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• 9 RAF Mosquito aircraft attacked Duisburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | CPC]

• Squadron Leader Noel Quinn, commanding officer of No. 8 Squadron RAAF, hit an unidentified object while flying his Beaufort aircraft at the altitude of 150 feet. The entire crew of four survived the crash in Saint George's Channel between New Britain and New Ireland, but only Quinn and Flying Officer Ross O'Loghlen would survive the wounds. Both captured by the Japanese, Quinn would later be sent to Japan, while O'Loghlen would remain at the prisoner of war compound in Rabaul, New Britain until the end of the war. ww2dbase [Saint George's Channel, Bismarck Sea | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 entered a drydock at Repair Facility No. 103 in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies to calibrate the starboard propeller. ww2dbase [Stewart | Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: One officer and 16 men of Task Group 19.19 arrived. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]
• USS Honolulu departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bound for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. ww2dbase [Honolulu | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) made passing raids on the installations at Wotje and Kwajalein Atolls in the Marshall Islands before returning to Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [Gilbert Islands Campaign | J. J. Clark | Yorktown (Essex-class) | DS]
• USS Portland and USS New Orleans (New Orleans-class), among other ships, screened carrier Lexington (Essex-class) in strikes against Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. Lexington received a torpedo hit that crippled her steering. New Orleans escorted Lexington to Pearl Harbor. ww2dbase [Portland | New Orleans | Lexington (Essex-class) | Marshall Islands Campaign | Kwajalein | DS]
• Submarine USS Spearfish arrived at her rescue station 40 miles east of Wotje Atoll. Spearfish was expecting a US carrier raid on Wotje on Dec 5 or 6 but the raid actually took place Dec 4 before Spearfish arrived on station. ww2dbase [Spearfish | Wotje | DS]

• USS Gunnel sank Japanese passenger-cargo ship Hiyoshi Maru in the Pacific Ocean, hitting her with 4 of 4 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Gunnel | CPC]

• German 11.Armee attempted to crush the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch, Russia, but the attack was halted after it suffered 10,000 killed and 3,000 captured. ww2dbase [Kerch, Krym | TH]

• Casablanca-class escort carrier Steamer Bay was laid down at Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard, Vancouver, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard | Steamer Bay | Vancouver, Washington | DS]

4 Dec 1943 Interactive Map