WW2 Chronology 1941
    Background
    • Japan had invaded China 7July 1937 and twice had attacked Russian borders.
    • Mussolini had invaded Albania 7 April 1939.
    • German declared War 3Sept1939 splitting Poland with Russia, then conquered Europe, England fights on alone.
    • Soviets had taken land from Finland in Winter War'39-'40
    • Italy joined Germany 10June'40 and invaded Somaliland, Egypt, and Greece.
    • Air Blitz on Britain continues.
    • U-boat "Happy time".
    • Germany prepares to rescue Italians.
    • U.S. declares "all measures short of war."

    January 1941
    Jan 1 . British Home Fleet order of battle.
    Jan 2 . The first Luftwaffe units arrive in Italy.
    Jan 3 . Australian, South African, New Zealand Division break through the Italian defences of Bardia, Libya, free 6,000 POWs.
    Jan 4 . Heavy fighting takes place around Klisura and Tepelini, Albania.
    Jan 5 . Adm Richardson, CinC U.S. Fleet, is fired by FDR for insisting that the fleet is in peril at Pearl Harbor.
    Jan 5 . Brit-Australian take Bardia, Libya : 45,000 Italians taken as POW.
    Jan 6 . Nationalist Chinese attack communist 4th Army crossing the Yangtze River.
    Jan 7 . Indian army arrives in Ethiopia from Libya campaign.
    Jan 8 . Six of the original seven merchant raiders are still at sea - Orion, Komet, Atlantis, Kormoran, Thor, Pinguin. They will sink 38 ships of 191,000 tons.
    Jan 9 . Transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6) arrives at Wake Island with first increment of workmen (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) to begin building a naval air station there.
    Jan 10. Carrier HMS Illustrious (CVL.87) is bombed and damaged by Luftwaffe JU 87s during air attack on British force off Malta.
    Jan 11. German destroyers lay minefields off Newcastle and Cromer which sink four ships.
    Jan 12. RAF attacks oil targets in Germany, Belgium and Italy.
    Jan 13. Greek government declines an offer of British troops to assist against the Italians
    Jan 14. The degaussing of British ships begins. By March, half (633 war and merchant ships) have been fitted with degaussing cables.
    Jan 14. German raider Pinguin caputers Norwegian whaling fleet.
    Jan 15. Luftwaffe carries out a long raid over Bristol. RAF attacks Wilhelmshaven.
    Jan 15. ABC, the first electronic binary computer developed at Iowa State U. (stored during war, junked after)
    Jan 16. President asks Congress for $350 million for 200 new merchant ships.
    Jan 16. First Army Air Corps squadron for black cadets. Leads to 99th fighter squadron at Tuskegee Institute.
    Jan 16. RAdm Patrick Bellinger (aviator #4,MOH,PatWing2) warns of an attack on Pearl Harbor.
    Jan 17. Battle of Koh Chang: Vichy French retaliate against Thai moves against Cambodia. French squadron in Gulf of Siam sinks 3 ships in 2-hour battle.
    Jan 17. Maiden flight of the Consolidated LB-30A (B-24 Liberator cargo). Six LB-30As were produced for the RAF.
    Jan 18. Axis cruisers and submarines continue to reck havoc on Allied shipping in Atlantic and Mediterranean. Both sides lay mines and lose ships.
    Jan 19. British troops advance in Eritrea and Sudan.
    Jan 20. Hitler offers Mussolini aid in Albania and Greece.
    Jan 20. FDR inaugurated 3rd term. Only U.S. president with more than two terms.
    Jan 20. Japan orders cultural attaches in U.S. to establish intelligence gathering networks. A budget of $500,000 was established for 1941 -- over $10,000,000 in today's money.
    Jan 21. British and Australian troops capture of Italian-held Tobruk.
    Jan 21. U.S. lifts the ban on arms sales to the Soviet Union.
    Jan 22. Tobruk taken with 25,000 Italian POWs.
    Jan 22. Scharnhorst , Gneisenau enter Atlantic sought by three British battleships.
    Jan 22. Louisville (CA-28) arrives at New York, with $148 billion of British gold from South Africa to American banks.
    Jan 23. Lindbergh testifies before Congress recommending neutrality pact with Germany.
    Jan 24. British forces in Kenya attack Italian Somaliland
    Jan 25. Keel laid for Wisconsin (BB-64), last battleship built by the U.S.
    Jan 25. HMS King George V (BB.41) delivers British ambassador to D.C. and escorts 24 tankers back to England
    Jan 26. Italian submarines active in Mediterranean.
    Jan 27. The United States and Great Britain began high-level military talks in Washington.
    Jan 28. Mining and loses on both sides in European waters.
    Jan 29. Convoy of 40 ships (SC 19) to England attacked by U-boats sinking seven.
    Jan 30. British forces in North Africa take Derna, 100 miles west of Tobruk.
    Jan 31. Vice Admiral William S. Pye takes command of U.S. Battle Force.
    Jan 31. U.S. Antarctic Service is closed.
    Jan 31. Indian Army takes Eritrea.
    January Losses: 74 ships of 310,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes; 1 Italian U-boat.
    February 1941
    Feb 1 . Adm Kimmel replaces Adm Richardson as CinC U.S. fleet and CinC PAC.
    Feb 3 . LtGen Rommel appointed head of German Army troops in Africa.
    Feb 4 . USO chartered (United Service Organization).
    Feb 5 . Italians reinforce lines in Greece with 10 divisions to prepare for Spring offensive.
    Feb 6 . British capture Italian army retreating at Benghazi. 20,000 captured.
    Feb 7 . Total Italian losses in North Africa: 35,000 killed, captured 130,000.
    Feb 8. Japanese cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore.
    Feb 9 . British forces reach El Agheila, Cyrenaica, Libya.
    Feb 9 . Churchill addresses the U.S. in radio speech: "Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
    Feb 9 . RN attack Geneo, Italy, with Malaya (BB), Renown (BB), Ark Royal (CV.91), and Sheffield (CL.24), and ten DD.
    Feb 9 . U-boats and Fw 200 Condor bombers sink 8 of 16 ships in British convoy HG 53 off the Azores.
    Feb 10. Iceland is attacked by German planes.
    Feb 10. Navy begins training in blind landing of patrol aircraft.
    Feb 11. Lt-Gen Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli.
    Feb 12. British forces enter Italian Somaliland East Africa.
    Feb 13. British forces weakened by transfer of troops to Greece.
    Feb 14. German Afrika Korps lands in Tripoli, Libya.
    Feb 15. German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper returned to France after sinking eight ships of 34,042 tons.
    Feb 16. Tanker SS Blum split in half after blundering into mine field off Cape Henry, VA.
    Feb 17. Rommel activates Africa Corp.
    Feb 18. Deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland begins.
    Feb 19. German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer captures British and Dutch shipping in Indian Ocean.
    Feb 20. British and German troops meet at El Agheila in western Libya.
    Feb 21. German troops move thru Bulgaria towards Greek front.
    Feb 22. British decide to aid Greece if Germany enters the Balkans.
    Feb 22. Gen Arthur "Bomber" Harris became British Air Marshal.
    Feb 22. Ex- USS DD-75, now HMS Montgomery on convoy escort sinks Italian submarine Marcello west of the Hebrides.
    Feb 23. German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau begin sinking convoy ships (5) and taking crews captive.
    Feb 23. U-boat activity in the North Atlantic is building with whole Wolf Packs attacking convoys.
    Feb 23. Greece accepts British offer of troops.
    Feb 23. Plutonium, a new element chemically identified ; cleaner than Uranium.
    Feb 24. Admiral Darlan is appointed the head of the Vichy government in France.
    Feb 25. German battleship Tiripitz commissions, world's largest battleship.
      Till Japanese superbattleship Yamato later in the year, Dec 16
    Feb 26. Navy modifies airframe markings, eliminating red-white rudder stripes and changing colors to low contrast.
    Feb 27. Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, is captured by British forces.
    Feb 28. Monthly Loss Summary: 97 British, Allied and neutral ships of 376,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes; 1 Italian U-boat.
    March 1941
    March . Luffwaffe emphasis changed from English cities to ports.
    Mar 1 . USN Support Force Atlantic Fleet established for protection of convoys in North Atlantic.
    Mar 1 . Germans into Romania .  Bulgaria joins Axis.
    Mar 2 . German troops enter Bulgaria. Russia protests.
    Mar 3 . Approaches to Suez Canal closed due to mining, blocking passage of warships.
    Mar 4 . U-boats, mines, bombers and raiders sink British and Dutch ships at a rate greater than they can be launched.
    Mar 5 . British enter Greece. 50,000 British soldiers in next two days. Weakens their Africa forces.
    Mar 6 . USN acquires new cargo ship Mormacmail to be converted into the first escort carrier (AVG-1) in the next 68 days.
    Mar 7 . British troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
    Mar 8 . Luftwaffe drops magnetic and acoustic mines in the Suez Canal, blocking it for three weeks.
    Mar 9 . Italians spring offensive on Albanian front till 15th; will make no progress with 12,000 lost.
    Mar 10. Vichy France threatened to use its navy if Britain will not allow food to reach France.
    Mar 10. British troops occupy Dagga Bur, Somaliland.
    Mar 11. U.S. votes Lend-Lease Act to aid England and China.   End of neutrality.
    Mar 12. German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refueled at sea from German tankers .
    Mar 13. Even British submarines are pressed into convoy escort duty.
    Mar 14. Raid on Valona by Swordfish bombers sink Italian hospital ship Po.
    Mar 15. 60,000 British and Dominion troops were carried from North Africa to Greece. Weaken forces facing Rommel.
    Mar 16. USN heavy cruisers Chicago (CA-29) , Portland (CA-33), and 5 DD make goodwill visit to New Zealand, Australia.
    Mar 17. USCG cutter Cayuga takes South Greenland Survey Expedition to locate sites for bases.
    Mar 17. Navy committee to study jet propulsion and assisted takeoff.
    Mar 18. 321 British warships and 312 merchant ships had been fitted with degaussing cables. 219 more warships and 290 more merchant ships are in hand for degaussing installations.
    Mar 19. British task force of 18 ships mine waters near Iceland.
    Mar 20. Indian Army recaptures British Somaliland
    Mar 20. HMS Malaya (BB, 8-15") convoy escort torpedoed off Cape Verde Islands and repairs at New York Naval Yard.
    Mar 21. British take the last Italian post in East Libya.
    Mar 22. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau return from raids on Atlantic convoys after sinking 22 ships.
    Mar 23. RN motor gun-boats enter service to combat E-boat attacks on Channel Coast convoys.
    Mar 24. Africa Corps takes El Agheila, Libya.
    Mar 25. Italian torpedo boats sink the heavy cruiser HMS York, two tankers and a cargo ship at Crete.
    Mar 26. An additional 219 warships and 290 merchant ships are in line for degaussing installations.
    Mar 27. ABC Conference in Washington, DC.. U.S. Atlantic Fleet is to help the Royal Navy convoy ships across the Atlantic. The agreement inextricably links the U.S. Navy in the effort against Germany.
    Mar 27. Italian battle fleet of 1 BB, 6 CA, arrives Crete. British battle fleet departs Alexandria, 3 BB, 1 CV.
    Mar 27. Men from British battleships pulled to man DD's transferred from U.S.
    Mar 28. Spy Yoshikawa arrives to map Pearl Harbor and report naval movements.
    Mar 28. Gen Simovitch coup switches Yugoslavia from Hitler to Allies and delays Nazi war timetable.
    Mar 28. Yorktown (CV-5) completed five months operation with CXAM radar, reported that aircraft had been tracked at a distance of 100 miles and recommended that friendly aircraft be equipped with electronic identification devices and carriers be equipped with separate and complete facilities for tracking and plotting all radar targets.
    Mar 28. Battle of Cape Matapan -- Italian and British battle forces engage south of Crete. 3 Italian heavy cruisers and 2 destroyers sunk with loss of one British aircraft.
    Mar 29. USS Vincennes (CA-44) departs Simonstown, So Africa, with gold bullion shipment to NYC.
    Mar 30. U.S. seizes Axis ships in U.S. ports. "As the result of Coast Guard investigation of report that crew of Italian merchantman Villarperosa was sabotaging their ship, United States takes protective custody of two German, 26 Italian, and 35 Danish ships in American ports ; Coast Guardsmen take over the vessels. Executive order consequently imprisons 850 Italian and 63 German officers and men."
    Mar 30. Finland surrenders land to Russia.
    Mar 30. U.S. elements arrive Palmyra Island in Antares (AKS-3) to begin construction of defenses.
    Mar 30. U.S. elements arrive Johnston Island in Boggs (DMS-3) to begin construction of defenses.
    Mar 31. Rommel's Afrika Korps make first offensive against British forces in Libya.
    Mar 31. HMS Bonaventure (CL.31) torpedoed by the Italian submarine Ambra south of Crete.
    Mar 31. Monthly Loss Summary: 138 British, Allied and neutral ships of 530,000 tons lost from all causes; 5 German U-boats. 4,259 civilians killed in March
    April 1941
    Apr 1 . Iraqi coup overthrows Regent and makes contact with Italians.
    Apr 1 . Admiral Scheer returns having sunk 17 ships for 113,233 tons in three oceans.
    Apr 2 . British complete mining off Irish Sea.
    Apr 3 . HMS Ark Royal flies off 12 Hurricanes to Malta.
    Apr 4 . Field Marshal Erwin Rommel captured the British held town of Benghazi in North Africa. A name in the news of today.
    Apr 4 . Merchant cruiser Voltaire engaged German raider Thor. The British ship is sunk.
    Apr 4 . 30 German and Italian merchant steamers scuttled at Red Sea port of Massawa, Ethiopia.
    Apr 5 . An Atlantic convoy SC-26 of 23 ships suffers ten losses to U-boat wolfpack.
    Apr 6 . Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
      Luftwaffe bombers seriously damaged Piraeus, the port of Athens, sinking seven merchant ships, sixty lighters and 25 fishing boats.
      Italian Army driven out of Ethiopia.
    Apr 7 . Quarter of U.S. Pacific Fleet ordered to Atlantic : 3 BB, 1 CV, 4 CL, 18 DD, 3 AO.
    Apr 8 . British advance in Libya ended to send troops to Greece. 130,000 Italian POWs.
    Apr 9 . North Carolina (BB-55) commissions; first U.S. battleship in two decades. To earn 15 battle stars.
    Apr 10. Niblack (DD-424) a new, Benson class destroyer on "Neutrality Patrol", rescuing survivors, depth charged a contact off Iceland.
    Apr 10. FDR authorizes the transfer of 10 "Lake"-class Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy. Transfers completed Apr 30-May 30.
    Apr 10. U.S. troops occupy Greenland to prevent Nazis from doing it.
    Apr 11. Five great ocean liners depart Australia with troops.
    Apr 11. British Maud Committee sets up Atomic Bomb development program headed by Sir HenryTizard
    Apr 12. German troops captured Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
    Apr 13. German assault on Tobruk, Libya.
    Apr 13. Japan and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality pact.
      Lasts until Hiroshima, 8Aug45, when the Soviet Union attacks seizing land until the signing, 7Sept.
      U.S. had stopped fighting on Aug 15th. Soviets wanted Japanese held land.
    Apr 14. The U.S. Atlantic Neutrality Patrol was extended to 30°W, included Greenland.
    Apr 15 . FDR authorizes forming the American Volunteer Group (AVG), which will become known as the "Flying Tigers." Over half of the pilots will be from the Navy and Marine Corps.
    Apr 16. Yugoslav army surrenders.
    Apr 17. Neutral Egyptian steamship Zamzam is shelled and sunk by German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (Schiffe 16) in South Atlantic; 138 Americans (including 24 ambulance drivers) are among rescued passengers . See reader provided story.
    Apr 17. Office of Price Administration (OPA) formed to handle war time rationing.
    Apr 17. British troops land in Iraq.
    Apr 17. Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany. after 11 days
    Apr 18. U.S. declares Greenland and Iceland in its sphere of interest.
    Apr 19. Navy begins development of Glomb (Glide Bomb) guided by TV.
    Apr 20. Yorktown (CV-5) and escorts depart Pacific for Atlantic patrols against Germany. Washington does not consider Japan as great a threat to U.S. interests.
    Apr 20. Successful test of radio transmitter components in a pack howitzer round..
    Apr 21. 223,000 Greek soldiers surrender.
    Apr 21. HMS Resolution (BB.09) arrives Philadelphia for refit.
    Apr 22. ABDA conference held at Singapore for defense of S.E. Asia. Purnell represents U.S. (America,Brit,Dutch,Australia)
    Apr 23. German Stuka's attack Greek Naval Base at Salamis sinking decommissioned battleships Kilkis, and Lemnos, former USS Mississippi and Idaho (1908-1914).
    Apr 24. Neutrality Patrol is extended east to 26°W to include Iceland, and 20°S, almost to Rio.
    Apr 24. British withdraw from Greece to Crete.
    Apr 26. U.S. to supply French North Africa : Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
    Apr 26. Successful test of unmanned scout bi-plane under radio control beyond safe human bounds.
    Apr 27. American-Dutch-British Conference at Singapore on combined operating plan in the event of war.
    Apr 28. Last British troops in Greece surrender.
    Apr 29. HMAS Perth's aircraft was shot down off Suda Bay, Crete.
    Apr 30. ZMC-2 (1929) aluminum skin, rigid blimp retired at Lakehurst NAS.
    May 1941 War at sea continues, convoys, bombing, U-boats, raiders
    May 1 . Germans complete occupation of Greece.
    May 2 . Anglo-Iraqi War till May 31.
    May 3 . Project established to test airborne radar by Naval Aircraft Factory.
    May 3 . Queen Mary and QE arrived Suez with ANZAC troops.
    May 4 . Aircraft carrier Furious and seaplane tender Pegasus were damaged by German bombing at Belfast.
    May 5 . Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
    May 6 . Dictator Josef Stalin assumed the Soviet premiership, replacing Vyacheslav M. Molotov.
    May 7 . British relief convoy travels through Med to Alexandria surviving Italian and German air attacks. One transport sunk by a mine.
    May 7 . German weather ship Munchen captured off Iceland with Enigma code documents.
    May 8 . Luffwaffe raid on Liverpool destroys 57 ships.
    May 8 . U.S. Aviation Repair units established to ready personnel for overseas deployment.
    May 9 . Japanese spies report establishment of network in San Diego to watch shipment of war materials.
    May 9 . U-110 captured off Iceland with complete Enigma package.
    May 10. Rudolf Hess, Deputy Führer, flies to Scotland to privately negotiate peace. Arrested, Life imprisonment.
    May 10-12. Luftwaffe makes grand final attacks on London.
    May 11. German convoy delivers 238 Tiger tanks to Rommel's Africa Korps.
    May 12. Yorktown (CV-5) arrives Bermuda from Pearl Harbor for Neutrality Patrol.
    May 13. Bormann replaces Hess as Nazi Party Chancellor.
    May 14. U-boat "Happy time". Many sinkings with no losses.
    May 15. Meteor, first British jet airplane is test flown.
    May 15. USS Washington (BB-56) commissions. She will sink a Japanese battleship and receive no damage during the war.
    May 15. Large seaplane tender Albermarle (AV-5) to Newfoundland to support air patrols over N. Atlantic.
    May 16. Italian army of East Africa surrender with 289,000 casualties vs. 1,000 for British.
    May 17. British advance on Fallujah, Iraq.
    May .   The U.S. Central Atlantic Neutrality Patrol was extended to 30°W, includes Iceland, covers 3/4 Atlantic.
    May 18. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen break into the Atlantic.
    May 19. USS Wasp (CV-7) group begins neutrality patrol from Bermuda.
    May 20. German paratroops invade Crete to where the Brits had retreated from Greece.
    May 21. Unarmed U.S. freighter Robin Moor, en route to South Africa and Mozambique, is stopped and sunk by German submarine U-69 (torpedo and gunfire) about 700 miles off the west coast of Africa.  First American merchantman sunk by a U-boat in World War II.  Crew given food and directions by submarine.
    May 22. Continued U.S. Pacific fleet movement to Atlantic for Neutrality Patrol.
    May 23. First Civilian Public Service camp opens for U.S. conscientious objectors, eventually 12,000 draftees unwilling for military service.
    May 24. HMS Hood (CB.51) sunk by Bismarck.
    May 24. USN PBYs from Newfoundland search for Bismarck in the western Atlantic.
    May 25. HMS York (CA.90) sunk by Italian explosive motorboats and Warsprite (BB.03) damaged in raid on Italian convoy near Crete.
    May 26. USN observers flying in two separate RAF Catalina sight Bismarck. British fleet units converge on the lone German capital ship.
    May 26. HMS Formidable (CV.67) bombed taking aircraft to Malta; repaired Norfolk Naval Shipyard (USA); re-equipped with Wildcat (Martlet) fighters.
    May 27. "Sink the Bismarck!".
    May 27. Roosevelt proclaims "unlimited state of emergency", including delivery of supplies to Britain, because of Axis battleship incursion of western Atlantic.
    May 27. Elements of Pacific fleet complete move to Atlantic patrol.
    May 28. U-boat "Happy time".
    May 28. British evacuate Crete having lost 3 CA, 6 DD, with damaged 2 BB, 1 CV, 5 CA, 5 DD.
    May 29. U.S. begins "Neutrality Patrols" in North, Central and Southern Atlantic.
    May 30. British take over Iraq; Syria; Lebanon.
    May 31. End of Battle of Britain as German bombers move to the Eastern Front.
    Monthly summary: Allied lost 178 ships, 508K tons, Hood, 4 cruisers, 7 DD. German lost Bismarck and I-110.
    Yorktown (CV-5) group begins Neutrality Patrol from Bermuda.
    June 1941
    June 1. British troops occupy Baghdad, Iraq.
    June 1. The German Army completed the capture of Crete as the Allied evacuation ended.
    June 2. Long Island (AVG-1) commissioned. Prototype escort carrier conversion in 67 days from Moore-McCormack freighter.
    June 3. Two German supply ships and a tanker for U-boats were captured or sunk.
    June 4. Successful remote control of airborne TV guided aircraft.
    June 5. British troops occupy Kirkuk, Iraq.
    June 6. Lidice massacre over Czech resistance assassination of SS leader Heydrich.
    June 7. Foreign ships in American ports requisitioned.
    June 8. Commonwealth troops invade Vichy controlled Syria
    June     "Jeep" selected by U.S. Army as first 4-wheel drive, off road, scout vehicle.
    June     Caproni-Campini jet plane flies Rome to Milan at over 300 mph.
    Jun 11. Trade pact between Soviet Union and Japan.
    Jun 12 . U.S. Naval Reserve called to active duty.
    Jun 13. Soviet Union begins roundup and deportation to Siberia for forced labor.
    Jun 13. Battleship HMS Rodney (BB.29) arrives Boston for repairs.
    Jun 14. U.S. freezes German and Italian assets.
    Jun 15. Japanese spies arrested : LCdr's Itaru Tachibana and Toraichi Kono.
    Jun 15. Ultra data captured on U-110 results in 9 raider/U-boat replenishment ships sunk or captured.
    Jun 16. U.S. closes German and Italian consulates.
    Jun 17. Dutch reject Japanese demands for East Indies resources.
    Jun 18. Turkey signs treaty with Nazi Germany.
    Jun 19. Germany and Italy request closure of U.S. consulates.
    Jun 20. FDR addresses Congress concerning the German sinking of U.S. freighter Robin Moor. Signs 2-Ocean Navy Act.
    Jun 20. 99th Fighter Squadron formed at the Tuskegee Institute.
    Jun 20. U.S. Army Air Forces was established incorporating U.S. Army Air Corps as combat arm.
    Jun 22. Hitler invades USSR. Occupies Baltic states.
    Jun 23. Finland invades Karelia to begin re-taking their lost territory.
    Jun 24. Japan pressures Vichy for Indochina, needed to stop supplies to China. And 3600 miles closer to Singapore.
    Jun 25. By attacking Russia, Finland is considered part of Axis.
    Jun 26. Massacre of Jews in Soviet territory begins.
    Jun 27. Japan proclaims the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".
    Jun 28. German espionage rings in the U.S. were destroyed in a sweep, 33 people were rounded up after 16-months of operation.
    Jun 29. Germany has advanced 200 miles into Russia in a week.
    Jun 29. Yorktown, Quincy, Vincennes, and 4 DD leave Bermuda for Neutrality Patrol.
    Jun 30. Turboprop engine development initiated as a joint Army-Navy project.
    June Summary : 107 ships sunk of 424,000 tons. 4 German and 1 Italian U-boats sunk.
    July 1941
    BRITISH SHIPS REFITTING IN UNITED STATES
    Battleships - Malaya, Resolution, Rodney ; Aircraft carrier - Illustrious ; Lt cruisers - Delhi, Liverpool ; Submarine - Truant
    July 2 . Japan calls up one million army conscripts.
    July 3 . Seaplane tender Barnegat, (AVP-10) commissions, first of 26 ships of her class. Each served a 12-plane patrol squadron.
    July 4 . U.S. Marines under U.S. air cover relieve British troops in Iceland for duty elsewhere.
    July 5 . Flight testing aboard Long Island (AVG-1). First of 100 escort carriers.
    July 5 . HMS Eagle torpedo planes raid Tobruk sinking or damaging five destroyers and steamers.
    July 6 . U.S. orders ban on civilian use of raw silk ; run on stocking counters.
    July 7 . Marine Air Group One (MAG1) is formed; the first of five wings organized during the war.
    July 8 . First British B-17 mission with 3 planes to Willhelmshaven. Late war saw 1,000 bomber raids.
    July 9 . HMS Malaya (BB.06) departs NY Navy Yard after 4-months repair to escort a convoy home.
      Torpedoed March 20, reached Trinidad for temporary repairs, proceeded to NY in April.
    July 9 . Battle of Calabria between escorts of British and Italian convoys -- 5 BB, 6 CA, 13 CL, 1 CV, 32 DD engaged. Light damage, each claimed victory.
    July 10. Turboprop engine development was initiated as a joint Army-Navy project.
    July 11.
    July 12. Anglo-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact was signed in Moscow - not seek separate peace negotiations with the Axis.
    July 13. Montenegro and Serbia start uprising against the Axis.
    July 14. Vichy stop fighting in Syria.
    July 15. German Army Group Centre captures Smolensk.
    July 16. Japanese Cabinet resigns .
    July 17. British ASV radar installed in one PBY Catalina and two PBM Mariners. Also IFF gear.
    July 18. German Me-262 jet warplane first flies.
    July 19. German advance has captured 290,000 Russian prisoners and 2,400 tanks.
    July 20. Torpedo bombers from HMS Eagle sink 3 Italian DD in Tobruk harbor.
    July 21. Luftwaffe bombs Moscow .
    July 22. Tito organizes resistance in Greater Slavia
    July 23. RAF attacks on Scharnhorst at La Pallice and Gneisenau at Brest.
    July 24. Japanese forces occupy southern Indochina with French permission.
    July 25. U.S. freezes Japanese assets and stops export of oil to Japan over occupation of French IndoChina (Vietnam).
    July 26. MacArthur recalled to active duty in the U.S. Army as commander of United States Armed Forces in the Far East
    July 26. Philippine military forces are called into service with U.S. Army.
    July 27. The German army entered Ukraine.
    July 28. Japan freezes U.S., British, and Dutch assets.
    July 29. Japanese start build-up of invasion troops from IndoChina.
    July 30. Japanese bomb U.S. river gunboat Tutuila (PR-4) at Chungking by accident. U.S. gunboat Panay (PR-5) had been deliberately sunk in Dec 1937.
    July Summary : 43 ships sunk of 121,000 tons. August 1941
    Aug 1 . US-USSR sign accord.     Naval air station Midway established.
    Aug 1 . The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane makes its first flight.
    Aug 3 . Catapult-Armed Merchantman (cam) launched Hurricane shoots down FW-200.
    Aug 5 . The German army takes 410,000 Russian prisoners.
    Aug 6 . USN Patrol Squadrons initiated routine air patrols from Reykjavik, Iceland, over North Atlantic convoy routes.
    Aug 6 . Carrier Wasp (CV-7) flies off USAAF P-40s to Iceland to provide cover for U.S. soldiers' arrival.
    Aug 7 . Plan for radar in all aircraft types issued with a sample radar in one of each type.
    Aug 8 . IJN carrier Shokaku commissions - Pearl, Rabaul, Ceylon, Coral Sea, E.Solomons, Santa Cruz -> Philippine Sea
    Aug 8 . U.S. Army and Air units convoyed to Iceland.
    Aug 9 . Atlantic Charter, a strategy meeting in Newfoundland between President FDR and Prime Minister WSC.  Agree, when the U.S. enters the war, "Germany first".
    Aug 10. U.S. warships to escort British merchant ships between the United States and Iceland.
    Aug 11. Battleship HMS Warspite arrived from Alexandria for repairs at Bremerton, Washington.
      On 25 June 25, battleship Warspite departed Alexandria for repairs at Bremerton, Washington. The battleship departed Honolulu on 4 August escorted by two Canadian warships and USN for Bremerton, arriving on 11 August. Repairs were completed on 18 December 1941.
    Aug 11. Soviet bombers make symbolic raid on Berlin.
    Aug 12. French Marshal Henri Petain declares full French collaboration with Nazi Germany.
    Aug 13. extended to from 18 to 45 years.
    Aug 14. The Atlantic Charter joint declaration of peace aims and renounce aggression.
    Aug 15. Carrier Yorktown (CV-5) and escorts make two week neutrality patrol out of Bermuda.
    Aug 15. Naval Air Station, Palmyra Island and NAS Johnston Island are established.
    Aug 16. German Army Group North captures Vovgorod. Stalin agrees to met Churchill in Moscow.
    Aug 17. British and Soviet submarines attack German shipping in Baltic sinking 3 ships.
    Aug 17. U.S. note to Japan : Continued military action will necessitate actions in defense of U.S. national security. A threat?
    Aug 18. FDR says U.S. is ferrying combat aircraft to British in Near East by way of Brazil to Africa.
    Aug 19. Marine defense battalion arrives Wake Island in Regulus (AK-14) to begin work on installations.
    Aug 20. Development of the German V-2 missile authorized.
    Aug 21. Encirclement of 452,700 troops at Kiev ; battle till 26 Sept.
    Aug 22. Nazi troops reached Leningrad, begin 900-day siege.
    Aug 23. German raider Orion returned having sunk 9-1/2 ships in three oceans.
    Aug 24. Finnish troops surround Russians at Viipuri.
    Aug 25. USSR and Britain invade Iran from north and south to thwart Nazi influence.
    Aug 25. Sixteen Italian steamers taken over by Argentina for their own use.
    Aug 25. Carrier Wasp (CV-7 ) begins two week neutrality patrol ending in Bermuda.
    Aug 26. Four German and three Italian steamers in Iran captured and pressed into British service.
    Aug 27. U-570 captured intact (including Enigma machine) by British, aided by former USS Thatcher of 50 DD transfer.
    Aug 27. Seven steamers sunk from convoy OS.4 by wolf pack.
    Aug 28. Hitler and Mussolini end 5-day meeting.
    Aug 28. Australian PM Menzies resigns. Returns Dec'49.
    Aug 29. Auxiliary air carrier Long Island (AGV-1) and escorts starts ten day neutrality patrol.
    Aug 30. Large, heavily defended, troop convoy departs Liverpool. Arrives Singapore Nov 6.
    Aug 31. Finnish Army regains their border.   RAF uses Flying Fortress bombers to attack Bremen.
    Aug 31. Allied ships sunk of 110,000 tons. 5 U-boats sunk.
    September 1941
    Sept 1 . USN establishes task group for Denmark Strait Patrol between Iceland and Greenland with battleships Idaho, Mississippi, New Mexico.
    Sept 2 . U.S. naval and Marine forces in China to be withdrawn.
    Sept 3 . Jews in Germany required to wear a yellow Star of David.
    Sept 4 . Recommissioned destroyer Greer (DD-145), tracked U-652 for several hours. Each attacked the other without injury. Start of shooting war.
    Sept 5 . SS Steel Seafarer bombed and sunk in Red Sea.
    Sept 6 . Emperor's council decides peace negotiations with U.S. be completed by Oct 10 or war.
    Sept 7 . Army disrupts training programs to get qualified troops for Iceland.
    Sept 8 . Start of 900 day Siege of Leningrad.
    Sept 9 . German front extends 2,000 miles across Soviet Union.
    Sept 9 . Convoy departed Argentia, Newfoundland for Reykjavik escorted by Idaho, New Mexico, Vincennes and 18 destroyers.
    Sep 10. First B-24 Liberator bomber to England.
    Sep 11. FDR broadcasts warning -- "shoot on sight" order for western Atlantic.
    Sep 11. Ground broken for Pentagon.
    Sep 12. Coast Guard cutter Bear seized Norwegian trawler Buskoe in Mackenzie Bay, Greenland, thwarting establishment of German radio weather station.
    Sep 13. Lindbergh, America First Committee opposed U.S. entry into the war. Speech in Des Moines, Iowa, blamed "the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration".   Lindbergh
    Sep 14. Navy provides 9 squadrons of aircraft to large Army exercise in Louisiana. AAF has too few planes.
    Sep 15. German Army Group North surrounds Leningrad.
    Sep 15. Battleship HMS Rodney completes repairs in U.S.
    Sep 16. Radar issued to five PBMs and one PBY reconn aircraft for neutrality patrol.
    Sep 17. Army planners : no commitments, to supply Britain and to train U.S. troops.
    Sep 17. Five U.S. destroyers provide escort to British trans-Atlantic convoy from Halifax.
    Sep 18. FDR asks Congress for $1.5Billion for lend-lease.
    Sep 19. USN provides escort for British convoy from Liverpool for first time.
    Sep 19. New Japanese offensive in Hunan.
    Sep 19. Germans capture Kiev, capital of Ukraine.
    Sep 20. Army shore battery in Iceland fires on USS Hughes (DD-428) in fog.
    Sep 22. Victory program: a plan for war material needs.
    Sep 23. Germans air raid on the Russian naval base at Kronstadt sinks battleship Marat.
    Sep 24. Strategic concept plan : 8.8 million men able to attack Germany in mid-43.
    Sep 25. IJN escort carrier Taiyo commissioned. Training and aircraft transport.
    Sep 25. IJN carrier Zuikaku commissioned. - Pearl, Rabaul, Lae, Indian Ocean, Coral Sea, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Marshalls, Philippine Sea, -> Cape Engaño.
    Sep 26. Second Battle of Changsha, Chinese counter attack.
    Sep 26. Battle for Kiev ends in greatest Soviet defeat, 665,000 POWs.
    Sep 27. SS Patrick Henry, first "Liberty Ship", launched, of 14 that day.
    Sep 28. British commando raid near Cherbourg.
    Sep 29. Allied conference aboard battleship King George between Home Fleet, Western Approaches, Iceland Command and USN Forces Iceland.
    Sep 30. B-17 withdrawn from RAF service - 8 of 20 have been lost.
    Sept Summary : 44 Allied ships sunk of 271,000 tons. 5 U-boats sunk.
    October 1941
    Oct 1 . U.S. - USSR survey of war material needs.
    Oct 2 . German all-out drive against Moscow began, Operation Typhoon.
    Oct 3 . Mahatma Gandhi urges followers to begin passive resistance against British rule in India.
    Oct 4 . U.S. suspends oil shipments to Japan.
    Oct 5 . Naval Conference between U.S. and British commanders in Singapore.
    Oct   . Willys-Overland "Jeep" (general purpose vehicle) selected by Army, 648,000 will be built.
    Oct 7 . RAF makes heavy raids on Berlin, Ruhr, Cologne, but with heavy losses, too.
    Oct 8 . U.S. project for radio-controlled aerial ram/torpedo to be flown into enemy bomber formations.
    Oct 9 . FDR requested congressional approval for arming U.S. merchant ships.
    Oct 10. Soviet troops temporarily halt the German advance on Moscow.
    Oct   . Lend-Lease Mission to Middle East.
    Oct 12. Russian government moved from Moscow to Volga.
    Oct 13. Japanese Emperor shown war plan expresses, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
    Oct 13. All USN aircraft to be painted flat light gray, upper surfaces blue-gray.
    Oct 15. U-boat flotilla sent to shut down Malta which was sinking 1/3 of Rommel's supplies.
    Oct 16-Nov 1. DDs escorting Atlantic convoy make depth charge attacks daily after six merchant ships sunk in five hours.
    Oct 16. Japanese cabinet resigns.
    Oct 16. First fleet caution sent : "Intelligence suggests Japan might attack Russia or British and Dutch Colonies in the East Indies."
    Oct 17. IJN Pearl Harbor Force training in Kuriles.
    Oct 17. Kearny (DD-432) escorting a convoy was torpedoed by U-568 off the coast of Iceland with 11 killed.
    Oct 18. Gen Tojo appointed Prime Minister of Japan, selects new cabinet of all military.
    Oct 18. Soviet spy Richard Sorge was arrested in Tokyo.
    Oct 19. Unarmed U.S. freighter Lehigh is torpedoed and sunk by German U-126  off Freetown, Sierra Leone.
    Oct 19. Certain Soviet departments move from Moscow to Kuibyshev. (Samara, Volga)
    Oct 20. Hornet (CV-8) commissions. Captain Marc A. Mitscher. Will carry Doolittle raiders. Be sunk in a year and six days.
    Oct 21. Japanese war dead identified through China incident numbers 225,000.
    Oct 21. New Zealand troops land in Egypt and take over Fort Capuzzo, Libya by 22 Nov.
    Oct 22. Civilian Technical Corps, mostly Americans, wear RAF style uniforms and repair RAF planes.
    Oct 23. Gen Zhukov takes command of Russian central sector.
    Oct 25-Nov 8. Yorktown (CV-5), New Mexico (BB-41), and 11 other American warships were screening convoys to and from MOMP. (Mid-Ocean Meeting Point)
    Oct 26. U.S. savings bonds go on sale.
    Oct 27. German Army Group South enters Crimea.
    Oct 27. FDR's Navy Day broadcast, "America has been attacked, the shooting has started."
    Oct 27. Chicago Tribune dismissed the possibility of war with Japan. "Even our base in Hawaii is beyond the striking power of her fleet."
    Oct 28. Screening destroyer Anderson (DD-411) picked up a submarine contact and dropped depth charges noticing "considerable oil slick".
    Oct 29. Tanker Salinas (AO-19) torpedoed (survived the war) by U-106 SW of Iceland.
    Oct 30. FDR approves billion dollar lend-lease to Soviet Union.
    Oct 31. Reuben James (DD-245), an older destroyer on convoy duty west of Iceland, was sunk [pic] by U-boat with loss of 115 men. ♪
    Oct 31. DuPont (DD-152) is attacked by U-boat, but missed.
    Oct 31. Mount Rushmore completed.
    Oct Summary : 56 allied ships sunk of 265K tons. 3 U-boats sunk.
    November 1941   See Last days of peace
    Nov 1 . The President directed that the Coast Guard operate as a part of the Navy until further notice.
    Nov 1-4. PBYs and PBMs provide air coverage for convoy ON 31.
    Nov 3 . U.S. warns Finland(!) to stop military operations against Russia.
    Nov 4 . Omaha (CL-4), Memphis (CL-13) and 3 DDs search for German surface raider.
    Nov   . Lend Lease extended to USSR.
    Nov 6 . Omaha (CL-4) and Somers (DD-381), en route to Recife, Brazil, returning from the 3,023-mile patrol, captures German blockade runner Odenwald, disguised as U.S. freighter Willmoto, in Atlantic equatorial waters. See reader provided story.
    Nov 7 . Japanese carrier fleet exercises.
    Nov 7 . U.S. Senate revokes Neutrality Act ; House follows on Nov 13.
    November. Flying Tigers arrive China, planes assembled, pilots trained. First combat Dec 20. After war declared.
    Nov 10-20. USN convoy DDs attack numerous sound contacts.
    Nov 10. Churchill promised to join the U.S. "within the hour" in the event of war with Japan.
    Nov 10. First U.S. escorted troop convoy, transporting more than 20,000 British troops, in six USN ocean liners sailed from Halifax for the Far East. See rest of story.
    Nov 10. Asiatic Fleet orders withdraw of river gunboats from the Yangtze and USMC forces from China.
    Nov 11. Lend Lease for de Gaulle's Free French.
    Nov 11. Navy ordered to attack any vessel threatening U.S. shipping.
    Nov 11. Ten submarines left Yokosuka Naval Base for rendezvous at Kwajalein, then to proceed to Hawaii.
    November. LtGen Brereton toured with his Australian counterpart to determine air field sites in northern Australia.
    Nov 12. German drive to take Moscow halted.
    Nov 13. British Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (CV.91) sunk [pic] by one torpedo by U-81. Design flaws uncovered.
    Nov 13. Amend Neutrality Act to arm U.S. ships and to enter war zones.
    Nov 13. Draft age lowered from 21 to 18.
    Nov 14. "China Marines" ordered to Philippines.
    Nov 15. U.S. troops to Dutch Guiana Surinam to protect bauxite mines.
    Nov 15. German siege of Sevastopol begins. Final attack on Moscow advances to 25 miles of Moscow center.
    Nov 16. Japanese strike fleet sails to Kirile Islands to continue training.
    Nov 16. Large Canadian force lands at Hong Kong.
    Nov 16. CIO coal strike.
    Nov 17. Archer (BAVG-1) is the first of 38 escort carriers transferred to the United Kingdom during the war under the Lend-Lease program.
    Nov 18. Five Japanese mother subs, each with midget sub, depart Kure for Pearl Harbor.
    Nov 18. Japanese meet to negotiate in Washington, D.C.
    Nov 18. Navy to arm 300 merchant ships serving northern Europe.
    Nov 19. Light cruiser HMAS Sydney inspects a ship. German raider Kormoran opens fire; they sink each other. Sydney lost with all hands; most of German crew rescued.
    Nov 20. Ambassador Nomura presents Japan's "final proposal" to keep peace in the Pacific.
    Nov 21. HMS Devonshire locates and sinks German merchant raider Atlantis. [pic]
    Nov 22. New Zealand troops take over Fort Capuzzo, Libya.
    Nov 22. Japanese Secret Order 1 : The Task Force will proceed to the Hawaii area, attack the enemy fleet and attempt to cripple it. The air attack is set for 0330 hours on X-Day.
    Nov 23. U.S. occupies Surinam, Dutch Guiana, pursuant to agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile to protect bauxite mines.
    Nov 24. CNO to Fleet Commanders: "An attack on Philippines or Guam is a possibility."
    Nov 25. Japanese Army's invasion fleet sorties towards Malaya.
    Nov 25. British battleship HMS Barham (BB.04) sunk [video,sound] by German submarine U-331 while raiding Italian convoy.
    Nov 26. U.S. demands "The government of Japan will withdraw all military, naval, air and police forces from China and Indochina."
    Nov 26. Japanese carrier task force of six aircraft carriers sorties to North Pacific to wait orders about striking the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.
    Nov 26. Kitty Hawk (APV-1) commissions, first of two (crated) aircraft and ground support ferries.
    Nov 27. Another "War Warning" : : "... an amphibious expedition against either the Philippines, Tai or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo."
    Nov 27. State of "Jefferson" secedes from Oregon and California on Thursdays.
    Nov 27. USN chartered liner SS President Madison sails from Shanghai, China, with the 2d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment bound for the Philippines.
    Nov 27. A Japanese task force of six aircraft carriers departs their training base in the Kiril Islands headed for Hawaii.
    Nov 28. Carrier Enterprise (CV-6) sails for Wake Island in TF 8 (VAdm William F. Halsey, Jr.) to ferry USMC F4F's Wildcats to the atoll. Occasioned by the "war warning" of the previous day, the deployment is part of eleventh-hour augmentation of defenses at outlying Pacific bases. Halsey approves "Battle Order No. 1" that declares that Enterprise is operating "under war conditions."
    Nov 28. Seaplane tender Wright (AV-1), arrives at Wake Island, with Marine Air Group people to establish an advance aviation base.
    Nov 29. River gunboats Luzon (PR-7) and Oahu (PR-6) of Yangtze Patrol depart Shanghai for Manila.
    Nov 30. Seaplane from Japanese submarine I-10 reconnoiters Suva Bay, Fiji.
    Nov 30. Emperor orders Tojo to proceed with conquest of the Pacific.
    Nov 30. The Midway Neutralization Unit, destroyers Akembono and Ushio leave TOKYO Bay.
    November Summary : 35 allied ships sunk of 104,000 tons. 2 U-boats and 2 German raiders sunk.
    December 1941   See Countdown , Pearl Harbor , Dec'41
    Dec 1 . Civil Air Patrol is organized.
    Dec 1 . FDR declares Red Sea, Gulf of Aden non-combat zone allowing shipping access to Suez Canal.
    Dec 1 . Japanese Imperial Conference sanctions "War against the United States, United Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands."
    Dec 2 . German submarine U-43 torpedoes and sinks unarmed U.S. tanker Astral and her 37 man crew.
    Dec 2 . State of emergency proclaimed in Singapore and Malay States.
    Dec 3 . Unarmed U.S. freighter Sagadahoc is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-124 in South Atlantic.
    Dec 3 . Turkey has "for sometime" been receiving lend lease aid.
    Dec 3 . Japanese invasion fleet departs Hainan for Thailand.
    Dec 3 . Japanese carrier strike fleet refuels.
    Dec 4 . Japanese strike fleet turns south at high speed towards Pearl Harbor.
    Dec 4 . Schedule of Pearl Harbor attack is transmitted to the Japanese submarine fleet.
    Dec 5 . FDR sends message to Japanese Emperor Hirohito expressing hope that gathering war clouds would be dispelled.
    Dec 5 . Operation Typhoon to take Moscow is stopped by -40°F temp. Soviets counter-attack with 18 armies of Siberian troops til mid-Feb. 1MM casualties. Key battle of Eastern Front.
    Dec 6 . Formosa : 27 Japanese invasion transports depart for Philippines. 400 pilots briefed.
    Dec 7 . Japanese invasion of Khota Baru, Malaya, 2 hours before Pearl Harbor attack.
    Dec 7 . Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
    Dec 7 . Unarmed U.S. steamer, Cynthia Olson, shelled and sunk by submarine I-26, no survivors.
    Dec 7 . Air raids on Singapore, Guam, Wake, Philippines.
    Dec 7 . Two Japanese destroyers shell Midway.
    Dec 8 . Imperial Rescript declares a state of war between the Japanese Empire and the United States and U.K.
    Dec 8 . U.S. declares a state of war to exist with the Empire of Japan.
    Dec 8 . Japan takes Guam and Gilbert Islands
    Dec 9 . Japanese planes sink HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales off Malaya. U.S. DesDiv 57 not in time to sortie with.
    Dec 9 . The Navy buys 25 airborne search radar sets for service test in dive bombers and torpedo planes.
    Dec 10. Aircraft from Enterprise sink I-70 north of Hawaiian Islands.
    Dec 10. Japanese troops land on Luzon.
    Dec 10. Gunner on PBY in Philippines downs first Zero.
    Dec 11. German/Italian Axis declares war on U.S.
    Dec 11. U.S., others respond with war on Germany and Italy.
    Dec 11. Wake Island garrison repulses Japanese invasion force; Marine shore battery gunfire sinks one destroyer Hayate and damages three other ships; USMC F4F Wildcats bomb and sink destroyer Kisaragi and strafe and damage light cruiser Tenryu and armed merchant cruiser Kongo Maru.
    Dec 11. Heavy bombing of Penang, Philippines, Malaya, and Hong Kong. Japanese make landings at Legaspi, Luzon.
    Dec 12. Secretary of the Navy Knox departs Oahu after inspecting the damage done by the Japanese attack of 7 December.
    Dec 12. Downed Japanese Naval Pilot Nishikaichi Shigenori, armed by Harada Yoshio, a Japanese resident of Niihau, begins to terrorize the inhabitants of the island into returning papers taken on 7 December.   Incident on Naiihau island
    Dec 12. Japanese reconnaissance flying boats bomb Wake Island in pre-dawn raid. Later in the day, land attack planes bomb Wake.
    Dec 12. Heavy fighting in Philippines and Malaya.
    Dec 13. Congress authorizes the retention of enlisted men in the Navy beyond their enlistments.
    Dec 13. Japanese naval land planes attack Subic Bay area and airfields in Philippines and bombing of shipping in Manila Bay.
    Dec 14. Carrier Lexington (CV-2,TF 11, VAdm Brown), three heavy cruisers, nine destroyers, and oiler Neosho (AO-23), sails for the Marshall Islands, to create a diversion to cover TF 14's attempt to relieve Wake Island.
    Dec 15. Tangier (AV-8), oiler Neches (AO-5), and four destroyers sail from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island.
    Dec 15. Saratoga (CV-3) arrives Pearl Harbor.
    Dec 15. Japanese bomb Wake Island. Johnston Island is shelled by Japanese submarine I-22. Kahului, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, is shelled by Japanese submarines.
    See First Days for more details.
    Dec 15. Italian "human torpedoes" sink two British battleships - Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in Alexandria harbor.
    Dec 16. IJN superbattleship Yamato commissioned - Midway, Samar -> to Okinawa.
    Dec 16. Navy approves an expansion of the pilot training program from 800 students per month to 2,500 per month.
    Dec 16. Saratoga with Fletcher's cruiser force sales to escort Tangier in Wake Island relief.
    Dec 17. 17 SB2U-3 Vindicators, led by a PBY, arrived at Midway Island from Oahu ; longest mass flight by single-engine aircraft, 9h:45m.
    Dec 17. Admiral Kimmel relieved. VAdm Pye is temporary CinC Pacific.
    Dec 17. Japanese land in North Borneo.
    Dec 18. HMS Warspite (BB.03) completes 4-mo repair at Bremerton, WA.
    Dec 19. Japanese Philippine attack force departs for Lingayen Gulf.
    Dec 20. First combat by Flying Tigers. Japanese troops land at Davao, Mindanao, P.I.
    Dec 21. Naval local defense forces in Philippine Islands move headquarters to Corregidor.
    Dec 22. FDR and Churchill in Washington (Arcadia Conference) make a formal American commitment to the "Germany First" strategy.
    Dec 22. Japanese troops land in the Gulf of Lingayen, Philippines.
    Dec 23. Wake Island falls.
    Dec 24. SS Montebello sunk by Japanese submarine 6 miles off Cambria, CA. 3MM gal of oil still sits 900 feet down.
    Dec 25. British surrender Hong Kong.
    Dec 26. Withdrawing Wake relief force disembarks supplies to Midway Island.
    Dec 27. Tanker Connecticut is shelled by Japanese submarine I-25 off Columbia River. Submarine Perch (SS-176) torpedoes Japanese supply ship Noshima in South China Sea.
    Dec 28. Japanese paratroopers land on Sumatra.
    Dec 28. A fast and a slow convoy depart San Francisco for Pearl Harbor.
    Dec 29. Corregidor is bombed by Japanese planes ending "normal" above-ground living there.
    Dec 30. Japanese submarine I-1 shells Hilo, Hawaii.
    Dec 30. The first "Liberty Ship", the SS Patrick Henry is commissioned.
    Dec 31. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of Pacific Fleet.
    Dec 31. Japanese submarines shell Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii.
    1941 . The U.S. annual median income was $1,070, or about $20 per day.
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    About this page: 1941 - Eighty years ago World War 2 started. This a chronology of interesting events leading to that war to help in understanding the period.
    Created July 9, 2009
    URL: http://www.ww2pacific.com/1941.html