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• Oiler USS Pecos were sunk off Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean by Japanese carrier aircraft. While en route to rescue survivors of Pecos, which included survivors of USS Langley, destroyer USS Edsall was sunk at 1731 hours by gunfire and aircraft; 147 were killed, 6 survived and were captured. ww2dbase [CPC]
• ABDA naval command was disbanded after the defeats at the Java Sea region. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The US Navy 3rd Submarine Fleet was established in Brisbane, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Korvettenkapitän Hellmuth Strobel took command of cruiser Köln. ww2dbase [Köln | CPC]
• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall islands. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• USS Perch was depth charged by two Japanese destroyers 30 miles northwest of Surabaya, Java; her starboard motors were damaged and she took on flood waters. ww2dbase [Perch (Porpoise-class) | CPC]
• The US authorities rounded up 112,000 Americans of Japanese descent and moved them to inland camps well away from the Pacific coast. ww2dbase [Internment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians | AC]
• Martti Aho was awarded the Mannerheim Cross medal. ww2dbase [Martti Aho | CPC]
• Legionaro was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Legionaro | CPC]
• In the face of defeats in Burma, Archibald Wavell replaced Major General John Smyth with Major General David Cowan and demoted General Thomas Hutton to be the chief of staff of Cowan. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | CPC]
• Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the second time. ww2dbase [Filipp Golikov | CPC]
• Japanese warships sank five Dutch ships (Rooseboom, Pariji, Modjokerto, and two others) between Dutch East Indies and Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Allied convoy PQ-12 departed Reykjavík, Iceland and convoy QP-8 departed Murmansk, Russia. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• The Soviet trawler RT-19 Komintern, built in 1930, while fishing off the Gusinaia Banka, Berrants Sea, was most probably torpedoed by German submarine U-436 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Seibicke) and sunk, northeast of Cape Teriberskij, Russia. ww2dbase [Barents Sea | HM]

• The 9,551-ton Norwegian motor tanker Finnanger, since 1941 in British Admiralty service as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary, was torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-158 (Kapitänleutnant Erwin Rostin) and sank southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Finnanger returned fire and fought a courageous fight, but the crew had to abandon the ship. U-158 shelled the ship until she sank. Nothing was ever heard of the 39 crew on board. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | HM]
• The 4,890-ton British steamship Carperby, carrying 2,009 tons of coal and 3,262 tons of coke, was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-588 (Kapitänleutnant Victor Vogel) about 420 miles south of Newfoundland. None of her complement of 40 survived. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | HM]

• The E14Y floatplane of Japanese submarine I-25 conducted a reconnaissance mission over Hobart, Australia. ww2dbase [E14Y | CPC]

• The first four of No. 75 Squadron RAAF's Kittyhawk fighters arrived at Port Moresby, Australian Papua. Two of them would see combat later on the same day, with Flight Officer Barry Cox and Flight Officer Wilbur Wackett shooting down one Ki-21 bomber flying a reconnaissance mission over Port Moresby. ww2dbase [P-40 Warhawk | Port Moresby | CPC]

• The 3,356-ton Soviet cargo ship (training) Chapaev struck a mine and sank in the Black Sea off Sevastapol, Russia. Between 86 and 120 crew lost their lives. ww2dbase [HM]

• HMS Encounter, HMS Exeter, and USS Pope were sunk at the Second Battle of the Java Sea; the ships suffered 7, 54, and 1 killed, respectively. Meanwhile, at the Battle of Sunda Strait, Allied cruisers USS Houston and HMAS Perth intercepted a Japanese invasion force but were both sunk as they attacked; four Japanese transports and a minesweepers were sunk, but two of the transports were later refloated. Also on this date, Japanese troops landed on Java and immediately began marching for Batavia, with the Japanese 2nd Division capturing Serang and the 230th Infantry Regiment capturing Kalidjati airfield at Soebang en route. Finally, Japanese air raids at Surabaya damaged destroyer USS Stewart and Dutch destroyer Witte de With. ww2dbase [Mogami | Type 93 | Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Mikuma | Stewart | Houston | Exeter | Perth | Java Sea | CPC]
• The 209-ton HMT Rahman, a British Royal Navy Whaler requisitioned in 1940 and used as a minesweeper, was sunk by gunfire at Batavia, Dutch East Indies. In the same action the 5,518-ton British cargo steamer War Sirdar ran aground on a reef northwest of Batavia and was abandoned; she was later salvaged by the Japanese and became the Konan Maru, and ultimately torpedoed by USS Bluegill on 29 Mar 1945. ww2dbase [Batavia, Java | HM]

• While at Faßberg, Germany, III./KG 4 wa transferred to the German Luftwaffe XI. Fliegerkorps in preparation for a new assignment. ww2dbase [Faßberg, Ost-Hannover | CPC]

• The 9,260-ton American passenger ship SS President Polk was being used as a troopship when sunk by Japanese aircraft at Canton Island, Gilbert Islands. The ship was later raised and re-entered service. ww2dbase [Canton Island | HM]

• Chikuma, Yugure, and other destroyers sank merchant ship Modjokerto in the Indian Ocean about 250 nautical miles southwest of Tjilatjap, Java, Dutch East Indies at 1145 hours. ww2dbase [Chikuma | Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Yugure | CPC]

• German submarine U-656 was sunk by a Hudson patrol bomber of US Navy VP-82 squadron 33 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, killing all 45 aboard. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]

• USS Permit fired three torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the Java Sea; all three torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Permit | Java Sea | CPC]
• At the Battle of the Java Sea, slightly damaged cruiser HMS Exeter, destroyer HMS Encounter, and destroyer USS Pope at 0850 hours. At 1245 hours, Nachi fired once again on HMS Exeter by gunfire. She departed the area at the end of the day with 90 Allied prisoners of war on board. ww2dbase [Nachi | Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java Sea | CPC]
• HMS Exeter was sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea shortly after 1200 hours. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Exeter | Java Sea | AC]
• USS S-38 transferred the 58 rescued survivors of destroyer HMS Electra to a surface ship in the Madura Strait. ww2dbase [S-38 | Madura Strait | CPC]

• Douglas MacArthur requested George Brett to send 3 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers to the Philippine Islands for the evacuation of MacArthur, his family, and his staff. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | CPC]

• Construction for Sobibór Concentration Camp in occupied Poland began. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Sobibór Concentration Camp | Sobibór, Lublin | CPC]

• The 5,417-ton French cargo ship PLM-20 was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS Unbeaten, five nautical miles east of Mehedia, Tunisia. She had sailed from Sfax in Tunisia in a convoy, on passage from Sfax to Bizerta with a cargo of phosphates. ww2dbase [Mehedia | HM]

• No. 97 Squadron RAF was transferred to RAF Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [RAF Woodhall Spa | Woodhall Spa, England | CPC]
• The 697-ton steamer Polgarth, owned by Polgarth S.S. Ltd of Liverpool, England, United Kingdom, was on passage from Blyth, Northumberland, England, to Southampton, England with cargo of 865 tons of coal. When two miles off Aldeburgh Light Float, on the Suffolk coast, she struck a mine. After attempts to tow her failed the vessel foundered two hours later. All 16 crew were saved. ww2dbase [Aldeburgh, England | HM]
• The 598-ton small coastal steam tanker Audacity struck a mine soon after exiting the river Humber estuary on the eastern coast of England, United Kingdom. The ship was on passage from Goole bound for London with a cargo of palm oil. The Audacity's captain was killed in the explosion. ww2dbase [England | HM]

• Benjamin Kelsey was promoted to the war time rank of colonel. ww2dbase [Benjamin Kelsey | CPC]
• 55 miles southwest of San Francisco, California, Japanese submarine I-17 attacked the 8,000-ton Standard Oil Co. tanker SS William H. Berg. I-17 fired several torpedoes and an explosion was heard. I-17 conducted a surface attack but the tanker returned fire. I-17 lookouts spotted an approaching American destroyer and I-17 submerged. William H. Berg was undamaged in the exchange and I-17 left the area heading north. ww2dbase [Japanese Attacks on the Continental United States | San Francisco, California | DS]
• USS St. Louis was floated out of drydock #2 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | St. Louis | Vallejo, California | DS]

• The United States Marine Corps established Marine Aircraft Group 22 at Midway Atoll, consisted of Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 231 and Marine Fighter Squadron 221. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

1 Mar 1942 Interactive Map