Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:
O'Brien by the 22nd had finished repairs to the port side and departed for Pearl Harbor on the 20th; arrival at Pearl Harbor would be early in March.
Other Events:
- February 19th: Japanese force retiring from Bali is attacked by Allied forces. A Dutch destroyer is sunk and two other Dutch ships are damaged. Two Japanese destroyers are damaged.
- February 19th: A Japanese attack force with four fleet carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu) attack Darwin, Australia and do major damage to the installations, also sinking 3 US ships (including one destroyer). Darwin will no longer be used as a naval base. Allied air forces will continue to use the airfields there.
- February 20th: Task Force 11 (Lexington) is spotted before it can attack the Japanese base at Rabaul. Japanese bombers attack the Lexington task force but most are shot down. Pilot Edward H. (Butch) O'Hare shoots down five bombers in six minutes, and received the Medal of Honor. O'Hare was later killed in action. In 1949, Orchard Airport in Chicago was renamed O'Hare International Airport in his honor.
- February 20th: Japanese landings on Timor.
- February 20th: Welcome news is received that the aircraft carrier USS Hornet will transit from the Atlantic and arrive in the Pacific by mid-March. It will make the 4th active carrier task force along with Enterprise, Yorktown, and Lexington. Saratoga is still in port for repairs on the West Coast.
- February 19th - 22nd: Shipping losses in the Atlantic continue; 5 tankers and 4 freighters are sunk during these four days.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology
- The First South Pacific Campaign, John B. Lundstrom, pp. 35-38.
NEXT POST: FEBRUARY 26TH
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