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• Eamon de Valera, Premier of Ireland, protested the arrival of US troops in Ulster, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [TH]
• Submarines of the US Navy Asiatic Fleet withdrew to Fremantle, Australia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American submarine USS Seawolf delivered 37 tons of .30 caliber ammunition to the US troops at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands. Upon departure, the submarine took on 25 pilots, spare submarine parts, and 16 torpedoes. ww2dbase [Seawolf | CPC]
• Lieutenant Commander Otoji Nakamura of I-68 traveled to Yamato to brief Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on the depth charge attacks his submarine received during the Pearl Harbor attack. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | CPC]
• 100 miles off Java, HMS Indomitable launched the 48 RAF Hurricane fighters that she was transporting. These fighters would fly to Java and Dutch Borneo; they were intended to ultimately reach Singapore to bolster defenses there. ww2dbase [Indomitable | CPC]
• Just after 0000 hours, German submarine U-754 sank Greek ship Icarion off Newfoundland, killing 9 of 29 aboard. Off the east coast of the United States, German submarine U-130 sank US tanker Francis E. Powell 35 miles southeast of Ocean City, New Jersey at 0943 hours (killing 4 of 32 aboard) and damaged US tanker Halo with gunfire off North Carolina. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Additional Japanese troops were landed at Point Quinauan in southwestern Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Elements of the US 4th Marine Regiment attacked the Japanese beachhead at Longoskawayan Point. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
• Erwin Rommel sent a small column of tanks from Msus, Libya eastward across the desert towards Mechili as a feint to draw out the British 1st Armored Division; meanwhile, his main force moved towards Benghazi. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• Japanese troops overcame Dutch and Indian troops and captured the Singkawang II airfield on Dutch Borneo; the Allied troops retreated to Ledo, 15 miles to the southwest. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Borneo | CPC]
• At 0318 hours, destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire engaged Japanese cruiser Sendai and six destroyers, which were protecting the troop transports that the two Allied destroyers were aiming to sink, off British Malaya; in the ensuing Battle of Endau, Japanese troop transports Kansai Maru and Kanbera Maru were damaged. At 0400 hours, HMS Thanet was sunk; 38 were killed, 67 survived and were rescued by friendly forces, and 31 survived and were captured by the Japanese. Also in eastern Malaya, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion evacuated 1,500 British troops from Rengit and transported them to Singapore. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | CPC]
• British tanker Harpa struck a mine, which detonated her cargo of aviation fuel, in Singapore Strait; she was destroyed, killing 39 of 40 aboard. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet 11th Cavalry Corps reached Vyazma, Russia but was driven back by elements of the German 9th Army. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | CPC]

• Japanese troops executed Australian prisoner of war Captain Richard Travers at Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Akagi returned to Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akagi | Truk | CPC]
• Tanikaze arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tanikaze | Truk | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1522 hours for exercises, returning at 1845 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]
• Leonardo da Vinci departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1522 hours for exercises, returning at 1845 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille arrived in Athens, Greece. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Athens | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan, arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, and then departed for Yokohama once again. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• US submarine USS Gudgeon detected Japanese submarine I-73 by radar 260 miles west of Midway Atoll. USS Gudgeon fired three torpedoes, which was immediately spotted by I-73's lookouts. I-73 dove shortly after, but the Japanese submarine along with her complement of 68 men would never be seen again. ww2dbase [Gudgeon | CPC]

• Winston Churchill opened a three-day Parliamentary debate in London, England, United Kingdom on the course of the war. ww2dbase [London, England | CPC]

27 Jan 1942 Interactive Map