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• US Congress passed the First War Powers Act, giving the US President complete authority to reorganize the executive branch, independent government agencies, and government corporations during the time of war. It also authorized the US President to censor mail and other forms of communication between the United States and foreign countries. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Adolf Hitler finally accepted Walther von Brauchitsch's resignation, and took personal command of the Army and all Eastern Front operations. He fired Feldmarschall Fedor von Bock, replacing him with Günther von Kluge. ww2dbase [Fedor von Bock | Adolf Hitler | Günther von Kluge | Walther von Brauchitsch | TH]
• The Soviet Army created the Bryansk Front between the West and Southwestern Fronts. ww2dbase [TH]
• A Dutch Do 24 bomber attacked and sank Japanese destroyer Shinonome off Miri, Borneo, killing all 219 aboard. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Borneo | CPC]
• American cruiser Indianapolis returned to Pearl Harbor after failing to find the Japanese carrier fleet. ww2dbase [Indianapolis | CPC]
• American seaplane tender Wright transported 126 Marines to Midway. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The S-1 Section of the United States Office of Scientific Research and Development, the forerunner of the Manhattan Project, held its first meeting. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | Vannevar Bush | CPC]
• Five German Type IX submarines departed Lorient, France for the east coast of the United States in preparation for Operation Paukenschlag. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Nazi German philosopher Alfred Rosenberg declared "... biological extermination of the whole of European Jewry was to take place on Soviet territory." ww2dbase [Alfred Rosenberg | AC]
• Archibald Wavell flew to Calcutta, India to meet with General Henry Pownall. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | CPC]
• British 4th Armoured Brigade reached Mechili, Libya, too far behind the main body of the retreating Axis forces to achieve its goal of out-flanking the retreat, specifically the German tanks. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• In Russia, German 3rd Panzer Army and 4th Panzer Army shook off the persuing Soviet forces and reached Lama River and Ruza River, respectively, on their retreat from the Moscow. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | CPC]
• British destroyers HMS Stanley and HMS Blankney, escorting Allied convoy HG-76, discovered shadowing German submarine U-434, one of four submarine shadowing the convoy, 560 miles west of Gibraltar at 0945 hours. U-434 was forced to surface. The 44 crew members of U-434 scuttled the submarine and jumped into the water; 42 would be captured while 2 were killed by HMS Blankney accidentally while the British destroyer approached. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British bombers attacked Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brest, France during the daylight hours at about 1230 hours. ww2dbase [Gneisenau | CPC]
• Günther von Kluge's Chief of Staff, Günther Blumentritt, took over command of the German Fourth Army pending the arrival of General Ludwig Kubler on 26 Dec 1941. ww2dbase [AC]

• Two Japanese reconnaissance aircraft were spotted flying over Rabaul, Bismarck Islands. Wirraway fighters were scrambled, but they were not fast enough to intercept. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• The 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the American Volunteer Group was transferred to Kunming, Yunnan, China. ww2dbase [Kunming Airfield | Kunming, Yunnan | CPC]

• Alpino Bagnolini departed Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine, France at 0850 hours, arriving at La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1720 hours. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz was betrayed by an associate and arrested by the Gestapo in Greece. ww2dbase [Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz | JR]

• At Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii, the Roberts Commission began investigating the American preparations prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Honolulu, Oahu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]

• As oil refineries on the northern coast of Hong Kong Island burned with thick black smoke, 3,500 Japanese troops crossed the Lei Yue Mun Channel and established a beachhead at 2200 hours at the foot of the Chai Wan Mountain where a coastal battery overlooked the Lei Yue Mun Channel. Two hours later, another force of 4,000 would follow, overwhelming the remaining defenders at the battery. About 30 prisoners of war were murdered on Chai Wan Mountain. ww2dbase [Battle of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | TH]

• Shigure, Shiratsuyu, Ariake, and Yugure departed Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan to make rendezvous with the Pearl Harbor strike force. ww2dbase [Yugure | Shigure | Tokuyama, Yamaguchi | CPC]

• HMS Neptune struck a mine off Libya. ww2dbase [Neptune | AC]

• US Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet Chester Nimitz ordered the submarines of Task Force 7 near Wake Atoll to move south out of the area until reinforcements arrived. ww2dbase [Battle of Wake Island | CPC]

• Japanese troops captured Naga, Luzon, Philippine Islands. To the north, the invasion convoy for the Lingayen Gulf assault departed from Taiwan and the Pescadores islands. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]

• Dutch and Australian troops occupied Portuguese Timor to establish a defense against advancing Japanese forces. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | CPC]

• Naka departed Mako, Pescadores islands. ww2dbase [Naka | Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• Hastings Lees-Smith, acting leader of the British Labour Party and Leader of the Parliamentary opposition, passed away. ww2dbase [AC]
• The National Service (No. 2) Act became law, making the United Kingdom the first nation to conscript single women and childless widows between the ages of 20 and 30 for military service. ww2dbase [AC]

• Robert Johnson was assigned to the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics in Sikeston, Missouri, United States for flight training. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Sikeston, Missouri | CPC]
• Japanese submarine I-23 commanded by LtCdr Genichi Shibata took her position off Monterey Bay, California. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Monterey Bay, California | DS]
• Just before dawn, Japanese submarine I-17 commanded by Cdr Kozo Nishino running on the surface 12 miles off Cape Mendocino, California spotted the 2,000-ton steamer SS Samoa with a load of lumber. I-17 fired at the ship with her deck gun plus firing one torpedo, but Samoa steamed on for San Diego undamaged. This was the first Japanese attack on shipping within the territorial waters of the continental United States. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Cape Mendocino, California | DS]
• Japanese submarine I-25 detected the darkened 8,000-ton Union Oil tanker SS L.P. St. Clair off the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon. I-25 fired a single torpedo and a column of fire was observed but the tanker was undamaged. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | Oregon | DS]

18 Dec 1941 Interactive Map