The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
Wednesday
UNITED STATES. Secretary of State Cordell Hull submits final proposal to Japanese envoys for readjustment of U.S.-Japanese relations.
PACIFIC. Japanese carrier task force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi), formed around six aircraft carriers, sails from remote Hittokappu Bay in the Kurils, its departure shrouded in secrecy. Its mission, should talks between the United States and Japan fail to resolve the diplomatic impasse over Far Eastern and Pacific questions, is to attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet wherever it is found in Hawaiian waters.
Tug Sonoma (AT 12) sails from Wake Island with Pan American Airways barges PAB No. 2 and PAB No. 4 in tow, bound for Honolulu.
27 Thursday
PACIFIC. Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends “War Warning” message to commanders of the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets. General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, sends a similar message to his Hawaiian and Philippine Department commanders.
While a depth bomb–armed Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator from carrier Ranger (CV 4) flies overhead on antisubmarine patrol, convoy WS (“Winston’s Specials”) 12 executes a turn as it steams toward Capetown, South Africa, 27 November 1941. Visible beyond are five of the six U.S. Navy transports carrying British troops: West Point (AP 23), Mount Vernon (AP 22), Wakefield (AP 21), Leonard Wood (AP 25), and Joseph T. Dickman (AP 26). Heavy cruisers Quincy (CA 39) and Vincennes (CA 44) are also visible. (NA, 80-G-464654)
U.S. passenger liner President Madison, chartered for the purpose, sails from Shanghai, China, with the Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Donald Curtis, USMC) embarked, bound for the Philippines (see 30 November).
ATLANTIC. Destroyer Babbitt (DD 128), with TU 4.1.5, escorting convoy HX 160, depth charges a sound contact.
U.S. freighter Nishmaha rescues 72 survivors (five of whom succumb to their wounds) of British light cruiser HMS Dunedin, sunk by German submarine U 124 on 24 November. Nishmaha transports the survivors to Trinidad.
28 Friday
PACIFIC. Carrier Enterprise (CV 6) sails for Wake Island in TF 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) to ferry USMC F4Fs (VMF 211) 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.” Supporting PBY operations will be carried out from advanced bases at Wake and Midway.
Seaplane tender Wright (AV 1), arrives at Wake Island, with Marine Aircraft Group 21 people to establish an advanced aviation base.
U.S. passenger liner President Harrison, chartered for the purpose, sails from Shanghai, China, with the First Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Curtis T. Beecher, USMC) and regimental staff (Colonel Samuel L. Howard, USMC) embarked, bound for the Philippines. “Stirring scenes of farewell,” U.S. Consul Edwin F. Stanton reports to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, accompany the marines’ departure.
During their storm-fraught passage to rendezvous with the river gunboats proceeding from Shanghai to Manila, submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR 6) experiences steering casualty; minesweeper Finch (AM 9), which loses both anchors in the tempest, stands by to render assistance, and eventually, after three tries, manages to take the crippled ship in tow the following day
29 Saturday
PACIFIC. River gunboats Luzon (PR 7) and Oahu (PR 6) (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford Jr., Commander Yangtze Patrol, in Luzon) depart Shanghai for Manila.37
ATLANTIC. TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), accompanied by salvage vessel Redwing (ARS 4) and oiler Sapelo (AO 11), assumes escort for convoy HX 162 (see 1 December).
TU 4.1.4 (Captain Alan G. Kirk) assumes escort duty for convoy ONS 39; the convoy will not be attacked by U-boats during its passage. ONS 39, however, will encounter considerable stormy weather that causes varying degrees of topside damage to destroyers Plunkett (DD 431), Livermore (DD 429), Decatur (DD 341), and Cole (DD 155).
Destroyer Woolsey (DD 437), screening convoy HX 161, despite having been hampered by propulsion problems during previous days, depth charges suspicious contact without result.
30 Sunday
PACIFIC. Japanese Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori rejects U.S. proposals for settling Far East crisis.
Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I 10 reconnoiters Suva Bay, Fiji.
U.S. passenger liner President Madison arrives at Olongapo, P.I., and disembarks the Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Donald Curtis, USMC). President Madison will then proceed on to Singapore.
River gunboats Luzon (PR 7) and Oahu (PR 6) (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford Jr., Commander Yangtze Patrol, in Luzon) rendezvous with submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR 6) and minesweeper Finch (AM 9); they will remain in company until 3 December.
ATLANTIC. Destroyer Decatur (DD 341), in TU 4.1.4 (Captain Alan G. Kirk), escorting convoy ONS 39, carries out depth charge attack on suspicious contact, 59°24′N, 27°03′W.
UNITED STATES. Army GHQ maneuvers in North and South Carolina conclude.
DECEMBER
1 Monday
ATLANTIC. Patrol Wing 9 (Lieutenant Commander Thomas U. Sisson) is established at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
German submarine U 575 encounters and tracks unarmed U.S. tanker Astral, the latter en route from Aruba, N.W.I., to Lisbon, Portugal, with a cargo of 78,200 barrels of gasoline and kerosene. After seeing that Astral is unarmed and bears prominent neutrality markings, however, the U-boat’s commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Günther Heydemann, allows the American ship to pass unmolested. Subsequently, another submarine in the vicinity, U 43, encounters Astral and attacks her, but her torpedoes miss their mark (see 2 December).
TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), accompanied by salvage vessel Redwing (ARS 4) and oiler Sapelo (AO 11), while escorting convoy HX 162, encounters heavy weather that scatters 35 merchantmen. Destroyers Charles F. Hughes (DD 428), Madison (DD 425), Lansdale (DD 426), Wilkes (DD 441), and Sturtevant (DD 240) all suffer storm damage of varying degrees (see 7 December).
Destroyer Livermore (DD 429), escorting convoy ONS 39, is dispatched to investigate darkened merchantman steaming on opposite course. Livermore trails her and after determining her to be Panamanian freighter Ramapo, en route to join convoy SC 56, allows her to continue her voyage after being warned not to radio a report of contact with a convoy.
PACIFIC. President Roosevelt orders a “defensive information patrol” of “three small ships” established off the coast of French Indochina; he specifically designates yacht Isabel (PY 10) (reserve flagship for Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet) as one of the trio of vessels (see 3 and 6 December).38
U.S. passenger liner President Harrison arrives at Olongapo, P.I., with the remaining elements of the Fourth Marine Regiment (Colonel Samuel L. Howard, USMC) withdrawn from Shanghai. President Harrison soon sails to bring out the last marines from China (see 8 December).
As river gunboats Luzon (PR 7) and Oahu (PR 6) (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford Jr., Commander Yangtze Patrol, in Luzon), submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR 6), and minesweeper Finch (AM 9) proceed toward Manila, they become the object of curiosity to Japanese forces in the vicinity; first a floatplane circles the formation, then seven warships of various types.
2 Tuesday