Day 392 September 26, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 79. Mixed clouds and sunshine. Reconnaissance flights in the English Channel all day. At 4.30 PM, 100 German planes attack Southampton, doing much damage to the Spitfire factory at Woolston using both dive bombers and high level bombing. RAF claims 16 German bombers and 16 Messerschmitts shot down (although this seems high). RAF losses are 10 fighters and 3 pilots. London is bombed continuously overnight and Liverpool and towns in the Midlands are also attacked.

350 miles southwest of Ireland, U-46 sinks British SS Coast Wings at 1.53 AM (all 16 hands lost) and Swedish SS Siljan at 9.20 PM (9 killed, 18 survivors). U-46 is damaged in a near collision with Siljan and is forced to return to base.

10 miles off the Mullet Peninsula, Ireland, between 00.50 and 00.52 AM, U-137 fires 3 torpedoes at convoy OB-218 sinking British SS Manchester Brigade (44 crew and 8 Navy personnel killed, 4 crew picked up by French hospital ship Canada and landed at Gibraltar) and damaging Ashantian (4 lives lost). At 1.35 AM, U-137 sinks British SS Stratford also in convoy OB-218 (2 crew killed, 32 rescued).

400 miles West of Ireland, U-32 torpedoes British SS Corrientes at 2.34 AM (Corrientes does not sink but all 50 hands abandon ship and are picked up by Swedish MV Kolsnaren and landed at Philadelphia), sinks Norwegian MV Tancred at 8.11 AM (all 36 crew abandon ship in 3 lifeboats and are picked up next morning by Norwegian MV Tricolor and landed in New York) and sinks British SS Darcoila at 1.37 PM (all 31 crew lost). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/563.html

Just off the German U-boat base at Lorient, France, British submarine HMS Tribune fired 4 torpedoes at U-138. U-138 is not hit and returns to base unscathed.

In the South Atlantic, 400 miles Northwest of Natal, Brazil, German armed merchant cruiser Thor uses the deck gun to sink Norwegian whaling factory ship Kosmos loaded with whale oil. Kosmos’ 89 crew are added to the 195 prisoners already aboard Thor. Thor’s captain Kahler will later be criticised for not sending this valuable cargo back to German-occupied France. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/563.html