, Commander Cassin Young earns the Medal of Honor by swimming back to his ship after being blown overboard by the explosion of _Arizona's_magazines, and directing her beaching on Aiea shoal to prevent further damage in the fires consuming Arizona.
  Battleship California (BB-44) is hit by both bombs and torpedoes and sinks at her berth alongside Ford Island; during the battle, Ensign Herbert C. Jones, USNR, organizes and leads a party to provide ammunition to the ship's 5-inch antiaircraft battery; he is mortally wounded by a bomb explosion. Gunner Jackson C. Pharris, leading an ordnance repair party, is stunned by concussion of a torpedo explosion early in the action but recovers to set up an ammunition supply train, by hand; he later enters flooding compartments to save shipmates. Chief Radioman Thomas J. Reeves assists in maintaining an ammunition supply party until overcomes by smoke inhalation and fires; Machinist's Mate Robert R. Scott, although his station at an air compressor is flooding, remains at his post, declaring "This is my station and I will stay and give them [the antiaircraft gun crews] air as long as the guns are going." Jones, Pharris, Reeves and Scott all receive the Medal of Honor (Jones, Reeves and Scott posthumously).
  Japanese bombs damage destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes(DD-375), which are lying immobile in Drydock No. 1.
  Minelayer Oglala (CM-4) is damaged by concussion from torpedo exploding in light cruiser Helena (CL-50) moored alongside, and capsizes at her berth; harbor tug Sotoyomo(YT-9) is sunk in floating drydock YFD-2. Contrary to some secondary accounts, Utah (a converted battleship) is not attacked because she resembled an aircraft carrier, she is attacked because, in the excitement of the moment, she looked sufficiently like the capital ship she once had been. Of the other sunken ships, California,West Virginia, Oglala, and Sotoyomo are raised and repaired; Cassin and Downes are rebuilt around their surviving machinery; all are returned to service. Oklahoma, although raised after monumental effort, is never repaired, and ultimately sinks while under tow to the west coast to be broken up for scrap. The hulks of Arizona and Utah remain at Pearl as memorials.
  Battleship Nevada (BB-36), the only capital ship to get underway during the attack, is damaged by bombs and a torpedo before she is beached. Two of her men are later awarded the Medal of Honor: Machinist Donald K. Ross for his service in the forward and after dynamo rooms and Chief Boatswain Edwin J. Hill (posthumously) for his work in enabling the ship to get underway and, later, in attempting to release the anchors during the attempt to beach the ship.
  Battleships Pennsylvania (BB-38), Tennessee(BB-43), and Maryland (BB-46), light cruiser Honolulu(CL-48), and floating drydock YFD-2 are damaged by bombs; light cruisers Raleigh (CL-7) and Helena (CL-50) are damaged by torpedoes; destroyer Shaw (DD-373), by bombs, in floating drydock YFD-2; heavy cruiser New Orleans (CA-32), destroyers Helm (DD-388) and Hull (DD-350), destroyer tender Dobbin (AD-3), repair ship Rigel (AR-11), and seaplane tender Tangier (AV-8), are damaged by near-misses of bombs; seaplane tender Curtiss (AV-4) is damaged by crashing carrier bomber; garbage lighter YG-17 (alongside _Nevada_at the outset) is damaged by strafing and/or concussion of bombs.
  Destroyer Monaghan (DD-354) rams, depth-charges, and sinks Type A midget submarine inside Pearl Harbor proper, during the attack. This particular Type A may have been the one whose periscope harbor tug YT-153 attempts to ram early in the attack.
  Light minelayer Gamble (DM-15) mistakenly fires upon submarine Thresher (SS-200) off Oahu, 21°15'N, 159°01'W.
  Thresher mistakes Gamble for destroyer Litchfield(DD-336) (the latter ship assigned to work with submarines in the Hawaiian operating area), the ship with which she is to rendezvous. Gamble, converted from a flush-deck, four-pipe destroyer, resembles Litchfield. Sadly, the delay occasioned by the mistaken identity proves fatal to a seriously injured sailor on board the submarine, who dies four hours before the boat finally reaches port on the 8th, of multiple injuries suffered on 6 December 1941 when heavy seas wash him against the signal deck rail.
  Carrier Enterprise (CV-6) Air Group (CEAG, VB 6 and VS 6) search flight (Commander Howard L. Young, CEAG), in two-plane sections of SBDs, begins arriving off Oahu as the Japanese attack unfolds; some SBDs meet their doom at the hands of Japanese planes; one (VS 6) is shot down by friendly fire. Another SBD ends up on Kauai where its radio-gunner is drafted into the local Army defense force with his single .30-caliber machine gun. Almost all of the surviving planes, together with what observation and scouting planes from battleship (VO) and cruiser (VCS) detachments, as well as flying boats (VP) and utility aircraft (VJ) that survive the attack, take part in the desperate, hastily organized searches flown out of Ford Island to look for the Japanese carriers whence the surprise attack had come.
  Navy Yard and Naval Station, Pearl Harbor; Naval Air Stations at Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay; Ewa Mooring Mast Field (Marine Corps air facility); Army airfields at Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows; and Schofield Barracks suffer varying degrees of bomb and fragment damage. Japanese bombs and strafing destroy 188 Navy, Marine Corps, and USAAF planes. At NAS Kaneohe Bay, Aviation Chief Ordnanceman John W. Finn mounts a machine gun on an instruction stand and returns the fire of strafing planes although wounded many times. Although ordered to leave his post to have his wounds treated, he returns to the squadron areas where, although in great pain, he oversees the rearming of returning PBYs. For his heroism, Finn is awarded the Medal of Honor.
  Casualties amount to: killed or missing: Navy, 2,008; Marine Corps, 109; Army, 218; Civilian, 68; Wounded: Navy, 710; Marine Corps, 69; Army, 364; Civilian, 35. One particular family tragedy prompts concern in the Bureau of Navigation (later Bureau of Naval Personnel) on the matter of brothers serving in the same ship, a common peacetime practice in the U.S. Navy. Firemen First Class Malcolm J. Barber and LeRoy K. Barber, and Fireman Second Class Randolph H. Barber, are all lost when battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) capsizes. The Bureau considers it in the "individual family interest that brothers not be put on the same ship in war time, as the loss of such a ship may result in the loss of two or more members of the family, which might be avoided if brothers are separated." The Bureau, however, stops short of specifically forbidding the practice. On 3 February 1942, it issues instructions concerning the impracticality of authorizing transfers of men directly from recruit training to ships in which relatives are serving, and urges that brothers then serving together be advised of the undesirability of their continuing to do so. Authorizing commanding officers to approve requests for transfers to facilitate separation, the Bureau directs in July 1942 that commanding officers of ships not forward requests for brothers to serve in the same ship or station. This is too late, however, to prevent the five Sullivan brothers from serving in light cruiser Juneau (CL-52) (see 13 November 1942). Acts of heroism by sailors, marines, soldiers and civilians (from telephone exchange operator to yard shop worker), in addition to those enumerated above, abound. Among the civilians who distinguish themselves this day is Tai Sing Loo, the yard photographer, who has a scheduled appointment to take a picture of the marine Main Gate guards. During the attack, he helps the marines of the Navy Yard fire department fight fires in dry dock number one and later, in the wake of the morning's devastation, delivers food to famished leathernecks.
  Japanese losses amount to fewer than 100 men, 29 planes of various types and four Type A midget submarines. A fifth Type A washes ashore off Bellows Field and is recovered; its commander (Ensign Sakamaki Kazuo) is captured, becoming U.S. prisoner of war number one.
  Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class Nishikaichi Shigenori, from the carrier Hiryu, crash-lands his Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 carrier fighter (ZERO) on the island of Niihau, T.H. He surrenders to the islanders who disarm him and confiscate his papers but, isolated as they are, know nothing of the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Peaceful and friendly," Nishikaichi is not kept in custody but is allowed to roam the island unguarded (see 9, 12-14 December).
  First night recovery of planes in World War II by the U.S. Navy occurs when Enterprise turns on searchlights to aid returning SBDs (VB 6 and VS 6) and TBDs (VT 6) that had been launched at dusk in an attempt to find Japanese ships reported off Oahu. Friendly fire, however, downs four of Enterprise's six F4Fs (VF 6) (the strike group escort) that are directed to land at Ford Island. Other _Enterprise_SBDs make a night landing at Kaneohe Bay, miraculously avoiding automobiles and construction equipment parked on the ramp to prevent just such an occurrence.
  Damage to the battle line proves extensive, but carriers _Enterprise_and Lexington (CV-2) are, providentially, not in port, having been deployed at the eleventh hour to reinforce advanced bases at Wake and Midway. Saratoga (CV-3) is at San Diego on this day, preparing to return to Oahu. The carriers will prove crucial in the coming months (see Chapter VI, February-May 1942). Convinced that he has proved fortunate to have suffered as trifling losses as he has, Vice Admiral Nagumo opts to set course for home, thus inadvertantly sparing fuel tank farms, ship repair facilities, and the submarine base that will prove invaluable to support the U.S. Pacific Fleet as it rebuilds in the wake of the Pearl Harbor disaster.
  Midway Island is bombarded by Japanese Midway Neutralization Unit (Captain Kaname Konishi) consisting of destroyers _Ushio_and Sazanami; Marine shore batteries (6th Defense Battalion) return the fire, claiming damage to both ships. One of the submarines deployed on simulated war patrols off Midway, Trout (SS-202), makes no contact with the enemy ships; the other, Argonaut(SS-166), is unable to make a successful approach, and _Ushio_and Sazanami retire from the area. Subsequent bad weather will save Midway from a pounding by planes from the Pearl Harbor Attack Force as it returns to Japanese waters.
  Damage control hulk DCH 1 (IX-44), formerly destroyer Walker(DD-163), being towed from San Diego, California, to Pearl Harbor, by oiler Neches (AO-5), is cast adrift and scuttled by gunfire from Neches at 26°35'N, 143°49'W.
  Japanese declaration of war [N.B.: the so-called "Fourteen Point message" is not a declaration of war; it merely declares an impasse in the ongoing diplomatic negotiations. The Imperial Rescript declaring a state of war between the Japanese Empire and the United States is not issued until the next day, in Tokyo. pwc] reaches Washington, D.C., after word of the attack on Pearl Harbor has already been received in the nation's capital.
  President orders mobilization.
• Dec 8, Mon.
  U.S. declares war on Japan. In his address to the nation, President Roosevelt describes December 7th, 1941 as "a date which will live in infamy."
  Potomac River Naval Command with headquarters at Washington, D.C., and Severn River Naval Command with headquarters at Annapolis, Maryland, are established.
  Pacific
  Japanese submarine I 123 mines Balabac Strait, P.I.; _I 124_the entrance to Manila Bay.
  Striking Force, Asiatic Fleet (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford) departs Iloilo, P.I., for Makassar Strait, N.E.I.
  Seaplane tender (destroyer) William B. Preston (AVD-7) is attacked by fighters and attack planes from Japanese carrier _Ryujo_in Davao Gulf, P.I.; William B. Preston escapes, but two PBYs (VP 101) she is tending are strafed and destroyed on the water.
  Japan interns U.S. Marines and nationals at Shanghai, Tientsin and Chinwangtao, China. River gunboat Wake (PR-3) maintained at Shanghai as station ship and manned by a skeleton crew, is seized by Japanese Naval Landing Force boarding party after attempt to scuttle fails.
  Wake, the only U.S. Navy ship to surrender during World War II, is renamed Tatara and serves under the Rising Sun for the rest of the war. British river gunboat HMS Peterel, however, moored nearby in the stream of the Whangpoo River, refuses demand to surrender and is sunk by gunfire from Japanese coast defense ship Idzumo. American-flag merchant small craft seized by the Japanese at Shanghai: tug Meifoo No. 5, tug Mei Kang, Mei Nan, Mei Ying and Mei Yun.
  U.S. passenger liner President Harrison, en route to evacuate marines from North China, is intentionally run aground at Sha Wai Shan, China, and is captured by the Japanese. Repaired and refloated, President Harrison is renamed Kakko Maru and later, Kachidoki Maru (see 12 September 1944). Among the baggage awaiting shipment out of occupied China along with the North China Marines are the bones of Peking Man, which are never seen again. Their fate remains a mystery to this day.
  Japanese forces land on Batan Island, north of Luzon.
  Japanese forces land on east coast of Malay Peninsula. RAF Hudsons bomb invasion shipping off Kota Bharu, Malaya, setting army cargo ship Awajisan Maru afire; destroyers Ayanami and _Shikinami_and submarine chaser Ch 9 take off _Awajisan Maru's_crew.
  Japanese planes bomb Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippine Islands. Extensive damage is inflicted on USAAF aircraft at Clark Field, Luzon, P.I. During Japanese bombing of shipping in Manila Bay, U.S. freighter Capillo is damaged by bomb, set afire, and abandoned (see 11 December).
  Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake Island, inflicting heavy damage on airfield installations and VMF 211's F4Fs on Wake islet. The four-plane VMF 211 patrol is out of position to deal with the incoming raid (there is no radar on Wake). Pan American Airways Martin 130 Philippine Clipper (being prepared for a scouting flight with an escort of two VMF 211 F4Fs when the attack comes) in the aftermath of the disaster precipitately evacuates Caucasian airline staff and passengers only (Pan American's Chamorro employees are left behind). Another individual who somehow fails to get a seat on the outgoing flying boat is an official from the Bureau of the Budget who was on Wake to go over construction costs.
  Japanese force slated to assault Wake Island (Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi) sails from Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands.
  Japanese floatplanes (18th Kokutai) bomb Guam, M.I., damaging minesweeper Penguin (AM-33) and miscellaneous auxiliary Robert L. Barnes (AG-27). Penguin, abandoned, is scuttled in deep water by her crew.
  Robert L. Barnes, maintained in reduced commission as a floating oil depot, her seaworthiness reduced by age and deterioration, had served since 1 July 1937 as the training ship for Guamanian mess attendants recruited on the island.
  Atlantic
  Destroyers Niblack (DD-424), Benson (DD-421) and Tarbell(DD-143), part of TU 4.1.3 escorting convoy HX 163, depth-charge sound contacts that are later classified as non-submarine.
• Dec 9, Tue.
  Pacific
  Japanese seize Tarawa and Makin, Gilbert Islands.
  Japanese submarines RO 63, RO 64, and _RO 68_bombard Howland and Baker Islands in the mistaken belief that American seaplane bases exist there.
  Transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6), en route to Wake Island, is re-routed to Johnston.
  Japanese submarine I 10 shells and sinks unarmed Panamanian-flag motorship Donerail 200 miles southeast of Hawaii, 08°00'N, 152°00'W. There are only eight survivors of the 33-man crew; all seven passengers perish.
  Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class Nishikaichi Shigenori, from the carrier Hiryu, who had crash-landed his Mitsubishi A6M2 fighter Type 0 carrier fighter on Niihau on 7 December, is placed under guard by the islanders; attempts this day and the next to transport him to Kauai are frustrated by bad weather (see 12-14 December).
  Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb defense installations on the islets of Wilkes and Wake, Wake Island.
  China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
  Japanese occupy Bangkok, Thailand.
  River gunboat Mindanao (PR-8), en route from Hong Kong to Manila, encounters Japanese fishing vessel No. 3 South Advance Maru, stops her, and takes her 10-man Formosan crew prisoner. _Mindanao_leaves the craft adrift at 16°42'N, 118°53'E, and steams on, reaching her destination the following day.
  Submarine Swordfish (SS-193), in initial U.S. submarine attack of the war, torpedoes Japanese ship 150 miles west of Manila at 14°30'N, 119°00'E. Her claim of a sinking, however, is not confirmed in enemy records.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) continues its escort duty with convoy ON 41; destroyers Babbitt (DD-128) and Mayo(DD-422) depth-charge sound contacts; Babbitt's at 57°19'N, 33°09'W. Destroyer Schenck (DD-159), operating independently from TU 4.1.5 while escorting U.S. freighter Ozark, carries out "well conducted" depth charge attack on sound contact at 52°19'N, 39°37'W.
• Dec 10, Wed.
  Atlantic
  PBYs (VP 52) supported by seaplane tender (destroyer) Greene(AVD-13) and small seaplane tender Thrush (AVP-3), begin antisubmarine patrols over the south Atlantic from Natal, Brazil, and thus inaugurate operations from Brazilian waters.
  Battleship New Mexico (BB-40), en route to Hampton Roads, Virginia, accidentally rams and sinks U.S. freighter Oregon, bound for Boston, Massachusetts, south of Nantucket Lightship, 35°55'N, 69°45'W.
  TU 4.1.1 (Captain Marion Y. Cohen) assumes escort duty for convoy HX 164; the ships will not be attacked by enemy submarines. While escorting oiler Mattole (AO-17) to join the main convoy, destroyer Gleaves (DD-423) carries out depth charge attack on sound contact at 45°50'N, 53°35'W. The contact is later classified as "doubtful" submarine.
  Pacific
  Cavite Navy Yard, P.I., is practically obliterated by Japanese land attack planes (Takao Kokutai and 1st Kokutai). Destroyers Peary (DD-226) and Pillsbury (DD-227), submarines Seadragon (SS-194) and Sealion (SS-195), minesweeper Bittern (AM-36), and submarine tender Otus(AS-20), suffer varying degrees of damage from bombs or bomb fragments; ferry launch Santa Rita (YFB-681) is destroyed by direct hit. Submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR-6) tows _Seadragon_out of the burning wharf area; minesweeper Whippoorwill (AM-35) recovers Peary, enabling both warships to be repaired and returned to service. Bittern is gutted by fires. Antiaircraft fire from U.S. guns is ineffective. During bombing of Manila Bay area, unarmed U.S. freighter Sagoland is damaged.
  While flying to safety during the raid on Cavite, Lieutenant Harmon T. Utter's PBY (VP 101) is attacked by three Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 carrier fighters (ZERO) (3rd Kokutai); Chief Boatswain Earl D. Payne, Utter's bow gunner, shoots down one, thus scoring the U.S. Navy's first verifiable air-to-air "kill" of a Japanese plane in the Pacific War. Utter, as a commander, will later coordinate the carrier air strikes that lead to the destruction of Japanese battleship Yamato (see 7 April 1945).
  Japanese forces land on Camiguin Island and at Gonzaga and Aparri, Luzon. Off Vigan, minesweeper W.10 is bombed and sunk by USAAF P-35 at 17°32'N, 120°22'E; destroyer _Murasame_and transport Oigawa Maru are strafed; the latter, set afire, is beached to facilitate salvage. USAAF B-17s bomb and damage light cruiser Naka and transport Takao Maru; the latter is run aground at 17°29'N, 120°26'E (see 5 March 1942). Off Aparri, minesweeper W.19 is bombed by a B-17 and grounded (total loss) at 18°22'N, 121°38'E; light cruiser Natori is also damaged by a B-17. The B-17 is probably the one flown by Captain Colin P. Kelly, Jr., who is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, posthumously, for heroism when Japanese fighters attack his bomber over Clark Field as he returns from his mission over Aparri.
  British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battle cruiser HMS Repulse (Admiral Sir Tom S.V. Phillips, RN) are sunk by Japanese land attack planes off Kuantan, Malaya. Four U.S. destroyers that had been sent to help screen Phillips's ships, having arrived at Singapore too late to sortie with the British force, search unsuccessfully for survivors before returning to Singapore.
  Governor of Guam, M.I. (Captain George J. McMillin) surrenders the island to Japanese invasion force (Rear Admiral Goto Aritomo). District patrol craft YP-16 and YP-17; open lighters YC-664,YC-665, YC-666, YC-667, YC-6687, YC-670,YC-671, YC-672, YC-673, YC-674, YC-685,YC-717, YC-718; dredge YM-13; water barges YW-50, YW-55, YW-58; and miscellaneous auxiliary Robert L. Barnes(AG-27) are all lost to the Japanese occupation of that American Pacific possession.
  SBD (CEAG) from carrier Enterprise (CV-6) sinks Japanese submarine I 70 in Hawaiian Islands area, 23°45'N, 155°35'W. Plane is flown by a VS 6 pilot.
  Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Marine installations on Wilkes and Wake islets, Wake Island. During the interception of the bombers, Captain Henry T. Elrod, USMC, executive officer of VMF 211, shoots down a Mitsubishi G3M2 Type 96 land attack plane (NELL); this is the first USMC air-to-air "kill" of the Pacific War. Japanese submarines RO 65, RO 66, and _RO 67_arrive off Wake. Shortly before midnight, submarine Triton(SS-201), patrolling south of the atoll, encounters a Japanese warship, probably a picket for the oncoming assault force (see 11 December).
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Mauna Ala, re-routed back to Portland, Oregon, because of Japanese submarines lurking off the U.S. west coast, runs aground off the entrance to the Columbia River; she subsequently breaks up on the beach, a total loss.
• Dec 11, Thu.
  Germany and Italy declare war on United States.
  United States declares war on Germany and Italy.
  Pacific
  Secretary of the Navy Knox arrives on Oahu to personally assess the damage inflicted by the Japanese on 7 December.
  Submarine Triton (SS-201), patrolling south of Wake Island, attacks the Japanese ship she has encountered shortly before midnight; she is unsuccessful.
  Wake Island garrison (Commander Winfield S. Cunningham) repulses Japanese invasion force (Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi); Marine shore battery gunfire (1st Defense Battalion) sinks destroyer _Hayate_and damages destroyers Oite, Mochizuki, and Yayoi, and Patrol Boat No. 33 (high-speed transport); USMC F4Fs (VMF 211) bomb and sink destroyer Kisaragi and strafe and damage light cruiser Tenryu and armed merchant cruiser Kongo Maru. Later the same day, USMC F4F (VMF 211) bombs and most likely damages submarine RO 66 south of Wake. U.S. submarines deployed off Wake, Triton to the south and Tambor (SS-198) to the north, take no active part in the battle. Following the abortive assault, Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb marine gun batteries on Peale islet.
  Japanese submarine I 9 shells unarmed U.S. freighter _Lahaina_about 800 miles northeast of Honolulu, T.H., 27°42'N, 147°38'W (see 12 and 20 December).
  Japanese make landings at Legaspi, Luzon.
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Capillo, damaged by bomb on 8 December 1941, is partially scuttled by U.S. Army demolition party, off Corregidor, P.I. (see 29 December). Freighter Sagoland, damaged by bombs the previous day, sinks in Manila Bay.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) detaches destroyers Babbitt(DD-128) and Leary (DD-158), low on fuel because of the delayed arrival of convoy ON 41 at the MOMP, to proceed to Argentia. En route to that place, Babbitt depth charges sound contact without result at 51°37'N, 43°08'W.
  TU 4.1.6 (Commander John S. Roberts) assumes escort duty at MOMP for convoy ON 43, which has been badly scattered by heavy weather conditions (see 13 and 15 December). Convoy HX 163, being escorted by TU 4.1.3 (Commander George W. Johnson), encounters same abominable weather.
  12, Fri.
  Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) is established.
  U.S. government seizes French ships in U.S. ports.
  Pacific
  Secretary of the Navy Knox departs Oahu after inspecting the damage done by the Japanese attack of 7 December.
  Japanese reconnaissance flying boats (Yokohama Kokutai) bomb Wake Island in pre-dawn raid. Later in the day, land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake.
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Vincent is shelled and sunk by Japanese armed merchant cruisers Aikoku Maru and _Hokoku Maru_about 600 miles northwest of Easter Island, 22°41'S, 118°19'E, and her entire crew captured.
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Lahaina, shelled and torpedoed by Japanese submarine I 9 the previous day, sinks (see 21 December).
  Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class Nishikaichi Shigenori begins, with aid of Harada Yoshio, a Japanese resident of Niihau, to terrorize the inhabitants of the island into returning papers confiscated on 7 December. In response to this campaign of intimidation, the islanders flee to the hills (see 13 December).
  Submarine S 38 (SS-143) mistakenly torpedoes and sinks Norwegian merchantman Hydra II west of Cape Calavite, Mindoro, P.I., believing her to be a Japanese auxiliary. Hydra II had been en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Hong Kong, when she is diverted to Manila by the outbreak of war.
  During Japanese bombing of shipping off Cebu, in the Visayan Sea, Philippine passenger vessel Governor Wright is sunk, 12°55'N, 123°55'E.
  USAAF B-17 (19th Bombardment Group) bombs Japanese shipping off Vigan, P.I., damaging transport Hawaii Maru.
  Dutch submarines operate off Malaya against Japanese invasion shipping. K XII torpedoes and sinks army cargo ship Toro Maru off Kota Bharu, 06°08'N, 102°16'E; _O 16_torpedoes and damages army cargo ships Tozan Maru, Kinka Maru, and Asosan Maru off Patani/Singora.
  Japanese minelayer/netlayer Naryu is damaged by marine casualty, Tomogashima Channel.
  13, Sat.
  Congress, to meet the demand for trained enlisted men, authorizes the retention of enlisted men in the Navy upon the expiration of their enlistments when not voluntarily extended.
  Pacific
  Japanese planes attack Subic Bay area and airfields in Philippines. During bombing of shipping in Manila Bay by naval land attack planes (Takao Kokutai), unarmed U.S. tankship Manatawny is damaged (see 11 January 1942).
  Occupation of Niihau by Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class Nishikaichi Shigenori ends: a party of Hawaiians sets out for Kauai to inform the outside world of events on Niihau; in the meantime, Nishikaichi burns his plane (it will not be until July 1942 that the U.S. Navy will be able to obtain an intact ZERO to study) and the house in which he believes his confiscated papers are hidden. Later, in confrontation with a local Hawaiian, Benny Kanahele, a scuffle to grab the pilot's pistol ensues. Although Kanahele is shot three times, he picks up Nishikaichi bodily and dashes the pilot's head into a stone wall, killing him; Harada Yoshio, the Japanese resident of Niihau who had allied himself with the pilot, commits suicide. Kanahele survives his injuries. On the basis of the report by the islanders who have arrived on Kauai after a 15-hour trip, meanwhile, Commander, Kauai Military District (Colonel Edward W. FitzGerald, USA) dispatches expedition (squad of soldiers from Company M, 299th Infantry) in Coast Guard light house tender Kukui to proceed from Kauai to Niihau (see 14 December).
  Japanese cargo ship Nikkoku Maru is stranded and wrecked off Hainan Island, 18°00'N, 110°00'E.
  Gunboat Erie (PG-50) receives 50 Japanese POWs at Puntarenas, Costa Rica, from Costa Rican government, and sends prize crew to take charge of motor vessel Albert.
  Atlantic
  Destroyer Woolsey (DD-437), sweeping astern of convoy ON 43, depth charges sound contact at 57°55'N, 32°05'W.
• Dec 14, Sun.
  Pacific
  TF 11 (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr.), comprising carrier Lexington(CV-2), three heavy cruisers, nine destroyers, and oiler Neosho(AO-23), sails for the Marshall Islands, to create a diversion to cover TF 14's attempt to relieve Wake Island (see 15 and 16 December).
  Japanese reconnaissance flying boats (Yokohama Kokutai) bomb Wake Island. Later in the day, naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) raid Wake, bombing airfield installations.
  Destroyer Craven (DD-382) collides with heavy cruiser Northampton(CA-26) during underway refueling and is damaged. The ships are part of TF 8 operating north of Oahu.
  Norwegian motorship Hoegh Merchant is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 4 about 20 miles east-northeast of Oahu. All hands (35-man crew, 5 passengers) survive the loss of the ship.
  Coast Guard lighthouse tender Kukui reaches Niihau with squad of soldiers from Company M, 299th Infantry (Lieutenant Jack Mizuha); the detachment learns of the denouement of the events that have transpired on Niihau since 7 December.
  Japanese gunboat Zuiko Maru, wrecked and driven aground by storm, sinks off Matsuwa Jima, Kuriles, 48°05'N, 153°43'E.
  Gunboat Erie (PG-50), off coast of Costa Rica, boards and takes charge of motor vessel Sea Boy, and takes off a Japanese POW; she orders Sea Boy into Balboa the following day.
  USAAF B-17s bomb and damage Japanese cargo ship _Ikushima Maru_and oiler Hayatomo off Legaspi, Luzon.
  With its operating area rendered untenable by Japanese control of the air, Patrol Wing 10 (Captain Frank D. Wagner) departs Philippines for Netherlands East Indies. Seaplane tender (destroyer) Childs(AVD-1), with Captain Wagner embarked, sails from Manila.
  Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) torpedoes Japanese seaplane carrier San'yo Maru off Aparri, P.I.; one torpedo hits the ship but does not explode.
  Submarine Swordfish (SS-193), attacking Japanese shipping off Hainan Island, torpedoes army transport Kashii Maru, 18°08'N, 109°22'E.
  Navy boarding party (Lieutenant Edward N. Little) transported in commandeered yacht Gem, seizes French motor mail vessel Marechal Joffre, Manila Bay. Majority of the crewmen, pro-Vichy or unwilling to serve under the U.S. flag, are transported ashore (see 17-18 December).
• Dec 15, Mon.
  Pacific
  Seaplane tender Tangier (AV-8), oiler Neches (AO-5), and four destroyers sail for Wake Island.
  Japanese reconnaissance flying boats (Yokohama Kokutai) bomb Wake Island.
  Johnston Island is shelled by Japanese submarine I 22; although one shell lands astern and another passes over her forecastle, transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6) is apparently unseen by the enemy submariners. She is not hit and escapes.
  Kahului, Maui, T.H., is shelled by Japanese submarine from the Second Submarine Squadron. Possible candidates for having carried out the shelling are I 2, I 3, I 4, I 5, I 6, or I 7.
  Philippine steamship Vizcaya is scuttled in Manila Bay.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland) clears Reykjavik for the MOMP, escorting convoy ON 45; destroyer Sturtevant (DD-240), escorting cargo vessel Alchiba (AK-23), depth-charges sound contact at 62°05'N, 24°15'W (see 16 December).
  Destroyer Benson (DD-421), detached from TU 4.1.3 and convoy HX 163 at the MOMP, searches for survivors of steamer Nidardal, reported sinking at 56°07'N, 21°00'W (later amended to 56°07'N, 23°00'W) (see 16 December).
  Convoy ON 43, struggling through rough seas and high winds, being escorted by TU 4.1.6 (Commander John S. Roberts), is dispersed.
  United States
  Admiral Ernest J. King is offered the post of Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet. He accepts (see 18, 20 and 30 December).
• Dec 16, Tue.
  Atlantic
  Carrier Yorktown (CV-5) departs Norfolk, Virginia, the first carrier reinforcement dispatched to the Pacific.
  Convoy ON 45, escorted by TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), is dispersed because of bad weather.
  Destroyer Benson (DD-421) sights white distress rocket at 0241 and alters course in hopes of locating survivors of merchantman_Nidardal_; the intense darkness in which the search is being conducted renders it barely possible to see the surface of the ocean from the bridge, and the loudness of the wind makes it unlikely that a hail can be heard no more than 50 to 100 feet from the ship. _Benson_searches throughout the daylight hours but finds no trace of the missing ship or her crew. She abandons the search at nightfall and proceeds to Reykjavik.
  Pacific
  TF 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher), comprising carrier Saratoga(CV-3) (with VMF 221 embarked), four destroyers; heavy cruisers Astoria(CA-34) (flagship), Minneapolis (CA-36), and San Francisco(CA-38); and five destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor. These ships will overtake the force formed around Tangier (AV-8) and Neches(AO-5) and their consorts that is to relieve Wake Island.
  Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack Force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) detaches carriers Hiryu and Soryu, heavy cruisers _Tone_and Chikuma, and two destroyers (Rear Admiral Abe Hiroaki) to reinforce second planned attack on Wake Island.
  Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake.
  Submarine Tambor (SS-198), damaged by operational casualty, retires from the waters off Wake.
  Submarine Swordfish (SS-193), attacking Japanese convoy south of Hainan Island, torpedoes army transport Atsutasan Maru, 18°06'N, 109°44'E.
  Gunboat Erie (PG-50) boards Panamanian motor vessel Santa Margarita and orders her to proceed to Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Later the same day, the gunboat tows disabled motor boat _Orion_into Puntarenas.
• Dec 17, Wed.
  Pacific
  Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Commander, Battle Force, becomes acting Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, pending the arrival of Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who is ordered on this date to relieve Admiral Husband E. Kimmel.
  Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine _I 7_reconnoiters Pearl Harbor.
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Manini is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 175 180 miles south of Hawaii, 17°45'N, 157°03'E (see 27 and 28 December).
  USMC SB2Us (VMSB 231), led by a plane-guarding PBY (VP 21) (no ships are available to plane-guard the flight), arrive at Midway, completing the longest over-water massed flight (1,137 miles) by single-engine aircraft. The squadron had been embarked in Lexington(CV-2) when the outbreak of war cancelled the projected ferry mission on 7 December 1941.
  Japanese submarine RO 66 is sunk in collision with sistership RO 62 off Wake Island.
  Philippine steamship Corregidor, crowded with about 1,200 passengers fleeing Manila for Mindanao, hits an Army mine off Corregidor and sinks with heavy loss of life. Motor torpedo boats PT-32,PT-34, and PT-35 pick up 282 survivors (196 by _PT-32_alone) distributing them between Corregidor and the requisitioned French steamship Si-Kiang; seven of those rescued die of injuries suffered in the tragedy. Dr. Jurgen Rohwer, in his volume on Axis submarine successes, attributes the sinking to a mine laid by Japanese submarine I 124 on 8 December 1941 off Corregidor, P.I. Interestingly, Corregidor was formerly the British seaplane carrier HMS Engadine, which took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
  Navy takes over French motor mail vessel Marechal Joffre, Manila Bay (see 18 December).
  Japanese land at Miri, Sarawak, Borneo.
• Dec 18, Thu.
  President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 8984 that provides that Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet will take supreme command of the operating forces of all Navy fleets and coastal frontier commands, and be directly responsible to the President.
  In another executive order, President Roosevelt directs a commission, to be headed by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Owen J. Roberts (Roberts Commission), to "ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by the Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941...to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned; and if so, what these derelictions or errors were, and who were responsible therefor." In addition to Justice Roberts, the commission's membership includes retired Admiral William H. Standley and Rear Admiral Joseph W. Reeves; Major General Frank R. McCoy, USA (Retired) and Brigadier General Joseph T. McNarney, USA (see 23 January 1942).
  Congress passes First War Powers Act.
  Caribbean
  State Department announces that Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, French West Indies, have reached an agreement neutralizing French Caribbean possessions.
  Pacific
  French motor mail vessel Marechal Joffre, manned by a scratch crew that includes aviation personnel from Patrol Wing Ten, departs Manila Bay for Borneo. Marechal Joffre will be formally acquired by the Navy on 20 April 1942, and will serve as the transport Rochambeau(AP-63).
  Dutch Dornier 24 bombs and sinks Japanese destroyer _Shinonome_off Miri, Borneo.
• Dec 19, Fri.
  Pacific
  TF 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.), formed around carrier Enterprise(CV-6), heavy cruisers, and destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor proceeding to waters west of Johnston Island and south of Midway to cover TF 11 and TF 14 operations (see 14-16 December). Destroyer Craven(DD-382), in TF 8, is damaged by heavy sea soon after departure, however, and returns to Pearl for repairs.
  Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake Island, targeting installations on Wake and Peale islets.
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Prusa is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 172 about 150 miles south of Hawaii, 16°45'N, 156°00'W (see 27 December).
  United States
  U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.
• Dec 20, Sat.
  In the wake of the signing of Executive Order No. 8984, Admiral Ernest J. King is announced as the designated Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet (see 30 December).
  Pacific
  SBDs (VB 6 and VS 6) from carrier Enterprise accidentally bomb submarine Pompano (SS-181) twice, at 20°10'N, 165°28'W, and 20°15'N, 165°40'W.
  PBY (VP 23) arrives at Wake Island to deliver information to the garrison concerning the relief efforts then underway (see 21 December).
  Survivors of U.S. freighter Lahaina (sunk on 11 December by Japanese submarine I 9), aided by Coast Guard cutter Tiger, reach land at Sprecklesville Beach, near Kahului, Maui, having lost four of their number during their ordeal in their one lifeboat.
  Japanese troops land at Davao, Mindanao, P.I.
  Unarmed U.S. tankship Emidio is shelled, torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 17 about 25 miles west of Cape Mendocino, California, 40°33'N, 125°00'W (see 21 December).
  Unarmed U.S. tanker Agwiworld is shelled by Japanese submarine I 23 off the coast of California, 37°00'N, 122°00'W.
• Dec 21, Sun.
  Pacific
  PBY (VP 23) departs Wake Island; Japanese concern over the potential presence of patrol planes at Wake, occasioned by the large amount of radio traffic that accompanies the sole PBY's arrival at the island, prompts advancing the date of the first carrier strikes. Consequently, planes from carriers Soryu and Hiryu bomb Wake Island for the first time. Later that day, land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake.
  Naval local defense forces in Philippine Islands (Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell) move headquarters to Corregidor.
  Destroyer Paul Jones (DD-230) is damaged when her starboard propeller strikes a sunken object off Makassar, N.E.I.
  Coast Guard cutter Shawnee rescues 31 survivors of U.S. tanker Emidio, sunk the previous day by I 17 off Cape Mendocino, California, from Blunt's Reef Lightship.
  Atlantic
  Light cruiser Omaha (CL-4) and destroyer Somers(DD-381), operating out of Recife, Brazil, encounter darkened ship that acts suspicious and evasive when challenged. Omaha fires starshell and illuminates the stranger; Somers sends armed boarding party that learns that the merchantman nearly fired upon is Soviet freighter Nevastroi.
  Destroyer Edison (DD-439), in TU 4.1.3 en route to MOMP to pick up convoy ON 47, depth-charges sound contact without result.
• Dec 22, Mon.
  President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill open discussions in Washington (arcadia Conference) leading to establishment of Combined Chiefs of Staff. The _arcadia_conference, which lasts into January 1942, results in a formal American commitment to the "Germany First" strategy. In addition, the United States and Britain agree to form a Combined Chiefs of Staff as the supreme body for Allied war planning, to confer regularly in Washington. The Anglo-American allies also agree that there should be one supreme commander directing operations in each theater.
  Pacific
  Japanese bombers and attack planes, covered by fighters, from carriers _Soryu_and Hiryu, bomb Wake Island for the second time; the last two flyable USMC F4Fs (VMF 211) intercept the raid. One F4F is shot down, the other is badly damaged.
  American troops (Task Force South Pacific) (Brigadier General Julian F. Barnes, USA) arrive at Brisbane in convoy escorted by heavy cruiser Pensacola (CA-24). This is the first U.S. Army troop detachment to arrive in Australia.
  Japanese submarine I 19 shell unarmed U.S. tanker H.M. Storey southwest of Cape Mendocino, California, 34°35'N, 120°45'W, but fails to score any hits and the American ship escapes.
  Japanese commence invasion of Luzon, landing troops at Lingayen, P.I.; submarine S 38 (SS-143) torpedoes and sinks Japanese army transport Hayo Maru in Lingayen Gulf, 16°00'N, 120°00'E.
  USAAF B-17s bomb and damage Japanese army oiler No. 3 Tonan Maru off Davao, P.I.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.3 (Commander George W. Johnson), assumes escort duty at MOMP for convoy ON 47; the convoy is dispersed the following day.
• Dec 23, Tue.
  U.S.-British War Council composed of President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill, and their chief naval, military, and civilian advisers meets for the first time in Washington, D.C.
  Pacific
  Wake Island (Commander Winfield S. Cunningham) is captured by naval landing force (Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi) that overcomes gallant resistance offered by the garrison that consists of marines, sailors, volunteer civilians (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) and a USAAF radio detachment. Japanese Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 (old destroyers converted to high speed transports) intentionally run ashore to facilitate landing of troops, are destroyed by marine shore batteries (1st Defense Battalion). Planes from carriers_Hiryu_ and Soryu, as well as seaplane carrier Kiyokawa Maru provide close air support for the invasion. Open cargo lighter_YCK 1_ is lost to Japanese occupation of the atoll, as are civilian tugs Pioneer and Justine Foss, and dredge Columbia.
  Uncertainty over the positions of and number of Japanese carriers and reports that indicate Japanese troops have landed on the atoll compel Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, to recall TF 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) while it is 425 miles from its objective.
  Palmyra Island is shelled by Japanese submarines _I 71_and I 72.
  Unarmed U.S. tanker Montebello is torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 21 about four miles south of Piedras Blancas light, California, 35°30'N, 121°51'W. _I 21_machine-guns the lifeboats, but miraculously inflicts no casualties. I 21 later also shells unarmed U.S. tanker Idaho near the same location.
  Japanese submarine I 17 shells unarmed U.S. tanker Larry Doheny southwest of Cape Mendocino, California, 40°00'N, 125°00'W, but the American ship escapes.
  USAAF B-17s bomb Japanese ships in Lingayen Gulf and off Davao, damaging minesweeper W.17 and destroyer Kuroshio off the latter place. USAAF P-40s and P-35s strafe landing forces in San Miguel Bay, Luzon, damaging destroyer Nagatsuki.
  Submarine Seal (SS-183) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Soryu Maru off Vigan, Luzon, 17°35'N, 120°12'E.
  Japanese troops land at Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo. Off the invasion beaches, Dutch submarine K XIV torpedoes and sinks transport Hokkai Maru, army transport Hiyoshi Maru, and damages army cargo ship Nichiran Maru and transport Katori Maru.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.4 (Commander Richard E. Webb) assumes escort duty for convoy HX 166; the ships reach their destination without being attacked by U-boats.
• Dec 24, Wed.
  Pacific
  Unarmed U.S. freighter Absaroka is shelled by Japanese submarine I 17 about 26 miles off San Pedro, California, 33°40'N, 118°25'W; although abandoned, she is later reboarded and towed to San Pedro.
  Unarmed U.S. steamship Dorothy Philips is shelled by Japanese submarine I 23 off Monterey Bay, California.
  Seaplane tender Wright (AV-1) disembarks Marine reinforcements (Batteries "A" and "C," 4th Defense Battalion) at Midway.
  Second Marine Brigade (Colonel Henry L. Larsen, USMC) is formed at Camp Elliott, California, to defend American Samoa (see 6 and 20 January 1942).
  Japanese land at Lamon Bay, Luzon.
  Motor torpedo boat PT-33 is damaged by grounding on reef five miles northwest of Cape Santiago, Luzon, 13°46'N, 120°40'E.
  During Japanese bombing of shipping in Manila Bay by naval land attack planes (Takao Kokutai and 1st Kokutai), seized French steamship Si-Kiang is set afire off Mariveles; of the 8-man USMC guard detachment on board (from 1st Separate Marine Battalion), two marines are killed and three wounded. Tug Napa(AT-32) assists in fire-fighting efforts.
  Dutch submarine K XVI torpedoes and sinks Japanese destroyer Sagiri off Kuching, Sarawak, 01°34'N, 110°21'E.
• Dec 25, Thu.
  Pacific
  Admiral Thomas C. Hart turns over all remaining naval forces in the Philippines to Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell (Commandant Sixteenth Naval District). After Japanese bombers destroy PBYs (VPs 101 and 102) earmarked to transport him and his staff south, Hart sails in submarine_Shark_ (SS-174) (held in readiness for that eventuality) to establish new Asiatic Fleet headquarters in Java (see 1 January 1942). During Japanese bombing of shipping in Manila Bay, submarine Sturgeon(SS-187) is straddled but is not damaged.
  British surrender Hong Kong. U.S. freighter Admiral Y.S. Williams, under repairs in that port for damage incurred in a grounding that had occurred on 24 September, is intentionally damaged to prevent use by the Japanese. The merchantman is salvaged, however, and is renamed Tatsutama Maru. U.S. steamship (ex-yacht)Hirondelle (also under repairs in the Crown Colony when caught there by the outbreak of hostilities) and Philippine steamship _Argus_are captured. Hirondelle is renamed Gyonan Maru and will survive the war. Argus is refitted and commissioned in the Japanese Navy as the gunboat Hong Kong Maru; for her fate under her new owners, see 19-21 June 1943. Philippine steamship _Churruca_is scuttled.
  Japanese land at Jolo, P.I. Submarine Sealion (SS-195), damaged by bombs at Cavite, P.I., on 10 December, is scuttled by demolition crew.
  Carrier Saratoga (CV-3) diverted from the attempt to relieve Wake Island, flies off USMC F2As (VMF 221) to Midway. These will be the first fighter aircraft based there.
• Dec 26, Fri.
  Pacific
  Manila, P.I., is declared an open city but Japanese bombing continues unabated. Japanese naval land attack planes (Takao Kokutai and 1st Kokutai) bomb shipping in Manila Bay; destroyer Peary(DD-226) is damaged by near-misses.
  Motor torpedo boat PT-33, damaged by grounding on 24 December five miles northwest of Cape Santiago, Luzon, 13°46'N, 120°40'E, is burned to prevent capture.
  Dutch Army planes bomb and sink Japanese minesweeper _W.6_and collier No. 2 Unyo Maru off Kuching, Sarawak, 01°34'N, 110°21'E.
  Japanese destroyer Murasame and minesweeper _W.20_are damaged by marine casualties off Takao, Formosa.
  Seaplane tender Tangier (AV-8), diverted from the attempt to relieve Wake Island, disembarks Battery "B," 4th Defense Battalion and ground echelon of VMF 221 at Midway to augment that garrison's defenses.
  Atlantic
  Submarine chaser PC 451 accidentally rams and sinks U.S. tug Nancy Moran off east coast of Florida.
• Dec 27, Sat.
  Pacific
  Destroyer Allen (DD-66) rescues first of two groups of survivors from U.S. freighter Manini (sunk by Japanese submarine I 175 on 17 December) at 21°29'N, 159°36'E.
  Coast Guard cutter Tiger rescues 14 survivors of U.S. freighter Prusa, sunk by Japanese submarine I 172 on 19 December. A second group of 11 survivors reaches safety after a 2,700-mile voyage, rescued by a Fijian government vessel and taken to Boruin, Gilberts.
  Unarmed U.S. tanker Connecticut is shelled by Japanese submarine I 25 about 10 miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River.
  Submarine Perch (SS-176) torpedoes Japanese supply ship _Noshima_in South China Sea, 22°14'N, 115°13'E.
  Six PBYs (VP 101) bomb Japanese shipping at Jolo, P.I. against heavy fighter opposition; four Catalinas are lost.
  Japanese bomb shipping in Manila Bay and Pasig River (Takao Kokutai_and 1st Kokutai). Philippine customs cutters Arayat and_Mindoro and motor vessel Ethel Edwards are set afire, while lighthouse tender Canlaon is destroyed by a direct hit. Steamship Taurus is scuttled in the Pasig River (see 29 December).
• Dec 28, Sun.
  Pacific
  Destroyer Patterson (DD-392) rescues second of two groups of survivors from sunken U.S. freighter Manini at 21°06'N, 161°55'E.
  Destroyer Peary (DD-226) is damaged when mistakenly bombed and strafed by RAAF Hudsons off Kina, Celebes, N.E.I.
  Japanese destroyer Akikaze and army cargo ships Kamogawa Maru and Komaki Maru are damaged by marine casualties east of Luzon.
• Dec 29, Mon.
  Pacific
  Corregidor is bombed for the first time by Japanese naval land attack planes (Takao Kokutai and 1st Kokutai), ending "normal" above-ground living there. During the bombings that day, submarine tender Canopus (AS-9) is damaged in Mariveles Harbor, 14°25'N, 120°30'E; river gunboat Mindanao (PR-8) is damaged by near-misses off Corregidor. Bombs also set fire to Philippine freighter Don Jose and the hulk of U.S. freighter _Capillo_off Corregidor. Minesweeper Finch (AM-9) puts out the blaze on board both ships; Don Jose is later moved to the south side of the island to ensure a clear shipping channel. Finch repeats the procedure on 1 January 1942, but since the crew never returns to the damaged merchantman, Don Jose is never salvaged. Philippine presidential yacht Casiana is bombed and sunk near the Fort Mills dock; Philippine steamship Bicol and motor vessel _Aloha_are scuttled in Manila Bay. Finch later assists Navy- commandeered tug Trabajador in dumping unused mines in Manila Bay, an operation those two ships will repeat the following day as well. Cable Censor, Manila (Lieutenant Frederick L. Worcester, USNR) clears Pasig River of interisland shipping and tugs and other ships that have drawn heavy bombing from Japanese planes, thus saving area from further destruction and the shipping for use in maintaining communications between Bataan and Corregidor and in patrol work. This action is later praised as "commendable assumption of authority and action by non-nautical" district officers.
  Japanese submarine RO 60, returning from the Wake Island operation, is irreparably damaged by grounding, Kwajalein Atoll, 09°00'N, 167°30'E.
  Atlantic
  TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) assumes guard for east-bound convoy HX 167. U.S. freighter Stonestreet is damaged by evaporator explosion; one man is killed and three injured. Destroyer Simpson(DD-221) puts medical officer and corpsman on board promptly to treat the injured; Stonestreet is directed to return to St. John's; U.S. PBY provides cover. During the voyage to Iceland, HX 167 will not encounter any enemy submarines but poor navigation by the convoy will result in a critical fuel state for the "shortlegged" flush-deck destroyers (see 3 January 1942).
• Dec 30, Tue.
  Admiral Ernest J. King assumes duties as Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet. To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm Inch").
  Pacific
  Japanese submarine I 1 shells Hilo, Hawaii; seaplane tender (destroyer) Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier adjacent to the one damaged by the bombardment, is not damaged.
  Navy-commandeered tug Ranger lands volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point. The sailors bring out diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.
• Dec 31, Wed.
  Pacific
  Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of Pacific Fleet in ceremonies on board submarine Grayling (SS-209) at Pearl Harbor.
  Japanese submarines shell Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii.
  While returning from attempting to aid destroyer Peary(DD-226) (see 28 December), small seaplane tender Heron (AVP-2) is damaged but fights off, over a seven-hour span, a series of attacks by Japanese reconnaissance flying boats (Toko Kokutai) and land attack planes off Ambon, N.E.I. Heron shoots down one seaplane whose crew refuses rescue.
  Submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR-6) transports armed party [Lieutenant (j.g.) Malcolm M. Champlin, USNR] to Sangley Point which brings out Luzon Stevedoring Company lighter loaded with 97 mines and eight truckloads of aerial depth charges; Pigeon then tows the barge to a point four and a half miles off Sangley Point and capsizes it in 11 fathoms of water. The sailors also destroy the aircraft repair shop at Cavite and one irreparable PBY.
  U.S. cargo/passenger ship Ruth Alexander, en route from Manila to Balikpapan, Borneo, is bombed and irreparably damaged by Japanese flying boat in Makassar Strait, N.E.I., 01°00'N, 119°10'W, one man is killed in the bombing. She sinks on 2 January 1942. Dutch Dornier 24 later rescues all 48 survivors.
  Japanese destroyer Yamagumo is damaged by mine off Lingayen.
  Philippine steamships Magellanes and _Montanes_are scuttled, most likely at Manila.