December 11th, 1941 (THURSDAY)
INTERNATIONAL: Political actions:
Germany, Italy and Japan sign a new pact barring a separate peace with the U.S. or the U.K. The pact states:
- Article I - Italy, Germany and Japan will henceforth conduct in common and jointly a war which has been imposed on them by the United States of America and England, by all means at their disposal and until the end of hostilities.
- Article II - Italy, Germany and Japan undertake each for himself that none of the parties to the present accord will conclude either armistice or peace, be it with the United States or with England without complete and reciprocal agreement [of the three signatories to this pact].
- Article III - Italy, Germany and Japan, even after the victorious conclusion of this war, will collaborate closely in the spirit of the Tripartite Pact, concluded Sept. 21, 1940, in order to realize and establish an equitable new order in the world.
- Article IV - The present accord is effective immediately on its signature and remains in force for the duration of the Tripartite Pact, signed Sept. 21, 1940. The high contracting parties of this accord will at an opportune moment agree among themselves the means of implementing Article III above of this accord.
Political actions:
- Both Italy and Germany join Japan in a declaration of war against the US.
- Hungary breaks diplomatic relations with the U.S..
- Mexico breaks relations with Germany and Italy.
- The Netherlands declares war on Italy.
- Poland declares war on Japan.
UNITED KINGDOM: "We have a very hard period to go through," Winston Churchill told MPs in a report in the new situation created by Japanese attacks on US and British possessions in the Far East. But within a few months the flow of munitions and aid from the US "will vastly exceed anything that could have been expected on the peacetime basis that has ruled up to the present." Then, he said, Britain, the US and the Soviet Union would teach the "gangs and cliques of wicked men" a lesson that will not be forgotten in a thousand years.
Destroyers HMS Calpe and Tetcott commissioned.
The Free Polish government declares war on Japan.
GERMANY and ITALY declare war on the USA.
GERMANY:
U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine Shch-204 of the Black Sea Fleet is mined and sunk in the Varna area off the coast of Bulgaria. (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)
Soviet forces have recaptured 400 towns and villages in less than six days, and driven the Germans back from the Moscow-Volga canal.
SPAIN: U-574 received support (supplies, etc.) in the Spanish harbor of Vigo.
YUGOSLAVIA: The unified nation of Yugoslavia, an uneasy federation of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, is a response to the collapse of the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires at the close of World War I, both of which had previously contained parts of what became Yugoslavia. A constitutional monarchy, Yugoslavia built friendships with France and Czechoslovakia during the years between the world wars. With the outbreak of World War II, and the Anschluss ("union") between Austria and Germany, pressure is placed on Yugoslavia to more closely ally itself with Germany, despite Yugoslavia's declared neutrality. But fear of an invasion like that suffered by France pushes Yugoslavia into signing a "Friendship Treaty"--something short of a formal political alliance today.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British escort destroyer HMS Farndale (L 70) sinks the Italian submarine R. Smg. Ammiraglio Caracciolo about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off Bardia, Libya, on a supply trip. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)
The British antisubmarine trawler HMS Lady Shirley is hit by one torpedo from German submarine U-374 and sinks in the Straits of Gibraltar about 11 nautical miles (19 kilometers) south-southeast of Gibraltar. All 33 hands on board are lost with the ship.
HONG KONG: Company D of the Winnipeg Grenadiers dispatched to the mainland to strengthen the Gin Drinkers' Line against the Japanese invaders, sees some action, thus becoming the first Canadian Army Unit to fight in World War II. At midday. British Major General Christopher Maltby, General Officer Commanding Hong Kong, orders the mainland troops to withdraw to the island; the Winnipeg Grenadiers cover the Royal Scots' withdrawal down the Kowloon Peninsula. (Tom Hickcox)
BURMA: Japanese aircraft bomb Tavoy Airdrome near Rangoon beginning their offensive against the country.
MALAYA: The Indian 9th Division, Indian III Corps, abandons the two remaining airfields in Kelantan (Gong Kedah and Machang) in order to protect communications. The Japanese exert strong pressure against one Indian 11th Division column on the Kroh-Patani road and force the other, on the road to Singora, back toward partially prepared positions at Jitra. The RAF, now greatly depleted in strength, adopts a policy of conducting bomber operations only at night until adequate fighter support is available and of using fighters primarily for defense of the Singapore Naval Base and for protection of convoys bringing reinforcements. Indian III Corps troops are thus denied much close air support.
Off MALAYA: HMS Repulse and HMS PRINCE OF WALES were heading for Singapore when they were attacked by Japanese aircraft. On of the Repulse's survivors describes the end: "The Prince of Wales is hardly distinguishable in smoke and flame ... I can see one plane release a torpedo ... It explodes against her bows. A couple of seconds later another explodes amidships and astern." Immediately after this the Repulse, too, was hit and the men plunged into oil-filled water. A destroyer later picked up the lucky ones: "We were stripped, bathed and left naked ... to sweat the oil out of the pores in the great heat."
Canadian National Steamships Line SS Colborne attacked and badly damaged by Japanese a/c at Penang. She was able to return to Canada.
TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: The Japanese Aparri force on Luzon continues rapidly south along Route 5 toward Tuguegarao and Laoag and its airfield fall to the Vigan force. The Japanese begin mining San Bernardino and Surigao Straits while commercial vessels withdraw from Manila Bay.
By the end of the day, all but one B-17 Flying Fortress has been dispatched from Clark Field, Luzon, to Del Monte Field on Mindanao, which is beyond the range of Japanese aircraft.
SOUTH CHINA SEA: The Dutch submarine O 19 attacks the American ! freighter Lillian Lukenbach, probably in the South China Sea. Fortunately the attack is unsuccessful. Lillian Lukenbach is a 6369 grt turbine steamer, built in 1919 by Sun Shipbuilding of Chester, Pennsylvania. (Bram M. Otto)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 torpedoes and shells a 5,645 ton, unarmed U.S. freighter about 680 nautical miles (1 259 kilometers) northeast of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. The ship sinks tomorrow. One lifeboat is launched and all but four men reach Hawaii on 20 December.
WAKE ISLAND The Japanese attempt to land a 450-man party of the Maizaru 2d Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF). The landing force at is repulsed by 450 US Marines of the Wake Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion, who also sink two Japanese destroyers and damage seven other ships with their Marine coast defence guns and the remaining fighter aircraft. HIJMS Hayate is sunk by gunfire. F4F-3 Wildcat pilots sink the destroyer HIJMS Kisaragi with bombs. This force withdraws to Kwajalein. Around 0900 hours, 17 b Nellb bombers (Mitsubishi G3M2, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers) of the Chitose Kokutai (Naval Air Corps) based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the naval guns on the island; the Marine pilots shoot down two of the Nells. (Arnold Lloyd Gladson, Marine and Gordon Rottman)
USN submarine USS Triton (SS-201), patrolling south of Wake, attacks the Japanese ship she had encountered shortly before midnight; she is unsuccessful.
TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: Six Hawaiian Air Force B-18 Bolos fly a sea-search mission. Similar missions by B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-18s, and A-20 Havocs are flown each day for the remainder of the year; several submarines are sighted and some are attacked but without positive evidence of hits.
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin tells British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he favors the establishment of "a supreme authority for the higher direction and coordinated control of Allied strategy" in the Far East.
CANADA:
Corvettes HMCS Summerside and Drumheller departed St. John's to join eastbound Convoy SC-59.
U.S.A.:
The U.S. Congress votes to declare war on Germany and Italy. With only one short speech, the Senate voted 88-to-0 for war against Germany, 90-to-0 for war with Italy. There was one abstention, Republican Pacifist Jeannette Rankin called out 'Present' - a refusal to vote. The House of Representatives voted war with Germany, 393-to-0. After the vote is taken the chamber is filled with the noise of stamping feet from the galleries as the public stomped out. It seems that the war with Italy vote (399-to-0) wasn't worth waiting around for. The resolution states, "Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the government to carry on war against the Government of Germany; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States." The Congress also votes to use U.S. forces anywhere in the world. The term of those enlisted under the Selective Service Act is extended for the duration plus six months. (John Nicholas and Bill Howard)
The U.S. Army's Western Defense Command is established with Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt as commander. One of the units assigned is the 4th Air Force at Hamilton Field, San Rafael, California, which is reassigned from the Air Force Combat Command to the new unit. The West Coast is declared a theater of war.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detains 1,370 Japanese Americans classified as "dangerous enemy aliens."
The Buick Division of the General Motors Corporation lowers its car prices to reflect the absence of spare tires or inner tubes from its new cars. Widespread shortages have led to many quotas and laws designed to conserve America's resources. One of these laws prohibits spare tires on new cars. Rubber, produced overseas, has become almost impossible to get. People did not mind the spare-tire law too much, though. They are too busy dealing with quotas for gasoline, meat, butter, shoes, and other essentials.
Colonel Charles W. Bundy, the senior officer responsible for Pacific operations in the War Plans Division, is killed in an airplane crash. He is replaced by Dwight Eisenhower. (Jay Stone)
Congress establishes the Naval Salvage Service.
CUBA: Havana breaks off diplomatic relations with Berlin. (Mike Yared)
MEXICO broke diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy.
NICARAGUA declared war on Japan.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Patrol vessel HMS Lady Shirley was hit by one torpedo from U-374, exploded and sank at 0421 with all hands. HMS Rosabelle tried to find the U-boat, but was also torpedoed 0442 hours and sank.