The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
area, to provide training for the Army and Navy in planning and executing joint operations, to train Army troops in embarking and disembarking, and to afford an opportunity for elements of the GHQ Air Force and Navy patrol squadrons to work together and with ground forces (see 22 January). Commander Battle Force (Admiral Charles P. Snyder) conducts the Navy portion of the exercise.
Japanese fishing schooner No. 1 Seiho Maru is stranded on reef off southeast coast of Guam, M.I. A detail of Guam Militia (12th Company) renders necessary assistance during salvage operations (see 21 January). Minesweeper Penguin (AM 33) rescues the 24-man crew.
17 Wednesday
U.S. passenger liner Manhattan and freighter Excambion are detained at Gibraltar by British authorities; the former is kept there for only a few hours before being allowed to proceed (see 23 January).
British Foreign Office replies to U.S. protest on treatment of mail, concluding that “His Majesty’s Government find themselves unable to share the views of the United States government that their [the British] action in examining neutral mail in British or neutral shipping is contrary to their obligations under international law.”
18 Thursday
British commence censorship of air mail passing through Bermuda; censor there removes through-bound mail for European destinations from Lisbon, Portugal–bound Pan American Airways Boeing 314 American Clipper. A written protest is lodged and no assistance in the unloading process is offered.
19 Friday
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) steams eastward to begin flight operations in the vicinity of Biscoe Bay, Antarctica; the ship’s embarked Barkley-Grow floatplane (Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, navigator) reconnoiters Sulzberger Bay to determine leads in the ice to permit Bear’s movement farther to the east (see 21 January).
20 Saturday
United States protests British treatment of American shipping in the Mediterranean.
U.S. freighter Examelia is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 31 January); passenger liner Washington, bound for Genoa, is detained only a few hours before being allowed to proceed.
21 Sunday
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) follows leads in the ice spotted on 19 January; the ship’s Barkley-Grow floatplane flies over the northern limits of the Edsel Ford Mountains (see 25 January).
Minesweeper Penguin (AM 33) transfers 24 survivors of Japanese fishing schooner No. 1 Seiho Maru, stranded off the southeast coast of Guam, M.I., on 15 January, to Japanese freighter Saipan Maru.
British light cruiser HMS Liverpool stops Japanese passenger liner Asama Maru 35 miles off Nozaki, Chiba prefecture, Japan, and removes 21 Germans from the ship. All but nine are naval reservists, survivors of the scuttled passenger liner Columbus; the nine civilians are released. The incident further strains relations between Great Britain and Japan.
U.S. freighter Nishmaha is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 22 January).
22 Monday
Joint amphibious exercise concludes in the Monterey, California, area, having afforded the Fleet profitable experience in joint planning. It also demonstrates interservice cooperation.
Light cruiser Helena (CL 50) arrives at Buenos Aires, Argentina, on her shakedown cruise (see 29 January).
Rear Admiral Adolphus E. Watson becomes Commandant Fourth Naval District and Commandant Philadelphia Navy Yard in the wake of the death of Rear Admiral Julius C. Townsend on 28 December 1939.
U.S. freighter Excellency is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 23 January); freighter Nishmaha, detained there the previous day, is released.
23 Tuesday
Great Britain and France announce they will attack any German vessels encountered in Pan-American Safety Zone.
Destroyer J. Fred Talbott (DD 247) arrives at Wreck Bay, Galapagos Islands, to assist U.S. tuna boat City of San Diego (see 24 January).
U.S. freighter Excambion, detained at Gibraltar by British authorities since 17 January, is released to proceed on her voyage to Genoa, Italy, but not before 470 sacks of mail (bound for Germany and Italy) are seized; freighter Excellency, detained at Gibraltar the previous day, is released.
24 Wednesday
Interior Department motorship North Star (U.S. Antarctic Service) departs Bay of Whales, Antarctica, for Valparaiso, Chile, for additional supplies and equipment to establish East Base. Construction of West Base commences immediately at the site chosen that lies at 78°29′06″S, 163°50′10″W, two miles from the edge of the ice barrier and five miles northeast of the site of Little America I and Little America II, the previous Byrd expedition bases. Until the main building is ready for habitation, the men live in regulation army tents (see 11 February).
Gunboat Erie (PG 50) joins destroyer J. Fred Talbott (DD 247) at Wreck Bay, Galapagos Islands, to assist U.S. tuna boat City of San Diego. The gunboat takes on board the craft’s chief engineer (pneumonia) and sails the following day for Balboa, C.Z., where the man will be transferred ashore for medical attention.
25 Thursday
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) (U.S. Antarctic Service) reaches 77°43′S, 143°52′W; it marks the deepest penetration by any ship into the Antarctic region (see 21 March).
26 Friday
United States–Japanese Trade Treaty of 1911 expires.
Minesweeper Quail (AM 15) arrives at Palmyra Island in the Central Pacific with first construction party to begin building a naval air station there.
27 Saturday
U.S. freighter Cold Harbor, bound for Odessa, Ukraine, is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 30 January).
28 Sunday
U.S. freighter Sarcoxic is detained temporarily at Gibraltar for several hours by British authorities; freighter Waban, bound for Italy and Greece, is also held there briefly but is allowed to proceed after one item of cargo is seized as contraband and 34 detained for investigation.
29 Monday
British Admiralty orders that no American ships should, under any circumstances, be diverted into the war zone delineated by President Roosevelt in the provisions of the Neutrality Act.
Light cruiser Helena (CL 50) steams from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Montevideo, Uruguay, on her shakedown cruise (see 2 February).
U.S. freighter Exochorda is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 1 February).
30 Tuesday
U.S. freighter Cold Harbor (detained at Gibraltar since 27 January) is released by British authorities.
31 Wednesday
U.S. passenger liner Washington is detained for several hours at Gibraltar by British authorities, but is allowed to proceed the same day; freighter Jomar is also detained there (see 1 February). Freighter Examelia, detained at Gibraltar since 20 January, is released.
FEBRUARY
1 Thursday
President Roosevelt writes First Lord of the Admiralty Winston S. Churchill, concerning the detention of U.S. merchantmen, and frankly informs him of adverse American reaction to the British policy. “The general feeling is,” Roosevelt informs Churchill, “that the net benefit to your people and the French is hardly worth the definite annoyance caused to us.”
U.S. freighter Exminster is detained by British authorities at Gibraltar (see 9 February); freighters Exochorda (detained since 29 January) and Jomar (detained since 31 January) are released.
2 Friday
Light