Day 458 December 1, 1940

At 8.20 AM, Norwegian liner Oslofjord, in use as an Allied troopship, sinks on a mine in the River Tyne, Northeast England (1 killed, 179 survivors).

200 miles West of Ireland, escorting convoy HG-47, Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay is torpedoed by Italian submarine Argo destroying the bow (21 killed). HMCS Saguenay reaches Barrow in Furness for repairs (until May 22 1941).

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer sinks British SS Tribesman in the Atlantic 500 miles West of the Cape Verde islands (8 killed, 14 crew rescued and taken prisoner). British warships leave Freetown, Sierra Leone, and the island of St. Helena to search for Admiral Scheer.

At 8.22 PM, U-37 sinks British SS Palmella 200 miles West of Porto, Portugal (1 dead, 27 crew and 1 gunner picked up by Spanish trawler Navemar and landed at Lisbon).

Convoy HX-90 is left undefended 340 miles West of Ireland when its ocean escort leaves but the coastal escort does not arrive due to bad weather. At 8.12 PM, U-101 attacks sinking British tanker Appalachee (7 killed, 32 crew picked up by corvette HMS Heliotrope and landed at Londonderry) and damaging steamer Loch Ranza (beached by a tug in Rothesay Bay and repaired at Glasgow until May 1941).

Day 457 November 30, 1940

Greeks continue to push Italians back into Albania. Greek 3rd Army Corps has advanced 20 miles North since taking Korçë on November 22. After 7 days of hard fighting, they capture parts of Pogradec on Ohrid Lake in Southeastern Albania on the border with Macedonia. They advance no further in this sector and the front line will run through the center of town. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Italo-Grecian_War_1940-1941_-_political_map_of_operations.gif

In the Indian Ocean, 2500 miles West of Australia, German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin shells British SS Port Wellington (carrying 5600 tons of frozen meat, butter, eggs, cheese and wheat and 1,750 tons of steel) without warning (2 crew killed). 80 crew and 7 women passenger are taken prisoner. Pinguin’s First Officer returns to the burning ship to get clothes for the women, who are in their nightgowns and the Port Wellington is scuttled. Pinguin now has 405 prisoners on board.

Minesweeping trawler HMT Chestnut hits a mine and sinks (no casualties) in the Thames Estuary off Northeast Kent. British motor torpedo boats MTB.30 and MTB.31 patrolling the Dutch coast meet a German convoy anchored off the River Schelde. MTB.30 is hit by gunfire while MTB.31 damages German steamer Santos by dropping a depth charge alongside.

At 2.04 AM, 400 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-101 sinks British SS Aracataca (carrying 1600 tons of bananas from Jamaica to Britain) after several attempts. 36 crew are killed and 34 survivors are picked up by 2 British merchant ships. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/682.html

Day 456 November 29, 1940

Overnight, German destroyers Galster, Lody and Beitzen sail again from Brest, France, to raid shipping off Cornwall, England. They sink British tug Aid, French tug Abeille and British barge BHC10. Royal Navy destroyers HMS Javelin, Jersey, Jackal, Jupiter and Kashmir engage the German destroyers 20 miles South of The Lizard peninsula, Cornwall. 2 torpedoes from Lody destroy the bow and stern of HMS Javelin (46 killed) which has to be towed back to Devonport for repairs until December 28, 1941. The German destroyers escape back to Brest with only minor damage and no casualties.

Minesweeping trawler HMT Calverton sinks on a mine in the mouth of the Humber Estuary (2 killed), in the same minefield as HMT Manx Prince yesterday.

Italian submarine Delfino attacks Greek destroyer Spetsai without success in the busy sea lanes South or Piraeus near Athens, Greece.

At 10.38 AM, New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander shells a factory and wireless station at Banda Alulu, Italian Somaliland (98 6-inch rounds). Italian aircraft unsuccessfully attempt to bomb Leander from high altitude.

Day 455 November 28, 1940

Operation Collar. After yesterday’s engagement 20 miles South of Sardinia at Spartivento, Royal Navy’s Force H turns back to return to Gibraltar and hands over convoy ME4 to Mediterranean fleet to continue East. At 2.30 PM, freighters SS Clan Forbes & SS Clan Fraser arrive at Malta escorted by destroyers HMS Decoy & HMS Hotspur. Destroyers HMS Defender & HMS Hereward and cruisers HMS Manchester & HMS Southampton escort SS New Zealand Star on towards Alexandria, Egypt.

Liverpool is heavily bombed overnight. A parachute mine destroys Edge Hill Training College, Durning Road, which collapses on a large underground shelter holding 300 people. Boiling water from the central heating system pours into the basement and the air is poisoned by fractured gas mains. 166 men, women and children are killed and many more injured.

Minesweeping trawler HMT Manx Prince sinks on a mine in the mouth of the Humber Estuary. The crew is rescued by minesweeping trawler HMT Cortina.

Italian destroyers Pigafetta, Da Recco, Pessagno & Riboty shell Greek positions on the island of Corfu, covered by torpedo boats Bassini & Prestinari.

At 10.25 AM 300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-95 stops Norwegian SS Ringhorn with the deck gun after missing with 2 torpedoes. Ringhorn (carrying 1300 tons of coal) does not sink and the crew reboards and takes her back to Belfast, arriving on December 1. In the same area, U-103 sinks Greek SS Mount Athos at 8.42 AM (19 lives lost) and British SS St. Elwyn at 8.24 PM (24 killed, 16 crew picked up by British merchant Leeds City). U-104 disappears a few miles off the North Coast of Ireland, presumably sunk on a minefield (all 49 hands lost). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/681.html

Day 454 November 27, 1940

Operation Collar, Battle of Spartivento. 10 AM; spotter aircraft from HMS Ark Royal & Italian cruiser Bolzano find Italian warships & British Force H (from Gibraltar). Holding aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in reserve, British are outgunned by heavier fire & longer range of the Italian ships which close for battle. 11.30; British gain the advantage when battleship HMS Ramillies and cruisers HMS Berwick & Newcastle arrive from the East (Malta). Italian Admiral Campioni’s orders are to avoid combat with equal forces. He orders a withdrawal but Italian cruisers are already engaged. At 12.22, there is an exchange of fire lasting 54 minutes from 23–14 km, as the Italians lay smoke and turn away. HMS Berwick is hit at 12.22 & 12.35 by Italian cruiser Fiume (7 dead). British start to pursue but are turned back by shells from Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto at 29 km. Italian destroyer Lanciere is crippled by cruiser HMS Manchester but is towed to safety. http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text_with_list.asp?nid=37&lid=1&cid=3

Northwest of Ireland, U-95 sinks British SS Irene Maria (all 25 hands lost) at 1 AM, U-103 sinks British MV Glenmoor (31 killed, 2 survivors picked up by destroyers HMS and HMS Havelock) at 7.56 PM, and U-104 damages British tanker Charles F. Meyer and sinks British SS Diplomat (14 killed, 39 crew picked up by destroyer HMS Active).

At 3 AM, 400 miles East of New Zealand, German armed merchant cruisers Komet and Orion shell New Zealand liner Rangitane carrying 201 crew, 111 passengers including 36 CORB nurses, 14,000 tons of food and 45 bars of silver from Auckland to Liverpool (8 crew and 8 passengers killed). Due to distress messages sent by Rangitane, there is no time to plunder the cargo after transferring the remaining 296 passengers and crew. Komet sinks her with a torpedo. http://www.btinternet.com/~thebells/rangitane/story.htm

Day 453 November 26, 1940

Operation Collar. As a distraction for convoy ME4, aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, cruisers HMS Glasgow and Gloucester plus 4 destroyers from Alexandria, Egypt, raid the Italian seaplane base at Port Laki on the Agean island of Leros at 6 AM. However, Italian Navy is aware of the convoy ME4 and escort warships moving from Gibraltar to Malta. 2 battleships (Vittorio Veneto and Giulio Cesare) and 3 cruisers (Fiume, Gorizia and Pola) plus 11 destroyers leave Naples and 3 more cruisers (Trieste, Trento and Bolzano) plus 3 destroyers depart Messina, Sicily. They rendezvous South of Naples in the Tyrrhenian Sea at 6 PM and sail West to engage the British fleet South of Sardinia. They will be joined by 4 torpedo boats, 7 submarines and 10 motor torpedo (MAS) boats.

At 5.20 AM, 8 Fairey Swordfish from British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle bomb the capital of Italian-held Libya, Tripoli. Royal Navy does not attempt much deception, naming the strike Operation Tripe.

Free French armed patrol coaster Medoc (under Polish Commander Stankiewicz) is sunk by a German aircraft torpedo in the English Channel. All 41 crew (3 Poles, 38 British) are lost.

10 more US Navy destroyers are assigned to the Britain under the “destroyers for bases” deal struck by Churchill and Roosevelt. Although these old destroyers have numerous problems, they significantly increase Royal Navy’s ability to escort convoys and patrol the British coast.

Day 452 November 25, 1940

Operation Collar. Admiral Somerville’s Force H departs Gibraltar (battlecruiser HMS Renown, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Sheffield and Despatch plus 11 destroyers) to escort convoy ME4 to Malta. They sail North of the convoy to screen against attack by the Italian fleet and will hand over the convoy to Mediterranean fleet warships (from Malta and Alexandria, Egypt) between Sardinia and Sicily on November 27.

500 miles East of New Zealand, German armed merchant cruisers Orion and Komet (accompanied by tanker Kulmerland) sink tiny New Zealand steamer Holmwood carrying 17 crew, 12 passengers including 9 women and children, 1,370 sheep and 1 horse from the remote Chatham Islands to the main Islands. The crew and passengers are taken off. Many of the sheep are taken on board the 3 German ships and slaughtered. The horse is killed on board Holmwood which is then sunk by shellfire. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/orion.html

British liner SS Patria is blown up in Haifa Harbour, Palestine (now Israel), by Jewish paramilitary group Irgun which aims to prevent her from deporting Jewish refugees to Mauritius. The refugees are from Central Europe and have been refused entry to Palestine by the British Colonial Office. However, 213 of the 1771 refugees and 50 of the 130 British crew are killed.

2 minesweeping trawlers sink in the Thames Estuary. HMT Conquistador collides with another vessel and HMT Kennymore hits a mine (4 killed). Further North, motor launch ML-111 hits a mine and sinks (2 killed) 10 miles off Grimsby in the Humber Estuary.

In the Bay of Biscay 10 miles South of Lorient, France, British submarine HMS Talisman torpedoes a German tanker (which comes to a halt but does not sink) and captures French trawler Le Clipper (which is then used as a spy vessel to observe German submarine movements).

Day 451 November 24, 1940

Operation Collar. Convoy ME4 from Britain passes the Straits of Gibraltar bound for Malta and Alexandria (merchant ships SS New Zealand Star, SS Clan Forbes and SS Clan Fraser, escorted by cruisers HMS Manchester and HMS Southampton carrying 1,370 RAF personnel to reinforce the garrison at Malta). Destroyer HMS Hotspur and 4 corvettes join to escort the convoy at Gibraltar. Mediterranean convoys are escorted from Gibraltar to Malta by Admiral Somerville’s Force H and then onwards to Alexandria, Egypt, by Admiral Cunningham’s Mediterranean fleet. Battleships HMS Ramillies and HMS Malaya, cruisers HMS Newcastle, Coventry and Berwick plus 5 destroyers are on their way from Alexandria to pick up the convoy in mid-Mediterranean.

Hitler continues to solidify alliances in Central Europe. Slovakia, a puppet state ceded from Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement, joins the Axis. Prime Minister Vojtech Tuka signs the Tripartite Pact.

German destroyers Galster, Lody and Beitzen leave Brest, France, overnight and cross the English Channel to attack shipping off Cornwall. They sink Belgian trawler Marguerite Simonne 12 miles off Land’s End and Dutch steamer Apollonia (15 lives lost) off Penzance. British destroyers HMS Javelin, Jersey, Jackal, Jupiter and Kashmir search unsuccessfully for the German destroyers which return to Brest the next day.

Anti-submarine trawler HMT Amethyst (captained by the Hon. William Rous, later the 5th Earl of Stradbroke) hits a mine and sinks in the Thames estuary (7 men wounded, all hands rescued by anti-submarine trawler Le Tiger).

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer sinks British steamer Port Hobart near the Azores, taking the crew prisoner.

From 6 PM to midnight, Luftwaffe drops 156 tons of high explosive bombs and 12,500 incendiary canisters on Bristol, destroying large parts of the medieval city (Castle Park area), historic buildings (17th century timber framed Dutch House and St Peter’s Hospital), and four churches (St Peter’s, St Nicholas, St Mary-le-Port and Temple) and damaging 10,000 homes. 207 civilians are killed, 689 injured and 1400 made homeless. Lord Mayor of Bristol says “The City of Churches had in one night become the city of ruins.” http://www.bristolblitzed.org/?page_id=63

Day 450 November 23, 1940

100 miles off the North coast of Ireland, U-100 sinks 6 merchant ships in convoy SC-11 between midnight and 8 AM and then another from the same convoy at 9 PM (24,601 tons of shipping, 119 merchant seamen killed). 78 survivors are rescued by convoy escorts, sloop HMS Enchantress and destroyers HMCS Skeena & HMCS Ottawa. 4 men float in a lifeboat for 2 days until picked up by a Norwegian steamer and landed at Belfast. During the attack, U-100 is depth charged by a destroyer but escapes with minor damage. http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=SC-11

250 miles West of Ireland, U-123 sinks 4 merchant ships in convoy OB-244 between 4.16 and 9.14 AM (20,885 tons of shipping, 119 sailors killed). 65 survivors are rescued by convoy escort sloop HMS Sandwich and landed at Liverpool on November 27. 6 other survivors make land on Barra Island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. U-123 collides with submerged wreckage from one of its victims, damaging the periscope and conning tower and forcing U-123 to return to Lorient, France. http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=OB-244

Germany continues to shore up support in the Balkans, to protect vital Romanian oil supplies and for offensives against Greece and USSR. Romania joins the Axis, seeking protection against the Soviet Union which has already taken Bessarabia. In Berlin, Romania’s fascist leader Ion Antonescu signs the Tripartite Pact.

Luftwaffe bombs the docks at Southampton overnight, damaging British troopship Llandovery Castle and paddle minesweeper Duchess Of Cornwall.

Day 449 November 22, 1940

Greek 3rd Army Corps finally takes Korçë, 10 miles inside Albania, after a week of heavy fighting against Italian 9th Army. They take 2000 prisoners and capture 135 field guns and 600 machineguns. However, the Greeks are poorly motorised and have no armour, allowing the Italians to withdraw and regroup.

On the coast of Morocco near the Spanish-held city of Melilla, British destroyers HMS Faulknor and HMS Forester approach Vichy French destroyer Boulonnais and freighter MV Charles Plumier. Boulonnais withdraws allowing MV Charles Plumier, which was a French armed merchant cruiser from 1939 until the surrender in May 1940, to be captured. She will be renamed HMS Largs, commissioned into the Royal Navy in November 1941 and will serve as Command Ship for almost every major Allied amphibious landing in Europe including Operations Torch, Husky and Overlord.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Freefrench_british_captured_hms_CHARLES_PLUMIER.jpg

Just after midnight 365 miles West of Ireland, U-123 torpedoes British SS Cree. Cree is carrying 5500 tons of iron ore from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and sinks immediately with all 45 hands lost. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/662.html

British motor launch ML.127 sinks on a mine in the Thames Estuary (all 11 hands lost).

Italian aircraft bomb Alexandria damaging British tanker Zahra.

Day 448 November 21, 1940

German raider armed merchant cruiser Pinguin shadows British refrigerated freighter Port Brisbane all day in the Indian Ocean, 1000 miles West of Australia. Port Brisbane, carrying a cargo of 5000 tons of frozen meat, 3000 tons of wool, butter and cheese from Adelaide to Britain, is armed with two 6-inch guns. Well after dark, Pinguin approaches Port Brisbane and, seeing her armaments, shells her to a standstill (killing the radio operator). After scuttling charges placed on board fail to do the job, Pinguin sinks her with a torpedo. 60 crewmen and 1 woman passenger are taken prisoner. 27 crew escape in a lifeboat and are picked up by Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra, which has been sent to locate Pinguin. However, Pinguin gets away. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/pinguin.html

At 7.40 AM, 200 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-103 surfaces and fires torpedoes at convoy OB-244 sinking British SS Daydawn (2 killed, 36 crew picked up by the British corvette HMS Rhododendron) and Greek SS Victoria (all 27 crew picked up by destroyer HMS Castleton). A ship in the convoy tries to ram the U-boat but U-103 dodges the attack and fires a torpedo at the ship which glances off and does not explode.

A German aircraft inadvertently bombs the British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, with no casualties. It is probably returning from Coventry, dumping unreleased bombs, and there are no indications the Germans know the importance of the site. Diplomatic section suffers a direct hit, damaging the telephone exchange and typists’ room and a bomb damages the nearby vicarage. A bomb lands near Hut 4, lifting it off the foundations. 3 other bombs fail to explode. http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/archive/index/november1940.rhtm

Day 447 November 20, 1940

Hungary joins the Axis. Hungarian Prime Minister Count Teleki and Foreign Minister Count Csaky sign a protocol in Vienna, joining the German-Italian-Japanese Tripartite Pact.

British cruiser HMS York delivers anti-aircraft guns to Piraeus near Athens, Greece, and returns to Alexandria, Egypt. British bombers sink Italian steamer Ardita III in the Red Sea off Assab, Eritrea. Off Brindisi, Italy, Italian torpedo boat Confienza sinks after colliding with Italian armed merchant cruiser Capitano A. Cecchi.

In the Indian Ocean 1000 miles West of Perth, Australia, German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin spends all day chasing British steamer Maimoa (carrying 5,000 tons of frozen meat, 1,500 tons of butter, 1,500 tons of grain, 16 million eggs) finally stopping her with shellfire from 12 miles. Maimoa is scuttled and all 87 crew are taken prisoner.

Overnight, Birmingham in the English Midlands is bombed again. 116 aircraft drop 132 tons of high explosive bombs and 296 incendiary canisters.

Day 446 November 19, 1940

Off the coast of East Anglia, German bombers sink minesweeping trawler HMT Fontenoy. German motor torpedo boats S-38, S-54 and S-57 venture into the Thames Estuary. They are attacked by British destroyers HMS Campbell and HMS Garth, sinking S-38.

British cruiser HMS York arrives at Suda Bay, Crete, disembarking a battalion of troops to reinforce the garrison there.

Overnight, England’s second largest city Birmingham is bombed. 357 German aircraft drop 403 tons of high explosive bombs and 810 incendiary canisters. At the same time, RAF bombers attack the Skoda armament plant at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, doing little damage. The Skoda works will remain undamaged until almost the end of the war. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/23/a6743423.shtml

Day 445 November 18, 1940

Overnight, RAF bombers raid Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr, bombing the Scholven/Buer hydrogenation plant, making aviation base gasoline, and Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG plant, converting bituminous coal to synthetic oil.

12 miles off the coast of East Anglia, German bombers attack a convoy in the North Sea damaging 3 freighters. Sloop HMS Lowestoft shoots down a Heinkel bomber.

U-65 continues raiding shipping off the West coast of Africa, sinking British tanker Congonian 125 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, at 6.02 PM (1 killed, 35 crew picked up by cruiser HMS Devonshire and landed at Freetown on November 29). 250 miles Northwest of Ireland, Italian submarine Baracca sinks British SS Lilian Moller (all hands lost).

British cruiser HMS York departs Port Said, Egypt, with a battalion of troops for Suda Bay, Crete, and anti-aircraft guns for Piraeus, mainland Greece.

Day 444 November 17, 1940

Overnight, RAF bombers raid Hamburg for the second night running.

12 Hurricanes and 2 Skuas fly off British aircraft carrier HMS Argus destined for Malta but many get lost en route. 6 Hurricanes crash in the sea (1 pilot rescued by a Sunderland Flying Boat) and 1 Skua crash lands on Sicily (pilot and observer taken prisoner).

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is removed as commander of RAF Fighter Command, despite his brilliant performance conserving fighters and pilots in the Battle of Britain. Nonetheless, he will be rewarded with a peerage in 1943 as Baron Dowding of Bentley Priory. Newly appointed Chief of the Air Staff Charles Portal replaces him with rival (and advocate of big-wing tactics) Sholto Douglas.

40 miles North of Ireland, U-137 sinks 2 ships in convoy HG-46; British MV Saint Germain at 8.14 PM (all 18 crew picked up by corvette HMS Mallow) and Swedish SS Veronica at 8.40 PM (17 crew killed, 3 survivors on a raft picked up after five days by a fishing trawler). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/658.html

3 days after leaving base at Lorient, France (and traveling 300 miles West), torpedo mechanic (Mechanikergefreiter) Fritz Pfeifer is washed overboard from U-123. Despite losing one of the torpedo crew, U-123 will go on to sink 5 ships in 2 days.

There is heavy fighting between Greek 3rd Army Corps and Italian 9th Army near Korçë, Albania.

Day 443 November 16, 1940

In Albania, Greek 3rd Army Corps breaks through the defenses of Italian 9th Army near Korçë in the Morava Mountains. 500 miles away, residents of the town of Menton on the French Riviera 1 mile from the Italian border mock their Italian neighbors with a sign “This is French territory. Greeks, do not advance any further”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes%27_Cemetery

250 miles Southwest of Sierra Leone, U-65 sinks British SS Fabian with a torpedo and the deckgun (6 crew lost). 33 survivors are questioned then given food and water by the Germans, who also treat 2 wounded men, and then picked up by British tanker British Statesman and landed at Freetown.

30 miles North of Ireland at 8.15 PM, U-137 sinks British SS Planter (killing 12 crew and 1 passenger, a displaced seaman hitching a ride home to Britain). 59 crew and 1 gunner are picked up by destroyer HMS Clare and landed at Liverpool. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/656.html

British anti-submarine trawler HMT Arsenal sinks after colliding with Polish destroyer Burza 4 miles south of the village of Toward in the Clyde River estuary, Scotland. Arsenal’s crew is rescued by destroyer HMS Arrow and tug Superman. Arsenal’s depth charges explode, damaging HMS Arrow (under repair in the Clyde until January 14 1941). Burza is also repaired in the Clyde, completed January 27 1941.

Day 442 November 15, 1940

19 days after the Italian invasion from Albania, Greeks have cleared the invaders from their soil. Reinforced with troops from the border with Bulgaria, Greece now has a numerical advantage. Greek forces go on the offensive, taking advantage of confusion caused by the Italian retreat to attack their defenses on the Albanian border. In addition, Greece receives reinforcements from Britain. A convoy of 5 transports and numerous British war ships leaves Alexandria, Egypt, for Pireaus, Greece, with 4230 troops, 700 trucks and other vehicles, plus petrol and supplies, arriving safely tomorrow.

200 miles Southwest of Sierra Leone, U-65 sinks British SS Kohinur at 3.11 PM (17 killed and 68 escape in lifeboats). Norwegian tanker Havbør stops to pick up the Kohinur survivors. Only 31 have been taken on board when Havbør is torpedoed by U-65 at 6.16 PM which ignites her cargo of 11,500 tons crude oil, killing 28 of her crew and all 31 rescued from Kohinur. (The remaining 36 survivors from Kohinur are picked up next day by British merchant City of Pittsburg and taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone). 5 of Havbør’s crew jump overboard and swim away from the burning oil holding onto a plank (1 dies of burns the next day, 4 are found on November 24 by British SS Baron Ardrossan and taken to Freetown). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/654.html

British tug HMS Guardsman sinks on a mine in the mouth of the Thames Estuary (2 crew lost).

Day 441 November 14, 1940

A clear moonlit night provides ideal conditions for Operation Moonlight Sonata, a major Luftwaffe raid on the ancient industrial city of Coventry in the English Midlands. At 7.20 PM, 13 Heinkel He-111 bombers (of Kampfgruppe 100) drop marker flares to illuminate the city. 437 He-111s (of Luftflotte 3) follow, flying multiple sorties in small groups all night and returning to bases in France to reload. They drop 450 tons of high explosive bombs (to damage water mains and crater roads, hindering firefighting efforts), 50 parachute mines (to blast off rooftops over a wide area) and 36,000 incendiary bombs (to ignite the old wood timbered buildings). RAF night fighters lack radar and are ineffective; only 1 He11 is shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The raid is a devastating success, destroying 60,000 buildings (including the cathedral), killing 600 civilians and injuring 1000 more. German propaganda gloats, using the term “Coventrate” for the strategy of leveling British cities. It is a strategy that will come back to haunt Germany.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/coventry/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8936000/8936620.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11746328
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/coventry/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/stories/things_to_do/newsid_9172000/9172755.stm

German bombers raid Alexandria, Egypt, sinking Egyptian steamer Zamzam.

Day 440 November 13, 1940

In Berlin, Hitler and von Ribbentrop continue lecturing Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov about the imminent conquest of Britain and how to divide up the British Empire. However, British intelligence knows of Molotov’s visit and, after a dinner at the Soviet Embassy, RAF bombing forces Molotov and von Ribbentrop into a shelter deep underground. Conversation again turns to England, which “is finished” according to Ribbentrop. Molotov replies “if that is so, why are we in this shelter and whose are these bombs which fall”?

Greek troops manage to clear Northern Greece of Italian forces, pushing them back to their starting point in Albania.

At 9.08 PM, 100 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-137 torpedoes British SS Cape St. Andrew which sinks while under tow by rescue tug HMS Salvonia (14 crew and 1 gunner were lost). 53 survivors are picked up by the tug and landed at Greenock. Also in the North Atlantic, 2 men are washed overboard from destroyer HMS Garland in heavy weather.

British submarine HMS Tigris sinks tiny French trawler Charles Edmonde 100 miles West of Bordeaux, France.

British destroyer HMS Decoy is damaged by Italian bombers in Alexandria Harbour (8 killed, 3 wounded). HMS Decoy will be repaired at Malta until February 1941.

Day 439 November 12, 1940

Operation Judgement. The 3 undamaged Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto, Andrea Doria and Giulio Cesare and most of the cruisers depart Taranto for the safety of Naples further North. The British bombers plan to return to Taranto and follow up yesterday’s attack but Admiral Cunningham cancels the raid at 6 PM due to bad weather. Consequently, damage to the Italian fleet is not as decisive as hoped. Battleships Littorio and Caio Duilio will be repaired and returned to service by Spring 1941 and only Conte di Cavour is unsalvageable. For a full analysis

Worried by the speedy German victory over France plus German moves into Romania and Finland, Stalin guesses (correctly) that Germany plans to invade USSR. At 11.05 AM, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrives in Berlin to probe German intentions and to assert Soviet interests in the Balkans and the Dardanelles. He meets with German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop and, after lunch, with Hitler. They both assure Molotov that the war against Britain is going smoothly and that Germany has no interests in Soviet territory. As a distraction, they encourage USSR to invade Iran to gain access to the Persian Gulf and, thus, the Indian Ocean.

The last Vichy forces in Gabon surrender at Port Gentil on the coast 70 miles South of Libreville. Former Vichy Governor of Gabon, Georges Pierre Masson, helps negotiate the surrender and then commits suicide fearing the consequences of his own indecision. On August 29, Masson had publicly declared loyalty to DeGaulle’s Free French, only to switch back immediately to Vichy under pressure from the Naval commander at Libreville.

Day 438 November 11, 1940

Operation Judgement. At 11 PM, 21 Fairey Swordfish (11 with torpedoes and 10 carrying bombs) attack the Italian fleet at Taranto, taking off from British carrier HMS Illustrious escorted by 4 cruisers and 4 destroyers 170 miles Southeast. 6 Italian battleships and 3 cruisers lie at anchor in the outer harbour (Mar Grande). Torpedoes sink 1 battleship Conte di Cavour and damage 2 others, Littorio and Caio Duilio. 2 cruisers, 21 destroyers and 16 submarines rest in the smaller inner harbour (Mar Piccolo), protected from torpedoes. However, bombing of the inner harbour is ineffective. 2 Swordfish are shot down (1 crew of 2 killed, 1 crew of 2 taken prisoner). The remaining 19 Swordfish return safely to HMS Illustrious by 2.30 AM next morning.

In a daytime raid, 10 Corpo Aereo Italiano Fiat BR.20M bombers attack Harwich, England, escorted from bases in Belgium by 42 Fiat CR.42 biplane fighters (other fighters including German Bf109s abandon their escort duties due to bad weather). RAF Hurricanes from 257, 46, and 17 Squadrons intercept them over the Thames Estuary, shooting down 3 BR.20Ms & 3 CR.42s and badly damaging 2 more BR.20Ms (no Hurricanes lost). Winston Churchill quips "They might have found better employment defending the fleet at Taranto."

Destroyer HMS Vega hits a mine and is badly damaged 5 miles North of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, while escorting a convoy in the Thames Estuary. HMS Vega will be towed to Sheerness for repairs, completed November 14 1942. Minesweeping trawler HMT Stella Orion hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary (no casualties). 200 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-103 is depth charged by British corvette HMS Rhododendron but U-103 escapes with no damage.

In the Bay of Bengal, British SS Automedon radios a “Raider Attack” signal when ordered to stop by German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis which then shells her to a standstill (7 crew and 1 gunner killed). 87 people, including 20 survivors rescued from the sinking of British freighter Anglo-Saxon, are taken prisoner. Atlantis captures top-secret Royal Navy documents including fleet orders, details of Naval and Royal Air Force deployment in the Far East, port defense layouts and Merchant Navy decoding tables and cipher pages (plus essential provisions such as whiskey, beer, cigarettes, fresh and frozen food).

Day 437 November 10, 1940

French West Africa. Fighting for control of Gabon continues between Free French forces and defenders loyal to the Vichy regime.

Greek troops push Italian forces in Epirus back toward Albania. Further East, Greek 2nd Army Corps harries the retreating Italian Julia Division through the Pindus Mountains. Julia Division loses 5000 men killed or taken prisoner before escaping back to Albania.

Monitor HMS Terror leaves Malta for Suda Bay, Crete, to serve as a guard ship.

Anti-submarine trawler HMS Kingston Alalite sinks on a mine off Plymouth (6 lives lost).

After dark in the Bay of Bengal, German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis boards Norwegian tanker Ole Jacob by posing again as British auxilliary cruiser HMS Antenor. After a standoff between the boarding party and the crew (both well armed), Ole Jacob’s captain surrenders without any shooting for fear of igniting the 11,000 barrels of high-octane aviation fuel on board. Ole Jacob is sent to Japan with her crew and Teddy’s crew, arriving on December 6. She will then be sent to Bordeaux, France, arriving July 19 1941. Signals from Ole Jacob attract Australian cruisers Canberra, Capetown and Durban which are hunting for the German raider but Atlantis escapes. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/atlantis.html

Overnight, British gunboat HMS Aphis shells Italian positions at Sidi Barrani, Egypt.

Day 436 November 9, 1940

Gabon,West Africa. Free French forces under General Koenig fight their way into the Vichy-held capital Libreville. Free French Westland Lysanders from Douala, Cameroon, bomb the airfield at Libreville allowing Koenig to overcome Vichy defences and capture the airfield. Illustrating the irony of these fraternel conflicts, Vichy sloop Bougainville is sunk off Libreville by shellfire from her sister ship, Free French sloop Savorgnan de Brazza. Vichy armed merchant cruiser Cap Des Palmes tries to scuttle herself but is captured by Free French sloop Commandant Domine.

Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain dies of bowel cancer at the age of 71.

Sebastiano Visconti Prasca is relieved as commander of Italian operations in Greece after the failure of the offensive and ongoing rout of the Alpine Julia Division in the Pindus Mountains. He is replaced by General Ubaldo Soddu who is no better and will be removed in a few weeks.

Before dawn in the Bay of Bengal, German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis poses in the dark as British auxiliary cruiser HMS Antenor. Atlantis sends a boarding party onto Norwegian tanker Teddy, carrying 10,000 tons of fuel oil and 500 tons of diesel oil, which is captured without a shot (all 32 crew will be sent to Japan on another captured Norwegian tanker Ole Jacob). This allows Atlantis to refuel and extend her voyage.

Swedish SS Vingaland, damaged yesterday by German bombers West of Ireland, is sunk by Italian submarine Marconi (19 survivors were picked up by British steamer Danae II).

American steamer City Of Rayville sinks on a mine laid by German auxiliary minelayer Passat 20 miles off Cape Otway, South Australia (1 killed). 39 crew escape in 2 lifeboats and make landfall at Apollo Bay.

Day 435 November 8, 1940

Italians abandon the stalled invasion of Northern Greece and begin the retreat from the Kalamas River in Epirus. In the Pindus Mountains, remaining elements of the Italian Julia Division do not get the message but retreat anyway after learning of the coming Greek offensive from radio broadcasts from London.

Gabon,West Africa. Late in the evening, Free French forces (French Legionnaires plus colonial troops from Senegal and Cameroon) under General Marie Pierre Koenig land North and South of the capital Libreville and meet stiff resistance from defenders loyal to the Vichy regime. Libreville is also pressed inland by Free French troops from Cameroon.

Operation Crack. Aircraft from British carrier HMS Ark Royal, escorted by cruisers HMS Berwick and HMS Glasgow, attack the Italian seaplane base at Elmas near Cagliari, Sardinia. This is part of complex movements of several convoys with warship escorts through the Mediterranean (Operation MB8), including troops and anti-aircraft guns for Malta. The raid is also designed to distract from the planned attack on the Italian naval base at Taranto (Operation Judgement).

British WWI-era tug HMS Muria hits a mine and sinks off Isle of Thanet, just North of Dover, England (all hands lost). German bombers attack a convoy in the Thames Estuary, sinking or damaging several merchant ships. Convoy escort destroyer HMS Winchester shoots down 2 Ju87 dive bombers. HMS Winchester then hits a mine and, while anchored to make emergency repairs, she is bombed again and damaged by near misses (under repair in London until June 6 1941).

300 miles West of Ireland, Swedish steamer Vingaland is damaged by German bombers. Dutch submarine O-22 disappears in the North Sea 40 miles Southwest of the Norway, either lost on a mine or sunk by German submarine chasers UJ.117 and UJ.1102 (Dutch crew of 42 and 3 British sailors are lost). http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o22.htm

Day 434 November 7, 1940

Ahead of landings at Libreville, Free French troops on cargo ships Fort Lamy, Casamance and Nevada arrive off the coast of Gabon, escorted by British cruisers HMS Devonshire and HMS Delhi and sloop HMS Milford. 50 miles Southwest of Libreville, Vichy French submarine Poncelet fires a torpedo which fails to explode at HMS Milford. Poncelet is forced to the surface by depth charges from HMS Milford and bombed by 2 Supermarine Walrus biplanes from HMS Devonshire. As the crew of 60 is taken off by the British ships, Poncelet is scuttled by her captain Commander de Saussine who chooses to go down with his ship.

British minesweeping trawler HMT William Wesney hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea, 13 miles East of Harwich (5 crew killed, 7 survivors rescued by sloop HMS Sheldrake and 2 trawlers). Free French minesweeping trawler Poulmic sinks on a mine near Plymouth (11 crew killed, 7 survivors). British submarine HMS Swordfish leaves Portsmouth to patrol off Brest. As she performs a trim dive, she hits a mine and is blown in half, sinking immediately in the English Channel, 7 miles South of the Isle of Wight (all 39 hands lost). http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/159214/a_wrecks_diver_dream_of_heaven.html
http://www.oceantreasures.org/videos,hms-swordfish-submarine-ww2-wreck-isle-of-wight-3383.html

7 German torpedo boats depart Trondheim to attack an Allied convoy off Kinnaird Head, Northern Scotland. T.6 sinks in a British minefield 40 miles from the target (T.7 and T.8 rescue the survivors). The remaining torpedo boats return to Trondheim

The war comes to Australia. 6 miles off Wilson's Promontory, South Australia, British steamer Cambridge (sailing from Melbourne to Sydney) sinks on a mine laid by German auxiliary minelayer Passat. 1 crewman is killed and 57 survivors are rescued by Australian auxiliary minesweeper Orara. http://www.divetime.com/divesites/Oceania_and_Pacific/Australia/Victoria/Wilsons_Promontory/SS_Cambridge_66525.html

Day 433 November 6, 1940

At 12.25 PM off Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, British destroyer HMS Encounter mistakes HMS Utmost for an enemy submarine and rams her. HMS Utmost reaches Gibraltar tomorrow and will be taken to Malta for repairs, completed in February 1941. HMS Encounter will require repairs at Gibraltar until November 23.

Comandante Faà Di Bruno, the first Italian submarine operating in the North Atlantic, shells British steamer Melrose Abbey 200 miles Northwest of Ireland. Canadian destroyer HMCS Ottawa and British destroyer HMS Harvester force the submarine to dive with shellfire and then sink her with depth charges (all 57 hands lost).

Minesweeping whaler HMS Sevra hits a mine and sinks off Falmouth, Southwest England (no casualties).

In Greece, Greek 2nd Army Corps starts pushing Italian Julia Division out of the Pindus Mountains while, further West, Italian forces continue to batter fruitlessly against the Greek defenses on the Kalamas River.

Day 432 November 5, 1940

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer has been in the North Atlantic since November 1 waiting to attack Allied convoys. Using German radio intercepts, she vectors in on convoy HX-84 (38 merchant ships from Halifax Nova Scotia to Britain). Late in the afternoon, Admiral Scheer appears over the horizon and the convoy escort, armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, sails out to intercept her despite being hopelessly outgunned. Jervis Bay is sunk within 15 minutes by shellfire from Admiral Scheer’s 11-inch guns (190 killed, 65 survivors picked up by Swedish merchant Stureholm). The convoy scatters but 5 more British ships are sunk (208 merchant sailors killed). Jervis Bay’s Captain Fegen will be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for protecting the convoy and preventing the loss of more ships. http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3326.html

Free French invasion of Gabon. Free French forces capture the strategically important town of Lambaréné from the Vichy French garrison. Since October 27, they have advanced 200 miles from their starting point in Cameroon and now threaten Gabon’s capital Libreville. Meanwhile, Free French commanders Colonel Marie Pierre Kœnig and Major Philippe Leclerc sail from Douala, Cameroon, with French Foreign Legion, Senegalese and Cameroonian troops to attack Libreville from the sea.

At 2.55 AM, U-99 sinks British tanker Scottish Maiden (carrying 3000 tons of diesel oil and 6500 tons of marine fuel oil) 180 miles Northwest of Ireland. 16 crew are lost and 28 survivors are picked up by destroyer HMS Beagle and landed at Liverpool.

Greece. Greek Cavalry Division led by General Georgios Stanotas begins the destruction of Italian Julia Division in the Pindus Mountains.

Day 431 November 4, 1940

150 miles West of Ireland, U-99’s battle with British convoy escorts continues through the night. While HMS Patroclus is picking up crew from HMS Laurentic, U-99 torpedoes Patroclus at 00.22, 00.44 and 1.18 AM and then dives to avoid return fire from the Patroclus’ deck gun and a Sunderland flying boat. U-99 surfaces and sinks HMS Laurentic at 4.35 AM, with a torpedo that explodes her store of depth charges, and HMS Patroclus at 5.25 AM (56 killed). British destroyer HMS Hesperus arrives and unsuccessfully depth charges U-99 until giving up the chase to pick up survivors from HMS Patroclus and HMS Laurentic.

Greece. In the Pindus Mountains, Italian Julia Division is trapped in the Vovousa valley, under attack by Greek 2nd Army Corps which has been brought in to reinforce the sector. Julia calls for help but they are too far away from reinforcements which are dispatched from Albania. Further West on the Ionian coast, Italian troops cross the Kalamas River and secure a bridgehead but are unable to breakout and outflank the Greek defenses further inland.

British cruiser HMS Ajax continues shuttling reinforce between Alexandria, Egypt, and Crete, to reinforce the garrison at Suda Bay. Ajax departs Alexandria with Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney with 14th Armoured Brigade HQ, anti-aircraft guns and troops.

Day 430 November 3, 1940

The tide turns on Italian forces in Greece. In the Pindus Mountains, Greek Pindus detachment begins a counterattack against the Italian Julia Division, retaking the villages of Samarina and Vovousa. Further West in Epirus, Italians bring up light L3/35 tankettes and medium M13/40 tanks to attack the Greek defenses on the Kalamas River. The tanks get stuck in the hilly, marshy terrain and are unable to support the infantry, who are slaughtered in front of the Greek machineguns. http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?122512-October-28-1940
At 9.40 PM, U-99 sinks British SS Casanare (carrying 1500 tons of bananas) 150 miles West of Ireland (9 crew killed). Casanare send a distress messages which brings British armed merchant cruisers HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus to their doom. U-99 hits HMS Laurentic with 3 torpedoes at 10.50, 11.10 and 11.30 PM (49 killed) but Laurentic does not sink. HMS Patroclus picks up 368 officers and ratings who have abandoned ship from HMS Laurentic, instead of hunting the submarine.

British submarine HMS Sturgeon sinks small Danish steamer Sigrun in the Oslofjord, Norway.

After 57 consecutive nights of bombing, London is not attacked. An average of 165 German planes each night has dropped a total of 13,600 tons of high explosive plus many incendiary bombs.

Day 429 November 2, 1940

100 miles Northwest of Ireland, British destroyer HMS Antelope brings U-31 to the surface with depth charges (2 dead) and U-31 is scuttled by the crew. As HMS Antelope takes off 43 survivors, she collides with U-31 causing structural damage (under repair until December). U-31 was previously sunk by a Bristol Blenheim of on March 11, 1940 and refloated later in March. U-31 is, thus, the only German submarine to sink twice in WWII. http://www.sharkhunters.com/U-31%20German%20Submarine.htm

Turkey declares neutrality in the war between Greece and Italy but keeps 37 divisions on the Bulgarian border and warns Bulgaria not to attack Greece. Delaying tactics by retreating Greek screening forces in the Epirus region, between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, have slowed the Italian advance. The Italians reach the main Greek defensive line on the Kalamas river between Elia & Kalamas and here they are stopped. In the Pindus Mountains, the Pindus detachment of Colonel Davakis continues to encircle the Italian Julia Division, but Davakis is badly wounded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantinos_Davakis

Departing from Suda Bay, Crete, for Alexandria, Egypt, British cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Coventry are attacked by Italian bombers, which again score several near misses but do no damage. Destroyer HMS Intrepid (ironically returning from a minelyaing mission) hits a mine off Hartlepool, Durham, damaging both her engines (under repair until Christmas). Minesweeping trawler HMT Rinovia hits a mine and sinks 10 miles South of St. Austell, Cornwall (15 crew lost). http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?138689

Day 428 November 1, 1940

Greece. In the middle of the Italian front, 11,000 elite mountain troops of 3rd Alpine Division Julia have the task of taking the mountain pass at Metsovo. 25 miles from Albania, this pass carries the only road for Greek movements East-West through the Pindus Mountains. They are faced by 2,000 Greek troops (2 infantry battalions, a cavalry troop and 2 artillery batteries, commanded by Colonel Konstantinos Davakis) who use their knowledge of the terrain to move along the hill tops and trap the Julia Division in the Vovousa valley 5 miles short of their objective.
http://www.enkripto.com/2008/10/october-28-1940.html
British cruiser HMS Ajax lands troops (2nd Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment) to reinforce the garrison at Suda Bay on the Greek island of Crete. Italian bombers attack HMS Ajax, scoring several near misses but doing no serious damage.

German bombers attack shipping in the Thames estuary, sinking steamer Letchworth (1 killed) and badly damaging patrol sloop HMS Pintail (10 killed, 3 wounded). HMS Pintail will be under repair in London until February 1941. They also sink minesweeping trawler HMT Tilbury Ness (10 killed; survivors are rescued by anti-aircraft ship Royal Eagle, which also shoots down one of the bombers, and tug Salvo).

At 7.06 AM, 400 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-124 sinks British SS Empire Bison carrying 6067 tons of scrap steel and 94 trucks from USA. 30 crew and 1 gunner are killed. 3 crew and 1 passenger are picked up by Danish merchant Olga S.

Sloop HMS Black Swan hits a mine in the Firth of Forth, Scotland (no fatalities). Black Swan will be towed to Dundee for repairs, completed in April 1941.

Day 427 October 31, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 114 – Last Day. Despite cloud, haze and drizzle, Luftwaffe mounts numerous reconnaissance flights and ineffective single aircraft bombing raids on RAF airfields in South England. The weather and lack of real threat prevent RAF from responding so there are no losses on either side. Bad weather also hampers overnight bombing. London is bombed from 6.30 – 9 PM while London and the Midlands are bombed from 2.45 – 6 AM. Although night bombing continues for many months and there are sporadic German daytime raids, Luftwaffe has been contained by RAF and the threat of a German invasion of Britain is over. RAF has lost 915 fighters while 1733 German planes have been shot down. RAF recognizes 2936 Fighter Command aircrew (mostly pilots) from14 countries who were awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp to the 1939–45 Star by flying at least one authorised operational sortie from July 10 to October 31 1940. 544 were killed in Battle of Britain and another 795 died later in the war, leaving 1597 who survived WWII. About 100 of those are still alive today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAF_aircrew_in_the_Battle_of_Britain

At 9.58 PM, 300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-124 sinks British SS Rutland which is carrying bananas from Jamaica (all 24 hands lost).

German armed merchant cruiser Widder arrives at Brest after 179 days at sea in the mid-Atlantic, sinking 10 ships for 58,645 tons. Captain Helmuth von Ruckteschell will be convicted after the war as a war criminal for his conduct on this short voyage and die in prison. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/widder.html

Italy’s invasion of Greece begins to stall. Their troops lose momentum in the face of resistance from Greek screening forces in the rugged terrain of the Epirus Mountains along the Albanian border. Many Italians die in frontal assaults on well dug-in Greek positions. With the agreement of the Greek government, British forces land on the islands of Lemnos and Crete in the Aegean Sea, as a defensive move to prevent their occupation by an Italian amphibious landing. Greek destroyers Spetsai and Psara depart the Gulf of Patras and use their 120mm guns to bombard Italian troops on the Ionian coast of Albania and Northern Greece. Greek naval activity and the presence of the British Royal Navy persuade the Italian Navy to abandon plans for landing on Corfu.

Day 426 October 30, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 113. Despite low cloud and continuous drizzle, there are a few German reconnaissance flights over South England and patrols in the English Channel. Luftwaffe sends 2 sweeps of 130-150 fighters over Kent and London at 11.30 AM and 3.40 PM. Some RAF squadrons cannot take off due to the weather and consequently bombs are dropped in Kent and Southeast London. 8 Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters and 1 Heinkel He111 bomber are shot down. RAF loses 5 fighters (4 pilots killed). Overnight, London and towns in Southeast England are heavily bombed from 6.30 – 9 PM and then sporadically until 1 AM. Towns in the Midlands are also attacked but all German planes have returned to base by 3.30 AM.

2 days after sinking liner Empress of Britain, U-32’s captain Hans Jenisch attacks British SS Balzac in a rainstorm 100 miles Northwest of Ireland. At 12.40 PM, U-32 fires a torpedo which explodes prematurely. Balzac’s radio alert is picked up 45 miles away by destroyers HMS Harvester and Highlander, escorting convoy SC-8. Highlander arrives as U-32 is preparing to fire another torpedo. U-32 dives and tries to torpedo Highlander but is damaged by depth charges. At 7.08 PM, U-32 surfaces hoping to escape in the rain and darkness but is shelled by the destroyer (killing 9 crew). Unable to dive again, the crew abandons ship and scuttles U-32 (29 crew rescued by HMS Harvester and 4 by HMS Highlander). To hide the capture of Hans Jenisch (U-boat ace, Knights Cross recipient and celebrated sinker of Empress of Britain), German propaganda broadcasts a fake account of his triumphant return home.

2 British destroyers come to grief in stormy weather off Scotland. At 00.41, HMS Fearless collides with steamer SS Lanark off Gourock, causing heavy damage to her bow which will take until the end of the year to repair. HMS Sturdy runs aground and is wrecked on Tiree, an island in the Inner Hebrides (5 sailors drown swimming ashore and are buried on the island in the Soroby burial ground).

Day 425 October 29, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 112. Despite overcast skies, Luftwaffe mounts strenuous attacks from 10.25 AM until 5 PM (4 raids towards London and 2 over Portsmouth on the South coast). These are more than the nuisance raids of previous days, with up to 40 medium bombers escorted by Messerschmitt fighters (London and Portsmouth both suffer some bomb damage). At dusk, airfields in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire are attacked by dive bombing Ju88s and Bf109s. Germans lose 22 Bf109s, 3 Bf110s and 2 Dornier Do17 bombers. RAF loses 7 fighters including 2 destroyed by bombs when taking off from North Weald airfield (2 pilots killed). 15 Fiat BR20M bombers of the Corpo Aereo Italiano bomb Ramsgate in formation, wing tip to wing tip, and 5 are hit by anti-aircraft fire. There is heavy night bombing of Birmingham and Coventry & London is also bombed.

Following invasion by Italian troops from Albania, Greece requests help from Britain by invoking Chamberlain’s guarantee of 13 April 1939 ("in the event of any action being taken which clearly threatened the independence of Greece, His Majesty's Government would feel themselves bound at once to lend all the support in their power"). A joint reconnaissance party of all 3 British services lands at Suda Bay on the island of Crete in a flying boat. A flotilla of 4 British battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 19 destroyers and various other vessels leaves Alexandria, Egypt, to sweep the seas around Crete of Italian warships. They are carrying 158 sailors from damaged cruiser HMS Liverpool as a base defense party to reinforce Suda Bay.

At 10.00 PM, U-31 torpedoes and sinks the drifting wreck of SS Matina (destroyed by U-28 on October 26). In the Bay of Biscay, U-29 rendezvous with German armed merchant cruiser Widder. Widder is returning from raiding in the mid-Atlantic with worn out engines at a speed of 5 knots (the journey has taken 13 days). http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW2/4Widder.html

Day 424 October 28, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 111. Mist and fog over Northern France and Southeastern England in the morning hamper operations, but Luftwaffe launches 3 raids in the afternoon. At 1 PM and 2.30 PM, 20 Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters fly across Kent towards Biggin Hill but are turned back. From 4.30 PM until 5.10 PM, several groups of 30-80 German aircraft (mainly bomb-carrying Bf109s with some medium bombers) attack simultaneously across Kent and South coast of England. They do not reach London but many sites in Southern England are bombed. Bomb-laden Bf109s do not provide much protection for the medium bombers and 2 Ju88s are shot down plus 2 Bf109s. RAF loses no fighters in the action. London and Birmingham are again bombed overnight, but not heavily.

At 2.05 AM, 50 miles Northwest of Aran Island, Ireland, U-32 sinks British troop carrier Empress of Britain with 2 torpedoes (25 crew and 20 passengers killed). At 42,348 tons, Empress of Britain is the largest U-boat victim and the largest liner sunk during WWII. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/643.html

At dawn, before the expiry of the Italian ultimatum, 85,000 Italian troops cross the border from Albania into Greece, supported by 400 aircraft and 163 tanks. They are faced by 30,000 Greek troops with no tanks and only 77 aircraft. 5,000 Italian troops advance 5 miles along the Ionian coast and are able to cross the Kalamas River. Further inland, however, the Italians make little progress in the steep mountainous terrain where their tanks are useless and bad weather grounds their air support.

Between October 28 and November 7, German raider Pinguin and auxilliary minelayer Passat (converted Norwegian taker Storstad) laid mines off the ports of Sydney, Newcastle and Hobart, off Adelaide in the Banks Strait, off Tasmania and in the Bass Strait on the approaches to Melbourne.

Day 423 October 27, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 110. Despite cloudy weather, Luftwaffe sends 5 raids of 50-60 aircraft between 8AM and 5 PM (mostly bomb-carrying Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters with a few medium bombers). At dusk, German bombers attack 14 RAF airfields, causing much minor damage. RAF shoots down 6 Luftwaffe fighters and 2 bombers. 2 more German bombers are downed by anti-aircraft fire. RAF loses 8 fighters (4 pilots killed). Night bombing is widespread but London and Liverpool are the main targets. Italian Fiat BR20M bombers of the Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps) are in action again attacking Ramsgate.

At 9.30 AM, a boarding party from destroyer HMS Broke attaches tow ropes to the burning hulk of liner Empress of Britain which was bombed yesterday. Rescue tugs HMS Marauder and HMS Thames take Empress of Britain in tow towards the Clyde River in Scotland, escorted by destroyers HMS Broke and Sardonyx (with air cover from Sunderland flying boats until nightfall). However, U-32 vectors in on the small convoy, remaining submerged to avoid the Sunderlands.

70 miles Southeast of the Azores, Italian submarine Nani sinks Swedish steamer Meggie (all hands rescued).

Free French forces from Cameroon invade Vichy French Gabon (in French Equatorial Africa). They penetrate 70 miles and take the town of Mitzic.

Late in the evening, Italian ambassador in Athens Emanuele Grazzi issues an ultimatum from Mussolini, demanding that Italian troops be allowed occupy strategic points in Greece. Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas rejects the ultimatum, noting "Alors, c'est la guerre" (Then, it's war). The Greeks know of the Italian plans and have already mobilized in the areas facing the expected attack.

Day 422 October 26, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 109. From 7 AM to 6.30 PM, there are continuous small raids of German fighter/bombers (mostly Messerschmitt Bf109s) over Kent and a major sweep of 80 aircraft at 11.30, with several aircraft reaching London. Again, there is little damage to airfields or towns including London. Germans lose 4 Bf109s. 2 RAF fighters are shot down (both pilots killed). At 5.45 PM, German bombers at very low altitude attack RAF Lossiemouth in Northeast Scotland, destroying 1 Blenheim and damaging 2 more. 1 Heinkel He111 is caught in the explosion of its own bombs and crashes. Overnight, London, Manchester, Liverpool and other cities in the Midlands are bombed.

At 4.32 AM, U-28 hits British SS Matina (carrying 1500 tons of bananas from Jamaica) with a torpedo 250 miles Northwest of Ireland. U-28 surfaces and hits Matina with 15 rounds from her deckgun. 67 crew and 2 gunners abandon ship in the lifeboats but are never seen again.

At 9.20 AM, 70 miles Northwest of Aran Island, Ireland, two 250kg bombs from a German Fw200 Condor bomber set fire to British liner Empress of Britain (now converted into a troop ship, carrying military personnel and their families from Egypt to Britain). Most of the 416 crew members, 2 gunners and 205 passengers abandon ship and are rescued by British destroyer HMS Echo, anti-submarine trawler HMS Cape Arcona and Polish destoyer Burza. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/643.html

Day 421 October 25, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 108. Overnight, while RAF bombs Hamburg and Berlin causing considerable casualties, 16 Italian Fiat BR20M bombers of the Corpo Aereo Italiano bomb Felixstowe and Harwich from bases in Belgium (1 crashes on take off, 2 others get lost on the return flight and crash). During the day, clouds lift and visibility improves. Luftwaffe steps up activity, with increased reconnaissance flights and patrols in the English Channel. 4 groups of 50-200 Messerschmitt Bf109s sweep over Kent and of up to 30 fighters reach London. However, there is little damage to airfields or towns, including London. Germans lose 14 Bf109s and 10 RAF fighters are shot down (3 pilots killed). Minesweeping trawler HMT Lord Inchcape hits a mine and sinks off Plymouth. At dusk, He111 bombers raid Montrose airfield, Scotland. Overnight, London and Birmingham are the main targets, but Pembroke, Cardiff and Liverpool and the Midlands are also bombed. A German bomber is shot down by 219 Squadron in the English Channel near Brighton.

3 RAF Lockheed Hudson bombers attack U-46 in the Atlantic, wounding Matrosengefreiter (Able Seaman) Plaep who dies next day.

British gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Italian troops 15 miles East of the Italian garrison at Sidi Barrani, Egypt.

Day 420 October 24, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 107. Low cloud and drizzle again restrict Luftwaffe to reconnaissance flights. 1 Dornier Do17 is shot down in the English Channel and another approaching Coventry. There are no RAF losses. Overnight bombing of London is light but Birmingham is heavily bombed.

In Operation DNU, British battlecruisers HMS Hood and Repulse plus 2 cruisers and 8 destroyers conduct a sweep of the Norwegian coast hoping to engage German shipping. Their only victim is German weather ship WBS5 (trawler Adolf Vinnen) sunk by destroyers HMS Somali, Matabele & Punjabi, 30 miles off the Stadlandet peninsula between Bergen and Trondheim.

At 11.35, in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, a depth charge on board British destroyer HMS Mendip explodes, blowing off her stern. Mendip will be repaired at the Tyne until February 17, 1941.

Hitler's armoured train arrives in Montoire, France, to meet French Prime Minister Philippe Pétain. After meeting with Franco yesterday, Hitler tries to persuade France to join the war against England. Pétain indicates he is only willing “to collaborate”, words that will cost him his freedom in 1945. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H25217,_Henry_Philippe_Petain_und_Adolf_Hitler.jpg

Day 419 October 23, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 106. The weather deteriorates further with poor visibility due to low cloud and drizzle. Luftwaffe mounts only reconnaissance flights and sporadic raids of single bomb-carrying fighters. No fighters are shot down by either side. There is relatively light night bombing of London and Glasgow and minelaying off the Yorkshire coast in Northeast England.

In an attempt to bring Fascist Spain into the war on the side of Germany, Hitler travels to Hendaye, Southern France, to meet General Franco. Over 9 hours of negotiations, Hitler offers Gibraltar and territory in North Africa to Spain but Franco demands French Catalonia (North of the Pyrenees), almost all of Morocco and a large chunk of Algeria. Hitler later confides (to Mussolini) that he would rather have 3 or 4 teeth pulled out than continue the discussions.

10 more WWI-era US Navy destroyers are transferred to Royal Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, for escort duty as part of the “destroyers for bases” deal between Churchill and Roosevelt.

Day 418 October 22, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 105. Widespread fog in the morning restricts Luftwaffe to reconnaissance flights. In the afternoon, fog clears to rain and Luftwaffe sends 2 fighter sweeps, 1 over Kent and 1 over Southeast London and Thames Estuary (3 Bf109s shot down, 6 REF fighters shot down with 4 pilots killed). 2 minesweeping trawler hits mines and sink. HMT Joseph Button sinks 6 miles off Aldeburgh, Suffolk, (5 killed) and HMT Hickory sinks in the English Channel, South of Weymouth (24 killed). Night bombing of London is light but Liverpool is attacked and Coventry is heavily bombed from 8-10 PM, starting 150 fires and causing much damage.

Canadian destroyer HMCS Margaree, escorting convoy OL-8, collides with freighter Port Fairy 300 miles West of Ireland and sinks (142 crew lost, 34 rescued by Port Fairy). HMCS Margaree had previously been in the Royal Navy as HMS Diana and had been commissioned into the Canadian Navy on September 6. Most of the crew had survived the sinking of destroyer HMCS Fraser on June 25 after a collision with cruiser HMS Calcutta.

Day 417 October 21, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 104. Typical British Autumn weather (clouds, fog and drizzle) restricts Luftwaffe to reconnaissance and numerous single aircraft raids, mainly from 11 AM to 2 PM. Fog on the ground prevents many RAF squadrons from taking off in response. As a result, there is bombing of London, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Kent. 1 Ju88 bomber is shot down and RAF loses no fighters. Dover is shelled again from 2-4 PM but most of the 6 shells do not explode. British motor torpedo boat MTB-17 hits a mine and sinks off Ostend. Minesweeping trawler HMS Waveflower hits a mine and sinks off Alderburgh, Suffolk (15 dead, 7 rescued by another minesweeping trawler HMS Thomas Leeds). London, Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Liverpool and South Wales are bombed heavily until 1 AM.

At 2.19 AM, in the Red Sea, Italian destroyers Manin, Sauro, Battisti & Nullo, from Massawa in Italian-held Eritrea, attack convoy BN-7 from Bombay. New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander and other convoy escorts drive the Italian destroyers away. Italian destroyer Nullo is badly damaged by shellfire from British destroyer HMS Kimberley & Australian sloop HMAS Yarra. Nullo is chased back towards base at Massawa by HMS Kimberley but runs aground on nearby Hormi Island (and is later destroyed by British bombing). HMS Kimberley is hit by shore guns at Massawa (3 wounded).

Day 416 October 20, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 103. Luftwaffe takes advantage of clearing mist to send 5 raids of fighters, some carrying bombs, over Kent towards London, between 9.30 AM and 3 PM. Luftwaffe loses 6 Bf109s and 1 Bf110 while RAF loses 3 fighters (none of the pilots are killed). Dover is again shelled by German heavy artillery in Calais but only 15 out of 50 explode. Italian BR20 bombers, Cant Z1007 long range bombers, G50 fighters and CR42 fighters are reported to be in Belgium to begin operations against England. From 7 PM to 1 AM, there is heavy bombing of London, Coventry and Birmingham.

U-46 and U-47 continue attacking convoy HX-79 50 miles Northwest of Ireland, joined by U-100 fresh from the attack on convoy SC-7. They sink 7 ships and damage 1 more between midnight and 7.20 AM. U-100 sinks British SS Loch Lomond (1 killed). 111 survivors, including all 72 men rescued last night from SS Matheran, are picked up by minesweeper HMS Jason. 200 miles further West, U-124 sinks Norwegian SS Cubano (2 killed) and British SS Sulaco (63 crew members and 2 gunners killed). 29 crew from Cubano escape in lifeboats and pick up the sole survivor from Sulaco, chief cook James Thompson Harvey. They are all rescued the next day by destroyer HMCS Saguenay.

Using papers captured from submarine Durbo on October 18, British destroyers HMS Gallant, Griffin & Hotspur locate Italian submarine Lafole in the Mediterranean off Mellila, Morocco. HMS Hotspur rams Lafole which sinks (37 crew killed, 2 rescued by HMS Gallant and 7 by Hotspur). Hotspur’s bow is severely damage and she will be under repair until February 20 1941.

Day 415 October 19, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 102. Clouds and mist in the English Channel and Northern France again restrict Luftwaffe to reconnaissance and a few single aircraft raids. 2 Ju88 bombers are shot down, 1 near Maidstone, Kent, and another near Falmouth, Cornwall. 60 German fighters, some carrying bombs, fly over Kent to Central London at 2.30 PM and are engaged by 5 RAF squadrons. 2 RAF fighters are shot down (1 pilot killed). Destroyer HMS Venetia hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary, 10 miles North of Herne Bay, Kent (35 crew killed, 18 wounded). There is very heavy night bombing London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Coventry.

U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123 continue attacking convoy SC-7, 100 miles Northwest of Ireland, and 10 ships are torpedoed between midnight and 5 AM. U-123 sinks British SS Shekatika which was abandoned yesterday after being hit by U-100 and U-123 (it has taken a total of 5 torpedoes to sink her). U-99 sinks Norwegian SS Snefjeld (all 21 crew escape in a launch and accumulate survivors from other ships until picked up by corvette HMS Clematis on October 23). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/615.html

150 miles further West, U-38, U-46 and U-47 attack convoy HX-79, sinking 5 ships and damaging tanker SS Shirak.

A violent storm in the Gulf of St. Lawrence sinks Canadian auxiliary minesweeper HMCS Bras d'Or (all 30 hands lost), escorting Rumanian freighter Ingener N. Vlassopol from Quebec to Sydney, Nova Scotia (where slower merchant ships assembled before setting out in convoy for Britain). http://merchantships2.tripod.com/brasdor/brasdor.html

Day 414 October 18, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 101. Again, fog in Southern England restricts Luftwaffe activity to reconnaissance and single aircraft raids throughout the day. There are few engagements and no aircraft are shot down. Between 11.37 AM to 1.11 PM, German guns near Calais fire 10 shells at Dover but only two explode. Anti-submarine trawler HMT Kingston Cairngorm hits a mine in the English Channel and is taken in tow but sinks the next day. Night bombing of London is on a reduced scale but the Rose and Crown Pub in Lambeth is demolished by a direct hit at 8.25 PM, killing 42 with 6 injured. Liverpool and Birmingham are heavily bombed, receiving considerable damage.

Off Alboran Island, 120 miles East of Gibraltar in the Mediterranean, 2 Saro London flying boats of RAF 202 Squadron from Gibraltar spot Italian submarine Durbo. British destroyers HMS Firedrake & Wrestler attack with depth charges forcing Durbo to the surface. The crew scuttles Durbo but, before she sinks, British sailors manage to go aboard and capture secret papers revealing the location of other Italian submarines in the Mediterranean. Durbo’s crew of 48 is taken prisoner, taken to Gibraltar and sent to England aboard troopship Reina Del Pacifico (and later to camps in USA). http://www.hmsfiredrake.co.uk/firedrake20.htm

German submarine chasers (U-Jäger) UJ-116 and UJ-118 sink British WWI-era submarine H-49 (21 killed, 1 survivor taken prisoner) off Texel Island on the Dutch coast.

At 6.36 AM, U-38 torpedoes British SS Carsbreck in convoy SC-7, which stays afloat on its cargo of lumber. 4 other U-boats (U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123) converge and attack convoy SC-7, 100 miles Northwest of Ireland. Between 10 PM and midnight, 10 steamers are torpedoed. U-99 sinks British Fiscus (38 killed, 1 survivor clings to floating debris and will be found next day by a lifeboat from another ship). U-100 and U-123 both torpedo British SS Shekatika but she does not sink (all 36 crew escape in lifeboats). 400 miles further Northwest, at 10.25 PM, U-48 sinks British SS Sandsend (5 killed).

Day 413 October 17, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 100. Luftwaffe takes advantage of the return of bright weather and sends 4 raids of fighters, some carrying bombs, over Kent and the Thames Estuary towards London between 8.30 AM and 4.30 PM. The largest raid of about 80 aircraft at 3.10 PM is met over East London, Kenley and Biggin Hill by 14 RAF squadrons, which shoot down 4 Messerschmitt Bf109s. RAF loses 3 fighters (all 3 pilots killed). Overnight, London, Liverpool and Birmingham are all heavily bombed.

Minesweeper HMS Dundalk hits a mine 20 miles Northeast of Harwich on the East coast of England (4 killed, 7 wounded) and is taken in tow but sinks early the next day. German motor torpedo boats S-24 and S-27 attack convoy FN.311 in the North Sea, 10 miles off Lowestoft, Norfolk. British steamer Hauxley is torpedoed (1 crewman lost) and taken in tow by destroyer HMS Worcester but sinks the next day.

4 German destroyers and 6 torpedo boats leave Brest, France, to attack shipping in the Bristol Channel but they are spotted by British reconnaissance aircraft at 7.19 AM. British cruisers HMS Newcastle & Emerald and 5 destroyers leave Plymouth at 11.00 AM and sight the German ships at 4 PM. After an exchange of shellfire at a distance of 11 miles lasting until 6 PM, both sides retire with no damage reported.

U-93 continues the attack on convoy OA-228 300 miles Northwest of the Outer Hebrides, sinking Norwegian SS Dokka at 3.17 AM (10 killed, 7 crew escape on two rafts and are picked up by sloop HMS Folkestone and landed in Sydney, Australia, on October 23) and British SS Uskbridge at 3.39 AM (2 killed, 6 crew picked up and transferred to British SS Cristales and landed at Bermuda). U-93 is attacked 3 times during the day (depth charged at 4 AM by HMS Folkestone, depth charged again at 10.15 AM, and bombed in the evening by a Sunderland aircraft) but suffers no damage. At 5.53 AM, U-48 fires 3 torpedoes at convoy SC-7 400 miles Northwest of Ireland, sinking British SS Scoresby and stopping British tanker Languedoc (carrying 13,700 tons of fuel oil). Corvette HMS Bluebell scuttles tanker Languedoc with gunfire and also picks up all 39 crew from Scoresby and all 39 crew from Languedoc (landed at Gourock, Scotland, on 20 October). At 10.52 AM, U-38 sinks Greek SS Aenos with the deck gun (4 killed, 25 survivors picked up by Canadian SS Eaglescliffe Hall).

Day 412 October 16, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 99. Widespread fog over France and Germany severely limits operations during the day. There are some German patrols in the English Channel and single aircraft fly over Kent, the Thames Estuary, Liverpool, Swansea, Cardiff and Gloucester. There are limited engagements with 1 German aircraft damaged over Ashford, Kent, and 1 Hurricane lost (pilot is safe). British motor torpedo boat MTB-106 hits a mine and sinks near the Nore Light Vessel in the Thames Estuary. However, there is heavy overnight bombing of London and other targets in South Wales, Midlands Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham and Perth (Scotland) are bombed until midnight. 2 German bombers crash of unknown causes around 7.30 PM, 1 near Bishops Stortford and another near Denbigh.

At 3.50 AM, U-124 sinks Canadian SS Trevisa 400 miles Northwest of Ireland (7 killed, 14 crew picked up by corvette HMS Bluebell and landed at Gourock, Scotland). British submarine HMS Tigris sinks tiny French trawler Cimcour with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay, 120 miles West of La Rochelle, France.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/596.html

Aircraft from British carrier HMS Furious bomb oil storage tanks and a German seaplane base at Tromso, Norway, and also attack shipping.

Day 411 October 15, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 98. Cloudy in the Straits of Dover but clear over Southern England. Luftwaffe makes 6 fighter-only sweeps, 5 coming in over Kent or up the Thames Estuary to London from 8.15 AM to 4 PM and 1 over Southampton at 12.15 PM. German losses are 16 fighters and 3 bombers while RAF loses 15 fighters (6 pilots killed). Overnight, there is very heavy bombing of London, concentrated on railway lines, dockyards and the old City. In clear moonlight, 400 Luftwaffe bombers drop 530 tons of high explosive bombs (400 killed, 900 injured). German bombers from Cherbourg attack Bristol and bomb Birmingham heavily.

At 1 AM, 100 miles South of Taranto, Italy, British submarine HMS Triad, running on the surface, encounters Italian submarine Enrico Toti. HMS Triad fires first, scoring 2 hits with 4-inch shells from the deck gun but missing with a torpedo. Enrico Toti cannot dive due to a mechanical breakdown but hits Triad with 2 shells and machinegun fire, forcing Triad’s gun crews to take cover below deck. As HMS Triad dives, she is hit by a torpedo & sinks at 1.30 (all 59 hands lost). http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3493.html

Italian submarine Foca sinks while laying a minefield off Haifa, Palestine (now Israel). Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini (one of only 2 submarines to serve in Italian, German and Japanese navies) sinks Belgian steamer Kabalo 800 miles West of Casablanca, Morocco (1 killed, survivors picked up by American steamer Pan American). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Comandante_Cappellini

U-93 and U-138 attack convoy OA-228 100 miles Northwest of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Just after midnight, U-93 sinks British SS Hurunui (2 killed, 72 survivors). Between 5.10-5.15 AM, U-138 sinks British SS Bonheur (all crew picked up by anti-submarine trawler HMS Sphene) and damages British tanker MV British Glory (3 killed). At 7.33 PM, U-103 sinks British SS Thistlegarth, 100 miles Northwest of the Outer Hebrides (29 crew members and 1 gunner lost, 9 crew picked up by corvette HMS Heartsease). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/593.html

Day 410 October 14, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 97. Clouds and rain limit flying to reconnaissance over the English Channel, Straits of Dover and Thames Estuary and isolated raids on the English coast (from East Anglia to Portsmouth, Hampshire). No British or German aircraft are lost. Anti-submarine trawler HMT Lord Stamp hits a mine and sinks off Dorset in the English Channel (25 lives lost). Overnight, London is bombed as well as Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, Blackburn and Preston. At 8.02 PM, a 1400kg armour piercing bomb hits Balham Tube Station, part of the London Underground, which is being used as an air raid shelter. Fractured water mains and sewers flood the Station killing 66 civilians but over 500 escape from shoulder-high water in darkness.

British Mediterranean Fleet is returning from Malta to Alexandria. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious detaches to launch air strikes against the Italian Dodecanese island of Leros (now part of Greece), escorted by cruisers HMS Gloucester & Liverpool and 4 destroyers. The group then heads for Alexandria. At 6.55 PM, 50 miles South of Crete, an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM79 bomber hits cruiser HMS Liverpool with a torpedo, causing an explosion in the aviation fuel store which blows off her bow (30 crew killed, 35 wounded). Liverpool will be towed to Alexandria and then sail with a false bow across the Pacific Ocean to California to be repaired, not returning to service until December 1941.

At 9.28 PM, 100 miles Northwest of Ireland, British armed merchant cruiser HMS Cheshire is hit by one torpedo from U-137, but does not sink. 220 crew members are taken off by Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena and British corvette HMS Periwinkle. HMS Cheshire will be beached at Belfast and then taken to Liverpool for repairs lasting 6 months. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2068.html

German armed merchant cruiser Orion stops and scuttles Norwegian steamer Ringwood in the Pacific 600 miles Northwest of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (35 crew and 1 cat taken prisoner). http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/orion.html

Day 409 October 13, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 96. Fog in the morning restricts flying but then clears. Luftwaffe again mounts raids of mostly fighters. There are 4 raids of 25-50 aircraft from 12.30-4 PM, attacking London and airfields in Kent. Luftwaffe and RAF lose 2 fighters each (both RAF pilots survive). Rescue tug HMRT Danube III hits a mine and sinks off Sheerness, Kent, in the mouth of the Thames Estuary (11 killed). There is widespread bombing of London from 7 PM to 6 AM and 250 civilians are killed at Stoke Newington by a direct hit on a block of flats which collapses on the air raid shelter underneath. There is also heavy overnight bombing in the North of England (Middlesborough, Hull, Huddersfield, Grantham, Liverpool and Manchester).

At dawn, a Sunderland flying boat spots Italian destroyer Artigliere under tow by destroyer Camicia Nera. Attacks by aircraft from British carrier HMS Illustrious force Camicia Nera to abandon Artigliere. British cruisers HMS York and Ajax (which damaged Artigliere yesterday) & 4 destroyers respond to the action and HMS York sinks Artigliere with torpedoes. The British warships drop rafts for the survivors who are picked up next day by an Italian Navy hospital ship. The Battle of Cape Passero costs Italy about 200 sailors from destroyer Artigliere and the 2 torpedo boats Ariel and Airone sunk yesterday.

At 8.46 AM, U-103 torpedoes Estonian SS Nora 200 miles West of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Nora does not sink but the lifeboats are destroyed so U-103’s Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze sends a distress message with the steamer’s position. 19 survivors will be picked up by sloop HMS Leith on October 18. At 7.57 PM, in the same area, U-37 sinks British SS Stangrant (8 killed). 30 survivors are rescued by a Sunderland flying boat (10 Squadron RAAF) and landed at Oban, Scotland.

Day 408 October 12, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 95. Despite fog across much of England, it is another very busy day. There are reconnaissance fights from 6.50 to 9 AM and then a steady stream of larger raids from 9 AM to 5.15 PM. These consist of 20-150 aircraft, mostly 25% medium bombers and 75% escort fighters, many of which penetrate to London. German losses are 9 Bf109 fighters and 1 Arado Ar95 seaplane patrolling in the Straits of Dover. RAF loses 10 fighters (4 pilots killed). Overnight, there is relatively light bombing of London but Birmingham and Coventry in the Midlands are also attacked.

German Governor-General of Poland Hans Frank orders 138,000 Jews in Warsaw to move into "Jewish residential quarters". The Ghetto will comprise 2.4 percent of the city's land contain 30% of population of 400,000 people.

Battle of Cape Passero. At 2 AM, East of Malta, British cruiser HMS Ajax (part of the Mediterranean fleet returning to Alexandria after resupplying Malta) is attacked by Italian torpedo boats Ariel, Alcione and Airone with torpedoes and 99mm shells. Ajax returns fire sinking Ariel and Airone. At 2.15 AM, Ajax’s radar detects Italian destroyers Artigliere and Aviere which do not have radar and are unaware of Ajax’s presence. Ajax fires 6 inch shells badly damaging Aviere and crippling Artigliere (which hits Ajax with 4 120mm rounds). Artigliere is taken in tow by another destroyer Camicia Nera. HMS Ajax retires with damaged gun turrets and disabled radar (13 dead, 20 wounded). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Passero_(1940)

U-48, U-59 and U-101 attack convoy HX.77 150 miles Northwest of Ireland, sinking Norwegian tanker Davanger carrying 10.000 tons of fuel oil just after midnight (17 crew killed, 12 survivors escape in lifeboats), British MV Pacific Ranger at 6 PM (all 55 hands escape in lifeboats) and Canadian steamer Saint Malô at 11.25 PM (28 dead, 16 survivors in lifeboats will be picked up by British tug HMS Salvonia on October 22).

Minesweeping trawler HMS Resolvo hits a mine in the Thames estuary (2 wounded) and will be beached and abandoned the next day.

Day 407 October 11, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 94. Fair weather brings a very busy day. Luftwaffe mounts reconnaissance fights, patrols in the English Channel and small raids (less than 10 aircraft) over Southeast England all day. From 10.20 AM until 4 PM, there is a steady stream of larger raids (25-90 aircraft, mostly fighter-only but some have 25% medium bombers), causing damage to towns in Southern England but not penetrating to London. Germans lose 1 Do17 bomber and 4 Bf109s. RAF loses 8 fighters (3 pilots killed). There are overnight bombing raids on London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and the Tyne and Tees areas, but these are halted at midnight by fog. 3 Dornier bombers are shot down by No 611 Squadron over Anglesey after bombing Liverpool (1 RAF fighter shot down, pilot wounded).

Operation Medium. From 3.33 to 3.51 AM, battleship HMS Revenge and destroyers Javelin, Jaguar, Jupiter, Kashmir, Kelvin & Kipling bombard Cherbourg. They are screened by a number of motor torpedo boats, cruisers and destroyers, which see off an attack by German torpedo boats.

Overnight, in the English Channel off the Isle of Wight, German torpedo boats Falke, Greif, Kondor, Seeadler & Wolf sink British anti-submarine trawler HMT Warwick Deeping (no lives lost), French submarine chasers CH.6 (9 killed, 12 taken prisoner) and CH.7 (12 killed, 8 taken prisoner) and French armed trawler Listrac (12 killed, 25 wounded). http://www.bevs.org/diving/wkwdeep.htm

The convoy of 4 merchant ships arrives safely at Malta from Alexandria, escorted by 4 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 6 cruisers, 16 destroyers and 6 submarines. At 11.05 AM, 15 miles South of Delimara, Malta, destroyer HMS Imperial hits a mine (1 killed) and is badly damaged (under repair at Malta until April 28). British Mediterranean Fleet begins the return journey to Alexandria but is spotted by an Italian civilian plane 100 miles Southeast of Malta. Italian destroyers and torpedo boats set out to intercept the British warships.

At 9.20 AM, British destroyer HMS Zulu detonates an acoustic mine in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. There are no casualties but Zulu is badly damaged and will be under repair at Rosyth until January 1941.

250 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-48 attacks convoy HX-77 in gale force conditions. At 9.50 PM, Norwegian MV Brandanger is sunk (6 killed, 16 survivors in a lifeboat and on a raft picked up next morning by corvette HMS Clarkia, 8 survivors in another lifeboat picked up on October 16 by British SS Clan Macdonald). At 10.09 PM, British MV Port Gisborne is sunk and the crew abandons ship (26 lost in a lifeboat that capsized). 38 crew are rescued by tug HMS Salvonia on October 22 and by British steamer Alpera on October 24.

British sloop HMS Auckland, escorting convoy BS.6, is bombed by Italian bombers in the Red Sea, 50 miles off the coast of Italian-held Eritrea.

Day 406 October 10, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 93. With sunshine and some showers, Luftwaffe mounts 4 raids of 20-100 aircraft into Kent and towards London. Bombs fall on London and towns on the South and Southeast coast. RAF loses 5 fighters (3 pilots killed) while shooting down 3 German fighters and 1 Do17 bomber. Another Ju88 bomber is shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Between 6.25 and 6.44 PM, Dover is hit by 18 shells from German guns near Calais but there is little damage and no casualties. Overnight bombing is heavy with London, Manchester and 15 airfields attacked. There are isolated raids on numerous other cities and towns.

At 11.33 PM, British steamer Graigwen (abandoned after being torpedoed yesterday by U-103) is sunk by U-123. British motor torpedo boats MTB-22, MTB-31 & MTB-32 attack a German convoy in the middle of the Straits of Dover, sinking German trawler Nordenham and capturing 34 prisoners.

Day 405 October 9, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 92. Despite bad weather, with rain in northern France and the Straits of Dover and clouds over the Channel, Luftwaffe mounts several large raids (consisting mainly of bomb-carrying Messerschmitt fighters) in the Southeast of England and towards London. Bombs are dropped at London, Maidstone, Hastings, Falmouth and other towns. 3 German fighters and 1 Ju88 bomber are shot down. RAF loses 1 fighter (pilot is safe). Overnight, London, Liverpool and Manchester are bombed. St Paul's Cathedral in London is hit, destroying choir stalls and the High Altar but the building is not structurally damaged. Fairey Albacore biplane torpedo bombers of 829 Squadron from HMS Peregrine (Royal Navy air station at Ford, Sussex) bomb Brest during the night, damaging German destroyers Eckholdt, Lody and Riedel by near misses. 1 Albacore is shot down and 3 aircrew are taken prisoners of war, including the squadron commander, Lt. Cdr. Stevinson.

At 10.11 PM, 20 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-103 attacks convoy SC-6 sinking Greek steamers SS Zannes Gounaris (1 killed) and SS Delphin (all hands rescued) and damaging British SS Graigwen (7 killed, 26 crew and 1 gunner picked up by HMS Enchantress and landed at Londonderry). U-103 is then depth charged by a convoy escort but not damaged.

British submarine HMS Regent torpedoes Italian merchant ship Antonietta Costa, 20 miles West of Durrës, Albania. Antonietta Costa does not sink but goes aground and is lost 10 miles off the coast near Durrës.

British minesweeping trawler HMS Sea King hits a mine and sinks 28 miles East of Grimsby, England (14 lives lost).

German troops enter its ally, Romania, to provide protection to the oilfields vital to the German war effort.

Day 404 October 8, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 91. Luftwaffe reverts to fighter-only flights (along with a handful of medium bombers), mounting 4 raids of 30-160 bomb-carrying Bf109s into Kent and towards London. RAF intercepts these formations as early as possible to minimize damage to the intended targets. The Messerschmitt pilots tend to drop their bombs quickly wherever they are challenged, knowing that the bomb-load makes them less maneuverable and more vulnerable to the RAF fighters. However, Government offices in Whitehall (Paymaster General's Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Great Scotland Yard) and Charing Cross Railway Station are bombed. 1 Bf109 and 3 German bombers are shot down but RAF has a bad day losing 4 fighters (all 4 pilots killed). London, East Anglia, East Midlands, Portsmouth and Southampton are bombed overnight. Serious fires develop in London, at the wharves and warehouses of Bermondsey and LEP transport in Chiswick.

At 9.31 PM, U-58 hits British SS Confield with 2 torpedoes 88 miles west of Barra Head, Outer Hebrides, Scotland (1 killed, 36 crew take to the lifeboats) but Confield remains afloat. The next day, 5 survivors are picked up by sloop HMS Weston (which shells and sinks Confield) and 31 survivors are picked up by corvette HMS Periwinkle. In the Bay of Biscay, British submarine HMS Trident and U-31 exchange gunfire; Trident hits U-31 with the deck gun, causing some minor damage, but misses with torpedoes.

British Mediterranean Fleet leaves Alexandria, Egypt, to escort a supply convoy to Malta though the dangerous waters South of Italy. Battleships HMS Warspite, Valiant, Malaya & Ramillies, aircraft carriers HMS Eagle & Illustrious, 6 cruisers, 6 anti-aircraft cruisers & 16 destroyers escort 4 British steamers, covered by 6 submarines.

350 miles Northeast of Natal, Brazil, German armed merchant cruiser Thor shells empty British refrigeration steamer Natia which stops after a chase (2 killed, 83 crew abandon ship in lifeboats and are taken prisoner). Natia stays afloat on the empty refrigerated chambers but is finally sunk with a torpedo and 35 150mm shells. Thor now has 368 prisoners on board, outnumbering the crew. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/thor.html

8 more old US Navy destroyers are transferred to Royal Navy for escort duty under the destroyers for bases deal brokered between Churchill and Roosevelt.

Day 403 October 7, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 90. Visibility improves, although there are clouds and some rain. Luftwaffe again tries the tactic of sending over large raids of 50-100 aircraft, with bombers escorted by 3 times the number of fighters to overwhelm the RAF defenses. Again it fails and RAF claims 21 German fighters & 6 bombers shot down for the loss of 16 RAF fighters (6 pilots killed). London is subjected to heavy night bombing again but there is also widespread bombing of other cities including Bristol, Liverpool and towns in East Anglia, Wales and Scotland (where naval and dock facilities in the Firth of Forth are attacked).

Operation Lucid. Fire ships (tankers War Nizam & War African filled with a flammable floating cocktail) sail for the French channel ports but the operation is again cancelled when escort destroyer HMS Hambledon is badly damaged on a mine just off the English coast near Folkestone (under repair until May 1941).

50 miles off the Northwest Irish coast, at 4 PM, U-59 sinks Norwegian MV Touraine (1 killed, 34 survivors abandon ship in 3 lifeboats). 400 miles West of Ireland, British tanker British General finally sinks at 8 PM, after being hit by 2 more torpedoes from U-37 (all 47 hands lost).

500 miles Northwest of Australia, German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin stops Norwegian tanker Storstad (carrying 12,000 tons of diesel oil from British North Borneo to Melbourne). Storstad is taken as a prize ship, loaded with 110 mines from Pinguin, renamed Passat and commissioned into the German Navy as an auxiliary minelayer. 30 of Storstad’s crew are taken prisoner while 5 continue to serve with the German prize crew of Passat. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/pinguin.html

Day 402 October 6, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 89. Göring again changes tactics, tiring of the heavy losses in recent days despite the high fighter:bomber ratio and the RAF showing no sign of weakening. In fact, AVM Park’s policy of not responding to small fighter-only raids has been very successful in avoiding unnecessary and costly engagements. Göring begins saving his bombers mostly for night operations, leaving Messerschmitt Bf109s & Bf110s to bring their smaller bomb loads during daylight along with occasional conventional medium bombers. They target mainly factories and RAF airfields. Luftwaffe loses 1 Do17 bomber and RAF loses 1 fighter (pilot killed). It is a quiet night with relatively little bombing of London. http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/phase4ofthebattle.cfm

At 1.04 PM, 400 miles West of Ireland, U-123 sinks British steamer Benlawers carrying supplies for the British Army in Egypt, including trucks (23 crew members and 1 gunner are lost, 27 survivors rescued by British steamers Bengore Head and Forest). In the same area, U-103 sinks Norwegian tanker Nina Borthen at 10.04 PM (all 35 crew lost) and British tanker British General is torpedoed by U-37 at 6.55 and 11.10 PM but refuses to sink. U-37 stays nearby throughout the night but cannot surface and use her deck gun because British General is armed.

Italian submarine Tricheco accidentally sinks Italian submarine Gemma, 5 miles South of the Greek island of Karpathos.

Day 401 October 5, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 88. The weather improves, with some sunny periods, and Luftwaffe resumes bombing raids up to 150 aircraft (mainly fighters supporting smaller numbers of bombers). Between 9.30 AM and 4 PM, 4 raids cross the Straits of Dover into Kent and there are raids across the Channel towards Southampton at 1.30 PM and 5.15 PM. Luftwaffe loses 2 bombers and 20 fighters while RAF has 9 fighters shot down (only 2 pilots killed). There is again widespread bombing on a small scale overnight (including Portland Naval base which is bombed at 8.35 PM). London is heavily bombed, starting a large fire at the West India Dock on the River Thames in the East End of London.

Italian submarine Nani sinks British armed boarding trawler HMT Kingston Sapphire in the Atlantic, 20 miles South of Cadiz, Spain (3 killed, survivors rescued by a Spanish trawler and landed at Huelva, Spain). Lieutenant Commander Browne, captain of British submarine HMS Regent, uses the unusual technique of ramming to sink Italian steamer Maria Grazia in the Adriatic Sea, 10 miles off the coast of Italy near Bari. Submarine HMS Tigris attacks an Italian submarine (possibly Glauco class submersible torpedo boat Otario) without success in the Bay of Biscay.

Day 400 October 4, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 87. Rain and mist again cause poor visibility over Southern England and Luftwaffe sends a steady stream of reconnaissance flights and single bomber raids with peak intensity around 3 PM. Bombs are dropped in Kent and near London hitting mainly homes, farms and few factories. 2 Ju88 bombers are shot down for the loss of 3 RAF fighters (1 pilot killed). There is widespread bombing on a small scale overnight but London is heavily bombed between 7 and 9 PM.

Operation Lucid. Fire ships (tankers War Nizam & War African filled with 50% heavy fuel oil, 25% diesel oil and 25% petrol) depart Sheerness and Harwich escorted by 11 destroyers, 6 minesweepers and torpedo boats. However, rough seas force the operation to be cancelled.

General Charles de Gaulle arrives in Douala, French Cameroon (which is sympathetic to the Free French) on board British cruiser HMS Devonshire, to organize the invasion of neighbouring Gabon (loyal to Vichy France). After the failed invasion of French West Africa at Dakar, de Gaulle is keen rally support for the Free French cause in Equatorial Africa, to mount operations from Chad into Italian-held Libya and to deny Germany use of the Atlantic coast for basing submarines and surface raiders to disrupt Allied shipping around Africa.

British submarine HMS Rainbow collides with Italian steamer Antonietta Costa and sinks in the Adriatic Sea, 20 miles North of Brindisi, Southern Italy (all 55 hands lost). Submarine HMS Triton shells shore installations at Vado Ligure and Savona, near Genoa, Northern Italy. Triton also sinks Italian steamer Franca Fassio 20 miles to Southwest of Savona, in the Ligurian Sea. Submarine HMS Tetrarch attacks another Italian merchant ship nearby, without success.