Day 385 September 19, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 72. In the early hours, RAF Wellington, Hampden and Whitley bombers batter German invasion barges assembled in the Channel ports (1 Hampden lost). The German invasion fleet starts dispersing on Hitler's orders, ‘so that the loss of shipping space caused by enemy air attacks may be reduced to a minimum’ (of 1918 invasion barges assembled, 214 have been sunk or damaged by British bombing). Clouds and showers restrict Luftwaffe to reconnaissance fights and single aircraft bombing raids. At 3 PM, engine trouble forces a Ju88 to land undamaged at Bomber Command base at RAF Oakington, near Cambridge, complete with bombs and crew who are taken prisoner. 4 other Ju88s are shot down. No RAF fighters are lost. Overnight, London is bombed again with waves of bombers flying up the Thames estuary from 8PM until midnight.

British bombers sink German torpedo boat T-3 at Le Havre, France (9 crew killed, 12 wounded. T-3 will be raised and returned to service on December 12, 1943.

Italian submarines have a busy day. Submarines Archimede and Guglielmotti plus Italian destroyers Leone, Pantera, Battisti, and Manin search without success in the Red Sea for convoy BN-5. In the Bay of Biscay, submarine Guglielmo Marconi sinks Spanish trawler Almirante Jose De Carranza (only 1 survivor). 700 miles West of Gibraltar, submarine Comandante Faa Di Bruno unsuccessfully attacks a steamer. In the Mediterranean 59 miles South of the heel of Italy, submarine Serpente mistakenly fires a torpedo at another Italian submarine Marcantonio Colonna. The torpedo misses.