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• The United Kingdom transferred 34 Royal Navy anti-submarine vessels and their crews to the United States Navy for anti-submarine patrols in the western Atlantic Ocean. On the same day, German submarine U-564 sank Canadian tanker Victolite 400 kilometers east of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Free French corvette Alysse sank from damage suffered from an attack by German submarine U-654. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | AC, CPC]
• The 2nd Joint Training Force of the US Marine Corps, under Major General Clayton B. Vogel, was redesignated the Amphibious Force of the US Pacific Fleet. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese troops crossed the Salween River in Burma. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | CPC]
• Rear Admiral Munetaka Sakamaki was named the chief of staff of the Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS R-5 fired three torpedoes at an enemy submarine in the Atlantic Ocean; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [R-5 | CPC]

• Australian Lieutenant Colonel J. J. Scanlan decided to surrender to the Japanese and began to trek toward Rabaul, New Britain from the coast of Wide Bay on the southern coast of the island's Gazelle Peninsula. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | New Britain | CPC]
• The Japanese Navy established the 4th Air Group at Rabaul, New Britain under the command of Captain Yoshiyotsu Moritama. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Yamato's 1.5-month fitting out period completed. Deficiencies found were corrected at Kure, Japan. Her initial AA suite was twelve 127-mm guns (6x2), twenty-four 25-mm guns (8x3 enclosed mounts), and four 13.2-mm machine guns (2x2). ww2dbase [Yamato | Kure Naval Arsenal | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Captain Keishi Ishii was named the commanding officer of Settsu. ww2dbase [Settsu | CPC]

• US forces continued the attempt to eliminate the 500 Japanese troops trapped in the "Big Pocket" at Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands. In Tokyo, Japan, the Imperial General Headquarters approved the transfer of the Japanese 4th Division from Shanghai, China to the Philippine Islands to reinforce Masaharu Homma's forces, but it would take weeks for the troops to arrive due to logistical issues. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• German aircraft began flying supply missions to the 100,000 trapped German troops at Demyansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Demyansk, Leningrad | CPC]
• Allied convoys PQ-9 and PQ-10 arrived at Murmansk, Russia together. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Murmansk | CPC]

• Australian 22nd Brigade misunderstood an order and withdrew past the Jurong Road in northern Singapore, thus exposing the flanks of neighboring Indian troops, forcing the entire Allied line to shift further south. Meanwhile, the British Royal Air Force withdrew the small number of aircraft from Singapore to prevent Japanese capture. After sundown, Japanese troops captured the Bukit Timah heights which overlooked Singapore and hosted two reservoirs of fresh water. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Singapore | AC, CPC]

• In Britain the police were given wider powers to curb "gambling parties". ww2dbase [AC]

• A Japanese submarine fired two rounds at American installations at Midway Atoll and then was chased away by aircraft of Marine Fighter Squadron 221. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

10 Feb 1942 Interactive Map