Quite a bit of the information came from http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/ COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES by Jack McKillop. (If you find a mistake, please let us know at KMHM.)
Kodiak troop movements came from the base history
The Second World War - A Day by Day Account -
WWII timeline short but has links
This page created 2005 OCTOBER 26, updated 2013 July 10, 2016 March 21.
Calendars for 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945.
ALASKA DEFENSE COMMAND, US ARMY AIR FORCE, Elmendorf Field, Fort Richardson, Anchorage 28th Composite Gp, Elmendorf Fld 18th Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (20 P-36s) 36th Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (6 B-18As) 73d Bombardment Sqd (Medium) (6 B-18As)
Despite dense fog and rough seas, the Japanese light aircraft carriers HIJMS Junyo and HIJMS Ryujo, supported by the heavy cruisers HIJMS Takao and HIJMS Maya, three destroyers and an oiler, begin launching aircraft at 0325 hours local against Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands. The is part of the "AL" Operation. Only half of the aircraft reach the objective; the other half either crash into the sea or return to their ships. At 0545 hours, 15 aircraft appear and begin strafing targets at naval installations at Dutch Harbor and the Army's Fort Mears; at 0555 hours, the first of four waves of bombers in groups of three or four, Nakajima B5N, Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers, Allied Code Name "Kate," release 16 bombs on Fort Mears killing 25 and wounding many others.
P-40s from Cold Bay trying to intercept them arrive 10 minutes after the last attack wave departs. Other P-40s at Otter Point Field on Umnak Island are notified too late due to communication failure. The Japanese cruisers had catapulted four Nakajima E8N2 Navy Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplanes, Allied Code Name "Dave," to recconnoiter the area west of Dutch Harbor and two of them flew over Umnak and one was shot down and the other was damaged and retreated still unaware of the new airdrome. By 0745 hours local, the Japanese carriers had recovered their aircraft. Meanwhile, nine P-40s and six B-26 Marauders fly a patrol but cannot find the fleet, 180 miles (288 km) south of Dutch Harbor. However, a PBY-5A Catalina of the USN's Patrol Squadron Forty Two (VP-42) flies through a snow squall and locates the Japanese ships. The aircraft is attacked by Japanese fighters but the Americans linger in the area until the composition and position of the force can be determined. The PBY finally heads for home but runs out of fuel and makes an open sea landing where the crew is rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Nemaha (WSC-148). Another PBY-5A of VP-41 searching for the Japanese are shot down and three are captured and taken aboard the cruiser HIJMS Takao. The Japanese torture the three in an attempt to learn the location of the unknown USAAF base but the sailors reveal nothing. The three are taken to Japan and survive their internment.
One Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, Allied Code Name "Zeke," is damaged by AA fire and the pilot makes an emergency landing on Akutan Island. However, he was fooled by the flat surface; it is actually a bog and the aircraft flips over killing the pilot. The recovery of this aircraft in JULY 1942 reveals many of its secrets.
Six B-17Es equipped with SCR-521 radar arrive at Kodiak and are immediately dispatched on search missions to locate the Japanese ships.
Additional losses in the Aleutians: 26 Army and 1 Navy were killed, and four quonset huts, one barracks building, and one radio tower were destroyed. All but one of the carrier-based air returned safely but two of four Pete floatplanes were shot down late in the day when they were ambushed by P-40's from Cold Bay.
Anti-aircraft fire from the few US Navy weapons was heavy but ineffective due to the siting of the weapons. The US Army's 206th CA (AA) was ashore and well-sited but the commander refused to allow it to open fire from concerns about revealing its location. Accurate fire was returned from the SS PRESIDENT FILLMORE, moored in the harbor, which had G/260th CA (AA) (often but inaccurately listed as G/503rd CA (AA) on board with its guns on deck through the foresight of then 1st Lt Perry Faust. The Port Captain later credited this unit for its performance and noted that he had thought the ship had exploded, so heavy was the fire being returned from the ship.
The Port Engineer had only recently completed the pier at Dutch Harbor, a example of really solid engineering due to the extreme depth of the harbor. He ran along the dock during the attack and continued to order all moored vessels to set sail lest the Japanese damage "his" pier. He was ignored by the ship's captains. (Marc Small)