1942
January 1942
Thursday, January 1, 1942
General
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill sign the Joint Declaration of the United Nations; only the United States and Britain had discussed the document's creation, but ultimately representatives of 24 other nations, including the Soviet Union and China, will affix their signatures to it. There will be no separate peace agreements; the signatories pledge to fight until the Axis is defeated.
Pacific
Cued by ground radar, Japanese raid by 24 G4M bombers against Wake is intercepted successfully by 2 F4Fs and 2 F2As. Three Japanese Betty bombers are shot down.
Admiral Thomas C. Hart (Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet) arrives in Surabaya, Java, N.E.I., after his passage from Manila, P.I., in submarine Shark (SS-174).
Unarmed U.S. freighter Malama, en route from Honolulu to Manila, is bombed and sunk by floatplane from Japanese armed merchant cruiser Aikoku Maru at 26°21'N, 153°24'W. Aikoku Maru takes the 35-man crew and the 8 passengers prisoner.
Japanese army cargo ship Teiun Maru (ex-German Bremerhaven) is sunk by mine (U.S. or Japanese) off mouth of Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, 16°05'N, 120°20'E.
Japanese oiler Toen Maru is damaged by mine southwest of Hong Kong, B.C.C.
Atlantic
Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll succeeds Admiral Ernest J. King as Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet.
Friday, January 2
Pacific
Manila and Cavite, P.I., fall to the Japanese.
First patrol squadron (VP-11) becomes operational at Wake Island, with 12 PBYs, ferried from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, then via Midway to Wake. Patrols commence the following morning.
Two more Betty bombers are shot down over Wake Island. Local Japanese commanders in the Marshalls recognize the unpleasant trend, and begin to be uneasy about their mounting losses over the island.
Submarine Plunger (SS-179), operating off Japan, receives a vicious depth charging from Japanese destroyer Hokaze. Plunger responds with a single Mark 18 homing torpedo, which hits and badly damages Hokaze. The destroyer will be laid up at Kure for five months for extensive repairs.
Saturday, January 3
Pacific
Japanese collier Moji Maru is sunk by mine southwest of Hong Kong, B.C.C.
Japanese merchant cargo ship Meiko Maru is sunk by accidental gasoline explosion off Hainan Island, 15°01'N, 112°48'E.
Tangier (AV-8) and Vega (AK-17) are dispatched to Wake Island with more equipment and men for the Marine garrison there, including elements of the Third Marine Defense Battalion. The transports are escorted by the destroyers Worden, Dale, Monaghan and Aylwin. Distant cover is provided by Saratoga (CV-3), which will also fly off six F4F fighters from Hawaii, the only possible reinforcements for VMF-211 at this time.
Atlantic
Critical fuel states in the "shortlegged" flush-deck destroyers in the screen of convoy HX 167 prompts the adoption of the expedient of cargo ship Delta (AK-29) fueling destroyers Babbitt (DD-128) and Schenck (DD-159). Weather again worsens, however, preventing Leary (DD-158) from fueling; she is sent to Casco Bay to refuel.
Light cruiser Omaha (CL-4) and destroyer Somers (DD-381) encounter two ships in succession that fail to answer challenges; Omaha sends armed boarding party each time to obtain information. The vessels prove to be Greek freighter Marika Protopapa and Norwegian merchantman Tercero.