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.