The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
forms new Japanese cabinet; Vice Admiral Toyoda Teijiro succeeds Matsuoka Yosuke as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
24 Thursday
ATLANTIC. Transport West Point (AP 23) disembarks German and Italian consular officials and their families at Lisbon, Portugal (see 26 July and 1 August).
PACIFIC. Japanese forces occupy northern French Indochina (see 26 July).
26 Saturday
PACIFIC. In response to the Japanese occupation of northern French Indochina on 24 July, President Roosevelt freezes Japanese and Chinese assets in the United States and cuts off the export of oil to Japan.
U.S. Army Forces Far East (Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur) is organized; Philippine military forces are called into service with U.S. Army.
ATLANTIC. Transport West Point (AP 23), at Lisbon, Portugal, embarks American and Chinese consular staffs from Germany, German-occupied countries, and Italy, and sails for the United States. In addition, West Point embarks the 21 American ambulance drivers who had been passengers on board the Egyptian steamship Zamzam when she had been sunk by German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis on 17 April (see 1 August).
28 Monday
PACIFIC. Japan freezes U.S. assets.
29 Tuesday
PACIFIC. Japanese occupy southern French Indochina with French permission.
30 Wednesday
ATLANTIC. TG 2.5, comprising carrier York-town (CV 5) (VF 42, VS 41, and VT 5), light cruiser Brooklyn (CL 40), and destroyers Roe (DD 418), Grayson (DD 435), and Eberle (DD 430), departs Hampton Roads, Virginia, for 3,998-mile neutrality patrol that will conclude at Bermuda on 10 August.
PACIFIC. During Japanese bombing raid on Chungking, China, one bomb falls eight yards astern of river gunboat Tutuila (PR 4). While the bomb causes no damage to the ship, Tutuila’s motor boats are badly damaged and the motor sampan cut loose from its moorings. There are no casualties (see 31 July).
31 Thursday
UNITED STATES. Economic Defense Board is created.
PACIFIC. Japanese government assures U.S. government that the previous day’s bombing of river gunboat Tutuila (PR 4) at Chungking, China, is “an accident ‘pure and simple.’”
AUGUST
1 Friday
PACIFIC. Naval Air Station, Midway Island, is established.
ATLANTIC. Naval Operating Base, Trinidad, is established.
Transport West Point (AP 23) arrives at New York with American and Chinese passengers.
3 Sunday
ATLANTIC. President Roosevelt departs Washington, D.C., by train for Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, where he arrives later the same day, boarding presidential yacht Potomac (AG 25) that evening. Accompanied by auxiliary Calypso (AG 35), Potomac sails for Point Judith, Rhode Island, where the ship anchors for the night.
4 Monday
ATLANTIC. New River, North Carolina, maneuvers begin with the First Marine Division and the First Infantry Division, U.S. Army, engaging in amphibious exercises. Aircraft escort vessel Long Island (AVG 1) participates and provides close air support in a test of that type of ship in that role.
Presidential yacht Potomac (AG 25), accompanied by Calypso (AG 35), proceeds to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where she embarks Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Martha of Norway and her party. After a day of fishing (“with some luck”) President Roosevelt personally takes the helm of a Chris-Craft motorboat and transports his guests back to the place whence they came. That night, Potomac, again accompanied by Calypso, shifts to Menemsha Bight, Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, where they join heavy cruisers Augusta (CA 31) and Tuscaloosa (CA 37) and five destroyers.
5 Tuesday
ATLANTIC. President Roosevelt transfers from presidential yacht Potomac (AG 25) to heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31); soon thereafter, Augusta and Tuscaloosa (CA 37) and five destroyers sail for Argentia, Newfoundland. The President’s flag, however, remains in Potomac and she, in company with Calypso (AG 35), will proceed via Cape Cod Canal to New England waters, maintaining a fiction of presidential presence (see 7 August). A suitably attired Secret Service agent impersonates the president.
PACIFIC. Heavy cruisers Northampton (CA 26) and Salt Lake City (CA 25) arrive at Brisbane, Australia, for a goodwill visit.
6 Wednesday
ATLANTIC. TF 16 (Rear Admiral William R. Monroe), formed around carrier Wasp (CV 7), battleship Mississippi (BB 41), heavy cruisers Quincy (CA 39) and Wichita (CA 45), and five destroyers, delivers U.S. Army troops, transported in transport American Legion (AP 35), stores ship Mizar (AF 12), and cargo ship Almaack (AK 27), to Reykjavik, Iceland. Carrier Wasp flies off USAAF P-40s and PT-13s (33rd Pursuit Squadron) to Iceland to provide cover for the soldiers’ arrival.
PACIFIC. Executive order transfers Coast Guard’s Honolulu District from the Treasury Department to the Navy in the first step toward shifting the Coast Guard to naval control (see 11 September and 1 November).
7 Thursday
ATLANTIC. President Roosevelt arrives at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, in heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31); this day he fishes from the flagship’s forecastle and inspects base development at Argentia (see 9 August).
8 Friday
PACIFIC. Japanese Ambassador Nomura Kichasaburo suggests conference between President Roosevelt and Japanese Prime Minister Prince Konoye Fumimaro.
9 Saturday
ATLANTIC. Atlantic Charter Conference begins: British battleship HMS Prince of Wales, with British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill embarked, arrives at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, escorted by destroyer HMS Ripley [ex-U.S. destroyer Shubrick (DD 268)] and Canadian destroyers HMCS Restigouche and Assiniboine. In this first meeting between the two men, Churchill calls upon President Roosevelt on board heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31); the two confer over luncheon and dinner before the Prime Minister returns to Prince of Wales.
10 Sunday
ATLANTIC. Atlantic Charter Conference continues: President Roosevelt, transported in destroyer McDougal (DD 358), attends divine services on board British battleship HMS Prince of Wales as guest of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. About 250 U.S. sailors and marines attend the service as well; hymns “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” (the Navy hymn) are sung by all hands.30 After inspecting the topsides of the British battleship, the President returns in McDougal to heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31); that night, the Chief Executive hosts the Prime Minister at dinner.
Marines wearing World War I–pattern M-1917A1 steel helmets splash through the North Carolina surf after disembarking from spoon-bowed Higgins landing boat from transport Barnett (AP 11) during the New River maneuvers, August 1941. Leatherneck at left carries a Hawley helmet in addition to his bedroll. (NA, USMC 504329)
11 Monday
ATLANTIC. Atlantic Charter Conference continues: President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill confer twice on board heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31).
12 Tuesday
ATLANTIC. Atlantic Charter Conference concludes as President Roosevelt confers with British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill on board heavy cruiser Augusta (CA 31). Discussions have concerned British needs for support, joint strategy,