Richard Sorge is posing in Tokyo as a German journalist, but, in fact, he is a long-time Soviet spy. He is known as a big partier and glad-hander, someone who always has liquor handy and has parties with lots of attractive young women. He uses these skills to extract information from German officials privy to secret information from Berlin who figure they are halfway around the world and it doesn’t matter what they say. This helped him to forewarn Stalin about the start of Operation BARBAROSSA, though Stalin ignored the warnings.
Sorge’s spying activities, however, are not limited to German sources of information. He does not speak Japanese but has confederates who do. These include Yotoku Miyagi, a native of Okinawa who resented Japan’s annexation of that island as part of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879, and fellow journalist Hotsumi Ozaki. Ozaki is an adviser to Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoye, while Miyagi is very knowledgeable about Japanese army activities in China.
Miyagi and Ozaki use their contacts to determine that Japan is not moving troops to northern China for an invasion of the Soviet Union. In fact, they learn that the Japanese are completely disinterested in the Soviet Union due to the Nomonhan incident in May and June 1939 that culminated in the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol in August 1939. The two also talk to lower-level Japanese officers and learn that the Japanese are not sending reinforcements to the Manchurian/Mongolian border where a conflict likely would break out with the Soviet Union.
On or about 15 September 1941, Sorge uses this information to send Stalin another message:
“The Soviet Far East can be considered safe from Japanese attack.”
While Sorge’s warnings about Operation BARBAROSSA’s launch had been ignored, Stalin takes this warning to heart. He begins withdrawing Siberian divisions for the defense of Moscow. The fact that these divisions are trained in and used to winter warfare turns into quite a bonus for the Soviets when the war rolls eastward toward Moscow.
Lead elements of the German 16th Panzer Division (1st Panzer Group), meet 3rd Panzer Division (2nd Panzer Group) at Lokhvista, 125 miles (201 kilometers) east of Kiev. The jaws of the trap have slammed shut. Four Soviet Armies (5, 21, 26 and 37) , over 600,000 soldiers, are surrounded in the Kiev area. The cordon is weak, but it is there.
Moscow: Stalin asks for 25 to 30 British divisions to be sent to aid the Soviet struggle against invasion.
Soviet 8th and 42nd Armies clashed with the German XXXXI Armeekorps (motorized) southwest of Leningrad Russia on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.
Soviet troops outside of Odessa, Ukraine withdrew southeast toward the city.
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was awarded the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe goblet.
Jürgen Stroop was transferred out of the infantry regiment of German 3rd SS Division Totenkopf.
Nazis kill 800 Jewish women at Shkudvil, Lithuania.
On September 15, 1941, the prominent German-Jewish philologist and diarist Victor Klemperer recorded a devastating entry in Dresden, writing, “I myself feel shattered, cannot compose myself,” following the decree that forced German Jews to wear the yellow Star of David.
German soldiers were attacked by resistance fighters in Paris, France.
Widespread unrest causes martial law to be imposed in Zagreb, Serbia and Croatia.
The U.S. Navy begins to take over the convoying of British ships as far as Iceland, seen as an unneutral act by the German government.
The 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment was established.
Hitler re-activated the rocket program at Peenemünde Army Research Center.
The British passenger ship Empire Eland was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-94.
RAF Bomber Command, Day of 15 September 1941
8 Blenheims on sweeps off Holland and Norway. 3 ships were claimed sunk and a seaplane base at Haugesund was bombed. 1 Blenheim lost. 1 Fortress to Cologne turned back.
RAF Bomber Command, Night of 15/16 September 1941
Hamburg
169 aircraft of 6 different types with railway stations and shipyards as aiming points. 8 aircraft – 3 Wellingtons, 2 Hampdens, 1 Halifax. 1 Stirling, 1 Whitley – lost.
Conditions were clear over Hamburg but crews found that searchlight glare prevented recognition of targets. Much damage was caused in various parts of Hamburg, with 26 fires – 7 of them large, 82 people killed, 229 injured and 1,441 bombed out. The worst incident was in the Wielandstrasse, a narrow street in the Wandsbek district, where a large block of densely populated flats was destroyed by a 4,000-lb ‘blockbuster’. 66 people were killed and 171 injured here, most of the casualties being people who had not bothered to go to the basement shelter. Rescue work was made more difficult when a burning gas main set fire to the timber in the wreckage.
Le Havre
45 ‘freshmen’ crews bombed the harbour in clear visibility but fires were started in the town as well as on the docks. 1 Wellington lost.
5 Hampdens minelaying off Warnemünde without loss.
Total effort for the night: 219 sorties, 9 aircraft (4.1 percent) lost. Flying in one of the aircraft lost on this night, a 75 Squadron Wellington, was Sergeant James Ward, the young New Zealander who had won a Victoria Cross on 7/8 July 1941 by climbing out on to the wing of his aircraft to put out a fire. Sergeant Ward was killed when his Wellington was shot down on the Hamburg raid; his grave is in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot in Hamburg’s main cemetery.
U-94, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Otto Ites, sank British steamer Newbury (5102grt) in 54-39N, 28-04W. At 0816 hours on 15 September 1941 the Newbury (Master Theodore Pryse OBE), a straggler from convoy ON.14, was hit by one torpedo from U-94 and sank southeast of Cape Farewell. The U-boat observed that the crew abandoned ship in lifeboats, but the master, 38 crew members and six gunners were never found. The 5,102-ton Newbury was carrying coal and was headed for Buenos Aires, Argentina.
U-94 later sank Greek steamer Pegasus (5762grt) from convoy ON.14 in 54-40N, 29-50W. At 2038 hours on 15 September 1941 the Pegasus, a straggler from convoy ON.14, was hit by one stern torpedo from U-94 and stopped. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats, but one overturned and several men drowned. A Swedish ship stopped near the torpedoed vessel and rescued the survivors, when the U-boat fired a coup de grâce at 2128 hours which broke the ship in two. Parts of the wreck remained afloat until they were shelled and sunk by a Allied warship in 54°54N/30°32W. The 5,762-ton Pegasus was carrying general cargo and military stores and a motor launch on deck and was headed for Haifa, Palestine.
U-94 then sank British steamer Empire Eland (5613grt) in 54N, 28W. At 2348 hours on 15 September 1941 the unescorted Empire Eland (Master Donald Campbell Sinclair), a straggler from convoy ON.14, was hit on starboard side aft by one G7e torpedo from U-94 while steaming on a zigzag course in bad weather about 570 miles east-southeast of Cape Farewell. The ship had been first spotted at 1400 hours, but the lookouts shortly afterwards spotted another straggler from the same convoy and sank the Pegasus first. The U-boat then chased and torpedoed Empire Eland. At 2357 hours, a first coup de grâce missed but the ship sank by the stern about 40 minutes after being hit aft of amidships by a second at 0030 hours on 16 September. The Germans had observed how the crew abandoned ship after the first hit. However, the master, 31 crew members and five gunners were lost. The 5,613-ton Empire Eland was carrying ballast and was headed for Tampa, Florida.
Battleship HMS Prince of Wales, light cruiser HMS Euryalus, and destroyers HMS Castleton and HMS Eskimo departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde at 0800 for convoy WS.11X. Destroyer HMS Laforey relieved destroyer Castleton at the start. Destroyer Castleton returned to Scapa Flow. She departed again at 1000 and proceeded to Loch Alsh, arriving at 1800. Destroyer HMS Lightning departed Scapa Flow at 1730 for the Clyde for convoy WS.11X. The destroyer arrived at 1230/16th. Battleship Prince of Wales, light cruiser Euryalus, and destroyers Laforey, Eskimo, and Lightning arrived at the Clyde on the 16th at 1000. Destroyer Eskimo returning to Scapa Flow was diverted on the 16th to join Captain (D) 6th Destroyer Flotilla in an anti-submarine sweep.
Heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk departed the Tyne to return to Scapa Flow after refitting. The cruiser was escorted part of the way by destroyers HMS Windsor and HMS Winchester. The cruiser arrived later on the 15th.
Destroyer HMS Escapade with tanker Aldersdale arrived at Hvalfjord from the eastwards.
Destroyer HMS Brocklesby and Dutch destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers collided in the Irish Sea. There was minor damage to both ships and both remained operational.
Submarine HMS Tigris unsuccessfully attacked German steamer Bessheim (1774grt) at Lopphavet.
Lt J. D. M. Briscoe and P/T/Sub Lt (A) J. D. Pomfret RNVR, were killed when their Hurricanes of 801 Squadron collided at Kingswill.
British steamer Birtley (2873grt) was badly damaged on a mine in 53-06N, 1-16-30E. Three crewmen were lost on the steamer. The steamer sank on the 16th in 53-03N, 1-18E.
British steamer Daru (3854grt) was sunk by German bombing in 51-56-30N, 5-58W. There were no casualties on the steamer.
Tug Flying Kite (260grt) was sunk by a mine off the Dalmuir Basin, Clyde. Five crew of a crew of eight were lost. Tug Atlantic Cock (182grt) was damaged on a mine in near the Dalmuir Basin. The tug was beached and refloated on 11 October for docking.
Belgian tanker Pontfield (8290grt) was mined in 52-03N, 1-20-30E. The tanker broke in two and the forepart sank. The aft part was towed to Salt End and later the Tyne where a new forepart was fitted.
Norwegian tanker Vinga (7321grt) was damaged by German bombing in 58-08N, 13-17W. The tanker was towed to Rothesay Bay and later repaired at Glasgow.
German motor ship Hanseat (224grt) was lost in a stranding near Rugen.
Polish submarine ORP Sokol arrived at Gibraltar from Dartmouth.
Destroyers HMAS Napier, HMAS Nizam, and HMS Havock departed Alexandria to carry supplies to Tobruk. Light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Neptune, and HMAS Hobart and destroyers HMS Kingston and HMS Kimberley departed Alexandria to cover the movement. All ships returned to Alexandria on the 16th.
Light cruiser HMS Galatea departed Alexandria to operate in the Red Sea. The cruiser arrived at Suez on the 16th.
Corvette HMS Primula arrived at Suez from the United Kingdom to join the 10th Corvette Group.
P/T/Sub Lt (A) L. K. Harper RNVR, in a Martlett of 805 Squadron from HMS Grebe, was killed when taking off at night, the aircraft went into a spin at the southwest side of Sidi Barrani North.
Battleship HMS Rodney, after refitting in the United States, departed Bermuda to rendezvous with convoy WS.11 X during the morning of 21 September.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt sent his report to Congress on lend-lease transactions. He met legislative leaders and during the day received the following visitors: Harold Smith, Director of the Budget; Norman H. Davis, chairman of the American Red Cross; Secretary Ickes and Secretary Hull. He nominated Solon J. Buck to be Archivist of the United States.
The Senate met briefly and adjourned at 12:58 PM until noon Wednesday. The Defense Investigating Committee resumed hearings of aluminum production; an Interstate Commerce subcommittee heard two Hollywood commentators oppose “propaganda” films; conferees agreed on the tax bill.
The House met briefly and adjourned at 12:48 until noon tomorrow. The Naval Affairs Committee received the Navy’s report on a proposal for censorship.
President Roosevelt discussed revision of the Neutrality Act with congressional leaders today while Secretary Knox announced that the navy henceforth would guard all lend-lease cargoes. The State Department tonight announced a ruling by Attorney-General Biddle permitting American ships to carry arms, munitions and passengers to many areas of the far-flung British Empire. Under the ruling the ships carrying war implements may go to all parts of the British Empire other than the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa and areas included in “combat zones” delineated by the president. Under the Neutrality Act, when the president finds a state of war to exist, American ships must not carry arms and munitions to the belligerents. On November 4, 1939, the president issued a proclamation recognizing a state of war between Germany on the one hand and the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa on the other. Biddle concluded in an opinion that the terms of the document included only the territories expressly enumerated.
Secretary Knox brought the American Legion Convention to its feet cheering today with a speech in which he revealed that “beginning tomorrow” the Navy would “provide protection as adequate as we can make it for ships of every flag carrying lend-aid supplies between the American continent and the waters adjacent to Iceland.”
The way has been legally cleared for shipment aboard American merchant vessels manned by American crews of munitions and other articles of war to such key British points as Hong Kong, Burma and Suez, the State Department revealed today in making public an opinion on the Neutrality Act by Attorney General Biddle.
The Navy is ready as never before to carry out President Roosevelt’s order to blast Axis warcraft out of United States defense waters, Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade, commandant of the Twelfth Naval District, told the Pacific Trade Conference today. He warned, however, that Axis attack was possible against “the weakly defended countries of lower Latin America.”
Simultaneously with the disclosure to legislative leaders that he would send recommendations for a new aid appropriation to the Capitol this week, President Roosevelt today submitted to Congress his second quarterly report on the operations of the lease-lend program, showing allocation of a total of $6,281,237,421 of the original $7,000,000,000 fund up to August 31. The report revealed that only $388,912,115 of this amount had been expended to that time; that slightly more than $324,000,000 worth of defense materials and services had been transferred to non-Axis nations, either out of the $7,000,000,000 or from previously appropriated sums made available for the lease-lend program, and that $110,606,000 of this was for agricultural commodities; that another $162,000,000 worth of munitions, food and services was in the process of being transferred, and that contracts had been let for an overall total of $3,555,587,895. It showed, too, that defense articles actually exported under the program amounted to $190,447,670, of which 89 percent was accounted for in the ninety-day period ending August 31.
Four months after new tax legislation was introduced, a joint Senate-House committee agreed today on a $3,553,400,000 revenue bill and sent it on to both chambers for final action by Wednesday. The measure, largest in history, would increase taxes all along the line, imposing heavier income levies on both individuals and corporations and jacking up the existing schedule of excise, or “nuisance” taxes, those levied on liquor, auto mobile sales, telephone bills, etc.
A Senate committee heard testimony today from Jimmie Fidler, movie commentator, that Hollywood producers had attempted to suppress publication of his newspaper column partly because he had criticized alleged war propaganda in films. Fidler, appearing before the senate interstate commerce subcommittee studying a proposal for a formal investigation of propaganda in the movies, testified among other things that he had rejected what was described as a “bribe” for the favorable review of a motion picture.
Criticism by newspaper columnists of the Senate’s inquiry into alleged war propaganda in motion pictures has reached the proportions of “a mass attack” and “smacks of conspiracy,” it was asserted at the hearing today by Senator Clark of Idaho, chairman of the Interstate Commerce Subcommittee conducting the inquiry.
Driving to conserve materials for national defense, the Office of Production Management ordered a reduction today in the December production of passenger automobiles of 48.4 percent below December, 1940. Manufacturers will be permitted to produce only 204,848 passenger cars in December, as compared with 396,823 in December a year ago. Taken with a 26.5 percent reduction imposed for August, September, October and November, today’s order. means-an overall curtailment of 32.2 percent during the first five months of the 1942 model year, which began August 1. Production for the five months will be 1,023,217 cars, against 1,510,167 in the first five months of the preceding model year.
Because of a shortage of steel, San Francisco’s Union Square garage cannot be completed, and the city will have a gaping hole in the center of its most fashionable shopping district for maybe years to come, the contractors disclosed today. Steel that was to have been used in construction of the $1,435,000, four-story underground parking area will go into ships being built in the bay area. McDonald & Kahn, contractors, notified the garage corporation that work would come to a standstill within two or three days.
Beneath lowering gray skies and in intermittent downpours of rain, the Second and Third Armies, more than 400,000 strong, clashed today in the start of the greatest maneuvers in the country’s history, the Louisiana Maneuvers. A U.S. Army Air Corps P-40 fighter was lost with its pilot, Lieutenant John W. Bobroski of Racine, Wisconsin, on the first day.
The War Department authorized the construction of a submarine net across San Francisco Bay’s Golden Gate, under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Four National Guard (NG) observation squadrons from four states are inducted into Federal Service and assigned to the USAAF.
The 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, Alaska National Guard is inducted at Juneau.
The Orson Welles Show premiered on CBS Radio.
Major League Baseball:
The Red Sox hammer the White Sox, 6–1, winning for the 16th time in 22 meetings. Mickey Harris is the winner over Johnny Rigney. Ted Williams hits his 35th of the year, with 6 of the homers coming off Johnny Rigney to tie a Major League record.
After 16 scoreless innings, the Brooklyn Dodgers score 5 in the top of the 17th and beat the Cincinnati Reds 5–1. Johnny Allen, acquired on waivers from the Browns, pitches 15 innings for Brooklyn, allowing just one hit in the first 9 innings, before he’s lifted for a pinch runner with the score 0–0. A tired Reds starter Paul Derringer finally gives up a 17th-inning homer to Pete Reiser, and is lifted after two more hits. Hugh Casey wins in relief as the umps order the Reds to forget about stalling to get the game called on account of darkness. The Dodgers now lead by 2.
With the aid of Norman Branch, Vernon (Lefty) Gomez, the singular southpaw of the Yankees, scored his fifteenth victory of the campaign at Yankee Stadium yesterday. Indians all over the base paths, one run in and only one out in the ninth, Branch took over the pitching chores. When a single would have tied the score and a longer hit might have won the game, Branch fanned Lou Boudreau and retired Gerald Walker on a foul pop to Johnny Sturm. Thus Gomez received credit for this 4–2 triumph over Cleveland.
A tenth-inning single off Pitcher Fred Caliguiri’s glove gave the Browns their third straight triumph over the Athletics today, 4–3. Hariond Clift’s sizzling drive came with the bases loaded and sent Joe Grace home. Grace had opened the extra inning with a double off the score board.
The Senators made five hits and as many runs in the first two innings off Hal Newhouser today and defeated the Tigers, 8–5. A walk to George Case, singles by Doc Cramer and Charlie Letchas and a fielder’s choice let in two Washington runs in the first. The Senators scored three in the second on singles by Al Evans, Cramer and Cecil Travis and walks to Case and Letchas.
Chicago White Sox 1, Boston Red Sox 6
Brooklyn Dodgers 5, Cincinnati Reds 1
Cleveland Indians 2, New York Yankees 4
St. Louis Browns 4, Philadelphia Athletics 3
Detroit Tigers 5, Washington Senators 8
By 78 votes to 1, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies this afternoon approved a resolution censuring the German Ambassador, Baron Edmund von Thermann, “for overstepping the functions of his office and abusing his diplomatic privileges.”
Tokyo today asks the Japanese consul in Honolulu to report again on the deployment of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese have placed a spy of their own on the consulate staff in Honolulu.
Thirty thousand Chinese troops of the Japanese-dominated Nanking regime mutinied in North Honan Province last week, killed a number of Japanese officers and began fighting under the banner of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Government, the National Military Council reported tonight. The council said the troops, commanded by General Liu Chang-Yi, mutinied during an inspection by fifty Japanese officers. Many of these officers were killed and those who survived were taken prisoner, it added. After the uprising, General Liu was said to have led his forces against Japanese troops around the Yellow River town of Wenhsien, where they killed 600 of the foe and occupied the town but withdrew when Japanese reinforcements arrived.
Despite several outward manifestations of Japan’s “immutable policy,” the main interest in all Japanese quarters today continued to be centered in the Washington conversations being held on the basis of Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoe’s “peace message” to President Roosevelt.
The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier HIJMS Hiryū departs Sasebo for Kagoshima.
Captain Jisaku Okada was named the commanding officer of IJN aircraft carrier Kaga.
Lieutenant Commander Hirota Tachibana was named the commanding officer of destroyer Yuzuki.
The Japanese liner Tatsuta Maru arrived at Shanghai, China.
New Zealand Division light cruiser HMS Achilles departed Wellington as the ocean escort for liner Aquitania (44,786grt) for convoy US.12B. On the 18th, the light cruiser turned the liner over to Australian light cruisers HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Sydney and returned to Auckland.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 127.2 (-0.08)
Born:
Mirosław Hermaszewski, Polish Air Force officer and cosmonaut (1976 Interkosmos Group; Soyuz 30), in Lipniki, Reichskommissariat Ukraine, German-occupied Poland (d. 2022).
Signe Toly Anderson, American singer, founding member of Jefferson Airplane (“Chauffeur Blues”), in Seattle, Washington (d. 2016).
Jo Ann Allen Boyce, American pediatric nurse and civil rights figure, member of the Clinton 12, born in Clinton, Tennessee (d. 2025).
Jim Barbieri, MLB outfielder and pinch hitter (Los Angeles Dodgers), in Schenectady, New York.
Died:
Alanson B. Houghton, 77, American businessman, politician and diplomat.
Naval Construction:
The U.S. Navy submarine rescue vessel USS Chanticleer (ASR-7), lead ship of her class of 9, is laid down by the Moore Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. (Oakland, California, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy Fulton-class submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19) is laid down by the Moore Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. (Oakland, California, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy PC-461-class submarine chasers USS PC-567 and USS PC-568 are laid down by the Brown Shipbuilding Co. (Houston, Texas, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy Gato-class submarine USS Pogy (SS-266) is laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type 1936B destroyer Z36 is laid down by AG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen (werk 1006).
The U.S. Navy Gleaves-class destroyers USS Lardner (DD-487) and USS McCalla (DD-488) are laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy Fletcher-class destroyer USS Stanly (DD-478) is laid down by the Charleston Navy Yard (Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy Essex-class (short hull) aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) is laid down by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. (Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy PC-461-class submarine chasers USS PC-471 and USS PC-474 are launched by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co. (Bay City, Michigan, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer Z33 is launched by AG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen (werk 1003).
The Royal Navy Fairmile B-class motor launch HMS ML 234 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Bute (T 168) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is T/Lieutenant Arthur Frederick Whalley Boumphrey, RNVR.
The U.S. Navy motor torpedo boat USS PT-48 is completed and placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two (PTRon 2).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-157 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Korvettenkapitän Wolf Henne.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-506 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Kapitänleutnant Erich Würdemann.
History Diaries 