Guadalcanal Withdrawal Continues

THU 4 FEB 1943
Pacific
SBDs, TBFs, F4Fs, and USAAF P-40s from Henderson Field attack Japanese destroyer force (Rear Admiral Hashimoto Shintaro) en route to evacuate Japanese troops from Guadalcanal, damaging Shirayuki (Hashimoto's flagship), Maikaze, Kuroshio, and Kawakaze. Hashimoto's force, however, extracts 3,921 soldiers. SOC (VCS Detachment RINGBOLT) sights, tracks, and illuminates the Japanese ships.

Submarine Tunny (SS-282) damages Japanese transport Tatsuwa Maru in the South China Sea, 21°30'N, 113°42'E.

Atlantic
German submarines attack convoy SC 118; Coast Guard cutter Bibb (WPG-31) pinpoints location of U-187, which is sunk by British destroyers HMS Vimy and HMS Beverly, 50°12'N, 36°34'W. Bibb later participates in driving off the four U-boats that try to close the convoy during the night.