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.