Sunday 15 December 1940

"Flying Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron being decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross by Air Marshall Sholto Douglas, 15 December 1940. The first four Polish recipients of the DFC received their awards for their participation in the Battle of Britain during a presentation ceremony at RAF Leconfield. Mirosław Ferić was one of them." © IWM (CH 1838).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades continue their whirlwind advance across the desert into Italian Libya on 15 December 1940 as Operation Compass morphs from a planned five-day tank raid into a stunningly effective strategic offensive. The Italians, for their part, want no part of the Tommies and scoot further back along the coast road every day. Today, the British take Sollum and easily defensible Halfaya Pass on the fly, bypassing isolated Italian garrisons in the desert to the south (the actual date when the British take these points varies from source to source, but there is no question they are up for grabs by now). Next up for the British are Sidi Omar and nearby Fort Capuzzo, which the Italians show no sign of wanting to defend either. The unlikelihood of the Italians making a stand at Fort Capuzzo is underlined by the fact that they basically abandoned it earlier in the year when they weren't even under much pressure there.

The Italians, meanwhile, bet all their chips on their stronghold of Bardia, commanded by General Annibale Bergonzoli (known as "Electric Whiskers" due to his once-flaming red beard). The Tenth Army retreat there and reinforce Tobruk, which, aside from being a well-defended fortress, also constitutes a key port which would be much handier for the British than the much smaller one at Sollum. The Italians also bring up three divisions from the interior of Libya and station them on a line between El Mekili and Derna. Since the Italians now have ample warning of an attack and the British are outrunning their supplies, this line has a reasonable chance of holding - but it well inside Libya and 168 km northwest of Tobruk along the most direct route. The British already have Bardia surrounded, trapping the 40,000 Italians inside.

Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror continues giving the Italians headaches. While the British surround the port on land, it stands brazenly off Bardia and bombards the Italians there for the entire afternoon.

Not all goes well for the Royal Navy, however. Free French submarine Narval hits a mine off Sfax/Kerkenah, Tunisia and is lost. As is usually the case with such incidents involving submarines, the exact date of this loss is an educated guess because nobody lives to tell the tale in such incidents (54 lost). The loss is only realized when the submarine fails to return to its port of Malta on the 16th.

"The first four Polish recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron wearing their awards after a presentation ceremony by Air Marshal Sholto Douglas at RAF Leconfield, 15 December 1940. Left to right: Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz, Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg, Pilot Officer Jan "Donald Duck" Zumbach and Pilot Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić." © IWM (CH 1839).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids Berlin, Frankfurt, and Kiel with 72 aircraft. They also attack Naples. For Naples, it is the second night in a row. As if in a pointed statement to the Italians that "you can run, but you can't hide," the British damage another Italian cruiser in the port of Naples. The raids are notable because the British mistakenly bomb the Basel, Switzerland railway station in an epic navigational error.

The Luftwaffe, after a quiet day, revisits Sheffield, which it originally bombed on 12 December. This raid continues its recent practice of repeatedly bombing medium-sized British towns with full-scale attacks. While only a small group of 16 German Heinkel He 111 bombers arrives soon after darkness, they drop thousands of incendiaries that start massive fires. This creates a target visible to the main force, which arrives overhead a couple of hours later. The Luftwaffe pounds the eastern half of the city for three hours, but most of the bombs miss the city's important factories. The two aerial attacks together kill 750 people and destroy 3000 homes and small businesses. During the night, the Luftwaffe loses five aircraft.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe attacks Portsmouth, "sinking" destroyer HMS Cameron. The Cameron, in dry dock, is blasted onto its side and utterly destroyed in a rare case of a ship being lost for reasons other than actually sinking or grounding. One of the destroyers acquired from the US in the destroyers-for-bases deal, the destruction of the Cameron continues a pattern of hard luck for the newly acquired destroyers.

German E-boats are active along the Great Yarmouth coast, and the come across Convoy FS 360. Two of them, S 25 and S 58, sink 2301 ton British freighter NC Monberg. There are nine deaths.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Britomart collides with fellow minesweeper Seagull, sending the former to the repair yard at Aberdeen for almost a month.

Deep in the Atlantic, German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer transfers its prisoner to supply vessel Nordmark. The British continue fruitlessly to search for heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer around the Canary Islands.

Convoy EN 41 departs from Methil, Convoy SC 16 departs from Halifax, Convoy MW 58 departs from Port Said (Operation Hide), Convoy SL 59 departs from Freetown.

Destroyer HMS Ithuriel and submarine HMS P-32 are launched.

"The first four Polish recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron wearing their awards after a presentation ceremony by Air Marshal Sholto Douglas at RAF Leconfield, 15 December 1940. Left to right - Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz, Pilot Officer Jan "Donald Duck" Zumbach, Pilot Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić and Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg." © IWM (CH 1840).

Battle of the Italian Ocean: German raider Atlantis, in the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, remains stuck on a rock which has torn a chunk from its outer hull (but, fortunately for the German crew, not the more important inner hull).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek 3rd Infantry Division, which took Porto Palermo on the 13th, resumes its advance north toward the key port of Himara. The Italians have regrouped, though, and now are fighting hard. The weather now is the Italians' ally. The Regia Aeronautica also is active against the advancing Greek troops.

German/Vichy French Relations: Hitler, with his deep fascination regarding obscure European social history, realizes that very few things stir the French soul like repatriating Napoleon to France. The transfer of the dead Emperor's exhumed body from his place of exile on remote St. Helena back to Paris on 15 December 1840 was one of the great celebrations in 19th Century French history. So, realizing that bringing up memories of Bonaparte's royal line might also remind the French who sent him to St. Helena in the first place, and realizing that it is 100 years to the day later, Hitler craftily arranges to bring back another dead Napoleon: Napoleon II, also known as the Duke of Reichstadt and "The Eaglet." While never holding real power and still an infant upon his father's capture, Napoleon II did technically hold the title Emperor of France for a week before his own abdication. Napoleon II has been interred in deep obscurity in Vienna, Austria since even before the return of his father's remains.

However, things don't quite go as Hitler intends. For one thing, the whole affair elicits barely a yawn from the French public, for whom Napoleon II is just a name drawn from aged history books. Napoleon II never ruled France and was barely a blip along the Napoleonic line - which itself is rapidly fading from importance, particularly since Napoleon III proved such a monumental disaster - given his defeat by the Germans at Sedan, the memory of which is a lot fresher than that of Napoleon II. In fact, one thing that Hitler probably didn't consider is that bringing up the Napoleonic dynasty at this sensitive moment in French history might remind the French that, just as the Germans in 1870 broke through a vastly overrated French Army at Sedan, so too did such an army succumb in an eerily similar way at the same place in 1940. However, Hitler is never known for being particularly empathetic about what other nations might think about his obviously manipulative decisions.

More importantly from the perspective of present relations, however, French Premier Marshal Petain doesn't even bother attending the ceremony in Paris, which is under German occupation. While Petain has his own issues to deal with at the moment, including the situation with the recently dismissed Pierre Laval, his blasé attitude merely reflects the complete indifference within France by just about everyone. This puts the final verdict to this obvious attempt at emotional manipulation. Hitler, informed that Petain won't attend, does not attend the ceremony either, and professes outrage that his grand gesture would be dismissed when he "meant so well." Hitler probably did mean this as a kind gesture, but it does nothing at all to soften relations between the countries. This leaves Hitler's brief June visit to Paris as the only time that he ever visited Paris, his most significant conquest.

Parisians make light of the whole affair - while the Germans aren't looking - and the joke is that they would have preferred coal to ashes during a hard winter. The French government as a whole also takes a dim view of the entire affair for decades, and it is not until 1969 that it sets aside a small chamber opposite the entrance of the Dome des Invalides for the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte's only legitimate child. The whole affair also rankles Mussolini, who remains extremely jealous of Hitler's overtures to the French.

The remains of Napoleon II brought back to Paris, Note the absence of crowds along the streets. 15 December 1940.

German/Japanese Relations: It is widely noted among historians that the Japanese learned vital lessons from the British aerial attack on Taranto which sank three battleships in November 1940. They learn these lessons because two German officers, Baron von Gronau (former German air attaché at the embassy in Tokyo) and Colonel Johann Jebsen (a member of Admiral Canaris’s intelligence staff (Abwehr)), today proceed down to Taranto and write up a report about the attack which they send to Tokyo.

British Military: General Harold Alexander is appointed to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Southern Command (southwest England, a sensitive area of defense). His temporary rank of lieutenant-general, achieved as a result of his successful withdrawal of I Corps at Dunkirk, becomes permanent. Alexander achieved renown among the troops by being on the last destroyer leaving Dunkirk on 3 June 1940 - they appreciate little touches like that.

US Military: Headquarter, Eighth Naval District transfers from Charleston, South Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. It is under Acting Commandant Captain Thaddeus A. Thomson, Jr.

French Government: Relations between Germany and Vichy France, currently under great strain, are not helped when the German ambassador, Abetz, formally requests that Laval be released and reinstated. Petain indeed releases Pierre Laval from house confinement but does not restore him to his former positions. However, Laval accrues additional prestige due to being seen as the Germans' "man in France." Even though he now is out of office, he is by no means forgotten.

American Homefront: "Pride of the Bowery," starring "The East Side Kids," is released.

Future History: Ursula Ledersteger is born in Vienna, Austria. She becomes the "German Jayne Mansfield" and appears in several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder under the stage name Barbara Valentin. Among other things, Valentin is married to US actor John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop") during the peak years of that franchise's popularity, and also was close with Freddie Mercury. She perishes in 2002 and is buried at the Ostfriedhof in Munich.

PTT Telephone engineers go about their business in Amsterdam, 15 December 1940 (ANPFOTO/Anp).

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Tuesday 12 November 1940

Hitler and Molotov at their meeting in Berlin.

Soviet/German Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrives on 12 November 1940 at the Berlin train station at midday. German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop meets him there and they then sit down for a meeting. They then proceed to the Reich Chancellery, where Molotov meets Adolf Hitler.

At the first meeting, Ribbentrop sets forth the New World Order which he has outlined in his letter of 14 October (delivered several days later). He states that the Axis Powers will divide the world, with the Soviet Union to possess India and Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf. Basically, Germany will possess Europe, while the Soviet Union will take the remainder of the Eurasian landmass with the exception of areas in the Far East (primarily China) claimed by Japan. Italy would have, well, Italy, as well as parts of Africa where it had historic interests (but Hitler undoubtedly had desires for at least the restoration of the old German colonies in Africa, that was a common desire in Germany after World War I).

At the meeting with Hitler, the two reach some surface agreement about German/Soviet relations as benefiting from peace between the two nations - though both secretly are dealing in bad faith: Germany and the Soviets both are in the process of drawing up invasion plans against the other. The gist of Hitler's remaining remarks is that the Soviet Union's future lies in the East, not in Europe. Molotov, for his part, is not impressed by Hitler. Personal impressions aside - Molotov has some smart remarks to make about that later - Molotov is not impressed by Hitler's attempt to focus the Soviet Union on Asia and the Indian sub-Continent. Instead, he zeroes in on issues in Europe, such as recent German agreements for troop movements in Finland which the USSR sees as threatening.

The essence of Molotov's argument is that it is much too early to worry about Asia, as there are many issues in Europe that need to be resolved first. He is adamant that the Soviet Union has an interest and security concerns in the region. Molotov also finds it of concern that the Soviet Union is being left with areas that have yet to be conquered, such as British India.

Molotov will be in Berlin for another two days, so the talks adjourn after this meeting, with more meetings scheduled on the morrow.

Molotov and Hitler on 12 November 1940.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks begin reorganizing their troops for a counteroffensive against the Italian invasion into two field armies, Ninth Army (Korçë sector) and Eleventh Army (Epirus sector). In the Epirus sector, I Army Corps under Lieutenant-General Panagiotis Demestichas takes over, with its troops including the Greek 8th Division. Along the coast, the independent Lioumabas Detachment takes over. The Greeks on the coast are still pushing the Italians back to the Kalamas River, attacking toward Igoumenitsa.

The Greeks are assembling overwhelming power against the Italians. Due to the absence of other threats and the assistance of the British, who are landing troops in Crete and near Athens, the Greeks can assemble their entire military to oppose the Italians. Greek commander-in-chief Alexander Papagos now has over 100 infantry battalions facing fewer than 50 Italian battalions.

The RAF bombs energy facilities in the Italian supply port of Durazzo in Albania.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks oil installations in Cologne and Gelsenkirchen, an inland port at Duisburg-Ruhrort, and railway installations both near Cologne and in the Ruhr industrial region. In addition, it attacks the U-boat pens at Lorient, the ports of Flushing and Dunkirk, and airfields in northwest Europe.

The Luftwaffe sends numerous small attacks against England during the day. At night, a large raid against London hits a movie theater, two American ambulance centers, and working-class areas. Other attacks take place in the Liverpool area and the Midlands.

Der Adler ("The Eagle"), 12 November 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: British 661 ton coaster Argus hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary northeast of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There is one death, and 34 men are rescued.

British 91 ton trawler Lord Haldane sinks in or near the Bristol Channel, perhaps due to mines (many other ships have been lost to mines in the area).

Dutch naval tug Witte Zee runs aground at Oxwich Point, Glamorgan and is wrecked.

Five Royal Navy minelayers create minefield SN 43, another minelayer (HMS Adventure) puts down mines east of Inishtrahull.

Convoy FS 334 departs from Methil, Convoy BN 88 departs from Bombay (it has the troops from Convoy WS 3 in 11 transport ships, plus additional freighters carrying supplies), Convoy SL 55 departs from Freetown, Convoy BS 8A departs from Suez.

Royal Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare trawler HMS Rumba (T 122, Lt. Norman E. Hendy) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In the Battle of the Strait of Otranto, an Allied naval squadron is in the Adriatic as a diversion from the Royal Naval attack on Taranto completed on 11 November. Around 01:00, Vice Admiral Henry Pridham-Whipple in the light cruiser HMS Orion leads Vice Admiral Henry Pridham-Whipple in the light cruiser HMS Orion between Bari and Durazzo. They stumble upon six Italian ships of unknown composition. The Royal Navy ships open fire at a distance of 11 km. They inflict damage as follows:

• Freighter Catalani - sunk
• Freighter Premuda - sunk
• Freighter Capo Vado - sunk
• Freighter Antonio Locatelli - sunk
• Torpedo boat Fabrizi - damaged (11 dead, 17 wounded)
• auxiliary cruiser Ramb III - undamaged.

The Royal Navy ships sink all four merchantmen in the convoy and suffer no damage to themselves. The Regia Marina suffers 36 dead and 42 wounded. Two Italian torpedo boats rescue 140 survivors after daylight; it is unclear how many perish.

The Royal Navy considers a second strike on Taranto by aircraft from HMS Illustrious during the night, but Admiral Cunningham cancels it due to poor weather at 17:00. The Italians, meanwhile, disperse their shipping them to the ports of Naples, Messina, and Palermo until defenses at Taranto can be improved. The remaining Italian naval forces remain formidable, including three intact battleships, but the Italians apparently do not even consider sending them out against the Royal Navy.

Separately, RAF bombers raid Bahir Dar in the Horn of Africa (Italian East Africa).

At Malta, reinforcements received in Convoy MB 8 of the 11th are put into position. The island now has six British battalions, two batteries of 25-pounder artillery, and a company of light I-tanks. The British War Cabinet considers these troops adequate for the time being and views Malta as a strategically important base from which to interdict possible Wehrmacht troop movements to North Africa. In part, the ongoing occupation of Crete is viewed as a bridge to Malta, which operates as a forward base against Axis troop movements across the Sicilian Narrows.

The Italians pull one of the two Royal Navy Swordfish bombers lost in the Taranto Raid out of the harbor.

Spy Stuff: Under interrogation, a downed Luftwaffe airman reveals that a "colossal raid" on Coventry or Birmingham by:

…every bomber in the Luftwaffe….will take place by moonlight between November 15 and 20.

Interesting, the official code name for the attack (unknown to the interlocutors) actually is Operation Mondscheinsonate (Moonlight Sonata).

The intelligence staff passes along the information, which it considers likely to be false. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, however, has the benefit of Top Secret Ultra decrypts. He knows the information to be true and also knows that the target will be Coventry. However, Churchill feels that he cannot say anything about this for fear of revealing the critically important Ultra operation.

Japanese/Dutch Relations: The Japanese and Dutch authorities - the Dutch remain a major power in the Far East - conclude an agreement regarding oil supplies to Japan. The agreement provides that the Japanese will receive 1.8 million tons of oil annually. This will partially make up for the Japanese shortfall due to the American oil embargo.

Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov at the Berlin train station, shaking Heinrich Himmler's hand. Ribbentrop is behind him.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 18. It summarizes staff discussion of the previous two weeks which reflect the disaster of the Italian invasion of Greece and the need to seal off the Mediterranean. The Directive outlines Operation Felix, the conquest of the British base at Gibraltar. The plan is set out in four phases:

1. Isolation of Gibraltar by mobile troops;
2. Luftwaffe attacks from French bases;
3. Army attack on Gibraltar and, if necessary, Portugal;
4. Closure of the Straits of Gibraltar, and operations in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Madeira, and Azores.

In addition, this far-reaching directive states that German troops will only cross to North Africa after the Italians take Mersa Matruh, the Wehrmacht will invade Greece "if necessary," and that planning for Operation Barbarossa is to continue - "all preparations for the East for which verbal orders have already been given will be continued." The order also curiously states that Operation Sealion might be "possible, or necessary" in the Spring - making it clear that such an invasion is not, at present, necessary.

Fuhrer Directive 18 is notable for its lengthy treatment of operations with virtually no chance of occurring - Operation Felix and follow-up operations dependent upon it - and the short shrift it gives to truly monumental and looming issues - invasions of England and the Soviet Union. Fantastically, Hitler issues this order on the very day that Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrives in Berlin, revealing that Hitler expects nothing from those talks. In the event, the operations mentioned in Directive 18 that are never carried out make a whole lot more sense than the ones in it which do take place.

Separately, Adolf Hitler notices that his staff is making contingency plans to secure Molotov in an air raid shelter in case of an RAF attack (plans which come in quite handy). This sets him to thinking. He decides that he has no protection himself in the Reich Chancellery. He directs that plans be drawn up for a personal command bunker behind the Chancellery - which would become known as the Fuhrer Bunker.

US Military: U.S. Secretary of the Navy William “Frank” Knox asks his Special Naval Observer in London, Rear Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, to find out more details about the successful Royal Navy raid on Taranto. Everyone in the US military is extremely happy about the raid and the effectiveness of torpedo destruction of fleets at anchor in fortified harbors. The Japanese are also quite interested in the technical aspects of the raid and will let the Americans know how much on 7 December 1941. This goes into the special file marked "Be careful what you wish for."

Heavy cruiser USS Louisville departs from Buenos Aires, Argentina for Santos, Brazil on its "Show the Flag" mission.

Canadian Military: The Chief of the General Staff rejects for the second time a proposal from Colonel Tommy Burns that it form a parachute unit.

Gabon: The Free French under Generals de Gaulle and Koenig complete the capture of Libreville and Port Gentil, which is 70 miles south of Libreville. Vichy French Governor Georges Pierre Masson surrenders without a fight, then commits suicide.

American Homefront: The US Supreme Court decides Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940). This case limits res judicata ("a thing decided") to the parties to a case. Of course, the previous case can serve as a precedent, but not as a bar to further litigation. The case involves a racially restrictive covenant in a Chicago neighborhood; the defendants argued - unsuccessfully - that a different plaintiff cannot also challenge the covenant because an earlier court already found it valid.

The US is digging out of the Armistice Day Blizzard.


November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Monday 11 November 1940

The Italians waited too long to beach battleship Conte di Cavour in Taranto harbor.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation Judgment, the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, on 11 November 1940 launches 21 Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers (20 make it to the target) from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R 87). They attack the main southern Italian (Regia Marina) naval base at Taranto. The attack is technically risky because the aerial torpedoes could accidentally hit the shallow (12 meters) bottom when 23 m is considered the minimum necessary - but they don't.

Three battleships at anchor are bombed and torpedoed by RAF No. 815 Squadron beginning at 22:58:

• Conte di Cavour (sunk in very shallow water, 27 killed, 100+ wounded)
• Caio Duilio (beached)
• Littorio (three torpedo strikes, 32 dead, beached))

The British lose two planes. Littorio, the newest ship, is repaired in five months, Caio Duilio in six/seven months, Conte di Cavour is never fully repaired. The Italians also lose two aircraft on the ground and sustain damage to cruiser Trento, destroyer Libeccio (unexploded bombs hit them) and destroyer Pessagno.

The attack alters the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean. However, the change is subtle, and the remaining Italian fleet remains formidable. Two of the battleships sunk are old and likely would have remained in harbor anyway. The newer Littorio, meanwhile, is back in action fairly quickly. The underlying problem with the Regia Marina is not the number of capital ships that it has, but its unwillingness or inability to use them as aggressively as the Royal Navy does.

The attack originally was the idea of Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1938. When Pound handed off to Cunningham in mid-1939, he also bequeathed upon his successor the training and preparation for this attack.

Operation Judgment is just part of the overall Operation MB 8 currently being carried out in the Mediterranean. It involves the supply of Malta, the transfer of ships from Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Fleet, attacks on Italian bases throughout the Mediterranean, and other measures designed to improve the British position in the region. This attack on Taranto, though, is the climax of the larger operation.

The influence of the Taranto attack reverberates around the world. The Imperial Japanese Navy studies the attack closely and uses lessons from it during planning for the later attack on Pearl Harbor. The real effect of the Battle of Taranto, though, is the basic lesson that naval aviation based upon squadrons centered on aircraft carriers can have devastating power. It is a major step beyond the battleships that have dominated naval planning for the past 50 years. The US Navy also benefits from this object lesson in the long run.

A Fiat CR 42 Falco biplane fighter after crash-landing near Lowestoft, Suffolk on 11 November 1940. The plane was forced down by a propeller malfunction. Courtesy Australian War Memorial ID 005696.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue pushing the Italians back to the Kalamas River along the coast. Elsewhere, the Italians have taken up defensive positions except at Elea in the Negrades sector, where they make some small tactical gains. In the central Pindos sector, the Greek 1st Infantry Division continues attacking.

The Greeks, meanwhile, are bringing up reinforcements for a counter-offensive without too much hindrance from the Regia Aeronautica. The RAF sends night raids against Italian supply ports at Valona and Durazzo in Albania.

A crashed Fiat CR 42 on the beach at Orfordness, Suffolk. It was with the 95 Squadriglia 18 Gruppo, 56 Stormo. Pilot Sergente Pietro Salvadori becomes his Majesty's guest for the remainder of the war.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe sends fighter-bombers (Jabos) against London in two large waves during the day. Some of the Jabos get through, but the RAF forces most of them to drop their bombs early over random areas. Junkers Ju 87 Stukas also attack shipping off Kent, but have little success; seaplane attacks during the day, though, have great success (described below).

The Italian bomber fleet (Corpo Aereo Italiano, or CAI) based in Belgium sends a dozen Fiat BR 20M bombers and 42 Fiat CR 42 fighters across the Channel toward Harwich at 13:30. Three RAF Hawker Hurricane squadrons (Nos. 17, 46 and 257) shoot down three of the bombers and three fighters, and damaging two other bombers, at no cost of their own and deflect the attack. The Luftwaffe raids London with only about two dozen planes during the night due to poor weather.

Winston Churchill, never a big fan of Italian war prowess, finds the CAI's incompetence amusing, saying later:

[The Italian planes] might have found better employment defending the fleet at Taranto.

RAF Bomber Command attacks Lorient and various Luftwaffe airfields along the coast. The weather over the Continent is judged to be too poor for night attacks.

Top Luftwaffe ace Walter Oesau becomes Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 3, he is replaced at III,/JG 51 by Hptm. Richard Leppla.

Illustrating how personal the air war can get, leading ace Kommodore Major Werner Mölders of JG 51 gets distraught when a friend, Oblt. Georg Claus with 18 victories, is shot down over the Thames Estuary. He personally goes back and searches for the downed pilot with his wingman, Lt. Eberle, but can't find him.

RAF night fighter No. 650 Squadron shoots down a Junkers Ju 88A bomber by using A.I.IV radar. It is the first kill by the new Beaufighters.

Fiat BR.20M MM.22267 of 242a Squadriglia on the airfield. This plane was shot down on 11 November 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: In Operation Medium, the British battleship HMS Revenge and half a dozen destroyers bombard Cherbourg from 03:33 to 03:51.

It is a big day for aerial attacks on shipping. Aside from the RAF success at Taranto, the Luftwaffe also uses its seaplanes to sink a number of ships. While largely forgotten to the general public, the Heinkel He 115 seaplane was a fearsome Luftwaffe weapon during the war's early years.

The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of KGr 706) attacks convoy EN 23 in the North Sea 7.4 km south of Aberdeen. The convoy is defenseless except for the serendipitous fact that it is passing Convoy WN 34, which has as an escort anti-aircraft ship HMS Alynbank.

The seaplanes torpedo and sink 4327-ton British freighter Trebartha. (The ship's bell is recovered in 1999 and occasionally changes hands). Four crew perish.

The same Luftwaffe attack sinks 3997-ton British freighter Creemuir about 15 miles southeast of Aberdeen. There are 27 deaths. The Creemuir was the lead ship of the port column of the 31-merchant-ship convoy. The torpedo hits amidships and the ship sinks within three minutes. The ship is discovered and dived the wreck in 2009; the divers retrieved the ship's bell and gave it to surviving crew member, Radio Officer Noel Blacklock.

Another ship, British 1141-ton freighter Harlaw in Convoy WN 34, also is damaged in this attack.

Elsewhere, the Luftwaffe (possibly Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of 3,/KGr 906) torpedoes and sinks 3371-ton Norwegian freighter Ravnanger off Redcar, Yorkshire in Tees Bay. There are 26 survivors and one death.

British 2474-ton freighter Corsea is damaged in Barrow Deep off Middlesborough by Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of KGr 506. The Luftwaffe loses two Junkers Ju 88s and a Bf 109 during these attacks.

British freighter Colonel Crompton also is damaged in the same attack off Southend.

British 2345-ton freighter Corduff also is damaged in the same attack off Southend. (This ship was sunk in March 1941; it is a bit unclear what happened to it during this convoy on 11 November 1940, the damage, if any, must have been light).

There are other Luftwaffe attacks which damage 932-ton British freighter Pitwines east of Yarmouth.

British 314-ton trawler Iwate also is damaged by the Luftwaffe five miles southwest of Old Head of Kinsale.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors also get into the aerial action. A Condor of 1,/KG 40 bombs and sinks 1925-ton British freighter Balmore about 560 km west of Ireland. One of the great strengths of the Condors is their extensive range out over the convoy routes when operating from France. All 27 crew on the Balmore perish.

Royal Navy 417-ton trawler HMT Stella Orion hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off Herne Bay, Kent. Everyone survives.

British 118-ton coaster Skarv hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel. Five men perish.

British 406-ton coaster Porthcarrack runs aground and is lost near Porthcawl, Glamorgan, off the mouth of Ogmore River, Ogmore-by-Sea. There are four deaths and four survivors. Attempts are made to refloat the vessel, but it is too badly damaged to remain afloat.

Greek 5186-ton freighter Dionyssios Stathatos loses its rudder in the Atlantic west of the Outer Hebrides and is abandoned. Some sources place this loss on 12 December 1940.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vega hits a mine off Sunk Head Buoy while escorting Convoy FS 332. It is taken in tow by tug St. Mellons and brought to Harwich for repairs. The ship is badly damaged and takes two full years to return to service.

British 50-ton coaster Grit detonates a mine and is damaged just off Margate Buoy.

British freighter Ardmore sails out of the Port of Cork and then disappears. Some flotsam and jetsam are found, but nobody knows what happened to the ship until much later. Many accounts state that it was sunk by the Luftwaffe. In 1998, the wreck is found in 83 feet of water two miles south of Saltee Islands. It finally is learned that the ship struck a (likely magnetic) mine. As a coincidence, the wreck is near another ship named the Ardmore that sank 23 years earlier, almost to the day, during World War 1. All 24 men on board perish.

A plaque commemorating the SS Ardmore which relatives of the deceased placed upon the Penrose Quayside of the Michael Collins Bridge, near where the Ardmore departed on 11 November 1940. These daily summaries are full of numbers of people killed and wounded, it is good to recall that we are talking about real people with families and friends whose loss deeply hurt many people.

British liner Empress of Japan, attacked by the Luftwaffe on the 10th, makes port with light damage. German radio claims to have sunk her.

British corvette HMS Rhododendron spots U-103 and attacks it with depth charges 200 miles northwest of Ireland, but the U-boat escapes undamaged.

Convoy OB 242 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 332 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 333 departs from Methil, Convoy HX 85, recalled due to the Admiral Scheer attack, departs from Sydney, Canada.

American minesweeper USS Raven (AM 55) is commissioned.

Battle of the Indian Ocean/Pacific: German raider Atlantis encounters 7528-ton British freighter Automedon about 400 km west of Sumatra around 07:00. The crew of the Automedon has no idea that the Atlantis, disguised as another ship, is a German raider until they are only 5000 meters apart and the crew of the Atlantis runs up its German pennant. The Germans quickly block the Automedon's transmissions so it can radio for help. Because the Automedon does not surrender, the Atlantis opens fire and hits the bridge, killing the captain and many others. There are 6-8 deaths and 12 other casualties, who are taken as prisoners. In all, there are 75 crew, a gunner, and 21 passengers taken prisoner.

The Automedon is carrying 15 bags of Top Secret mail for the British Far East Command, decoding tables, Naval Intelligence reports - all sorts of valuable information. The most valuable information is an envelope addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command which details the British War Cabinet's detailed evaluation of British assets in the Far East. The captain of the Automedon almost certainly would have thrown this overboard if he hadn't been killed by the Atlantis' first shot. The Atlantis takes off all the useful information and supplies and then scuttles the Automedon at 15:07.

Captain Rogge of the Atlantis gives the captured intelligence to the prize crew which he puts on the captured Ole Jacob. He then sends that ship off to Kobe, Japan. The ship makes it there and delivers the intelligence to the German embassy on 4 December 1940. The ambassador, in turn, gives it to a courier to take to Berlin via the Trans-Siberian Railway. A copy is given to the Japanese.

While all this may seem a bit esoteric and perhaps irrelevant, in fact, the incident is seen by many as playing a huge factor in the Japanese decision to attack the British (and Americans) on 7 December 1941. The material taken shows how weak the British position is in the Far East and how easy it would be to conquer the region.

Wars are full of coincidences, and today two widely separate incidents occur which dramatically influence the events of 7 December 1941: this capture of the Automedon and its secret documents, and the Royal Navy attack on Taranto. In fact, if this decision does influence the Japanese decision to attack it is of far greater importance than the Taranto attack. Demonstrating how important this is, the Japanese bestow upon Captain Rogge an ornate katana (sword) on 27 April 1943, one of only three ever given to a member of the Wehrmacht (the others are given to Hermann Goering and Erwin Rommel).

The SS Sinaloa, which ran aground on a reef in Sac Bay off the Garden Peninsula, Michigan, US on Nov. 11, 1940.

Soviet/German Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov boards a train to take him to Berlin for his high-stakes meeting with Hitler and Ribbentrop.

Czech/Polish Relations: General Sikorski and Edouard Benes of Czechoslovakia sign an agreement in London calling for post-war union between the two nations. Neither man will be involved in his country's post-war government and the agreement is a nullity.

Italian Military: The Italian Regia Aeronautica forms the first Focke-Wulf 87 Stuka dive-bomber squadron.

US Military: Willys-Overland’s chief engineer Delmar Roos delivers the Quad prototype jeep to the US military at Camp Holabird. The Willys Jeep is a minor modification of the original American Bantam Jeep prototype delivered to Camp Holabird on 21 September 1940. While Willys is credited by almost everyone with designing the Jeep, in fact, it is an American Bantam design subcontracted out to freelance designer Karl Probst. Willys is involved only because the Army, which likes the Bantam design, does not think that Bantam is a big enough company to handle the military's needs. Accordingly, the Army has asked Willy and Ford Motor Company essentially to replicate Bantam's Jeep. Willys, for its part, only gets the fame as the "designer of the Jeep" because, with this delivery, it beats Ford's delivery of its own replica by ten days.

The origin of the name "Jeep," incidentally, is not known with precision. The most likely source is the comic strip Popeye, with its character Eugene the Jeep. Some Army men are heard calling the vehicle Jeep, and the name sticks.

Spain: The Spanish Ministry of the Navy submits a report to Franco indicating that the Germans must capture the Suez Canal before an operation against Gibraltar would be feasible.

A plaque in the Champs Elysees commemorating the 11 November 1940 protest. This lies near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

French Homefront: There is an anti-German demonstration in Paris by students on Armistice Day. Many participants are arrested and sent to prison. This is an extremely dangerous thing to do, as a similar protest a year earlier in Prague - on International Student's Day - induced vicious repression by the SS.

American Homeland: The Armistice Day Blizzard strikes.

Freighter William B. Davock, 4468 tons, is caught in the blizzard on Lake Michigan and sinks. All 32-33 crewmen aboard perish. A 2014/15 investigation by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association finds that the cause of the wreck was a broken rudder that jammed against the propeller, stripping it and rendering the ship helpless in the face of the wind and sea.

Several other vessels also are damaged or run aground, for a total of about 59 deaths. Two ships go down very near each other. Canadian 2227 ton freighter Novadoc runs aground near Pentwater, Michigan and is lost, with all crew saved 36 hours later when a tugboat, the Three Brothers II, goes out and rigs a breeches buoy to the freighter. Canadian 4285 ton lumber freighter Anna C. Minch breaks in two during the storm about one and a half miles south of Pentwood. All 24 crew perish.

The Armistice Day Blizzard leaves classic cars stranded everywhere.

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020