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• Japanese invasion fleet boarded a Norwegian freighter and destroyed her radio. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | CPC]
• Japanese submarines surrounded Hawaii Islands. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | CPC | Detailed Timetable]
• Japan announced that recent troop movements in Indochina were merely precautionary. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Germans canceled Operation Typhoon on this date during which the lowest temperature dropped to -36 degrees Fahrenheit (-38 degrees Celsius). Meanwhile, Soviet General Zhukov launched Konev's Kalinin Front against German forces northwest of Moscow, Russia at 0300 hours, meeting strong resistance. From Germany, Adolf Hitler ordered the transfer of the German 2nd Air Corps from Russia to the Mediterranean Sea region. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | TH]
• British 4th Armoured Brigade remained in the Libyan-Egyptian border region despite observing the withdrawing of Axis troops, unsure of Erwin Rommel's intentions. Meanwhile, German tanks attacked positions held by the Indian 11th Brigade near Tobruk, Libya. On the same day, Rommel was advised that supply situation would turn badly soon, and he considered withdrawing to the Gazala Line. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• U-175 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [U-175 | CPC]
• Joachim von Ribbentrop gave Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Oshima a draft document which noted that Germany would declare war on the United States should Japan and the US enter a state of war. ww2dbase [Joachim von Ribbentrop | CPC]
• Australian pilot Clive Caldwell, in a Tomahawk fighter, shot down five Stuka dive bombers in Libya. ww2dbase [Clive Caldwell | CPC]
• Soviet General Meretskov launched a final assault on German positions in Tikhvin, Russia, which was 110 miles east of Leningrad. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | CPC]
• The E15K floatplane took its maiden flight. ww2dbase [E15K Shiun | CPC]

• The Germans captured the damaged and abandoned troop ship Iosif Stalin near the Estonian coast with 2,000 survivors still on board. ww2dbase [CPC]

• ww2dbase [AC]

• USS Lexington departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Islands to ferry US Marine Corps SB2U Vindicator dive bombers to Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Lexington (Lexington-class) | CPC]
• USS Arizona arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii and was moored at Ford Island. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Arizona | CPC]
• USS Astoria departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii to join Task Force 12. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Astoria (New Orleans-class) | CPC]

• Irako was commissioned into Japanese Navy service with Captain Eisaku Tsuji in command. She departed Kobe, Japan. ww2dbase [Irako | CPC]

• Crown Prince Yi Un toured Keijo (now Seoul), Korea. ww2dbase [Yi Un | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down a British Hurricane fighter while escorting Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers south of Bir el Gubi Libya at 1525 hours. It was his 26th kill. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• Japanese aircraft conducted reconnaissance flights over the coasts of Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• Bauyrzhan Momyshuly was seriously wounded in combat in Moscow Oblast, Russia. ww2dbase [Bauyrzhan Momyshuly | CPC]

5 Dec 1941 Interactive Map