World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 16 Jan 1944

• Aircraft from USS Guadalcanal's anti-submarine hunter-killer group sank German Type IXC/40 submarine U-544 in the U-Boat refueling zone northwest of the Azores. There were no survivors. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | DS]

• The Americans repulsed the last Japanese counterattack to wrap up operations on New Britain. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | New Britain | AC]

• Irako supplied food to transport Heian Maru at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Irako | Truk | CPC]

• Returning from a raid on Oschersleben, Germany on two engines, a severely damaged USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the 322nd Squadron of the 91st Bomber Group piloted by 1st Lieutenant Eldridged V. Greer flew as low as possible and flew over towns and villages using trees as cover from pursuing enemy fighters, whilst the gunners strafed the houses and any troops they saw. On reaching the coast Greer said he was so low that German flak towers were firing down at them and enemy fighters were not engaging as they would be strafing their own towns. The bomber "Spirit of '44" was credited with ten enemy fighters destroyed. When they landed in England the ship's nose had been shot to pieces and gaping holes were all over the fuselage and wings. Somehow none of the crew were injured. The enemy fighters were shot down on the way to the target in what was thought to be the greatest air battle of the war. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | HM]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) exited Pearl Harbor to support Operation Flintlock, the Marshall Islands operation. ww2dbase [J. J. Clark | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Yamato arrived at Kure, Japan and docked in No. 4 drydock for repairs. Yamato would also receive a sloping plate fitted at a 45-degree angle across the lower corner of the upper void compartment between the two longitudinal inboard bulkheads. This modification, proposed to run the full length of the citadel, was installed only in Yamato in the area affected by the torpedo damage received in the previous month. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Yamato | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• Gloire entered the Mediterranean Sea. ww2dbase [Gloire | CPC]

• USS Seahorse sank Japanese cargo ship Nikko Maru off the Mariana Islands, hitting her with three of four torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Seahorse | CPC]
• USS Whale made contact with a Japanese convoy she had been searching for for the past two days in the Philippine Sea, sinking Denmark Maru with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired, but suffered damage from depth charges. USS Seawolf herded Tarushima Maru toward USS Whale, and USS Whale successfully sank Tarushima Maru with torpedoes. ww2dbase [Whale | Philippine Sea | CPC]

• General Eisenhower assumed the post as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Dwight Eisenhower | England | TH]

• US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and Treasury official Randolph Paul delivered the "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews" to President Franklin Roosevelt. ww2dbase [Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews | Washington | CPC]

• USS Flier ran aground near Midway Atoll. USS Macaw attempted to pull Flier free, but Macaw would also run aground in the process, causing her to sink. She was eventually pulled free and put into Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for repairs. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Flier | Midway | CPC]

16 Jan 1944 Interactive Map