The repair ship/works ship/store-carrier HMAS WHANG PU, was commissioned. WHANG PU was laid down in Hong Kong for the China Navigation Co Ltd, in 1920. The vessel was a former Chinese river ferry, which was under conversion to a submarine depot ship at Singapore when the Japanese drove south.
LCDR P. E. Carr, RAN, was lost while flying in an RAAF Catalina flying boat during a torpedo attack on Japanese shipping, in the Celebes. Carr was seconded to the RAAF for flying duties in 1932. He was the only serving RAN officer to be awarded the DFC in WWII.
The Australian Government ordered the cessation of recruiting for the RAN because of an acute manpower shortage.