There is no question that Germany has the initiative on 10 September 1940. It has a free hand with Great Britain — Germany can attack it directly, or it can attack the Empire indirectly through its overseas possessions and military infrastructure. Since Italy now is taking on the latter task with its developing attack on Egypt from Libya, that presumably frees the Wehrmacht to make a maximum effort against England directly and finish it off once and for all.
However, the German high command is full of hopes and dreams, scattered objectives that have no coherent relationship to one another. Their own estimation of German power is sky-high — though only for land-based forces — and this leads to a situation akin to a child with too many toys with which to play. The plethora of choices induce a numbing effect which prevents success with any of the choices.
Recent successes in the field justify German confidence to a point: Germany has spent 20 years trying to defeat France, and now it is done. The army (Heer) always has been the heart of German military strength. However, Germany has gone from a standing start to its current military posture in just seven years due to the extreme restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles (and really less time than that, since Hitler only gradually ramped up his military effort over the several years after he took power in 1933). Thus, Germany is powerful, but its power is only relative to the countries it has defeated, which all to one extent or another have been easy prey due to the surprise of the German onslaught. There are other world powers remaining that far, far outclass Germany in military potential. In sports terms, the Wehrmacht has a strong starting team composed of recent acquisitions, but its bench is not deep. This fact, however, eludes the German elite, blinded by quick, cheap successes with its elite units.
The British also have wild-card advantages that will take time to play out, but eventually can trump any effort by Germany. For starters, the Americans are fast becoming de facto if not de jure allies. The United States military potential dwarfs anything that Germany ever can achieve. The Germans do not recognize any time pressure aside from the seasons, but time is their greatest enemy: the more threatening their posture toward US ally Great Britain, the sooner actual U.S. intervention which would make a German victory over England impossible.
If Germany is to defeat Great Britain, it must do so quickly, taking advantage of the lingering effects of the surprise factor that led to its victories to date. In other words, it must attack before the U.S. and Great Britain work through their diplomatic issues to pose a united — and unbeatable — front. Another factor in the balance is Vichy France, which is quite unstable in its political alliance with Germany and could at any time cause huge distractions for the Wehrmacht. A third factor is Italy, which is led by a regime whose rhetoric is not matched by military ability. Internal problems there also would greatly decrease Axis pressure on Great Britain’s enormously important positions in the Mediterranean. The German position is powerful, but it is in large part built on an eroding edifice, not an expanding one as the German hierarchy sees it.
Thus, since it is still at war with powerful Great War enemy Great Britain, having it on the ropes should lead German leadership to the logical conclusion that the Wehrmacht’s first priority is to finish the English off before taking on any new exertions, and do it now. That unquestionably should be the top military priority. An objective analysis suggests that this is achievable as of 10 September 1940 given proper focus and effort: Germany can defeat Great Britain, although it may take horrendous losses. However, from this point forward, there is a huge difference between an objectively wise military strategy and what Germany actually does.
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler decided that the Luftwaffe had not yet won clear air supremacy and postponed Operation SEA LION until at least September 24, 1940. Adolf Hitler previously has set 10 September 1940 as his date for deciding whether or not to approve Operation SEA LION, the invasion of England. Now that the day has arrived, he postpones his decision until the 14th. Since Hitler has promised his service chiefs 10 days from his approval to the actual invasion date, that moves the earliest possible start date for Operation Sealion from 20 September to 24 September, with actual landings on the 25th.
Hitler’s main requirement for approving Operation SEA LION is that air superiority is achieved over England. The Luftwaffe came extremely close to achieving that by 6 September. However, the decision taken in early September to switch attacks from RAF infrastructure to major population centers, implemented as of 7 September, has degraded the Luftwaffe’s burgeoning air superiority. By now, the Luftwaffe has had enough time to complete its mission against Great Britain according to the original timetable, but the RAF remains intact. The seasons are about to change, requiring a quick final decision on Operation Sealion.
Meanwhile, the Wehrmacht is busy increasing the number of panzer divisions. Hitler, obsessed with the Soviet Union, orders a doubling of the ten existing panzer divisions before the invasion of the USSR. The Wehrmacht does this in different ways: usually by taking units from existing divisions and building around them; and sometimes by converting infantry divisions into panzer divisions. For instance, around this time the 15th Panzer Regiment is taken from the 5th Panzer Division and forms the core of the new 11th Panzer Division, based in Poland; and the 2nd Infantry Division is reorganized completely and becomes the 12th Panzer Division, based at Stettin.
This process radically changes the Panzerwaffe. Whereas panzer divisions previously have had one tank regiment, one separate tank battalion, and one or two infantry regiments, the new structure of the typical panzer division (there are variations) is changed so that each now has one tank regiment and two motorized regiments. These changes are not all bad: in some ways, they make the panzer divisions more mobile and efficient. However, they show that the Wehrmacht is preparing, not for an invasion of England — there are plenty of panzers to cover that already — but for events in the East.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring appears at times to be the only member of the High Command actually interested in defeating Great Britain. Admiral Raeder, stating the obvious, writes that “There is no sign of the defeat of the enemy’s Air Force over southern England or the Channel areas.” Of course, Raeder has no faith in the Kriegsmarine’s ability to support an invasion and would be happy to blame Göring’s Luftwaffe for cancellation of Operation SEA LION rather than attempt an invasion and have his entire fleet sunk out from under him.
Göring continues fine-tuning Luftwaffe operations on an almost daily basis. Today, he authorizes Pirateneinsatze, or Pirate Attacks, which involve solo or small-scale attacks by specially trained bomber crews in iffy weather conditions against British aircraft factories. Elite formations Epr.Gr 210 and ZG 26 are assigned this task and placed under the control of Sperrle at Luftflotte 3. However, Göring’s ruinous (for the German side) attacks on London continue.
Bad weather restricted the Germans to flying reconnaissance missions only through most of the day. At 1715 hours, 6 small raids approached London, England, United Kingdom; 2 bombers were shot down and all of the rest were turned back by British fighters at the cost of one Spitfire fighter. Also on this date, ocean-going ships were banned from the port of London as these easy targets attracted German attackers.
Weather over Great Britain: Clear during the early hours but cloud was expected to move in from the North Sea during the early morning and this would give rain over most areas during the day.
Low cloud and periods of heavy rain over Northern Europe stopped any form of Luftwaffe air activity and any operations planned against England had to be canceled. For Fighter Command the day was nothing but a rest day and pilots and command leaders were trying to work out as to why Germany had decided to turn its attacks against London. If an invasion was Germany’s highest priority, why the decision to bomb London? For an invasion to be successful, Germany would have to knock out as many military establishments as possible. As ACM Keith Park stated after the war, “The decision to bomb London was Germany’s greatest mistake, in those first few days of September our airfields were a shambles, pilot and aircraft strength was still at an all-time low. By switching tactics and concentrating on London he will give us the time we need to strengthen our forces.” There were many reasons as to why Park could do with some respite from his airfields becoming targets, the aerodromes were now functioning better than they had been for a number of weeks, aircraft factories were still operating as normal and military hardware was still pouring out of the factories. The radar was functioning at full capacity and Fighter Command HQ as well as Bentley Priory were operating normally. These should be the targets if Germany was to continue with its plan to make an invasion of Britain. Even the German Naval Staff could not understand the situation, as described in their diary:
“There is no sign of the defeat of the enemy’s Air Force over southern England and in the Channel area, and this is vital to a further judgment of the situation. The preliminary attacks by the Luftwaffe have indeed achieved a noticeable weakening of the enemy’s fighter defences, so that considerable German fighter superiority can be assumed over the English area. However…..we have not yet attained the operational conditions which the Naval Staff stipulated to the Supreme Command as being essential for the enterprise, namely, undisputed air superiority in the Channel area and the elimination of the enemy’s air activity in the assembly area of the German naval forces and ancillary shipping…..It would be in conformity with the timetable preparations for Sealion if the Luftwaffe now concentrated less on London and more on Portsmouth and Dover, as well as on the naval ports in and near the operational area….”
- Excerpt from the German Naval Staff Diary
So why turn its attack on London? True the oil storage tanks at Thameshaven had suffered badly as did the London Docks, but these would have no opposition to any planned invasion. Suffering most were civilian properties and inconvenience caused to the inhabitants, especially those in the East End, all major railway stations had been damaged but had not been completely put out of action. of the attacks of the previous nights, some newspapers made comparisons to the blitzkrieg attacks on a number of towns and cities in northern Europe, and many of the Londoner’s abbreviated the name and called the attacks on their city as “The Blitz” and from then on, the name stuck.
A few German aircraft were detected in and around the southern and eastern coastline of England, but most of these were on either weather or reconnaissance patrols. Fighter Command decided to leave them alone. Bomber Command sent 248 Squadron (Blenheims) on a mission to Norway but this had to be aborted because of deteriorating weather conditions over the North Sea. A flight from 236 Squadron St Eval (Blenheims) is placed on escort duty for the steamship Scillonian and the mission is successfully completed.
With cloud cover persisting during the late afternoon, radar picks up various single aircraft coming across the Channel from 1700 hours onwards. With Fighter Command again not responding, a number of attacks were made by the Luftwaffe. A couple of lone bombers ventured into 10 Group territory and made some nuisance drops. Another lone raider attacked West Malling again but causing no serious damage. Tangmere reported that it had come under machine-gun strafing with nearby Portsmouth was attacked by single Do 17s.
72 Squadron Croydon (Spitfires) was one of the few squadrons scrambled and attacked one of the Do215s and one was believed to have been brought down, although one of the Spitfires was hit by return gunfire from the bomber and had to make a forced landing at Etchingham (Kent). Just after 1800hrs, a small formation crossed the coast near Dungeness and targeted Biggin Hill aerodrome, but were intercepted by British fighters and one of the Dorniers of 9/KG76 was shot down and the mission aborted.
By nightfall, the Luftwaffe was again targeting London and this time they were making full use of the cloud cover. Also taking advantage of the weather attacks were also made on industrial areas of South Wales and on the Lancashire area of Merseyside. London was though, the main target where over 150 bombers pounded the city once again. Overnight, the East End section of London was bombed, damaging the Buckingham Palace among others; South Wales, West Midlands, and Liverpool were also attacked during the night.
RAF Casualties:
There were no pilot casualties reported on this day.
One Spitfire of 72 Squadron Croydon was destroyed in combat.
Two fighters were destroyed and three others damaged in training operations
A German bomb exploded at Buckingham Palace for the first time. A delayed-action bomb explodes in the northwest wing of Buckingham Palace, seriously damaging it. King George reveals later that his view at the time is that this is of tremendous benefit to the war effort because it shows shared sacrifice between the uppermost and lowest classes of society.
The Corpo Aereo Italiano was formed to participate in the Battle of Britain. The Italian Air Corps (Corpo Aereo Italiano, or CAI) was formed under the aegis of “1a Squadra Aerea di Milano” with Air Marshal Rino Corso-Fougier as the Air Officer Commanding. The CAI was formed because Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini insisted on providing an element of the Italian Royal Air Force to assist his German ally during the Battle of Britain. The force includes both bombers and fighters, along with a large transport force of a dozen Caproni 133Ts, one Savoia-Marchetti S.75, and nine Ca164s. In all, the Italians have 200 aircraft ready to enter combat. The planes are largely obsolete and are limited to daylight operations due to limited crew training. The Luftwaffe establishes close liaison with the CAI, but it operates independently. The entire force is under the command of 1a Squadra Aerea di Milano.
It is fair to say that many recognize from the start that the Italian equipment is not up to the standards of the Channel Front, and the Luftwaffe really doesn’t need the help. The planes would do much more good in the Mediterranean, particularly supporting Italian operations in North Africa. However, Mussolini wants to appear as an equal partner to Germany so that Italy will get a larger share of the (inevitable) war spoils.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 8 Blenheims on daylight sea sweeps and reconnaissance of Channel ports.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 106 aircraft of all types overnight. Most of the effort was to bomb barges in the Channel coast ports, but 17 Whitleys attack the Pottsdamer railway station at Berlin causing considerable damage, then they went on to attack the Bremen dock area while a Blenheim squadron attacked the important bomber aerodrome at Eindhoven. Eight Heinkel He 111 bombers were destroyed, two were badly damaged and another was damaged when it crashed into craters upon landing later. Hits are made on the Reichstag (still gutted and unusable since the 1933 fire which burnt it out). Three aircraft were minelaying. 2 Hampdens and 2 Whitleys lost.
The Regia Aeronautica attacks Matruh and Khartoum, while the RAF attacks the Italian bases and harbors in eastern Libya where the Italian invasion force is massing. The RAF also attacks Massawa, Asmara, and Dessie.
Hurricanes of 274 Squadron (the first to operate in Africa) score their first victories when two Italian SM 79s are destroyed.
The Italian 10th Army continues assembling and slowly slogging toward the Egyptian frontier, which it has not yet reached (accounts vary on when it actually crosses the frontier, and it really doesn’t matter in the endless deserts anyway). The main striking force, the Maletti Group composed of the Italian armor, has great difficulty with the desert conditions, suffering numerous equipment breakdowns and getting lost in the desert. The Italian armor retreats, and the British sow mines in their path and do whatever else they can to harass them.
During the next 10 days, the Italians will increase their forces in Albania by 40,000 men in preparation for their invasion of Greece.
Hitler meets with the Hungarian ambassador in Berlin.
Battleship Bismarck fired 6 3.7cm shells against raiding British aircraft without any hits.
Danish citizen Wulf Schmidt parachutes into Oxon, England as a spy for the Abwehr. He is known to the Germans as Agent Leonhard. The German spy who had parachuted in a few days previously and been caught, Gösta Caroli, turned him in, and Schmidt is captured immediately. Schmidt quickly agrees to become a double agent (known to the British as Agent Tate) for MI5 under Operation Double Cross.
The French Navy informed the British Naval Attaché in Madrid, Spain at 1800 hours that three cruisers and three destroyers were sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar. Unaware that these ships were en route to Dakar in West Africa, a British-Free French joint target, the British Royal Navy allowed the French warships to pass. The Vichy French flotilla which left Toulon on 9 September continues its journey to Dakar, which requires passage through the Straits of Gibraltar. The French finally inform the British Naval Attaché in Madrid that the ships are going to pass by Gibraltar, but still the British do nothing. During the night, the flotilla approaches Gibraltar, but the British do not know where they are yet. The presence of the three Vichy French cruisers in the Atlantic is not actually prohibited by any previous communications between London and Vichy — the two countries are not officially at war, and England previously has said that the French could keep their warships in the Caribbean since that would keep them out of the hands of the Germans — but it would seriously complicate the upcoming British Operation MENACE if they head south to Dakar.
At Malta, a French crew takes General de Gaulle’s representative Commandant Robert back to Tunisia. The day’s poor weather extends all the way south to the Mediterranean, so the airmen barely make it back (and cause an air raid alert when they do). Otherwise, the foul weather prevents any attacks.
Rear Admiral H. M. Burrough CB, Cruiser Squadron 10, hoisted his flag on light cruiser Nigeria at Scapa Flow.
Destroyers HMS Duncan and HMS Maori departed Rosyth at 0815 to search for an aircraft down in the sea, and at 1041, were ordered to the Tyne.
Destroyers HMS Malcolm, HMS Veteran, and HMS Wild Swan departed Harwich late on the 10th. Early on the 11 October, they struck at a German coastal convoy off Ostend.
Destroyers HMS Bulldog, HMS Berkeley, and HMS Beagle departed Portsmouth and joined destroyers HMS Havelock (SO), HMS Highlander, HMS Harvester and HMS Hurricane. The destroyers were to intercept twelve enemy merchant ships escorted by thirty S-boats reported at 1605, 15 miles 315° from Dieppe. At 1630, the report was amplified to include the presence of five destroyers in the area. If no contact was made with the German force, the destroyers were to sweep northeast towards Le Toquet.
Submarine HMS Sturgeon attacked U-43 forty miles southwest of the Naze in 57-14N, 06-04E.
Norwegian steamer Eli (4332grt) was sunk by German bombing 12 miles 144° from Skerryvore Light House. Her naval gunner was lost.
Destroyers HMS Juno and HMS Janus departed Alexandria for Port Said for escort duties with convoy AN.3 which sailed on the 11th. Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta and destroyer HMS Jervis supported the convoy on the 14th, with Jervis detaching the same day, and Calcutta the next. When it was found steamer Eastlea could only make six knots, she was detached to Alexandria while the destroyers continued with steamers Vasco and Palermo, which arrived on the 15th.
Aircraft carrier HMS Argus arrived at Freetown after delivering aircraft to Takoradi.
Submarine HMS X.2 (former Italian submarine Galileo Galilei, captured on 19 June) departed Aden with the convoy, but she returned to Aden, escorted by netlayer HMS Protector, after a mechanical breakdown. Sloops HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham escorted the convoy from Port Sudan on the 23rd until its arrival at Suez on the 26th.
On 10 September, Vichy French armed merchant cruiser Cap des Palmes escorted by submarine Poncelet and sloop Bougainville, which departed Dakar on the 3rd, arrived at Libreville with troops and supplies to augment the Vichy government.
Convoy AP.3, consisting of British steamers Britannic (26943grt, Commodore of convoy Rear Admiral K. E. L. Creighton, MVO Rtd), Athlone Castle (25564grt), Brisbane Star (11076grt), Imperial Star (10733grt), Durban Castle (17388grt), Ulster Prince (3791grt), Dominion Monarch (27155grt), and Glaucus (7586grt), carrying 6050 troops, and steamers Clan Macarthur (10528grt) and Clan Campbell (7255grt) departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers HMS Havelock, HMS Highlander, HMS Harvester, HMS Hurricane, HMS Wolverine, and HMS Volunteer from 10 to 12 September. Light cruiser HMS Sheffield and two destroyers departed Greenock on the 10th and joined the convoy at Lough Foyle on the 11th. Sheffield was ordered back to Greenock on the 11th, and the destroyers detached after passing the northwest approaches. The ocean escort was mainly armed merchant cruisers — HMS Wolfe and HMS Cilicia from 13th to 23rd, when the convoy arrived at Freetown, and HMS Canton and HMS Carnarvon Castle from 25 September to 4 October. The convoy arrived at Capetown on 4 October and sailed on the 6th. Canton escorted from 6th to 9th, HMS Carthage from 9th to 15th, and heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire from 15th to 20th. Convoy AP.3 was joined by light cruiser HMS Carlisle, destroyers HMS Kingston, HMS Kandahar, and sloop HMS Flamingo, and arrived safely at Suez on 22 October. The arrival of AP.3 concluded operation APOLOGY.
Convoy OB.211 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer HMS Vanquisher plus corvettes HMS Erica and HMS Mallow, which detached on the 12th.
Convoy MT.165 departed Methil, and arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.277 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyers HMS Vega and HMS Vortigern, and arrived at Southend on the 11th.
Convoy SC.4 departed Sydney, CB at 1000 escorted locally by Canadian armed yachts HMCS Husky, HMCS Lynx and ocean sloop HMS Deptford, which detached on the 12th. Destroyers HMS Active, HMS Keppel, HMS Vanquisher, sloop HMS Lowestoft, plus corvettes HMS Arabis, HMS Camellia, HMS Fleur De Lys and HMS Heartsease joined the convoy on the 23rd and escorted it to its arrival at Liverpool on the 26th.
Convoy SHX.72 departed Sydney, CB escorted by Canadian auxiliary patrol vessel HMCS Laurier and armed yacht HMCS Reindeer.
Convoy BN.5 departed Bombay on the 10th escorted by armed merchant cruisers HMS Antenor and HMS Hector until the 19th. Light cruiser HMS Leander and sloop HMIS Indus were escorts from Aden from 19th to 23rd, and sloops HMS Auckland and HMAS Parramatta from 19th to 22nd.
The Senate in Washington debated the Administration bill to increase the capital of the Export-Import Bank by $500,000,000 for loans to permit orderly marketing of Latin-American surplus products, heard Senator George criticize President Roosevelt for the transfer of the over-age destroyers to the British Government, received from Senator Johnson of Colorado a resolution calling for an investigation of the enlistment procedure for the Civilian Conservation Corps and recessed at 5:13 PM until noon tomorrow.
Senate and House conferees on the Selective Service Bill became deadlocked on the question of the age limits and agreed to meet again tomorrow. The Finance Committee continued its work on the Excess Profits Tax Bill.
The House passed a Defense Housing Bill authorizing construction up to $150,000,000, received from Representative Lewis of Ohio a resolution calling for investigation of the destroyer transaction and adjourned at 5:08 PM until noon tomorrow. The Dies committee exonerated Carl Byoir of charges of pro-German propaganda activities.
A long session of the Senate-House committee pointed to write a compromise version of the conscription bill ended tonight in a deadlock on the age limits of the men to be subjected to the draft. The Senate conferees offered to raise the top figure to 39 years and the House members steadfastly held out for 41.
Sixty-six years old William B. Bankhead, speaker of the House of Representatives, fainted in his hotel room here tonight from an “excruciatingly painful” attack of sciatica, suffered a short time before he was to make an address opening the Democratic campaign in Maryland. Dr. George W. Calver, navy physician, found Bankhead on the floor unconscious 35 minutes before his address, over a national radio hook up, was scheduled. “His condition at present is quite satisfactory,” Dr. Calver said, “but I am keeping him in bed here at the hotel at least all day tomorrow and possibly for several days. Mrs. Bankhead is here and a nurse can be obtained if necessary.”
Placing tentative orders for all of the 14,394 army planes authorized yesterday, the War Department tonight told 21 manufacturers to start buying tools and equipment to execute the orders. If no hitch occurs, formal contracts eventually will replace the tentative commitments, which totaled approximately $1,251,000,000 for planes, 28,282 engines, propellers and blades. When the contracts are signed they will represent the largest single purchase of aircraft ever placed in this country.
Winter put in an early appearance in the Colorado mountains today. A storm during the night left four inches of snow on the summit of Pike’s Peak, temporarily blocked the scenic highway up the 14,100-foot high mountain, and briefly marooned employees of the summit houses.
The light cruiser USS St. Louis arrived at Norfolk, Virginia with the Greenslade Board aboard. The Greenslade Board was a committee formed “to make a comprehensive study of the shore establishment (naval and commercial) necessary to support the Fleet in peace and war.” With the strategic requirements of the fleet in mind, the board was instructed to make recommendations for additional facilities in new locations and as to the expansion, limitation, contraction, abandonment, or conversion of existing shore facilities. The board was known by its senior member, Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade.
Major League Baseball:
Hitting against Washington’s Ken Chase, Chicago’s Bob Kennedy, with 2 on and no out in the 9th, lines into a triple play to end the game, a 5–2 win for the Nats. It’s the Nats 2nd triple play of the year. His previous at bat in the game, Kennedy hit into a double play, and will do the same tomorrow in his first at bat.
Boston’s Lefty Grove slows the Tigers, beating Bobo Newsom 6–5, in 13 innings. It is Lefty’s 2nd 13–inning win in succession. The win puts Cleveland back in first by .001. Hank Greenburg’s three-run homer in the first gives the Tigers an early lead but Grove allows little more.
Home runs by Frank Hayes and Bob Johnson, each with two on, gave the Philadelphia Athletics a 6–4 victory over the Browns tonight.
The game between the Yankees and Indians in Cleveland is rained out.
In a twinbill loss to the Pirates, the Phils lose catcher Ben Warren when he suffers a brain concussion after being hit by a pitch from Luke Sewell in game 2. The Pirates sweep, winning 11–3 and 11–1 with the wins going to Joe Bowman and Sewell.
The other National League games are all rained out: a doubleheader between the Cardinals and Giants at the Polo Grounds, a doubleheader between the Reds and Bees in Boston, and a single game at Ebbets Field between the Cubs and Dodgers are all washed away.
Former Major League infielder Sam Crane, serving time for the 1930 murder of his former sweetheart and her boyfriend, starts parole proceedings.
Washington Senators 5, Chicago White Sox 2
Boston Red Sox 6, Detroit Tigers 5
Pittsburgh Pirates 11, Philadelphia Phillies 3
Pittsburgh Pirates 11, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Philadelphia Athletics 6, St. Louis Browns 4
The U.S. Navy heavy cruisers USS Wichita, under command of Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens, and USS Quincy departed Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This concluded a cruise where these ships were visiting South America “to furnish a reminder of the strength and the range of action of the armed forces of the United States.” The ships would arrive at Norfolk, Virginia on September 24.
Having completed an epic transit across the north of Russia with the help of Soviet icebreakers, German raider Komet is operational in the Pacific.
German armed merchant cruiser Schiff 16/Atlantis sank steamer Benarty (5800grt) in the Indian Ocean, 480 miles east of Rodrigues in 18-32S, 70-07E. There were no casualties. Atlantis, operating over 1000 miles east of Madagascar, has picked up nearby signals from 5800-ton British metals freighter Benarty. The Benarty has been relaying the distress call made by the tanker Athelking, sunk by the Atlantis on the 9th. The Atlantis sends off its Arado 196 seaplane, which finds the Benarty and bombs and strafes it. The Atlantis then approaches the Benarty, disables it with its 5.9inch guns, and takes the 49-man crew prisoner. While searching the Benarty, the Germans find information that allows them to break the new British Merchant Navy code. The Germans then sink the Benarty with explosives.
The Chinese Communists, operating independently of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist regime, launches its “Hundred Regiments Offensive.” This is a guerilla operation against infrastructure in Japanese-occupied Hebei and Shansi provinces.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 129.61 (-0.12)
Born:
Dave Burrell, American jazz pianist (Archie Shepp; Marion Brown; Pharoah Sanders), in Middleton, Ohio.
Roy Ayers, American jazz, funk, and world music vibraphonist, composer (Ubiquity; “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”), and record producer, in Los Angeles, California (d. 2025).
Bob Chance, MLB first baseman, pinch hitter, and outfielder (Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, California Angels), in Statesboro, Georgia (d. 2013).
David Mann, graphic artist, in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2004).
Died:
Yamaya Tanin, 74, Japanese admiral.
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy landing ship, infantry HMS Glengyle (4.196) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Captain (retired) Gerald Berkeley Villiers, OBE, RN.
The Royal Canadian Navy armed yacht HMCS Elk (S 05; later Z 27) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is A/Lieutenant Commander Norman Vincent Clark, RCNR.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXB U-boat U-105 is commissioned. Her first commander is Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe.
History Diaries 