Thursday, 9 April 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Luzon Force (Major General Edward King, USA) on Bataan peninsula surrenders to Japanese. Gunboat Mindanao (PR-8) rescues soldiers attempting to escape from Bataan to Corregidor.

            U.S. Navy facilities at Mariveles are demolished to prevent enemy use: Navy forces scuttle submarine tender Canopus (AS-9), minesweeper Bittern (AM-36), tug Napa (AT-32), and drydock Dewey. Ferry launches San Felipe (YFB-12), Camia (YFB-683), and Dap Dap (YFB-684), and Canopus motor launches, evacuate men and equipment to Corregidor.

            Submarine Snapper (SS-185) delivers food to Corregidor.

            Motor torpedo boats PT-34 and PT-41 engage Japanese light cruiser Kuma and torpedo boat Kiji in a running fight off Cape Tanon, the southern tip of Cebu, P.I.; Kuma is hit by a dud torpedo and machine gun fire. Later that same day, PT-34 is bombed and strafed by floatplanes from Japanese seaplane carrier Sanuki Maru and beached off Cauit Island, P.I., 10°16'N, 123°52'E. A second bombing and strafing attack by Sanuki Maru's planes destroys PT-34, which suffers two dead and three wounded from her six man crew in the action.

INDIAN OCEAN—Japanese Operation C continues: carrier striking force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) raids Trincomalee, Ceylon, which has been cleared of shipping in expectation of the attack. Notwithstanding the precautions taken by the British, Japanese carrier bombers attack the ships they find returning to Trincomalee. British carrier HMS Hermes is sunk, as is Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire, British corvette HMS Hollyhock, depot ship HMS Athelstane and RFA oiler British Sergeant.

ATLANTIC—Unarmed U.S. freighter Esparta, en route from Honduras to New York, is torpedoed by German submarine U-123about 14 miles south of Brunswick, Georgia, 30°46'N, 81°11'W; one man perishes out of the merchantman's 40 man crew.

            Unarmed U.S. freighter Malchace is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-160 about 50 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 34°28'N, 75°56'W; Mexican freighter Faja De Oro rescues the 28 survivors (one crewman drowns when Malchace is abandoned).

            Unarmed U.S. tanker Atlas is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-552 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina,34°27'N, 76°16'W; two of the 34 man crew die attempting to escape the fires fed by the cargo of 84,239 barrels of gasoline. Coast Guard cutter CG 462 rescue the 32 men who survive the inferno. Later the same day, U-552 torpedoes tanker Tamaulipas at 34°25'N, 76°00'W; British trawler HMS Norwich City rescues the 35 survivors (two crewmen perish when the tanker is abandoned). Tamaulipas, gutted by fires, sinks the following morning.

            Unarmed U.S. tanker Eugene V.R. Thayer, en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is pursued and shelled by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi at 02°20'S, 39°30'W; 11 of the tanker's crew are killed in the engagement that ends when Eugene V.R. Thayer is abandoned (see 10, 11 and 13 April).

            Motor torpedo boat PT-59, on practice run in upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, accidentally torpedoes cargo ship Capella (AK-13); tugs are on the scene immediately and anchor the damaged auxiliary in shoal water. Eight crewmen are injured in the mishap.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—HQ echelon is located at Bolling Field to prepare Eighth AF for move overseas.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS—Japanese capture Bataan after 3 months. US-Philippine forces surrender unconditionally. Japanese artillery emplaced on Bataan opens fire on Corregidor in conjunction with air attacks.

US ARMY

LABRADOR—U.S. detachment arrives.

PHILLIPINE ISLANDS—On Luzon, at 0330, emissaries of General King start to Japanese lines under white flag to arrange for surrender. General King surrenders Luzon Force unconditionally at 1230, and grim march of prisoners from Balanga to San Fernando follows. Fall of Bataan permits Japanese aircraft previously employed against it to devote their full attention to Corregidor. For the first time since end of March, enemy planes attack in force. Japanese artillery emplaced at Cabcaben, S Bataan, opens fire on Corregidor.

VISAYAN ISLANDS—Cebu Island garrison is alerted as enemy flotilla heading toward the island is spotted.

BURMA—Burma I Corps is now disposed to defend oil fields, on general line Minhla–Taung-dwingyi, a 40-mile front. Chinese are not in position to support corps because of a series of contradictory orders.

CEYLON—Trincomalee undergoes heavy air attack by Japanese planes from carriers. HMS Hermes (aircraft carrier) is sunk offshore.

USSR—Strong Soviet efforts to advance from Kerch area in the Crimea make little headway against stubborn enemy forces. Germans remain on the defensive on central front, containing most of Red Army thrusts; on northern front, make slow progress against firm opposition toward encircled forces in vicinity of Cholm and Staraya Russa.

US MARINE CORPS

End of American resistance on Bataan.