1653: A second day of 3 days of fighting between the Dutch Admiral Marten Tromp and General-at-Sea Robert Blake took place

1907: The huge Prince of Wales Basin was opened at Devonport by its Royal namesake, after ten years work turning the 114 acre site into a thoroughly modern fitting-out yard to support the large and technically advanced new ships entering service.

1942: The Japanese landing in Portuguese Timor heralded the beginning of a long and gruelling guerrilla campaign waged by elements of the Australian 2/2nd Independent Company with the support of friendly Timorese.

In the Philippines, the American submarine USS Swordfish embarked President Manuel Quezon, his wife & two children, Vice President Sergio Osmeña, and other Philippine government officials off Mariveles.

Quezon was carried to Mindanao and attempted to remain in the Philippines. MacArthur quietly arranged for him to be kept under close escort, as he did not trust Quezon not to try to cut a deal for neutralization of the Philippines with the Japanese.

Quezon and Osmeña were eventually carried to Australia and thence to the US. Quezon died in the US but Osmeña went ashore at Leyte and resumed his duties as Philippine President as the US cleared the Archipelago. Quezon's reluctance in 1942 to leave the Philippines might have resulted from the knowledge that he was dying from tuberculosis and that he would have preferred to die in the Philippines

1944: Norwegian resistance successfully sank the passenger and vehicle ferry Hydro crossing Lake Tinnsjø. The ferry was carrying heavy water from Ryukan, Norway bound for Germany. Heavy water was necessary for continued experiments by the German nuclear program.

The heavy water was being transported in railway freight cars on board. London had ordered one resistance group to blow up the ferry, and without advising this first group had also ordered another group to blow up the train that would be carrying the freight cars south.

In addition the RAF had orders to bomb the ship carrying the heavy water from Norway to Germany.

The Norwegians of the first group realized that destruction of the cross-lake ferry would cause a loss of civilian lives, and queried London if the mission was necessary. Confirmation was given, so the ferry shipment was scheduled for a Sunday morning, when civilian passengers would be at a minimum. 19 pounds of explosive were planted on Hydro. The charges blew at 1045, when the ferry was over the deepest part of the lake, and as the ferry tilted down by the bow, the freight cars wrenched free from their tethering lines and sank into 1,300 feet of water.

Passengers and crew abandoned ship frantically, but 26 passengers, crew and children went down with the ferry; 27 others, including the Hydro's Captain Sorensen and 4 German servicemen were rescued.