WW2 Chronology 1941
    Background
    • Japan had invaded China 7July 1937 and twice had attacked Russian borders.
    • Mussolini had invaded Albania 7 April 1939.
    • German declared War 3 Sept 1939 splitting Poland with Russia, then conquered Europe, England fights on alone.
    • Soviets had taken land from Finland in Winter War'39-'40
    • Italy joined Germany 10June'40 and invaded Somaliland, Egypt, and Greece.
    • Germany rescued Italians.
    • US declares "all measures short of war."

    January 1941
    Jan 9 . Transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6) arrives at Wake Island with first increment of workmen (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) to begin building a naval air station there.
    Jan 20. Japan orders cultural attaches in US to establish intelligence gathering networks.
      A budget of $500,000 was established for 1941 -- $10,000,000 in today's money.
    Jan 30. Germany announces that ships of any nationality bringing aid to Great Britain will be torpedoed.
    February 1941
    Feb 7 . British capture Italian army in North Africa: 35,000 killed, captured 130,000.
    February. British start offensive in East Africa
    February. Plutonium, a new element , discovered, cleaner than Uranium
    Feb 17. Rommel activates Africa Corp.
    Feb 25. German battleship Tiripitz commissions, the largest European battleship.
      Till Japanese superbattleship Yamato later in the year, Dec 16
    March 1941
    Mar 1 . Support Force Atlantic Fleet established for protection of convoys in North Atlantic.
    Mar 1 . Germans into Romania.  Bulgarians join Axis
    Mar 5 . British enter Greece.
    May 9. Japanese spies report establishment of network in San Diego to watch shipment of war materials.
    Mar 11. US votes Lend-Lease Act to aid England.
    March. British occupy Baghdad.
    Mar 17. Coast Guard cutter Cayuga takes South Greenland Survey Expedition, US representatives to locate sites of bases on Greenland's soil.
    Mar 20. HMS Maylaya (BB, 8-15") convoy escort torpedoed of Cape Verde Islands and repaired New York Naval Yard.
    Mar 27. ABC Conference. Atlantic Fleet is to help the Royal Navy convoy ships across the Atlantic. The agreement inextricably links the U.S. Navy in the effort against Germany.
    Mar 28 . Yorktown (CV-5) completed 5-month with CXM radar, range up to 100 miles.
    Mar 28. Spy Yoshikawa arrives to map Pearl Harbor and report naval movements.
    Mar 28. Gen Simovitch coup switches Yugoslavia from Hitler to Allies, delays Nazi war timetable.
    Mar 30. U S seizes Axis ships in US ports. "As the result of Coast Guard investigation of report that crew of Italian merchantman Villarperosa was sabotaging their ship, United States takes protective custody of two German, 26 Italian, and 35 Danish ships in American ports; Coast Guardsmen take over the vessels. Executive order consequently imprisons 850 Italian and 63 German officers and men."
    Mar 30. Finland surrenders land to Russia.
    Mar 30. Elements arrive Palmyra Island in Antares (AKS-3) to begin construction of defenses.
    Mar 30. Elements arrive Johnston Island in Boggs (DMS-3) to begin construction of defenses.
    April 1941
    Apr 6 . Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece
    Apr 7 . Quarter of Pacific Fleet ordered to Atlantic : 3BB,1CV,4CL,18DD,3AO.
    Apr 9 . North Carolina (BB-55) commissions.
    April . ABC agreement between Britain and US for defense of S.E. Asia.
    April 10. Niblack (DD-424) a new, Benson class destroyer on "Neutrality Patrol", rescuing survivors, depth charged a contact off Iceland.
    Apr 10. FDR authorizes the transfer of 10 "Lake"-class Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy. Transfers completed Apr 30-May 30.
    Apr 15 . FDR authorizes forming the American Volunteer Group (AVG), which will become known as the "Flying Tigers." Over half of the pilots will be from the Navy and Marine Corps.
    Apr 17. Neutral Egyptian steamship Zamzam is shelled and sunk by German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (Schiffe 16) in South Atlantic; 138 Americans (including 24 ambulance drivers) are among rescued passengers . See reader provided story.
    Apr 18. US declares Greenland and Iceland in its sphere of interest.
    Apr 24. Neutrality Patrol is extended east to 26°W, Iceland, and 20°S, almost to Rio.
    Apr 24. British withdraw from Greece to Crete
    Apr 26. US to supply French North Africa.
    Apr 27. American-Dutch-British Conference at Singapore on combined operating plan in the event of war.
    May 1941
    May 10. Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
    15May Washington (BB-56) commissions.
    May 16. Italian army of East Africa surrender with 289,000 casualties vs. 1,000 for Brits
    May . Meteor, first British jet airplane is test flown.
    May 20. German paratroops invade Crete.
    May 21. Unarmed U.S. freighter Robin Moor, en route to South Africa and Mozambique, is stopped and sunk by German submarine U-69 (torpedo and gunfire) about 700 miles off the west coast of Africa.  First American merchantman sunk by a U-boat in World War II.  Crew given food and directions by submarine.
    May 22. Part of US Pacific fleet ordered to Atlantic.
    May 24. HMS Hood sunk by Bismarck.
    May 24. USN PBYs from Newfoundland search for Bismarck in the western Atlantic.
    May 26. USN observers flying two separate RAF Catalina sight Bismarck. British fleet units converge on the lone German capital ship.
    May 26. HMS Formidable (CV) bombed taking aircraft to Malta; repaired Norfolk Naval Shipyard (US); re-equipped with Wildcat (Martlet) fighters.
    May 27. "Sink the Bismarck".  U.S. declares unlimited national emergency.
    May 27. Roosevelt proclaims unlimited state of emergency, including delivery of supplies to Britain, because of Axis battleship incursion of western Atlantic.
    May 27. Elements of Pacific fleet move to Atlantic patrol.
    May 29. US begins "Neutrality Patrols" in North, Central and Southern Atlantic.
    May 31. British take over Iraq; Syria; Lebanon.
    May .   End of Battle of Britain as German bombers move to Eastern Front.
    June 1941
    June 2. Long Island (AVG-1) commissioned. Prototype escort carrier conversion in 39 days.
    June 6. Lidice, Hungary, massacre.
    Jun 12 . Naval Reserve called to active duty.
    Jun 14 . US freezes German and Italian assets.
    Jun 15 . Japanese spies, LCDRs Itaru Tachibana and Toraichi Kono, arrested.
    Jun 16 . US closed German and Italian consulates.
    Jun 19 . Germany and Italy request closure of U.S. consulates.
    Jun 20 . FDR addresses Congress concerning the German sinking of U.S. freighter Robin Moor.
    June . Jeep selected by US Army.
    June . Caproni-Campini jet plane flies Rome to Milan at over 300 mph.
    Jun 22 . Hitler invades USSR.
    Jun 24 . Japan pressure Vichy for Indochina, needed to stop supplies to China
    Jun 25 . War between Finland and Russia resumes, thus, Finland is considered Axis.
    Jun 28 . German espionage rings in the US were destroyed in a sweep, 33 people were rounded up after 16-months of operation.
    Jun 29. Germany has advanced 200 miles into Russia in a week.
    July 1941
    July .   US orders ban on civilian use of raw silk ; run on stocking counters.
    July 2 . Japan calls up one million army conscripts.
    July 4 . US marines under US air cover relieve British troops in Iceland for duty elsewhere.
    July 7 . Marine Air Group 1 was organized; the first of five wings organized during the war.
    July 8 . First British B-17 mission, Willhelmshaven, 3 planes.
    July 18. German Me-262 jet warplane first flies.
    July 18. British ASV radar installed in one PBY Catalina and two PBM Mariners. Also IFF gear.
    July 24. Japanese forces occupy southern Indochina with French permission.
    July 25. US freezes Japanese assets and stops export of oil to Japan.
    July 26. MacArthur recalled to active duty in the U.S. Army as commander of United States Armed Forces in the Far East
    July 26. Philippine military forces are called into service with U.S. Army.
    July 28. Japan freezes U.S. assets.
    July 29. Japanese start build-up of invasion troops from IndoChina.
    August 1941
    Aug 1 . US-USSR sign accord.
    Aug 6 . USN Patrol Squadrons initiated routine air patrols from Reykjavik, Iceland, over North Atlantic convoy routes
    Aug 8 . IJN carrier Shokaku commissions - Pearl, Rabaul, Ceylon, Coral Sea, E.Solomons, Santa Cruz, - Philippine Sea
    Aug 8 . US Army and Air units convoyed to Iceland.
    Aug 9 . Atlantic Charter, a strategy meeting in Newfoundland between President FDR and Prime Minister WSC.  Agree, when the US enters the war, Germany first.  US warships to escort British merchant ships between the United States and Iceland.
    Aug 25. USSR and Britain invade Iran.
    Aug 28. Hitler and Mussolini end 5-day meeting.
    Aug 28. Australian PM Menzies resigns. Returns Dec'49.
    Aug 31. Finnish army regains their border.
    September 1941
    Sept 4 . Recommissioned destroyer Greer (DD-145), tracked U-652 for several hours. Each attacked the other without injury.
    Sept 5 . SS Steel Seafarer bombed/sunk in Red Sea.
    Sept 6 . Emperor's council -- peace by Oct 10 or war.
    Sep 10 . First B-24 Liberator bomber to England.
    Sep 11. FDR broadcasts "shoot on sight" order.
    Sep 12. Coast Guard cutters seize Norwegian trawler Buskoe in Mackenzie Bay, Greenland, thwarting establishing German radio weather stations.
    Sep 15. Army Group North surrounds Leningrad.
    Sep 16. Radar issued to five PMBs and one PBY for neutrality patrol.
    Sep 18. FDR asks Congress for $1.5Billion for lend-lease.
    Sep 19. New Japanese offensive in Hunan.
    Sep 25. IJN escort carrier Taiyo commissioned. Training and aircraft transport.
    Sep 25. IJN carrier Zuikaku commissioned. - Pearl, Rabaul, Lae, Indian Ocean, Coral Sea, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Marshalls, Philippine Sea, -> Cape Engaņo.
    Sep 26. Second Battle of Changsha, Chinese counter attack.
    Sep 30. B-17s withdrawn from RAF service.
    October 1941
    Oct 4 . Suspend oil shipments to Japan.
    Oct 5 . Naval Conference between US and British commanders in Singapore.
    Oct 13. Emperor expresses, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
    Oct 16-Nov 1. DDs escorting Atlantic convoy make depth charge attacks daily after six merchant ships sunk in five hours.
    Oct 16. Japanese cabinet resigns.
    Oct 16. First fleet caution sent : "Intelligence suggests Japan might attack Russia or British and Dutch Colonies in the East Indies."
    Oct 17. Kearney (DD-432) escorting a convoy was torpedoed U-boat off the coast of Iceland with 11 killed.
    Oct 18. Gen Tojo appointed Prime Minister of Japan, selects new military cabinet.
    Oct 19. Unarmed U.S. freighter Lehigh is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-126  off Freetown, Sierra Leone
    Oct 20. Hornet (CV-8) commissions.
    Oct 19. Certain Soviet departments move from Moscow to Kuibyshev.
    October. Civilian Technical Corps, mostly Americans, wear RAF style uniforms and repair RAF planes.
    Oct 21. Japanese war dead deified through China incident numbers 225,000.
    Oct 23. Gen Zhukov takes command of Russian central sector.
    Oct 25-Nov 8. Yorktown (CV-5), New Mexico (BB-41), and 11 other American warships were screening convoys to and from MOMP.
    Oct 27. German Army Group South enters Crimea.
    Oct 28. Screening destroyer Anderson (DD-411) picked up a submarine contact and dropped depth charges noticing "considerable oil slick".
    Oct 29. Tanker Salinas (AO-19) torpedoed (survived the war) by U-106 SW of Iceland
    Oct 31. Reuben James (DD-245), an older destroyer on convoy duty west of Iceland, was sunk by U-boat with loss of 115 men.
    Oct 31. DuPont (DD-152) is attacked by U-boat, but missed.
    November 1941   See Last days of peace
    Nov 1 . The President directed that the Coast Guard operate as a part of the Navy until further notice.
    Nov 1-4. PBYs and PBMs provide air coverage for convoy ON 31.
    Nov 3 . US warns Finland to stop military operations against Russia.
    Nov 4 . Omaha (CL-4), Memphis (CL-13) and 3 DDs search for German surface raider.
    Nov 6 . Omaha (CL-4) and Somers (DD-381), en route to Recife, Brazil, returning from the 3,023-mile patrol, captures German blockade runner Odenwald, disguised as U.S. freighter Willmoto, in Atlantic equatorial waters . See reader provided story.
    Nov 7 . Japanese carrier fleet exercises.
    November . Flying Tigers arrived china, planes assembled, pilots trained. First combat Dec 20.
    Nov 10. First United States-escorted troop convoy, transporting more than 20,000 British troops, in six USN ships sailed from Halifax for the Far East.
    Nov 10-20. US convoy DDs attack numerous sound contacts.
    Nov 11. Lend Lease for de Gaulle's Free French.
    Nov 11. Navy ordered to attack any vessel threatening US shipping.
    Nov 11. Ten submarines , including I-69, I-74, I-75 and others left Yokosuka Naval Base for rendezvous at Kwajalein, then to proceed to Hawaii.
    November. LtGen Brereton toured with his Australian counterpart to determine air field sites in northern Australia.
    Nov 13. Amend Neutrality Act to arm US ships and to enter war zones.
    Nov 14. "China Marines" ordered to Philippines.
    Nov 15. US troops to Dutch Guiana surinam to protect bauxite mines.
    Nov 16. Japanese strike fleet to Kiriles to continue training.
    Nov 16. Large Canadian force lands at Hong Kong.
    Nov 17. Archer (BAVG-1) is the first of 38 escort carriers transferred to the United Kingdom during the war under the Lend-Lease program.
    Nov 18. Five Japanese mother subs, each with midget sub, depart Kure for Pearl Harbor.
    Nov 24. CNO to Fleet Commanders " attack on Philippines or Guam is a possibility."
    Nov 25. US troops to Dutch Guiana (surinam) to protect bauxite mines.
    Nov 26. Japanese strike fleet sorties towards Pearl Harbor.
    Nov 27. "War Warning" : an amphibious expedition against either the Philippines, Tai or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo."
    Nov 30. Seaplane from Japanese submarine I-10 reconnoiters Suva Bay, Fiji.
    Nov 30. Emperor orders Tojo to proceed.
    December 1941   See Countdown , Pearl Harbor , Dec'41
    Dec 2 . German submarine U-43 torpedoes and sinks unarmed U.S. tanker Astral and her 37 man crew.
    Dec 3 . Unarmed U.S. freighter Sagadahoc is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-124 in South Atlantic.
    Dec 3 . Turkey has "for sometime" been receiving lend lease aid.
    Dec 3 . Japanese invasion fleet departs Hainan for Thailand.
    Dec 4 . Schedule of Pearl Harbor attack was transmitted to the Japanese submarine fleet.
    Dec 5 . Army Group Center stops outside Moscow.
    Dec 6 . Russian counterattack until mid-Feb.
    Dec 6 . Formosa : 27 invasion transports depart for Philippines. 400 pilots briefed.
    Dec 7 . Japanese invasion of Khota Baru, Malaya, 2 hours before Pearl Harbor attack.
    Dec 7 . Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
    Dec 7 . Unarmed US steamer, Cynthia Olson, shelled and sunk by submarine I-26, no survivors.
    Dec 7 . Air raids on Singapore, Guam, Wake, Philippines
    Dec 7 . Two Japanese destroyers shell Midway.
    Dec 8 . Imperial Rescript declares a state of war between the Japanese Empire and the United States and U.K.
    Dec 8 . U.S. declares a state of war to exist with the Empire of Japan.
    Dec 8 . Japan takes Gilbert Islands
    Dec 9 . Japanese planes sink Repulse and Prince of Wales off Malaya.
    Dec 9 . The Navy buys 25 airborne search radar sets for service test in dive bombers and torpedo planes.
    Dec 11. German/Italian Axis declares war on US.
    Dec 11. US, others respond with war on Germany and Italy.
    Dec 16. IJN superbattleship Yamato commissioned - Midway, Samar -> to Okinawa.
    Dec 16. Navy approves an expansion of the pilot training program from 800 students per month to 2,500 per month.
    Dec 17. 17 SB2U-3 Vindicators, led by a PBY, arrived at Midway Island from Oahu ; longest mass flight by single-engine aircraft, 9:45
    Dec 20. First combat by Flying Tigers.
    Dec 23. Wake Island falls.
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    About this page: 1941 - Seventy years ago World War 2 started. This a chronology of interesting events leading to that war to help in understanding the period.
    Created July 9, 2009
    URL: http://www.ww2pacific.com/1941.html