At 1500 hours Bataan defences on the Philippine Islands come under attack by 6500 men of the inexperienced 65th Infantry Brigade which replaced the veteran Japanese 48th Division; the first wave of attacks at the Abucay-Mauban defence line are repelled by US-Filipino troops. US Marines of Batteries A and C of 3rd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment remain on Bataan under naval control and are integrated into a naval battalion for ground combat.

British HMS Vimiera hits a mine and sinks in the Thames estuary in southern England; 96 die and 14 survive.

German U-568 suffers minor damage after an attack by a British Sunderland aircraft 70 miles northwest off Mersa Matruh, Egypt.

Germany begins their first attacks on United States shores in Unternehmen Paukenschlag (Operation Drumbeat, Timpani Beat); at 0834 hours German U-123 sinks Panamanian tanker Norness about 60 miles off Montauk Point in Long Island, New York, United States; all but two of the 43 would survive. About 450 miles northwest of Ireland German U-43 attacks Allied convoy ON 55 with the results of: sinking Greek ship Maro with zero survivors, British Empire Surf with 6 survivors and 45 deaths, and Panamanian Chepo with 17 deaths and 21 survivors. US Navy Admiral Adolphus Andrews had received multiple warnings but refused to implement a convoy system; these attacks would continue successfully for some months and it was also hushed up by the United States government.

The Sikorsky XR-4 helicopter prototype's first flight was made at Stratford, Connecticut. It would become the first Allied helicopter ordered into production by the US government.

Germany continues attacks on the US eastern shore. At 0743 hours Canadian ship Lady Hawkins is sunk 150 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 251 were killed with 71 survivors. German U-123 sinks US ships City of Atlanta (43 deaths and 3 survivors) and Norvana in the same area killing all but three of 46; the US tanker Malay is also damaged in this attack.

USS Astoria departs Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii; USS Pensacola arrives.

Allying itself with Japan, Thailand declares war on the United States of America and the United Kingdom; Ambassador Seni Pramoj in the American capital refuses to deliver the declaration of war and defects to the United States, later forming a Free Thai movement.

German troops captured Msus, Libya obtaining 30 British Valentine tanks.

German U-Boats continue to attack US eastern shores; at 0925 hours U-754 sinks Greek ship Mount Kitheron off Newfoundland. At 1002 hours, 28 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, U-130 sinks Norwegian tanker Varanger which was carrying 12,750 tons of fuel from Curacao to New York; all aboard survive. Southward, German U-125 damages US tanker Olney 10km off Virginia, United States. U-123, meanwhile, on her way to her home port, sinks British ship Culebra in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 45 aboard.

German U-107 sinks British tanker San Arcadio southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States at 0445 hours; 41 die and 9 survive. Southward, U-109 sink British tanker Tacoma Star 200km east of Virginia. U-333 sinks German freighter Spreewald by mistake as it was disguised as British Royal Mail transport Brittany; 41 German crew and 31 British prisoners of war die with 25 German crew members and 55 British prisoners of war surviving. At 2212 hours U-82 attacks Allied convoy NA-2 in the Atlantic Ocean sinking British destroyer HMS Belmont; all aboard die. At 2331 hours U-105 attacks Allied convoy SL-98 southeast Ireland by 500 miles sinking British Sloop HMS Culver with two torpedoes, detonating the magazines killing 126 with just 12 survivors.

Carrier USS Lexington is ordered to sail south to cover the return of carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown from their raids at the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. To this end she set sail for Pearl Harbor with Task Force 11.