Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Day 820 November 28, 1941

Operation Typhoon. At 3.30 AM 37 miles North of Moscow, 7th Panzer Division (3rd Panzer Army) crosses the Yakhroma bridge over the Moskva/Volga canal. The tanks are very exposed and fall back across the bridge at 10 AM. German infantry hold a small bridgehead all day despite fierce counterattacks from Soviet 1st Shock Army as well as aerial bombing, artillery and Katyusha rocket launchers. The backdoor to Moscow is open but this is the Easternmost point of the German advance.

Operation Crusader. Aware of the return of 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions towards Tobruk, British 7th Armored Division again attacks 15th Panzer but runs into an anti-tank screen left behind in the wake of the advancing German tanks (a classic blitzkrieg tactic). Despite being outnumbered, 15th Panzer continues moving West towards Tobruk, holding off the British attack.

125 miles East of Gibraltar, U-95 stalks another submarine while trying to determine its identity. It turns out to be Dutch submarine O-21 which fires 2 stern torpedoes sinking U-95 (35 dead and 12 survivors taken prisoner by O-21).

2 comments:

  1. U-95 is a Germany U-boat submarine series,right?

    I'm interested in Operation Typhoon. Is this a part of Operation Barbarossa?

    Btw, this is really a great blog that posts the World War II Day By Day.
    I like it and I follow it

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  2. Yes U-95 is a German U-boat. U-boats were sent to the Mediterrean to protect supply convoys for Rommel in North Africa, due to the lack of success of Italian subs. This was not really part of Operation Typhoon/Barbarossa, although it happened at the same time.

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