In Norway, the German 196th Division (General Richard Pellengahr) moves north from Oslo up the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys in an attempt to link up with the German forces in Trondheim. German 163rd Infantry Division and 196th Infantry Division push against elements of Norwegian 1st Infantry Division and 2nd Infantry Division in Oslo sector. In an attempt to halt the German advances, RAF attacks the Stavanger airfield in southern Norway. Three Vickers Wellingtons of No.115 Squadron and two Bristol Blenheims of No.254 Squadron attack Stavanger/Sola airfield on Norway’s west coast. This was the first RAF attack on Norway and the first of sixteen attacks on this airfield over the following days. Royal Navy aircraft carrier Luftwaffe transports continue to deliver German ground troops to Oslo.
Elements of German 310th Infantry Regiment occupy Haegeland north of Kristiansand. Norwegian forces succeeded in temporarily driving German troops out of Bergen and Trondheim.
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Furious launches unsuccessful air strikes against German vessels in Trondheimsfjord. RAF reconnaissance reports having placed Admiral Hipper in Trondheim on 10 April, plans were drawn up for HMS Furious’ squadrons to make a dawn torpedo attack on Trondheim and sink the foe. This was to be the first aerial torpedo attack of the war to date. All 18 aircraft were to participate, 816 Squadron being led by Lieutenant-Commander Henry Horace Gardner, RN and 818 Squadron by Lieutenant-Commander Patrick George Osric Sydney-Turner, RN. Takeoff commenced at 0400, with the entire force taking its departure at 0419, the squadrons proceeding independently to attack from different directions. Climbing to 8,000 feet en route, 816 Squadron sighted Trondheim Fjord at 0514, the roads being entirely obscured in cloud. Hoping to surprise the foe, the formation commenced a diving attack at 0519. Emerging from the clouds at 3,000 feet, the cruiser was nowhere to be seen, having “flown the coup” the prior evening. Flying towards Skjoren Fjord, the Squadron sighted a destroyer that appeared to be at anchor and opted for her.
In actuality the target was Theodore Riedel, which had run fast aground the day before. 816 squadron’s attack commenced at 0522, with all nine aircraft making good drops on the stationary target. But to their horror, about 500 yards from the target, all the torpedo tracks ended, four of the nine exploding. Not equipped with proper maps, the attackers had not realized that the target was aground in shoal water. Meanwhile, 818 Squadron sighted another Maass-class destroyer in Trondheimfjord heading towards the harbor. Unknown to the British, this was Friedrich Eckholdt, returning after her unsuccessful attempt to sortie home with the Hipper. In any case, eight of the nine attackers were able to release their “kippers” on her. Two exploded prematurely, the other six being skillfully avoided. It was a very disheartened band that returned to the ship at 0630. Later that morning, Furious dispatched a two Swordfish of 816 Squadron on an armed reconnaissance over Trondheim harbor. After completing the main task, they opted to dive bomb Reidel, apparently still aground in Skjoren Fjord at 1220. Unfortunately, all the six bombs dropped fell wide of the mark. Both aircraft returned safely at 1345.
The RAF sends 6 bombers to attack Stavanger-Sola airfield. This is the first daylight attack by bomber command on a continental target. One of the bombers is lost.
RAF Bomber Command attacks German shipping around Norway during the night without causing damage.
Norwegian Army General Kristian Laake was relieved of command for his failures in the opening chapters of the German invasion; General Ruge takes command of Norwegian Army, establishes headquarters near Lillehammer, and orders immediate mobilization of all forces. Laake resigned after being accused of being a defeatist and failing to quickly act against the invasion (the mobilization orders after the German invasion were sent by mail). General Ruge orders destruction of roads, bridges, telephone lines, and telegraph lines around Oslo in order to delay German advance.
Meanwhile, German collaborator Vidkun Quisling sent a message to King Haakon VII of Norway, asking him to return to Oslo; seeing through his plot to use him as a puppet, the king chose to ignore the request. Seeing a lack of response from the king and his government, German bombers attacked the village where they were hiding in a failed attempt to wipe out Norwegian leadership.
The Norwegian government has settled in at Elverum for the time being. In a proclamation, Norwegian Premier Nygaardsvold reaffirms the country’s determination to resist the German invasion.
King Haakon appeals to Norwegians to defend their nation.
British troops occupied the Faroe Islands between Scotland and Iceland.
First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill made a speech to the House of Commons announcing that the strategically important Faroe Islands belonging to Denmark were now being occupied by Britain. “We shall shield the Faroe Islands from all the severities of war and establish ourselves there conveniently by sea and air until the moment comes when they will be handed back to the Crown and people of a Denmark liberated from the foul thraldom in which they have been plunged by the German aggression,” Churchill said. Churchill spoke at the House of Commons and used Norway as an example to urge other smaller neutral European countries to join the Allies before Germany violated their neutrality as well.
The British 146th Territorial Brigade left the Clyde in transport ships bound for Narvik, Norway. Convoy NP 1, composed of liners Empress Of Australia (19,665grt), Reina Del Pacifico (17,707grt), Monarch Of Bermuda (22,424grt), escorted by repair ship HMS Vindictive and destroyer HMS Amazon, departed the Clyde for Narvik. Polish troopships Chrobry (11,442grt) and Batory (14,287grt) with destroyers HMS Highlander of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla, HMS Vanoc and HMS Whirlwind of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla, HMS Volunteer and HMS Witherington of the 15th Destroyer Flotilla and netlayer HMS Protector left Greenock at 0145/10th and arrived at Scapa Flow at 0700/11th. These units departed Scapa Flow at 1300/12th and joined NP 1 at sea. Vindictive and destroyers HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta arrived at Scapa Flow at 1300/12th. Destroyers Acasta and Ardent had departed Plymouth on the 9th, refueled at Belfast, before arriving at Scapa Flow for refueling. On 13 April, light cruisers HMS Manchester and HMS Birmingham, destroyers Acasta, Ardent, HMS Codrington (SO of the escort force) and repair ship Vindictive which departed Scapa Flow on the 12th and anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo and destroyers HMS Fearless, HMS Brazen, and HMS Griffin which departed Sullom Voe on the 12th, joined the convoy for support.
Stockholm radio reports that the country has mined its western coast.
Kriegsmarine minelayers lay a minefield off the Skagerrak.
The British submarine HMS Spearfish damaged the German pocket battleship Lützow, knocking it out of action for one year. The Lützow is towed home after an attack by HMS Spearfish during the night in the Kattegat. While Spearfish fires 6 torpedoes and only one hit, that one torpedo nearly rips off her stern. In fact, it is a lucky break for the Kriegsmarine: Spearfish assumed there was an escort that would attack it, but the cruiser, in fact, was traveling without an escort
The German light cruiser Köln returned from Norway, arriving at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
The German troop transport Ionia is sunk in the Baltic Sea off Larvik, Norway (58°30’N 10°35’E) by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Triad.
The German troop transport August Leonhardt is torpedoed and sunk in the Skagerrak (56°30’N 11°30’E) by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Sealion.
On her way into Narvik to support the attack of British destroyers, Light cruiser HMS Penelope ran aground off Fleinver in the Vestfjord and was badly damaged. She was towed clear by the HMS Eskimo.
U-7 set out a landing party to occupy the Norwegian lighthouse Marstein.
U-5 encountered a British submarine & fired one torpedo without success.
The Norwegian car ferry Oscarsborg-Narvik was shelled and sunk without loss of life off Narvik, Norway.
The German Naval auxiliary patrol boat Schiff 9 (requisitioned trawler Koblenz) struck a mine off Bergen, Norway and sank.
The German Naval auxiliary minesweeper Schiff 111 struck a rock in Sørfjorden and was beached in Kirkefjord to prevent sinking. Refloated the next day and towed to Bergen, Norway and put out of service with crew transferred to other ships. Repaired and put back in service by 27 April.
The German Naval auxiliary patrol boat VP-105 (requisitioned trawler Cremon) struck a mine and sank off Bergen, Norway.
During the night of April 11/12, while maneuvering in Narvik harbor the German destroyers Erich Koellner (Z13) and Wolfgang Zenker (Z9) ran aground. The Wolfgang Zenker damaged her propellers and was restricted to a speed of twenty knots. The Erich Koellner was much more badly damaged and so the Germans planned, when she was repaired enough to move, to moor her at the Tarstad as an immobile defense battery.
Total war in the West may be only a matter of hours, the latest evidence shows. On the Maginot Line between the Rhine and the Moselle many signs point to an early enemy attack, and all leave has been stopped for the French Army. German troop concentrations are reported along the Netherland frontier, especially at points in the north and south. The Belgian Army is standing ready. Evacuation measures are being taken in Luxembourg. The storm seems about to burst. The German plan can but be surmised. Probably it represents the second step in a strategic scheme to gain access to the open sea. The first was to occupy Denmark and Norway, but Norwegian resistance and the determined counterattack by the Allied naval forces seems to be jeopardizing its success. The Netherlands and Belgium would be the next logical objectives. Simultaneously the German High Command might hope to fix the Allied armies behind the Maginot Line by making a violent demonstration there. Such appears to be the outlook from the information available tonight.
News of the threat to the Netherlands comes from several sources, and some significance attaches to the fact that one of these is Italian. So far as the Rhine-Moselle front is concerned, the signs indicating an impending German move have not been revealed. But it may be assumed that, in addition to intense patrol activity, aerial observers have reported the massing of troops and movements of mechanized columns. In any case, surprise is now out of the question. The Allies and neutrals are all prepared. Moreover, during the long period of inaction, they have had time to consider every possibility and devise a parry for every thrust. Belgium has made it clear that she would aid the Netherlands in the event of invasion of that country, while an invasion of Belgium or Luxembourg would automatically bring Allied assistance. The same holds good for Switzerland.
France canceled all army leaves today on the belief Germany might be preparing to strike a major blow on the western front. Exact nature of this “very clear” information was not divulged but it was given credence in official French circles and military authorities warned the public against such a possibility. To the French, a Nazi offensive in the west might mean a German feint against their positions preceding a push into the Netherlands. French military men emphasized this possibility. Against this gloomy foreboding Premier Paul Reynaud told a cheering chamber of deputies that allied naval operations had sunk 18 Nazi ships off Norway against a loss of only four British men-o’-war and no French losses. Reynaud also disclosed a Polish destroyer was fighting with the allied forces. The semi-official French news agency, Havas, announced: ‘At various points preparations have been observed which could indicate that an attack is coming” on the western front. The high command’s evening communique reported, however, only “to the west of the Vosges some enemy artillery fire which was vigorously returned by French artillery.” The Germans made three deep aerial reconnaissance flights over eastern and northern France today.
Belgium canceled army leave. Belgium was reported moving additional troops into her frontier forts today and Defense Minister Henri Denis announced that the country will defend her territory against any invader.
The British 42nd Infantry Division begins moving to France.
In a report to the War Office in London, British General Lord Gort of Limerick, VC, stated that his five regular-army divisions were effective, although not up to the standards of the British Expeditionary Force of 1914. The remaining eight Territorial divisions, he reported were, fit only for static warfare.
The general state of tension, brought on by the Scandinavian conflict, was heightened tonight when it was reported in foreign circles that Italy is to call up new military classes, perhaps tomorrow.
Italian authorities ban all strikes, rallies, and political meetings, imposing death penalty for disobedience.
The Reich Government is conferring with Rumania over the question of safeguarding Danube traffic and forestalling further sabotage as that recently uncovered by the Rumanian police at Giurgiu and allegedly promoted by the British secret service. These negotiations, it is emphasized, are covered by an earlier German-Rumanian treaty covering Danube traffic.
The wave of nervousness that has gripped Southeastern Europe since Tuesday gives some appearance of lessening, although pessimists continue to predict that war will spread this way in the near future.
Soviet General Pavel Batov becomes Deputy Commander in Chief of the Transcaucasus Military District.
RAF Coastal Command shoots down a Dornier flying boat in the North Sea.
Luftwaffe engagements with RAF and French Air Force continue over the Franco-German Front. Two Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes — a Heinkel and a Dornier – are shot down over the western front.
The British Air Ministry issues a report stating that 19 Luftwaffe planes had been shot down in the past four days, to 6 RAF losses.
The Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious arrive independently at Malta, and then depart for Gibraltar escorted by the destroyers HMAS Stuart, HMS Bulldog, HMS Westcott and HMS Wishard.
Convoy MT.49 departed Methil, escorted by sloops HMS Pelican and HMS Weston and anti-submarine trawlers of the 19th Anti-Submarine Group. The convoy arrived later that day in the Tyne.
Convoy FS.143 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops HMS Pelican and HMS Weston. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 13th.
The War at Sea, Thursday, 11 April 1940 (naval-history.net)
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS launched nine torpedo bombers of 816 Squadron and nine torpedo bombers of 818 Squadron at 0400 against Trondheim and German heavy cruiser BLUCHER which was thought to be there. German destroyers RIEDEL and HEINEMANN and U-34 were the only targets found in port. Due to the shallow waters of the harbour, the torpedo attacks were ineffective and no damage was done to any of the German ships. U-48 contacted the British Main Force off Trondheim. At about 1230, U-48 fired torpedoes at either heavy cruisers DEVONSHIRE or BERWICK and two of the torpedoes missed and the third failed to explode. The explosion of one of the torpedoes was felt in both cruisers. During the early afternoon of 11 April, destroyers ILEX and ISIS were detached on a reconnaissance, ordered on the 10th, made an independent approach to the mouth of Trondheimsfjord.
ISIS searched Froy Suls and South Frohavet and intended on searching Skjoen and beyond with destroyer ILEX. At 1325, ISIS was fired upon by shore guns at Skjornfjord in 63-39N, 6-48E, which had fallen to German troops only a few hours before, returned fire. Although the firing of the Norwegian fortifications was wild and ineffective, their mere presence weighted heavily on later operations. The destroyers were ordered at 1331 to return to the Main Force. At 1500 DEVONSHIRE and BERWICK with destroyers INGLEFIELD, IMOGEN, ISIS, and ILEX were ordered to sweep north from the Trondheim Leads to 66 17N by 12 April. ISIS and ILEX were again detached. They were ordered to search Namsenfjord and the approaches to Namsos. The destroyers were instructed to rejoin the heavy cruisers at 2100 in 64-38N, 10-10E. The destroyers found no shipping in Namsenfjord and at Namsos. INGLEFIELD and IMOGEN were sent to Indrelein.
The destroyers entered and left at Buholmraasa in 64-26N, 10-30E. The destroyers were also to meet the heavy cruisers at 2100. No shipping was found in the Inner Leads, Sves Skjervoer, Brands, Berfjorn, Skjora Fjords. At 0500/12th, ISIS and IMOGEN were detached off Kya Light in 64-28N, 10-13E to attempt to get pilots at Rovik. DEVONSHIRE and BERWICK with INGLEFIELD and ILEX worked north. ISIS rejoined at 1530/12th. She reported no German ships of troops between Namsenfjord and Aasvaerfjord. ISIS had spoken to Norwegian fishery protection vessel NORDKAPP at Aluangen in 66-03N, 12-35E. She was informed that the Norwegians had sunk a German tanker (the KATTEGAT). At 2030/12th, DEVONSHIRE sighted Italian steamer VOLTA (1191grt). On the 12th, BERWICK’s speed was reduced to twenty-six knots due to excessive vibration in the inner HP turbine. The heavy cruisers rejoined the Main Force at 0930/13th. The destroyers were detached to Skelfjord to refuel from tanker BRITISH LADY.
Troopships FRANCONIA (20,175grt) and SOBIESKI (11,030grt) left Liverpool escorted by destroyers MACKAY and WALPOLE. They arrived in the Clyde later that day and WALPOLE returned to Liverpool.
At 0055, submarine TRIAD fired two torpedoes at German steamer IONIA (3102grt) in 58-00N, 11-12E near Larvik at the mouth of Oslofjord. One torpedo struck the German steamer. The German steamer was taken in tow by an auxiliary patrol boat of the 7th Patrol Boat Flotilla and was towed towards Stavern. IONIA sank at 0705/11th in 58-30N, 10-35E.
At 1648, submarine SEALION, stationed in the Kattegat to intercept German naval units coming out from Kiel, fired two torpedoes at AUGUST LEONHARDT (2593grt) thirteen miles south of Anholt Island in 56 30N, 11 30E. The German steamer was struck by one torpedo and sank.
At 2145, submarine SEVERN fired two torpedoes at a German merchantship of some 6000grt near Kristiansand. Both torpedoes missed.
Destroyers SOMALI, MATABELE, MASHONA, AFRIDI, SIKH, MOHAWK, CODRINGTON, BRAZEN, JUPITER, ESCAPADE, ELECTRA, GRIFFIN, and FEARLESS completed refueling at Sullom Voe early on the 11th. At 0400, SOMALI, MATABELE, MASHONA, AFRIDI, SIKH, MOHAWK, ESCAPADE, and ELECTRA departed Sullom Voe to embark ammunition at Scapa Flow where they arrived at 1300.
Light cruisers GLASGOW and SHEFFIELD with destroyers SOMALI (D.6), MASHONA, MATABELE, AFRIDI (D.4), SIKH, and MOHAWK departed Scapa Flow for operations on the Norwegian coast. Sweeps of the Indreled were carried out by destroyers, but no contact was made.
Destroyer CODRINGTON departed Sullom Voe at 2300 and arrived at Scapa Flow at 1200/12th.
Destroyer FORTUNE arrived at Kirkwall at 0530 with Danish steamer KINA (9823grt). Destroyer FORTUNE continued on to Scapa Flow.
Submarine TAKU, just completed, had been escorted from Portsmouth by destroyer FOXHOUND to the Clyde, arriving on the 5th for working up. Submarine TAKU was lent to the 2nd Submarine Flotilla and departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow on the 11th escorted by trawler NOTTS COUNTY (541grt) in preparation of setting out on patrol.
U-5 encountered a Submarine west, southwest of Lindesnes.
Submarine U-7 at Marstein Island occupied the Norwegian Light House. The submarine remained at Marstein Island until 14 April.
At about 0030/11th, reports from Norwegian sources indicated that a German tanker and also perhaps a warship were at Bodo. Light cruiser PENELOPE and destroyers KIMBERLEY and ESKIMO in Vestfjord were ordered to Bodo to attack the German ships. At 1500, en route to Bodo, light cruiser PENELOPE ran aground off Fleinver near Bodo and was badly damaged. PENELOPE was towed to Skelfjord by destroyer ESKIMO and destroyer KIMBERLEY continued on alone. Light cruiser PENELOPE after emergency repairs at Skelfjord and damage from a near miss of a German air bombing on 10 May departed under tow late on 10 May for the Clyde with the protection of anti-aircraft cruisers CALCUTTA and COVENTRY. She safely arrived on 16 May and was undergoing temporary repairs until 2 July 1940. PENELOPE arrived at the Tyne on 26 August and was under repair until 2 July 1941.
At Bodo, destroyer KIMBERLEY found the German steamer ALSTER (8514grt) which had been captured that morning by destroyer ICARUS in 67 48N, 13 15E. ALSTER had attempted to scuttle herself and had detonated one scuttling charge , but was not seriously damaged. German steamer ALSTER was taken to Skelfjord and renamed EMPIRE ENDURANCE for British service. Earlier, late on the 9th, German tanker KATTEGAT (6031grt) had been sunk by Norwegian patrol boat NORDKAPP at Tannholmsfjord near Bodo.
During German bombing from 1540 to 1700, destroyer ECLIPSE of Forbes’ Main Force was bombed and badly damaged at 1700 with a hit in the engine room northwest of Trondheim in 64 48N, 07 52E. Lt (E) L B Curgenven and two ratings were killed. One further rating died of wounds and two ratings were wounded. ECLIPSE was abandoned under heavy air attacks, but was later reboarded by men from destroyer ESCORT. She was taken in tow by ESCORT. Heavy cruiser YORK was detached from the Commander in Chief’s Main Force to screen the retirement of ECLIPSE. YORK took off the wounded and one hundred crew from the destroyer. YORK soon relieved ESCORT. Towed by YORK, ECLIPSE was only able to proceed at five knots screened by destroyers ESCORT and HYPERION.
At 2115 off Trondheim, U-48 was able to fire torpedoes at YORK, but the torpedoes all prematured. ESCORT took over the tow at 1200/13th in 64-10N, 4-43E. ESCORT slowly towed ECLIPSE at only one knot in poor weather towards Lerwick supported by anti-air craft cruiser CAIRO. On 15 April, YORK arrived in Scapa Flow. At 0145/16th, the tow parted in 61-12N, 1-00E, but it was soon regained with HYPERION’s aid. Later that day, ESCORT was relieved by tug ST MELLONS (860grt) which had left Lerwick at 0840/16th. Destroyers FURY and HESPERUS arrived with the tug and acted as destroyer escort. HYPERION and HESPERUS were detached and arrived at Sullom Voe at 2100/16th for refueling. After refueling, HYPERION took tanker ALDERSDALE (8402grt) to Scapa Flow. HESPERUS returned to ECLIPSE’s escort. Light cruisers SHEFFIELD and GLASGOW were involved in screening the withdrawal of the damaged destroyer. ECLIPSE arrived at Lerwick 1130/17th escorted by ESCORT and FURY. FURY was immediately detached to assist damaged heavy cruiser SUFFOLK. ECLIPSE later proceeded to the Clyde arriving at 1800 on 7 May for repairs completed on 7 September 1940.
At 1956/11th, submarines were given permission to attack all ships without warning within ten miles of the Norwegian coast from Bergen south.
Convoy NP 1, composed of liners EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (19,665grt), REINA DEL PACIFICO (17,707grt), and MONARCH OF BERMUDA (22,424grt), escorted by repair ship VINDICTIVE and destroyer AMAZON, departed the Clyde for Narvik. Polish troopships CHROBRY (11,442grt) and BATORY (14,287grt) with destroyers HIGHLANDER of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla, VANOC and WHIRLWIND of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla, VOLUNTEER and WITHERINGTON of the 15th Destroyer Flotilla and netlayer PROTECTOR left Greenock at 0145/10th and arrived at Scapa Flow at 0700/11th. These units departed Scapa Flow at 1300/12th and joined NP 1 at sea. VINDICTIVE and destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA arrived at Scapa Flow at 1300/12th. Destroyers ACASTA and ARDENT had departed Plymouth on the 9th, refueled at Belfast, before arriving at Scapa Flow for refueling. On 13 April, light cruisers MANCHESTER and BIRMINGHAM, destroyers ACASTA, ARDENT, and CODRINGTON (SO of the escort force) and repair ship VINDICTIVE which departed Scapa Flow on the 12th and anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO and destroyers FEARLESS, BRAZEN, GRIFFIN which departed Sullom Voe on the 12th, joined the convoy for support.
Light cruiser FIJI, completing construction at Clydebank, on trials at sea was escorted by destroyers WANDERER and WALKER on 11 to 13 April.
While maneuvering in Narvik harbour during the night of 11/12 April, German destroyers ZENKER and KOELLNER ran aground. ZENKER damaged her propellers and was restricted to only twenty knots. KOELLNER was so badly damaged that she was unrepairable and the Germans intended to moor her at Tarstad in the same capacity as ROEDER — an immobile defense battery — once she was patched up enough to move.
Norwegian minelayer TYR laid sixteen mines near Vatlestraumen in the southern approaches to Bergen on the 9th. German naval auxiliary Schiff 9 (trawler KOBLENZ, 437grt) and auxiliary patrol boat Vp.105 (trawler CREMON, 268grt) were sweeping mines in this field on the 11th. Schiff 9 was lost in a mining near Bergen on this minefield. Auxiliary patrol boat Vp.105, going to Schiff 9’s assistance was also sunk by a mine.
Convoy MT.49 departed Methil, escorted by sloops PELICAN and WESTON and anti-submarine trawlers of the 19th Anti-Submarine Group. The convoy arrived later that day in the Tyne.
Convoy FS.143 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops PELICAN and WESTON. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 13th.
German minelayers ROLAND, COBRA, PREUSSEN, and KONIGIN LUISE laid two mine barrages off the Skagerrak from 11 to 13 April.
French battleship PROVENCE and heavy cruisers DUQUESNE and COLBERT departed Dakar. They were joined by destroyer TROMBE from Casablanca. On 16 April, the battleship and the destroyer arrived at Oran. The heavy cruisers arrived at Toulon on the 17th.
French destroyer LE TERRIBLE departing Oran on the 11th escorted armed merchant cruiser COLOMBIE from Algier and destroyer ORAGE from Oran escorted steamer PRESIDENT DOUMIER from Marseille. Destroyer FORBIN departed Casablanca on the 10th escorting steamer DJENNE, arriving at Brest on the 13th. AMC COLOMBIE arrived at Brest on the 15th and PRESIDENT DOUMIER on the 16th for Norwegian operations.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt sent to Congress his fourth reorganization plan, studied State Department reports on the foreign situation, conferred with Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, and discussed television problems with James C. Fly, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
The Senate considered the Cotton Cooperative Refund Bill, received the McCarran resolution to disapprove the President’s third and fourth reorganization plans and recessed at 5:04 PM, until noon tomorrow. The Appropriations Committee reported the $963,797,478 Navy Appropriation bill and the Temporary National Economic Committee heard Charles R. Hook on the effect of technology on employment in the steel industry.
The House amended and passed the Senate bill providing for reapportionment after the census and adjourned at 5:13 PM until noon tomorrow. The Dies committee resumed its investigation of Communist party activities.
The European war has convinced the U.S. Navy more than ever before, that in spite of the advances in air power, the battleship rules the sea. This was the gist of testimony given by Rear Admiral S. M. Robinson, chief of the Navy’s Construction Bureau, before a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee considering the Naval Appropriations Bill and made public by the committee today. The bill carries funds to start construction of two new 45,000-ton dreadnaughts. In response to questions as to the efficacy of the large battleships, Admiral Robinson told the committee that it was the navy’s opinion that Great Britain controlled the seas because of her preponderance over Germany in such craft.
“You have one country today that has a preponderance of battleships, and that country controls the sea,” Admiral Robinson testified. “You have another country which has a preponderance of submarines and aircraft, and it is a totally blockaded country. Now, the point is that the United States wants to be in the position of England on the seas and not in the position of Germany — that is the whole story.”
As for aircraft, he indicated that if only one side had planes, they might play a decisive role in a conflict. “However,” he added, “the other fellow has aircraft, too, and the result is that when the smoke of battle clears away most of the aircraft are destroyed and you have left your capital ships in control of the sea.”
Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, testified that most United States harbors were vulnerable to attack by submarines, or torpedo-carrying motorboats because the navy has no funds to buy and lay the latest type of defense nets. He urged that the committee restore $8,120,900 for net-laying operations to the pending $967,414,878 naval bill. But the committee failed to do so and it also denied funds for improvement of the harbor at Guam, the American possession nearest Japan in the Pacific.
Senator Byrnes of South Carolina mentioned the possibility that if funds were made available nets would be laid in harbors at San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. Rear Admiral William R. Furlong indicated that the navy planned to lay nets on the east side of the Panama Canal, at Cristobal, in Narragansett Bay, and in Los Angeles Harbor and Puget Sound.
The supply bill for the Navy Department, carrying $963,797,478 for the expenses of the coming fiscal year with pursuance of the 1938 expansion program, was reported favorably today by the Senate Appropriations Committee. In the recommended draft were minor changes from the measure that passed the House, but the building program was left untouched. Funds to start construction of two battleships of 45,000 tons each, two cruisers, one aircraft carrier, eight destroyers, six submarines and several smaller craft were included.
This is the normal building envisaged for 1941 under the Authorization Act of 1938, and Navy Department officials said that they saw no need to alter or accelerate that program in the light of existing world developments. The new construction will be added to the large amount that is already. under way. Six battleships are on the ways, with keels laid, and two others, the Iowa and the New Jersey, the navy’s first 45,000-ton vessels, are under contract. In addition, there are building two aircraft carriers, six light cruisers, fifteen submarines, thirty destroyers, and various auxiliaries.
[Ed: This bill, of course, is about to be overtaken by events. The shocking rapidity of the disintegration of France next month will toss all previous calculations out the window, and compel the U.S. to embark upon building the greatest navy in the history of the world.]
A bill to reapportion House of Representatives membership on the basis of the current population census won overwhelming House approval today, although it may cost some members their seats. Specifically, the measure would revive a 1929 law which provided for automatic reapportionment of the House after each decennial census whenever Congress failed to do the job by specific legislation. The so-called “lame duck” amendment to the Constitution rendered the 1929 law inoperative by changing the meeting date of Congress, so that the President could not transmit the census results to the legislators on the date specified.
The Senate passed a somewhat similar bill last year, but changes made by the House will have to go back to the Senate for consideration. The House eliminated a section to exclude the counting of aliens in determining the new apportionment after several members of the New York delegation denounced it as discriminatory and unconstitutional. The vote on the amendment was 209 to 23. If the clause had been retained, Census Bureau officials estimated that New York might have lost two to four seats because of the State’s large alien population.
President Roosevelt sent to Congress today a fourth Government reorganization plan wherein he proposed to merge the Civil Aeronautics Authority and the Air Safety Board, and place the independent agency under the Commerce Department. Opposition at once showed itself. On hearing of the proposal to merge the aeronautics agencies and put the new body under the Commerce Department, with the name of Civil Aeronautics Board, Senator McCarran introduced a resolution to kill the plan and another one sent to the Capitol last week. The earlier plan proposed to take important functions from the Authority itself and vest them in the office of the Administrator, a political office-holder responsible to the President.
Release of six to eight advanced types of military planes for Allied purchase at an early date seemed assured today as the Administration speeded the execution of its plans to give the French and British benefit of the latest American models.
Tentative plans were made by the State Department today for the evacuation of Americans from Scandinavia and authorization for their removal was sent to the United States Legations in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch relieved Rear Admiral Orin G. Murfin as Commandant Fourteenth Naval District and Navy Yard Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.
Japanese forces begin anti-guerrilla operations against Communist units in central Hebei, Anhui, and around Shanghai. With the Chinese Winter Offensive over, the Japanese turn to weeding out communist partisans.
Japan has failed to gain control of the Municipal Council of the International Settlement in Shanghai, returns from the election held Wednesday and Thursday showed today. Control of the Council remains predominantly British. The British won five seats, Americans two and Japanese two. The Japanese had put up five candidates and hoped to elect all of them, which, with the support of Chinese members, would have given the Japanese definite control. The Americans elected are Joseph Carney of Schenectady, New York., an employee of the Standard Oil Company of New York, and Norwood Allman, a lawyer, from Union Hall, Virginia. The Japanese conceded defeat before counting of the ballots was completed.
General Thomas Blamey appointed to command Australian I Corps.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 149.98 (+0.39)
Born:
Thomas Harris [William Thomas Harris III], American author and screenwriter (“Black Sunday”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Hannibal”), in Jackson, Tennessee.
Władysław Komar, Polish athlete (Olympic gold medal, shot put, 1972) and actor, in Kaunas, Lithuania (d. 1998).
Dick Wantz, MLB pitcher (California Angels), in South Gate, California (d. 1965, of a brain tumor, exactly one month after his one and only major league appearance)
Naval Construction:
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-435 is laid down by F Schichau GmbH, Danzig (werk 1477).
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette HMCS Wetaskiwin (ex-Banff) is laid down by Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Arrowhead is laid down by Marine Industries Ltd. (Sorel, Quebec, Canada). She is transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before completion.
The Royal Navy ASW whaler HMS Vizalma (FY 286) is launched by Cook, Welton & Gemmill (Beverley, U.K.).
The U.S. Navy PT-5-class 81-foot Higgins patrol motor torpedo boat PT-5 is launched by Higgins Industries (New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.).
History Diaries 