Nazi Blockade Running Doesn't Work Out So Well

SAT 8 JAN 1944
Pacific
TF 38 (Rear Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth), consisting of two light cruisers and five destroyers, bombards Japanese shore installations on Faisi, Poporang, and Shortland Islands, Solomons.

Aerial minelaying operations in the Marshalls continue: eight PB4Y-1s (VB 108 and VB 109), flying from Apemama, mine the waters off Wotje and then strafe enemy facilities on the island and shipping offshore; seven PBY-5s (VP 72), flying from Tarawa, mine Wotje anchorage and Schischmarov Strait.

Atlantic
Light cruiser Marblehead (CL-12) rescues 72 survivors of sunken German blockade runner Rio Grande, 07°45'S, 33°00'W. Destroyer Winslow (DD-359) rescues 35 survivors of sunken German blockade runner Burgenland, 08°14'S, 29°22'W.