US NAVY
UNITED STATES—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 Petrel,
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 MeiYun.
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 fora 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.
US ARMY AIR FORCE
INTERNATIONAL—US, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada,
Union of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia Free France, and 8 Latin American
republics declare war against Japan.
FEAF—First word of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is
received on Luzon in the Philippines by commercial radio between 0300-0330
local time. Within 30 minutes radar at Iba Field plots formation of airplanes
75 mi offshore, heading for Corregidor. AAF P‑40’s are sent out to intercept
but make no contact. Shortly before 0930, after aircraft are detected over
Lingayen Gulf heading toward Manila, B‑17’s at Clark Field are ordered airborne
to prevent being caught on the ground. Fighters from Clark and Nichols Fields
are sent to intercept the enemy but do not make contact. The airplanes swing E
and bomb military installations at Baguio. Tarlac, Tuguegarao, and airfields at
Cabantuan are also attacked. By 1130 the B‑17’s and fighters sent into the air
earlier have landed at Clark and Iba for refueling, and radar has disclosed
another flight of aircraft 70 mi W of Lingayen Gulf, headed S. Fighters from
Iba make a fruitless search over S China Sea. Fighters from Nichols are
dispatched to patrol over Bataan and Manila. Around 1145 a formation is
reported headed S over Lingayen Gulf. Fighters are ordered from Del Carmen to
cover Clark Field but fail to arrive before the Japanese hit Clark shortly
after noon. HBs and many fighters at Clark Field are caught on the ground, but
a few P‑40’s manage to get airborne. 2d Lt Randall B Keator (20th Pursuit
Squadron) shoots down the first Japanese aircraft over the Philippines. The P‑40’s
earlier sent on patrol of S China Sea return to Iba Field with fuel running low
at the beginning of an attack on that airfield. They fail to prevent bombing
but manage to prevent low-level strafing of the sort which proved so
destructive at Clark. At the end of the day’s action it is apparent that the
Japanese have won a major victory. The effective striking power of Far East AF
has been destroyed, the fighter strength has been seriously reduced, most B‑17
maintenance facilities have been demolished, and about 80 men have been killed.
ALASKA DEFENSE COMMAND—Starting today bombers fly armed
reconnaissance each morning from Anchorage to Kodiak.
ZONE of the INTERIOR—First and Fourth AFs are made
responsible for air defense on the E and W coasts, respectively. Commanding
General First AF orders I Bomber Command to begin overwater reconnaissance with
all available aircraft to locate and attack any hostile surface forces which
might approach the E coast. Similar reconnaissance is ordered off W coast.
Aircraft of 1st Pursuit Group from Selfridge Field begin to arrive at San
Diego, being the first reinforcements of air strength on the W coast.
US ARMY
INTERNATIONAL SITUATION—U.S. and Great Britain declare war
on Japan. On W side of international date line (7 December, Hawaiian time),
Japanese bombard Wake and Guam, each garrisoned by small detachments of U.S.
marines; British-mandated Nauru and Ocean Islands; the Philippines; British
Malaya and Singapore; Thailand; Hong Kong.
PHILLIPINE ISLANDS—Japanese naval planes from Formosa
attack Clark and Iba Fields and catch many aircraft on the ground. FEAF is
reduced to almost half strength, and installations are severely damaged.
Tuguegarao and Baguio are each hit by Japanese Army planes before the main
strike against Clark Field. TF 5, Asiatic Fleet, under Rear Adm William A.
Glassford, heads S toward safer waters. Japanese begin advance landings to
acquire air bases from which to support main assault: invade Batan Island,
between Formosa and Luzon, without opposition.
THAILAND—Some Japanese from Indochina cross into Thailand
and drive on Bangkok against negligible resistance. Others land unopposed at
Singora and Patani on E coast and start SW across Kra Isthmus to assist in
conquest of Malaya.
MALAYA—Japanese invade Malaya early in the morning, landing
on E coast near Kota Bharu after naval bombardment of beaches, and are
vigorously engaged by Lieutenant General A. E. Percival's Malaya Command.
Indian 3 Corps (under Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Heath), which is responsible
for all Malaya N of Johore and Malacca, employs Indian 9th Division against
enemy in Kota Bharu area and sends Indian 11th Division, already poised to move
into Thailand, across border to delay enemy on roads to Singora and PatanIsland
Indian 9th Division, whose primary mission is to protect the 3 airfields in
Kelantan (Kota Bharu, Gong Kedah, and Machang), fights losing battle for Kota
Bharu, from which it starts withdrawing during night 8–9. One Indian 11th
Division column, driving toward Singora, engages tank-supported enemy force 10
miles N of frontier; another, advancing toward Patani, is opposed only by Thai
police forces. In conjunction with ground attacks, Japanese planes strike
repeatedly at airfields in N Malaya and greatly reduce strength of RAF Far East
Command. RAF, after attacking enemy shipping and troops in Kota Bharu area,
withdraws from the Kelantan airfields to Kuantan, far to S. Singapore, ultimate
objective of Japanese 25th Army in Malaya, is also attacked by air.
CHINA—Japanese seize International Settlement at Shanghai,
and many ships are sunk or captured in its harbor; move troops toward Kowloon,
on mainland across from Hong Kong.
LIBYA—Axis forces begin orderly withdrawal toward Gazala,
followed closely by 13 and 30 Corps of British Eighth Army and harassed by RAF.
Skillful rear-guard action delays pursuit.
USSR—German Army Group North withdraws from Tichwin,
on Leningrad-Vologda RR, under Soviet pressure. Army Group Center is
slowly giving ground in Moscow area.
US MARINE CORPS
U. S. declares war on Japan. Japan attacks Allied bases in
the Pacific and Far East, and lands on Batan Island north of Luzon, P. I., and
on east coast of Malay Peninsula. U. S. Marines and other Allied nationals
interned at Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China. Personnel of American
Embassy Guard, Peiping, and of Marine Legation Guard , Tientsin, become first
Marine POWs in World War II.
