Tuesday, 9 December 1941

 US NAVY

CHINA—China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.

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.

           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.

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

FEAF—Shortly after 0300 aircraft attack Nichols Field. This attack, added to the previous day’s raids on Clark and Iba Fields, leaves FEAF strength reduced by half. Only 17 of 35 B‑17’s remain in commission; about 55 P‑40’s,3 P‑35’s, and close to 30 other aircraft (B‑10’s, B‑18’s, and observation airplanes) have been lost in aerial combat or destroyed on the ground. During morning and afternoon, B‑17’s from Mindanao fly reconnaissance missions and land on Clark and San Marcelino Fields. Several more B‑17’s are flown from Mindanao to these Luzon bases for resistance against possible invasion attempt.

ZONE of the INTERIOR—Fighters at Mitchel Field are dispatched to intercept hostile airplane reported (falsely) to be approaching the E coast.

 

US ARMY

CENTRAL PACIFIC—Japanese continue preinvasion bombing of Wake and Guam; invade Gilbert Islands.

PHILLIPINE ISLANDS—Continuing neutralization of airpower on Luzon, enemy bombers strike Nichols Field, near Manila.

THAILAND—Japanese occupy Bangkok without opposition.

MALAYA—Japanese force Indian 9th Division of Indian 3 Corps from Kota Bharu airfield and continue air attacks on other fields, including Kuantan. RAF abandons Kuantan airfield for Singapore Island and Alor Star airfield, on NW coast, for Butterworth. RAF bomber attack on Singora airfield (Thailand) proves very costly since fighter protection is lacking. Dutch planes arrive at Singapore to augment strength of RAF.

CHINA—Declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.

 

US MARINE CORPS

CENTRAL PACIFIC—Japanese occupy Tarawa and Makin Islands in Gilberts.

 

 

Monday, 8 December 1941

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.

 

 

A Date that will live in Infamy: Sunday, 7 December 1941

Today marks the 84th anniversary of the United States active participation in the Second World War.

Remember Pearl Harbor!

US NAVY

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 about1,000 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 inaction 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‑inchantiaircraft 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 MitsubishiA6M2 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 inadvertently 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.

JAPAN—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.

UNITED STATES—President orders mobilization.

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

INTERNATIONAL—Japan attacks Hawaii and other US and British possessions in the Pacific without warning. Japan already is at war with China, and Great Britain is at war with the Axis powers, Germany and Italy, which control most of Western Europe. The RAF is conducting an aerial offensive against Germany, and the Luftwaffe is engaged in a campaign against Britain. Russians are fighting German forces that have invaded the USSR. British troops are battling Italians and Germans in Africa.

HAWAIIAN AF—First wave of Japanese carrier-based airplanes (almost 200) hits US naval base at Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field at 0755. Attacks follow quickly against Wheeler and Bellows Fields. A second wave of Japanese airplanes strikes other naval and military facilities. Hawaiian AF loses 163 men, with about 390 others wounded or missing; has 64 of its 231 assigned aircraft destroyed. Only 79 of the remaining aircraft are deemed usable, and much of the AF’s ground facilities are destroyed. These losses are light in comparison with the Navy’s: more than 2,000 killed or missing, and more than 900 wounded; 4 battleships sunk; 3 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 3 destroyers damaged; and over half of the Navy’s 169 airplanes in the area destroyed. The Japanese lose 20 aircraft over Hawaii, including 4 claimed destroyed by 2d Lt George S Welch (47th Pursuit Squadron) piloting a P‑40, one of the few US fighters to success fully attack airplanes during the day. About 20 other aircraft are lost by the Japanese during carrier landings. Altogether the Japanese pay a small price for the damage done to the Americans on Oahu. For the remainder of the day, following the attacks, AAF carries out fruitless searches for the carriers.

ALASKA DEFENSE COMMAND—Upon learning of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Command’s 6 B‑18’s and 12 P‑36’s take to the air to avoid being caught on their fields.

 

US ARMY

INTERNATIONAL SITUATION—Japan strikes without warning and almost simultaneously at various U.S. and British possessions in the Pacific; declares war against U.S. and Great Britain.

HAWAII—Launched from carriers of a naval task force (TF) standing 200 miles N of Oahu, Japanese planes attack Oahu between 0750 and 1000 bombing the Pacific Fleet, which, except for the carriers, is concentrated in Pearl Harbor, and AAF planes parked in close formation on Hickam and Wheeler airfields. 3 BB's are sunk, another is capsized, and 4 more are damaged; 3 CL's, 3 DD's, and other vessels are seriously damaged. 92 Navy and 96 Army planes are lost. American casualties are 2,280 killed and 1,109 wounded. Japanese lose 29 planes and 5 midget submarines.

MIDWAY—At 2135, 2 Japanese DD's bombard Midway, garrisoned by a small U.S. Marine detachment (6th Defense Battalion), to neutralize it.

LIBYA—Major General N. M. Ritchie's British (British) Eighth Army, a component of General Sir Claude J. E. Auchinleck's British Middle East Forces (MEF), continues offensive, begun in November, to clear Libya of German and Italian forces, which are nominally under Italian command, but actually under German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Objective is twofold: first, destruction of enemy concentrated in E Cyrenaica, which is in progress; second, conquest of Tripolitania. Armored elements of British 30 Corps battle enemy tanks around Bir el GubIsland After nightfall, British 13 Corps goes on the offensive, 10th Division driving along El Adem Ridge, key feature S of Tobruk.

USSR—German offensive (Operation BARBAROSSA, begun on 22 July 1941 by Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, CinC of the German Army) to crush Soviet forces has ground to a halt on broken line from Lake Ladoga on N to Sea of Azov on S. At the extremities of front, Soviet garrisons of Leningrad and Sevastopol are besieged; on central front Germans are at outskirts of Moscow. Red Army is conducting general counteroffensive (begun on 6 December) to drive enemy westward. 3 fresh Soviet armies are exerting pressure against enemy spearheads in vicinity of Moscow. Although assured the support of satellite nations (Finland, Rumania, Hungary), Germans are at a disadvantage because of overextended supply lines and battle exhaustion.

WESTERN EUROPE—Although Adolf Hitler has by this time abandoned plans for invasion of England (Operation SEA LION) as result of defeat of Luftwaffe in Battle of Britain (8 August–31 October 1940), German planes continue active over England. RAF in turn has been making frequent attacks on European continent.

 

US MARINE CORPS

Japanese attack Pearl Harbor

 

Saturday, 6 December 1941

US NAVY

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.  

Friday, 5 December 1941

US NAVY

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 (VMSB231) 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.  

Thursday, 4 December 1941

US NAVY

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 5‑6December, 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.  

Wednesday, 3 December 1941

US NAVY

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 star shells, 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.