03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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US Navy yacht Isabel set sail for the coast of Indochina on Roosevelt's orders; she was planned to be one of three vessels that would attempt to draw first fire from Japanese warships should hostilities become unavoidable.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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The Japanese carrier fleet tasked with the Pearl Harbor attack turned south after refueling on the previous day, approaching the Hawaii Islands with increased speed. At Pearl Harbor, the American intelligence report on the location of Japanese Navy warships had "no information on submarines or carriers". Elsewhere in Hawaii, Consul-General Nagao Kita received orders to burn code ciphers and important papers; this was noticed by the Americans, who also received intelligence that several Japanese embassies around the world were doing the same.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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US PBY Catalina patrol aircraft reported 30 Japanese transports congregating in Cam Ranh Bay off Indochina, 10 more than the previous day. Meanwhile, a Japanese fleet departed Hainan Island in southern China for Thailand.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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German submarine U-124 sank the unarmed US freighter Sagadahoc in the South Atlantic with torpedoes.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Japanese Navy issued the order to its senior admirals that hostilities against United States, Britain, and the Netherlands would begin on 8 Dec 1941 (Tokyo time).
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Japanese submarines began forming lines in Central and East Pacific.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Carrier USS Enterprise began to launch F4F Wildcat fighters of the US Marine Corps for Wake Island.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Hitler issued a decree on "Simplification and Increased Efficiency in our Armaments Production" (commonly known as the "Rationalization Decree") in which he chided German firms for failing to adopt the practice of large factories and simple production methods, and ordered the military to simplify and standardize the design of all weapons to make possible "mass production on modern principles".
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Japan asked Italy to declare war on the United States should Japan and US enter a state of war.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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The Soviet evacuation convoy that had departed Hanko, Finland on the previous day sailed into the Corbetha minefield in the Gulf of Finland. One minesweeper was sunk and several other vessels were damaged. The passengers and crew aboard troop ship Iosif Stalin, which was seriously damaged by a mine, abandoned ship; about 4,000 of the nearly 6,000 that went overboard died in the water.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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German 4th Army was halted at Naro-Fominsk west of Moscow, Russia, thus exposing the flank of the German 2nd Panzer Army, which was assaulting the Tula region south of Moscow.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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The Axis attempt to reach Bardia in Libya and Sollum and Halfaya Pass in Egypt failed to breach the Allied positions that stood in the way.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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German submarine U-124 sank US ship Sagadahoc 1,250 west of South Africa at 2147 hours; 1 was killed, 34 survived. She was to be the last American merchant ship to be lost to the German Navy before the US officially entered the war.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Dispersed ships of Allied convoy QP-3 began to arrive in Allied waters.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Scirè departed La Spezia, Italy for Alexandria, Egypt with three manned torpedoes on board.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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Hans-Joachim Marseille returned to his unit at Ain el Gazala, Libya after duties in Germany.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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American submarine USS Argonaut began a "simulated war patrol" off Midway.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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USS Gar reached the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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The two crematoria of Auschwitz Concentration Camp that was inactivated on 20 Nov for service were reactivated.
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03 Dec 1941
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history
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WW2
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President Franklin Roosevelt announced that Lend-Lease aid would be given to Turkey, as the safety of that country was considered vital to American defence.
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