26 Jan 1944



- U-869 was commissioned into service with Kapitänleutnant Hellmut Neuerburg in command. She was assigned to the German Navy 4th Submarine Flotilla for training. ww2dbase [U-869 | CPC]
- USS Guitarro was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Commander Enrique D. Haskins in command. ww2dbase [Guitarro | CPC]
- Orde Wingate and William Slim met at Comilla, India; Slim told Wingate that he would provide only one battalion for Wingate's second Chindit operation. ww2dbase [Operation Thursday | CPC]
- USS Skipjack prepared to attack a Japanese transport when she discovered a escorting destroyer, Suzukaze, nearby; Skipjack successfully shifted target and sank the destroyer. She suffered flooding from a valve door that failed to close, but she quickly remedied the situation and returned to attack the same convoy, sinking converted seaplane tender Okitsu Maru. 12 torpedoes were expended on this date. ww2dbase [Skipjack | CPC]
- German submarine U-716 sank US freighter Andrew G. Curtin of Allied convoy JW-56A; 3 were killed, 68 survived. U-360 damaged British freighter Fort Bellingham (convoy civilian commodore's ship), which was later sunk by U-957; 36 were killed, 35 survived. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]
- US 45th Fighter Squadron, flying P-40 fighters, shot down 10 Japanese aircraft in combat, with 2 further as probables. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Destroyers USS Nicholas and USS O’Bannon arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Mare Island Navy Yard | DS]
- UIT-22 departed Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
- USS Hoe departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Hoe | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]
- USS Whale set sail for Midway Atoll. ww2dbase [Whale | CPC]
- USS Wake Island arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Wake Island | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]
- USS Marcus Island was commissioned into service at Astoria, Oregon, United States with Captain Charles F. Greber in command. ww2dbase [Marcus Island | Astoria, Oregon | CPC]




26 Jan 1944 Interactive Map
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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