Navy Department Communique No. 37

FEBRUARY 3, 1942

The Navy Department issued the following communiqué on the naval situation based on reports up to 5 p. m. (e. s. t.) today:

1. A motor torpedo boat of Admiral Hart’s Far Eastern Command is believed to have torpedoed an enemy warship in night action inside Manila Bay. Although under heavy fire of the warship’s guns and in the full glare of her searchlights, the motor torpedo boat managed to fire two torpedoes and to survive the action without being hit.

2. A naval battalion composed of bluejackets and marines has been organized and is fighting on Bataan Peninsula with General MacArthur’s command.

3. The U. S. S. Neches, a naval tanker, has been torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine. One hundred and twenty-six members of the crew have reached port safely. Fifty-six men are as yet unaccounted for.