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• » 24 Feb 1942

• USS Yorktown for the New Hebrides for a rendezvous with USS Lexington for a raid on Rabaul in the Bismarck Islands. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Mereyon, Palau Islands. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• German submarine U-94 sank British ship Empire Hail in the Atlantic Ocean at 0145 hours, killing all 49 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]

• George Brett arrived in Melbourne, Australia and assumed command of US Army Forces in Australia. ww2dbase [George Brett | Melbourne, Victoria | CPC]

• Three Australian Catalina aircraft bombed Rabaul, New Britain; 1 aircraft was lost on this mission. ww2dbase [Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• 9 Japanese Type 1 aircraft of 4th Air Group, escorted by 9 Zero fighters, attacked Seven Mile Airfield near Port Moresby, Australian Papua, destroying 1 Hudson aircraft and 1 civilian aircraft, destroying many buildings, destroying a few vehicles, and killing 1 person; Australian fighters did not scramble to intercept. ww2dbase [Port Moresby | CPC]

• Passenger ship Struma, powerless with broken-down engines, drifted in the Black Sea after being abandoned by Turkish authorities on the previous day. In the morning, Soviet submarine SC-213 sank Struma with one torpedo, killing 768 of 769 Romanian Jewish refugees aboard. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• At Java, Dutch East Indies, the headquarters of the Allied ABDA Command was relocated with intention of dissolution. On the same day, Japanese aircraft attacked Allied airfields on Java, destroying 3 US B-17 bombers on the ground; the remaining US 5th Air Force aircraft were evacuated to Australia. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java | CPC]
• Nachi departed Staring Bay, Celebes, Dutch East Indies with Cruiser Division 5. ww2dbase [Nachi | Staring Bay, Celebes | CPC]
• Ariake and Yugure departed Staring Bay, Celebes, Dutch East Indies at 1830 hours. ww2dbase [Yugure | Staring Bay, Celebes | CPC]

• A Japanese E9W1 seaplane from submarine I-9 conducted a reconnaissance mission over Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. When the aircraft returned to the submarine, both wings were damaged during the recovery. ww2dbase [E9W | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal by Albert Kesselring at Martuba airfield, Libya. The citation of the award was dated 22 Feb 1942, two days prior. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Martuba | CPC]

• USS St. Louis entered drydock #2 at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard ww2dbase [St. Louis | Mare Island Navy Yard | Vallejo, California | DS]

• USS Enterprise launched aircraft to attack Wake Island. Cruisers USS Salt Lake City and USS Northampton shelled Wake Island. ww2dbase [Salt Lake City | Northampton | Enterprise | Wake Island | TH]
• Jack Kleiss, flying a SBD Dauntless dive bomber, participated in the raid of Wake Island. ww2dbase [Jack Kleiss | Wake | CPC]

24 Feb 1942 Interactive Map