January 16th, 1944 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Eisenhower formally assumes duties as Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force.
Frigate HMS Meon departed Glasgow to escort Convoy ON-220.
Submarine HMS Affray laid down.
BLACK SEA: Steam tanker Vaijan KuturŽe (ex-Nikolaj Janson) sunk by U-20.
HONG KONG: Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise conducts an air raid on the colony.
GILBERT ISLANDS: 431st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's moved from Funafuti to Tarawa and then to Kwajalein on 31 Mar 44.
NEW GUINEA: Australian troops capture Finisterre.
NEW BRITAIN: Japan counter-attacks US forces in the Hill 660 sector.
PACIFIC: Submarine U.S.S. Blackfish (SS-221), sailing through the Caroline Islands during her seventh patrol, attacks a convoy approximately 275 southwest of Truk. In the course of the attack, Blackfish fires from all ten torpedo tubes. The sub claims damage from one hit in a four torpedo salvo (the victim is not identified in postwar analysis).
From the six fish spread, three find the XAP Kaika Maru (2087T) and sink her in position 04°03'N, 148°41'E.
Submarine U.S.S. Redfin (SS-272), on her first outing, patrols the South China Sea. Firing four torpedoes, she attacks and heavily damages DD Amatsukaze (2033T) with all four torpedoes in a twilight surface attack about 250 miles north of the Spratly Islands, 14°40'N, 113°50'E.
Submarine U.S.S. Seahorse (SS-304), patrolling east of the Marianas during her third patrol, attacks and sinks C-AK Nikko Maru (784T) in a night surface radar attack east-southeast of the Marianas in position 12°49'N, 150°19'E. Three of four torpedoes fired find their target.
Submarine U.S.S. Sturgeon (SS-187), cruising in the Honshu area on her ninth patrol, heavily damages DD Suzutsuki (2700T) in Bungo Suido in position 32°11'N, 132°22'E. However, Sturgeon fails to press home an attack against the accompanying merchant vessel Azaki Maru.
Submarine U.S.S. Swordfish (SS-193), patrolling south of Honshu on her tenth patrol, hits with all three torpedoes fired in a night periscope attack. XPG Delhi Maru (2205T) sinks south of Tokyo Bay in position 34°04'N, 139°56'E.
Submarine U.S.S. Whale (SS-239), on her sixth patrol cruising between the Volcano and the Daito Islands, attacks a Japanese convoy in a twilight periscope attack, firing three torpedoes. Two torpedoes hit and sink A-AK Denmark Maru (5869T) about 400 miles east-southeast of Okinawa in position 23°09'N, 135°14'E.
Nearby, U. S. S. Seawolf (SS-197), on her twelfth patrol, conducts a night time gun attack and damages XAP Tarushima Maru (4865T) in approximately 22°45'N, 135°00'E. (Chris Sauder)
U.S.A.:
Destroyer escort USS John J Van Buren launched.
Minesweeper USS Inflict launched.
The NBC Blue (later ABC) radio show, "The Life of Riley", starring William Bendix, starts a run that will last until 29 June, 1951.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: 64 killed when US Liberty ship Sumner I Kimball, in Convoy ON-219, sunk by U-960 at 52.35N, 35.00W - Grid AK 8518.