“In Ceylon... The British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, and the battle cruisers Renown with the aircraft carriers Illustrious and Unicorn arrive in Colombo.”
The battleship Queen Elizabeth had previously been sunk (in shallow water) by Italians! This event was kept secret at the time and may not have been reported in the NY Times (Did I miss it?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)
“The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy divers, members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, who attacked and disabled two Royal Navy battleships in the harbour of Alexandria, Egypt, using manned torpedoes.”
Doolittle is now in command of 8th Air Force and is changing fighter tactics. Fighters will range ahead of the bomber formation to engage and clear enemy fighters. The story I was told by the guide at the Museum of WWII Aviation was that Doolittle was inspecting a field and saw a poster that said stay close to your bombers. He ordered it removed and told his pilots he wants the Germans engaged before they get to the bombers. I verified Doolittle changed tactics but don’t know about the story. Nice story, though.