The Commonwealth Government appointed Mr Justice Lowe as Royal Commissioner to inquire into the circumstances of the Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942.
The Australian transport KOOLAMA was sunk by Japanese bombers at Broome, WA.
HMAS YARRA, (sloop), picked up 40 survivors from the Dutch merchant ship PARIGI that had been sunk by the Japanese south of Java. Unfortunately YARRA was sunk the next day and none of the Dutch survivors from PARIGI survived this second sinking.
HMAS BALLARAT, (minesweeper), sank HMS GEMAS, (minesweeper), at Tjilatjap, Java, to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The vessel did not have the range to reach Australia.
The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS PATRICIA CAM was commissioned. PATRICIA CAM was launched as a tuna fishing vessel for Cam & Sons Pty Ltd, Sydney.