Background
Events - December 1941-February 1942
Pearl
Harbor
attacked, Loss of 'Repulse' & 'Prince
of Wales', Singapore falls, 'Channel Dash' by
German big ships, to February 1942
1941
Monday,
1 December
Destroyer ECLIPSE departed
Scapa Flow at 0400 to meet armed merchant cruiser
ESPERANCE BAY
and destroyer WHITSHED off May Island at 1130.
On meeting, destroyer
ECLIPSE relieved destroyer
WHITSHED and escorted the armed merchant cruiser to the
Clyde, arriving at 0100/3rd.
Destroyer ECLIPSE then
returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at 2230 that day.
_____
Battleship RAMILLIES and
destroyers ESCAPADE and
WHEATLAND departed Scapa
Flow at 0925 for the Clyde. The ships arrived in the Clyde at 1200/2nd.
Rear Admiral S. S.
Bonham-Carter CB, CVO, DSO,
hoisted his flag of Battle Squadron 3 in battleship
RAMILLIES in the Clyde.
Destroyer WHEATLAND
departed to return to Scapa Flow, arriving at 1130/3rd.
Destroyer ESCAPADE departed
the Clyde at 1400/3rd and arrived at 0930/4th.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed Scapa Flow to relieve heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
on patrol in the Iceland - Faroes passage.
_____
Convoy ON.42 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 2nd by
destroyers
SABRE and SKATE and corvettes ALISMA, KINGCUP, and
SUNFLOWER. The destroyers
were detached on the 6th. The corvettes were detached on
the 7th when the
convoy was joined by corvettes KENOGAMI, LETHBRIDGE,
MAYFLOWER, NANAIMO, and PRESCOTT.
_____
All the A class destroyers
of the 3rd Destroyer
Flotilla were transferred on this date to the Western
Approaches.
_____
Dutch submarine O.14
departed Scapa Flow for
Dundee.
_____
Minesweeper ROSS was
damaged by German bombing off the east coast
of Scotland. The damage required ten days to repair.
_____
Fishing trawler ST LEONARD
No. 1 (210grt) was sunk
by German bombing in 60-58N, 1-10W. The crew of ten were
all rescued.
_____
Destroyers JERVIS, JACKAL,
JAGUAR, and KIPLING
departed Alexandria on 30 November to intercept three
Italian
destroyers reported approaching Derna.
No contact was made with
the Italian ships, which
were Italian destroyers VIVALDI, DA NOLI, and PESSAGNO,
which had departed
Derna en route to Benghazi and Suda
Bay.
Destroyer JACKAL was
attacked by a torpedo bomber
sixty miles south of Crete near Derna and was badly
damaged at 0300/1st.
Light cruisers EURYALUS
and NAIAD and destroyers
HERO and HASTY, which were covering the destroyers'
sweep, closed to assist,
but were ordered to maintain the Derna interception
patrol. The light
cruisers and destroyers arrived back at Alexandria
during the night of 2/3 December. There were no
casualties in the destroyer JACKAL. The destroyer
arrived at Alexandria, escorted by destroyers JERVIS,
JAGUAR, and
KIPLING on the 2nd and was under repair at Alexandria
until April. The commanding officer Lt Cdr J. F.
W. Hine of destroyer JAGUAR was accidently killed by a
shell burst from
destroyer JERVIS. A rating on destroyer JAGUAR was also
killed and another
rating later died of wounds.
_____
Gunboat APHIS bombarded
enemy concentrations and
supply dumps near the Bardia - Tobruk road during the
night of 1/2 December.
_____
Submarine REGENT damaged
Italian steamer ENRICO
(2350grt) off Trapani in 37-52N, 11-52E.
_____
Italian submarine ENRICO
TOTI reported sinking a
Submarine off Zante.
_____
Corvettes AZALEA and
COLTSFOOT departed Gibraltar escorting tanker WINAMAC
outbound and then to meet
arriving tanker CONSUL, arriving on the 9th.
_____
Troopship RANGITATA
arrived at Gibraltar, escorted by destroyers HURWORTH
and EXMOOR.
_____
Destroyers WISHART and
LEGION attacked a submarine
target 23 miles 307° from Cape Spartel without result.
_____
German supply ship PYTHON,
which had been
refuelling German submarines U.A and U.68, was scuttled
at 27-53S, 3-55W when
she was intercepted by Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE.
No attempt to rescue
survivors was attempted due to
the submarines. Corvettes ASTER and MARGUERITE, passing
through the area on
the 8th en route to the Cape, were ordered to search for
survivors, but none
were located. The four hundred and fourteen survivors,
including merchant
cruiser ATLANTIS's survivors, were picked up by
submarines U.A, U.68, U.124,
U.129, TAZZOLI, FINZI, CALVI, and TORELLI.
Submarines U.A, U.68, and
TAZZOLI arrived at St
Nazaire on the 25th. Submarines U.129 and CALVI arrived
on the 27th.
Submarine FINZI on the 28th, and U.124 on the 29th.
Tuesday,
2
December
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
arrived at Hvalfjord from Denmark Strait patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed Hvalfjord for Denmark Strait patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
departed patrol in the Iceland - Faroes passage upon
relief by light cruiser
ARETHUSA. The heavy cruiser arrived at Scapa Flow on the
4th.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed
Scapa Flow at 0045 for Rosyth where she arrived at 1200
that
day for boiler cleaning.
_____
Polish destroyer
BLYSKAWICA arrived at Scapa Flow at 1500 to carry out
working up practices after a
long refit.
_____
Destroyer
MARNE departed
Methil at 2000 for the Clyde to conduct torpedo trials.
The destroyer arrived
at 0830/4th.
_____
Minesweper SALTASH
departed Sheerness for passage
to the Faroes to rejoin the 4th Minesweeper Squadron.
_____
British tanker BRITISH
CAPTAIN (6968grt) was sunk
on a mine near 54 C Buoy in 52-13-10N, 1-54-41E. One
crewman was missing on
the tanker.
_____
Italian submarine
CAPPELLINI sank Steamer MIGUEL DE
LARRINAGA (5231grt) in 35-14N, 29-52W.
Portuguese destroyer VOUGA was despatched from Ponta
Delgada to search for survivors.
_____
U.43 sank American tanker
ASTRAL (7542grt) in
35-40N, 24-00W. The entire crew of eight officers and
twenty nine men were
lost.
_____
U.562 sank Steamer
GRELHEAD (4274grt) two miles
north of Point
Negri, Morocco. Two crew were rescued.
_____
U.557 sank Norwegian
steamer FJORD (4032grt) off Estepona Point, Spain.
Fourteen
crew were lost on the steamer.
_____
German steamer CORDELIA
(1357grt) was sunk of
Konstanza by a Soviet submarine.
_____
U.205 attacked a destroyer
near Alexandria.
_____
Destroyers NAPIER,
GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, and DECOY departed Alexandria to sweep
off the Cyrenician coast. The destroyers
returned to Alexandria on the 4th. As destroyer DECOY
was proceeding to
her mooring, she collided withPolish steamer WARSZAWA
(2487grt). Destroyer
DECOY's bow was seriously damaged. The destroyer
departed Alexandria on the 15th for repair at Malta,
completed on 10 February.
_____
Submarine PERSEUS
unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
in the Ionian Sea.
_____
Indian patrol vessel
NETRAVATI engaged French sloop
ELORN five miles north of Musha Island. The French sloop was escorting a submarine northbound from
Djibouti. The action had
no results and ELORN returned to Djibouti.
_____
Destroyers ARROW and
BLANKNEY arrived at Gibraltar from the UK, carrying RAF
stores, and destroyer HARVESTER
arrived from escorting convoy OG.77 at the start.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE arrived at Gibraltar
after patrol. She departed again that day to
relieve Dutch submarine O.24 on patrol off Oran. The
Dutch submarine then proceeded to patrol off Naples.
_____
After British aircraft
reported a submarine 13
miles 340° from Cape Spartel, sloop STORK
attacked a contact at this location.
The hunt was continued with destroyer BRADFORD and
corvette MARIGOLD without
result.
_____
Battleship PRINCE OF
WALES, battlecruiser REPULSE, and destroyers ELECTRA,
EXPRESS, ENCOUNTER, and JUPITER arrived at Singapore.
These ships with battleship REVENGE and destroyer
VAMPIRE were the British Eastern Fleet.
_____
Light cruiser MAURITIUS
arrived at Singapore for repairs.
Wednesday,
3
December
Minelaying cruiser MANXMAN
departed Loch Alsh at
0930 and arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1700 that
day. Sister ship WELSHMAN departed Scapa Flow for
Loch Alsh at 1530 and arrived at 0130/4th for
boiler cleaning.
_____
Convoy ON.43 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyer BROKE. Corvettes
CAMELLIA
and HIBISCUS joined on the 4th and destroyers NEWPORT
and VERITY and corvette ROSTHERN on the 5th. The
destroyers were detached on the 7th. Corvette BEGONIA
joined on the 8th and
corvette ROSTHERN was detached on the 9th. Destroyer
HAVELOCK joined on the 10th and was detached later that
day. Corvette BEGONIA was detached on the 11th when
American destroyers
BERNADOU, DUPONT, MACLEISH, ROE, and WOOLSEY joined.
Corvettes CAMELLIA and
HIBISCUS were detached on the 12th. The American
destroyers were detached on
the 15th when the convoy dispersed.
_____
Landing ship PRINCE
CHARLES departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow, where she
arrived on the 4th.
_____
Steamer MACLAREN (2330grt)
was sunk on a mine in
51-21-21-N, 3-17-17W. Three crew were lost on the
steamer.
_____
U.124 sank American
steamer SAGADAHOC (6275grt) at
21-20S, 7-50W. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
_____
German fishing trawler
FAROER (470grt) was sunk
near Rolusoy by Soviet submarine K.3.
_____
Submarine
OLYMPUS departed Malta for Gibraltar with
stores and personnel. The submarine arrived on the 10th.
_____
Convoy HX.163 departed
Halifax, escorted by destroyer HAMILTON and corvettes
KAMLOOPS and SASKATOON. These ships were relieved on the
5th by American
destroyers BENSON, EDISON, HILARY P. JONES, NIBLACK, and
TARBETLL. Destroyer
EDISON was detached on the 13th. On the 15th, the
American group was relieved
by corvettes ARABIS, BEGONIA, CAMELLIA, and DAHLIA.
Destroyers BROKE and
WATCHMAN joined on the 16th. Destroyer BROKE and
corvettes ARABIS, CAMELLIA,
and DAHLIA were detached on the 18th. The convoy arrived
at Liverpool on the 19th.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER arrived
at Malta from patrol off Colonne.
_____
Light cruisers DANAE and
DRAGON and destroyer
STRONGHOLD arrived at Singapore.
Thursday,
4
December
Destroyers ECLIPSE and
FURY departed Scapa Flow at 1200 for the Humber to refit at Hull
and Immingham, respectively. The destroyers arrived in
the Humberat 1410/5th.
_____
German steamer EDITH
FAULBAUM (1318grt) was sunk on
a mine off Warnermunde.
_____
Submarine TRUSTY sank
Italian steamer ERIDANO
(3586grt) off Argistoli.
_____
Italian submarine GUGLIEMO
MARCONI was declared
lost after failing to return from a patrol in the
Atlantic. Some sources suggest the
submarine was sunk in error in November by U.67, but
this is not possible.
_____
Destroyers JERVIS, HERO,
and HAVOCK departed Alexandria to patrol off Derna. The
destroyers returned to Alexandria during the night of
5/6December.
_____
Gunboat APHIS bombarded
Derna - Tobruk road early
on the 4th.
_____
Convoy AT.2 departed
Alexandria for Tobruk. The slow section was two store
ships
and three landing ship tanks A lighters, escorted by
sloops YARRA and
FLAMINGO and two anti-submarine trawlers departing at
1600. The fast section
was armed boarding vessel CHANTALA and steamer CRISTA
(2590grt) and
WOLBOROUGH (459grt), escorted by destroyers HEYTHROP and
AVONVALE and one
anti-submarine trawler departing a short time after the
slow section. The
convoys arrived at Tobruk on the 6th. The sloops
proceeded to carry out an
anti-submarine sweep in the area.
_____
Destroyers SIKH, ZULU,
HIGHLANDER, and HESPERUS
arrived at Gibraltar from Londonderry.
_____
Submarine P.31 arrived at
Malta from patrol off Colonne.
_____
Convoy SC.58 departed
Sydney, CB, escorted by corvettes DRUMHELLER, KAMSACK,
SHAWNIGAN, and SUMMERSIDE and minesweeper THUNDER. These
escorts were
detached on the 6th when the convoy was joined by
destroyer ST LAURENT and corvettes BUCTOUCHE, HEPATICA,
MOOSE JAW,
NASTURTIUM, PICTOU, and WINDFLOWER. Corvette WINDFLOWER
was lost in a
collision on the 7th and corvette NASTURTIUM was
detached. The remaining
escorts were detached on the 15th when relieved by
destroyers BROKE and
WATCHMAN and corvettes CAMELLIA and MONTBRETIA.
Destroyer BROKE was detached on
the 16th, corvette CAMELLIA on the 18th, destroyer
WATCHMAN on the 19th, and
corvette MONTBRETIA on the 20th. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 21st.
_____
Convoy ST.10 departed
Freetown, escorted by destroyer WILD SWAN, sloop
BRIDGEWATER, and corvettes CLOVER, FREESIA, and NIGELLA.
The
convoy arrived at Takoradi on the 9th.
_____
Steamer ELLENGA departed
Singapore with one naval and one hundred and sixty three
miltary personnel. She called at Penang where she
embarked three RIN and ninety five military personnel.
Light cruiser DANAE
escorted the steamer to 81E. Steamer ELLENGA continued
unescorted and arrived
at Madras on the 14th.
_____
Destroyer EXPRESS departed
Singapore.
_____
Eighteen Japanese
transports departed Hainan with 26,640 troops for the
Malaya landings.
The transports were escorted by the 3rd Destroyer
Flotilla with light cruiser
SENDAI, destroyers MURAKUMO, SHINONOME, SHIRAKUMO, and
USUGUMO of the 12th
Destroyer Division, ISONAMI, URANAMI, SHIKINAMI, and
AYANAMI of the 19th Destroyer
Division, and AMAGIRI, ASAGIRI, and YUGIRI of the 20th
Destroyer Flotilla.
Heavy cruiser CHOKAI
(Ozawa) with destroyer SAGIRI
of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla accompanied the convoy.
A covering force of heavy
cruisers KUMANO, MIKUMA,
MOGAMI, and SUZUYA and destroyers FUBUKI, HATSUYUKI, and
SHIRAYUKI of the
11st Destroyer Division was deployed.
On the 5th, this force was
joined by minesweepers
W.1, W.5, and W.6, a submarine chaser division,
minelayer HATSUTAKA, and two
transports from Poulo Condore
Island.
Also on the 5th,
minesweepers W.2, W.3, and W.4
join from Camranh Bay.
Light cruiser KASHII with
four transports and
frigate SHIMUSHU with three transports departed Saigon and joined the force on the 6th south of
Cape Camao.
_____
Admiral Kondo was in
charge of the distant cover
force for the Malayan - Luzon landings. His force
departed the Pescadores with
heavy cruisers ATAGO and TAKAO of the 1st Division of
the 4th Cruiser
Squadron, battleships HARUNA and KONGO of the 2nd
Division of the 3rd
Battleship Squadron, and destroyers ARASHI, HAGIKAZE,
MAIKAZE, and NOWAKE of
the 4th Destroyer Division, IKAZUCHI and INAZUMA of the
2nd Group of the 6th
Destroyer Division, and ASASHIO, OSHIO, MICHISHIO, and
ARASHIO of the 8th
Destroyer Division.
Friday,
5
December
Destroyer WHEATLAND
departed Scapa Flow at 0745 for Scrabster to embark six
Army officers
and twenty four other ranks and returned to Scapa Flow
at 1300.
_____
Destroyer CHIDDINGFOLD
join the Orkneys and
Shetlands command at 1200 on completion of working up
practices.
_____
Submarine P.37 departed
Scapa Flow for patrol and operation KITBAG.
_____
Submarine SEALION sank
Norwegian
steamer ISLAND (638grt) in
71-07N, 27-54E off northern Norway.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21
departed Gibraltar for the United Kingdom.
_____
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE
with destroyers KINGSTON and KIMBERLEY departed Malta at
1700 for Alexandria. Light cruisers AJAX and NEPTUNE and
destroyer LIVELY departed Malta at 2000 to support the
operation.
Destroyers KINGSTON and
KIMBERLEY took supply ship BRECONSHIRE on to Alexandria.
Light cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE and destroyer LIVELY met destroyers
JAGUAR and KANDAHAR, which departed Alexandria on the
6th, on the 7th. These ships all arrived at
Malta on the 8th.
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE,
light cruisers HOBART and
GALATEA, antiaircraft ship CARLISLE, and destroyers
GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, KIMBERLEY, and KINGSTON arrived at
Alexandria on the 8th.
_____
Submarine THORN was in a
collision with cable ship
BULLFINCH in Alexandria Harbour. The submarine was under repair at
Port Said from 7 to 16
December.
_____
Greek destroyers PANTHER
and NIKI departed Alexandria to patrol off Sollum.
After the patrol, the destroyers returned
to Mersa Matruh on the 6th. The destroyers arrived back
at Alexandria on the 9th.
_____
Convoy TA.1 of steamers
CHAKDINA and KIRKLAND departed Tobruk, escorted by
destroyers FARNDALE
and ERIDGE, anti-submarine whaler THORGRIM, and an
anti-submarine trawler.
Three landing ship tankers
A lighters departed
Tobruk for Mersa Matruh.
Armed boarding vessel
CHAKDINA (Lt Cdr W. R. Hickey
RNR) was sunk by German bombing in 31-11N, 24-30E in
the Eastern Mediterranean.
Destroyer FARNDALE and
anti-submarine whaler
THORGRIM rescued about two hundred survivors. There were
about three hundred
British wounded and one hundred prisoners of war on the
vessel when it sank.
T/Lt (E) T. Bell RNR, and
seventeen ratings of the ship's crew were
killed.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN
unsuccessfully attacked a
submarine in the Kithera Channel.
_____
U.81 attacked a tanker,
escorted by a destroyer,
near Tobruk. The submarine claimed hitting both ships.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21
departed Gibraltar for the UK, escorted by destroyer
BRADFORD. The destroyer was
later detached and refuelled at Ponta Delgada prior to
joining monitors ROBERTS and EREBUS and
corvette FRITILLARY, en route from the UK to Freetown.
_____
Corvette SPIRAEA departed
Gibraltar to meet destroyer STANLEY, escorting steamer
CLAN
MCINNES, formerly in convoy SL.94, and escort them to
Gibraltar, arriving on the 12th.
_____
Convoy BA.10 departed
Bombay, escorted by battleship REVENGE. The convoy
arrived at Aden on the 10th.
_____
Troopship RANGITATA
departed Gibraltar for Freetown escorted by destroyers
HURWORTH, VIDETTE, which
was detached to refuel at Bathurst,
and HIGHLANDER, which was detached at dusk on the 6th.
Destroyer VIDETTE
arrived back at Gibraltar on the 18th.
_____
Battlecruiser REPULSE and
destroyers VAMPIRE and
TENEDOS departed Singapore for Darwin. The battlecruiser
was also escorted by destroyers
JUPITER and ELECTRA at the start. The battlecruiser and
the destroyers were
recalled the next day.
_____
American aircraft carrier
LEXINGTON, heavy cruisers ASTORIA, CHICAGO, and
PORTLAND, and destroyers PORTER, FLUSSER, DRAYTON,
LAMSON,
and MAHAN departed Pearl Harbour to fly off
Marine aircraft of VMSB 231 to Midway.
Heavy cruiser INDIANAPOLIS
departed Pearl
Harbour with this group and was detached for exercises off
Johnson
Island. The planes were not flown off and the force returned to
Pearl
Harbour.
_____
Norwegian steamer HALLDOR
(1515grt), which was en
route from Bangkok to Hong Kong, was
intercepted by Japanese destroyer URANAMI seventy five
miles west of Saigon. The steamer was boarded and her wireless equipment was disabled. The
Norwegian ship was then allowed to continue, but shortly
after her arrival at
Hong Kong, she was
seized by Japanese forces.
Saturday,
6
December
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
departed Hvalfjord for patrol in the Denmark Strait.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed the Iceland - Faroes passage patrol for
Hvalfjord, refuelled,
and departed for Scapa Flow where she arrived on the
8th.
_____
US battleships MISSISSIPPI
and IDAHO and five US destroyers arrived at Hvalfjord
from patrol in the
Denmark Strait.
_____
Destroyer NEWMARKET
collided with Steamer GRENAA (1262grt) at Londonderry.
The destroyer remained in service.
_____
Steamer GREENLAND
(1281grt) was sunk on a mine in 52-14-30N,
1-56-30E. Nine crew were missing on the tanker.
_____
U.131 sank Steamer
SCOTTISH TRADER (4016grt) south
of Iceland.
_____
Submarine PERSEUS (Lt Cdr
E. C. D. Nicolay) was
mined seven miles off Zante. Only one
rating survived and swam to Cephalonia. Nicolay, Lt T.
M. G. Codrington RNR, Lt J. Tait RNR, A/Warrant Engineer
A. Johnson, Sub Lt A. S.
Robertson, and fifty three ratings were lost.
_____
Light cruiser GALATEA,
Australian light cruiser
HOBART, Antiaircraft ship CARLISLE, and destroyers
GRIFFIN and HOTSPUR departed Alexandria to meet arriving
supply ship BRECONSHIRE. The
ships, supply ship BRECONSHIRE and destroyers KIMBERLEY
and KINGSTON arrived at Alexandria on the 8th.
_____
Submarine ULTIMATUM
unsuccessfully attacked a
steamer in 37-56N, 15-39E.
_____
U.81 attacked and claimed
damaging a steamer near
Tobruk.
_____
Submarine REGENT arrived
at Gibraltar from Malta.
_____
Steamer ERINPURA departed
Madras with 984 Military and twenty naval personnel for
Singapore. At 10N, 92-30E, light cruiser DRAGON joined
the
steamer. The steamer was ordered to Port Swettenham,
rather than Penang, and arrived at Singapore on
the 12th with light cruiser DRAGON.
_____
In preparation for
operations, Japanese submarines
I.55 and I.54 were northeast of Kuantan.
Submarine I.53 was north
of Anamba.
Submarines I.57, I.58,
I.62, I.64, and I.66 were on
a patrol line near Tregganu.
Submarine I.57 was
northeast of Redang.
During the night of 6/7
December, submarines I.121 and
I.122 laid mines at the northeast exits from Singapore.
Japanese auxiliary
minelayer TATSUMIYA MARU laid a
mine barrage between the islands of Tioman and Anamba.
_____
Takagi departed Palau with
heavy cruisers HAGURO,
MYOKO, and NACHI of the 5th Cruiser Division, aircraft
cruiser RYUJO of the
4th Carrier Division with attendant destroyer SHIOKAZE,
and the 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla with light cruiser JINTSU with destroyers
KUROSHIO, OYASHIO,
HAYASHIO, and NATSUSHIO of the 15th Destroyer Division,
HATSUKAZE,
AMATSUKAZE, YUKIKAZE, and TOKITSUKAZE of the 16th
Destroyer Division for
operations off the Philippines.
Sunday,
7 December
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed
Denmark Strait
patrol and arrived at Hvalfjord at 1550.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed
Rosyth after boiler
cleaning for Invergordon.
Destroyer SOMALI arrived
at Invergordon at 1130/8th
and embarked the Right Hon. Anthony Eden, the Russian
Ambassador, and a party
of ten other delegates. The destroyer departed at 1130
and arrived at Scapa Flow at 1600. The passengers were
transferred to heavy
cruiser KENT.
_____
Sloop PELICAN was damaged
by German machine gun
fire from aircraft off the east coast of Scotland.
_____
Convoy ON.44 departed
Liverpool escorted by anti-submarine trawlers NORTHERN
PRIDE
and NORTHERN SPRAY. The convoy was joined on the 9th by
destroyers NEWMARKET and WATCHMAN and corvettes ARABIS,
DAHLIA,
MONTBRETIA, and ROSE. Destroyer NEWMARKET and corvette
MONTBRETIA were detached on the 10th.
The rest of the escort was detached on the 12th when
destroyer RESTIGOUCHE
joined. Destroyer RESTIGOUCHE was detached on the 14th
and the convoy
dispersed on the 15th.
_____
Motor vessel SEVERN
TRANSPORT (119grt) was sunk on
a mine in 51-27N, 3-04W. The crew of four landed at
Barry.
_____
Steamer WELSH PRINCE
(5148grt) was sunk by a mine
five cables 110°from 59 Buoy, Spurn Point. The entire
crew were rescued.
_____
Canadian corvette
WINDFLOWER (Lt J. Price RCNR),
escorting convoy SC.58, was lost in a collision with
Dutch steamer ZYPENBERG
(4973grt) in the fog off the Grand
Banks. Price, Sub Lt J. P. C. Peck RCNVR, Sub Lt
W. E. Shields, Mate A. J. K. Collin RCNR, and nineteen
ratings were lost on
the corvette. Lt G. G. Fraser RCNVR, and forty three
ratings were rescued by
corvettes PICTOU and NASTURTIUM.
_____
Destroyers HARVESTER and
HESPERUS attacked U.208 on
the surface in 35-57N, 7-56W. Destroyer HESPERUS
reported sighting a man in
the water afterwards. The entire crew of forty five were
lost in the
submarine.
_____
Sloop FLAMINGO, returning
with sloop YARRA to
Tobruk after the anti-submarine sweep, in 32-16N, 24-21E
was damaged by
German bombing. The sloop was taken in tow by sloop
YARRA and supported by
light cruiser HOBART, which had been involved in
escorting supply ship
BRECONSHIRE from Malta.
Sloop FLAMINGO arrived at
Tobruk on the 8th and
sloop YARRA departed for Alexandria. Destroyers AVONVALE and HEYTHROP departed
Alexandria to meet the
Australian sloop. The ships arrived at
Alexandria on the 9th.
Sloop FLAMINGO departed
Tobruk, in the tow of tug
ST MONANCE and escorted by destroyer FARNDALE, on the
17th.
Sloop FLAMINGO was used,
unrepaired, as an
antiaircraft defense platform until 5 February 1943.
On that date, sloop
FLAMINGO, towed by tug AKBAR,
departed Suez for Aden. From Aden, the sloop was towed
by Egyptian steamer STAR OF CAIRO (4579grt) to Bombay
arriving on 26 March 1943. The repairs were completed in
February 1944.
_____
Armed boarding vessel
CHANTALA (Lt Cdr C. E. I.
Gibbs Rtd) was sunk on a mine as she was leaving Tobruk
Harbour. One naval rating and two
native crew were killed. A native trimmer died of
wounds. Sixteen crew were
wounded.
_____
British trawler MOY was
slightly damaged by German
bombing at Tobruk.
_____
Gunboat APHIS bombarded
the Derna-Tobruk road late
on the 7th.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN
unsuccessfully attacked a
destroyer in Kithera Channel.
_____
Submarine PROTEUS
unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
in Kithera Channel.
_____
Submarine TRUANT
unsuccessfully attacked German
steamer BELLONA off Suda Bay.
_____
Japanese air attack on
Pearl
Harbour.
US battleship OKLAHOMA
(Captain H. D. Bode) was
sunk with LCDR H. R. Alexander, ENS S. W. Allen, of VO
1, Chief Warrant
Officer J. A. Austin, Pay Clerk J. G. Connolly, Ensign
M. E. Darby Jr, Ensign
J. C. England, Ensign W. M. Finnegan, Ensign F. C.
Flaherty, 2nd LT H. H.
Gaver, USMC, Ensign J. P. Hittorff Jr, Ensign R. H.
Hunter, LT J. B. Jordan,
Ensign L. B. Pride Jr, LT (jg) H. G. Roberts, A/Chaplain
LT (jg) A. H.
Schmitt,Ensign J. D. Sederstrom, Ensign C. M. Stern Jr,
Ensign L. S.
Stockdale, Ensign I. A. R. Thompson, Ensign W. M.
Thompson, Ensign E. P.
Wyman, 382 enlisted men and thirteen Marine enlisted men
killed; ENS J. T. McFall,
ENS A. H. Mortensen, LT (jg) H. G. Roberts, CDR F. M.
Rohow, and forty men
wounded.
US battleship ARIZONA
(Flagship Rear Admiral I. C.
Kidd, Commander Battleship Division 1; Captain F. Van
Valkenburgh) was sunk
with officer Ensign L. D. Anderson and forty two
enlisted men killed and
officers LT (jg) D. H. Barnes, Ensign E. M. Bates Jr,
Ensign R. S. Booth Jr,
Ensign R. N. Brooks, A/Pay Clerk P. T. Carter, Ensign E.
B. Cloues, Ensign D.
L. Cole, LCDR T. E. Crowley, Ensign J. M. Emery, Ensign
E. F. Evans, LCDR J.
E. French, Ensign P. R. Gazecki, Ensign E. W. Gosselin,
Ensign W. I.
Halloran, Ensign J. W. Haverfield, Ensign R. Hollis, LT
C. T. Janz, CDR S. E.
Johnson, MC, Ensign T. R. Jones, Rear Admiral I. C.
Kidd,, Ensign R. N. King
Jr, Captain T. L. Kirkpatrick (ChC), A/Pay Clerk J. E.
Lake Jr, Ensign R. L.
Leopold, Ensign F. S. Lomax, Warrant Officer A. C.
Manlove, Ensign B. R.
Marsh Jr, Ensign H. M. McClung, Ensign H. D. Merrill,
Ensign T. L. Nowosacki,
Ensign E. E. K. Olsen, Ensign W. T. O'Neill Jr, LCDR P.
J. Register, Ensign
E. T. Sanders, Ensign W. S. Savage Jr, LT (jg) A. J.
Smith, Ensign O. S.
Smith, Ensign A. C. Uhrenholdt, Captain F. Van
Vankenburgh, Ensign C. Weeden,
Ensign U. I. Whitehead Jr, Ensign L. A. Williams of VO
1, Warrant Mechanic N.
M. Wilson, Ensign E. Winter, Ensign G. A. Wolf Jr,
Ensign E. R. Young, 945
enlisted men, LT COL D. R. Fox, USMC, 2nd LT C. E.
Simensen, USMC, and
seventy one enlisted Marines were missing; ENS W. J.
Bush, ENS H. D. Davison,
ENS J. P. Field Jr, ENS G. S. Flanagan Jr, Ensign D.
Hein, ENS A. R. Schubert
and thirty three enlisted men were wounded.
US battleship CALIFORNIA
(Flagship Vice Admiral W.
S. Pye, Commander Battle Force; Captain J. W. Bunkley)
was sunk with Ensign
R. K. Bowers of VO 2, Ensign G. H. Gilbert, LT (jg) R.
C. Hohenstein, Ensign
H. C. Jones, Ensign I. W. Jeffery, Ensign J. L. Richey
of VO 2, and eighty
eight enlisted men and four Marine enlisted killed; ENS
B. C. Hall, LCDR B.
N. Hanlon, ENS P. S. Haring, LT JG R. C. Hohenstein, ENS
E. H. Kiefer, ENS D.
C. McCartin, nine one enlisted men wounded.
US battleship WEST
VIRGINIA (Captain M. S. Bennion) was sunk with Bennion,
Ensign T. A. McClelland, and one hundred and three
enlisted men killed; ENS
T. R. Bowler, ENS J. M. Brophy Jr, CDR R. H.
Hillenkoetter, ENS R. S. Norton
Jr, ENS R. V. Parlette Jr, LCDR F. C. White and seventy
seven enlisted men
wounded.
Battleships CALIFORNIA and
WEST VIRGINIA were salved and returned to duty.
Target ship UTAH (CDR J.
M. Steele) was sunk with LCDR R. P. Bielka,
LT (jg) J. E. Black, LT (jg) H. A. Harveson, Ensign D.
W. Jackson, LCDR J. G.
Little, II, LCDR C. O. Michael, and fifty two enlisted
men lost and LCDR S.
S. Isquith and eleven enlisted men wounded.
US battleship NEVADA
(Captain F. W. Scanland) was damaged
with Ensign H. J. Christopher, Ensign F. C. Davis of VO
1, Ensign E. H.
Dunlap Jr, and forty seven enlisted men and seven Marine
enlisted killed and
ENS E. H. Dunlap Jr, ENS A. J. Huttenberg, LT (jg) C. W.
Jenkins, ENS J. K.
Taussig Jr, ENS T. H. Taylor, and one hundred and seven
enlisted men wounded.
US battleship PENNSYLVANIA
(Captain C. M. Cooke, Jr) was damaged with LCDR J.
E. Craig, LT (jg) R. R. Rall and twenty one enlisted men
and six Marine
enlisted men killed and twenty nine enlisted men
wounded.
US battleship TENNESSEE
(Captain C. E. Reordan) was damaged with five
enlisted men killed and ENS A. W. Hudgell, LT (jg) J. C.
Luce, and twenty two
enlisted men wounded.
US battleship MARYLAND
(Flagship Rear Admiral W. S.
Anderson, Commander Battleship Division 4; Captain D. C.
Godwin) was damaged
with Ensign H. D. Crow, LT (jg) J. B. Ginn of Cruiser
Scouting Squadron 4,
and two enlisted men crew killed and LCDR J. F. Luton
and nineteen enlisted
men wounded.
Also damaged were light
cruisers RALEIGH (Captain
R. B. Simons)- seven enlisted men wounded, HONOLULU
(Flagship Rear Admiral H.
F. Leary; Captain H. Dodd)- one enlisted man wounded,
and HELENA (Captain R.
H. English)- thirty three enlisted men and one enlisted
Marine killed and CDR
V. C. Barringer, ENS A. W. Kerschner, ENS J. L.
Raschbacher, ENS P. V.
Thompson, LT JG R. J. Watson and fifty eight enlisted
men wounded, destroyers
CASSIN (Flagship CDR L. P. Lovette, Commander Destroyer
Division 5; LCDR D.
F. J. Shea) - six enlisted men wounded, DOWNES (LCDR W.
R. Thayer)- eighteen
enlisted men killed and ENS R. L. Stewart and five
enlisted men wounded, and
SHAW (LCDR W. G. Jones)- twenty four enlisted men killed
and ENSW. F.
Seedlock and twenty six enlisted men wounded, minelayer
OGLALA (Flagship Rear
Admiral W. R. Furlong; CDR E. P. Speight)- five enlisted
men wounded, and
repair ships CURTISS (CDR S. P. Ginder)- twenty enlisted
men killed and LT S.
Butrick, ENS R. Carter, ENS R. G. Kelley, ENS G. K.
Nicodemus Jr, LCDR W. T.
Rassieur, and fifty four enlisted men wounded,and VESTAL
(CDR C. Young) -
seven enlisted men killed and ENS J. A. Buchans Jr, LT
F. E. Frates Jr, ENS
R. L. Mohle, ENS R. R. Rodgers, LT (jg) J. H. Seaver,
and seventy six
enlisted men wounded.
Destroyer BLUE had one
enlisted man wounded; destroyer CHEW had
one enlisted man killed and one enlisted man missing;
destroyer CRAVEN had
one enlisted man wounded; destroyer CUMMINGS had three
enlisted men wounded;
destroyer DALE had one enlisted man wounded; ligth
cruiser DETROIT had two
enlisted men wounded; destroyer tender DOBBIN had four
enlisted men killed
and three enlisted men wounded; destroyer JARVIS had one
enlisted man
wounded; destroyer MCFARLAND had one enlisted man
wounded; repair ship MEDUSA
had LCDR G. R. Cooper and one enlisted man wounded;
destroyer MONAGHAN had
one enlisted man wounded; tanker NEOSHO had three
enlisted men
wounded;submarine tender PELIAS had two enlisted men
wounded; destroyer
minesweeper PERRY had one enlisted man wounded;
destroyer minelayer PRUITT had
one enlisted man killed; repair ship RIGEL had four
enlisted men wounded;
heavy cruiser SALt LAKE CITY had LT
(jg) L. L. Letterman wounded; heavy cruiser SAN
FRANCISCO had two enlisted men wounded; destroyer
SCHLEY had one enlisted man wounded;destroyer minelayer
SICARD had one
enlisted man killed; hospital ship SOLACE had one
enlisted man killed;
auxiliary ship SUMNER had one enlisted man wounded,
seaplane tender SWAN had
one enlisted man wounded; seaplane tender TANGIER had
five enlisted men
wounded;destroyer minelayer TRACEY had three enlisted
men killed; tug VIREO
had one enlisted man wounded; destroyer depot ship
WHITNEY had one enlisted
man wounded; and destroyer WORDEN had one enlisted man
wounded.
A total of 2403 men were
killed and 1178 were wounded
in Japanese attacks on ship and land targets. The
Japanese lost five torpedo
bombers, fifteen bombers, and nine fighter aircraft,
five midget submarines,
and fifty five men were killed.
_____
At sea in addition to the
ENTERPRISE and LEXINGTON task groups, heavy cruiser
INDIANAPOLIS, which departed Pearl Harbour with the LEXINGTON group on
the 5th, with destroyer minesweepers
SOUTHARD, LONG, DORSEY, ELIOT, and HOPKINS off Johnson
Island.
Heavy cruiser MINNEAPOLIS
with destroyer minesweepers CHANDLER, HOVEY, BOGGS, and
LAMBERTON were twenty five
miles south of Oahu.
After the Japanese attack,
light cruisers DETROIT,
ST LOUIS, and PHOENIX, destroyers BAGLEY, PATTERSON,
SELFRIDGE, CASE, TUCKER,
REID, JARVIS, CUMMINGS, PHELPS, WORDEN, DEWEY,
MACDONOUGH, HENLEY, RALPH
TALBOT, HELM, DALE, MONAGHAN, FARRAGUT, ALYWIN, and BLUE
and destroyer minesweepers TRACEY, TREVOR, and
PREBLE departed Pearl Harbour and joined the heavy
cruiser MINNEAPOLIS for
search operations.
Light cruiser DETROIT with
destroyers WORDEN, PHELPS, and HELM
investigated reported Japanese transports of the west
coast of Oahu.
Later, heavy cruiser
MINNEAPOLIS, light cruisers DETROIT, ST LOUIS, and
PHOENIX, and seventeen destroyers searched for the
Japanese ships.
_____
Japanese destroyers
AKEBONO and USHIO bombarded Midway Island. One Navy enlisted man was killed, 2nd Lt G. H. Cannon, USMC, and two
enlisted Marines were killed.
_____
Japanese submarine I.26
sank American steamer
CYNTHIA OLSON (2140grt) with gunfire one thousand miles
northeast of Hawaii in 33-42N, 145-29W. Thirty
three crew and two soldiers were
lost on the steamer.
_____
The Japanese Malay
transport force divided into its
respective units.
One transport proceeded to
Prachuab.
Two transports proceeded
to Jumbhorn.
One transport with light
cruiser KASHII proceeded
to Bandon.
Three transports with
frigate SHIMUSHU proceeded to
Nakhorn.
Seventeen transports,
including RYUJO MARU and
KASHII MARU, with the 20th and 12th Destroyer Division,
four minesweepers,
the submarine chaser division, and nine assault vessels
proceeded to Singora
and Patani.
Light cruiser SENDAI, the
19th Destroyer Division, minesweepers W.2 and
W.3, submarine chasers, and three transports, including
AWAJISTAN MARU and
AYATOSAN MARU, proceeded to Kota Bharu.
Heavy cruiser CHOKAI and
destroyer SAGIRI join
Kurita's force south of Cape Camao.
_____
Japanese forces for the
invasion of the Philippines set out.
Destroyer YAMAGUMO,
torpedo boats CHIDORI,
HATSUKARI, MANADZURU, and TOMODZURU, two minesweepers,
two gunboats, two
patrol boats, nine submarine chasers, and two transports
departed Takao,
Formosa.
Troops were landed on
Bataan
Island on the 8th.
Light cruiser NATORI,
destroyers FUMITSUKI,
SATSUKI, NAGATSUKI, MINATSUKI, HARUKAZE, and HATAKAZE,
three minesweepers,
nine submarine chasers, and six transports departed
Mako, Pescadores.
On the 10th, troops were
landed at Aparri.
Minesweeper M.19 was
damaged by American bombing
and run aground.
Light cruiser NAKA with
destroyers MURASAME,
YUDACHI, HARUSAME, and SAMIDARE of the 2nd Destroyer
Division, ASAGUMO,
MINEGUMO, and NATSUGUMO of the 4th Destroyer Division,
six minesweepers, nine
submarine chasers, and six transports departed the
Pescadores.
On the 10th, an attempt to
land troops at Padan in
northwest Luzon was abandoned due to weather.
Minesweeper W.10 was sunk
by American bombing.
Light cruiser NAKA received minor damage from strafing.
On the 11th, the troops
were landed at Vingan. The
cover for the Philippine operations was heavy cruisers
ASHIGARA and MAYA,
light cruiser KUMA, destroyers ASAKAZE and MATSUKAZE,
and seaplane carriers
SANUKI MARU and SANYO MARU.
Monday,
8
December
Heavy cruiser KENT
departed
Scapa Flow with
the British Foreign Secretary, the Soviet Ambassador to
London, and staffs to Murmansk, arriving on the 12th.
_____
Destroyer ICARUS departed
Hvalfjord at 0027 for Scapa Flow. At 1640, her sailing
orders were cancelled and
the destroyer proceeded to Sullom Voe, arriving at
1700/9th.
_____
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and destroyers ECHO and ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow at
1830 for Seidisfjord, to refuel prior to
escorting convoy PQ.6.
_____
Convoy PQ.6 departed
Hvalfjord at 1600 with
steamers Soviet DEKABRIST (7363grt), Panamanian EL
OCEANO (6767grt), EMPIRE
MAVIS (5704grt), Panamanian MOUNT EVANS (5536grt), EL
MIRLO (8092grt), ELONA
(6192grt), EXPLORER (6235grt), and ZAMALEK (1567grt).
Trawlers HUGH WALPOLE,
CAPE
ARGONA, and STELLA CAPELLA escorted the convoy from 8 to 12 December.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and destroyers ECHO and ESCAPADE joined the convoy at
1200/12th in
69-30N, 11-30W. The ships continued with the convoy
until 1530/20th when the
escort arrived at Murmansk. They had been bombed at
1230, but no damage was
done.
On the 17th, German
destroyers Z.23, Z.24, Z.25,
and Z.27 engaged Minesweepers HAZARD and SPEEDY
(identified as two Soviet
destroyers), which had departed Archangel on the 16th to
meet convoy PQ.6
east of Murmansk, fourteen miles north of Cape
Gorodetski in 68-12N, 40-00E.
Minesweeper SPEEDY
received four shell hits and was
replaced by minesweeper LEDA, which departed Archangel
that day.
Heavy cruiser KENT and
Russian destroyers GROSZNY and SOKRUSHITELNY
set out from the Kola Inlet to support the minesweepers,
but the German ships
had already retired.
On the 19th, minesweepers
LEDA and HAZARD met and
convoy and all arrived safely at Murmansk on the 20th.
Minesweeper SPEEDY arrived
at Murmask on the 28th.
She returned to the United Kingdom in convoy QP.4,
arriving at Scapa Flow on 14 January. The minesweeper
was under repair in
the Thames from 23 January to 22 March.
_____
Minesweeping trawlers
PHINEAS BEARD (278grt,
Skipper W. McRuvie RNR) and MILFORD EARL (290grt, Lt J.
S. Neate RNVR)
were sunk by German bombing off the east coast of
Scotland.
McRuvie, T/Skipper G. W.
Yorston RNR, and ten ratings were lost on the trawler
PHINEAS
BEARD.
Neate and four ratings
were lost on the trawler MILFORD
EARL. Five crew were rescued on trawler MILFORD EARL.
_____
Lt A. C. E. Ayre, Lt T. H.
B. Oates, and A/Leading
Airman W. A. M. Bayley were killed when their Walrus of
751 Squadron crashed
four miles east of Arbroath.
_____
Steamer FIREGLOW (1261grt)
was sunk on a mine 2½
miles 312° from 57C Buoy Hearty Knoll Channel, three
miles south of Dudgeon
Buoy. One crewman was killed on the steamer.
_____
Steamer GERTIE (341grt)
was sunk on a British mine
two miles northeast of Tuskar Rock Light. The entire
crew were rescued.
_____
British fishing trawler
LORD SHREWSBURY (167grt)
was sunk on a mine one mile east one half mile south of
Chequer Shoal Buoy.
The entire crew of ten were lost.
_____
Light cruiser EURYALUS and
destroyers HERO and
HOTSPUR departed Alexandria to operate off Derna. The
ships arrived back at Alexandria on the 10th.
_____
Italian light cruiser
CARDONA, carrying gasoline
from Taranto to Benghazi, encountered heavy weather and
put into Argostoli.
The cruiser was able to later depart and arrived at
Benghazi on the 11th.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN
unsuccessfully attacked Italian
torpedo boat ORIONE in 38-00N, 20-28E.
_____
Submarine P.34 arrived at
Malta after patrol in the Straits of Messina.
_____
Light cruiser HERMIONE and
destroyers BLANKNEY, EXMOOR, and MAORI departed Gibraltar
and joined destroyers LAFOREY, ISAAC SWEERS, and
ARROW to search for a convoy off Malaga steering towards
Gibraltar reported by a British Wellington aircraft.
Destroyer LAFOREY attacked
submarine U.372 off
Europa Lighthouse without result. The British force
returned to Gibraltar on the 9th after failing to locate
the convoy.
_____
Convoy HX.164 departed
Halifax, escorted by destroyer ANNAPOLIS and
minesweepers MALPEQUE and MINAS. These ships
were detached on the 10th when relieved by American
destroyers DALLAS, ELLIS,
GLEAVES, and UPSHUR and American Coast Guard cutter
INGRAM. Corvette
HEARTSEASE joined on the 17th, corvettes AUBRETIA and
ROSELYS on the 18th and
destroyer WANDERER on the 19th. The American ships were
detached on the 19th.
Anti-submarine trawlers DANEMAN and KING SOL escorted
the convoy in Home Waters. Corvette
ROSELYS arrived at Liverpool with the convoy on the
23rd.
_____
American aircraft carrier
SARATOGA departed San Diego, escorted by destroyers
DENT, WATERS, and TALBOT. The ships arrived safely at
Pearl Harbour on the 15th. The aircraft carrier was carrying eighteen Marine
aircraft of VMF 221 to reinforce the Wake
Island garrison.
_____
American Army transports
PRESIDENT JOHNSON, BLISS,
ETOLIN, and PRESIDENT GARFIELD, en route to the
Philippines, were ordered to return to San Francisco.
_____
Japanese submarines I.68
and I.69 were attacked
south of Pearl Harbour by American warships.
_____
Italian steamers VOLPI
(5292grt), XXVIII OTTOBRE
(4888grt), and SUMATRA (4859grt) were scuttled at Puket
Harbour in the Andaman Sea.
_____
Allied Dispositions in the
Far East
Singapore
Battleship PRINCE OF WALES
(Vice Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, Captain J. C.
Leach MVO, DSO)
Battlecruiser REPULSE
(Captain W. G. Tennant CB,
MVO)
Light cruisers DANAE
(Captain F. J. Butler MBE),
DRAGON (Captain R. J. Shaw MBE), DURBAN (Captain P. G.
L. Cazalet DSC)
Destroyers ELECTRA (Cdr C.
W. May), EXPRESS (Lt Cdr
F. J. Cartwright), TENEDOS (Lt R. Dyer),
Australian VAMPIRE (Cdr W.
T. A. Moran)
GunboatsDRAGONFLY (Lt A.
H. Diack, GRASSHOPPER (Cdr
J. S. Hoffman Rtd), SCORPION (Lt Cdr G. C. Ashworth
SSRNVR), all for local
defense,
Australian armed merchant
cruisers MANOORA
(A/Captain A. H. Spurgeon RAN), KANIMBLA (A/Captain W.
L. G. Adams) at Penang.
Australian minesweepers
BENDIGO (Lt Cdr J. A. R.
Patrick RANR (S)), MARYBOROUGH (Lt Cdr G. L. Cant RAN),
WOLLONGONG (T/Lt C.
A. Keith RANR (S)), BALLARAT (T/Lt A. D. Barling RANR
(S)), TOOWOOMBA Lt Cdr
P. H. Hirst RAN (emergency), GOULBURN (Lt B. Paul RANR
(S)), BURNIE (T/Lt G.
E. Gough (RANR (S))
Refitting
or under repair
at Singapore
Light cruiser MAURITIUS
(corroded firemain, Captain W. D. Stephens). The
cruiser departed on the 15th through the Straits of
Malacca and arrived Colombo on the 18th. She departed
Colombo on 2 January for Durban, arriving on 15 January.
She departed the same day
escorting troopship EMPRESS OF RUSSIA for Simonstown,
arriving on 17 January.
The cruiser departed on 21 January and arrived at
Freetown on 30 January. She departed 2 February for
Devonport, arriving on 11 February 1942. Repairs were
completed on 16 April.
Destroyer ENCOUNTER
(bottom "corrugated"
from grounding in Med, Lt
Cdr E. V. St J. Morgan).
Destroyer JUPITER
(stability problems, ship listed
when fuel tanks full, Lt Cdr N. V. J. T. Thew).
Destroyer STRONGHOLD for
local defense (Lt Cdr G.
R. Pretor-Pinney Rtd).
Australian destroyer
VENDETTA (Lt Cdr C. J.
Stephenson)
Destroyer ISIS (Cdr C. S.
B. Swinley DSC, to HMS
MIRANDA, Cdr B. Jones from 16 December) repairing bomb
damage.
Submarine ROVER (Lt Cdr R.
M. T. Peacock to HMS
DOLPHIN; Lt Cdr G. H. Reynolds from 13 December)
repairing bomb damage.
Hong
Kong
Destroyers SCOUT (Cdr K.
St. B. Collins) and THANET
(Lt Cdr B. S. Davies Rtd), both departed Hong Kong 7
December and Tarakan on the 13th
Gunboats TERN, CICALA,
ROBIN, all for local defense
Motor Torpedo Boats
MTB.7-12 inclusive, and MTB.26 and MTB.27
Under
repair
Destroyer THRACIAN (Cdr A.
L. Pears Rtd) for local
defense
Gunboat MOTH for local
defense
Shanghai
Gunboat PETEREL (Lt S.
Polkinghorn RNR) for local defense
East
Indies
Battleships REVENGE
Captain L. V. Morgan CBE, MVO DSO) after escorting
convoy WS.12 to Aden, arrived Trincomalee on the 13th,
and ROYAL
SOVEREIGN (Captain R. H. Portal DSC), arriving at the
Seychilles 2 January
after escorting convoy WS.1 Z.
Heavy cruiser EXETER
(Captain O. L. Gordon MVO) in Bay of Bengal en route to
Singapore, arriving on the 10th.
Armed merchant cruisers
CORFU (Captain J. P. Landon Rtd) at
Colombo, and RANCHI
(A/Captain Sir J. M. Alleyne Bt, DSO, DSC Rtd) at
Addu Atoll
Aircraft carrier HERMES
(Captain R. F. J. Onslow
MVO, DSC) refitting at Simonstown to complete 27 January
Light cruisers ENTERPRISE
(Captain J. C. Annesley DSO) refitting at Colombo, and
GLASGOW (Captain J. W. Cuthbert) departed Colombo on the
6th for Laccadive Islands in
Bay of Bengal.
Heavy cruiser CORNWALL
(Captain P. C. W. Manwaring) and light cruiser
EMERALD (Captain F. C. Flynn) were off the west coast of
Africa.
Australia
Heavy cruisers AUSTRALIA
(Captain G. D. Moore) and CANBERRA (Captain H. B.
Farncomb MVO)
Light cruiser PERTH
(Captain H. M. L. Waller DSO)
Armed merchant cruiser
WESTRALIA (Captain H. V.
Hudson OBE (emergency)
French destroyer LE
TRIOMPHANT
Sloops SWAN (Lt Cdr A. J.
Travis) and WARREGO (Cdr
R. V. Wheatley)
French sloop CHEVREUIL
Armed merchant cruiser
MONOWAI (A/Captain G. R.
Deverell) refitting
Destroyer STUART (Lt Cdr
R. C. Robison) refitting
Destroyer VOYAGER (Cdr J.
C. Morrow DSC) refitting
Indian
Navy
Sloops JUMNA (Cdr W. R.
Shewring RIN), HINDUSTAN (Cdr I. B. W. Heanly RIN),
SUTLEJ (Captain P. A. Mare RIN)
New
Zealand
Light cruisers ACHILLES
(Captain H. M. Barnes) and
LEANDER (Captain R. H. Bevan)
Dutch
Navy (based mainly at Surabaya)
Light cruisers DE RUYTER
(Captain E. E. B.
Lacomble) in Alas Strait, JAVA (Captain P. B. M. Van
Straelen) departed
Surabaya on the 7th for Singapore, arriving on the 9th,
TROMP (Captain J. B.
De Muster) in Karimata Strait, and SUMATRA refitting at
Surabaya,
recommissioned with skeleton crew on 27 January and
taken to Trincomalee,
arriving 15 February.
Destroyers VAN NES (Lt Cdr
C. A. Lagaay) in Sunda
Strait, VAN GHENT (Lt Cdr P. Schotel) refitting at
Surabaya, BANCKERT (Lt Cdr
F. J. E. Krips, Division Commander) in Sapeh Strait,
WITTE DE WITH in Alas
Strait, later under repairs, then manned by crew from
destroyer VAN GHENT and
commanded by Lt Cdr P. Schotel, KORTENAER (Lt Cdr A.
Kroese) in Lombok
Strait, PIET HEIN (Lt Cdr J. M. L. I. Chompff) in Alor
Strait, and EVERTSEN
(Lt Cdr W. M. de Vries) in Sunda Strait.
Submarines K.11 (Lt Cdr A.
H. De Keth) arrived
Singapore on the 8th from parol in Karimata Strait, K.12
(Lt Cdr H. C. J.
Coumou) in Karamata Strait, K.13 (Lt Cdr M. A. J.
Derksema) Karimata Strait,
K.17 (Lt Cdr Besancon) departed Singapore on the 6th for
patrol off east
coast of Malay coast, O.16 (Lt Cdr A. J. Bussemaker)
departed Singapore for
patrol off east coast of Malay coast, K.9 refitting at
Surabaya, commissioned
1 March 1942 (Lt Th Burnsting), K.10 (Lt Cdr P. G. De
Back), K.14 (Lt Cdr P.
A. Mulock v. d. Vlies Bik) off Kuching, K.15 (Lt Cdr C.
W. TH Baron von
Boetzelaer) departed Tarakan 9 December for Surabaya,
arriving on the 15th,
K.16 (Lt Cdr L. J. Jarman) Departed Singapore 19
December for patrol off
Kuching, O.19 (Lt Cdr H. F. Back Kolling) arrived
Singapore 11 December from
Karimata Strait, departed Singapore on the 14th for
operations off Singgora -
Kota Bharu area, O.20 (Lt Cdr P. G. J. Snippe) arrived
Singapore 11 December
from Karimata Strait, departed 14 December for patrol in
Gulf of Thailand,
K.7 under repair in reserve, K.18 (Lt Cdr C. A. J. van
W. Groenenveld) under
repair at Surabaya, K.8 decommissioned. recommissioned 7
January 1942 (Lt Cdr M. A. J. Derksema)
American
Navy
Manila
Destroyer Division 59 (CDR
P. H. Talbot) -
destroyers POPE (LCDR W. C. Blinn), JOHN D. FORD (LCDR
J. E. Cooper), PEARY (CDR H. H. Keith) under
repair, PILLSBURY (LCDR H. C. Pound) under repair, PEARY
and PILLSBURY
repairing collision damage of 16 October
Submarines Asiatic Fleet
(Captain W. E. Doyle,
Captain J. Wilkes from 10 December), submarines departed
for patrol areas
shown
Submarine Division 201
(CDR R. B. Van Zant) -
submarines S.37 (LT J. C. Dempsey) near Mindoro, S.38 (LT W. C. Chapple) near
Mindoro, S.40 (LT N. Lucker Jr) off
Lingayen Gulf,
S.41 (LT G. M. Holley) near Mindoro
Submarine Division 203
(CDR E. H. Bryant) - PIKE
(LCDR W. A. New) near Hainan, TARPON (LCDR L. Wallace)
off Lingayen Gulf, PERCH (LCDR D. A. Hurt) west of Luzon, PICKEREL (LCDR B. E. Bacon Jr), PERMIT (LCDR A. M. Hurst) west of Luzon, SHARK (LCDR L. Shane Jr) under repair, then near Lingayen
Submarine Division 21 (CDR
S. S. Murray) - SALMON
(LT E. B. McKinney), SEAL (LCDR K. C. Hurd) near Vingan,
SKIPJACK (LT C. L.
Freeman) near Palau SARGO (LCDR T. D. Jacobs) Gulf of
Siam, SAURY (LCDR J. L.
Burnside) near San Bernadino, SPEARFISH (LT R. F. Pryce)
off Camranh
Submarine Division 22 (CDR
J. A. Connolly) -
SNAPPER (LCDR H. L. Stone) near Hainan, STINGRAY (LCDR
R. S. Lamb) near
Lingayen Gulf, STURGEON (LCDR W. L. Wright) near
Formosa, SCULPIN (LT L. H.
Chappell) east of Luzon, SAILFISH (LCDR M. C. Mumma Jr)
near Lingayen Gulf,
SWORDFISH (LCDR C. C. Smith) near Hainan
Submarine Division 202
(CDR W. M. Percifield) -
SEARAVEN (LCDR T. C. Aylward) near Formosa, SEAWOLF
(LCDR F. B. Warder) near
San Bernadino, SEADRAGON under repair (LCDR W. E.
Ferrall), SEALION under
repair (LCDR R. G. Voge)
Olongapo
(Submarine
Division 203)
Submarine PORPOISE (LCDR
J. A. Callaghan) under
repair
Iloilo
Heavy cruiser HOUSTON
(Captain A. H. Rooks)
Cebu
Light cruiser BOISE
(Captain S. B. Robinson)
At sea (Submarine Division
201) – submarines S.36 (
LT J. R. McKnight Jr) near San Bernadino Strait, S.39
(LT J. W. Coe) in Sorsogon Bay,
Luzon
Tarakan
Light cruiser MARBLEHEAD
(Captain A. G. Robinson)
Destroyer Squadron 29
(Captain H. V. Wiley) -
destroyer PAUL JONES (LCDR J. J. Hourihan)
Destroyer Division 58 (CDR
T. H. Binford) -
destroyers STEWART (LCDR H. P. Smith), BULMER (LCDR L.
J. Manees), BARKER
(LCDR L. G. McGlone), PARROTT (LCDR E. N. Parker)
Balikpapan
Destroyer Division 57 (CDR
E. M. Crouch) -
destroyers WHIPPLE (LCDR E. S. Karpe), ALDEN (LCDR L. E.
Coley), JOHN D.
EDWARDS (LCDR H. E. Eccles), EDSALL (LCDR J. J. Nix)
The ships at Balikpapan
departed on the 7th for Batavia, but the orders were
changed when the battleship
PRINCE OF WALES and battlecruiser REPULSE were lost.
They arrived at Singapore on the 11th and departed on
the 14th.
Tentative
composition of Allied Eastern Fleet
(to
be achieved by 1 April 1942)
Singapore
Battleships PRINCE OF
WALES, REVENGE, and ROYAL SOVEREIGN
Battlecruiser REPULSE
Light cruisers MAURITIUS,
ACHILLES, HOBART and Dutch TROMP or DE RUYTER
May be heavy cruiser
AUSTRALIA
Ten destroyers - six Dutch
and four US
Surabaya -
Borneo - Port Darwin
Heavy cruisers HOUSTON and
CORNWALL
Light cruisers MARBLEHEAD
and JAVA
Four US destroyers
Australasia
Heavy cruiser CANBERRA or
AUSTRALIA
Light cruisers PERTH and
LEANDER
Three armed merchant
cruisers
Indian
Ocean
Heavy cruiser EXETER
Light cruiser GLASGOW
Nine C, D, E light
cruisers
Five armed merchant
cruisers
_____
Japanese bombers badly
damaged US gunboat PENGUIN (LT J. W. Haviland III) at
Agana, Guam by near misses. The gunboat was scuttled a
mile
and a half off the beach in deep water.
Ensign R. C. White and six
enlisted men were
killed. Lt Haviland and one enlisted man were wounded.
The survivors were
taken prisoner and three enlisted men died while
prisoners of war.
Japanese transports
escorted by the 7th Gunboat
Division, 15th Minesweeping Division, and 59th and 60th
Submarine Chaser
Divisions landed troops at Guam.
Japanese heavy cruisers
AOBA, KINUGASA, KAKO, and
FURUTAKA of the 6th Cruiser Division with destroyers
KIKUZUKI, UZUKI, and
YUZUKI supported the operation.
_____
Japanese light cruiser
YUBARI of the 6th Cruiser
Division, destroyers HAYATE and OITE of the 29th
Destroyer Division and
MUTSUKI, MOCHIZUKI, YAYOI, and KISARAGI of the 30th
Destroyer Division,
patrol boats P.32 and P.33, and transports KINRYU MARU
and KONGO MARU
departed Kwajalein for the invasion of Wake Island. The
operation was covered
by light cruisers TATSUTA and TENRYU and submarines
RO.60 and RO.61. On 8, 9, and 10 December,
Japanese shore
based aircraft from Kwajalein attacked
Wake Island.
_____
Japanese minelayers
OKINOSHIMA, TOKIWA, and TSUGARU
with two transports departed Kwajalein.
On 9 and 10 December, the
ships land troops at Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert
Islands.
_____
Battleship PRINCE OF
WALES, battlecruiser REPULSE, and destroyers ELECTRA,
EXPRESS, TENEDOS, and VAMPIRE departed Singapore.
Destroyer TENEDOS was
detached, low on fuel, on the
9th. The British force was sighted by Japanese submarine
I.65/9th. The British
force proceeded southwest during the evening of 9
December to attack the
Japanese landings at Kuantan during the morning of 10
December. The Japanese
redispose their surface forces to deal with the ships.
Kondo with heavy cruisers
ATAGO and TAKAO, battleships
HARUNA and KONGO, and destroyers ARASHI, HAGIKAZE,
NOWAKE, MAIKAZE, IKAZUCHI,
INAZUMA, ASASHIO, OSHIO, MICHISHIO, and ARASHIO
proceeded south from Paulo
Condore to meet Kurita during the night of 9/10 December
with heavy cruisers
KUMANO, MIKUMA, MOGAMI, and SUZUYA and destroyers
FUBUKI, HATSUYUKI, and
SHIRAYUKI and Ozawa with heavy cruiser CHOKAI and
destroyer SAGIRI.
From the assault area,
light cruiser SENDAI and
destroyers ASAGIRI, MURAKUMO, SHINONOME, USUGUMO,
AMAGIRI, YUGIRI, AYANAMI,
ISONANI, SHIKANAMI, and URANAMI.
Light cruisers KINU and
YURA operating between
Poulo Condore and Kurita's force was also brought up.
Japanese submarine I.58
sighted the Battleship
after midnight on the 10th and made an unsuccessful
attack.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES departed Suva for Port Moresby to join the
Battleship PRINCE OF WALES group. The
light cruiser ACHILLES arrived at Port Moresby on the
11th. With the battleship already lost, the
light cruiser departed on the 12th for Auckland,
arriving on the 16th.
_____
Japanese aircraft carrier
RYUJO launched thirteen
bombers and nine fighters to attack Davao. The
destroyers of the 15th Destroyer Division
entered the Gulf of Davao. The rest of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla supported these operations.
_____
Japanese light cruiser
NAGARA and destroyers
UMIKAZE, YAMAKAZE, KAWAKAZE, and SUZUKAZE of the 22nd
Destroyer Division,
seaplane carriers CHITOSE and MIZUHO of the 11th Carrier
Division, minelayers
ITSUKUSHIMA and YAEYAMA of the 17th Minelaying Division,
and seven transports
joined the Takagi force on 9 and 10 December.
_____
Japanese submarine I.124
laid mines off Manila. During the
night of 8/9 December, Japanese submarines I.121 and
I.122 laid mines off Singapore. Submarine
I.123 laid mines off Balabac.
_____
Japanese transports
AWAJISTAN MARU and AYATOSAN
MARU were damaged by Australian aircraft at Kota Bharu;
transport AWAJISTAN
MARU sank from the damage in 6-08N, 102-16E.
_____
Gunboat PETEREL (Lt S.
Polkinghorn RNR) was stationed at Whangpoo River, Shanghai, as a W/T station
for the Consulate. The gunboat
was sunk by a Japanese surface ship.
Polkinghorn, T/Paymaster
Lt W. Hart-Baker RNVR,
T/Paymaster Lt R. Horne RNVR, T/Paymaster Lt R. D. Keene
RNVR, Paymaster Cdr
J. H. Kennedy, T/Lt D. E. Kermode RNVR, A/Cdr L. C. S.
Sheppard, Cdr J. D.
Wooley, T/Lt L. J. Farmborough RNVR, A/Cdr P. C.
Gilmore, T/A/Lt G. F. C.
McLorn, RVR, and T/Lt H. J. West RNR, were captured in
the gunboat. Of the officers,
all but Polkington, Farmborough, McLorn, West, and
Wooley, were repatriated
in mid 1942.
American gunboat WAKE
(LCDR C. D. Smith, USNR) was
there in the same capacity for the US consulate. The
gunboat was surrendered after
scuttling of the gunboat by the crew failed. The
fourteen crew were captured
and made prisoners of war. The gunboats were attacked by
Japanese armoured
cruiser IZUMO, a Japanese gunboat, and a destroyer.
American steamer PRESIDENT
HARRISON (10,509grt) was
seized by Japanese forces at Whangpoo
River.
Steamer CHEKIANG (2172grt)
was seized by Japanese forces at Whangpoo
River.
_____
American heavy cruiser
HOUSTON departed Iloilo on the 8th to escort American
auxiliary ships to
the Dutch East Indies.
American light cruiser
BOISE and destroyers PAUL JONES and BARKER joined early
on the 9th. On the 10th, these ships joined American
seaplane tender LANGLEY
and oilers TRINITY and PECOS, escorted by destroyers
STEWART and JOHN D. FORD which had departed Manila.
Gunboats TULSA and
ASHVILLE also sailed escorted by minesweepers LARK and
WHIPPOORWILL.
Submarine depot ships
HOLLAND and OTUS and yacht ISABEL also sailed. The ships
arrived at Balikpapen on the 14th.
On the 15th, heavy cruiser
HOUSTON with JOHN D.
EDWARDS and STEWART departed Balikpapen with submarine
tenders HOLLAND and OTUS.
Oilers PECOS and TRINITY,
seaplane tender LANGLEY, and transport GOLD
STAR also
departed and were escorted by light cruisers BOISE and
MARBLEHEAD.
_____
Light cruiser GLASGOW in
the Bay of Bengal encountered Indian escort ship
PRABHAVATI (Lt D.
M. Stafford, RINR) towing lighters HETAMPUR and HINGOLI
to Karachi. The cruiser identified the ship and lighters
as a
large Japanese submarine on the surface and sank her.
The commanding officer,
two other officers, and twenty five ratings were
rescued. Of these twelve
were seriously wounded. P/Sub Lt G. L. Jackson, RINVR,
Probationay Sub Lt M.
Mani, RINR, and seventeen ratings were lost. One rating
died of wounds. Light
cruiser GLASGOW arrived at Bombay on the 9th with the
survivors.
_____
Greek steamers AEGEUS S
(1366grt) and AENOS S
(1521grt) which had been sunk during hostilities in the
Upper Yangtse in 1938 and beached were seized by
Japanese forces.
_____
Greek steamers ANTIGONE
(1372grt), APHRODITE
(1101grt), ARES S (1372grt), ARGOSTOLI (1673grt), ATHENA
(1445grt), and ATTICA (1405grt) were seized by Japanese forces in Chinese Waters.
_____
Greek steamers ERATO
(5904grt) and VALENTINI (4713grt)
were seized by Japanese forces at Yokohama.
_____
Greek steamer HELIOS
(1922grt) was seized by
Japanese forces at sea in 8N, 107E.
_____
Steamer SAGRES (2333grt),
which had been seized by
Japanese at Chauan Bay
on 8 April 1939, was
confiscated by Japanese forces.
_____
Steamers ST QUENTIN
(3528grt), VITORLOCK (5030grt),
FEDERLOCK (6607grt), and ANALOCK (6638grt) and DESLOCK
(5015grt) at Yokohama, HATTERLOCK (5138grt), and MUNLOCK
(5240grt) which
had been chartered by the Japanese in May-June 1941,
were confiscated by
Japanese forces.
_____
Steamer FATSHAN (2639grt)
was seized by Japanese
forces at Canton.
_____
British salvage tug MARIE
MOLLER (593grt) towing
lighter AUTUMNLIGHT (800grt) were captured off Ningpo by
Japanese forces. The
tug and the lighter was taken to Tinghai, Chusan
Islands.
_____
Steamer MARY MOLLER
(2698grt) was seized by Japanese forces off
Ningpo. The steamer was taken to Shanghai.
_____
Steamer KONG SO (789grt)
was seized by Japanese
forces at Tinghai.
_____
British salvage tug CARMEN
MOLLER (366grt), towing
lighters COTTONLIGHT (438grt) and RUNNINGLIGHT (438grt)
were captured by
Japanese forces south of Amoy. The ships were taken to
Amoy.
_____
British tender EDITH
MOLLER (645grt), towing lighter
TAIKOO 24 (202grt) and steamer LIEN SHUI (91grt) were
captured by Japanese
forces south of Amoy. The ships were taken to Amoy.
_____
British salvage ship ELSIE
MOLLER (1145grt) was
captured by Japanese forces off Amoy. The ship was
taken to Amoy.
_____
British salvage tug READY
MOLLER (268grt) was
seized by Japanese forces off Amoy. The tug was
taken to Amoy.
_____
Steamer KIANGSU (2676grt)
was seized by Japanese forces off Amoy.
_____
Steamer BENNEVIS (5356grt)
was captured by Japanese
forces in the China Sea. The steamer was taken to Hainan
Island and the crew made prisoners of war.
_____
Steamer SHINHWA (1460grt)
was seized by Japanese
forces off Hong Kong.
_____
Steamers HSIN CHANG WO
(582grt), KIA WO (1311grt),
KIANG WO (2209grt), SHASI (1327grt), and SIANGTAN (1195grt) and tugs CHANG NING (251grt) and CHENGLING (141grt) were
seized by Japanese forces at Ichang.
_____
British barges B.1
(477grt) and B.2 (477grt), grab
hopper barges CHUN PING (426grt) SHUN PING (289grt), and
TUG 4 (136grt) and TUG 5 (236grt) were captured by
Japanese forces at Tientsin.
_____
Steamers KUT WO (2665grt),
LOONGWO (3923grt), CHANGSHA (2482grt), WOOSUNG
(3426grt), and WUHU (2938grt) and tugs CHINKONG
(250grt), PATUNG
(48grt), and CHENYANG (144grt) and motor vessel ROOSTER
(34grt) were seized
at Hankow by Japanese forces.
_____
Steamer HSIN PEKING
(1204grt), en route Tongku to Hong Kong, was seized off
the Yangtse Delta by Japanese
forces. The Master of the steamer beached the vessel,
but it was later refloated
by the Japanese.
_____
Steamers BRAMTOCO VI
(14grt) and PAOWO (2517grt)
and tug MIN WO (287grt) were seized by Japanese forces
at Hankow.
_____
Steamer KALGAN (2655grt)
was seized by Japanese forces at Bangkok.
_____
Motor boat KIANG SI
(28grt) was seized by Japanese
forces at Kiukiang.
_____
Lighter MIGHTYLIGHT
(399grt) was seized by Japanese
forces at the Parcel Island.
_____
Norwegian steamers SHENG
HWA (5492grt) and VEN KOH
(5752grt) were seized by Japanese forces in a Japanese
port.
_____
Norwegian steamer DUKAT
(1350grt) was captured at
sea. The steamer was sent to Hie Che
Chin Bay, north of Hong Kong.
_____
Norwegian steamer HAFTHOR
(1350grt) was seized by
Japanese destroyer URANAMI one hundred and twenty miles
north of Kota Bharu.
The captain and crew were put in boats and reached the
Thai coast in three
days. The steamer was renamed NIYO MARU for Japanese
use.
_____
Norwegian steamer NGOW
HOCK (1329grt) was seized by
Japanese forces in Camrack Bay.
_____
Dutch steamer BEATRICE
(4128grt) was seized by
Japanese forces at Yokohama.
_____
Panamanian steamer BOYACA
(2559grt) was seized at Shanghai by Japanese forces.
_____
Panamanian steamer
CAPTELLA (2398grt) was captured
by Japanese forces off Saigon.
_____
Panamanian steamer
NEEDWOOD (2042grt) was seized by
Japanese forces at Tsingtao.
_____
Panamanian steamer FOCH
(2894grt) was seized by
Japanese forces at Yokohama while discharging cargo.
_____
Panamanian steamer HERLEIK
(1893grt) was seized by
Japanese forces at Chinwangtao while discharging cargo.
_____
Tug ST DOMINIC (451grt)
was sunk by Japanese
surface craft south of Saddle Island. The tug had been towing vessels SIANG NAN (46grt), TUNG KIANG
(49grt), and KAI KOU (56grt) which were cut adrift. The
vessels were salved
by the Japanese and towed to Shanghai.
_____
Steamers HSIN TSEANGTAH
(933grt), KINTANG (435grt),
liNG KONG (850grt), SUI TAI (1816grt), and WANTUNG
(1061grt), coastal
steamers CHING SHUI (153grt), SCOT
I.(274grt), and SUITING (296grt), motor vessels CHISOCO
(23grt), DUNVULIG
(23grt), FENG HUANG (28grt), KA SOO (57grt), PING KIANG
(75grt), PURSUIT (30grt), SENG MAO (50grt),
SUNBEAM (34grt), TAI SU (30grt), TIEN ZEANG (14grt),
WINNER (20grt), WU MING
(15grt), and YUAN PAO (63grt), lighters A. P. C. 1
(53grt), A. P. C. 2
(53grt), A. P. C. 3 (53grt),A. P. C. 4 (53grt), AVERMIS
(300grt), B. G. O. D.
No. 9 (54grt), HENG KIAN G (38grt) NEREUS (250grt), CB
B. No. 2 (256grt),
PROTEUS (250grt), SAN KIANG (32grt), STYX (300grt),
TETHYS (250grt), and
TRITON (250grt), lighter auxiliary CROSS (36grt), motor
lighter WU KIANG
(108grt), barge ACHERON (165grt), motor tank barge
BARANG (54grt), barge
BEAUTYLIGHT (118grt), barge CHERRYLIGHT (39grt), hopper
barge ECHIDNA
(450grt), launches AN LEE (8grt), KWAITUNG (48grt),
I.PING 935grt), LUKADU (19grt), and LUNG CHONG No 1
(16grt), oil barge TAN KIANG (38grt), motor launches
DEBEN, HARBOUR PILOT
(15grt), KWANG MING (37grt), LUNG CHONG III (18grt),
MABEL (15grt), MOLLER LINE No. 2 (4grt), MOYNA (53grt),
POSI (28grt), SEA PILOT (6grt), SHANGHAI PILOT (9grt),
SOY YUN
(18grt), and WINIFRED SAY-YUNG (39grt), steam launches
GUTZHALL (136grt),
LUNG CHONG No. 2 (40grt), and PLUTO (47grt), river
launch MERRYLIGHT, motor
tug ANNETTE MOLLER (69grt), salvage tug CHRISTINE MOLLER
(800grt), which was
undergoing repairs, salvage tug JESSIE MOLLER (530grt),
tugs DIANA MOLLER
(252grt), MERRY MOLLER (382grt), MURIEL MOLLER 969grt),
MURIEL WOOD (23grt),
APHRODITE I.(90grt), CHANGLO (248grt), HENG CHANG
(35grt), HU MING (47grt),
POOTUNG (86 tons, TAIKOO (88grt), and WATUNG I.(144grt),
ferry DEMETER
(63grt), stores vessel DOROTHY MOLLER (12grt), water
boats E. SHUI (91grt)
and TIEN SHUI (84grt), yachts MIGNON (7grt), THAIS
(10grt), and UNDINE
(26grt), motor yacht EVELINE (13grt), steam yacht HAVEN
(9grt), yacht INGOMAR
(3grt), auxiliary yachts JENNIFER (8grt) and KERT
(20grt), motor boat LOONG
MOW No. 1 (21grt), motor oil barges REG. G. B. (57grt)
and REG. G. B. 3 (60grt), oil barge T. J. 12 (45grt),
iron
barge SCAMANDER (246grt), motor sampan M. S. No. 12
(22grt), motor boats MOW
YEUN (11grt), RUTH MOLLER (22grt), and TAIKOO YANG
(9grt), sailing vessels N.
L. No. 32 (54grt), N. L. No. 33 (54grt), N. L. No. 34
(54grt), SHANGHAI
RAMBLER (15grt) and VALERIE SHANGHAI (7grt), house boat
TAI AN (19 tons,
American tugs MEIFFO No. 5 (36grt) and MEI KANG (40grt),
American tankers MEI
NAN (364grt), MEI YING (44grt), and MEI YUN (274grt),
Panamanian steamers
FOLOZU (2486grt), MORAZAN (2984grt), and RAMONA
(3513grt) were seized at
Shanghai on the 8th.
British welding vessel
ANNE MOLLER (20grt),
lighters B. G. O. B. No. 12 (39grt), HENG KIANG 5, LETHE
(300grt), IV, VIII,
XVI, PALANG, TAIKOO No. 2 (199grt), TAIKOO No. 6
(150grt), TAIKOO A. 1
(97grt), TAIKOO A. 2 (97grt), TAIKOO A. 3 (77grt),
TAIKOO A. 6 (288grt),
TAIKOO A. 7 (288grt), TAIKOO A. 8 (172grt), TAIKOO A. 9
(170grt), TAIKOO C 1
(150grt), TAIKOO B 12 (45grt), motor lighters KAI SOO
57grt), tugs EWO IV
982grt), EWO VIII (41grt), EWO IX (47grt), and FUMIN,
motor boat EWO X
(10grt), communications boat PAOSHIH, barges G. B. No. 2
and G. B. No. 3,and
Chinese steamers FEI HSING (625grt) and HSIN YANGTSE
(1108grt) were
seized at Shanghai on the 9th.
_____
Australian bombers
attacked Japanese ships off Kota
Bharu. Steamer AWAGISAN MARU (9794grt) was sunk in
6-08N, 102-16E. Steamers
AYATOSAN MARU (9800grt) and SAKURA MARU (7100grt),
escorted by light cruiser
SENDAI and destroyers ISONAMI, SHIKINAMI, AYANAMI, and
URANAMI, were not
damaged.
_____
Italian ships seized in US
ports
|
Italian
name
|
GRT
|
Where
seized
|
US
name
|
|
ADA O.
|
5234
tons
|
New
Orleans
|
name
not changed
|
|
ALBERTA
|
6131
tons
|
New
York
|
name
not changed
|
|
ANTONIETTA
|
4423
tons
|
Norfolk
|
OLAMBALA
|
|
ARSA
|
5441
tons
|
New
York
|
FRIAR
ROCK
|
|
AUSSA
|
5441
tons
|
New
York
|
AFRICANDER
|
|
BELVEDERE
|
6889
tons
|
Philadelphia
|
name
not changed
|
|
BRENNERO
|
4946
tons
|
New
York
|
name
not changed
|
|
CLARA
|
6131
tons
|
Savannah
|
name
not changed
|
|
COLORADO
|
5039
tons
|
San
Juan
|
VILLALOBOS
|
|
CONFIDENZA
|
6458
tons
|
Jacksonville
|
name
not changed
|
|
CONTE BIANCAMANO
|
23255
tons
|
Christobal
|
HERMITAGE
|
|
DINO
|
5592
tons
|
Boston
|
MERIDIAN
|
|
EURO
|
4687
tons
|
Norfolk
|
BATEAU
|
|
GIUAN
|
5473
tons
|
Norfolk
|
GALLANT
FOX
|
|
GUIDONIA
|
5060
tons
|
Norfolk
|
PLAUDIT
|
|
IDA Z. O.
|
4035
tons
|
Mobile
|
MACBETH
|
|
ICARNIA
|
4815
tons
|
Jacksonville
|
RACELAND
|
|
LACONIA
|
5932
tons
|
Newport
News
|
ELWOOD
|
|
LEME
|
8059
tons
|
Astoria,
Oregon
|
name
not changed
|
|
MAR GLAUCO
|
4690
tons
|
Norfolk
|
MOKATAM
|
|
MONFIORE
|
5498
tons
|
New
Orleans
|
WHITE
CLOVER
|
|
MONGIOIA
|
6113
tons
|
Houston
|
EXTERMINATOR
|
|
PIETRO
CAMPANELLA
|
6140
tons
|
Norfolk
|
EQUIPOISE
|
|
SAN GIUSEPPE
|
5074
tons
|
Norfolk
|
ANEROID
|
|
SANTA ROSA
|
3027
tons
|
Norfolk
|
RAMAPO
|
|
SAN LEONARDO
|
4657
tons
|
New
York
|
name
not changed
|
|
VILLARPEROSA
|
6255
tons
|
Wilmington
|
COLIN
|
|
VITTORIN
|
3349
tons
|
Norfolk
|
GREY
LAG
|
_____
Italian tankers ANTEO
(6772grt) and RAPALLO (5812grt) were seized at
Cartagena, Colombia.
Tuesday,
9 December
Second in Command, Home
Fleet transferred his flag
to battleship DUKE OF YORK at 1400. The battleship
departed Scapa Flow at 1600 for the Clyde, escorted by destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, and MATABELE. On
the 10th at 1215, the battleship was
recalled to Scapa
Flow, arriving at 1015/11th. The ships departed Scapa
Flow at 1630/11th and arrived in the Clyde at 1500/12th.
_____
US battleships IDAHO and
MISSISSIPPI departed Hvalfjord for Boston.
_____
Minelaying cruiser MANXMAN
departed Scapa Flow at 0045 for Milford Haven, arriving
at 0830/10th.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed Scapa Flow for Sullom Voe, arriving later that
day for
Operation KITBAG.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, and OFFA and
landing ship PRINCE CHARLES departed Scapa Flow at 0300
for Sullom Voe for Operation KITBAG. The
ships arrived at 1400 that day and joined destroyer
ICARUS already there.
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed Sullom Voe on the
11th for Blue Mull Sound in the Shetlands to cover
Operation KITBAG.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, ICARUS, and OFFA
and landing ship PRINCE CHARLES departed Sullom Voe for
Operation KITBAG on
the 11th.
Operation KITBAG was
abandoned at 0600/12th due to
low visibility. Light cruiser ARETHUSA arrived at Scapa
Flow on the 12th. The rest of the ships in the
Operation arrived back at Scapa
Flow at 1100/13th.
_____
Destroyers ONSLOW,
IMPULSIVE, and ORIBI departed
Hvalfjord at 1630 for Scapa
Flow. The destroyers
arrived at 1300/11th.
_____
Troop convoy WS.14 with
ships departing Liverpool on the 7th and the Clyde on the 8th rendezvoused for ocean passage on the 9th. The convoy was
composed of steamers TROILUS, CITY OF
PRETORIA, EMPIRE CURLEW, WARWICK CASTLE, EMPRESS OF
AUSTRALIA, EMPIRE ORIOLE
(which fell out on the 11th), EMPIRE CONDOR, ORESTES,
SCYTHIA, ORONSAY,
ANDES, ABOSSO, ESPERANCE BAY, REINA DEL PACIFICO,
ORCADES, DUCHESS OF ATHOLL, STRATHALLAN,
CAMERONIA, HMS ENGADINE, DURBAN CASTLE, ATHLONE CASTLE,
EMPIRE PEREGRINE,
HIGHLAND PRINCESS, HIGHLAND MONARCH, EMPIRE EGRET,
EMPIRE WIDGEON, EMPIRE
PINTAIL, CLAN CAMERON, and HMS CILICIA. The convoy was
escorted by antiaircraft
ship ULSTER QUEEN and destroyers WESTCOTT, BEVERLEY,
SHERWOOD,
CROOME, LANCASTER, NEWARK, and WITHERINGTON from 9 to 12
December.
Destroyers NESTOR, GURKHA,
and FOXHOUND escorted
the convoy from 9 to 13 December.
Destroyer VANQUISHER
escorted the convoy from 13 to
14 December.
Destroyers WITCH and
VOLUNTEER escorted the convoy
from 13 to 15 December.
Battleship RAMILLIES,
armed merchant cruiser CILICIA, and destroyers BEAUFORT and BADSWORTH escorted the convoy from 13 to
21 December.
Destroyer BADSWORTH
refuelled at Bathurst and arrived at Gibraltar on the
28th.
Destroyers BRILLIANT and
HURWORTH joined the convoy
on the 18th and destroyers VANSITTART and WILD SWAN on
the 19th. These
destroyers escorted the convoy to Freetown, arriving on
the 21st. The convoy sailed from Freetown on the 25th,
escorted by destroyer BRILLIANT from
25 to 26 December, destroyer VIMY from 25 to 27
December, battleship
RAMILLIES and destroyers BEAUFORT and HURWORTH from 25
December to 5 January.
Armed merchant cruiser
DERBYSHIRE joined the convoy
on 4 January and escorted it to 8 January. Light cruiser
CERES joined the
convoy on 6 January and escorted it to 8 January.
Steamers EMPIRE ORIOLE,
MALANCHA, EMPIRE PINTAIL,
EMPIRE CONDOR, EMPIRE CURLEW, EMPIRE EGRET, EMPIRE
WIDGEON, EMPIRE PEREGRINE,
WARWICK CASTLE, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, HIGHLAND MONARCH,
ORCADES, CITY OF PRETORIA, TROILUS, CLAN CAMERON, and
ORESTES
arrived at Capetown on 5 January.
Steamers HIGHLAND
PRINCESS, STRATHALLAN, CAMERONIA,
ORONSAY, ESPERANCE BAY, SCYTHIA, DUCHESS OF ATHOLL,
REINA DEL PACIFICO, ATHLONE CASTLE, DURBAN CASTLE, and
ANDES
arrived Durban 8 January.
On 9 January, the Capetown
ships sailed escorted by
battleship RAMILLIES and corvettes HOLLYHOCK and
VERBENA. The corvettes were
detached on 10 January. The Durban ships departed on 13
January and rendezvoused with
the Capetown section.
Steamer DUCHESS OF ATHOLL
of the Durban section, returned to Durban with defects.
Her troops were transferred to
steamer ANDES which sailed with light cruiser CERES and
joined
the convoy on 16 January.
Steamers MENDOZA and
SALWEEN joined the
convoy from Mombasa, escorted by light cruiser COLOMBO.
The convoy was escorted by battleship RAMILLIES
from 9 to 20 January. Armed merchant cruiser CORFU escorted the convoy from 13 to 22 January. Light cruiser CERES
escorted the convoy from 16 to 22 January. Light cruiser
COLOMBO escorted the
convoy from 20 to 22 January.
On 19 January, steamers
WARWICK
CASTLE, DEVONSHIRE, MALANCHA, CITY OF
CANTERBURY, PLANCIOUS, DUNERA, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA,
EMPRESS
OF ASIA, CITY OF PRETORIA, and FELIX
ROUSSEL were detached as convoy DM.2.
Battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN
escorted the convoy from
19 to 26 January.
Armed merchant cruiser
RANCHI escorted the convoy on 26 to 28 January.
Light cruiser EMERALD
escorted the convoy from 28
to 31 January.
Light cruisers DANAE and
JAVA escorted the convoyon
31 January to 3 February.
Sloops YARRA and SUTLEJ escorted the convoy from 1 to 3 February.
Heavy cruiser EXETER and
destroyers JUPITER and VAMPIRE escorted the
convoy on 2 and 3 February.
On 3 February, the convoy
arrived at Batavia.
On 22 January, convoy
WS.14 split into two
sections.
WS.14B was steamers
ORESTES, EMPIRE ORIOLE, EMPIRE
PINTAIL, HIGHLAND MONARCH, EMPIRE EGRET, THYSVILLE,
SALWEEN, and MENDOZA
escorted by light cruiser CERES. The convoy, less
THYSVILLE, arrived at Aden on 26 January. Steamer
THYSVILLE arrived at Aden on 27 January.
WS.14B was steamers NOVA
SCOTIA, ESPERANCE
BAY,
CLAN CAMERON, DUNERA, EMPIRE CONDOR, EMPIRE CURLEW,
DILWARA, EMPIRE
PEREGRINE, EMPIRE WIDGEON, and ANDES. The convoy
was escorted by armed merchant cruiser CORFU and arrived at Bombay
on 28 January.
_____
Convoy ON.45 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroy WANDERER, corvettes
AUBRETIA,
HEARTSEASE, and ROSELYS, and anti-submarine trawlers
ANGLE, DANEMAN, and KING
SOL. The escort was detached on the 16th when the
convoy was dispersed.
_____
German steamer MADRID
(8777grt) was sunk by British bombing near Den Helder.
_____
German fishing vessel
BURGERMEISTER SMIDT (500grt)
was sunk by British bombing at Brest.
_____
Light cruisers NEPTUNE,
AURORA, and PENELOPE and
destroyers KANDAHAR and JAGUAR departed Malta at 1830 to
intercept a reported convoy. The ships
arrived back at Malta on the 10th without making contact.
_____
Light cruiser NAIAD and
destroyers GRIFFIN and HOTSPUR departed Alexandria to
sweep off Derna. At daylight on the 10th, the
ships
bombarded Derna scoring some hits on a merchant ship in
harbour. Withdrawing to the eastward, the ships
were
taken under heavy air attack. Light cruiser NAIAD
sustained some damage from
a near miss, but spent no time out of service. The ships
arrived back at Alexandria on the 11th.
_____
Australian light cruiser
HOBART departed Alexandria to return to the Pacific.
The light cruiser departed
Aden on the 13th.
_____
U.134 sank German steamer
STEINBEK (2185grt) in
error in 71-09N, 29-25E, off Tanafjord.
_____
Italian light cruisers DI
GUISSANNO and BARBIANO
departed Palermo with a cargo of gasoline for Tripoli.
The cruisers were sighted by Malta aircraft south of
Trapani and were forced to return to Palermo.
_____
Submarine PORPOISE badly
damaged Italian steamer
SEBASTIANO VENIER (6311grt), returning from Benghazi
with 2000 prisoners of war, five miles south of
Navarino.
Hospital ship ARNO was able to rescue 1800 of the prisoners.
Submarine
TORBAY sank the
steamer off Cape Methene on the 15th.
_____
U.652 sank French steamer
ST DENIS (1595grt) south
of Balearen Islands.
_____
Submarine URSULA arrived
at Gibraltar from Malta.
_____
Submarine
SEVERN arrived at Gibraltar
from Freetown.
_____
Corvette AZALEA attacked a
submarine contact nine
miles 280° from Cape Spartel. Destroyer
HESPERUS sighted a submarine in 40-06N, 13-12W and
attacked it without
result. On the 11th, destroyer
HESPERUS attacked a contact five miles 325° from Cape St
Vincent.
_____
Japanese forces attacked
Wake Island on 10/11 December, destroyers KISARAGI and
HAYATE
were sunk and light cruisers YUBARI, TENRYU, TATSUTA,
destroyers OITE, YAYOI,
and MUTSUKI, and troopship KINRYU MARU were damaged by
American aircraft and
shore gunnery.
Destroyer KISARAGI was
carrying a large load of
depth charges. There were no survivors on the destroyer
from a crew of some
one hundred and fifty. There were also no survivors on
destroyer HAYATE from
her crew of one hundred and sixty eight.
Nineteen men were wounded
on destroyer OITE. One
man was killed and seventeen wounded on destroyer YAYOI.
Five men were
wounded on light crusiser TENRYU.
On 10/11 December, fifty
one Japanese aircraft were
flak damaged with thirteen airmen killed and thirteen
wounded. The Japanese
were unable to capture the island. The Japanese forces
returned to Kwajalein on the 13th.
_____
Minesweeping coaster BANKA (623grt, T/Lt A. E. Stephenson
RNR) was sunk by mining at
Tioman.
Stephenson, T/Sub Lt F. W.
Hodgson RNR, T/Lt (E) J. R. Smith RNR, Sub Lt R. E.
Scales SSRNVR, and forty Malay
ratings were missing. Six crew were rescued.
_____
Steamer ON.LEE (1026grt)
was scuttled at Hong Kong.
_____
Japanese submarine I.10
sank Panamanian steamer
DONERAIL (4473grt) with gunfire at 8N, 152W.
Twenty five crew and seven passengers were lost on the
steamer.
_____
Panamanian steamer GRAN
(1983grt) was captured by Japanese forces at Bangkok.
_____
Panamanian steamer ISLAS
VISAYAS (516grt) was
stopped by a Japanese naval trawler at 21-23N, 112-08E
and ordered to Nampang
Island. The steamer was seized by Japanese forces on the 9th.
_____
Steamers KANTUNG and MACAU (1665grt) were sunk as blockships at
Anking
Harbour.
Wednesday,
10
December
Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
departed
Scapa Flow for
patrol in the Iceland - Faroes passage, then
Hvalfjord.
_____
Light cruiser CLEOPATRA
departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow, where she arrived later
that day, for working up
practices.
_____
Minesweeper HUSSAR
departed Scapa Flow at 1200 for refitting at West
Hartlepool. The minesweeper arrived at 1430/11th to
commence
her refit.
_____
T/Sub Lt (A) L. H. Briffet
RNVR. Leading Airman B.
H. Packman, and Leading Airman F. R. Piggin were killed
when their Albacore
of 767 Squadron crashed near Arbirlot.
T/Sub Lt (A) L. E.
Mitchell, RNZVR, was killed when
his Albacore of 767 Squadron crashed on take off near
Arbroath.
A/Leading Airman D.
Henshaw of 1 SFTS Netheravon
was killed when his Battle
crashed two miles east of Shrewton RLG.
_____
British steam drifter
KINCORTH (148grt) was sunk on
a mine seven miles 82° from Point Lynas. The entire crew
of eleven were lost
on the drifter.
_____
U.130 sank Egyptian
steamer STAR OF LUXOR (5298grt) in 56-57N, 16-35W,
Steamer
KURDISTAN (5844grt) in 56-51N, 16-36W, and Steamer
KIRNWOOD (3829grt) in
56-57N, 16-35W from convoy SC.57. Four crew were missing
on the steamer STAR OF LUXOR.
Seven crew, two of the
Convoy Commodore's staff,
and one gunner were lost on steamer KURDISTAN.
Twelve crew were lost on
the steamer KIRNWOOD.
Corvette SUNFLOWER, in the
escort, rescued
survivors from these steamers.
_____
Convoy TA.2 departed
Tobruk for Alexandria, escorted by destroyer FARNDALE
and trawlers.
_____
U.431 attacked and claimed
damaged a destroyer near
Tobruk.
_____
Submarine REGENT departed
Gibraltar for Portsmouth. After repairs there until 10
January, the
submarine proceeded to Philadelphia, arriving on 16 February for refitting.
_____
Submarine
OLYMPUS arrived at
Gibraltar from Malta.
_____
Destroyers WHITEHALL and
CAMPBELTOWN arrived at Gibraltar from the UK.
_____
Convoy SC.59 departed
Sydney, CB, escorted by
corvettes LOUISBURG and SUDBURY, andminesweepers
GEORGIAN and THUNDER. These
escorts were relieved on the 12th by destroyer BURNHAM
and corvettes ALGOMA,
NAPANEE, SUMMERSIDE, and TRILLIUM. Destroyer ST CLAIR
and corvette CHILLIWACK joined on the 14th. Destroyer ST
CLAIR was
detached on the 18th and the rest of the escorts on the
21st when destroyers
DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, and VETERAN joined. The destroyers
were detached
on the 25th and anti-submarine trawler KIRKELLA joined.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 27th.
_____
Battleship PRINCE OF WALES
(Flagship of A/Admiral Sir Tom S. V. Phillips,
KCB, Captain J. C. Leach, MVO, DSO) was sunk by Japanese
bombing off the east
coast of Malaya.
Leach, T/Lt B. R. Armitage
RNVR, six ratings were
killed.
Philipps, T/Paymaster
Captain S. T. Beardsworth,
A/Lt Cdr G. C. I. Ferguson RNVR, T/Midshipman P. A. B.
Hunt RNR, A/Surgeon Lt Cdr (D) R. D. Johnston, Lt Cdr C.
G.
Lawson, Cdr H. F. Lawson, Lt M. J. H. Major, RM,
Commissioned Electrician E.
H. Marchant, Chaplain the Reverent W. G. Parker,
A/Warrant Writer F.
Partridge, T/Electrician Lt R. H. Peters RNVR, Cdr M.
Price, Lt Cdr H. N. Reid,
Lt (E) P. J. A. Slade, T/Paymaster, Sub Lt R. C. Taylor
RNVR, Midshipman D.
R. W. Tribe, T/Sub Lt J. B. Womersley RNVR, two hundred
and seventy four
ratings, and twenty seven Marines were missing.
Three ratings died of
wounds.
Destroyers EXPRESS,
ELECTRA, and VAMPIRE picked up
90 of 110 officers and 1195 of 1502 ratings.
Destroyer EXPRESS
sustained some damage alongside
PRINCE OF WALES while taking off survivors.
Battlecruiser REPULSE
(Captain W. G. Tennant) was
sunk by Japanese bombing off the east coast of Malaya.
Commissioned Supply
Officer J. W. H. Atkey, MBE,
P/T/Sub Lt (E) P. L. Bennett RNVR, Lt (E) C. T. Blair,
Warrant Mechanician A.
J. Brewer, Midshipman A. C. R. Bros, Senior Master H. J.
E. Campbell,
T/Surgeon Lt W. A. Cavanaugh RNVR, Commissioned
Electrician A. F. Cavell, Lt
Cdr C. H. Cobbe, Midshipman R. I. Davies RAN, A/Warrant
Mechanician T. W.
Day, Midshipman J. M. Hawkins, Lt R. A. Hunting, Warrant
Shipwright J. E.
Jackson, Midshipman R. Kinder, Engineer Cdr H. Lang,
DSM, Surgeon Cdr D. A.
Newberry, Gunner J. B. Page, T/Sub Lt W. R. D. Page
RNVR, Warrant Engineer S.
H. Perry, Gunner (T) C. W. Pudifoot, T/Lt (E) E. R.
Rowe, Commissioned
Ordnance Officer H. G. Ward, Paymaster Midshipman J. L.
C. Watson, Paymaster
Cdr L. V. Webb, OBE, T/Lt (E) L. F. Wood, four hundred
and forty one ratings,
and forty one Marines were missing.
Four ratings were killed.
T/Lt J. R. Gifford RNVR,
on the 10th, Midshipman J.
P. H. Bremridge on the 13th, and one rating died of
wounds.
Destroyers picked up 42 of
69 officers and 754 of
1240 ratings.
As the destroyers returned
to Singapore, they met
northbound STRONGHOLD and American destroyers ALDEN,
EDSALL, JOHN D. EDWARDS,
and WHIPPLE which had been ordered from Singapore to
support the ships. The
American destroyers searched the area of the sinking,
but found no more
survivors.
Battlecruiser REPULSE's
Walrus force landed in the
water out of fuel. Her crew of Petty Officer T. W. J.
Crozier, Petty Officer
S. Damerell, and TAG M. F. A. Rose were unhurt. The
Walrus was towed to
Singapore by destroyer STRONGHOLD.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOTBANK
departed Singapore to lay mines in the northern portion
of the Dorian
Straits minefield. The minelayer arrived back later that
day after the
minelay.
_____
Dutch submarines K.11,
K.12, K.13, K.17, and O.16
were ordered to attack Japanese forces off Singora.
_____
In a Japanese air attack
on Cavite Naval Base in Manila Bay, US destroyer PEARY
(CDR H. H. Keith), submarine
SEALION (LCDR R. G. Voge), and minesweeper BITTERN (LT
T. G. Warfield) were
damaged. Submarine SEADRAGON (LCDR W. E. Ferrall)
alongside submarine SEALION
suffered damage from splinters from the bombs striking
SEALION. Destroyer
PILLSBURY (LCDR H. C. Pound) was also damaged by
splinters.
Destroyer PEARY had LT A.
E. Gates Jr and eight
enlisted men killed. CDR Keith, LT (jg) D. W. Hamilton
Jr, and Ensign C. S.
George Jr, were wounded and sent ashore for treatment.
LCDR J. M. Berlingham
assumed command of the destroyer.
Destroyer PILLSBURY had
two enlisted men killed and
sixteen enlisted men wounded, of which twelve were sent
to the hospital. LT
(jg) T. A. Hilger, Ensign H. P. Fisher, and Ensign L. S.
Sulkie were wounded,
but remained on board.
Submarine SEADRAGON had
Ensign S. H. Hunter killed.
LT N. G. Ward, LT (jg) C. S. Manning Jr, and three
enlisted men were wounded.
Submarine SEALION had four
enlisted men killed and
three wounded.
Submarine SEALION was
scuttled on the 25th.
Minesweeper BITTERN had
two enlisted men killed and
one enlisted man wounded.
Minesweeper TANAGER (LCDR
E. A. Roth) sustained one
enlisted man killed and eight enlisted men wounded in
the attack, but
sustained no damage to the ship. Three more enlisted men
were killed on the
12th.
_____
Japanese minelayer
ITSUKUSHIMA, escorted by destroyers KUROSHIO and
OYASHIO, laid
mines in San Bernadino Strait.
Japanese minelayer
YAEYAMA, escorted by light
cruiser JINTSU and destroyers HAYASHIO and NATSUSHIO,
laid mines in Surigao
Strait.
US submarine S.36 (DDD –
S.36?) attempted to attack one of the minelaying
forces.
_____
Japanese minesweeper W.10
was sunk by US bombing at
17-32N, 120-22E.
_____
Japanese minesweeper W.19
was damaged by US bombing
and run ashore a total loss at 18-22N, 121-38E.
_____
Japanese submarine I.70
was sunk by an aircraft
from US aircraft carrier ENTERPRISE at 23-45N, 155-35W.
_____
Steamer HARLEDAWINS
(1523grt) was sunk by Japanese
bombing eight miles west of Barigayos Point, Luzon.
Japanese submarine I.124
also claimed sinking this
vessel. The entire crew were rescued.
_____
Norwegian steamer HAI TUNG
(1187grt), which had departed Bangkok on the 4th for
Singapore, was sunk by Japanese submarine I.56 in 5-08N,
104-32E. The entire crew were lost in the steamer.
_____
Tug HSIN FUHLE (184grt)
was lost at Hong Kong.
_____
American steamer SAGOLAND
(5334grt) was badly
damaged by Japanese bombing at Manila. The steamer sank
the next day.
_____
Auxiliary ship HELENA A.
(85grt) was sunk when she
ran ashore on Butaritari Reef, Gilbert Islands.
_____
Steamer CHUNGSHAN
(1085grt) was scuttled at Hong Kong.
_____
Steamers ANHUI (3494grt)
and ANSHUN (3188grt) were damaged by
Japanese bombing in the Outer Harbour at Manila.
_____
Steamer CHUNGHAN (1085grt)
was scuttled at Hong Kong.
Thursday,
11
December
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed Hvalfjord for patrol in the Denmark Strait.
_____
Destroyer PYTCHLEY
departed Scapa Flow at 0700 for Methil and onward
passage to
Sheerness. The destroyer, which had completed her
working up practices,
joined convoy FS.70 as an additional escort for her
passage south.
_____
Destroyer
CALPE departed the
Tyne at 0845 for Methil carryout out full speed trials
en route. The destroyer arrived at Methil at 1530 that
day.
_____
Destroyer
MARNE departed the
Clyde at 1330 for Scapa Flow, where she arrived at
0900/12th to carry out
working up practices.
_____
Destroyer ONSLOW departed
Scapa Flow at 2100 for boiler cleaning at Rosyth and
repair
weather damage. The destroyer arrived at 1000/12th.
_____
A tanker (10,000grt),
which had been launched on 14 June 1941 for the United
States at Hamburg was seized by German forces.
_____
Destroyers SIKH, MAORI,
and LEGION and Dutch
destroyer ISAAC SWEERS departed Gibraltar to
reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet.
Italian light cruisers DI
GUISSANO and DA BARBIANO
departed Palermo, escorted by torpedo boat CIGNO, for
Benghazi. The destroyers contacted and sank the Italian
cruisers after they had turned back after passing Cape
Bon when sighted by British aircraft. The torpedo boat was damaged by
destroyer ISAAC SWEERS with gunfire, but was able to
escape. In the
engagement, the Dutch destroyer almost collided with the
Italian torpedo
boat.
One thousand and twenty
crew, including Admiral
Toscano and his entire staff in light cruiser DA
BARBIANO, were lost in the
two cruisers. Torpedo boats CIGNO and SIRTORI, four MAS
boats, and other small vessels picked up 645
survivors. The British and Dutch destroyers arrived at
Malta on the 13th.
_____
Destroyer FARNDALE sank
Italian submarine
CARACCIOLO off Bardia in 32-09N, 25-19E. The submarine
was evacuated
personnel from Bardia. An Italian General was among
those lost. Six officers
and forty seven ratings were rescued by the destroyer.
_____
Dutch submarine O.24
unsuccessfully attackeda
German submarine in the Tyrrhenian
Sea.
_____
Corvette BLUEBELL attacked
and slightly damaged
U.69 west of Gibraltar. This attack was originally
identified as sinking
the U.208.
_____
Anti-submarine trawler
LADY SHIRLEY (472grt, Lt Cdr
A. H. Callaway DSO RANVR), in a patrol line with three
other trawlers, was
sunk by U.374 off Gibraltar in 35-59N, 5-26W.
Callaway, T/Lt I. P. Boucant DSC RANVR, T/Sub Lt F. E.
French DSC RNR, T/Lt P. A. H. Hardinge-Katon RNVR, and
twenty
nine ratings were missing in the trawler.
_____
Armed patrol yacht
ROSABELLE (Lt H. S. Findlay RNR) was sunk by U.374 in
35-59N, 5-17W in the Straits
of Gibraltar. Findlay, T/Sub Lt C. Smith RNVR,
T/Lt G. J. P. Merifield
RNVR, and twenty seven ratings were missing on the
trawler. Lt Cdr P. S. Thompson RNR, T/Lt (E) E.
Gulliver RNVR, T/Sub Lt (E) J. J.
Brocket RNVR, and one rating were wounded and eight
survivors were not
wounded.
_____
Submarine TRUANT damaged
Italian torpedo boat
ALCIONE in 36-23N, 20-33E. The torpedo boat was run
aground a total loss.
_____
Italian steamer CALITEA
(4013grt), escorted by
destroyer FRECCIA, departed Brindisi for Benghazi. The
steamer was sunk by Submarine TALISMAN ninety
miles south of Cape Matapan in 36-23N, 20-33E.
_____
Submarine
TORBAY sank small
Greek steamer SOFIA with artillery northwest of Suda
Bay.
_____
Several Italian
destroyers, carrying supplies,
arrived at Derna.
_____
Light cruiser HERMIONE
departed Gibraltar to search for a merchant ship sighted
by aircraft
in 35-40N, 10-00W. The cruiser arrived back on the 13th
without making
contact.
_____
On reports that Vichy
French armed merchant cruiser
BARFLEUR had put to sea from Martinique to return to
France, US aircraft carrier WASP, light cruiser BROOKLYN, and destroyers STERETT and
WILSON departed
Bermuda to
intercept this ship. However, it was
found that the French ship had not departed port and the
US ships returned to Bermuda.
_____
Heavy cruiser EXETER
departed Singapore for Colombo.
_____
Steamer TINLEY (420grt)
was scuttled at Hong Kong.
_____
Japanese submarine I.156
reported sinking a ship in
5-08N, 104-32E.
_____
Japanese submarine I.9
sank American steamer
LAHAINA (5645grt) at 27-42N, 147-38W. Two crew were
killed and two were
missing on the steamer. The survivors were rescued by
Coast Guard cutter
TIGER.
_____
Steamer KANCHOW (2001grt)
was scuttled at Hong Kong. Five
officers from the steamer were made prisoners of war.
_____
Convoy SL.95 departed
Freetown escorted by destroyer VIMY, corvettes BERGAMOT
and
CLOVER, and anti-submarine whalter SOUTHERN GEM to 17
December.
On the 15th, sloops
FOLKESTONE, WELLINGTON, and WESTON and escort vessels
GORLESTON, SENNEN,
and TOTLAND joined to 31 December.
On the 30th,
anti-submarine trawler SOUTHERN BREEZE
escorted the convoy. Anti-submarine trawler COVENTRY
CITY escorted the trawler on the 31st.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 31st.
Friday,
12 December
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
arrived at Hvalfjord from Denmark Strait patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
arrived at Hvalfjord from patrol in Iceland - Faroes
passage.
_____
Destroyer
CALPE departed
Methil at 0600 for Scapa
Flow, where she arrived
at 1500 that day for working up practices.
_____
Minesweeper GOSSAMER
departed Scapa Flow at 1200 for Sheerness for refitting.
The
minesweeper accompanied convoy FS.72 for the passage
south. The minesweeper
arrived on the 16th.
_____
Submarine
TIGRIS arrived at Scapa Flow
from Stornoway for Operation ANKLET.
_____
T/A/Sub Lt (A) J. C.
Tattersfield and Leading
Airman G. H. Hall of 771 Squadron were killed when their
Roc crashed during
exercises.
_____
Steamer
DROMORE CASTLE (5242grt) was
sunk on a mine in 53-29-08N, 0-52E,
twenty miles south, southeast of Humber. The entire
crew were rescued.
_____
Canadian destroyer
RESTIGOUCHE departed Hvalfjord
with five corvettes to escort a Halifax bound convoy.
The destroyer was badly damaged by
heavy weather. RESTIGOUCHE arrived at Greenock on the 16th.
_____
Panamanian steamer ALBA
(3495grt) was seized by
German forces at Antwerp.
_____
Submarine
TORBAY sank small
Greek steamer PIII northwest of Suda
Bay.
_____
Submarine UTMOST
unsuccessfully attacked an Italian
convoy in 39-47N, 17-22E.
_____
Submarines UPHOLDER, P.31,
P.34 and Polish SOKOL
departed Malta at short notice to patrol in the Central
Ionian Sea.
_____
Destroyers HARVESTER,
HIGHLANDER, and LIGHTNING
departed Gibraltar to refuel at Ponta Delgada and await
further orders.
_____
Light cruisers DRAGON and
DURBAN and minesweepers BURNIE, BENDIGO, GOULBURN, and
MARYBOROUGH were at Singapore for escort duties and were
later joined by
destroyers SCOUT and THANET which arrived from Hong Kong
at Tarakan on the 12th. Also employed were
destroyers ELECTRA,
EXPRESS, and VAMPIRE from the PRINCE OF WALES escort and
destroyer JUPITER
when repairs were completed.
_____
Gunboat MOTH was scuttled
at Hong Kong.
_____
In Japanese air attacks on
Penang, harbour ferry TANJONG was sunk and British examination vessel TUNG
WO (1337grt) was damaged. The examination vessel was
abandoned the next day.
Anti-submarine ship KAMPAR
(971grt, Lt R. Hamer
RNVR) was damaged a near miss by Japanese bombing. The
ship was run aground.
The next day, the ship was bombed again and set on fire,
exploding the
magazine. The crew was rescued.
Patrol craft SIN AIK LEE
(Lt J. M. Brander SSRNVR) and BAN HONG LIONG (Lt
C. L. Brown RNVR) were attacked but not damaged.
_____
American steamer GOVERNOR
WRIGHT (496grt) was sunk
by Japanese bombing at 12-55N, 123-55E.
_____
Norwegian steamer HYDRA II
(1375grt) was sunk by
American S.38, mistaking the ship for Japanese, off
Mindoro
Island, thirty miles off Manila. Nine crew were
rescued from the steamer.
Forty one crew were missing.
_____
Japanese armed merchant
cruisers HOKOKU MARU and
AIKOKO MARU captured American steamer VINCENT (6210grt)
below Pitcairn Island
at 25-41S, 118-19W.
_____
Steamer SHINAI (2410grt)
was seized by Japanese
forces at Kuching.
_____
Dutch submarine K.12 sank
Japanese steamer TORO
MARU (1932grt) in 6-00N, 102-20E.
_____
Dutch submarine O.16 badly
damaged Japanese
steamers TOZAN MARU (8666grt), KINKA MARU (9306grt),
ASOSAN MARU (8811grt),
and SAKURA MARU (7170grt) off Patani. The steamers were
later salved.
Returning to Singapore,
the submarine was sunk on a British mine off Troman Island on the 15th. The Commanding Officer and some bridge personnel
survived the explosion, but only one rating was able to
swim ashore after
thirty six hours in the water; the rest drowning.
_____
Convoy SM 1 departed
Singapore. British SILVERBEECH (5319grt), American
MOBILFUEL
(9860grt) and MAGNOLIA (9511grt), and Greek NEREUS
(5205grt) for Melbourne
and I. KWANG (275grt) and British MARUDU (1926grt) for
Colombo. Dutch light cruiser JAVA, Australian armed
merchant cruiser KANIMBLA, and destroyers
ENCOUNTER,STRONGHOLD, and TENEDOS
escorted the convoy on 12 to 15 December. Dutch
destroyer EVERTSEN joined on
the 13th at sea. The destroyers escorted the convoy to
the area of Batavia.
Destroyers STRONGHOLD and
TENEDOS departed Batavia on the 16th escorting steamers
BELLEROPHON and
DOLIUS to Singapore.
Saturday,
13 December
Battleship DUKE OF YORK,
carrying Winston Churchill to the United States,
departed the Clyde escorted by destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, and MATABELE. The
destroyers were detached on the 17th to the
Azores. En route, destroyer FORESIGHT's steering gear broke down. The
destroyers
were relieved by destroyers HIGHLANDER, HARVESTER, and
LIGHTNING, which
departed Ponta
Delgada after
refuelling on the 17th. The destroyers arrived on the
19th. After
refuelling,theoriginal destroyers departed for Scapa
Flow. On 20December, destroyer MATABELE was detached to
proceed ahead independently.
On the 21st, the
battleship was met by USdestroyers
BRISTOL, TRIPPE, and WARRINGTON. All arrived in Chesapeake Bayon the 22nd.
Destroyer MATABELE arrived
back at Scapa Flow at 0800/22nd. Destroyers FAULKNOR and
FORESIGHT
arrived at 0600/23rd.
_____
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
departed Hvalfjord for Scapa Flow, where the cruiser
arrived on the 16th to correct
defects.
_____
Convoy ON.46 departed
Liverpool escorted by corvette THYME. On the 14th, The
convoy was joined by destroyer LEAMINGTON and
corvettes ABELIA, ANEMONE, SWEETBRIAR, and VERONICA and
corvette THYME was
detached. Destroyer DOUGLAS joined on the 15th. Corvette
SWEETBRIAR was
detached on the 16th. Corvettes ABELIA, ANEMONE, and
VERONICA were detached
when destroyers OTTAWA and VETERAN and corvettes ARVIDA,
BADDECK,
POLYANTHUS, PRIMROSE, ROSTHERN, SHERBROOKE, and TRAIL
joined on the 17th. Destroyers DOUGLAS,
LEAMINGTON, and VETERAN were detached on the 18th and
corvette TRAIL on the 19th. The rest of the escorts were
detached on the 20th
and the convoy was dispersed on the 21st.
_____
Destroyer PUCKERIDGE, en
route from Portsmouth to Liverpool, was
damaged by German bombing. Eighteen
ratings were killed and twenty crew wounded on the
destroyer. The destroyer
was repaired at Milford Haven, completing on 13 August
1942.
_____
Polish destroyer KUJAWIAK
departed Plymouth for Scapa Flow,
arriving on the 17th for Operation ANKLET.
_____
Convoy OS.14 departed
Liverpool, escorted by ocean boarding vessel MARON,
which
was detached on the 22nd. The convoy was joined on the
15th by sloops EGRET,
FLEETWOOD, and HASTINGS, escort vessels BANFF and
FISHGUARD, and anti-submarine yacht PHILANTE
which were all detached on 1 January.
On the 31st, corvettes
AURICULA and CROCUS joined
and arrived with the convoy on 3 January. Destroyers
VANSITTART and VELOX and
corvettes FRITILLARY and ORCHIS joined on 1 January and
arrived with the
convoy at Freetown on 3 January.
_____
Italian steamers FABIO
FILZI (6836grt) and CARLO DEL GRECO (6836grt), en route
to join a convoy at
Taranto, escorted by destroyers DA RECCO and USODIMARE,
were sunk by
Submarine UPRIGHT fifteen miles south of Cape St Vito in
47-10N, 17-06E.
Italian steamers
MONGINEVRO (5324grt), NAPOLI (6142grt), and VETTOR PISANI (6339grt) departed
Taranto escorted by
destroyers PESSAGNO and USODIMARE and
torpedo boat PEGASO for Benghazi.
German steamer ANKARA
(4768grt) departed Taranto escorted by destroyers SAETTA
and MALOCELLO for Benghazi.
Steamers CAPO ORSO
(3149grt) and ISEO (2366grt)
with destroyers STRALE and TURBINE departed Argostoli
for Benghazi.
Battleship DUILO, heavy
cruiser GORIZIA, light
cruisers GARIBALDI and MONTECUCCOLI with destroyers
MAESTRALE, ORIANI, and
GIOBERTI departed Taranto at 1840.
Battleship DORIA, light
cruisers DUCA L'AOSTA and
ATTENDOLO, and destroyers AVIERE, ASCARI, and CAMICIA
NERA departed Taranto at 1940 to support.
Destroyers CORAZZIERE,
GENIERE, and CARABINIERE
departed Taranto later.
Battleships LITTORIO and
VITTORIO VENETO with destroyers GRANATIERE, FUCLIERE,
BERSAGLIERE,
and ALPINO and torpedo boats CENTAURO and CLIO departing
Naples at 1740. Destroyers VIVALDI, DA NOLI, MALOCELLO,
DA RECCO, and ZENO had departed Taranto at 1500 and
joined the LITTORIO group.
Light cruisers GALATEA,
NAIAD, and EURYALUS, and
destroyers JERVIS, KIMBERLEY, KINGSTON, NAPIER, NIZAM,
KIPLING, GRIFFIN, HAVOCK, and HOTSPUR departed
Alexandria to intercept. No contact was made with the
Italian
ships and Force B was recalled to Alexandria.
Due to the lack of
information on British
movements, the convoys are aborted until the situation
is clarified. The two
Argostoli steamers collided and were out of action.
Destroyers NAPIER, NIZAM,
KIPLING, and HAVOCK were
detached at 1800/13th to search for a reported
submarine.
Submarine URGE torpedoed
battleship VITTORIO VENETO on the 14th near Cape dell'Armi in 37-53N, 15-29E. The torpedo hit one of the battleship's
magazines. The battleship was seriously damaged, but was
able to reach
Taranto under her own
power, escorted by destroyers
VIVALDI, DA NOLI, AVIERE, GENIERE, CAMICIA NERA, and
CARABINIERE and torpedo
boats ARETUSA and LINCE.
_____
Sub Lt J. S. Kyffin, Lt T.
I. Harray, and Leading
Airman R. J. Carmichael were killed when their Albacore
of 826 Squadron
crashed on take off at El Adem.
_____
U.453 sank Spanish tanker
BADALONA (4202grt) in 36-43N, 3-30W. Three crew were
killed
on the tanker.
_____
Convoy in AT.3 departed
Alexandria escorted by destroyers FARNDALE, AVONVALE,
and
HEYTHROP.
Tanker MYRIEL departed
Alexandria for Mersa Matruh escorted by two
anti-submarine
whalers SOUTHERN MAID and SOUTHERN ISLES.
U.431 damaged British
tanker MYRIEL (3560grt) in
31-03N, 29-00E, forty eight miles west of Alexandria.
The tanker arrived at Alexandria in tow on the 14th.
Convoy AT.3 arrived at
Tobruk on the 15th, escorted
by destroyer FARNDALE. On arrival, steamer RODI was
slightly damaged by the
near miss of an air bomb.
_____
Thirty nine Japanese
transports departed Camranh Bay for further landings on
the Malay Peninsula.
Light Cruiser KASHII,
frigate SHIMUSHU, minesweeper
W.4, and destroyers ISONAMI, URANAMI, SHIKINAMI, and
AYANAMI of the 19th
Destroyer Division, ARASHI, HAGIKAZE, MAIKAZE, and
NOWAKE of the 4th
Destroyer Division, and AMAGIRI, ASAGIRI, and YUGIRI of
the 20th Destroyer
Division.
Heavy cruiser CHOKAI and
light cruiser KINU
provided cover, along with seaplane carrier SAGARA MARU.
On the 14th, heavy
cruisers MIKUMA and MOGAMI and
destroyers HATSUYUKI and SHIRAYUKI joined from Poulo
Condore and took up a
covering position northeast of Kuantan during the night
of 16/17 December.
During the night of 16/17
December, submarines
I.58, I.57, I.56, and I.55 formed a patrol line north of
Anamba
Island.
_____
Ten Japanese transports
departed Camranh Bay for landings at Miri.
Light cruiser YURA,
destroyers MURAKUMO, SHINONOME,
SHIRAKUMO, and USUGUMO of the 12th Destroyer Division,
submarine chaser CH 7,
and seaplane carrier KAMIKAWA MARU provided escorts for
the transports.
Heavy cruisers KUMANO and
SUZUYA and destroyers
FUBUKI and SAGIRI covered the movement.
Distant cover for this
operation and the Malay
landings was heavy cruisers ATAGO and TAKAO, battleships
HARUNA and KONGO,
destroyers ASASHIO, OSHIO, MICHISHIO, and ARASHIO, and
submarines I.62, I.64,
I.65, and I.66 between Natoma Island and northwest
Borneo.
_____
American tanker MANATAWNY
(5030grt) was sunk by
Japanese bombing at Manila.
_____
Steamer CHUNG ON.(968grt)
was scuttled at Hong Kong.
_____
Dutch submarine K.12 sank
Japanese tanker TAIZAN
MARU (35245grt) near Cape Camau.
_____
Panamanian steamer ESSI
(1192grt) was seized by Japanese forces at Hongay.
Sunday,
14 December
Light cruiser KENYA, after
short repairs, departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow.
_____
Destroyer BEDOUIN,
escorting landing ship PRINCE
CHARLES, departed Scapa Flow at 0340 and arrived at
Invergordon at 1000. At 0300 on 15 November, the
two ships
departed Invergordon and arrived back at Scapa Flow at
0900.
_____
Destroyer FORESTER
departed Scapa Flow at 0930 to convoy Vice Admiral,
Second in Command
Home Fleet to Scrabster. After this
duty, destroyer FORESTER returned to Scapa Flow.
_____
Landing ship PRINCE
LEOPOLD departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow, arriving on
the 15th.
_____
Submarine P.37 arrived at
Lerwick from patrol.
_____
Minesweeper HALCYON
departed London after repairs for Sheerness.
_____
Motor anti-submarine boat
MA/SB 30 was sunk when
the fouled the boom at Humber.
_____
U.108 sank Portuguese
steamer CASSEQUEL (4751grt)
in 35-08N, 11-14W. The entire crew were rescued.
Thirteen men were picked up
by corvette CAMPION on the 17th.
_____
Returning from the
unsuccessful sweep against the
Italian convoys, light cruiser GALATEA (Captain E. W. B.
Sim) was sunk by
U.557 off Alexandria in 31-17N, 29-13E. The destroyer
screen had been
detached into Alexandria before the submarine attack.
Sim, Lt (E) V. N. A.
Baldwin, T/Chaplain Reverend
A. R. Botting RNVR, T/A/Gunner (T) L. G. E. Boulter,
A/Cdr R. E. Butler,
Warrant Engineer C. R. Calver, A/Paymaster Sub Lt L. B.
Caudle, T/Lt (E) J.
Crichton, T/Lt A. H. W. Fancett RNR, Cdr (E) L.
Fogg-Elliot, T/A/Gunner W. T. Harris,
Lt Cdr G. V. W. Harrison, T/A/Shipwright H. J. W.
Henderson, T/Sub Lt L. F.
Herniman RNVR, Paymaster Midshipman G. W. Jackson,
Paymaster Cdr A. G. Jones,
Lt (E) L. R. E. Kennedy, Lt J. B. King-Church, Paymaster
Lt J. A. Messenger
RNVR, Lt J. A. Somershield, RM, Warrant Engineer F. A.
Talbot, T/Electrician
Lt K. Votikas RNVR, three hundred ninety seven ratings,
and fifty Marines
were lost on the cruiser.
Destroyer GRIFFIN picked
up one hundred survivors. Destroyer HOTSPUR
picked up about seventy five survivors. A total of
thirteen officers and one
hundred and forty one men were rescued.
Destroyers JERVIS,
KINGSTON, KIMBERLEY, NAPIER, NIZAM, KIPLING, HAVOCK,
GRIFFIN, and HOTSPUR, after anti-submarine operations,
arrived at Alexandria on the 15th.
_____
Motor torpedo boat MTB.68
(Lt R. R. Smith RNVR) was sunk in a collision
off Tobruk with MTB.215 (T/Sub Lt A. P. G. Joy RCNVR),
as they were
setting out to operate off Derna. MTB.215 was
considerably damaged and returned to
Tobruk.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN damaged
German subamrine U.561
slightly with artillery in 34-05N, 25-39E.
_____
Convoy HG.76 of thirty two
ships departed Gibraltar
escorted by sloops DEPTFORD and STORK from 14 to 22
December, sloops FOWEY
and BLACK SWAN from 14 to 16 December and corvettes
MARIGOLD, CONVOLVULUS,
PENTSTEMON, JONQUIL for refitting in the UK, SAMPHIRE,
and VETCH for the
entire voyage, corvette CARNATION on 14 and 15 December
when she was detached
to join the WISHART convoy, corvette LA MALOUINE on 14
to 16 December,
corvette GARDENIA on 14 to 19 December, and corvette
CAMPION on 15 and 16
December.
Destroyer HESPERUS and
corvette COLTSFOOT departed Gibraltar on the 15th and
was additional local escort for
the convoy for 16 December only.
A support group of
destroyers BLANKNEY and EXMOOR operated near the convoy from 14 to 18 December.
Escort carrier AUDACITY
accompanied the convoy from
14 to 21 December and destroyer STANLEY from 14 to 19
December.
Destroyers CROOME, GURKHA,
FOXHOUND, and NESTOR,
arriving from the UK, swept for submarines ahead of the
convoy.
On the 23rd, destroyers
VANOC, VANQUISHER, and
WITCH joined the convoy and destroyer VOLUNTEER joined
on the 25th. These
destroyers were detached on the 29th. The convoy arrived
at Liverpool on the 30th.
_____
British tankers CONSUL and
PRESIDENT DE VOGUE for
Curacoa, and VELMA for Trinidad and steamer EMPIRE
BARRACUDA for Capetown
departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyer WISHART and
corvettes GERANIUM,
AZALEA, and COLTSFOOT.
When corvette COLTSFOOT
was detached with survivors
from EMPIRE BARRACUDA, corvette CARNATION left convoy
HG.76 to convoy.
Corvettes GERANIUM and
AZALEA arrived back at Gibraltar on the 23rd with
Norwegian tanker LEIF ERICKSSON.
_____
The US Navy began its
operations to relieve Wake Island.
Task Force 11 departed
Pearl Harbour with aircraft
carrier LEXINGTON, heavy cruisers CHICAGO, INDIANAPOLIS,
and PORTLAND, and
the 1st Destroyer Squadron with destroyers PHELPS,
DEWEY, HULL, MACDONOUGH,
and WORDEN of the 1st Destroyer Division, and AYLWIN,
DALE, and DRAYTON of
the 2nd Destroyer Division. The force was to raid Jaluit
as a diversion, but
this was cancelled on the 20th and the force was added
to the main force.
On the 16th, Task Force 16
departed Pearl Harbour
with aircraft carrier SARATOGA, heavy cruisers
MINNEAPOLIS (Fletcher),
ASTORIA, and SAN FRANCISCO, the 4th Destroyer Squadron
with
destroyers SELFRIDGE, HENLEY, BLUE, and
HELM of the 7th Destroyer Division and JARVIS, MUGFORD,
PATTERSON, and RALPH
TALBOT of the 8th Destroyer Division, and seaplane
carrier TANGIER.
Task Force 8 departed
Pearl Harbour on the 19th
with aircraft carrier ENTERPRISE, heavy cruisers
NORTHAMPTON (Spruance),
CHESTER, and SALt LAKE CITY, and
the 6th Destroyer Squadron with destroyers BALCH,
CRAVEN, GRIDLEY, MCCALL,
and MAURY of the 11th Destroyer Division and FANNING,
DUNLAP, BENHAM, and
ELLET of the 12th Destroyer Division.
Destroyer CRAVEN was
damaged by heavy seas soon
after departure and was forced to return to Pearl
Harbour.
On the 23rd, Wake Island
fell and the operation was cancelled. All ships
returned to Pearl Harbour.
_____
American submarine
SWORDFISH damaged Japanese
steamer NIKKOKU MARU (2728grt) at 18-05N, 109-18E near
Hainan
Island.
Submarine SWORDFISH
damaged Japanese transport
KASHII MARU (8407grt) at 18-08N, 109-22E off Samah.
_____
American submarine SEAWOLF
attacked Japanese
seaplane carrier SANYO MARU (8360grt) of Aparri. The
torpedo struck the
seaplane carrier, but did not explode.
_____
Japanese submarine I.4
sank Norwegian steamer HOEGH
MERCHANT (4858grt) twenty nine miles from Cape
Makapuu, Oahu. There were no
casualties on the steamer.
_____
"Gull Force" of Dutch
steamers BOTH
(2601grt), VALENTIJN (2071grt), and PATRAS (2065grt)
departed Port Darwin,
escorted by Australian light cruiser ADELAIDE and
minesweeper BALLARAT. Troops carried on these
steamers were
landed at Ambon on the 17th.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOT BANK,
escorted by destroyer
VAMPIRE, laid mines in the Pulo Aur area.
_____
Destroyer THRACIAN, en
route to attack a Japanese
artillery battery, ran aground outside Hong Kong
Harbour. The destroyer was able to refloat herself. THRACIAN attacked
and sank two Japanese
river steamers landing troops before returning to
Hong Kong.
