Battle Of Rennell Island Begins; Kiwi & Moa Sink I-1

FRI 29 JAN 1943
Pacific
Battle of Rennell Island begins as Japanese land attack planes (701st and 705th Kokutai) attack TF 18 (Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen) cruisers and destroyers covering the movement of transport force (TG 62.8) toward Guadalcanal. Japanese 701st Kokutai land attack planes damage heavy cruiser Chicago (CA 29); in the retirement from the area, heavy cruiser Louisville (CA 28), in a masterful piece of seamanship, takes her damaged sistership in tow in complete darkness.

New Zealand corvettes HMNZS Kiwi and HMNZS Moa sink Japanese submarine I-1 off Kamimbo Bay, Guadalcanal, 09°13'S, 159°40'E.

Submarine Gato (SS-212) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Nichiun Maru off southeast tip of Bougainville, Solomons, 06°22'S, 156°04'E, despite proximity of escorting submarine chaser Ch 22.

Atlantic
Portuguese destroyer Lima recovers survivors from U.S. freighter Julia Ward Howe, sunk by German submarine U-442 about 350 miles southwest of the Azores.