THURSDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 1942
USA: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 with the intention of preventing espionage on American shores. Military zones were created in California, Washington and Oregon all three with large population of Japanese Americans and the executive order began the relocation of roughly 117,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, the majority of whom were U.S. citizens.
Burma: Indian 17th Div continues to defend Bilin River line throughout day but is ordered to fall back after dark. Mandalay receives its first enemy air attack.
USN: PBY Catalina 2306 pilot Lt. T. H. Moorer (survived) shot down near Bathurst Island. Sunk is USS Peary (DD-226) in Darwin Harbor.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): VII Air Force Base Cmmand (AFBC) is
activated.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): A-24s, with P-40
escort, and B-17s operating out of Malang, Madioen, and Jogjakarta,
attack vessels landing troops on southern Bali; the attacks, carried out during the aftenoon
and until the morning of February 20, 1942, cause considerable damage to
vessels but fail to halt the landings; P-40's shoot down or turn back seversl
bombers sweeping west over Java. Destroyed by a Japanese air raid at Bandoeng Airfield was B-17E 41-2493, B-17E 41-2503, B-17E 41-2466 and LB-30 Liberator.
ABDA: At 10:00pm at the start of the Battle of Badung Strait (Bali Sea Battle) part of the first group of Allied warships spot the Japanese in Badung Strait. At 10:25pm they open fire at but cause no damage and the two Dutch cruisers continued through Badung Strait to the northeast, to allow the destroyers to engage with torpedoes. At 10:40pm, the Allied destroyers came into range. Meanwhile, Asashio fired a torpedo that hit and sank Hr Ms Piet Hein afterwards, 30 of her survivors find motor whaleboat jettisoned by destroyer USS John D. Ford (DD-228) and proceed to Java. Next, Asashio and Oshio then exchanged gunfire with USS Pope and USS John D. Ford, forcing them to retire to the southeast instead of northeast in further pursuit. Accidentally, Asashio and Oshio mistook each other for enemy ships and fired on each other for several minutes, but failed to cause any damage. Destroyer USS Stewart (DD-224) is damaged by gunfire from destroyers Oshio and Asashio at roughly Lat 07°18'S, Long 112°46'E. D afterwards, 30 of her survivors find motor whaleboat jettisoned by destroyer USS John D. Ford (DD-228) and proceed to Java. Dutch light cruisers Hr Ms Java and Hr Ms Tromp are damaged by Japanese gunfire. Meanwhile, Japanese destroyers Ushio and Michisio are damaged by Allied gunfire.
IJN: Japanese carrier striking force under Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi strike Darwin and Darwin Harbor in the Northern Territory of Australia. The strike force of 189 carrier planes from Hiryu and Soryu and Akagi bomb shipping, airfields, and shore installations; carrier bombers sink destroyer USS Peary (DD-226) at 12°30'S, 130°50'E, MV Neptuna, Kelat, British Motorist, Zealandia, U.S. Army Transport USAT Miegs and SS Mauna Loa, her 37-man crew and seven passengers survive and damage seaplane tender (destroyer) USS William B. Preston (AVD-7). U.S. freighter Portmar is damaged and beached, one of her 34-man crew is killed; two of the 300 embarked soldiers perish as well; 12 men are injured); freighter Admiral Halstead carrying drums of gasoline is damaged without casualties). Lost is A6M2 Zero 5349 (pilot POW, first prisoner captured in Australia).
Ten P-40E Warhawks sent to Darwin to escort the convoy are almost entirely wiped out during the air raid. Lost are P-40E Warhawk pilot Rice (survived) and P-40E Warhawk pilot Pell (KIA) and P-40E Warhawk pilot 2nd Lt Robert F. McMahon (survived).
In related actions, U.S. freighter Florence D, under charter to the Army and carrying a cargo of ammunition, rescues eight-man PBY Catalina from VP-22 pilot Lieutenant Thomas H. Moorer off north coast of Australia, near Darwin, and later comes under attack by Japanese carrier aircraft that bomb and sink the ship, One man of Moorer's crew and three of the 37-man ship's complement are killed in action); Australian minesweeper HMAS Warrnambol and mission boat St. Francis rescue the survivors. Japanese carrier planes also bomb and sink Philippine motorship Don Isidro chartered by the U.S. Army to run supplies to Corregidor off northwest coast of Bathurst Island, 11°00'S, 130°00'E; 11 of the 67-man crew and one of the 16 embarked soldiers are killed. HMAS Warrnambol rescues the surviving crew and passengers. Meanwhile, Japanese naval land attack planes from Kanoya Kokutai and 1st Kokutai bomb Darwin Airfield.
Submarine S-37 (SS-142) is damaged by grounding off the northeast corner of Lembogan Island in the Lombok Strait but continues on patrol.
After 34 days lost at sea, a life raft
with the crew of TBD-1 Devastator 0335 including Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate Harold F. Dixon reach Pukapuka Island (Puka Puka Island, Danger Island) in the northern Cook Islands.
Canada: In British Columbia a 100 mile security zone is declared and all men of Japanese ancestry between the ages of 18-45 are ordered to vacate. A total of 23,000 Canadian-Japanese men, women and children will be sent to labor camps in the interior of the province.
