December 30th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine ORP Dzik (ex-HMS Ultor) laid down.
Sloop HMS Magpie laid down.
GERMANY:
U-503 suffered extensive damage due to a fire in the harbour of Stettin.
U.S.S.R.: In the Moscow sector the Russians recapture Tula.
Soviet submarine SC-138 commissioned.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Triumph is believed mined in the Aegean just off Hydra. There are no survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)
LIBYA: After another costly and unsuccessful tank battle for Agedabia, during which the British 22d Armoured Brigade is rendered ineffective as a fighting force, XIII Corps of the British Eighth Army suspends their assault pending the arrival of reinforcements. German tanks have proved superior both mechanically and in gun power.
JAPAN: Following negotiations with the Swiss Minister, who is in charge of US affairs in Tokyo, the Japanese government approve the Swedish ship Gripsholm to be used as a neutral vessel to carry the US embassy staff to a neutral country. They proposed to leave about April 25 via Shanghai, Saigon and Singapore to pick up more repatriates. The ship could accommodate 1100 passengers. There were 500 officials leaving room for 600 nonofficial's from Japan, China, Thailand and the occupied western colonies. However, the voyage was delayed. (Ed Miller)(174)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US forces on Luzon fall back from positions at Tarlac. These are their last prepared positions before Bataan. Their need to hold this line is extreme because the forces to the south must pass through Manila to get to Bataan.
The North Luzon Force is unable to hold the Japanese on the line Cabanatuan-Tarlac and begins a withdrawal southward toward the final defence positions before Bataan. From Cabanatuan, the 91st Division [Philippine Army (PA)] withdraws along Route 5 through Gapan toward Baliuag, northeast of Calumpit. Tank battalions are ordered to the Plaridel-Baliuag area to defend the vital Calumpit bridge over the Pampanga River, across which the South Luzon Force must withdraw to reach San Fernando and the road leading into Bataan, and 71st Division (PA) is dispatched to Baliuag. In the centre, the 11th Division (PA) succeeds in delaying a Japanese column heading for Tarlac from Cabanatuan. The 21st Division (PA) falls back from Tarlac along Route 3 toward the line Bamban- Arayat. The South Luzon Force, ordered to delay the Japanese, halts at Santiago, where an ambush is arranged, but because of reverses of the North Luzon Force is directed in the evening to continue t heir withdrawal and cross the Calumpit bridge not later than 0600 hours on 1 January. The Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Regiment (—) and a battery of the 51st Field Artillery Regiment are dispatched to assist in the defence of the Calumpit bridge. The 2d Philippine Constabulary Regiment covers the withdrawal while the main body moves toward Bataan.
Philippine President Manuel Quezon is inaugurated on Corregidor.
USN-commandeered tug SS Ranger lands a volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point, located on a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay approximately 8 miles (13 kilometres) southwest of Manila. The sailors bring out diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.
MALAYA: The Japanese maintain pressure against the Kampar position in western Malaya; on the east coast they threaten Kuantan from the north in greater strength. The Kuantan defence force is in the process of concentrating west of the Kuantan River, which is crossed by a single ferry. Two Japanese battalions land at Kota Bharu and begin a march down the east coast.
SINGAPORE: Troops of the 11th Indian Division defending central Malaya have surrendered Kampar and retreated from the river Perak. They are now regrouping further south on the river Slim.
Major-General Heath's hopes of making a stand against the Japanese main force as it advanced south on the coast road were crushed when a second Japanese column emerged on his eastern flank from the jungle, hitherto thought impassable, after marching from Thailand. Morale in the Indian Division is good despite the defection of a unit of pro-Indian independence troops a few weeks ago.
EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress squadrons arrive at Sinosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 torpedoes and damages a 5,695 ton unarmed U.S. freighter off the coast of California about 26 nautical miles (48 kilometres) off San Pedro. Although damaged, the freighter escapes.
TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-1 shells Hilo on the island of Hawaii with her 5.5-inch (14.0 centimetre) gun. The USN seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier adjacent to the pier damaged by the bombardment, is not hit.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The first aerial reinforcements for the territory, 25 P-40s of the 11th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) arrive at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage.
CANADA: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Ottawa after his talks with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt over strategy to win the war with Germany. In a speech to Parliament this evening, Churchill quips, "When I warned them (the French) that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet that in three weeks, England would have her neck wrung like a chicken - Some chicken! Some neck!"
Minesweeper HMCS Fort William launched Port Arthur, Ontario.
Corvette HMCS Sackville commissioned.
U.S.A.: Admiral King is appointed CINCUS (Commander in Chief) - US Fleet. To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm. Inch" or Command in Chief). (Ken Friedman)
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are given the authority to search the homes of enemy aliens if there is a reason to suspect there is contraband on the premises.
Destroyers USS Bell and Stevens laid down.