Invasion of Java. Following air reconnaissance reports of ABDA ships in the Java Sea, Japanese Eastern Force (41 troop transports) turns around while cruisers and destroyers cover the East end of the Java Sea. ABDA Combined Striking Force, under Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman, sets out again from Soerabaja to seek the invasion force but again they find nothing.
Japanese submarine I-25 launches its floatplane to reconnoiter Melbourne, Australia.
At 7.13 PM 230 miles East of Florida, U-504 sinks Dutch tanker MV Mamura, which is carrying gasoline and explodes (all 49 crew killed).
American citizens of Japanese descent are arrested by the FBI and forcibly relocated from their homes in East San Pedro, Terminal Island, Los Angeles, beginning the internment of Japanese-Americans by the US government.
Overnight, 49 RAF bombers attack Kiel. German battleship Gneisenau, in dry dock after repairs caused by a mine during the Channel Dash on February 12, is hit by a bomb which penetrates the armored deck, explodes propellant charges in the forward turret and burns out the entire bow section (112 killed, 21 wounded). Gneisenau will go to Gotenhafen on April 4 for repairs and to install six 38 cm guns but this is never completed and she will not return to service.
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