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• Captain Isaac Chauncey was named the commanding officer of New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States. ww2dbase [New York Navy Yard | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]

21 Dec 1824 Interactive Map

• Ioseb Jughashvili was born in Gori, Georgia Governorate, Russian Empire. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | Gori | CPC]

• Karl Wiligut was promoted to the rank of private. ww2dbase [Karl Wiligut | CPC]

• Konstantin Rokossovsky was born. ww2dbase [Konstantin Rokossovsky | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler's mother, Klara Hitler (née Pölzl), passed away from breast cancer in Linz, Austria-Hungary. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Linz | CPC]

• General Haruno Okubo was named the commanding officer of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea, relieving Yoshimichi Hasegawa. ww2dbase [CPC]
• General Jiro Akashi was named the chief of staff of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Britain was bombed for the first time when a German Taube dropped two bombs near the Admiralty Pier in Kent, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [AC]

• The construction of the first prototype Medium Mark A Whippet tank began in Britain. ww2dbase [Medium Mark A Whippet | CPC]

• Alexandros Sakellariou's 2 Dec 1920 promotion to lieutenant commander was retroactively dated to this date. ww2dbase [Alexandros Sakellariou | CPC]

• Erwin Rommel was transferred back to the 124th Infantry Regiment of the Wüttemberg Army. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• Stuart was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Stuart | CPC]

• Josef Stroop arrived in Detmold, Germany to recuperate from combat wounds. ww2dbase [Jürgen Stroop | Detmold | CPC]

• Erwin Rommel joined the post-WW1 German Reichswehr and became the commanding officer of 4th Company of the 13th Infantry Regiment based in Stuttgart. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]

• Ira Eaker started the 35,200 km journey around South America in the Pan American Goodwill Flight in an OA-1 float plane. ww2dbase [Ira Eaker | CPC]

• Papanikolis was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Papanikolis | CPC]

• Iwane Matsui was attached to the Japanese Army General Staff. ww2dbase [Iwane Matsui | CPC]

• Japanese Kwantung Army launched an offensive from Mukden toward Jinzhou in Liaoning Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Jinzhou | Mukden, Liaoning | CPC]

• Wernher von Braun attempted to light a rocket with a four meter long pole at Kummersdorf weapons research center south of Berlin, Germany; the rocket's motor exploded. ww2dbase [Wernher von Braun | Kummersdorf, Mark Brandenburg | CPC]

21 Dec 1932 Interactive Map

• France claimed the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the colony of Cochinchina, which was a member of the French Indochina federation. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The Spanish Republican submarine C3 was sunk by an Italian submarine off the coast of Malaga, Spain. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]

• Francis Tuker was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. ww2dbase [Francis Tuker | CPC]

• HMS Ashanti (L51) was commissioned into service with Commander W. G. Davis in command. ww2dbase [AC]
• Lord Gort recommended the British Chiefs of Staff that the United Kingdom must assist France in the defense of the Low Countries should they be challenged by Germany. To achieve this, he advocated the improvement of British infantry and armored divisions. ww2dbase [John Vereker | CPC]

• Charles Pownall was named the commanding officer of USS Enterprise. ww2dbase [Enterprise | CPC]

• Between 0725 and 1016 hours, German submarine U-21 sank two neutral Swedish ships Mars and SS Carl Henckel with one torpedo each. The German submarine did not pick up any survivors; only 8 out of the 36 floating in the water survived until when help arrived on the next day. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Russia celebrated Joseph Stalin's 60th official birthday. His actual birthday is 18 Dec 1878, but was changed to 21 Dec 1879 after he came to power in 1922. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | CPC]
• Soviet 122nd Division was halted at the villages of Pelkosenniemi and Kemijärvi in Lapland, Finland. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
• Finnish General Hugo Österman presented a plan for counterattack to Field Marshal Mannerheim; the plan was prepared by Österman's subordinate General Harald Öhqvist of the II Corps. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The British RAF Bomber Command issued Operational Instruction 21, which in part noted the following that reflected the reluctance to end daylight bombing missions despite of the heavy losses sustained thus far: "With the intention of combining useful training and operations, sweeps will continue to be carried out.... If enemy aircraft are encountered, gunners will be able to practise shooting at real targets instead of drogues." ww2dbase [CPC]
• HMS Cumberland on passage to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

• Submarine USS Saury arrived in San Diego, California, United States and became a part of Submarine Squadron 6. ww2dbase [Saury | San Diego, California | DS]

21 Dec 1939 Interactive Map

• German raiders Komet and Orion and support ship Kulmerland released 514 prisoners captured from various ships, mainly women, children and the injured, at Emirau Island, Bismarck Islands. They were given food before being turned over to two English families living on that island. British ship Nellore would arrive on 29 Dec to pick them up. 150 prisoners remained aboard Orion. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
• German submarine U-65 attacked Panamanian tanker Charles Pratt with 2 torpedoes 250 miles west of Freetown, British West Africa (now Sierra Leone) at 1600 hours. The cargo of 96,069 barrels of fuel was ignited, but only 2 were killed. 40 survivors took to two lifeboats; they would be rescued 4 to 5 days later by British ships. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Allied convoy MG1 departed Malta at noon for Gibraltar. The convoy consisted of British merchant ships Clan Fraser, Clan Forbes, and Ulster Prince; it was escorted by battleship HMS Malaya and eight destroyers. ww2dbase [Malaya | CPC]
• Luftwaffe bombers struck Liverpool, England, United Kingdom overnight. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• RAF bombers bombed Porto Marghera, Italy, hitting docks and oil tanks. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The rear echelon of the newly established US Marine Corps 7th Defense Battalion arrived at Pago Pago, Tutuila, American Samoa. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Seeadler began laying mines in the English Channel. ww2dbase [Seeadler | English Channel | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci departed Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini departed Bordeaux, France at 1036 hours and arrived at Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine, France at 1520 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Berlin, Germany suffered minor damage from a British RAF bombing raid. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Berlin | TH]

21 Dec 1940 Interactive Map

• Isopescu, the Romanian governor of Golta, Transnistria, Romania (now Pervomaisk, Ukraine), ordered the execution of Jews at Bogdanovka Concentration Camp. 4,000 Jews were moved into cow sheds then burned alive. An unknown number of Jews were marched into a ravine and executed by gunfire in the following four days. The massacre ended in the evening of 24 Dec 1941. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• US submarines based in Manila in the Philippine Islands withdrew to Surabaya, Java. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
• General Wavell arrived in Rangoon, Burma already aware that most of the promised reinforcements had already been diverted to Malaya. Wavell still entertained hopes of receiving the two East African Brigades from Kenya and most of the 17th Indian Division (Major-General J. H. "Jackie" Smyth VC). When the American Lieutenant General George H. Brett arrived in Rangoon on his way to visit Chiang at Chongqing, Wavell decided to go too, telling his chief of staff, Thomas Hutton, to take over from the GOC Burma (Major General D. K. McLeod) whose proposed replacement had been taken sick. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | AC]
• A Japanese submarine fired star shells over Sand Island, Johnson Atoll. ww2dbase [CPC]
• While Canadian and colonial Chinese troops completed the withdraw from Wong Nai Chung Gap in central Hong Kong island, order began to crumble as panic built up rapidly. On the same day, Japanese aircraft sank British river gunboat HMS Cicala, killing 1 and wounding 1. ww2dbase [Battle of Hong Kong | CPC]
• Dutch submarine K XVII struck a mine and sank 18 miles north of Tioman Island while exiting the Gulf of Siam; all 36 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-567 attacked Allied convoy HG-76, en route between Gibraltar and Britain, 500 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Portugal at 1923 hours, sinking Norwegian ship Annavore; 34 were killed, 4 survived. During the counterattack, a merchant ship fired a flare in an attempt to visually find the attacker, but the flare was used by German submarine U-741at 2137 hours to spot and sink escort carrier HMS Audacity; 73 were killed, 407 survived. At 2230 hours, U-567 attacked again, but she was discovered by sloop HMS Deptford and corvette HMS Samphire, which jointly sank the submarine with depth charges, killing all 47 aboard. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-451 was sunk by a Swordfish aircraft of British No. 812 Squadron off Morocco; 44 were killed, 1 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet 31st Cavalry Division attacked Kaluga near Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | CPC]
• Allied troops pursued retreating Axis units toward Beda Fomm, Libya. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• USS Stingray detected the Japanese invasion fleet sailing from Taiwan toward the Philippine Islands at 1313 hours, but did not attack. ww2dbase [Stingray | CPC]
• USS Seal sank Japanese cargo ship Hayataka Maru off Vigan, Luzon island, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Seal | CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini arrived at Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine, France at 1100 hours, ending her eighth war patrol. She departed Le Verdon-sur-Mer at 1500 hours and arrived at Bordeaux, France at 2010 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine | CPC]

• USS St. Louis arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii with her convoy. The convoy ships entered Honolulu Harbor and St. Louis entered Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Yamato departed Kure, Japan for Hiroshima Bay, Inland Sea and anchored west of battleship Nagato at Hashirajima island in Hiroshima Bay. ww2dbase [Yamato | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Former luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru completed her conversion into a Japanese Navy hospital ship. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]

• Having seen previous success with the same tactic on a smaller scale, Japanese launched a large number of rafts down the Perak River toward Kuala Kangsar, Malaya in an attempt to bypass nearby roadblocks; casualties were heavy, but the Japanese troops were able to establish a bridgehead downstream, causing the British to abandon the Perak River positions and to fall back. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Perak | CPC]

• Germans and Italians increased air attacks on Malta. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | TH]

• Tanikaze covered carriers Hiryu and Soryu in the central Pacific Ocean. ww2dbase [Tanikaze | CPC]

• USS S-38 entered Ligayen Gulf in the Phlippines Islands just before dawn. Spotting a group of four Japanese transports at 0645 hours, she maneuvered and fired four torpedoes at 0710 hours, all of which missed. At 0758 hours, she fired two more torpedoes, striking transport Hayo Maru. She dove to avoid depth charges from Japanese destroyers, and ran aground, sustaining light damage. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | S-38 | Lingayen Gulf | CPC]
• USS S-38 departed Camens Cove in the Phlippines Islands at dawn. ww2dbase [S-38 | CPC]
• USS S-39 arrived at Manila, Phlippine Islands, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [S-39 | Manila | CPC]

• Thailand and Japan entered into a military alliance. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The US Marine Corps 1st Marine Aircraft Wing arrived at San Diego, California, United States; the unit had previously been based in Quantico, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [San Diego, California | CPC]
• USS Ranger departed Norfolk on a patrol to the South Atlantic. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Ranger | Norfolk, Virginia | DS]
• The 4,200-ton Norwegian stores ship SS Panama Express left San Pedro, California bound for Manzanillo, Mexico. Shortly after reaching the San Pedro Channel, she was spotted by the Japanese submarine I-19. The submarine fired two torpedoes but both missed. I-19 gave chase briefly but could not overtake the ship. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | San Pedro, California | DS]

• The US Navy PBY aircraft which had arrived at Wake Atoll on the previous day departed with passengers; these passengers would be the last US personnel to leave the atoll. During the day, 29 Japanese carrier aircraft from Soryu and Hiryu attack the island, followed by 33 land-based aircraft four hours later, damaging Battery D on Peale Island. Meanwhile, American intelligence indicated a large Japanese air force build-up in the Marshall Islands and a possible Japanese fleet present east of Wake Atoll, the latter of which seriously threatened the attempts to reinforce Wake. ww2dbase [Battle of Wake Island | Wake | CPC]

21 Dec 1941 Interactive Map

• HMS Cumberland provided distant cover with HM Battleship Anson and HM Destroyers Forester, Icarus, Impulsive, HM Escort Destroyers Blankney and Chiddingfold for passage of Russian Convoy JW51B. ww2dbase [Cumberland | Anson | DS]

• USS S-28 arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska. ww2dbase [S-28 | Unalaska | CPC]
• USS S-35 suffered electrical fires during a storm, forcing her to end the war patrol early. ww2dbase [S-35 | CPC]

• British and Commonwealth troops crossed the Indian-Burmese border, moving into Japanese-controlled Arakan Peninsula. ww2dbase [First Battle of Arakan | Arakan | CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini departed Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine, France at 0930 hours and arrived at La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1900 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine | CPC]

• Kurt Zeitzler asked Adolf Hitler for permission for Friedrich Paulus' German 6.Armee, encircled within Stalingrad, Russia, to break out to meet Erich von Manstein's relief efforts from the outside. Hitler rejected it, noting that German troops were to hold Stalingrad. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | TH]

• Submarine USS Saury ended her fifth war patrol at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. She was then ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for a badly needed overhaul. ww2dbase [Saury | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• USS St. Louis and convoy arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Nouméa | DS]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Mako, Pescadores and departed later in the same day. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Tatsuta Maru | Mako, Hoko | CPC]

• After two weeks of maneuvers and shakedown, escort carrier USS Card departed San Diego, California bound for Puget Sound, Washington. ww2dbase [Card | San Diego, California | DS]

21 Dec 1942 Interactive Map

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kwajalein, then arrived at Roi. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
• The radio in the German embassy in Ireland was seized in response to Allied pressure to limit German espionage efforts. ww2dbase [TH]
• The German bridgehead across the Dneiper River at Kherson, Ukraine was destroyed. ww2dbase [TH]
• 9 RAF Mosquito aircraft attacked the Mannesmann factory at Düsseldorf, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]
• Joseph Stilwell arrived in his field headquarters in Burma. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
• The 112th Regiment of the Chinese 38th Division was surrounded by elements of the Japanese 18th Division at Yubang Ga, Burma, but by the end of the year the Japanese envelopment would be broken. ww2dbase [CPC]

• A heavy bomber raid originally scheduled for Rabaul, New Britain was canceled due to poor weather. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Balikpapan, Dutch East Indies at 1900 hours and made rendezvous with a convoy consisted of Fujisan Maru, Shoyu Maru, and Ogura Maru No. 3 off Cape Mangkalihat; the group turned south and sailed toward Balikpapan. ww2dbase [Stewart | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Canadian 1st Division attacked Ortona, Italy, beginning a period of tough street fighting in the town. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | Ortona, Abruzzo | TH, CPC]
• Richard O'Connor, having escaped imprisonment, arrived at Bari, Italy and met with Harold Alexander. ww2dbase [Richard O'Connor | Bari, Puglia | CPC]

• USS Grayback attacked a Japanese convoy off southwestern Japan, claiming the sinking of four vessels; 14 torpedoes were expended in this attack. ww2dbase [Grayback | Kagoshima | CPC]

• USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for gunnery exercises. ww2dbase [Honolulu | St. Louis | Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo | DS]

• Gato-class submarine USS Silversides entered her assigned patrol area east of Palau in the lanes to Truk Atoll. ww2dbase [Silversides | DS]

• The first Firebrand TF.III aircraft, equipped with Bristol Centaurus VII engine, took its first flight. ww2dbase [Firebrand | AC]

• Submarine USS Saury departed Midway for her ninth war patrol assigned to an area north of Okinawa. ww2dbase [Saury | Midway | DS]

21 Dec 1943 Interactive Map

• USS Wasp's aircraft attacked Japanese positions on Taiwan and in the Ryukyu Islands. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | CPC]
• USAAF pilot Donald Bryan damaged a German Ar 234 aircraft. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Patrol Boat No. 102 detached from convoy SASHI-38. ww2dbase [Stewart | CPC]

• US forces captured Stavelot, Belgium, while the Germans surrounded Bastogne and captured St. Vith. ww2dbase [Battle of the Bulge | TH]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 42 returned to station. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani and General Mario Carloni inspected troops of the 4th Alpine Division "Monte Rosa" in the Garfagnana area of Toscana, Italy. ww2dbase [Battle of Garfagnana | Toscana | CPC]

• USS Whale attacked a Japanese trawler in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan; all 4 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Whale | Okinawa | CPC]

• U-1233 arrived at Bergen, Norway. ww2dbase [U-1233 | Bergen | CPC]

• USS Preston guarded carriers while the carriers launched strikes against Luzon, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Preston (Fletcher-class) | CPC]
• Destroyer USS Brown picked up the only survivors to be found from the sunken USS Monaghan floating with a life raft. They were Doil Carpenter, Robert Darden, Evan Fenn, William Kramer, Joseph McCrane, and James Story ww2dbase [Typhoon Cobra | Monaghan | DS]

• USS Bennington transited the Panama Canal. ww2dbase [Panama Canal | Bennington | DS]

• While escorting a supply convoy for Mangarin Bay in the Philippine Islands, USS Kimberly came under Japanese aerial attack; her gunners claimed to have shot down one and assisted in the downing of two others. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Kimberly | Mangarin Bay | CPC]

• Henry Arnold was promoted to the temporary rank of General of the Army. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | CPC]
• USS Ancon completed her repairs at Charleston Navy Yard in South Carolina, United States. ww2dbase [Ancon | Charleston, South Carolina | CPC]
• USS Shangri-La arrived at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, completing her shakedown cruise. ww2dbase [Norfolk Navy Yard | Shangri-La | Portsmouth, Virginia | CPC]

• Tambor-class submarine USS Tautog arrived at Midway on her way to her thirteenth war patrol. ww2dbase [Tautog | Midway | DS]

21 Dec 1944 Interactive Map

• Austin was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Austin | CPC]
• Canfield was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Canfield | CPC]

• USS Saint Paul and Chinese landing craft LST144 collided at Shanghai, China, causing slight damage to the cruiser's bow. ww2dbase [Saint Paul | Shanghai | CPC]

• George Patton passed away from pulmonary embolism at the US Army hospital in Heidelberg, Germany as the result of an automobile accident. ww2dbase [George Patton | Heidelberg | CPC]

• I-14 departed Guam for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [I-14 | CPC]

• Escort carrier USS Bogue arrived at Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Bogue | Yokosuka | DS]

• USS Copahee arrived at Alameda, California, United States. ww2dbase [Copahee | Alameda, California | CPC]

21 Dec 1945 Interactive Map

• Prinz Eugen began to list severely at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Prinz Eugen | Kwajalein | CPC]

21 Dec 1946 Interactive Map

• He Yingqin stepped down from his position as the Minister of Defense. ww2dbase [He Yingqin | CPC]

• Chen Cheng stepped down from his position as the Chairman of Taiwan Province, Republic of China and as the commanding officer of the Taiwan Garrison. ww2dbase [Chen Cheng | CPC]

• Robert Oppenheimer was informed by Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss that Oppenheimer had temporarily lost his security clearance due to questions regarding Oppenheimer's loyalty to the United States. ww2dbase [Robert Oppenheimer | CPC]

• USS Wasp departed Boston, Massachusetts, United States for Bermuda with 18 midshipmen from Boston area universities. ww2dbase [Wasp (Essex-class) | Boston, Massachusetts | CPC]

• Paul Hausser passed away. ww2dbase [Paul Hausser | CPC]

• Yi Geon passed away in Japan. ww2dbase [Yi Geon | CPC]

• Daniel Inouye's funeral service was held at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington DC, United States; US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, congressman John Boehner, and former President Bill Clinton spoke at the funeral. ww2dbase [Daniel Inouye | Washington | CPC]

21 Dec 2012 Interactive Map