Field Marshal Mannerheim gives his so-called “Sword Scabbard” daily order. Finnish Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland and leader of its military, issues an Order of the Day on 10 July 1941 in which he echoes a similar declaration he made in 1918. In the 1918 order, Mannerheim vowed that he would not put his sword in its scabbard “until Lenin’s last soldier and hooligan is deported from Finland and White Karelia” (“… ennen kuin viimeinen Leninin soturi ja huligaani on karkoitettu niin hyvin Suomesta kuin Vienan Karjalastakin”).
Well, it is 23 years later, and Mannerheim still controls the Finnish military. A lot has changed in the world, but one thing is the same: it is time to gear up again to right some perceived wrongs. In today’s Order, Mannerheim states:
“… [I]n 1918 during the War of Liberation I stated to the Finnish and Viena Karelians, that I would not set my sword to the scabbard before Finland and East Karelia would be free.” (Finnish: Vapaussodassa vuonna 1918 lausuin Suomen ja Vienan karjalaisille, etten tulisi panemaan miekkaani tuppeen ennen kuin Suomi ja Itä-Karjala olisivat vapaat). “
This Order is intended to spur the Finnish offensive in Karelia that opens today.
The order, which is mainly meant to inspire the troops, starts public discussion on what Finland’s war aims should be — not everybody is comfortable with the idea of capturing territory east of the 1939 border (‘East Karelia’ is a name commonly used in Finland of the Soviet territory immediately east of Finnish border where there lived peoples related to Finns). The cabinet had no foreknowledge of the order, and is completely taken by surprise. Social Democrat members of cabinet demand explanation and threaten with resignation. This is a contentious matter, as Finns generally feel the war is fought to take back the territories lost after the Winter War in 1940. Going beyond that raises all kinds of uncomfortable questions — especially abroad — about why Finland is in this war. Particularly the Social Democrats, the largest party, are not happy with fighting on the same side as the totalitarian Nazi Germany, but are ready to go along because they, like the great majority of the nation, consider the USSR a far greater evil.
In the Far North sector, Finland, under Marshal Mannerheim, begins a major offensive to reconquer Ladoga Karelia. The Finnish Army began an attack toward Lake Ladoga north of Leningrad, Russia. Lieutenant General Heinrichs’ Karelian Army begins its main attack. Major General Talvela’s VI Corps began its attack already late yesterday evening, and Major General Hegglund’s VII Corps (7th and 19th Divs) initiates its assault today at 3:20 PM. The Soviets have prepared extensive field fortifications, particularly near Sortavala, Värtsilä, and Korpiselkä, and the Finns advance but do not score any quick breakthroughs.
Farther north, the Soviet defenses at Kayraly (on the route to the Murmansk railroad) and the Litsa River (Murmansk) firm as the Soviets take advantage of the terrain and send reinforcements. Finnish 3rd Division of III Corps, now on the Vyonitsa (Vonitsa) River south of Salla, also part of Operation Arctic Fox, is doing better than the German troops. It begins destroying Soviet troops using tactics developed during the Winter War.
In the Army Group North sector, there is heavy fighting around Pskov, which the Germans have captured. German 4th Panzer Group (Hoepner) holds the city as it awaits the infantry.
In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian sends his Panzer Group 2, led by the 20th Panzer Division, across the Dneipr River to attack the Soviet 13th Army. The objective is Smolensk. The Red Army is caught off-guard and gives ground, but behind the scenes, the Stavka hastily tries to arrange a counterattack. German 7th Panzer Division (Major General H. von Funck), which is in Vitebsk, heads south to cut the Moscow/Smolensk road. General Walter Model’s 3rd Panzer Division crosses the Dnepr at Starye Bykhov about 110 miles downriver of Smolensk, while General Hoth’s 3rd Panzergroup moves east to the north of Smolensk in an attempt to bypass the city. The Soviet 16th and 20th armies will end up encircled.
In the Army Group South sector, the German advance continues. German 13th Panzer Division reaches the Irpin River, only 10 miles from Kyiv.
The Battle of Uman begins. Here the Soviet 6th and 12th armies will ultimately be encircled. Units of the Soviet Fifth Army counterattacked against the advancing forces of Army Group South in the Korosten-Malin area. Kleist’s Panzer Group hold the attack. On 10 July 1941, Budyonny was given the general command of the troops operating in the Southwestern direction, to coordinate the actions of Southwestern and Southern Fronts. Budyonny had 1.5 million troops under his command in two strategic sectors of the front to defend: at Kiev (37th and 26th armies), and Vinnytsia-Uman. No sooner had he taken up his command than he was advised of the continued Army Group South three-pronged offensives deep into the breach created between the Kiev sector’s 26th Army and the 6th Army to its south as General Ewald von Kleist’s Panzergruppe 1 drove a wedge between the two Soviet sectors of the front south of Kiev and north of Vinnytsia, capturing Berdychiv on 15 July and Koziatyn on 16 July.
The Italians send 61,000 men in the Italian Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Spedizione Italiano in Russia or CSIR) to Russia. The CSIR includes a legion from the Independent State of Croatia (which is an Italian vassal state).
Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy People’s Commissar for Defense, is added to the Stavka. He has been a prime factor in the Red Army’s rapid buildup between 1939 and 1941.
The Red Air Force announces that it has flown 47,000 missions since the start of the war, dropping a total of 10,000 tonnes of bombs.
Lev Mekhlis was appointed the deputy commissar of the Soviet NKO.
Soviet Marshal Josef Stalin demoted Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, the Red Army commander-in-chief, and assumes the position himself.
Stalin received a reply from Churchill accepting his request to work on reaching a formal agreement. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives a message from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill agrees to a proposal that Stalin has made through British Ambassador Stafford Cripps for a firm alliance. The two bedrock conditions of this alliance are that mutual aid is to be given “without any precision as to quantity or quality,” and that neither country would conclude a separate peace.
Poles drive the entire Jewish population of Jedwabne, Poland, (1,600 people) into the market place, torture them for several hours, and finally burn them alive in a barn.
Having pocketed Damour, the Australian 7th Division continues up the coast road toward Beirut. British artillery already is within artillery range of Beirut and have begun firing on it. In addition, the British 6th Infantry Division attacks the French defenses at Jebel Mazar on the Damascus/Beirut road. Vichy French commander General Henri Dentz is seeking an armistice with British forces closing in on Beirut from all sides.
The Vichy French Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l’Air de Vichy) is not yet defeated. A furious air battle develops in which five new French Dewoitine D.520 fighters attack an approaching bomber formation of RAF No. 45 Squadron. The French shoot down three Blenheim bombers, but the defending Australian P-40 Tomahawk fighters shoot down four (or more) French fighters.
Australian Private James Gordon earns the Victoria Cross for charging with his bayonet at a machine gun nest that was holding up his unit.
Traitor George Armstrong was hanged at Wandsworth prison in London, England, United Kingdom following his conviction for communicating with, and offering assistance to, the German consul in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
RAF Bomber Command, Day of 10 July 1941
24 Blenheims on coastal sweeps from Le Havre to Cherbourg. Many aircraft attacked ships and land targets. 1 Blenheim was lost. In a rare case of disobedience of orders, the two groups of 12 bombers fly lower than the RAF guidelines require, and one of the bombers intentionally drops their bombs into a civilian railroad tunnel. Why they do this is unclear, but the RAF brings charges and the offending pilot is subjected to court-martial. There is one plane lost.
The RAF also sends three of the new Short Stirling bombers in a Circus operation attack Chocques power station. There is one loss.
RAF Bomber Command, Night of 10/11 July 1941
Cologne
98 Wellingtons and 32 Hampdens to two aiming points in the city centre and to the Humboldt works. Bad weather prevented an accurate attack and only 62 aircraft reported bombing in the Cologne area. Cologne reports only 3 high-explosive and 300 incendiary bombs, a few buildings lightly damaged and 1 person injured. 2 Wellingtons lost.
2 Wellingtons bombed Boulogne docks without loss.
Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Rolf Pingel, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 26 (22 victories), is forced to crash-land his Bf 109F-2 near Dover. The plane is little-damaged and gives the RAF a copy of the newest version of Messerschmidt’s fighter. The RAF repairs the plane and restores it to flying condition, using it in mock dogfights.
RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader shoots down two Bf 109s, one over Bethune, Pas-de-Calais and another near Calais. Ace James Lacey also shoots down a Bf 109.
James Lacey shot down a German Bf 109 fighter.
The Blohm and Voss, BV-222 flying boat (the largest to attain operational status during the war), completes its first freight mission for the Luftwaffe, flying from the Finkenwerder factory, near Hamburg to Kirkenes, in the far north of Norway.
After dark, the Luftwaffe bombs Hull.
At Malta, the Italian Regia Aeronautica drops bombs on various points. They approach the island from the south and cross over to the north, enabling a quick escape back to Sicily to the north.
Five French D.520 fighters intercepted a flight of Blenheim bombers of No. 45 Squadron RAF escorted by 7 Tomahawk fighters of No. 3 Squadron RAAF over Syria; 3 British bombers and 4 French fighters were destroyed in the engagement. On the ground, Australian units occupy Damur, leaving Beirut as the only Vichy stronghold, as troops of Australian 21st Brigade neared Beirut, Lebanon.
Minelaying cruiser HMS Manxman departed Scapa Flow at 1900 after working up for Greenock where she arrived at 0900 on the 11th. The cruiser was to join convoy WS.9C and replaced light cruiser HMS Aurora in the escort.
Anti-aircraft ship HMS Curacoa departed Methil at 1500 to escort convoy EC.43 from May Island to Pentland Firth. The ship arrived at Scapa Flow at 1800 on the 11th.
Submarine HMS Tuna unsuccessfully attacked a submarine in 46-00N, 09-40W.
Motor boat Celano (14grt), being used as a tender to diving ship Tedworth, was sunk on a mine one cable 100° from Number 1 Channel Buoy. All six crew on the boat were lost.
British fishing trawler Isabella Fowlie (196grt) was sunk by German bombing seven miles east, northeast of Longstone. Three crewmen were lost on the trawler.
Norwegian steamer SVINT (1174grt) was sunk by German bombing seven miles northwest of Kellan Head, Trevose. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
German destroyers Hans Lody, Karl Galster, Hermann Schoemann, Friedrich Eckholdt, and Richard Beitzen arrived at Kirkenes.
The German 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla with S.28, S.26, S.101, S.40, and S.39 sortied to attack a Soviet force in the Gulf of Finland near Ekholm. No contact was made with the Soviet force.
Light cruiser HMS Edinburgh, which had been with convoy WS.9 B, and light cruiser HMS Hermione arrived at Gibraltar. Light cruiser Edinburgh was docked at Gibraltar the next day.
Light cruiser HMS Ajax and Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth with four destroyers were at sea off Syria during the night of 9/10 July in support of the Army. No contact was made during the patrol.
Battleship HMS Valiant, light cruiser HMS Leander, and destroyers were at sea from Alexandria exercising during the day.
Submarine HMS Torbay damaged Italian tanker Strombo (5232grt) in 37-30N, 24-16E off the Zea Canal. The submarine was damaged by escorting torpedo boats Climene and Calatafimi.
Dutch submarine HNLMS O.23 arrived at Gibraltar after in the Gulf of Genoa. The submarine was forced to depart the patrol area early on the 7th because of a fuel leak.
Submarine HMS Rorqual departed Malta on patrol, but was forced to return with engine defects at 2200.
German steamer Hermes (formerly Karnak, 7209grt) was scuttled when intercepted by armed merchant cruiser HMS Canton three hundred miles northwest of St Paul.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt sent to Congress a request for an additional appropriation of $4,770,065,588 for the Army and the nomination of Edmund Burke Jr. to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He conferred with Konstantin Umansky, the Soviet Ambassador, and Sumner Welles, Acting Secretary of State. on the question of aid to Russia. His other callers included Constantine Fotitch, the Minister of Yugoslavia; Harold D. Smith, Director of the Budget, and Edward J. Flynn, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
The Senate approved a bill authorizing $40,000,000 for additional facilities for the Tennessee Valley Authority and approved a bill for indefinite periods of service for future Navy volunteers during national emergency, received the Reynolds resolutions giving the President broad powers to call up reserves, retain men in service and send troops abroad, heard discussion of the American occupation of Iceland, elected Senator Glass President pro tempore and adjourned at 3:14 PM until noon on Monday.
The House approved the Selective Service Act amendment deferring men over 28 years of age after rejecting all anti-strike amendments, completed Congressional action on the bill authorizing $40,000,000 for expansion of TVA facilities and adjourned at 5:55 PM until noon on Monday.
President Roosevelt sent a request to Congress for an additional defense appropriation of $4.77 million. President Roosevelt asked Congress today to provide a supplemental appropriation of $4,770,065,588 for the War Department to permit further strengthening of the military machine. Coincidentally, he prepared to send to Congress this week requests for additional billions for the Lend-Lease program and additional sums for the Navy and merchant ship construction. In some quarters it was said that as much as $7,000,000,000 more might be requested for lease-lend operations. Congress has appropriated about. $33,000,000,000 this year, much of it for the armament drive, in addition to further spending authorization. The additional amounts being requested were generally expected here eventually to turn another large part of the American industrial plant to war production.
President Roosevelt received Soviet Ambassador Constantine A. Umansky at the White House today for a forty-five-minute conference on the Nazi-Soviet war and the part the United States can play in helping the Russians against Reichsführer Hitler’s legions.
The War Department’s proposal to empower the President to prolong the service of selectees and National Guardsmen, as well as regularly enlisted men and Reserve officers, until six months after the end of the national emergency, and to employ them anywhere inside or outside the Western Hemisphere in the interest of national defense, was formally presented to the Senate today in three resolutions. Congress leaders immediately set themselves for another “all out” debate on war and defense policies. Not only did they feel that great controversy was inherent in these measures but they were also aware of the Administration’s desire for price-fixing legislation and additional billions in appropriations for leaselend aid to Britain and her allies, possibly necessitating a further upward revision of taxes. The service resolutions were introduced by Senator Robert R. Reynolds, Democrat, of North Carolina, chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, who explained that he was acting on formal requests made by General Marshall, Chief of Staff.
The progress of the defense program is announced to the U.S. Congress. Only $3.6 billion out of $20 billion voted was actually spent on the army. During June 1,476 aircraft were produced out of a planned 3,000 a month. Last August the army has 300 modern combat planes, today it has 250. There are also fewer anti-tank guns than there were a year ago, but the number of rifles has increased by 200,000 and the number of motor vehicles rose from 745 to 125,000.
Amid Republican charges that the occupation of Iceland was an illegal step toward an undeclared war and that hundreds of American workmen already were constructing another naval base in Northern Ireland, the Senate Naval Affairs Committee today called on Secretary Knox for a full report of the Navy’s past and present actions in the Battle of the Atlantic.
An angry charge by Senator Taft, Ohio Republican, that the United States was building a naval air base for Great Britain in Northern Ireland led Senator Barkley of Kentucky, the Democratic leader, to say today that he had no knowledge of such a development. The discussion was prompted by the recent occupation of Iceland, which Taft denounced as “exactly equivalent to aggressive war.” After saying that he had reliable information that a base was being built in Northern Ireland, Senator Danaher, Connecticut Republican, entered the debate to complain that the administration was too secretive. “We are not being told what the facts are,” he said, “and yet everyone of us who chooses to can know that American workmen by the hundreds have been constructing a naval base in northern Ireland for weeks just as they were preliminary to the Iceland situation.”
Informed quarters predicted today that President Roosevelt would seek indirect congressional sanction for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Iceland by asking an appropriation to open a legation in Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital. Mr. Roosevelt could, without going to congress, establish a legation there and appoint a minister-resident, who also would act as consul general. This has been done in the case of Iraq. It was understood, however, that the chief executive intended to ask congress to make direct provision for a $10,000 yearly salary for a minister to Iceland and for meeting other costs of the legation. Under this procedure, he would send the name of the minister-designate to the senate for confirmation.
Senator George W. Norris, Nebraska Independent, on the eve of his eightieth birthday, tonight hoped that this nation can avoid a “shooting war” and had “deep faith that Hitler and the forces of darkness can be defeated.” The veteran liberal, who has spent 28 years in the senate, said In an interview that conditions confronting the” nation are different than those which led to war in 1917. At that time, Norris incurred the wrath of the Wilson administration by joining six other “willful” senators in voting against a declaration of war. “I believe I was right in opposing that war,” Norris said. “At that time we did not have a world of dictators and especially one arch dictator who wished to rule the earth.”
The Senate unanimously approved today a House bill appropriating $40,000,000 to the Tennessee Valley Authority for use in the current fiscal year in construction of additional power-generating facilities, chiefly for the much-needed increased production of aluminum for defense purposes.
After a turbulent session today the House struck from the May bill its defense labor provisions, and its action brought a charge by Representative Smith of Virginia that “goon squads” of the Congress of Industrial Organizations had intimidated the members by threats of political extermination.
The Army Air Corps attained the status today of a semi-independent military arm, with the establishment of the “Headquarters of the Army Air Forces.”
Trapped under tons of rock more than a mile underground, at least nine coal miners died tonight in a gas explosion in Acinar mine No. 6, approximately 25 miles northwest of Birmingham, Alabama. Clyde Russell, member of the first rescue crew to come from the shaft, said nine bodies had been recovered and workers were searching for others. The mine, one of the largest commercial producers in Alabama, is owned and operated by the Alabama Fuel & Iron Co.
The U.S. Navy publicizes the fact that it has mined the entrance to the Port of San Francisco.
The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, under command of Brigadier General Ross E. Rowell, USMC, is established at San Diego, California.
Major League Baseball:
The Brooklyn Dodgers pummel the Cincinnati Reds for five runs in the first two innings, charged to Cincinnati starter Johnny Vander Meer, and cruise to an 8–3 victory. Joe Medwick homers for Brooklyn in the three-run first. Kirby Higbe wins his twelfth game of the year.
The Cubs opened a three-game series with the Braves today by registering a 3–1 triumph behind the seven-hit pitching of Lefty Vern Olsen. Olsen insured his sixth victory of the season in the seventh inning when he singled to center to drive in Babe Dahlgren.
The White Sox backed up John Rigney’s seven-hit pitching with a fourteen-hit attack against Ken Chase and Alex Carrasquel tonight and took the opening game of a series from the Senators, 5–1, before 17,949. It was Rigney’s sxith victory of the year against six losses.
Bob Feller tonight scored the winning run in his seventeenth victory of the year. He tripled in the ninth inning and came home on Lou Boudreau’s single to give the Indians a 3–2 decision over the Athletics. Bob limited the Athletics to six scattered hits, but the visitors tallied a run in the fifth inning without a hit as three batters walked and another grounded out. Philadelphia had scored in the opening inning on Al Brancato’s single, a walk, a sacrifice and a flv.
At the Polo Grounds, the Giants score 8 runs in the 7th, four on a grand slam by Babe Phelps, to tie the Cardinals. St. Louis then scores 5 runs in the top of the 8th and wins, 13-9. Howie Krist is the victor in relief: Krist will go 6–0 as a reliever and 4–0 as a starter. His 10–0 is the best ever in the National League.
Exploding for five runs in the eighth inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied tonight to defeat the last-place Philadelphia Phillies, 6–3, before 4,630 fans. Tommy Hughes, who was working with a 3–1 lead, walked in two runs and gave two singles in Pittsburgh’s big inning.
The New York Yankees baseball team begins a three-game series against the St. Louis Browns in Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri with a 1–0 victory in a rain-shortened, five-inning game. Joe Gordon’s second inning homer is the deciding blow. Yankee centerfielder Joe DiMaggio goes 1-for-2 today against Browns pitcher Johnny Niggeling thus stretching his hitting streak to 49 consecutive games.
The scheduled game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tigers at Detroit was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader this Saturday, July 12.
Cincinnati Reds 3, Brooklyn Dodgers 8
Chicago Cubs 3, Boston Braves 1
Washington Senators 1, Chicago White Sox 5
Philadelphia Athletics 2, Cleveland Indians 3
St. Louis Cardinals 13, New York Giants 9
Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Philadelphia Phillies 3
New York Yankees 1, St. Louis Browns 0
The Soviets try, convict, and execute the 7th Prime Minister of Mongolia, Anandyn Amar. The Soviets have deemed Amar too popular and nationalistic and thus a threat to their rule in Mongolia. He is accused of various types of treason. Amar is shot and buried at the firing ground “Kommunarka” (Russian: Расстре́льный полиго́н «Коммуна́рка») near Moscow.
Joachim von Ribbentrop again asked the Japanese to attack Vladivostok, Russia. The Japanese once again refuse to attack. The Japanese are turning their attention to the south and the Pacific.
The outside world is still in the dark about the proceedings of the Japanese Imperial Conference that met in Tokyo, July 3, to reconsider Japan’s policy on the morrow of the German-Russian conflict. However, it has leaked out that on July 4 Yosuke Matsuoka, the Japanese Foreign Minister, was within an ace of resigning his post. Indeed, but for the apprehension felt in the highest quarters lest his departure incense Nazi Germany he probably would have been discharged. That fact points to the shaky foundations of Japanese foreign policy. Mr. Matsuoka was appointed last year, one month after France’s defeat, to carry out vigorously the policy of cooperation with the totalitarian powers. As such, he had against him from the start many diplomats of the old school. But today his clumsy doings probably have convinced even the zealots of the “new order in Asia” and of the “co-prosperity sphere” that a more efficient Minister had better be sought.
The suggestion made in American newspapers that the United States Fleet be withdrawn from the Pacific to the Atlantic is heartily welcomed in Japan as a first step on a path that would open up possibilities of an American-Japanese rapprochement and remove the threat of war in the Pacific.
Extending “thought control” from questions of domestic policies to questions of foreign policy, the Home Ministry, headed by Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma, has proposed and the Privy Council has approved the appointment of two special investigators in the Foreign Affairs Section of the Police Bureau.
Tatsuta Maru departed Yokohama, Japan for Honolulu, U.S. Territory of Hawaii on her 68th voyage.
The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers Soryu and Hiryu (1st Air Fleet, CarDiv 2) depart Yokosuka to participate in “FU” Operations (The occupation of southern Indo-China) from 10–30 July.
In the Philippines, the Japanese spy at the Japanese embassy in Manila, Mr. Negishi, reports to Tokyo on the cargo being unloaded from an American tender (20+ light tanks, ten gun platforms and coastal guns). Negishi also reports the arrival of US Navy transport USS President Taft carrying 800-1000 soldiers.
Progressing steadily with defense preparations, Manila staged its first practice blackout of 30 minutes’ duration, with air raid warning sirens screaming and Army planes flying overhead. Army fliers, reporting by radio from 3,000 feet, attested a high degree of cooperation, with only scattered lights violating widely circulated instructions. The blackout was under Filipino direction, the Army assisting but remaining in the background. The civilian emergency administration, headed by commonwealth officials, was in active charge.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 127.78 (+0.15)
Born:
Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk, Belarusian cosmonaut (1965 Cosmonaut Group; Soyuz 13, 1973; Soyuz 18B / Salyut 4 space station, 1975; Soyuz 30, 1978), in Komarovka, Byelorussian SFSR, Soviet Union.
Robert Pine, American actor (Joe Getraer — “CHiPs”), in Scarsdale, New York.
Ian Whitcomb, English rocker (“You Turn Me On”), in Woking, Surrey, England, United Kingdom (d. 2020).
Jake Eberts, Canadian film producer (“Chariots of Fire”; “Dances with Wolves”), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (d. 2012).
Died:
Jelly Roll Morton, 50, American ragtime and early jazz pianist.
Naval Construction:
The U.S. Navy 77-foot Elco patrol motor torpedo boat USS PT-55 is laid down by the Electric Launch Company Ltd. (Elco), (Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy (173-foot steel hull) submarine chaser PC-461, lead ship of her class of 351, is laid down by George Lawley & Sons Inc. (Neponset, Massachusetts, U.S.A.).
The Nihon Kaigun (Imperial Japanese Navy) aircraft carrier HIJMS Taihō (大鳳; “Great Phoenix”) is laid down by Kawasaki (Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan).
The Royal Navy LCT (Mk 2)-class landing craft, tank HMS LCT 119 is launched by Tees-Side Bridge (Middlesbrough, U.K.).
The Royal Navy LCT (Mk 2)-class landing craft, tank HMS LCT 157 is launched by A. Findlay (Old Kirkpatrick, Scotland, U.K.).
The Royal New Zealand Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMNZS Inchkeith (T 155) is launched by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd. (Aberdeen, Scotland).
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Fetlar (T 202) is launched by Cochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. (Selby, U.K.); completed by Amos & Smith.
The Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) Acciaio-class submarine Giada is launched by Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico (Montfalcone, Italy).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-376 is launched by
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-586 is launched by .
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette HMCS Lunenburg (K 151) is launched by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd. (Lauzon, Quebec, Canada).
The Royal Navy LCT (Mk 2)-class landing craft, tank LCT 137 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy MMS I-class motor minesweeper MMS 34 (J 534) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is T/Lieutenant J A Ludlow, RNVR.
The Royal Navy Fairmile C-class motor gun boat HMS MGB 315 is commissioned.
The U.S. Navy 77-foot Elco patrol motor torpedo boat USS PT-32 is completed and placed into service with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two (PTRon 2).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-503 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Oblt. Otto Gericke.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-578 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Korvkpt. Ernst-August Rehwinkel.
The Royal Navy “U”-class (Third Group) submarine HMS Umpire (N 82) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Mervyn R. G. Wingfield.
History Diaries 