Today in the History of the Pacific Theater

I don't believe that I forgot about the Panay incident!!!!!!!!! So lets cover that right now.
December 12, 1937
On the previous day, American officials and a number of civilians embarked onboard the gunboat USS Panay and started upriver escorting three Standard Oil barges in an effort to escape the Japanese forces approaching Nanking. Two British gunbaots and a few other British craft followed. During the flight upriver for two miles the tiny flotilla was repeatedly fired upon by a Japanese shore battery under the command of Colonel Hashimoto. However the flotilla was able to avoid being hit mainly due to wild shooting on the part of the Japanese. The next afternoon (December 12, 1937) three Japanese Navy bombers release 18 bombs which result in destroying the Panay's forward 3 inch gun, pilothouse, sick bay and fireroom, wounding the captain and several others. Immediately after 12 more planes make dive bombing runs and 9 fighters strafed the Panay and flotilla for about 20 minutes. Shortly after 1400hrs, with all propulsion and power lost and the main deck awash Captain Hughes orders the Panay abandoned. The Japanese fighters continued to strafe the life boats as they made their way to shore. Two of the three oil barges were also bombed and sunk. The survivors of the attack managed to get word to Adm. Yarnell and were taken onboard the USS Oahu and HMS Ladybird two days later. Two enlisted sailors and one civilian passenger died of their wounds, 11 officers and enlisted sailors were injured as a result of the attack. After a Court of Inquiry, the Japanese government appologized to the United States and agreed to pay reparations of just over 2.2 million dollars for the sunk and damaged ships. The Japanese Navy immediately issued reprimands to all squadron commanders involved. The Japanese army however made no such action toward Colonel Hashimoto.

 

December 15, 1941
-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.

December 15, 1942
-Appendectomy is completed (0200) on board submarine Grayback (SS-208), by Pharmacist's Mate First Class Harry B. Roby, USNR, on Torpedoman First Class W.R. Jones. This is the second of three such procedures that will be performed on board U.S. submarines during the war.

December 15, 1943
-Naval Operating Base, Treasury Island, Solomons, is established.
-TF 76 (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) lands Army troops (112th U.S. Cavalry Regiment) on Arawe Peninsula, New Britain, in Operation DIRECTOR.
-USAAF aircraft sink Japanese cargo ship Senko Maru in Gulf of Tonkin.
-RAAF Beaufighters sink Japanese army cargo ship Wakatsu Maru; and Dutch B-25s sink cargo ship Genmei Maru off Timor.

December 15, 1944
-Admirals William D. Leahy (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Ernest J. King (Chief of Naval Operations) and Chester W. Nimitz (Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet) are promoted to the rank of fleet admiral.
-TG 78.3 (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands Army forces on southwest coast of Mindoro under cover of carrier-based aircraft (Rear Admiral Felix B. Stump). Mindoro operation, conceived and undertaken to secure an all-weather airfield to support large-scale landings on Luzon, is regarded as a hazardous venture deep into Japanese-controlled waters. Tank landing ships LST-472 and LST-738, damaged by kamikazes off southern tip of Mindoro are scuttled by destroyer Hall (DD-583). Elsewhere off Mindoro, suiciders damage escort carrier Marcus Island (CVE-77); destroyers Paul Hamilton (DD-590) and Howorth (DD-592); and motor torpedo boat PT-223.
-Miscellaneous auxiliary Argonne (AG-31) is damaged by explosion of depth charge accidentally dropped by submarine chaser SC-702, Kossol Roads, Palaus.
-Submarine Dragonet (SS-293) is damaged when she runs aground 12,000 yards off Japanese seaplane base, Matsuwa Island, Kurils.
-Submarine Hawkbill (SS-366) sinks Japanese destroyer Momo west of Luzon.
-TF 38 planes sink Japanese landing ship T.106, which had escaped destruction by submarine Pintado (SS-387) on 12 December 1944, in South China Sea off Luzon and damage Coast Defense Vessel No.54 north of Calayan Island, Luzon Channel.

 

December 16, 1941
-Carrier Yorktown (CV-5) departs Norfolk, Virginia, the first carrier reinforcement dispatched to the 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) continue their bombing campaign against 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.
-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.

December 16, 1942
-Submarine Halibut (SS-232) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Shingo Maru off Shiraya Zaki, Honshu; in the confusion that attends Halibut's attack upon Shingo Maru, cargo ship Genzan Maru is run aground, stranded, and abandoned
-Submarine Drum (SS-228) mines the Bungo Strait, Japanese home islands.
-Submarine Grouper (SS-214) sinks Japanese army passenger-cargo ship Bandoeng Maru about 15 miles northwest of Cape Henpan, Buka Island, Solomons. Escorting submarine chaser Ch 29 carries out unsuccessful counterattack.

December 16, 1943
-Submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Ginyo Maru southwest of the Ryukyus.
-USAAF B-24 sinks small Japanese cargo vessel No.6 Heiei Maru 150 miles northeast of Wewak.

December 16, 1944
-Submarine Dace (SS-247) lays mines off French Indochina.
-Submarine Finback (SS-230) in attack on Japanese convoy, sinks transport Jusan Maru I-Go about 50 miles northwest of Chichi Jima.
-British submarine HMS Stoic, despite presence of escort, sinks Japanese gunboat Shoei Maru west of Sunda Strait.
-TF 38 planes sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Oryoku Maru, escorted by destroyer Momo and submarine chaser Ch 60, in Subic Bay; aviators are unaware that Oryoko Maru (is what POWS referred to as a "hellship") is carrying over 1,600 Allied POWs (one of whom is Commander Francis J. Bridget, former commander of the Naval Battalion on Bataan in 1941-1942, who is killed). Those POWs who survive the ordeal of the loss of Oryoku Maru will be again helpless and unwitting victims of U.S. planes at Takao, Formosa, on 27 December 1944 and 9 January 1945. When the draft of POWs reaches its ultimate destination, Moji, Japan, only 497 of the original 1,600+ men remain.

 

December 17, 1941
-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.
-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.
-Japanese land at Miri, Sarawak, Borneo.

December 17, 1942
-Submarine Drum (SS-228) mines the Bungo Strait, Japanese home islands.
-Submarine Grouper (SS-214) sinks Japanese army passenger-cargo ship Bandoeng Maru about 15 miles northwest of Cape Henpan, Buka Island, Solomons. Escorting submarine chaser Ch 29 carries out unsuccessful counterattack.

December 17, 1943
-Coastal transport APC-21 is sunk by dive bomber, and motor minesweeper YMS-50 is damaged by horizontal bomber, off New Britain.

December 17, 1944
-Motor torpedo boat PT-84 is damaged by suicide plane off Mindoro.
Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.19 is damaged by aircraft south of Cam Ranh, French Indochina.

 

December 18, 1941
-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.
-Congress passes First War Powers Act.
-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.

December 18, 1942
-Submarine Albacore (SS-218) torpedoes and sinks Japanese light cruiser Tenryu just off Madang harbor, eastern New Guinea, and torpedoes armed merchant cruiser Gokoku Maru. Albacore survives counterattacks by escorting destroyer (Sukukaze or Isonami).
-Submarine Sunfish (SS-281) damages Japanese transport Kyowa Maru approx 70 miles south of Nagoya, Japan.

December 18, 1943
-Submarine Aspro (SS-309) attacks Japanese convoy, damaging fleet tankers Sarawak Maru and Tenei Maru about 175 miles east of Formosa and escapes counterattacks by destroyer Shiokaze.
-Submarine Cabrilla (SS-288) lays mines off Saracen Bay, Cambodia, French Indochina.
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Gyokurei Maru east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa and escapes counterattacks by destroyer Numakaze.

December 18, 1944
-Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) encounters a typhoon 180 miles northeast of Samar. Destroyers Hull (DD-350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512) are sunk, Destroyer escort Tabberer (DE-418), which herself sustains storm damage, rescues 41 Hull survivors and 14 from Spence (remaining men will be rescued on 20 December). Ships that suffer varying degrees of damage include small carriers Cowpens (CVL-25), Monterey (CVL-26), Cabot (CVL-28), and San Jacinto (CVL-30); escort carriers Altamaha (CVE-18), Nehenta Bay (CVE-74), Cape Esperance (CVE-88), and Kwajalein (CVE-98); light cruiser Miami (CL-89); destroyers Dewey (DD-349), Aylwin (DD-355), Buchanan (DD-484), Dyson (DD-572), Hickox (DD-673), Maddox (DD-731), and Benham (DD-796); destroyer escorts Melvin R. Nawman (DE-416), Tabberer )DE-418), and Waterman (DE-740); oiler Nantahala (AO-60); and fleet tug Jicarilla (ATF-104).
-Motor torpedo boat PT-300 is damaged by kamikaze off Mindoro.
-Other Japanese casualties include auxiliary submarine chaser Keisho Maru sunk by aircraft, Nagoya, Japan; merchant ship No.1 Nikko Maru sunk by TF 38 aircraft; and merchant ship Hokko Maru is damaged by aircraft, Changchia Chow.

 

December 19, 1940
-Palmyra Island is placed under control of Secretary of the Navy.

December 19, 1941
-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. 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.
-U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.

December 19, 1942
-Japanese destroyer Mochizuki is damaged by aircraft, location unspecified (USAAF B-17s and B-24s attack warships in Astrolabe Bay and off the coast of the Huon Peninsula that day).

December 19, 1943
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese destroyer Numakaze, 50 miles east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa.
-USAAF B-24 and USN PBYs sink Japanese cargo ship Kaito Maru southwest of Kavieng.
-USN PBY damages Japanese merchant cargo vessel Shoei Maru, Kwajalein; Shoei Maru sinks the next day.

December 19, 1944
-Submarine Redfish (SS-395), despite presence of escorting destroyers, sinks Japanese carrier Unryu 200 nautical miles southeast of Shanghai, China. Redfish is damaged in the resultant depth charging, and is forced to terminate her patrol.
-PB4Y-1s (VPB 104) attack Japanese convoy in South China Sea, and sink transport Shinfuku Maru, which had survived attack by submarine Segundo (SS-398) on 6 December 1944, 30 miles west of Manila.
-USAAF P-51s (14th Air Force) attack Japanese shipping at Hong Kong and sink cargo ship Hida Maru.
-Aircraft sink army cargo ship No.3 Hiroshi Maru in Kurils.

 

December 20, 1939
-Submarine tender Bushnell (AS-2), operating out of Tutuila, Samoa, as a survey ship under the auspices of the Hydrographic Office, completes Pacific Island surveys, having covered a total of 76,000 nautical square miles since commencing that work on 1 July.

December 20, 1941
-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.
-SBDs (VB 6 and VS 6) from carrier Enterprise accidentally bomb submarine Pompano (SS-181) twice approximately 100 miles NW of Wake Island.
-PBY (VP 23) arrives at Wake Island to deliver information to the garrison concerning the relief efforts then underway.
-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.
-Unarmed U.S. tanker Agwiworld is shelled by Japanese submarine I-23 off the coast of California.

December 20, 1942
-Submarine Amberjack (SS-219) is damaged by depth charges off northern Solomons, but remains on patrol.
Submarine Seadragon (SS-194) sinks Japanese submarine I-4 between New Britain and New Ireland while the I-4 is engaged in a resupply mission to Guadalcanal.
-Submarine Trigger (SS-237) lays mines off Inubo Zaki, Honshu; one immediately sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Mutsuki Maru south of Daiozaki, Japan, as the enemy freighter happens by in the midst of the submarine's minelaying operation.
-Light minelayer Gamble (DM-15) lays mines to reinforce minefield laid at Espiritu Santo on 3 August 1942.
-Gunboat Tulsa (PG-22) is damaged when she runs aground in Milne Bay, New Guinea.

December 20, 1943
-Destroyers bombard Japanese positions on northeastern coast of Bougainville, Solomons.
-Submarine Gato (SS-212) sinks Japanese transport Tsuneshima Maru, East China Sea, and although damaged by depth charges dropped by escorting torpedo boat Otori, remains on patrol.
-Submarine Puffer (SS-268) sinks Japanese destroyer Fuyo 60 miles west of Manila, but the submarine's attack on cargo ship Gozan Maru is not successful.
-PBYs sink Japanese transport Alaska Maru 30 miles north of northwestern Gazelle Peninsula.

December 20, 1944
-Organized Japanese resistance ends on Leyte.
-Submarine Sealion (SS-315) damages San Fernando-bound Japanese supply ship Mamiya in the South China Sea about 450 miles northeast of Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina, and escapes the attention of escorts, destroyer Kari and Coast Defense Vessel No.17.
-Dutch B-25 Mitchells sink Japanese netlayer Shoeki Maru in Flores Sea.

 

December 21, 1941
-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.

December 21, 1942
-Submarine S-35 (SS-140) is damaged by electrical fire while on patrol off Amchitka, Aleutians.
-Japanese army cargo ship Hakuyo Maru is sunk by aircraft (nationality unspecified) near Rabaul.

December 21, 1943
-PBYs from Attu, Aleutians, bomb Shimushu, Paramushiro Strait, Kuriles.
-Coastal transport APC-2 is damaged by dive bomber off New Britain.
-Submarine Grayback (SS-208) sinks Japanese auxiliary netlayer Kashiwa Maru and merchant passenger/cargo ship Konan Maru south-southwest of Kagoshima, Japan.
-Submarine Sailfish (SS-192) sinks Japanese transport Uyo Maru off Miyazaki.
-Submarine Skate (SS-305) sinks Japanese fleet tanker Terukawa Maru northwest of Truk, Carolines.
-USAAF B-25s sink small Japanese cargo vessel Matsushima Maru at Wewak.

December 21, 1944
-Off Mindoro, kamikazes damage destroyer Foote (DD-511), and tank landing ships LST-460 and LST-749. Off Panay, freighter Juan de Fuca is crashed by a suicide plane; the explosion and resultant fire kills 2 and wounds 14 of the 65 embarked Army troops, as well as wounds 2 of the 27-man Armed Guard. Juan de Fuca, although damaged, continues on to Mindoro.
-Submarine Sealion (SS-315) carries out second attack on Japanese supply ship Mamiya, and sinks her in the South China Sea.
-Mines damage Japanese escort vessel Amakusa 680 miles from Kanameiwa and gunboat No.2 Hiyoshi Maru off Etorofu.

 

December 22, 1941
-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.
-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, 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.
-USAAF B-17s bomb and damage Japanese army oiler No. 3 Tonan Maru off Davao, P.I.

December 22, 1942
-Submarine Greenling (SS-213), attacking Japanese convoy, sinks Patrol Boat No.35 about 70 miles north-northeast of Kieta, Bougainville.
-Submarine S-35 (SS-140) is again plagued by electrical fires; on this day and the one previous, however, other than cases of smoke inhalation, exposure, and exhaustion, the boat suffers no casualties.
-On board submarine Silversides (SS-236), submerged in the shipping channel off Rabaul, New Britain, Pharmacist's Mate First Class Thomas A. Moore performs successful appendectomy on Fireman Second Class George M. Platter. This is the third of three such procedures that will be performed on board U.S. submarines during the war.
-Submarine Trigger (SS-237) damages Japanese merchant cargo ship Yoshu Maru south of the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Trigger clears the area without seeing her quarry sink.
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Takasaka Maru off Gasmata, New Britain.
-Japanese merchant cargo ship Kaiyo Maru is lost, cause unknown, Inland Sea, Japan.

December 22, 1943
-Submarine Gurnard (SS-254) damages German cargo ship Havelland east of Kashinosaki; the ship never returns to active service.
-Navy F6Fs and SBDs and USAAF P-39s raid Mili Atoll, Marshalls, sinking Japanese transport Nankai Maru.
-USAAF aircraft sink Japanese merchant cargo vessel Ginrei Maru about 200 miles south of Hon Kong.

December 22, 1944
-Tank landing ship LST-563 sinks after grounding off Clipperton Island.
-Destroyer Bryant (DD-665) is damaged by kamikaze off Mindoro.
-Submarine Flasher (SS-249) attacks Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, and sinks fleet tanker Omurosan Maru and merchant tankers Otowasan Maru and Arita Maru about 250 miles north of Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina.
-Submarine Tilefish (SS-307) sinks Japanese torpedo boat Chidori southwest of Omaezaki.
-USAAF B-24s attack Japanese shipping off north Borneo, sinking small cargo vessels Nitto Maru, Sumiyoshi Maru, Kanju Maru, Kojin Maru, and Hashiro Maru and damaging Chosiu Maru.
-RAF and Dutch Mitchells attack Japanese shipping off Koepang, Timor, sinking cargo vessel Nanyo Maru.

 

December 23, 1939
-Typhoon passes within 100 miles of Guam, M.I.; although the gale force winds cause little damage to Navy property, they cause widespread crop and property damage in the native quarters.

December 23, 1941
-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. 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, 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.
-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.

December 23, 1942
-Henderson Field, Guadalcanal-based SBDs, P-40s, and F4Fs attack 13 Japanese troop-laden barges bound for Munda, New Georgia, sinking nine of the enemy craft.
-Japanese netlayer Koa Maru is sunk by aircraft (possibly a USAAF B-24 heavy bomber), Marcus Bay, New Britain.
-Submarine Silversides (SS-236) is bombed and damaged by Japanese aircraft off Rabaul, but continues on her patrol.
-Submarine Triton (SS-201) sinks Japanese water tanker No.1 Amakusa Maru south of Wake Island.
-USAAF B-17s sink Japanese transport No.2 Tama Maru at Gasmata, New Britain.

December 23, 1943
-USAAF B-25s sink Japanese gunboat Nan-Yo 35 miles south of Formosa Straits.

December 23, 1944
-Submarine Blenny (SS-324), despite proximity of escort vessel, sinks Japanese merchant tanker Kenzui Maru off San Fernando.

 

December 24, 1941
-Unarmed U.S. freighter Absaroka is shelled by Japanese submarine I-17 about 26 miles off San Pedro, California; 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.
-Japanese land at Lamon Bay, Luzon.
-Motor torpedo boat PT-33 is damaged by grounding on reef five miles northwest of Cape Santiago, Luzon.
-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.

December 24, 1943
-Task force of three cruisers and four destroyers (Rear Admiral Aaron S. Merrill) bombards Buka-Bonis area, Solomons.
-Allied aircraft sinks Japanese auxiliary minelayer Koa Maru, Marcus Bay, New Britain.
-Destroyer escort Griswold (DE-7) sinks Japanese submarine I-39 off Koli Point, Guadalcanal.
-Submarine Gurnard (SS-254) sinks Japanese transport Seizan Maru 27 nautical miles east of Miki cape, and auxiliary minesweeper Naruo Maru.
-Submarine Raton (SS-270) torpedoes Japanese transport Heiwa Maru in Kaoe Bay, Halmahera; Heiwa Maru is intentionally run aground in shallow water to prevent her sinking.
-USAAF B-24 aircraft damage Japanese cargo ship Kensho Maru, Kwajalein.

December 24, 1944
-TG 94.9 (Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith) follows USAAF bombing raid on Iwo Jima by shelling airstrips and other installations there; destroyers Case (DD-370) and Roe (DD-418) sink Japanese fast transport T.8, and landing ship T.157.
-Submarine Barbero (SS-317) sinks Japanese submarine chaser Ch 30, and damages transport Junpo Maru about 40 East of Borneo.
-USAAF B-25s sink Japanese fishing boat Shinei Maru off Timor.
-Aircraft sink Japanese army cargo ship Goro Maru, Yangtze River.
-Japanese tanker Ryusho Maru is damaged by grounding approx 150 south of Da Nang in French Indochina.

 

December 25, 1941
-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. 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. 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.

December 25, 1942
-Submarine Seadragon (SS-194) damages Japanese transport Nankai Maru off Cape St. George, New Britain; escorting destroyer Uzuki, after depth-charging Seadragon (and claiming destruction of her quarry) is then damaged in collision with the damaged Nankai Maru. Despite enemy optimism, Seadragon emerges unscathed from her adventure.
-Submarine Tautog (SS-199) sinks Japanese army cargoship No.2 Banshu Maru about 15 miles north of Dili, Timor.
-Submarine Thresher (SS-200) sinks Japanese army transport No.1 Tokiwa Maru in the FLores Sea approximately 25 miles north of Surabaya.
-USAAF B-17s damage Japanese transport Kagu Maru and merchant cargo ship Kozan Maru at Rabaul.

December 25, 1943
-TG 50.2 (Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman) attacks Japanese ships at Kavieng. Planes from aircraft carrier Bunker Hill (CV-17) and small aircraft carrier Monterey (CVL 26) sink transport Tenryu Maru and damage minesweepers W.21 and W.22 and transport (ex-armed merchant cruiser) Kiyozumi Maru.
-Submarine Skate (SS-305) torpedoes Japanese battleship Yamato northeast of Truk, Carolines which was to make a troop run to Kavieng. While not sinking the ship damage was sufficiant enough to warrant the Yamato to cancel the troop run and return for repairs.
-USAAF B-25s damage Japanese Patrol Boat No.14 50 kilometers east of Hong Kong.

December 25, 1944
-Naval Air Station, Samar, is established.
-Submarine Barbero (SS-317) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks transport Junpo Maru 130 miles west-southwest of Kuching, Borneo.
-British submarines HMS Trenchant and HMS Terrapin sink auxiliary minesweeper Reisui Maru, cargo vessel No.23 Hinode Maru, and auxiliary sailing vessel Wakamiya Maru in Strait of Malacca.
-TF 38 aircraft attack Japanese shipping off Masinloc, P.I., sinking landing ship T.113.
-USAAF B-24s sink small Japanese cargo vessels Chokyu Maru and Sumiei Maru off Sandakan, Borneo, and badly damages Asahi Maru and Nichifuku Maru.
-U.S. freighter Robert J. Walker is torpedoed by German submarine U-862 in the Tasman Sea; Armed Guard 20-millimeter gunfire explodes a second torpedo, but a third hits the ship and causes irreparable damage. Two of the ship's 42-man merchant complement are killed. The ship is then abandoned and sinks the next day.

 

December 26, 1941
-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, is burned to prevent capture.
-Dutch Army planes bomb and sink Japanese minesweeper W.6 and collier No. 2 Unyo Maru off Kuching, Sarawak.
-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.

December 26, 1942
-Henderson Field, Guadalcanal-based SBDs, F4Fs, and P-38s attack Japanese transports at Wickham Anchorage, New Georgia, sinking merchant cargo ships Takashima Maru and Iwami Maru.
USAAF B-24 bombs Japanese shipping in St. George Channel, Solomons, damaging destroyer Ariake as she escorts damaged transport Nankai Maru and destroyer Uzuki.
-USAAF B-17s damage Japanese destroyer Tachikaze, Rabaul.
-Mine laid by submarine Trigger (SS-237) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Teifuku Maru four miles northeast of Inubosaki, Japan.
-Japanese merchant cargo ship Izumi Maru is sunk by aircraft (possibly USAAF heavy bomber) South Seas area.

December 26, 1943
-1st Marine Division (Major General William H. Rupertus, USMC) is landed at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, by Seventh Amphibious Force (Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey) after heavy preinvasion bombardment and bombing by ship gunfire and aircraft in Operation BACKHANDLER. During retaliatory Japanese air strikes, destroyer Brownson (DD-518) is sunk by dive bomber off Cape Gloucester, New Britain; destroyers Lamson (DD-367), Shaw (DD-373), and Mugford (DD-389) are damaged by dive bombers; and tank landing ships LST-66 is damaged by horizontal bomber.

December 26, 1944
-Japanese "Intrusion Force" (Rear Admiral Kimura Masanori), consisting of heavy cruiser Ashigara, light cruiser Oyodo, three destroyers and three escort destroyers, approaches Mindoro to bombard the beachhead. USAAF B-25s, P-38s, P-40s, and P-47s and Navy PB4Ys and PBMs successively attack the force. These damage Ashigara (near-misses), Oyodo, destroyers Asashimo, Kiyoshimo, and Kasumi, and escort destroyers Kaya and Kashi. Kimura's force carries out its bombardment mission, then encounters U.S. motor torpedo boats; PT-77 is damaged, probably accidentally bombed by friendly aircraft. Subsequently, PT-223 sinks the already damaged Kiyoshimo off San Jose, 145 miles south of Manila. As the "Intrusion Force" approaches, freighter James H. Breasted is ordered to seek safety in Ilin Strait; anchoring there, she comes under fire, being damaged by shell fragments during the Japanese bombardment. The ship is later bombed by what is probably a U.S. plane, touching off her cargo of gasoline. James H. Breasted is abandoned (only one of the 33-man merchant complement requires treatment for injuries; there are no casualties to the 27-man Armed Guard) but the survivors come under friendly fire that causes no further casualties. U.S. motor torpedo boats tow the three boatsful of survivors toward shore; the freighter is later written off as a total loss.
-Destroyer Fanning (DD-385) sinks Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser No.7 Kyo Maru off Okinomisaki, Bonins.
-Submarine Swordfish (SS-193) departs Midway for thirteenth war patrol. Contact is made with Swordfish on 3 January 1945, but she is never seen again.
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese cargo vessel No.104 Nany Maru off south coast of Boeroe Island.
-Australian destroyer HMAS Quickmatch rescues the 40 merchant sailors, one passenger and the 26-man Armed Guard of freighter Robert J. Walker, that had been torpedoed and sunk in the Tasman Sea by German submarine U-862 the day before.

[ 27. December 2004, 07:28 PM: Message edited by: Bill Murray ]

 

December 27, 1940
-Captain Eugene T. Oates assumes temporary duty as Commandant Sixteenth Naval District and Cavite Navy Yard.

December 27, 1941
-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).
-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.
-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.

December 27, 1942
-USAAF B-17s sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Italy Maru and Tsurugisan Maru off Rabaul.

December 27, 1943
-Two cruisers and four destroyers (Rear Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth) bombard Kieta area, Bougainville, Solomons.
-Coastal transport Apc-15 is damaged by dive bomber, New Britain.
-Submarine Flying Fish (SS-229) sinks Japanese fleet tanker Kyuei Maru.
-Submarine Gurnard (SS-254) damages Japanese transport (ex-armed merchant cruiser) Gokoku Maru.
-Submarine Ray (SS-271) sinks Japanese fleet tanker Kyoko Maru (ex-Dutch Semiramis) west of the Celebes.
-Submarine Tautog (SS-199) damages Japanese seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru off Shionomisaki.
-U.S. freighter Jose Navarro, bound for Calcutta, India, is torpedoed by German submarine U-178 about 420 miles northwest of Colombo. A volunteer crew returns to the ship after she is abandoned in hopes of saving her but go over the side before U-178 finishes off the freighter in a second attack. There are no fatalities among the 46-man merchant complement, the 34-man Armed Guard, or the 86 embarked troops (only one man of that aggregate total is injured).

December 27, 1944
-TG 94.9 (Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith) follows up USAAF strikes with cruiser and destroyer bombardment of Japanese installations on Iwo Jima and shipping offshore. Destroyer Dunlap (DD-384) is damaged by shore battery, but not before she teams with Fanning (DD-385) and Cummings (DD-365) to sink fast transport T.7 and landing ship T.132.
-Japanese planes bomb shore positions and auxiliary shipping at Mindoro; attacks are repeated on 28, 29, and 30 December.
-Submarine Baya (SS-318) locates Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara, light cruiser Oyodo, and destroyers Asashimo and Kasumi, part of the "Intrusion Force" on its return passage to Cam Ranh Bay. Baya's attack however, is unsuccessful.
-Submarine Barbero (SS-317) is damaged by aerial bomb, Lombok Strait and returns to base on starboard shaft only.
-Japanese cargo ship Daicho Maru is sunk by accidental bomb explosion, Batavia, Java.

 

Decemebr 28, 1941
-Destroyer Patterson (DD-392) rescues second of two groups of survivors from sunken U.S. freighter Manini.
-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.

December 28, 1942
-Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Choyo Maru off northwest coast of Formosa.
-Submarine Triton (SS-201) sinks Japanese merchant passenger/cargo ship Omi Maru east of Truk.
-Japanese army cargo ship No.8 Tokiwa Maru is sunk by mine approx 40 miles north of Surabaya.
-Japanese minelayer Nichiyu Maru is damaged, cause unknown, off Kiska, Aleutians.

December 28, 1943
-Amphibious Training Base, Kamaole, Maui, T.H., is established.
-Submarine Muskallunge (SS-262) unsuccessfully attacks Japanese convoy approx 320 miles northwest of Truk.
-Navy PV-1 attacks Japanese net tender Katsura Maru off Kwajalein.
-USAAF B-25s and P-40s sink Japanese merchant cargo vessels Heizan Maru, Unyo Maru and Koka Maru in Yangtze River.
-U.S. freighter Robert F. Hoke, en route from Abadan, Iran, to Mombasa, Kenya, is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-26 approx 300 southeast of Musquat, Oman and abandoned by all but the 27-man Armed Guard, who remain at their guns and fire upon the I-boat's periscope to keep the enemy down. I-26 abandons any further attacks and retires while Robert F. Hoke remains afloat. The crew reboards the ship but is not able to get the ship underway and she is abandoned a second time. An RAF crash boat rescues all hands (41 merchant sailors and the Armed Guard) and the abandoned freighter is later towed to Aden by British rescue tug HMS Masterful. Robert F. Hoke is later towed to Suez but never returns to active service and is written off as a total loss.
-Indian Navy minesweeper RINS Rajputana rescues the survivors of U.S. freighter Jose Navarro, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-178 the day before, and transports them to Cochin.

December 28, 1944
-Japanese air attacks commence against Mindoro-bound TG 77.11 (Captain George F. Mentz); kamikazes crash tank landing ship LST-750 and U.S. freighters William Sharon and John Burke. John Burke, carrying ammunition, explodes, the cataclysmic blast damaging auxiliary Porcupine (IX-126) and motor torpedo boat PT-332. There are no survivors from among John Burke's 40-man merchant complement and 28-man Armed Guard. Fragments from John Burke also hit freighter Francisco Morozan 100 yards away, wounding three of that ship's merchant complement. William Sharon, set afire by the kamikaze and gutted by fires that are ultimately controlled, is abandoned, the survivors transferring to destroyer Wilson (DD-408), whose assistance proves invaluable in extinguishing the blaze that has consumed the freighter. Salvage vessel Grapple (ARS-7) later tows the merchantman to San Pedro Bay for repairs. LST-750, hit subsequently by aerial torpedo, is consequently scuttled by destroyer Edwards (DD-619). Enemy air attacks continue the following day.
-Submarine Dace (SS-247) attacks Japanese convoy, sinking supply ship Nozaki off Cape Varella, French Indochina and damaging Chefoo Maru.
-USAAF B-24 sinks Japanese motor sailboat No.38 Tachibana Maru off Flores Island.

 

December 29, 1941
-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; 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.

December 29, 1942
-High speed minesweeper Wasmuth (DMS-15) is sunk by explosion of two of her own depth charges during a gale, 35 miles off Scotch Cape, the southwest point of Unimak Island, Aleutians.
Mine laid by submarine Tambor (SS-198) on 2 November 1942, sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Fukken Maru off northwest coast of Hainan Island.

December 29, 1943
-Off Palau, submarine Silversides (SS-236) sinks Japanese transport Tenposan Maru; army cargo ship Shichisei Maru and merchant cargo ship Ryuto Maru and damages army cargo ship Bichu Maru.
-USAAF B-24 attacks Truk-bound Japanese cargo ship Katori Maru.
-USAAF aircraft sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Kakuzan Maru and transport Daitei Maru in the middle Yangtze River.

December 29, 1944
-Submarine Hawkbill (SS-366) sinks Japanese merchant Lighter No.130 in Java Sea.

 

December 30, 1941
-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").
-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.

December 30, 1942
-Submarine Greenling (SS-213) attacks Japanese convoy about 180 miles northeast of Manus, Admiralties, sinking army cargo ship Hiteru Maru and damaging cargo ship Ryufuku Maru.
-Submarine Searaven (SS-196) lands agents on south coast of Ceram Island, N.E.I.
-Submarine Thresher (SS-200) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Hachian Maru (ex-British Kinshan) about 120 miles west of Mata Siri Island, off southeast tip of Borneo.
-Japanese coastal minesweeper M-2 is sunk by mine, Surabaya Harbor.
-USAAF B-17s (5th Air Force) bomb Japanese shipping in Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, sinking merchant cargo ship Tomiura Maru.

December 30, 1943
-Submarine Bluefish (SS-222) sinks Japanese oiler Ichiyu Maru, Java Sea.
U.S. aircraft sink Japanese guardboat Ukui Maru off Rabaul.

December 30, 1944
-Japanese air attacks continue on Mindoro-bound convoy; kamikazes damage destroyers Pringle (DD-477), and Gansevoort (DD-608), motor torpedo boat tender Orestes (AGP-10), and auxiliary Porcupine (IX-126). Porcupine is ultimately scuttled by Gansevoort. Freighter Hobart Baker is sunk by bombs off Mindoro, two of the 26-man Armed Guard are wounded and of the ship's 38-man merchant complement, there are one dead and one wounded. Also off Mindoro, freighter Francisco Morozan is damaged when kamikaze is shot down by U.S. fighter and explodes over the ship; there are, however, no casualties to the 38-man merchant complement and the 29-man Armed Guard.
-Submarine Razorback (SS-394) attacks Japanese Manila-to-Takao convoy about 60 miles southeast of Formosa, sinking destroyer Kuretake in Bashii Channel and damaging cargo ships Brazil Maru and _i Maru.
-USAAF B-25s, A-20s and P-40s (5th Air Force) attack Japanese shipping in approaches to Lingayen Gulf, off coast of Luzon, sinking Coast Defense Vessel No.20, submarine chaser Ch 18 off Santiago Island, and army cargo ships Aobasan Maru, Muroran Maru, and Teikai Maru north of San Fernando.

 

December 31, 1941
-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), 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. 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.

December 31, 1942
-Japanese Imperial headquarters in Tokyo decides to begin the evacuation of Guadalcanal.
-USAAF B-24s damage Japanese merchant cargo ship Urajio Maru off Kiska.

December 31, 1943
-Four PBY-5As from Attu, Aleutians, bomb Shimushu and Kashiwabara, Kuriles.
-Submarine Greenling (SS-213) sinks Japanese transport Shoho Maru in Eastern Carolines, evades counterattacks by submarine chaser Ch 30.
-Submarine Herring (SS-233) attacks Japanese convoy approx 430 miles southeast of Shingu, Japan.

December 31, 1944
-U.S. freighter Juan de Fuca is torpedoed by Japanese plane about 20 miles off Mindoro, and runs aground off Ambulong Island; there are no casualties among the 41-man merchant complement and the 27-man Armed Guard.
-British submarine HMS Shakespeare attacks Japanese convoy and sinks merchant cargo ship Unryu Maru east of Port Blair.

 

Thank you for tracking down the information on the USS Panay, Bill.

I know most of the US Yangtze Patrol gunboats withdrew from China to the Phillipines just prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, but I wonder what became of the UK's gunboats in China after December 7th. Is anyone familiar with that subject?

It is interesting to see how active Japanese submarines were off the US Pacific coast and Hawaii in 1941. It is also interesting to see that several Dutch submarines were active in the Pacific in 1941. I have read elsewhere about the ABDA force, which had a Dutch component, but I have rarely seen mention of Dutch submarines in the Pacific.

[ 01. January 2005, 03:48 AM: Message edited by: Deep Web Diver ]

 

Never mind. I just answered my own question by locating the remarkable H.M.S. Falcon website, a highly detailed website which I think will be of interest to anyone with an interest in the history of Western gunboats in China.

[ 01. January 2005, 04:45 AM: Message edited by: Deep Web Diver ]