December 16th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: American Boyd Wagner while flying with 17 Squadron RAF claims his fifth Luftwaffe victory to become an ace. (Skip Guidry)
GERMANY: U-516 launched.
U.S.S.R.: Continuing firm pressure against the enemy in the Moscow area, Soviet forces seize Kalinin, northwest of Klin.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A second Italian supply convoy for Rommel sails from Italy. Covered by 4 battleships, 5 cruisers and 21 destroyers, this convoy is commanded by Admiral Iachino.
U-557 sunk west of Crete, in position 35.31N, 23.19E, after ramming by the Italian torpedo boat Orione. 43 dead (all hands lost).
LIBYA: Axis forces begin withdrawal from the Gazala line toward the next delaying position, Agedabla. The Indian 4th Division of the 13 Corps, British Eighth Army, which has been particularly hard pressed by the enemy, pauses briefly to reorganize before joining other elements of corps in pursuit.
BORNEO: The Japanese land elements of the 16th Division at Miri, Seria and Lutong.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: 1st Lieutenant Boyd D Wagner of the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), leads a dive-bombing raid on the airfield at Vigan, PI and shoots down his fifth aircraft, thereby becoming the first United States Army Air Forces "Ace" in World War II.
CHINA: The U .S. War
Department gives Brigadier General John Magruder, head of the American Military
Mission to China (AMMISCA), permission to divert Chinese lend-lease supplies to
the British, provided the Chinese agree.
MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division completes a
withdrawal behind the Muda River in Wellesley Province and defeats enemy efforts
to secure a foothold on the south bank. The Indian 3 Corps decides to withdraw
the Indian 11th Division behind the Krian River since it is greatly weakened by
sustained fighting without benefit of tank and adequate air support. Fighting
develops on the Grik road north of Grik, during the night of 16/17 December, as
a small detachment guarding the road encounters the main body of the Japanese
Patani force thrusting toward Kuala Kangsar in an effort to isolate Indian 11th
Division on the west coast. On the east coast, Kelantan troops begin a
withdrawal by rail as the movement of supplies and equipment is completed. The
Penang Island fortress is evacuated as planned during night 16/17 December.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: First Lieutenant Boyd D Wagner leads a dive-bombing raid on the airfield at Vigan and shoots down his fifth aircraft, thereby becoming the first USAAF "Ace" in World War II.
Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces-Far East, is advised by Headquarters USAAF that 65 B-17 Flying Fortresses have been allocated to the Far East Air Force. However, they are still in the U.S. and must be ferried to the Philippines via the South Atlantic, Africa and India.
EAST INDIES: Australian troop invade Portuguese East Timor, the first time in history that Australia violated another country's neutrality. The Australian "Sparrow Force" invades Dutch West Timor and the 2/2nd Independent Company lands on the shore near Dili, the capital of Portuguese East Timor and so pre-empt a Japanese takeover. They proceed immediately to surround the airport. Well armed, and expecting to do battle with the Portuguese military, they approach the administration building, guns at the ready. Suddenly the main door opens and out stepped a civilian Portuguese official who tips his hat and in perfect English said "Good afternoon." Dumbfounded, the troops star at each other in disbelief. Not a shot has been fired. Unknown to the troops if "Sparrow Force," the Australian and Portuguese governments had previously agreed to a peaceful "invasion" of the island to help protect the inhabitants from a possible Japanese invasion which did in fact take place two months later, on 20 February 1942.
The Japanese invade British Borneo, landing on the
north coast at Miri, Sarawak, and at Seria, Brunei. The Japanese quickly
captured the government buildings and the post office at Miri as well as the
surrounding district with plantations. In the meantime, other units landed near
Seria and occupied the large copra plantations, the Seria oilfields, and the
strategic sector north of Seria to prepare for an attack against Brunei. There
is very little resistance by the British forces, and during the morning the two
units secure the oilfield at Seria and oilfields and airfield at Miri. The main
body of the Kawaguchi Detachment find only about 50 members of the police unit
defending Miri. They surrender with very little fighting. Two companies of the
2nd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force landed on the coast near Lutong and
within two and a half hours captured the important Lutong oil refinery. It then
proceeded to occupy and secure the Miri airfield without meeting any resi
stance. Part of the Detachment is immediately assigned the mission of restoring
the oilfields at Miri and Seria, while, after 17 December, the main body of the
Detachment prepares for the next operation - the landing at Kuching. The
Japanese troops suffered only 40 casualties between 16 and 23 December, most
were drownings as a result of Japanese amphibious operations.
TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The USN's Task Force 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher), comprising the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) [with 18 F2A-3 Buffalos of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One (VMF 221) embarked], four destroyers; heavy cruisers USS Astoria (CA-34) (flagship), USS Minneapolis (CA-36), and USS San Francisco (CA-38); and five destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor. These ships will overtake the force formed around seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8) and the oiler USS Neches (AO-5) and their consorts that is to relieve Wake Island.
WAKE ISLAND: The Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack Force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) detaches aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and HIJMS Soryu, heavy cruisers HIJMS Tone and HIJMS Chikuma, and two destroyers (Rear Admiral Abe Hiroaki) to reinforce the second planned attack on Wake Island. Meanwhile, Japanese naval land attack planes (Chitose Kokutai) bomb Wake.
PACIFIC OCEAN: USS Swordfish sinks Japanese cargo ship Atsutasan Maru.
CANADA: P.C. 9760 is passed requiring mandatory registration of all persons of Japanese origin, regardless of citizenship, with Registrar of Enemy Aliens.
Corvette
HMCS Calgary commissioned.
U.S.A.: The Secretary of the Navy approved an
expansion of the pilot training program from the existing schedule of assigning
800 students per month to one calling for 2,500 per month thereby leading to a
production of 20,000 pilots annually by mid-1943.
Minesweeper USS Threat laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-68 transferred 60 survivors from the sunken German support ships Python and Atlantis to the Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli.
U-569 attacked by a Swordfish aircraft in the mid-Atlantic and was damaged so badly that she had to return to base.