Invasion Forces Vexed

TUE 9 JAN 1945
Pacific
Under the overall direction of General Douglas MacArthur, USA, TF 77 (Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) lands Sixth Army troops (Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, USA) at Lingayen Gulf under cover of heavy gunfire from the bombardment force, TG 77.2 (Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) and aircraft from the escort carrier force, TG 77.4 (Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin). The troops initially encounter little resistance, but Japanese air attacks and assault demolition boats continue to vex the invasion forces off the beaches. Kamikazes crash battleship Mississippi (BB-41), 16°08'N, 120°18'E; light cruiser Columbia (CL-56), 16°08'N, 120°10'E; and destroyer escort Hodges (DE-231), 16°22'N, 120°12'E, in addition to Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, which is finally sent to the rear areas for repairs. Friendly fire damages battleship Colorado (BB-45), 16°08'N, 120°10'E; Japanese assault demolition boats damage transport War Hawk (AP-168) and tank landing ships LST-925 and LST-1028, 16°20'N, 120°10'E.

TF 38 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) supports the landings at Lingayen Gulf with attacks on Japanese airfields and shipping in the Formosa, Ryukyus, and Pescadores Islands areas. Off Formosa, TF 38 planes sink Coast Defense Vessel No.3 north of Keelung, 27°10'N, 121°45'E; submarine chaser Ch 61, 22°40'N, 120°04'E; and fleet tanker Kuroshio Maru, merchant tanker Kaiho Maru, and cargo ship Fukuyama Maru south of Formosa; and small cargo vessel No.21 Ume Maru off Keelung; cargo ship Hisagawa Maru, 23°04'N, 119°51'E. They damage escort vessel Yashiro, oiler Kamoi, and escort destroyer Miyake and cargo ship Tainan Maru off Takao; Coast Defense Vessel No.9, Coast Defense Vessel No.13, and Coast Defense Vessel No.60 off Saei; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 161 in Formosa Strait; minesweeper W.102 and auxiliary submarine chaser No.22 Nitto Maru off Keelung; and auxiliary submarine chaser Kinsui Maru north of Formosa.

Japanese merchant tanker Hikoshima Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by submarine Barb (SS-220) and beaching the previous day, 24°37'N, 120°31'E.

Dutch submarine HNMS O 19 sinks gunboat No.1 Shinko Maru off Tandjung Puting, Borneo, Banten Bay, 03°41'S, 111°57'E.

Other Japanese shipping casualties include merchant tanker No.4 Nanshin Maru sunk by aircraft off northwest tip of Luzon; merchant cargo ship No.9 Hokoku Maru is sunk by aircraft off Ishigaki Jima; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 216 is damaged by aircraft off Paishatun.

Atlantic
U.S. freighter Jonas Lie, in New York-bound convoy ON 277, is torpedoed by German submarine U-1055 at the entrance to the Bristol Channel, 51°43'N, 05°25'W. The ship, abandoned, later sinks on 14 January.