Yet Another Chrismus At War

MON 25 DEC 1944
Pacific
Naval Air Station, Samar, is established.

Submarine Barbero (SS-317) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks transport Junpo Maru 130 miles west-southwest of Kuching, Borneo, 00°51'N, 108°08'E.

British submarines HMS Trenchant and HMS Terrapin sink auxiliary minesweeper Reisui Maru, cargo vessel No.23 Hinode Maru, and auxiliary sailing vessel Wakamiya Maru in Strait of Malacca, 03°19'N, 99°45'E.

TF 38 aircraft attack Japanese shipping off Masinloc, sinking landing ship T.113, 15°30'N, 119°55'E.

USAAF B-24s sink small Japanese cargo vessels Chokyu Maru and Sumiei Maru off Sandakan, Borneo, and badly damages Asahi Maru and Nichifuku Maru.

U.S. freighter Robert J. Walker is torpedoed by German submarine U-862 in the Tasman Sea, 36°35'S, 150°43'E; Armed Guard 20-millimeter gunfire explodes a second torpedo, but a third hits the ship and causes irreparable damage. Two of the ship's 42-man merchant complement are killed. The ship is then abandoned and sinks (see 26 December).