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• I-52 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [I-52 | CPC]
• Lieutenant General Jacob Devers was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean under General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. ww2dbase [Jacob Devers | AC]
• Adolf Hitler ordered the demolition of the Wehrwolf headquarters north of Vinnytsia, Ukraine. "There must be a special detachment at Vinnitsa to burn the whole headquarters down and blow it up", he ordered. "It is important there should be no furniture left, otherwise the Russians will send it to Moscow and put it on display. Burn the lot." ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
• USS Gabilan was commissioned into service, Commander K. R. Wheland in command. ww2dbase [Gabilan | CPC]

• British cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise intercepted a force of German destroyers off France; the German ships were responding to the Allied sinking of German merchant ships. By 1600 hours, German destroyers T25, T26, and Z27 were sunk. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | Glasgow | CPC]

• 64 F4U Corsair fighters of US Marine Corps squadrons VMF-214 and VMF-216 conducted a fighter sweep over Rabaul, New Britain. 72 Japanese fighters rose to defend. The Americans claimed 30 Japanese shot down, but Japanese records would later revealed that only 3 fighters were actually lost. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• 69th, 310th, and 311th Fighter Squadrons (all flying P-47 aircraft) of USAAF 58th Fighter Group were transferred from Brisbane, Australia to Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. ww2dbase [Dobodura Airfield | Dobodura | CPC]

• Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Truk | CPC]

• Canadian 1st Division succeeded in taking Ortona, Italy after a heavy battle with German airborne troops; the Germans fell back across the Moro River. ww2dbase [Advance to the Gustav Line | Ortona, Abruzzo | TH, CPC]

• The keel of landing ship No. 150 was laid down by Hitachi Zosen. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]

• F. G. Petrov stepped down as GUKR SMERSH's chief in the 3rd Ukrainian Front. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In the Caucasus region of Russia, the Kalmyk Autonomous Republic was abolished. NKVD troops began rounding up Kalmyk people. ww2dbase [Deportation of Caucasian, Altaic, and Turkish Peoples | Kalmykia | CPC]

• USS Golet arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ww2dbase [Golet | New Orleans, Louisiana | CPC]
• USS Miami was commissioned into service with Captain John G. Crawford in command. ww2dbase [Miami | CPC]
• Cleveland-class cruiser Pasadena was launched at the Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, United States, sponsored by the wife of Carl Gustav Wopschall, the mayor of Pasadena, California, United States. ww2dbase [Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard | Pasadena | Quincy, Massachusetts | DS]

28 Dec 1943 Interactive Map