The German drive on Moscow was almost completely halted due to bad weather.
As German victories had now rendered Nikolai Voznesensky’s first war production plan redundant, a new economic plan was published for what was left of Soviet territory in the center and east of the country.
Himmler and Heydrich meet with Hitler at his headquarters. In the course of the meeting, Hitler reminds them of his prewar prophecy that, unless war was avoided, the Jews would disappear from Europe. “This criminal race,” Hitler tells them, “has the two million dead of the (First) World War on their conscience, and now hundreds of thousands more. Let no one say to me: we cannot send them into the mire. Who concerns themselves about our men? It is good if preceding us is terror that we are exterminating the Jews. The attempt to found a Jewish state will fail.”
Despite the overwhelming odds against them, Jews at Tatarsk and Starodub, between Kiev and Moscow, rise up in revolt. German regular army units are brought in to crush their resistance.
Riga Ghetto was established.
Dr. Wetzel, a “race-expert” in the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories, writes in a draft of a letter to Himmler: “I should like to inform you that Oberdienstleiter Brack of the Führer’s Chancellery has said that he is prepared to collaborate in the provision of the necessary accommodation and appliances for gassing people… In the present situation, there are no objections to doing away with those Jews who are unfit for work with the aid of Brack’s resources…”
Rumanian troops set a warehouse, full of Ukrainian civilians, mostly Jews, on fire at Dalnik, Ukraine.
Massacres of thousands of Jews deported from Hungary to Galicia and the machine-gunning of more thousands of Galician Jews by German soldiers and Ukrainian bandits are reported in letters reaching Hungary from Galicia and eye-witness accounts of Hungarian officers who have returned since the deportations ended on Aug. 10, according to information received by reliable sources.
The Jager Report (issued on 1 December 1941) noted that 1,776 adult female and 812 children, all Jews, were killed in Vilnius, Lithuania for a total of 2,578 people.
Churchill condemns German reprisal killings in occupied territories.
The U.S. State Department issued a bulletin denouncing German practice of rounding up and executing civilians in retaliation of partisan attacks. President Franklin D. Roosevelt comments on the execution of hostages by the Nazis: “The practice of executing scores of innocent hostages in reprisal for isolated attacks on Germans in countries temporarily under the Nazi heel revolts a world already inured to suffering and brutality. Civilized peoples long ago adopted the basic principle that no man should be punished for the deed. of another. Unable to apprehend the persons involved in these attacks the Nazis characteristically slaughter fifty or a hundred innocent persons. Those who would “collaborate” with Hitler or try to appease him cannot ignore this ghastly warning.”
Spurred by the continuing clamor for an invasion of the Continent, members of the government, led by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, today took to the rostrums to declare in varying terms that the decision on opening up a second front in Western Europe necessarily rests with the War Cabinet.
Reichsführer Hitler conferred with Count Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister, for two hours today at the German front headquarters in a meeting officially described as occurring “in the spirit of their two countries’ proven comradeship in arms.”
Italian submarine Galileo Ferraris attacked Allied convoy HG.75 500 miles west of Gibraltar and was discovered by a British Catalina aircraft; Galileo Ferraris’ crew scuttled the submarine after being attacked by the aircraft and destroyer HMS Lamerton, but the Italians were able to hit Lamerton with the deck gun before the engagement was over; 6 Italians were killed in the engagement, 44 survived. Later in the same day, German submarine U-563 attacked HG.75, but she was driven away by British corvette HMS Heliotrope.
The British minelayer Latona was bombed and sunk by the Luftwaffe off Tobruk.
Battleship HMS Prince of Wales (53) and the destroyers HMS Electra (H 27) and Express (H 61) sails the Clyde for the Far East. Admiral Tom Phillips is aboard and will command the newly constituted British Far East Fleet.
RAF Bomber Command, Day of 25 October 1941
4 Blenheims on an uneventful sweep off Norway.
Battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, escorted by destroyers HMS Antelope and HMS Dulverton, departed Scapa Flow at 0900 for the Clyde having completed working up exercises. The ships arrived in the Clyde at 1115/26th. The battleship entered dock at Greenock prior to proceeding to the Mediterranean. Destroyer Antelope departed the Clyde at 1800 to return to Scapa Flow, where she arrived at 1400/27th.
Heavy cruiser HMS London departed Scapa Flow for the Tyne for refitting. The cruiser arrived later that day. Cruiser London was refitting from 30 October to 25 January 1942.
During the night of 25/26 October, Minelaying cruisers HMS Welshman laid minefield JX A off St Valery en Caux and HMS Manxman laid minefield JX B off St Valery sur Somme in the England Channel.
A British Catalina from Gibraltar damaged Italian submarine Ferraris west of Gibraltar. Destroyer HMS Lamerton, supporting convoy HG.75, was sent to attack the submarine. The submarine scuttled herself as the destroyer arrived on the scene. Forty four survivors were picked up. Destroyer Lamerton was damaged by a short of one of her3. 9 inch shells. The destroyer spent no time out of action.
Minelaying cruiser HMS Latona and destroyer HMS Hero, HMS Hotspur, and HMS Encounter departed Alexandria on serial ten, the last, of the CULTIVATE operation. Minelayer Latona (Captain S. L. Bateson) was sunk by German bombing on the 25th in 32-16N, 24-55E late on the 25th. Commissioned Gunner (T) G. F. W. Bruce, Midshipman R. Kennedy, T/Lt (E) E. W. Pillinger, Cdr (E) T. G. B. Winch, sixteen ratings, and seven soldiers were lost on the minelayer. Destroyer Hero was damaged by a near miss while standing by Latona and her speed was reduced to ten knots. The destroyer was later able to increase speed to twenty knots and arrived at Alexandria at 1400/26th. Destroyers Encounter and Hero took the Latona survivors to Alexandria. Destroyer Hero was under repair for four weeks. This was the last CULTIVATE serial in which 7138 troops had been transported to Tobruk and 7234 troops and 727 wounded were brought back to Alexandria.
Light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Neptune, and HMAS Hobart with destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Jaguar, HMS Jupiter, HMS Kimberley, HMS Hasty, HMAS Napier, and HMAS Nizam departed Alexandria on a bombardment operation. Due to the loss of cruiser HMS Latona, the bombardment was cancelled. Destroyers Jervis, Jaguar, Kimberley, and Jupiter were detached to assist Latona and escorted destroyer Hero to Alexandria. The light cruisers and destroyers HMAS Napier, HMAS Nizam, and Hasty bombarded Bardia prior to returning to Alexandria.
Force K of light cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Penelope and destroyers HMS Lance and HMS Lively departed Malta to intercept a convoy of Italian steamer Capo Orso (3149grt), German steamer Tinos (2827grt), and destroyer Strale which departed Benghazi on the 25th. No contact was made and Force K returned to Malta on the 26th. The convoy arrived at Brindisi on the 28th.
Submarine HMS Thunderbolt arrived at Malta from patrol.
Submarine HMS Triumph sank Italian steamer Monrosa (6703grt) in the Aegean in 37-41N, 23-53E from a convoy of steamers Monrosa and Santagata (4299grt), escorted by destroyer Sella and torpedo boat Sirio en route from Pireaus to Candia. The submarine was damaged in the counterattack.
Submarine HMS Trusty made an unsuccessful attack on a steamer in 38-24N, 20-13E.
Corvettes HMS Coreopsis and anti-submarine trawlers HMS St. Nectan and HMS Lady Shirley departed Gibraltar escorting tankers British Freedom and Velma and then join tanker Cowrie, which arrived at Gibraltar on 6 November.
Convoy OS.10 departed Liverpool. On the 26th, sloop HMS Bideford, corvettes HMS Freesia and HMS Verbena, and escort vessels HMS Culver, HMS Landguard, and HMS Lulworth joined the convoy. Corvette Verbena was detached on 4 November and the rest on 14 November to Bathurst. On 1 November, destroyer HMS Stanley and escort vessel HMS Gorleston joined the convoy and were detached on 14 November. On 12 November, destroyer HMS Vansittart and corvettes HMS Burdock, HMS Marguerite, and HMS Starwort joined the convoy and escorted it into Freetown, arriving on 18 November.
At the White House today, President Roosevelt issued a statement denouncing the German practice of executing hostages in occupied countries. In an Executive order he set up a new agency called the Office of Facts and Figures, to be headed by Archibald MacLeish, Librarian of Congress. The President had no callers. He spent most of the day preparing his Navy and total defense day speech for Monday night.
The Senate was in recess. The Foreign Relations Committee approved repeal of three sections of the Neutrality Act.
The House was in recess.
By a vote of 13 to 10, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation today permitting American merchant ships to carry arms and allowing them to sail to ports in war zones. The momentous bill, a substitute for the house-approved measure limited to ship arming, was accepted after the committee had voted 12 to 11 to take it in lieu of similar legislation proposed by Senators Pepper, Florida Democrat; Leo, Oklahoma Democrat, and Green, Rhode Island Democrat, Senator White, Maine Republican, who voted with the opposition on the first tally, joined the administration majority on the final ballot. Democratic Leader Barkley, who sponsored the proposal, set Monday to start the senate debate. He said “It is hard to guess how long” It would take to get action.
President Roosevelt denounced today the German execution of hostages in Europe and said the practice should be a “ghastly warning” to those who would collaborate with Hitler. At London, Prime Minister Churchill issued a companion statement, condemning the “butcheries in France” and asserting “retribution for these crimes must henceforth take its place among the major purposes of the war.”
With 19 ships known to have been sunk since last Saturday, the number of vessels lost in the war has passed the 2,000 mark, Associated Press records revealed today. The records, verified from a welter of claims and counter-claims, showed that 31 nations have lost 2,001 vessels. Accompanying this high toll is the total of 18,108 lives lost and 9,318 persons missing.
Miners in “captive” collieries supplying fuel for the nation’s steel mills were called on strike last midnight as John L. Lewis turned down a request by President Roosevelt to hold off the walkout pending further negotiations. Lewis, president of the C.I.O.-United Mineworkers, said in a letter to Mr. Roosevelt the 40 days of negotiations before the defense mediation board had proved a “fantastic” procedure. “The attitude of the board towards this problem has been casual and lackadaisical to the point of indifference,” the U.M.W. chief wrote. He described the board’s report to Mr. Roosevelt of failure to attain an agreement as “devoid of conclusions as to merit, evasive as to the responsibilities of the board,” which he said “dumps its own sorry mess into the already overburdened lap of the chief executive.”
Production of steel for defense will be materially affected within ten days unless there is an earlier settlement of the strike in the “captive” coal mines of the seven largest steel companies, called last night by the United Mine Workers of America.
Defense officials predicted today that adoption of the new “victory” military program would mean the virtual cessation next year of the manufacture of durable goods for consumers. Outstanding lines thus to suffer will include automobiles, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and similar items.
Dr. Robert A. Millikan, Nobel Prize physicist who heads the California Institute of Technology, launched a national drive for Russian war relief tonight with a plea to Americans to forget politics for the sake of humanity. Speaking on the first Russian war relief program staged by American radio over a coast-to-coast N.B.C. hookup, Millikan declared: ‘The issues are clear. They are not politics, but torn bodies. They are ‘not systems; they are hungry children.”
The executive committee of the New York chapter of the America First Committee yesterday sent telegrams to the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System and the Mutual Broadcasting System accusing the networks of having “refused, proper and adequate coast-to-coast radio time” for Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Charles A. Lindbergh and former Ambassador John R. Cudahy, who will address the anti-war meeting at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
TF 14 (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt), formed around carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) (VF 42, VB 5, VS 5 and VT 5), battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40), light cruisers USS Savannah (CL-42) and USS Philadelphia (CL-41), and nine destroyers, departs Portland, Maine, to escort a convoy (“Cargo”) of British merchantmen.
TU 4.1.3 (Commander Richard E. Webb) escorts convoy HX 156; destroyer USS Hilary P. Jones (DD-427) carries out depth charge attacks on suspicious contact but, after spying a school of porpoises, ceases fire.
South and Northeast Greenland Patrols are merged and renamed Greenland Patrol; it is designated as TG 24.8 of the Atlantic Fleet.
American actress Rosalind Russell weds Danish-American film producer Frederick Brisson, they remain married until her death.
From November 15 basic wages will be stabilized in all except a few industries throughout Canada and a compulsory “cost of living” bonus will be granted to wage-earners earning $25 or more per week at the rate of twenty-five cents per week for every 1 percent rise in the cost of living, according to the terms of the “wartime wages and cost of living bonus order” issued by the government today. This order will apply only during wartime and its conditions do not require legislative authority. It will automatically expire at the signing of peace unless otherwise ordered by Parliament.
A Canadian brigade under the command of Brigadier John Lawson MC sailed from Vancouver, Canada to reinforce the garrison on Hong Kong.
Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American affairs Adolf A. Berle spoke on the Nazi plan for a Church of Germany. Berle said that “It is said that this sort of thing may go on in Europe, but that it cannot affect America. But it so happens that we have long known that the Nazi group in Germany planned to conquer the entire world. It is not easy for Americans to realize that any group of people could seriously undertake world conquest, or that by any possibility they could carry it out. Yet, the fact is that they have planned it; and it is known to everyone who has had any contact with German affairs. The fact also is that they probably can carry it out unless there is resolute determination on the part of the remaining free nations to stop that conquest.”
The statement of United States Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox regarding the danger of an American collision with Japan and the shifting of war materiel shipments from Vladivostok to Archangel should this occur has attracted considerable attention here without causing any undue misgivings.
The United States consulate at Tsingtao, Shantung province, today protested to Japanese authorities against the action of a Japanese soldier who struck Anna Soehnlein of Milwaukee. The consulate demanded punishment of the Japanese. The assault on the American, a Roman Catholic nun known as Sister Turibia, occurred on a Tsingtao street and was witnessed by several persons, the protest said.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 120.73 (-0.45)
Born:
Helen Reddy, Australian-American singer (“I Am Woman”; “You And Me Against The World”) and actress, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (d. 2020).
Anne Tyler, American writer (“Accidental Tourist”) and literary critic, in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Died:
Robert Delaunay, 56, French artist (cancer).
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy tug HMS Favourite (W 119) is laid down by the Levingston Shipbuilding Company (Orange, Texas, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Titania (AK-55; later AKA-13) is laid down [as Harry Culbreath] by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The Royal Navy LCT (Mk 2)-class landing craft, tank HMS LCT 170 is laid down by Stockton Construction (Thornaby, U.K.).
The U.S. Navy PC-461-class (173-foot steel hull) submarine chaser USS PC-486 is laid down by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. (Morris Heights, New York, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-471 is laid down by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 302).
The Royal Navy MMS I-class motor minesweeper HMS MMS 102 (J 602) is launched by Wagstaff & Hatfield (Port Greville, Canada).
The U.S. Navy PC-461-class (173-foot steel hull) submarine chaser USS PC-480 is launched by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co. (Bay City, Michigan, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy PC-461-class (173-foot steel hull) submarine chaser USS PC-483 is launched by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. (Morris Heights, New York, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-90 is launched by Flender Werke AG, Lübeck (werk 294).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXD2 U-boat U-178 is launched by AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1018).
The Royal Navy “S”-class (Third Group) submarine HMS Seraph (P 219) is launched by Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.).
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette HMCS La Malbaie (K 273) [ex-Fort William (K 236)] is launched by Marine Industries Ltd. (Sorel, Quebec, Canada).
The U.S. Navy Atlanta-class light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) is launched by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Pleiades (AK-46) [ex-Mangalia] is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Commander Drayton Harrison, USN.
The U.S. Navy Aloe-class net tender USS Sandalwood (YN-27; later AN-32) is placed in service. Her first cammnding officer is Lieutenant Elliott Bloxom USNR.
The Royal New Zealand Navy minesweeping trawler HMNZS Kiwi (T 102), lead ship of her class of 3, is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander Gordon Bridson, RNZNVR
The Royal Navy British Power Boat 63-foot-class motor anti-submarine boat HMS MA/SB 36 is commissioned.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type XB U-boat U-117 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Fregattenkapitän Hans-Werner Neumann.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-171 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Kapitänleutnant Günther Pfeffer.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-437 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Kapitänleutnant Werner-Karl Schulz.
