HMAS WARRNAMBOOL rescued 40 survivors from the bombed merchant vessel FLORENCE D and the crew of a downed Catalina flying boat from Bathurst Island.
The veteran cruiser HMAS ADELAIDE, rendezvoused with HMAS YARRA 200 miles south of Christmas Island, and took over her convoy of six merchant ships loaded with refugees fleeing the East Indies for Fremantle.
Lieutenant Francis G. Gordon (O) RAN was lost. He was in RN 817 Squadron flying Albacore torpedo aircraft and was one of three that took off from HMS Victorious on a night search for enemy vessels, including the German battleship Tirpitz. The aircraft did not return to the carrier and was presumed lost in snow storm 30 miles east of the Shetlands.