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• US President Roosevelt ordered that all aliens must register with the government. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese forces advanced into Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | TH]
• Tirpitz departed Wilhelmshaven, Germany at 2300 hours for Trondheim, Norway; she was escorted by four destroyers. This departure was four days later than originally planned. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• The British government reported that, for the week ending at 0600 hours on 14 Jan 1942, 85 civilians were killed by German bombing while a further 59 were injured. 63 of the deaths occurred at Lowestoft, 12 at Liverpool in England, and 10 at Redcar. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]

• USS Skipjack arrived at Darwin, Australia, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Skipjack | Darwin, Northern Territory | CPC]

• Akagi arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akagi | Truk | CPC]
• Shokaku arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Truk | CPC]
• Tanikaze arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tanikaze | Truk | CPC]

• USS S-38 arrived at Soerabaja (Surabaya), Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• Hamburg, Germany was bombed for the first time by mainforce aircraft of RAF Bomber Command; this raid conducted by aircraft of No. 207 Squadron would last until the early hours of the next date. Altona railway station and other targets were hit. Hamburg would ultimately be bombed on seventeen occasions, destroying 75% of the city. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hamburg | AC]

• Part of the Japanese invasion fleet for Rabaul, New Britain departed from Guam, Mariana Islands. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | CPC]

• Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team in US Territory of Hawaii detected Japanese carrier activity in the central Pacific area, which might interfere with the planned US carrier strike in the Gilbert Island and the Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Joseph Rochefort | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Irako departed Hashirajima, Japan for a series of stops in the Pacific Ocean (Davao, Philippine Islands; Celebes, Dutch East Indies; Truk, Caroline Islands; Saipan, Mariana Islands) with 500 tons of food supplies aboard. ww2dbase [Irako | Hashirajima, Yamaguchi | CPC]

• Japanese troops on bicycles, supported by tanks, crossed the Gemencheh Bridge over the Kelamah River in Negeri Sembilan, Malaya at 1600 hours into an Australian ambush, killing somewhere between 140 and 700 Japanese troops while losing only 1 killed and 6 captured (they would later be executed); the Japanese would return after dark to successfully secure and repair the bridge. Elsewhere, Japanese troops captured Malacca on the west coast. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Negeri Sembilan | CPC]

• USS Yorktown, Louisville, and St. Louis and convoy crossed the equator while transiting from San Diego, California to Pago Pago, Samoa. ww2dbase [Line Crossing Ceremony | Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | Louisville | St. Louis | DS]

• S-36 patrolled the Sulu Sea. ww2dbase [S-36 | Sulu Sea | CPC]

• The first flight of the Sikorsky XR-4 helicopter prototype was made at Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It would become, as the R-4, the first Allied helicopter ordered into production by the US government. ww2dbase [Stratford, Connecticut | AC]
• German submarine U-123 sank Panamanian tanker Norness within sight of (about 60 miles off) Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, United States at 0834 hours; 2 were killed, 39 survived. Much further out in the Atlantic Ocean, 450 miles northwest of Ireland, German submarine U-43 attacked Allied convoy ON 55, sinking Greek ship Maro (all aboard were killed), British ship Empire Surf (45 were killed, 6 survived), and Panamanian ship Chepo (17 were killed, 21 survived). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Montauk Point, New York | TH]

14 Jan 1942 Interactive Map