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• German blockade runner Burgenland was attacked by light cruiser USS Omaha and destroyer USS Jouett in the Atlantic Ocean leading to the German crew scuttling their own ship. Walter Auconi, former commanding of Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini, was among the survivors; he and the 31 other Germans and Italians in his lifeboat was later picked up by a Brazilian ship and spent the rest of the war in a Brazilian prisoners of war camp. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• The first land-based (Bougainville) SBD and TBF aircraft raid on Rabaul, New Britain was cancelled due to weather. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 arrived at Balikpapan, Dutch East Indies at 0800 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Balikpapan, Borneo | CPC]

• Hansjürgen Reinicke was named the commanding officer of German cruiser Prinz Eugen. ww2dbase [Prinz Eugen | CPC]
• 358 RAF aircraft (348 Lancaster and 10 Halifax) attacked Stettin, Germany, while 28 Mosquito aircraft attacked five other cities (13 against Berlin) in diversion; 16 aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Stettin, Pommern | CPC]
• Robert Johnson shot down a German Fw 190 aircraft over Koblenz, Germany. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Koblenz | CPC]
• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against the submarine facilities at Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | RAF Thurleigh | Kiel | DS]

• USS Alabama departed Efate Island, New Hebrides Islands. ww2dbase [Alabama | Port Havannah, Efate | CPC]

• USS Scorpion made rendezvous with USS Herring in the East China Sea, but the planned transfer of an injured sailor from Scorpion to Herring did not take place due to heavy seas. Some time after this date, she was lost, presumed mined in the Yellow Sea. ww2dbase [Scorpion | East China Sea | CPC]
• USS Bluefish attacked a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all 3 torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Bluefish | South China Sea | CPC]

• Bruce Fraser was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. ww2dbase [Bruce Fraser | CPC]

• Petrof Bay was launched at the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Washington, United States. ww2dbase [Petrof Bay | Vancouver, Washington | CPC]

5 Jan 1944 Interactive Map