Allied Command

The Australia-New Zealand Naval Command is established and will be commanded by US Navy Admiral H. F. Leary.

Axis Diplomacy

Göring completes an 8-day visit to Italy which includes talks with Mussolini and the King and a tour of Luftwaffe bases in Sicily.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-751 sinks the British steamer Silveray (4535t) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia with the loss of 8 of her crew. 41 survivors are picke up by the American coast guard cutter Campbell and the Canadian fishing vessel Lucille M..
• The US tanker India Arrow (8327t)is torpedoed, shelled and sunk by U-103 about 20 miles south of Cape May, New Jersey. 2 crewmen are killed in the attack, 24 others drawn when 2 lifeboats are swamped. 12 survivors are rescued by the fishing skiff Gitana.

Borneo

A Dutch and American naval squadron with 4 cruisers and 7 destroyers, commanded by Rear-Adm Karel W. Doorman, passes through the Strait of Madura to attack the Japanese forces landing at Balikpapan, but is spotted and attacked from the air. The mission has to be abandoned. The heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30) and the light cruiser Marblehead (CA-12), both American, are seriously damaged by horizontal bombers. One Dutch cruiser is also damaged.

After returning to the port of Tjilatjap (Java) the crew of the US cruiser Marblehead inspects damage done by Japanese bombs to their ship.

Crew Inspects Damage From Japanese Bombs

Britain, Home Front

Beaverbrook is appointed Minister for Production.

Dutch East Indies

The Japanese have now completed the capture of Amboina, an island in the Banda Sea, despite brave resistance by the mixed Australian and Dutch garrison.

Eastern Front

As the Soviet situation around Vyazma deteriorates, MarshalZhukov orders a general attack upon the town in an effort to smash throught the German defenses. The XI Cavalry Corps, only 6 miles to the west, is unable to make any progress, while to the south and southeast, Belov Group and the 33rd Army fight in encirclement.

Hurricane Z2585 that made an emergency landing on 4 February 1942 after fighting with Finnish fighter planes.

RAF Hurricane Makes Emergency Landing

Egypt, Home Front

In order to forestall the appointment of an Egyptian government that will be anti-British and lean toward the Axis, the British ambassador in Cairo, Sir Miles Lampson, demands Kirg Farouk's abdication or the appointment of a pro-Allied prime minister. The 22-year-old king capitulates after a small British force seizes the royal palace. Farouk and his advisers were hoping to welcome Rommel's forces in Cairo and name Ali Mahir as prime minister. From September 1939 at the latest Ali Mahir Pasha has been suspected of being on the German payroll.

North Africa

Axis forces recapture Derna. The British XIII Corps takes up positions on the Gazala-Bir Hacheim line. Axis forces are near the Tmimi-El Mechili line.

Pacific

I-55 sinks the Dutch steamer Van Lansberge (1937t) south of Makassar.

Dutch ships under bombardment near Kangean, 4 February 1942. From left to right: a Dutch destroyer, and cruisers Tromp and De Ruyter.

Dutch Ships Under Bombardment Near Kangean

Singapore

Japanese demands for the surrender of Singapore are rejected. Four days of intense bombardment follow the rejection. British reinforcements continue to arrive despite the desperate situation. Wavell hopes that the island can be held for some time while Allied forces elsewhere in the East Indies are being built up.

The last British flying boat leaves Singapore.