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• Japan declared war on the Netherlands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Royal Navy Fighter School's commanding officer Lieutenant Commander H. P. Bramwell made the first landing of a modified Spitfire fighter aboard carrier Illustrious in the River Clyde, Scotland, United Kingdom. The success led to the development of the carrier version of the Spitfire design, Seafire. ww2dbase [Spitfire | CPC]
• Kapitän zur See Friedrich Karl Topp of German battleship Tirpitz declared the ship to be fully operational. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• Destroyer Yuzuki departed Saipan, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• Convoys MS1 and MS2 departed from Australia with Australian troops for Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Stingray sank Japanese cargo ship Harbin Maru 40 miles south of Hainan, China. ww2dbase [Stingray | CPC]
• German submarine U-584 sank Soviet submarine M-175 75 miles north of Murmansk, Russia at 0722 hours; all 21 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US-Filipino troops held the Abucay-Mauban defensive line on the Bataan peninsula on Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
• USS Pickerel sank Japanese gunboat Kanko Maru off Davao Gulf, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Pickerel | CPC]
• British destroyer Legion and Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers attacked German submarine U-374 with 43 deptch charges northeast of Sidi Barrani, Egypt between 1700 and 2000 hours; U-374 escaped, but the damage sustained caused her to lose the ability to submerge. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Thrasher sank Italian ship Fedora 120 miles west of Patras, Greece. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet 29th Army attacked north of Rhzev, Russia while Soviet 39th Army moved northwest of the city, aiming to surround the German 9th Army based in the city. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | CPC]
• Erwin Rommel wrote a letter to his wife, expressing optimism despite Allied success in Operation Crusader, mentioning General Ludwig Cruewell's bout with jaundice, and the cold nights in the desert of North Africa. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• After sundown, German bombers attacked several cities and towns in England, United Kingdom; oil pipelines were damaged at Ellesmere Port in western England while utility services were interrupted in Liverpool just to the north. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• S-36 suffered some problems with the starboard engine air compressor. ww2dbase [S-36 | CPC]

• Allied convoy NA1 departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom with British destroyers HMS Beverley, HMS Hamilton, and HMS Rockingham in escort. ww2dbase [Halifax, Nova Scotia | CPC]

• Naka arrived at Tarakan, Dutch Borneo. ww2dbase [Naka | Tarakan, Borneo | CPC]

• Wilhelmshaven, Germany was bombed for the first time by main force aircraft of British RAF Bomber Command; the raid would last through the early hours of the next date. Wilhelmshaven would ultimately be bombed on nine occasions, destroying 13% of the city. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | AC]

• Gamatron, a long range navigation station in southern Greenland, began partial operations. ww2dbase [Gamatron | Frederiksdal, South Greenland | CPC]

• The Roberts Commission completed its investigation work at Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii and departed for Washington DC, United States. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Honolulu, Oahu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]

• Japanese tanks and infantry attacked the remnants of the Indian 11th Division at Serendah, Selangor, Malaya, 15 miles north of Kuala Lumpur, which was being evacuated. Out to sea in the Gulf of Siam, Dutch submarine O 19 sank Japanese freighters Akita Maru and Tairyu Maru. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Serendah, Selangor | CPC]

• Douglas MacArthur traveled from Corregidor to Bataan in the Philippine Islands, visiting forward command posts, speaking to officers but generally refusing to speak to enlisted men. When subjected to sporadic Japanese shelling when walking across a small clearing, he was observed to walk confidently without flinching. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | Bataan | CPC]

• USS San Diego was commissioned into service with Captain Benjamin Perry in command. ww2dbase [San Diego | CPC]

10 Jan 1942 Interactive Map