TUESDAY, 26 JANUARY 1943
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force) In the Aleutians, all missions are cancelled due
to weather. Two Japanese aircraft strafe Constantine Harbor on Amchitka.
CENTRAL PACIFIC (Seventh Air Force) Three B-24s, taking off
from Funafuti fly a photographic reconnaissance missions over Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Beru and Tomama. The heavy bombers attack merchant
vessels in the lagoon at Tarawa. Not to be outdone by the 78th Fighter Squadron,
P-40E Warhawks from the 73rd Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, escorted by three LB-30s,
fly from Midway to NAS Kaneohe a distance of roughly 1,100
nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean. The 73rd Fighter Squadron had been dispatched to Midway immediately after the
Battle of Midway and had been flown off the deck of the USS Saratoga (CV-3), the first
land based fighters to take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. The 371st
Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 307th Bombardment Group with B-24s ceases
operating from Midway and returns to its base at Wheeler Field.
CBI (Tenth Air Force) Seven B-24s bomb shipping and the dock area
at Rangoon; Twelve B-25s bomb Mandalay marshaling yards. Three B-25s and 15 P-40s
hit the town area and bridge at Shaduzup, the railroad west of Meza and the
Neba Marshaling Yard.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (Fifth Air Force) B-17s bomb
shipping and the Rapopo Airfield near Rabaul. B-24s carry out individual attacks on the runways at Cape
Gloucester and Gasmata.
A-20s and B-25s pound the Lae area, concentrating on supply storage dumps. B-24s carry out individual attacks
on Finschhafen. Crashed on take off is A-20A "Spook" 40-109 (pilot KIA).
SOUTH PACIFIC (Thirteenth Air Force) Two Airacobras escort B-17s bomb Ballale escorted by P-39 pilot Fiedler and P-39 pilot McKulla. Returning, the Airacobras seach Choiseul Island for a person in a raft and make a single firing pass against H6K Mavis pilot Kira then are intercepted by six A6M Zeros from 252 Kokutai (252 Air Group). Shot down is P-39 pilot McKulla (survived).
U.S. Army: 25th Div, after 2d and 3d Bns of 27th Inf establish contact and are passed through at Poha River line by CAM Div, is withdrawn to guard airfields since there are indications of an enemy attempt to recover Lunga perimeter. 161st Inf, its mission unchanged, passes to control of XIV Corps. CAM Div, with 6th Marines and 182d Inf abreast, former on right, pushes forward from the Poha about 1,000 yards against light resistance.
USN: USS Flying Fish (SS-229) damages Japanese transport Tokai Maru at Port Apra, Guam, 13°27'N, 144°37'E.
USS Grayling (SS-209) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Ushio Maru in Verde Island Passage, north of Mindoro, P.I., 13°26'N, 121°16'E.
USS Gudgeon (SS-211) is damaged by depth charges in the Banda Sea at Lat 3°59'S, Long 127°54'E but remains on patrol.
USS Wahoo (SS-238) attacks Japanese convoy roughly 270 miles north of Dutch New Guinea and torpedoes and sinks army cargo ships Buyo Maru and No.2 Fukuei Maru, 02°00'N, 139°14'E. After dispatching the freighters, which are serving as transports, Wahoo (Lieutenant Commander Dudley W. Morton) surfaces to recharge her batteries and mans her guns. Firing her 4" gun at the largest of the craft draws Japanese return fire from automatic weapons. As Morton later writes, "We then opened fire with everything we had." Subsequently, Wahoo pursues and torpedoes armed merchant cruiser Ukishima Maru, 02°37'N, 139°42'E, and army cargo ship Pacific Maru, 02°30'N, 139°44'E.
USMC: On Guadalcanal, the Composite Army-Marine Division attacked westward along the coast against light resistance from withdrawing Japanese forces. An attempt to trap the Japanese at Cape Esperance, by landing a U.S. Army unit to the west will fail when the Japanese completed their evacuation during the night of February 7-8, 1942.
PBY4-1 Liberator from Marine Photographic Squadron 154 (VMD-154) photographs Puluwat Atoll, as the first U.S. plane to enter the Truk area.
