The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
Tuesday
Japanese impose cease-fire to end Franco-Thai conflict; agreement is signed on board Japanese light cruiser Natori at Saigon, French Indochina (see 31 January).
29 Wednesday
U.S.-British-Canadian staff conversations begin in Washington, D.C., to determine joint strategy in case of U.S. involvement in the war.
30 Thursday
Germany announces that ships of any nationality bringing aid to Great Britain will be torpedoed.
31 Friday
Vice Admiral William S. Pye relieves Admiral Charles P. Snyder as Commander Battle Force.
Vice Admiral Walter S. Anderson becomes Commander Battleships Battle Force.
West Base, U.S. Antarctic Service, is closed (see 1 February).
Cease-fire ending Franco-Thai conflict goes into effect.
FEBRUARY
1 Saturday
Navy Department announces reorganization of U.S. Fleet, reviving old names Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet; Asiatic Fleet remains unchanged.
Marine Corps expansion occurs as the First and Second Marine Brigades are brought up to division strength.
Rear Admiral H. Fairfax Leary relieves Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel as Commander Cruisers Battle Force.
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel relieves Admiral James O. Richardson as Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet on board battleship Pennsylvania (BB 38) at Pearl Harbor, T.H.
Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr. relieves Vice Admiral Adolphus Andrews as Commander Scouting Force.
Rear Admiral John H. Newton relieves Rear Admiral Gilbert J. Rowcliff as Commander Cruisers Scouting Force.
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) and Interior Department motorship North Star depart Bay of Whales; they will proceed via different routes to rendezvous off Adelaide Island to evacuate Antarctic Service’s East Base (see 24 February).
Beneath the 14-inch guns of Turret III of battleship Pennsylvania (BB 38), Admiral James O. Richardson (left) turns over command of the U.S. Fleet to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel (right), Pearl Harbor, T.H., 1 February 1941. (Paul C. Crosley Collection, NHF)
3 Monday
Navy Department General Order No. 143 creates three independent fleets, each commanded by an admiral. Admiral Husband E. Kimmel becomes Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet (and also Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet in the event that two or more fleets operate together); Patrol Force U.S. Fleet becomes U.S. Atlantic Fleet under command of Admiral Ernest J. King; and Admiral Thomas C. Hart continues as Commander in Chief U.S. Asiatic Fleet.
During routine exercises in Hawaiian Operating Area off Oahu, destroyers Dale (DD 353) and Hull (DD 350) contact what they believe is a submarine. With all U.S. boats accounted for, Commander Destroyers Battle Force orders Lamson (DD 367) to join Dale and Hull. The ships are to maintain contact and to take offensive action only if attacked. Mahan (DD 364) joins in search as well. With speculation that the only possible reason a submarine would be in those waters would be to obtain supplies or land agents, Lamson accordingly searches the shoreline east of Diamond Head (see 4 February).
4 Tuesday
Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 7 begins in Culebra-Vieques, Puerto Rico, area, with all available ships of the Atlantic Fleet and elements of the First Marine Division and the U.S. Army’s First Division, to train “Army and Navy Forces in the amphibious operations incident to a Joint Overseas Expedition.” Unlike FLEX No. 6 in 1940, bona fide transports are available for, and participate in, the maneuvers.
Search for submarine off Oahu, begun the previous day, continues. After destroyers Dale (DD 353) and Hull (DD 350) return to Pearl Harbor, destroyers Flusser (DD 368) and Drayton (DD 366) join Lamson (DD 367) in the hunt. Ultimately, however, the search is called off.
7 Friday
U.S. Naval Academy class of 1941 graduates four months early because of national emergency.
10 Monday
“S” operation: Japanese heavy cruisers Suzuya, Mikuma, Mogami, and Kumano call at Bangkok, Thailand (see 13 February).
13 Thursday
Light cruisers Brooklyn (CL 40), Philadelphia (CL 41), and Savannah (CL 42) and stores issue ship Antares (AKS 3) arrive at Midway in the Central Pacific with the remainder of the Third Defense Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Pepper, USMC).
“S” operation: Japanese heavy cruisers Suzuya, Mikuma, Mogami, and Kumano call at Saigon, French Indochina.
14 Friday
Fleet Landing Exercise No. 7, which had begun on 4 February in Culebra-Vieques, Puerto Rico, area, concludes.
15 Saturday
Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, T.H., is established.
19 Wednesday
Rear Admiral William H. P. Blandy relieves Rear Admiral William R. Furlong as Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.
Coast Guard Reserve is established.
21 Friday
Carrier Enterprise (CV 6) arrives off Oahu and launches 30 USAAC P-36s that will be based at Wheeler Field.
24 Monday
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) and Interior Department motorship North Star rendezvous off Adelaide Island to begin evacuation of U.S. Antarctic Service East Base. Heavy pack ice south of this area, however, prevents the ships from reaching their destination. The two vessels retire north to Dallman Bay. The time spent in the Mechior Archipelago, however, is not unfruitful, as North Star’s people conduct surveys, make soundings, and make a geological study of the island group, in addition to collecting further examples of flora and fauna. Bear, meanwhile, gets under way soon thereafter to attempt passage through the pack ice to reach East Base. She is unsuccessful. Amid growing concern as to whether or not a full or partial evacuation can take place since mid-March and the shortening of the polar days is approaching, North Star, running short of supplies and fuel, is sent to Punta Arenas, Chile, to replenish and return if required (see 22 March).
MARCH
1 Saturday
ATLANTIC. Support Force Atlantic Fleet (Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol), composed of destroyers and patrol plane squadrons and supporting auxiliaries, is established for protection of convoys in North Atlantic.
EUROPE. Bulgaria joins the Axis as German troops occupy the country.
3 Monday
PACIFIC. Heavy cruisers Chicago (CA 29) (Rear Admiral John H. Newton, Commander Cruisers Scouting Force) and Portland (CA 33); light cruisers Brooklyn (CL 40) and Savannah (CL 42); destroyers Clark (DD 361), Conyngham (DD 371), Cummings (DD 365), Cassin (DD 372), Case (DD 370), Shaw (DD 373), Tucker (DD 374), Reid (DD 369), and Downes (DD 375); and oiler Sangamon (AO 28) depart Pearl Harbor for Samoa (see 9 March).
7 Friday
ATLANTIC. Carrier Wasp (CV 7) encounters foundering U.S. lumber schooner George E. Klinck in storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and rescues her crew.
PACIFIC. Transport William P. Biddle (AP 15), escorted by light cruiser Concord (CL 10), arrives at Pago Pago, Samoa, and disembarks the Seventh Defense Battalion, the first unit of the Fleet Marine Force deployed to the Southern Hemisphere in World War II.
9 Sunday
PACIFIC.