I Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. I lie News of The l)av in Pictures” Member (If I lie Associated Press
THE NOME NUGGET
VOL. 44. No. 11. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, Jan. 26, 1942. Per Copy iu
I i p» n*
U. S., Dutch Forces Sink at Least
£7 <rap Ships In 43-5lour Dallle
UNDATED, Jan. 26 (AP) — U. S. and Dutch
and air forces, locked in a great running battle wit
a Japanese invasion armada n the Strait of Macassar,
sunk or damaged at least 27 transports and warships
in four days of fighting and may have shattered the
attempt to invade Nava, heart of the United Nations'
defense of the southwest Pacific. The next few days
will tell, what strength if any, the Japanese armada
will be able to negotiate the narrow short cut to the
inner arc of the Netherliands East Indies.
The Japanese, however, won at least one foothold
p on this sea road to Java, the Dutch oil port of Balik
Papan, on the Strait side of the island of Borneo, but
the size of the invasion fleet indicated that Tokyo is
shooting for higher stakes to the south. The Strait of
Macassar is the most direct route between Japanese
concentration points in the Philippines and the rich
island of Nava, at which the United Nations have cen
tered their supreme command and much of their arm
^ ed strength. Skerabaja, great Dutch naval has \
less than 350 miles southwest of the southern mouth
of the Strait.
The score against the Japanese in the Macassar
Straits battle, thus far reported by communiques from
the Java headquarters in Batavia to Washington, fol
lows: Destroyed 9 transports and one destroyer; dam
aged a warship of unclassified type; 5 cruisers, 2 de
stroyers and 9 transports damaged. Ships hit by bombs
or torpedoes include at least 5 transports probably
sunk, and a cruiser may have gone down when torped
oed by a sub. It was so resisted that it was impossible
* I r the 'ternr .incurs to determine «th-e result of the
battle which started Thursday afteiuoon.
Dutch airmen roaring out of their jungle-shielded
bases, scored 12 direct hits with heavy and medium
calibre bombs on 8 ships. U. S. naval air forces joined
the attack on the following day and the hot equatoiial
waters of Macassar Strait were churned by bombs and
torpedoes from flying fortresses and light and heavy
bombers, submariens, cruisers and destroyers. Slight
damage to one of the United Nations warships was
r the only naval damage acknowledged so far as the
co^t of the attack. ___
Australian Artillery Smash Jap Drive
Singapore. Jan 24 (AD—
Australian gunners, drag |
ding up field pieces, pour
ej a torrent of shells int
Jap columns attempting 1
^ drive south on the mail
highway here, smashing a ;
number of tanks & trucks.
\ full scale battle was join
’i north of Yong Pang, 67
niles above Singapore. On
he British imperial army’s
eft flank, fighting contin
ed near Batu Pahat.
.
>
L
f
Concentration of Japanese naval forces in Davao Bay (1), suggested the next ma
jor jor move may be against the Dutch East Indies — Borneo, Celebes, and New
* Guinea (broken arrows). Davao is farther south than the Jap bases in Thailand
and Indo-China 2), from which thrust were made at North Borneo, Sarawak and
Malaya (heavy arrows,. Major Dutch naval base, Amboina (3), was attacked
ALLIES WIPE OUT
SEVEN JAP RAIDERS
n o< n, Jan. 24 (AP) —
>J. S. and British fighter pi
! uts utterly wiped out a for
mat ion of 7 big twin-engin
ed Jap bombers in a wild
,.u fi ht at the outskirts of
the city. Four Jap pursuit
'hips were also reported
shot down. All Allied plan
es returned safely to their
bases.
BRITISH VESSEL
SINKS JAP SUB
London, Jan. 24 (AP) The
idmiralty announced that
a British ship operating in
the far east destroyed a
Jjp sub. A depth charge
b: ought it to the surface
and gunfire sank it. IV me
of the crew were taken pri
soner.
The hoard of inquiry into the Jap attack n Hawaii accused rank ns? officers of
“a, re'.icti.cn of duty" in a report to the TVcddont Saturday. Left to right: Brig
Gen Joseph T. McNarney, Admiral Will am H St-ndley. AssnGate Justice Owen
J. h1 o1 erts of the Supreme Court, Rear \dmiral Joseph M. Reeves and Major
Gen Frank Ross McCoy. _’
Jap Invaders Suppnrled By Warship
Guns Force MacArlluir’s Army Rack
UNDATED, Jan. 2-1 (AP)—Hordes of Jap invasion
forces, supported by barrages from warship cuns, fore
ed MacArthur’s American and Filipino defenders to
all back in heavy, bloody fighting on the west coast
of Batan Peninsula, but fierce counter attacks hurled
the Japs away at other points. A War Department
bulletin said the troops, although fatigued by 6 weeks
of incessant fighting, arc still-rattling with undimin
ished enthusiasm and courage. “Heavy losses were
suffered by both sides."
Dutch bombers slashed at a new concentration of
Jap invasion ships off Balik Papan, east coast of Dutch
Borneo, scoring direct hits on a large transport, a de
stroyer and capsizing a large passenger liner. The
Dutch already have destroyed the rich Balik Papan
oil fields in pursuance of the “scorched earth" policy.
Sir Stafford Cripps .retiring British ambassador to
Moscow hinted broadly at a press conference that Rus
sia now has 9 million men under arms and may join
the battle with Japan. After 18 months, Moscow said.
Russia and Japan had longstanding difficulties, which
only force could settle. “The Russians intend to make
the* conquest of Germany absolutely complete and
thorough.”
The Navy spokesman at Washington tersely an
nounced the destruction of an unspecified number of
Axis submarines preying on ships on the Atlantic
coast.
In Burma, American and British fliers shot down a
record bag of 21 of 60 Jap planes attacking Rangoon.
Rommel’s Forces
Drive British
Back 40 Miles
Cairo, Jan, 26 (AP — The
British acknowledged that
they driven still farther
back in Libya by Rommel’s
counter attacking armored
columns. The Axis forces
are apparently aiming to
by-pass Bengasi, in a ma
jor comebacg against Brit
ain’s eighth army.
The new center of the
desert batle was placed, by
a communique, north and
northeast of Zouietmsus
and meant that Romel ad
vanced more than 40 miles
from Agedabia to Antelat
and Saunna, forming a tri
angle where a big tank
battle raged over the week
end.
ftave $2.1)0 by pay’ng ir.- ad
'ance for ycur subscription.
Fix Blame Hawaiian l ^preparedness
WASHINGTON. Saturday (AP)—The special eom
nission which investigated the Jap attack on Pearl
Harbor, Dec. 7th, accused eommonder-in-chief of the
fleet, Admiral Husband Kimmel, and commanding
general of the Hawaiian department, Lieut. General
Walter Short of “dereliction of duty” in a blame-fixing
report today to President Roosevelt, The commission,
headed by Associate Justice Roberts, declared these
Uv ». who replied shortly after the attack, of fading t«>
consult or confer with one another about warnings
and “appropriate measures of defense, required by the
imminence of hostilities.”
Fleet Scores 7 to 0 Against Japs
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (AP) — Cruisers and de
stroyers of the U S. Asiatic fleet thundered into action
against the Japanese in the first large scale naval en
gagement of the war, with a score tonight of 7 to 0 in
favor of Uncle Sam. The 7 represented enemy trans
ports or warships definitely! and conclusively sunk,
but a Navy communique told that other units of a large
Nipponese convoy, attempting to pass through Mac
assar Straits, including escorting destroyers, were
heavily damaged and probably sunk in addition. U. S
and Dutch army aircraft also participated in the battle
over the waters between Borneo and Celebes.
A communique from the southwest Pacific, heard
from quarters of the United Nations on Java estimat
ed that 3 enemy ships were sunk and 4 probably sunk,
and no less than a dozen damaged throughout the 48
hours that the engagement proceeded. The United
| States lost not a single vessel. In addition to 37 vessels
sunk by the Navy, the Army accounted for 11. making
, a total of 48 Japanese ships destroyed.
I!. S. Ore Carrier Sunk in Atlantic
NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 26 (AP) An Axis undersea
raider attacked the American ore carried Venore, off
the North Carolina coast, late Friday and 22 members
of its crew are unaccounte for, the 5th naval district
announced. 21 crew members were brought ashore at
Norfolk last night. The ship was owned by the Ore
Steamship Co. and was hit at least twice by torpedoes
Friday and sank in the Atlantic Saturday morning,
the Navy said.
Conference Adopts Resolutions
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 26 (AP) The political com
mittee of the Pan American conference adopted a
proposal to declare the U. S. and all her allies non
belligerents and approved the principles of the At
lantic charter, embodied in the war aims of the U. S.
and Britain. The action on both resolutions was unani
mous. Also approved were resolutions calling for an
immediate meeting of the general staffs of all Ameri
can nations, and proposing that no American nation
represent the interests of a warring government not
on this continent or in any other American nation.