PACIFIC WAR TIMELINE

FEBRUARY 1942


1 February: Marshall Islands: Admiral Halsey with carriers USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise raid Japanese garrisons in Gilbert and Marshall Islands.


4 February: Ambon: Japanese forces led by General Ito invade Ambon in the Moluccas.


8 February: Singapore: General Yamashita begins assault on Singapore Island.


13 February: Singapore: General Percival surrenders to General Yamashita in Singapore.


Gunboat HMS Li Wo sunk in suicidal attack on Japanese transports.


14 February: Sumatra: Japanese forces invade Sumatra in Dutch East Indies.


15 February: Singapore: Singapore surrenders.


16 February: Dutch East Indies: The Battle of Palembang: Japanese forces take Palembang and its oilfields on Sumatra.


18 February: Japan: Hirohito publicly celebrates victories over Allies riding a pure white horse at Nijubashi Bridge in front of the Imperial Palace.


Dutch East Indies: Naval Battle of Bali: HNLMS Piet Hein sunk by a long lance torpedo strike by Japanese destroyer Asashio.


19 February: Australia: Japanese forces bomb Darwin in Northwest Australia.


20 February: Dutch East Indies: Japanese invade Bali.


Dutch East Indies: General Wavell and US General George Brett conclude that ABDA command should be would up and that the fall of Java is inevitable.


22 February: The Philippines: MacArthur ordered to leave the Philippines.


23 February: Burma: General Smyth orders the blowing up of the Sittang Bridge leaving British forces stranded on the east bank of the Sittang River.


America: Japanese submarine shells a US oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.


24 February: Wake Island: Admiral Halsey bombs Japanese garrison on Wake Island.


26 February: Pacific Ocean: USS Langley (first US carrier, converted from oiler) sunk by Japanese bombers.


27-29 February: Dutch East Indies: Dutch/US Fleet defeated at Battle of Java Sea. Admiral Doorman goes down with his light cruiser HNLM De Ruyter. Dutch fleet destroyed in first major surface battle of the Pacific War and the first since the Battle of Jutland in World War I.

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