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• The USAAF struck Germany proper for the first time as B-17 and B-24 bombers attacked Emden and Wilhelmshaven. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | TH]
• The headquarters of the US 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing was established at Efate, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 2143 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• The Chenggong Airfield in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China began operations. ww2dbase [Chenggong Airfield | Kunming, Yunnan | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched the first US bombing raid against a target in Germany by bombing the submarine construction facilities at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Wilhelmshaven | DS]

• USS Whale sank Japanese ship Shoan Maru between Truk, Caroline Islands and Japan after a long chase, hitting her with 2 of 8 torpedoes fired (only 1 of which detonated). ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
• USS Wahoo attacked a Japanese convoy consisted of eight ships; as she was out of torpedoes, she attempted to attack with her deck guns, but she was chased away by a Japanese destroyer escort. ww2dbase [Wahoo | CPC]

• Allied convoy JW-52 arrived at the Kola Inlet near Murmansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• Firewatcher Harry Dobkin was hanged at Wandsworth Prison in London, England, United Kingdom after being found guilty of the murder, by strangulation, of his wife, Rachel. Evidence at his trial was one of the earliest in which identification of the body, which he had concealed under a slab in a bombed Baptist church, had been made possible by forensic photography and dental records. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]

• The Camillus Cutlery Company of Camillus, New York, United States shipped the first production examples of the 1219C2 fighting knife design to the US military. ww2dbase [Mark 2 'KA-BAR' | Camillus, New York | CPC]
• The keel of submarine Golet was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States. ww2dbase [Golet | Manitowoc, Wisconsin | CPC]

27 Jan 1943 Interactive Map