This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

[parsifal]

30 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIc DKM U-136

Type VIId DKM U-213

These boats, designed in 1939-1940, were basically a longer version of the standard Type VIIc. They were lengthened to allow extra SMA mines in launching tubes on their dorsal area just aft the conning tower. They were armed with 12 torpedoes or 26 TMA mines (39 TMB) and had the 88mm deck gun with 220 rounds. The mine launching tubes should be considered a forerunner to the modern missile carrying SLBM subs as this was the first time sub launched weapons were carried and launched in this way.. Another variant of the VII attack U-boats was the large Type VIIf torpedo transports.

6 Type VIIds were built. Losses were heavy with only one boat surviving the war.

Type VIIc DKM U-435
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Allied
Black Swan Class Sloop HMS IBIS (U-99)

Bathurst Class Corvette HMAS BALLARAT (J-184)

Bangor Class seagoing MSW HMCS QUINTE (J-166)

BPB 63' Class HMS MA/SB 31
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses

UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-129

Departures
Kirkenes:U-566

At Sea 30 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-139, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-652, U-751, U-752

43 boats

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DD ASHANTI departed the Tyne to return to Scapa Flow on completion of her long repairs, but a defect developed on passage. The DD arrived at Rosyth for repairs on 1 September.

Northern Patrol
CA SHROPSHIRE (SO Force L), CVE ARGUS, and DDs SOMALI, MATABELE, and PUNJABI departed Scapa Flow for Seidisfjord in Operation STRENGTH. The ships arrived off Seidisfjord on 1 September, but were unable to enter port due to thick fog. DD PUNJABI was able to enter Seidisfjord and sailed that afternoon to rejoin the Force.

CA LONDON departed London for Akureyri and Hvalfjord.

USN BB NEW MEXICO, CA QUINCEY, and DDs SIMS, HUGHES, and RUSSELL departed Hvalfjord to operate in the Denmark Strait after a suspicious vessel was reported by US.Coast Guard cutter ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

West Coast
Convoy ON.11 departed Liverpool. The convoy was joined on 1 September by DDs MALCOLM, SARDONYX, and WATCHMAN, corvettes ARABIS, MONKSHOOD, and PETUNIA, and ASW trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN PRIDE, NORTHERN SPRAY, NORTHERN WAVE, and WISTARIA. These escorts were detached on 4 September when relieved by DD BURWELL, AMCs CALIFORNIA and MALOJA, and corvettes CHILLIWACK, SPIKENARD, and TRAIL. These were detached when the convoy was dispersed on 11 September.

Convoy WS.11 departed Liverpool on the 30th and the Clyde on the 31st. The convoy was composed of the following steamers KINA II, BHUTAN, BARRISTER, GLAUCUS, MOOLTAN, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, ABOSSO, ORONTES, SCYTHIA, VICEROY OF INDIA, HMS LARGS BAY, HMS GUARDIAN, DUCHESS OF YORK, OTRANTO, CITY OF EDINBURGH, GLENORCHY, CITY OF MANCHESTER, and MANCHESTER PROGRESS. The convoy was escorted by BC REPULSE, CVL FURIOUS, CL SHEFFIELD, CLA CAIRO, AMC DERBYSHIRE, DDs COSSACK, ZULU, LEGION, LIVELY, RNeN ISAAC SWEERS, HIGHLANDER, ORP PIORUN, ORP GARLAND, and WINCHELSEA, sloop SUTLEJ, and escort ships TOTLAND and SENNEN. FURIOUS suffered an engine room defect on the 31st and put into Bangor. She was able to sail at 0548 on 1 September, escorted by destroyer LIVELY, and rejoined the convoy. The convoy split into Fast and Slow sections on 5 September.

WS.11 Fast was MOOLTAN, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, KINA II, ORONTES, SCYTHIA, VICEROY OF INDIA, HMS LARGS BAY, HMS GUARDIAN, DUCHESS OF YORK, BHUTAN, CITY OF EDINBURGH, OTRANTO, and GLENORCHY escorted by BC REPULSE and RAN DD NESTOR, which departed Gibraltar on the 31st, and ENCOUNTER, which departed Gibraltar on 3 September. Off Freetown, the convoy was joined by DDs VELOX and WRESTLER and corvette STARWORT. The convoy arrived on 13 September.

WS.11 Slow with GLAUCUS, BARRISTER, NORTHUMBERLAND, ABOSSO, RAPIDOL, and CITY OF MANCHESTER was escorted by AMC DERBYSHIRE and escort ships SENNEN and TOTLAND. The convoy arrived at Freetown on 15 September.

The convoy re united at Freetown and departed on 18 September, less ABOSSO, HMS GUARDIAN, and NORTHUMBERLAND, plus liner NIEUW ZEELAND. The convoy was escorted by DDs WRESTLER and VELOX from 18 to 20 September. BC REPULSE and AMC DERBYSHIRE escorted the convoy to the Cape.

Steamers DUCHESS OF YORK, CITY OF MANCHESTER, NIEUW ZEELAND, CITY OF EDINBURGH, KINA II, LARGS BAY, VICEROY OF INDIA, ORONTES, GLAUCUS, BHUTAN, and GLENORCHY arrived at Capetown on 30 September escorted by the DERBYSHIRE.

Steamers MOOLTAN, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, SCYTHIA, OTRANTO, BARRISTER, and MANCHESTER PROGRESS arrived at Durban on 3 October.

The Capetown ships departed on 3 October, steamer GLAUCUS not sailing until 4 October and overtaking the convoy, escorted DERBYSHIRE.

The Durban ships, plus steamers DILWARA, CITY OF CANTERBURY, PULASKI, EASTERN PRINCE, LLANDAFF CASTLE, NIEUW HOLLAND, and JOHANN DE WITT, less EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA and SCYTHIA, departed on 7 October and rendezvoused with the Capetown ships on 8 October. On rendezvous, DERBYSHIRE returned to Capetown. BC REPULSE escorted the convoy to 13 October, when she was relieved by CL CERES. On 17 October, steamers GLENORCHY, CITY OF EDINBURGH, BARRISTER, ORONTES, NIEUW ZEELAND, VICEROY OF INDIA, LARGS BAY, JOHAN DE WITT, OTRANTO, DUCHESS OF YORK, KINA II, and GLAUCUS were detached from convoy WS.11 as convoy WS.11 X escorted by CL GLASGOW. Steamers GLENORCHY and CITY OF EDINBURGH were detached as independents on 19 October for Basra. The convoy arrived at Bombay on 22 October. The convoy departed Bombay on 27 October with steamers GLAUCUS, KINA II, JOHAN DE WITT, ELLENGA, ORION, NIEUW ZEELAND, and LARGS BAY, escorted by armed merchant cruiser HECTOR. The convoy arrived at Colombo on 30 October, less steamer KINA II, detached on 29 October. On 31 October, the convoy, plus RANGITIKI, departed Colombo, escorted by light cruiser MAURITIUS arriving at Singapore on 6 November.

Channel
DDs BERKELEY and ATHERSTONE departed Portsmouth at 2000 to hunt a submarine in Operation ILIAD. After an unsuccessful search, the destroyers returned to Portsmouth.

Med/Biscay
Submarine UNBEATEN sank steamer ALFA (FI 373 grt) off Augusta.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Submarine TALISMAN damaged Italian auxiliary PVs SAN MICHELE and TENACEMENTE three miles north of Benghazi.

Steamer EGADI (FI 861grt) was sunk by British aerial torpedo from a Swordfish of 830 Squadron from Malta thirty miles northeast of Lampedusa.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer RIV (FI 6630 grt) was sunk by British Wellington aircraft at Tripoli.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Nth Atlantic
Convoy SC.42 of sixty five ships departed Sydney, joined by five more ships from St John on 2 September. The local escort of the convoy was RCN DD SKEENA and corvettes ALBERNI, KENOGAMI, and ORILLIA.

Convoy SC.42 departed Sydney, CB escorted by corvettes ARVIDA, BARRIE, and NAPANEE. These corvettes were detached on 2 September when the convoy was joined by corvettes ALBERNI, KENOGAMI, and ORILLIA. Corvette ORILLIA was detached on 9 September. On 10 September, the convoy was joined by corvettes CHAMBLY, GLADIOLUS, MIMOSA, MOOSE JAW, and WESTASKIWIN and anti-submarine trawler BUTTERMERE. DDs DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, SALADIN, and VETERAN and ASW trawler WINDERMERE joined on 11 September. DDs BELMONT, COLUMBIA, SKATE, SKEENA, and ST.CROIX joined on 12 September. Corvettes ALBERNI, KENOGAMI, and MOOSE JAW were detached on 13 September. USN DDs CHARLES F. HUGHES, RUSSELL, and SIMS escorted the convoy on 14 September and then were detached. DD COLUMBIA, corvettes GLADIOLUS, MIMOSA, and WETASKIWIN, and ASW trawlers BUTTERMERE and WINDERMERE were detached on 16 September. DD SALISBURY and corvettes LOBELIA, NARCISSUS, and RENONCULEjoined on 16 September. DDs SALADIN, SKEENA, and ST.CROIX and corvette CHAMBLY were detached on 17 September. DDs LEAMINGTON, SKATE, and VETERAN were detached on 18 September. The convoy arrived Liverpool on 19 September.
Central Atlantic

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 30 AUGUST TO DAWN 31 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.

No air raids.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SATURDAY 30 AUGUST 1941

AIR HQ Arrivals 5 Wellington. 69 Squadron Marylands reconnaissance Tripoli. Special patrol sighted two passenger liners 110 miles south of Malta steering south eat. 38 Squadron 9 Wellingtons despatched to attack shipping and specified targets in Tripoli in 3 waves. Several bombs struck the target area, causing fires and damage to buildings. 105 Squadron 6 Blenheims sent to attack a power station and chemical factory at Licata score hits on buildings and large fires. The attack was a complete surprise and there was no opposition.

HAL FAR One Fulmar patrolled over Comiso and Gerbini but low cloud prevented any attack. Four bombs were dropped on barracks at Pozzallo, starting a fire. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 5 Swordfish on anti-shipping search located a 1500 ton merchant vessel 20 miles west of Lampedusa and scored a hit with one torpedo and probably a second.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 30 August 1941

 

[Njaco]

August 31 Sunday
ASIA: "Kasuga Maru" completed her conversion into an escort carrier at Sasebo, Japan. She was renamed "Taiyo".

Admiral Hart has advised British Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, Commander of the RN's East Asia Squadron, that Washington was refusing to endorse proposed British plans for Allied cooperation should war come.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: After discussing with Marshal Mannerheim and Lt. Gen. Walden (the Minister of War) about the German request that Finland take part in the capture of Leningrad, President Ryti gives his permission that the Finnish troops can cross the pre-1939 border in Karelian Isthmus within few kilometres. The condition is that the Germans deliver 25,000 tons of rye. Mannerheim informs General Erfurth, the OKW representative, the next day. The Finns learning of the withdrawal of eight Russian divisions from the Karelian Isthmus to bolster the defences of Leningrad, have made a rapid advance to the village of Kivennapa, on the Leningrad to Viipuri road. They have thus recovered almost all the territory that they lost to the Russians in the "Winter War" last year. The Russians have abandoned, or been forced out of their fortifications based on the former Finnish defences of the Mannerheim Line, and have taken up new positions in the Stalin Line across the isthmus north of Leningrad.

Heeresgruppe Nord: The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn ended. The Soviet Baltic Fleet completed its evacuation from Tallinn, Estonia to Kronstadt off Leningrad, Russia. 165 vessels arrived in Leningrad with 28,000 military personnel and civilians on aboard. The last ships arrive at Kronstadt naval base on Kotlin Island, 19 miles West of Leningrad, where they will serve as a floating battery firing on German forces attacking Leningrad. Soviet counter-attacks at Mga succeed in driving the Germans out of the city, but the vital rail line into Leningrad remains blocked. Field Marshal von Leeb is tightening his grip on Leningrad. The Red Army has abandoned Novgorod, 100 miles south of the city after a savage week-long battle, and Moscow Radio admits "the enemy is at the approaches of Leningrad." In the city posters proclaim: "The enemy is at the gates." But the autumn rains have started early turning the battlefield into a quagmire, halting the Panzers and grounding the Luftwaffe. The Russians are using the respite to turn the city into a fortress. Shop windows are full of sandbags, militia units march through the streets and every gate is guarded. Everyone is expected to fight. Andrei Zhdanov, the city's Communist Party secretary, says:

"We must dig fascism a grave in front of Leningrad."

Large fires started in the city by General Wolfram von Richthofen's Fliegerkorps VIII are being fought by action groups organized by Zhdanov. Special teams have also been organized to safeguard Leningrad's treasures. Fire units are based on the city's beautiful Tsarist palaces and churches, now kept as museums, ready to deal with incendiary bombs. The priceless painting of the Hermitage are already safe. An armoured train took 500,000 of the finest works to safety as the threat to the city developed. With the left flank in shambles, Stavka allows Popov to reorganize his fortified regions south of Leningrad into Major-General I.G. Lazarov's 55th Army defending the western sector and Lieutenant-General F.S. Ivanov's 42nd Army defending the eastern sector.

Heeresgruppe Mitte:

"The offensive on Roslavl' by the Reserve Front's 43rd Army is developing successfully. However, the enemy is bringing forces up for an attack from the south. Consequently, it is necessary to speed up the preparations for the 50th Army's offensive and to begin it on 1 September or, in the last resort, on 2 September, in order to assist the 43rd Army's attack and prevent the enemy from concentrating forces against it. The 50th Army must continuously and energetically continue reconnaissance with reinforced battalions along the front." - Boris Shaposhnikov

Heeresgruppe Süd: German forces starting to run short of manpower and supplies, face a renewed Red Army offensive along the Dnepr river. Soviet Bryansk Front heavily engaged against German 2.Armee and 2.Panzergruppe. The LII.Armeekorps (General of the Kavalrie von Briesen) captures a bridgehead at Derievka just south of Kremenchug.

In the Rostov area, JG 51 was tasked with providing air cover as the Wehrmacht erects a pontoon bridge over the River Dnieper to allow the Panzers to head into Rostov and the Donets Basin.

Erich Schmidt, a 47 kill Experte from JG 53 is listed as missing in action.

According to German records of the action at Vilnia, 3700 Jews (2019 women, 864 men and 817 children) were trucked out to the mass graves at Ponar and shot.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 103 aircraft to attack Cologne and 71 aircraft to attack Essen overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Battle of Loznica involved an attack on the German garrison of that town by the Jadar Chetnik Detachment. Following the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was partitioned. At the time, Loznica was part of the German-occupied territory of Serbia, which included Serbia proper. The Chetniks attacked, led by Lieutenant Colonel Veselin Misita, who was killed during the assault. The Germans surrendered, and 93 were captured. This battle was closely followed by the joint Partisan-Chetnik attack on the German garrison at Banja Koviljača. Following its capture, the Chetniks established a command post in the town and mobilized the populace. Supporters of the Partisans formed a local unit and directed workers into the fields and a nearby mine. The Partisans also set up a workshop in the town to manufacture hand grenades. After their failed attack on Bogatić, the two Chetnik detachments decided to attack Banja Koviljača.

MIDDLE EAST: In Iran, Soviet and British troops link up at Kazvin.

NORTH AFRICA: German bombers attacked Alexandria, Egypt, killing 2 British Royal Navy officers but otherwise doing little to no damage to ships and port facilities, which were the primary targets.

PACIFIC OCEAN: British Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, commander of the garrison in Malaya and Singapore, has made two visits this month to Manila to confer with Hart and MacArthur.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Australia of the intention to build a Far East fleet of capital ships by the end of the year, based within the triangle Aden - Singapore - Simonstown.

UNITED KINGDOM: A mixed-gender anti-aircraft battery with 200 men and an equal number of women was established, with great public interest, in Richmond Park, London, England. The women were the first to take a combat role in Britain.

Grave doubts about Bomber Command's claims of damage done to enemy targets are prompted by a new analysis of photographs of the targets. This is made by D.M.D. Butt, a civil servant member of the war cabinet secretariat. Butt examined 633 flash photographs taken from aircraft at the time of bomb release. On 100 separate raids against 28 targets on 48 nights during June and July. He allowed as a hit any bomb falling within five miles of the target area: a zone of 75 square miles. He found that on average only one bomber in three got hits within the zone. In the industrial Rühr, the ratio lengthened to one in ten. Aided by a full moon, two out of five scored, but so did the enemy, for the better light aided night fighters. Since these figures excluded aircraft which did not find or attack the target area (and many did not), the proportion of hits to total sorties was well under one in three. The prime minister has said that the report demands urgent attention. Air Vice Marshal Robert Saundby, a senior air staff officer, accepted the report, but said that Butt's figures "might be wide of the mark."

Tonight brought a concentrated Luftwaffe attack on Hull, where a direct hit on a shelter caused many casualties; about two hundred homes were demolished or damaged, and thirty-eight people were killed.

WESTERN FRONT: Cheese rationing is introduced in Switzerland.

RAF Bomber Command sends 30 aircraft to attack Lille during the day. RAF Fighter Command flew Circus operations and several naval cooperation operations. RAF Bomber Command sends 12 aircraft on minelaying operations overnight.

.

 

[parsifal]

31 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
None

Losses
None

UBOATS
Arrivals
Gotenhafen: U-139, U-142

Departures
St. Nazaire: U-98

At Sea 31 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-652, U-751, U-752

42 boats

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DD BEDOUIN departed the Humber to return to Scapa Flow on completion of her refitting, and arrived 1 September.

SW Approaches
DD DUNCAN arrived at Gibraltar from convoy OG.72 duty.

Med/Biscay
RAN CL HOBART departed Haifa for Alexandria, where she arrived on 1 September. CLA CARLISLE arrived at Suez. Sloop FLAMINGO departed Alexandria for Port Said for intended duty in the Red Sea.

An air raid on Alexandria late on the 31st and early on 1 September caused a number of casualties on shore, but no damage was done to ships or facilities.

RNeN submarine O.21 made an unsuccessful attack on an Italian submarine in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Submarine UTMOST arrived at Malta from patrol.

Italian convoy of liners NEPTUNIA, OCEANIA, VICTORIA, escorted by DDs AVIERE, DA NOLI, CAMICIA NERA, GIOBERTI, USODIMARE, and PESSAGNO, departed Tripoli for Taranto on the 31st. Off Tunisia, submarine UPHOLDER made an unsuccessful attack on the convoy, which arrived at Taranto without loss on 2 September.

Central Atlantic
Steamer RECCA (FI 5441 grt) was seized by Cuban authorities at Avana, Cuba, and renamed LIBERTAD for Cuban use. She was to be lost to U-boat attack in 1943.

RAN DD NESTOR departed Gibraltar to refuel at Ponta Delgada prior to joining convoy WS.11. She then proceeded with the convoy to Freetown.

DDs FORESIGHT, FURY, and FORESTER departed Gibraltar to carry out ASW patrols in the Straits during the night.

Corvettes AZALEA and FLEUR DE LYS arrived at Gibraltar with tanker CORDELIA, arriving from Curacao.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 31 AUGUST TO DAWN 1 SEPTEMBER 1941
Weather Very strong wind and one short heavy cloudburst.

No air raids.

ROYAL NAVY Utmost returned from patrol on Calabrian coast. Unsuccessful attack on a convoy and blew up a railway bridge.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Beaufighter, 2 Blenheim. Departures 2 Blenheim, 4 Wellington. 69 Squadron Marylands striking force patrol off northern Tunisian coast. Photoreconnaissance of Comiso, Gerbini and Catania, and Tripoli harbour and railway line. 38 Squadron 9 Wellingtons despatched to attack shipping in Tripoli harbour in 3 waves hitting several targets. Most bombs struck the target area, causing fires and damage to buildings. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 5 Swordfish searched for southbound merchant vessel off Syracuse but found no trace. One Fulmar patrolled over Gerbini and machine-gunned the aerodrome, then patrolled over Catania, returning to Gerbini to release incendiaries and machine gun aircraft on the ground, starting five good fires.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 31 August 1941

 

[parsifal]

Summary Of Losses XXXXXX 1941 (Unfinished)

Allied
Allied Warships




XXXXX(RN)), (Total XXXXX grt Naval Tonnage)


Allied Shipping




XXXXXXX (UK), XXXXX (Gk), XXXX (Be), XXXXX (Nor), XXXXX (NL), XXXX (NZ)
XXXX grt (Mercantile)


Total Mercantile and Military losses: XXXXX grt



Prizes captured




Neutral shipping




( grt Mercantile)



Neutral warships



Total Neutral Mercantile + Military: 1215 grt
Total Allied + Neutral: XXXXX grt



Prizes taken
None



Cumulative Losses since 9/39
XXXXXX grt Allied and Neutral Mercantile and Naval tonnage losses


Axis Warships
DKM
XXXXX(DKM XXX grt),



(XXX grt)


RM


XXXX (RM XXXX grt),



(XXXXX grt)



Axis Shipping
GER


(XXXXX grt)


(FI)




Vichy


(XXXXX grt)


Total Axis Mercantile (XXXXX grt)
Total Axis Mercantile and Naval Tonnage losses: ( XXXXXX grt)



Captured ships




XXX (UK XXXX grt), (XXX Gk)
(+) (XXXXX grt)

 

[parsifal]

1 SEPTEMBER 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type M-35 MSW DKM M-153
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Coastal MSWs R82 to R-88
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Allied
Submarine Depot Ship HMS TALBOT (F-06)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

SHch (schuka) Class sub VMF SHCH-135 (Pacific Flt)

Sister Ship SHCH 114 also from the Pacific Fltc

Losses
None

UBOATS
Departures
Brest: U-565
St. Nazaire: U-69

At Sea 1 September 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-652, U-751, U-752

44 boats

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DD ASHANTI was docked at Rosyth to correct a defect developed on passage to Scapa Flow.

Northern Patrol
CA SHROPSHIRE with DDs SOMALI, MATABELE, and PUNJABI (Force L) arrived off Seidisfjord at sunrise , but in heavy fog only PUNJABI was able to enter port, arriving mid morning. The others ships proceeded to rendezvous with Force M (CA DEVONSHIRE gp) at sea, departing Seidisfjord approaches that afternoon to rejoin Force L.

CL NIGERIA, DDs ICARUS, ANTELOPE, ANTHONY with liner EMPRESS OF CANADA arrived at Gronfjord from Archangel to embark the Norwegians volunteers from Spitzbergen.

British trawler HAZEL, Belgian trawler VAN OOST and tanker OLIGARCH arrived at Sveagruva (Spitsbergen) , and departed on the 3rd. Following operations EGV One and Two, these ships, DD ESCAPADE arrived at Reykjavik on the 14th.

The USN assumed patrol of the Denmark Strait with BBs IDAHO, MISSISSIPPI, NEW MEXICO (two of these were on patrol at a time), CAs WICHITA, TUSCALOOSA, and DDs of DesSqn 2 - MORRIS, ANDERSON, HAMMANN, RUSSELL, SIMS, WALKE, CHARLES F HUGHES, O'BRIEN, MUSTIN and DesDiv 22, GWIN, GRAYSON, MEREDITH and MONSSEN. The USN found operations in the far north tough going for their ships.

Northern Waters
DD BEDOUIN arrived at Scapa Flow after refitting.

West Coast
Convoy ON.12 departed Liverpool 1 September, escorted by corvette HEARTSEASE, ASWtrawlers ANGLE, CAPEWARWICK, ST APOLLO. Joined on the 2nd by ASW trawler DANEMAN. Joined on the 4th by DDs AMAZON, AMBUSCADE, BELMONT, BULLDOG, corvettes ACONIT, AUBRETIA, NIGELLA. Detached on the 4th DD AMBUSCADE. Joined on the 7th by DD BROADWAY, corvettes COBALT, POLYANTHUS, escorts detached on the 7th HEARTSEASE, ANGLE, CAPE WARWICK, ST APOLLO, DANEMAN, AMAZON, BELMONT, BULLDOG, ACONIT, AUBRETIA, NIGELLA. Joined on the 10th by DD RAMSEY,AMC WORCESTERSHIRE, corvettes BUTOUCHE, GALT. Detached on this date BROADWAY, COBALT, POLYANTHUS. Detached on the 14th RAMSEY, WORCESTERSHIRE, BUTOUCHE, GALT. Convoy dispersed on the 14th.

Med/Biscay
MTB.68 and MTB.215 arrived at Alexandria from Haifa, but both were out of action due to numerous serious defects. Trawler VULCAN, the MTB's depot ship, arrived at Alexandria on the 2nd.

Submarine UPHOLDER arrived at Malta from patrol.

An Italian convoy of steamers ANDREA GRITTI, RIALLTO, VETTOR PISANI, FRANCESCO BARBARO, SABASTIANO VENIER departed Naples escort DD DA RECCO, DARDO, FOLGORE, and STRALE. On the 3rd, Steamer ANDREA GRITTI (FI 6338 grt) was sunk in an attack by nine British Swordfish of 830 Sqn from Malta south, southeast of CapeSpartivento. In the same attack, FRANCESCO BARBARO was damaged by 830 Sqn Swordfish, but taken in tow by DD DARDO and escorted by DDs ASCARI and LANCIERE back to Messina. The remainder of the convoy arrived at Tripoli on the 4th.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Submarine OTUS departed Malta with mail and 15 passengers, and later that day, unsuccessfully attacked an AMC. She arrived at Alexandria on the 11th.

Malta
RAID SUMMARY AUGUST 1941

• No of air raid alerts 30
• No of raids 25 (including 18 night raids)
• Days without air raid alerts 15
• Total time under alert 18 hours 38 mins
• Average length of alert 38 mins
• Civilians killed by enemy action 5; injured 5

AIR RAIDS DAWN 1 SEPTEMBER TO DAWN 2 SEPTEMBER 1941

Weather Fine and warm.

1039-1110 hrs Air raid alert for twelve Macchi 200 fighters which approach from the north and cross the coast over St Paul's Bay without dropping any bombs. Selected gun emplacements fire pointer rounds. Hurricane fighters are scrambled but do not engage.

2111-2206 hrs Air raid alert for six enemy bombers which approach singly from the north east and drop incendiary bombs plus a small number of high explosives across Marsa, Hamrun, Gudja, PembrokeRanges and IslandBay, and in the sea north of St George's. High explosive bombs are dropped on PembrokeRanges. One bomb falls on a tennis court at Sliema. Four people are slightly wounded in the raid. It is believed that they did not go into a shelter. Three Hurricanes are scrambled; no interceptions. P/O Robertson crashes on landing; he is unhurt.

OPERATIONS REPORTS MONDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 1941

ROYAL NAVY 5 Swordfish searched area to eastward for northbound convoy without success. Upholderreturned from interception of convoy east of Tripoli. Convoy sighted and attacked without success.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Beaufighter, 5 Blenheim. Departures 2 Beaufighter, 1 Sunderland. 69 SquadronReconnaissance east Tunisian coast. Special search by Blenheim. 2 Fulmars offensive patrol Gerbini-Comiso area dropped incendiaries on Gerbini and Augusta. 38 Squadron 7 Wellingtons attacked Tripoli power station dropped bombs and incendiaries causing damage and fires. 105 Squadron 7 Blenheims attacked chemical works, ship and railway in southern Calabria. 5 Hurricanes fitted with cannon despatched on a special railway patrol near Pozallo Railway Station. They dived on a train and attacked from the rear, hitting the engine and driver's cabin. Coaches in the station were also hit. Machine-gun fire retaliated from both sides of the line; Sgt Parker's windscreen was hit by one bullet.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 1 September 1941

 

[Njaco]

September 1 Monday
ASIA: Mineichi Koga was named the head of the China Area Fleet of the Japanese Navy. Nobutake Kondo was named the commanding officer of the Japanese 2nd Fleet. Captain Chiaki Matsuda was named the commanding officer of "Settsu". Vice Admiral Ikuta Sakamoto was named the commanding officer of Chinkai Guard District in southern Korea.

In China, the American Consul-General at Shanghai, the commander of the Yangtze Patrol, and the commanding officer of the 4th Marine Regiment at Shanghai recommended that all naval forces in China be withdrawn.

Second Battle of Changsha: The Japanese renewed their attack at Changsha. The attack was along the shores of, and across, Lake Tung-Ting. Japanese 11th Army began assembling in Yochow - Linhsiang - Hsitang - Chungyang sector for the new offensive. The Fifth Air Operation was halted in order to prepare for the Pacific Area Operations. Squadrons from the Chinese 1st, 2nd and 6th BGs took part in the battles for Changsha. They flew 34 sorties against shipping and troop concentrations. At the end of September an order was received to redeploy the aircraft to the front. The 2nd BG went to Hunan. During this period the 1st and 2nd BGs operated together.

"What you recommended was understandable but I have resolved to carry out the Pearl Harbor attack no matter what the cost. So please do your best to develop the plan from now on. I will place all the details of the project in your hands." - Isoroku Yamamoto after a heated debate with Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka on the prospect of attacking Pearl Harbor.

111 I-16s had been assembled at Soviet Aircraft Factory No. 600. However, the factory did not deliver them to the Chinese at that time, possibly due to the worsening, and eventual break in relations with Chiang Kai-Shek. From the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, all the assembled fighters were used in the battles against Germany.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US Atlantic Fleet announces the formation of a Denmark Strait Patrol. Battleships USS "Idaho", USS "Mississippi", and USS "New Mexico", escorted by 2 cruisers and 13 destroyers, were dispatched to patrol the Denmark Strait to protect American merchant shipping. The US Navy is now permitted to escort convoys in the Atlantic containing American merchant vessels. The USN assumes responsibility for escorting convoys from a point off Argentia, Newfoundland to Iceland.

EASTERN FRONT: Over the pontoon bridges on the Dnieper river, JG 51 claim seventy-seven Russian bombers shoot down.

Armeegruppe Nord: German 4.Panzergruppe recapture Mga. The important rail hub would be held for nearly three years. Advancing Germany armies are within artillery range of the city of Leningrad. To the east of the city, their attacks are nearing the shores of Lake Lagoda. By the end of September Army Group North will have suffered 60,000 loses, but the Leningrad forces will suffer far greater casualties. The Northern Front reported 55,535 casualties between 10 July and 23 August out of 153,000 men engaged. The Leningrad Front had 116,316 casualties from 23 August to 30 September out of 300,000 men engaged. Finally, the Northwestern Front casualties from 10 July to 30 September were 144,788 men out of 272,000 engaged.

Finnish troops encircled two Soviet divisions (43rd and 115th) in Porlammi - Ylä-Somme area south of Viipuri in the Karelian Isthmus. The Soviet units caught in the encirclement begin to surrender, although many men are able to break out, leaving their equipment behind. Finns capture a large amount of booty (including 306 artillery pieces, 246 mortars and 55 tanks) together with some 9000 POWs, among them commander of the 43rd Division, Major-General Kirpitshnikov. More than 7000 dead Red Army soldiers are buried in the field, but some 12 000 succeeded breaking out before the surrender.

Armeegruppe Mitte: The Yel'nia Offensive Operation: As Guderian launches his forces south to encircle Kiev, General Timoshenko begins a major counter attack at Gomel. The cumulative effects of these attacks was to apparently force Army Group Centre to keep its mobile forces (3.Panzergruppe and especially 2.Panzergruppe) pinned down and prevent them conducting dangerous operations further north and south. However the scale of these attacks and their persistence in the face of horrendous casualties, indicate that these offensives were deliberate attempts to forestall any German offensive eastwards and severely damage Army Group Centre in the process. The new offensive was planned to coordinate with the much larger Western and Briansk Front's offensives further north and south. Soviet 24th Army begins counterattacking German 4.Armee in the Yel'nia sector and Soviet 5th Army and 21st Army counterattacks German 2.Panzergruppe and 2.Armee. The Western Front's 16th, 19th, and 20th Armies launch a combined attack on German forces east of Smolensk along a front from Dukhovshchina to Iartsevo. Unsurprisingly the 24th Army succeeded in penetrating the salient defenses, but only after extremely heavy fighting.

Armeegruppe Sud: The German 17.Armee's LII. Armeekorps (General of the Kavalrie von Briesen) and elements of III. Armeekorps (mot.) (General of the Kavalrie E. von Mackensen) assaulted the Soviet 38th Army across the Dnepr River around Kremenchug. The Germans rapidly established a bridgehead and the infantry from LII. Armeekorps poured across.

Operation Beowulf was the German amphibious invasion of the main Baltic islands of Ösel (also called Saaremaa) and Dagö (also called Hiiumaa). These islands (along with the Hango peninsula in Finland) controlled naval movement into and out of the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland. The islands were garrisoned by 23,700 men of the 3rd Rifle Brigade and support units (originally assigned to 27th Army), and had been heavily fortified. Operation Beowulf involved the 61.Infanterie-Divisionen (Lieutenant General Siegfried Hanicke), several combat pioneer units, about 100 ships and barges, and 180 small assault boats and was set to begin on 8 September. Cruiser "Köln" began supporting the invasion of Dagö and Ösel islands with a bombardment and disabled the Soviet coastal batteries at Cape Ristna.

A Japanese fishing trawler strikes a mine and sinks near the Soviet port of Vladivostok. Japan demanded a guarantee of safety for their ships and reparations for the lost ship. The Russians told Japan they would pay for nothing and they should stay clear of Soviet ports.

The BI-1 rocket-powered prototype aircraft was ready for unpowered flight at Khimki, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

The 9th Company of German Police Battalion 322 participated in the murder of more than 900 Jews from the Minsk area in Byelorussia. On the same day, the Police Regiment South reported shooting 88 Jews, and Battalion 320 reported shooting 380. Karl Jäger, commander of an SS Einsatzgruppen operating around Vilnius reports that day they killed "1,404 Jewish children, 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses, 109 mentally sick people, one German woman who was married to a Jew, and one Russian woman." Jäger notes the essential help of local Lithuanians and says that 4,000 Jews were liquidated by pogroms and executions at the hands of Lithuanian partisans.

Hurricane fighters of RAF No. 81 Squadron and No. 134 Squadron fly off RN carrier "Argus" to base at Vaenga near Murmansk.

GERMANY: Command changes in the Luftwaffe. Oberst Heinrich Conrady replaces Oberst Wolfgang von Chamier-Glisczinski as Kommodore of KG 3. At KG 40, Oblt. Dr. Georg Pasewaldt takes over command of the Kampfgeschwader from Major Edgar Petersen. Oblt. Walter Siegel is posted as Kommodore of SKG 3 in place of Oblt. Karl Christ. KG 51 finds Oberst Paul Koester posted as Kommodore in place of Major Hans Bruno Schulz-Heyn. The Jagdgeschwader also make changes when Oblt. Dr. Erich Mix is posted as Gruppenkommandeur to I./JG 1 who has been without a commander since July 1940 when Hptm. Joachim Schlichting was transferred out of the Gruppe. At II./JG 51, Hptm. Hartmann Grasser is posted as Gruppenkommandeur in place of Hptm. Josef Fözö who left on 7 July. IV./JG 77, also known as Jagdgruppe Kirkenes has a new Gruppenkommandeur when Major Hennig Strumpell is posted in place of Hptm. Alfred von Lojewski.

RAF Bomber Command sends 54 aircraft to attack Cologne overnight.

All Jews above the age of six in Germany and occupied lands were ordered to wear the yellow Star of David with the word "Jude" inscribed in black within; this was to be effective 19 Sep 1941.

Werner Heisenber discovers that a sustained chain reaction in uranium would produce element 94 and saw the road for creating an atomic bomb for Germany with this element.

Hitler meets Munoz Grandes, commander of Spanish Blue Division.

MEDITERRANEAN: By this date, small groups of Albanian Communist partisans beginning to coalesce and collaborate.

Axis Convoy departs Naples for Tripoli with five vessels escorted by Italian destroyers "Da Recco", "Dardo", "Folgore", and "Strale".

MIDDLE EAST: Fifth Vichy French convoy departs Haifa with 5216 troops being repatriated to France from the Levant.

NORTH AFRICA: Panzergruppe Afrika was activated with newly promoted General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel in command while General Crüwell is appointed to command Afrika Korps. The Panzer Group controlled the Afrika Korps plus some additional units that were sent to Africa (notably the 90th Light Infantry Division), as well as two Italian corps, X and XX.

NORTH AMERICA: Roosevelt indicates that he would make every effort to defeat Germany because he feels that everyone is "threatened by Hitler's violent attempts to rule the world." An official state of war between Germany and the United States is still 10 weeks away.

First production order for 150 Northrop P-61 night fighters is placed.

Fermi's first pile constructed to prove a controllable chain reaction yields a neutron output of only 0.87 neutrons per absorption. (The number will have to be over 1.00 in order to be a sustainable chain reaction).

Walter Bedell Smith becomes Secretary of the General Staff for General Marshall.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation Gauntlet (Allied destruction of coal mines on Norwegian island of Spitsbergen). Troopship RMS "Empress Of Canada" and escorts British cruiser HMS "Nigeria" and 3 destroyers return to Spitsbergen from Arkhangelsk, USSR (carrying 200 French escapees from German POW camps who traveled to Arkhangelsk). All Allied forces embark for UK plus 800 Spitsbergen inhabitants and 15 sled dogs.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Douglas MacArthur mobilized the Filipino military. First 12 Filipino infantry regiments are inducted into Federal service.

Marshall assesses Hawaii as adequately defended and wishes all additional men and materiel sent to the Philippines.

Major General J. Northcott appointed to command new 1st Armored Division in Australia.

UNITED KINGDOM: Introduction of new British coding method makes it easier for German Intelligence to break convoy codes.

Newcastle was the Luftwaffe's target for the night, when twenty-five long-range bombers operated. The attack was sharp, and only lasted an hour, but it resulted in considerable damage to property, over a hundred houses being demolished. Forty-nine people were killed and it is estimated that about 1,000 were made homeless. Jesmond and Shieldfield shared the brunt of the attack. New Bridge Street Goods Station of the LNER was destroyed by IBs and an oil bomb. It burned for forty-eight hours and smouldered for a long time afterwards. Three hundred tons of foodstuffs were destroyed and the building was completely gutted; it burned for several days and was tackled by relays of firemen from all over Tyneside. A man and his wife were in an Anderson shelter on the very verge of a crater. Their two sons were standing just outside the entrance when the bomb exploded. The man and his sons were killed, his wife was slightly injured.

WESTERN FRONT: An Air France Bloch 220, msn 12, registered F-AQNL, crashes into a lake after an engine failed on takeoff at Bollemont. Only 2 of the 17 aboard survive.

RAF Fighter Command flew Roadstead operations.

.

 

[Njaco]

September 2 Tuesday
ASIA: "Kasuga Maru" was commissioned into service.

The Japanese government sets up the Air Defence Bureau, which will organize air-raid precautions throughout Japan.

The "Manzhouguo" Government enacted the "Second Five-Year-Plan of Industrial Development."

EASTERN FRONT: All along the Eastern Front, the Red Army withdraws from use its so-called five number code. This code was used in communications between divisions and armies, and the Soviets had become aware that it is compromised. After a week a new version of the code is introduced. For the Finnish codebreakers this marks an end of a golden era. Thanks to hard work, good luck, help from the Japanese and Soviet blunders, Finns had been able to read some 80% of the Soviet five-number code traffic from the beginning of the Continuation War in June. The significance of this intelligence for the Finnish offensive can be imagined. Major-General Taavetti Laatikainen, commander of the Finnish II Corps, once told to Lieutenant-Colonel Reino Hallamaa, chief of the radio intelligence, that thanks to the intelligence reports he received, Laatikainen often knew the enemy troop dispositions better than his own.

Armeegruppe Nord: In Karelian Isthmus the Finnish troops have reached the pre-1939 border, and are crossing it. Units have received orders to cross the old border to reach the shortest line across the Isthmus some distance behind it.

A desperate battle is raging at Gatchina, some 20 miles south-west of Leningrad, as the defenders try to halt the German advance. The guns of the naval squadron on the river Neva have joined in the battle, pounding the German positions with heavy shells. To the south-west the railway town of Mga has fallen to the Germans after a see-saw battle lasting three days. This means that Leningrad's rail links with the rest of Russia have been severed and the German ring around the city is almost complete. There is, however, little left here except people. While the Red Army has been holding up the Germans nearly 300 trains have carried the machine tools of 90 factories, including two heavy tank works, to safety behind the Urals where they are being reassembled. The major problem which is emerging is food. Leningrad's population of 2,500,000, with 100,000 refugees and the armed forces, must all be fed if a siege is mounted. Lack of bread, not bombs, may bring about Leningrad's capitulation.

Armeegruppe Mitte: Field Marshall Bock decides to abandon the Yel'nia salient amidst a strong Soviet counterattack.

Armeegruppe Sud: German 6.Armee begins attacking Soviet 37th Army in the Kiev sector.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 126 aircraft to attack Frankfurt and 49 aircraft to attack Berlin overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: In Italy the fascist newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia reports that Hitler and Mussolini propose to unify Europe and foster "harmonious cooperation of all European peoples."

NORTH AMERICA: The US grants a large loan to Mexico for cooperation in the military and economic defense of the hemisphere. The U.S. also negotiates currency stabilization agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation EGV.1: was an air strike against German installations at Tromso, Norway, from British aircraft carrier HMS "Victorious". This day the aircraft carrier HMS "Victorious", heavy cruisers "Suffolk", "Devonshire" and destroyers "Eclipse", "Escapade", "Inglefield", "Electra", "Active" and "Impulsive" departed Sardam Bay after refueling for a raid on a German convoy off Hammerfest on the 3rd. Senior Officer of Force M transferred his flag from "Devonshire" to "Victorious" from 1 to 4 September when he returned to the heavy cruiser.

In Norway German vessel "Oslebshausen" is sunk by RAF aircraft.

PACIFIC OCEAN: MacArthur informs Hart that there was "plenty of time" to prepare for war with Japan.

UNITED KINGDOM: It is announced in the London Gazette that OS Albert Howarth (d. 1976) of HMS "Foresight" was blown into the sea when a ship exploded, but helped another man before being saved himself; it was then seen he had lost a foot. (Albert Medal)

WESTERN FRONT: RAF bombers began daylight bombing of targets in northern France, responding to criticism of lack of accuracy in night bombing. RAF Fighter Command flew sweeps and Roadstead operations. RAF Bomber Command sends 16 aircraft on minelaying operations overnight.

.

 

[parsifal]

2 SEPTEMBER 1941
Known Reinforcements
Allied
U Class Submarine HMS UMBRA (P-35)

Losses
None

UBOATS
Departures
St. Nazaire: U-94
Trondheim: U-572

At Sea 2 September 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-94, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-572, U-652, U-751, U-752

46 boats

OPERATIONS
Baltic
Steamer OSLEBSHAUSEN (Ger 4989 grt) was sunk by a torpedo near Obrestad. As this does not correspond to any noted sinking by an allied vessel or aircraft, she was presumably lost on a mine.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

East Front
Arctic
U-566 was attacked by an unidentified VMF submarine off Kildin Island. U-566 escaped unharmed.

North Sea
DD ESKIMO departed London on completion of refitting and proceeded to Sheerness. On the 5th, she departed Sheerness for Scapa Flow, arriving on the 6th.

FFL DD LA CORDELIERE ran aground in Scottish waters and damaged her ASW dome.

Northern Patrol
Force M, with CV VICTORIOUS, CAs SUFFOLK, DEVONSHIRE and DDs ECLIPSE, ESCAPADE, INGLEFIELD, ELECTRA, ACTIVE and IMPULSIVE departed Sardam Bay after refuelling for a raid on a German convoy off Hammerfest on the 3rd. Senior Officer Force M transferred his flag from DEVONSHIRE to VICTORIOUS from 1 to 4 September when he returned to the CA. At dawn on the 3rd, the force was sighted by German reconnaissance and the rendezvous with Force L was changed to 75-25N, 6-50E.

CL NIGERIA with DDs ICARUS, ANTELOPE, ANTHONY and liner EMPRESS OF CANADA arrived at Isfjord (Spitsbergen) from Archangel. CL AURORA departed Sveagruva (Spitsbergen)on the 2nd for Gronfjord (Spitsbergen).

Trawler ELM with four Norwegian prizes departed Gronfjord on the 3rd for Akureyri (Spitsbergen). The ships all arrived on the 10th to coal. They departed Akureyri on the 12th for Reykjavik, arriving on the 14th.

The entire Spitzbergen community was embarked on the EMPRESS OF CANADA and the town then comprehensively demolished. On the 3rd, the cruisers, DDs, and the liner departed Spitzbergen for the Clyde. On the 4th, the cruisers were detached from the force. On the 6th, CLA PENELOPE departed Scapa Flow to rendezvous with the ships that evening. DD LIGHTNING departed Scapa Flow on the 6th to rendezvous with the force. LIGHTNING and ICARUS escorted the liner to the Clyde, arriving on the 7th. ANTELOPE and ANTHONY were detached to Scapa Flow, arriving on the 7th. Off Cape Wrath, PENELOPE was detached and returned to Scapa Flow, arriving on the 7th.

ASW trawler CAPE PALLISER (497grt) on Northern Patrol reported an enemy ship 20 miles 25° from 62N, 17W. CA BERWICK and CL KENYA at Scapa Flow were brought to one hour's notice and CA LONDON at Hvalfjord was ordered to stand by. This was later cancelled when it was determined the ship was a friendly motor vessel.

Northern Waters
CA LONDON arrived at Hvalfjord from Scapa Flow, via Akureyri. CL SHEFFIELD was detached from convoy WS.11 and proceeded to Scapa Flow, arriving on the 4th. CLA EURYALUS departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth to change a propeller, and arrived on the 3rd.

West Coast
Convoy OS.5 departed Liverpool, escorted by destroyers MANSFIELD and WOLVERINE which were detached on the 8th. Sloop ENCHANTRESS and escort vessel HARTLAND joined on the 3rd and were detached on the 17th. Escort vessel WALNEY joined on the 6th and was detached on the 17th. On the 17th, DD BRILLIANT, corvettes AMARANTHUS and ASPHODEL, and ASW trawler SARABANDE joined. The DD, corvette AMARANTHUS, and the trawler were detached on the 18th. Corvette ASPHODEL was detached on the 20th. The convoy arrived at Freetown on the 21st.

SW Approaches
Convoy HG.72 departed Gibraltar escorted by DDs BOREAS, FARNDALE, VIDETTE, and WILD SWAN, sloop LEITH, CAM ship MAPLIN, and corvettes CAMPION, CAMPANULA, BLUEBELL, WALLFLOWER, and HYDRANGEA. The CAM ship and DD VIDETTE were detached later on the 2nd. DD BOREAS was detached to refuel at Ponta Delgada, then rejoined and escorted the convoy to Londonderry. DDs CROOME and VIMY departed Gibraltar on the 4th to join the convoy. DD CROOME then transferred to to convoy OG.73. On the 7th, DDs FARNDALE and WILD SWAN were detached to refuel at Ponta Delgada and then join convoy OG.73. Sloop ROCHESTER and corvettes CARNATION, LA MALOUINE, HELIOTROPE, and MALLOW departed Gibraltar on the 4th and joined the convoy on the 8th. Sloop DEPTFORD joined the convoy on the 10th, sloop SANDWICH, FFL sloop COMMANDANT DOMINE, and ASW yacht PHILANTE joined on the 11th. DDs CALDWELL, VANOC, VOLUNTEER, and WALKER joined on the 12th. On the 14th, a Hurricane from CAM ship MAPLIN drove off a LW FW.200 bomber one hundred miles sth of Ireland. Sub Lt C. W. Walker baled out and was picked up by sloop ROCHESTER. On the 15th, sloop DEPTFORD was detached. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 17th.

Med/Biscay
Submarine URSULA arrived at Malta from patrol east of Tripoli. Submarine TRIUMPH arrived at Malta from patrol off the north coast of Sicily.

Central Atlantic
Convoy ST.2 departed Freetown, escorted by corvettes ARMERIA and ASPHODEL, and arrived at Takoradi on the 7th.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 2 SEPTEMBER TO DAWN 3 SEPTEMBER 1941
Weather Fine and warm.

No air raids.

OPERATIONS REPORTS TUESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 1941

ROYAL NAVY Ursula returned from interception of convoy east of Tripoli. Escort only sighted. Triumphreturned from operations on north coast of Sicily. Viaduct blown up and 6 Italian fishermen brought to Malta after their craft had been mistaken for an E boat and sunk. One hit claimed on a cruiser at northern entrance of Messina Straits.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Blenheim, 2 Beaufighter. Departures 4 Blenheim, 1 Beaufighter. 69 Squadron Photo-reconnaissance Licata shows considerable damage done by Blenheims on 30 August. 2 Fulmars offensive patrol Gerbini-Catania areas attacked aircraft, dropped bombs on aerodromes and made a low-level machine-gun attack on a dispersal area. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 9 Swordfish on shipping sweep east of Cape Spartivento attacked a convoy of 7 destroyers and 5 merchant vessels scoring several hits. All 8 torpedoes were released; one ammunition ship blew up and disappeared; two more ships were badly damaged.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 2 September 1941

 

[Njaco]

September 3 Wednesday
ASIA: Japanese aircraft sank Chinese vessel "Ganlu" at Bazhong, Sichuan Province, China. Chinese forces recapture Foochow from Japan.

The Japanese are informed that a meeting between Prince Konoye and President Roosevelt cannot take place.

A Japanese liaison conference agreed that;

"...if by the early part of October there is still no prospect of being able to obtain our demands, we shall immediately decide to open hostilities against the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands."

German vessel "Kulmerland" departs Kobe for France, replenishing raiders along the way.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German bombers damaged British ship "Fort Richepanse" at noon in the Atlantic Ocean. At 2042 hours, German submarine U-567 caught up with the damaged ship 450 miles west of Ireland, sinking her with 41 deaths; 22 survived.

EASTERN FRONT: In air combat against Soviet fighters, Hans Esser of JG 77 is shot down and killed. He had only ten victories in the air.

Armeegruppe Nord: German heavy artillery began shelling Leningrad. German 4.Panzergruppe pushes back Soviet 48th Army outside Leningrad.

Armeegruppe Mitte: German 2.Panzergruppe pushes south and captures Krolovetz. Guderian, having seized bridgeheads over the Desna near Korop and Novgorod-Severskii begin to threaten Kirponos' rear area.

Armeegruppe Sud: German and Romanian troops captured the village of Vakarzhany, Ukraine.

The equivalent of a whole Red Army Division under NKVD officers was sent south to round up and deport all the Soviet Union's ethnic Germans they could find. By Jan 1942, 800,000 Germans from all parts of the Soviet Union had been shipped eastward.

Experimental trials of gas chambers at Block II of Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland began, using Soviet prisoners of war as test subjects. Zyklon-B was used. 600 Russian prisoners and 300 Jews were killed as German authorities at Auschwitz, seek a cost effective and less messy method of execution than simply shooting them. The experiment was deemed a success. Since the autumn of 1939 the Germans have used carbon monoxide to kill their incurable mental patients and other "undesirables." The powder, Zyklon-B, is crystalline prussic acid, supplied by a Hamburg firm under license from the chemical giant IG Farben. It is usually used for killing rats.

The Soviet government extends mandatory service in the military to all those born in 1922 (19 year olds) and cancels all previous deferments.

GERMANY: Soviet aircraft bomb Berlin overnight, killing 30 with one plane lost.

MEDITERRANEAN: From an Axis convoy en route Naples to Tripoli, one Italian vessel was sunk and another severely damaged by RAF torpedo aircraft from Malta.

NORTH AFRICA: Polish Carpathian Brigade begins moving into positions of Australian 20th Infantry Brigade at Tobruk.

Italian air attacks against airfields around Sidi Barrani with 23 G.50bis fighters.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation EGV.1, The British carrier "Victorious" sends air attacks against German installations in and around Tromsø but little damage is done. The attack was later cancelled due to lack of cloud cover.

Operation Gauntlet ended in Allied success. An Allied task force has robbed the Nazis of their most northerly asset: the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, 500 miles from the North Pole. The civilian population of 700 has been evacuated and valuable coal mines wrecked. No Germans were present as an invasion force of Norwegians, Canadians and British landed to take over the radio station. When it was clear that the soldiers were welcome the force commander, from Saskatchewan, made a formal landing from a small commando craft and soon afterwards, at a community centre, was greeted by the commissar (Norway allows the USSR to mine on the island) and handed gifts of Russian cigarettes. At the Norwegian settlement of Svalbard nearby, a Norwegian major read a proclamation from the exiled King Haakon. For several days the invaders billeted cheerfully with the locals. Before the final evacuation of Norwegians and Russian miners, parties took place and a dance at which Norwegian girls danced with the soldiers.

UNITED KINGDOM: Alan Brooke inspected 70 Welsh Young Soldiers' Battalion at Duxford, A Company of 70th King's Royal Rifle Corps at Debden, and B Company of 70th King's Royal Rifle Corps at Castle Camp in the morning. After lunch with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, he inspected A and B Companies of 70th Suffolks regiment at Martlesham and A and B Companies of 70th Essex regiment at Southend. He was disappointed by the progress of the training of the Essex regiment.

Canadian Lieutenant-General Arthur Grasett MC, DSO (1888-1971), the former General Officer Commanding in Hong Kong, suggested to the Chiefs of Staff in London, that with the addition of two or more battalions, the colony's garrison would be strong enough to resist, for an extensive period, any Japanese siege. He further affirmed that Canada might be prepared to provide the battalions.

Fifteen long-range Luftwaffe bombers operated over the North-East, bombs being dropped at three places in Co Durham and the East Riding, causing slight damage to crops.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 140 aircraft to attack Brest overnight.

.

 

[parsifal]

3 SEPTEMBER 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIc DKM U-702
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Neutral
Aloe Class Netlayer USS BUTTERNUT (AN-9), ELCO 77' Class USS PT-45
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Allied
HDML 1022, MMS I Coastal MSW M-55
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-567 sank Steamer FORT RICHEPANSE (UK 3485 grt), Ex-Vichy ship of the same name captured 9 Feb 1941. The ship was lost in the western approaches. The ship was on passage from Montral to Liverpool carrying a mixed cargo, mostly eggs and mail. She had a crew of 58, 36 of whom would lose their lives in the attack. At 2042 hrs the unescorted FORT RICHEPANSE was torpedoed and sunk by U-567 about 450 miles sw of Bloody Foreland. The master, 25 crew members, five gunners and five passengers were lost. 15 crew members and seven passengers were picked up by ORP DD GARLAND and ORP DD PIORUN and landed at Greenock.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Brest: U-562

At Sea 3 September 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-94, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-563, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-572, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 boats

OPERATIONS
North Sea
ML Cruiser MANXMAN arrived from Loch Alsh. The ML, escorted by VL KENYA and DD LIGHTNING, departed Scapa Flow that morning to lay minefield EH off Stadtlandet during the night of 3/4 September. The force returned to Scapa Flow on the 5th. The ML cruiser departed Scapa Flow later on the 5th to return to Loch Alsh.

Submarine TRIDENT, returning to Polyarnoe, unsuccessfully attacked U.566.

DD WOLFHOUND was seriously damaged by a near miss by the LW in the North Sea. The DD was under repair for nineteen months at Chatham.

Northern Patrol
CV VICTORIOUS's planned air strike as part of Operation EGV.1 against Tromso was canceled due to the lack of cloud cover.

SW Approaches
RNeN submarine O.23 departed Gibraltar for Dundee for refitting from 23 September to 4 February 1942.

Med/Biscay
DD ENCOUNTER departed Gibraltar for South Africa, via the Cape. She refuelled at Ponta Delgada and then joined BC REPULSE escorting convoy WS.11. The DD operated off East Africa for a time. ENCOUNTER arrived at Alexandria on 16 October for operations with the Med Flt.

BB VALIANT, RAN CL HOBART, and DDs were at sea exercising from Alexandria during the day.

Submarine OTUS attacked a southbound convoy in 35-40N, 18-07E. The submarine reported two hits on a steamer, but the Italians have no records of this. .

RHN submarine PAPANICOULIS, on passage from Alexandria to Port Said for docking, broke down. The submarine was towed back to Alexandria arriving during the night of 3/4 September. It was determined the submarine would be out of action for at least two months. Maintaining submarines of foreign navies and manufacture was a difficult task at times.

RHN DD PANTHER departed Port Said to return to Alexandria after repairs at Suez.

Steamer COMMANDANT BAFILE (FI 1790 grt) was lost when she ran aground near Cape Comino, Sardinia.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 3 SEPTEMBER TO DAWN 4 SEPTEMBER 1941

Weather Fine and warm.

1120 hrs Air raid alert for twelve enemy aircraft which approach from the north east to within 50 miles of the Island. 20 Hurricanes fighters are scrambled but only one of the raiders continues its approach as far as 10 miles off the coast before turning back. A single fighter then crosses the Island at 16000 feet on reconnaissance.

2315-2336 hrs Air raid alert for a single enemy aircraft approaching from the north west. No attack is made.Two Hurricane fighters are scrambled but do not engage.

0040-0115 hrs Air raid alert for enemy aircraft which approach from the south and drop bombs on the south east of the Island. Two Hurricane fighters are scrambled but do not engage.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 3 September 1941

 

[parsifal]

4 SEPTEMBER 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type IXc DKM U-156

Type VIIc DKM U-586

Neutral
Repair Ship USS ALCOR (AR 10)

Allied
Fairmile C MGBs 319, MGB 324, Fairmile B ML 284

Losses
Steamer ABBAS COMBE (UK 489 grt) was sunk by the LW 5 miles NNW of Bardsey Island. Four crew were missing on the steamer.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

UBOATS
Arrivals
St. Nazaire: Uy-101

Departures
St. Nazaire: U-562
Trondheim: U-373

At Sea 4 September 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-94, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-373, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-572, U-652, U-751, U-752

46 boats

The incident with USS GREER
On 4 September 1941 an RAF bomber from CC signalled the US DD USS GREER that a U-boat was in the vicinity. GREER picked up a sonar contact at close range and started to track the boat. The aircraft dropped four depth charges and then left the scene. Shortly afterwards U-652 fired a torpedo at the US warship, perhaps believing she was responsible. GREER then went on the attack, and a two hour battle followed, during which she dropped 19 DCs and the U-boat fired another torpedo - no damage to either side.

RN DD HMS WATCHMAN joined briefly at 1415 and was then detached.

President Roosevelt used this event in his campaign to convince the US to go to war against Germany, and the "undeclared war" between U-boats and US escorts escalated dramatically from this point.

USS GREER

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DD RIPLEY ran aground off Flamborough Head. The DD was towed off the same day. She received temporary repairs at Grimsby until 25 September and permanent repairs at Middlesbrough to 15 March.

DDs BEDOUIN and VIVACIOUS departed Scapa Flow to meet BB KING GEORGE V at Oxcars Gate and provide escort for her to Scapa Flow on the 5th.

ML PORT QUEBEC, escorted by DD NEWARK, laid minefield SN.23 A.

Western Approaches
Dutch Steamer TON S. was damaged by the LW in the Western Approaches.
The steamer arrived at Newport on the 6th for drydocking.

Med/Biscay
An Italian convoy of steamers SIRENA, SPARVIERO, and IMPERIA, escorted by TBs PALLADE and CENTAURO, departed Tripoli for Benghazi. PALLADE was detached on the 5th. On the 7th, Submarine THUNDERBOLT sank steamer SIRENA (FI 974 grt) 50 miles west of Benghazi. The ship sank about an hour after the torpedo explosion.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

RAN DD VENDETTA arrived at Port Said for escort duties to Famagusta. The DD provided escort for British steamer SALAMAUA which arrived on the 6th. The DD then proceeded to Haifa. DDs KINGSTON and HASTY departed Beirut for Haifa.

British steamer HARPALYCUS was damaged by the LW off Ashrafi Reef, Gulf of Suez. British steamers CITY OF AUCKLAND, ROSS, and KING EDGAR were also attacked, but were not damaged. HARPALYCUS arrived at Suez on the 5th.

Submarine UNBEATEN arrived at Malta from patrol in the Straits of Messina.

Nth Atlantic
HX.148 departed Halifax, escorted by AMC ALAUNIA and corvettes LETHBRIDGE, SHEDIAC, and SHERBROOKE. The corvettes were relieved on7 September by DD RICHMOND and corvettes BITTERSWEET, CANDYTUFT, and FENNEL. Corvettes BITTERSWEET and CANDYTUFT were detached on the 10th and DD RICHMOND and corvette FENNEL on the 11th. On the 12th, DDs MONTGOMERY, WHITEHALL, WINCHELSEA, and WITCH, corvettes ABELIA, ANEMONE, and VERONICA, and ASW trawler ST ZENO joined the escort. DD BOADICEA joined on the 13th and DD WITCH was detached. DDs BEAGLE and SHIKARI joined on the 14th and DD MONTGOMERY was detached. On the 15th, DD BOADICEA, the AMC and corvette ANEMONE were detached. BEAGLE and SABRE and corvettes ABELIA and VERONICA were detached on this date. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 17th.

Central Atlantic
Corvettes FLEUR DE LYS and AZALEA departed Gibraltar escorting tanker CORDELIA and steamer DEUCALIOIN westwards, then meeting tanker INVERLEE for inward escort. The corvettes and tankers INVERLEE and BRITISH FREEDOM arrived at Gibraltar on the 13th.

ASW trawlers LADY SHIRLEY and LADY HOGARTH departed Gibraltar to meet tanker NOREG for inward escort. The trawlers arrived at Funchal on the 9th; LADY SHIRLEY under tow with condenser problems. The tanker arrived at Gibraltar on the 10th, escorted by corvette JONQUIL.

Submarine SEVERN arrived at Gibraltar from Atlantic patrol.

SL.86 departed Freetown escorted by sloop EGRET to 24 September and corvettes ASTER and BURDOCK to 7 September. On the 7th, escort vessel BANFF joined to 24 September and on the 8th, escort vessel FISHGUARD joined to 24 September.

Ocean boarding vessel HILARY joined on the 18th to 25 September. DDs BROKE, CHELSEA, and MANSFIELD joined on the 22nd to 26 September. DD VANSITTART escorted the convoy on the 24th only. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 26th.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 4 SEPTEMBER TO DAWN 5 SEPTEMBER 1941
Weather Fine and warm.

1043-1115 hrs Air raid alert for 20 Macchi 200 fighters approaching the Island. 12 Hurricanes 126 Squadron are scrambled and attack the formation 20 miles north of Grand Harbour, shooting down four Macchis and damaging another. Nine Hurricanes 185 Squadron also engage the raiders out to sea, shooting down one. One Macchi crosses the coast and flies over the Island at low altitude. Bofors gun positions at Kalafrana and Hal Far engage, both claiming hits, and the Macchi is observed losing height over Dingli Cliffs.

1546 hrs Eight Hurricanes of 249 Squadron engage 12 Macchi 200 fighters five miles off Cape Passero. Three Macchis are destroyed, plus one probable, and two damaged. Two Hurricanes are shot down; P/O Smith and Sgt Kimberley are reported missing. The Macchis follow the Hurricanes back towards Malta. One Hurricane is struck by a bullet during the return flight.

0443-0530 hrs Air raid alert for two enemy aircraft which approach the Island with incoming Wellington bombers. The raiders drop high explosive bombs in the sea at Delimara Point, and incendiaries over Kalafrana and in fields near Marsaxlokk. Searchlights illuminate a bomber which is engaged by Hurricane fighters and shot down in flames into the sea. Two crew bale out; one wounded man is rescued and taken prisoner. The bomber is later identified as a Cant Z1007, the first time that this type has been identified over Malta at night.

OPERATIONS REPORTS THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1941

ROYAL NAVY Unbeaten returned from patrol in Straits of Messina having sunk a schooner Q ship. Vichy convoys and a hospital ship were sighted but nothing else.

AIR HQ Arrivals 1 Sunderland. 69 Squadron Reconnaissance of Kerkennah area, western Ionian Sea and Tripoli. Two Fulmars patrolled Catania, Gerbini and Comiso; bombs dropped on Comiso and Catania. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm Three Swordfish, two with torpedoes and one with a mine, left for Tripoli to attack shipping outside harbour. No shipping was located but a mine was laid outside the harbour; torpedoes were not released. 38 Squadron 13 Wellingtons attacked motor transport depot destroying several buildings and starting fires. 105 Squadron 5 Blenheims attacked shipping and port facilities Crotone Harbour. Enemy fire blew off the wing of Sgt Wallace's Blenheim and the aircraft crashed, killing the crew.

 

[parsifal]

Halder's Diary 4 September 1941

 

[Njaco]

September 4 Thursday
ASIA: Admiral Yamamoto organized his Combined Fleet into eight separate commands. Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team detected the sudden increase in Japanese naval radio traffic. Rochefort and American radio intelligence at Station HYPO obtained the details and informed Admiral Kimmel of the reorganization.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: American destroyer "Greer" (DD-145) pursued German submarine U-652 for 2 hours 190 miles southwest of Iceland. The two ships attacked each other but no damage was inflicted on either side. The torpedoes fired at USS "Greer" represented the first German attack on a US warship. Roosevelt declared that any German or Italian warship entering waters under US protection would do so "at their peril".

EASTERN FRONT: Bessarabia and Bukovina formally restored to Rumania by order of Antonescu.

Armeegruppe Nord: Finnish Army of Karelia attacking Soviet 7th Army northeast of Lake Ladoga. Finnish troops captured Beloostrov, which was 20 miles from Leningrad, Russia. Germany requested Finland to immediately press on against the city, but Finland rejected, noting that Finland was only attempting to reclaim territory lost to the Soviets.

German forces begin shelling Leningrad with 240 mm guns and four days later the city comes under daylight bombing raids by Luftwaffe aircraft. Last pockets of Soviet resistance in Estonia surrender.

Armeegruppe Mitte: Rakutin's 24th Army's renewed attack on the Yel'nia bridgehead have deeply penetrated the German positions threatening the German XX. Armeekorps (General of the Infantry W. Materna) (defending the salient), with encirclement. Unable to reinforce the defenders, especially with any armored forces as they were all committed elsewhere, Army Group Centre ordered the infantry divisions in the salient to conduct a fighting withdrawal.

GERMANY: German cruiser "Admiral Scheer" departed the Baltic Sea for Oslo, Norway. Shortly after, the ship was called back to Germany to form part of the so-called "Baltic Fleet".

With the immanent loss of their forward airbases in Estonia, the Soviets launch the fifth, (and last for some time) air raid against Berlin. It causes no significant damage.

MIDDLE EAST: Sixth Vichy French convoy departs Haifa with 3156 troops being repatriated to France from the Levant.

NORTH AMERICA: The government extends Lend-Lease aid to Poland because ". . . the gallant resistance of the forces of the Government of Poland is 'vital to the defence of the United States."

NORTHERN FRONT: General der Artillerie Alfred Jodl visits Finland. He discusses with the Finnish leadership about the Finnish war effort, particularly the possibility of a Finnish attack towards Leningrad. Mannerheim rejects the idea of a Finnish participation, but agrees to pursue the retreating Russians as far as the first Soviet fortification-line north of Leningrad. Mannerheim informs Jodl about the situation on the Finnish front: Karelian Army has just started its attack towards the River Syväri (Svir). Jodl also hands Mannerheim the Knight's Cross Hitler had awarded him a couple of days earlier.

UNITED KINGDOM: William Mackenzie King, the Canadian prime minister, warned today that Britain is now the only obstacle in the way of an attack by Hitler's "enslaving hordes of new barbarians" on the New World. He made an impassioned plea to the US for a declaration of support for Britain similar to that promised by Mr Churchill for the Americans in the Far East. Otherwise, he said,

"the war may drag on for years, carrying in its train famine, pestilence and horrors still undreamed of."

The Canadian leader was speaking at the Mansion House, in the City of London. Mr Churchill endorsed the Canadian call and added:

"Time is short and the struggle is dire. To save humanity all free men must stand together."

WESTERN FRONT: The first Lysander mission to France took place when a British Special Operations Executive agent was landed in a field near Issoudun, France, about 100 kilometers south of Orleans, and another was collected. The Lysander aircraft, painted matte black, spent just two minutes on the ground.

The first detachment of the Legion des Volontaires Français [Legion of French Volunteers] sets off to join the German army on the eastern front.

RAF Fighter Command flew Roadstead and Circus operations. RAF Bomber Command sends 18 aircraft to attack Mazingarbe and Cherbourg during the day.

.

 

[Njaco]

September 5 Friday
ASIA: Japanese Navy Captain Shutoku Miyazato (former commanding officer of Naka) was posted as the Chief Equipping Officer of Battleship No. 1. Captain Karou Umetani was named the commanding officer of light carrier "Hosho"; "Hosho" was relieved the duty of being Carrier Division 3's flagship.

A song in mourning of Prince Nagahisa was released in Japan. The music was composed by Yuji Koseki, the lyrics were written by Count Yoshinori Futara, and it was performed by popular singer Akiko Futaba and veteran Takeo Ito.

Yamamoto travels to Tokyo to see Nagano to try and dissuade him from pursuing war preparations against the United States to no avail. He then presents to the Japanese Naval Staff his plan for air attack on US fleet at Pearl Harbor.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British ships returning from Spitsbergen, Norway (Operation Gauntlet) are alerted to a German convoy. Cruisers HMS "Nigeria" and HMS "Aurora" refuel from oiler "Oligarch" and steam off to intercept while the destroyers continue back to Britain.

EASTERN FRONT: Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 claims a Russian aircraft destroyed. The crew of III./JG 77 finally receive a commander when Major Kurt Ubben is posted as Gruppenkommandeur in place of Major Alexander von Winterfeldt who left the Gruppe on 2 August.

Armeegruppe Nord: German forces complete the occupation of Estonia, occupied by the USSR in 1940. Except for the Baltic Island holdouts, all of the Baltic States are cleared of Soviet troops and occupied by the Germans.

Authorities in Moscow order the evacuation of all children 12 and under from the city.

Voroshilov replaces Popov as commander of Leningrad Front. General Werth resigns as Hungarian Chief of General Staff.

Roosevelt promises 5 B-17's to the USSR as a token gesture.

"The Stavka has familiarized itself with your report and will permit you to create blocking detachments in those divisions that show themselves to be unreliable. The purpose of the blocking detachments is to prevent the unauthorized withdrawal of units and, in instances of flight, to halt them using all necessary weaponry." - Stavka response to Eremenko's request to form blocking detachments to prevent his troops from retreating without orders.

GERMANY: British bombers attacked chemical works at Hüls, Germany.

MEDITERRANEAN: In the Mediterranean 2 miles east of Corsica, Dutch submarine O.21 sinks Italian SS "Isarco" (22 survivors picked up O.21 and taken to Gibraltar). In the Aegean Sea 22 miles northwest of the Greek island of Lesbos, British submarine HMS "Perseus" hits Italian tanker "Maya" which is beached.

NORTHERN FRONT: British RAF Flying Fortress bombers attack the German pocket battleship "Admiral Scheer" in Oslo Fiord.

PACIFIC OCEAN: U.S. Army's Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall offers MacArthur a "first-class" National Guard division. MacArthur declines and asks for more aircraft. Initial flight of nine B-17D's of the 14th Bombardment Squadron of the 14th Bombardment Squadron of the 19th B.G. are transferred to the Philippines.

The U.S. Army's Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, issues a memorandum giving a "Brief Periodic Estimate of the World Situation." The estimate for Japan states;

"...beset with uncertainties, may do nothing, may attack the Maritime Provinces (the islands north of Hokkaido and the entire Sakhalin peninsula), may seek to expand to the Southwest; it is even possible that she may withdraw from the Axis. Japan also has the capability of concentrating her newly augmented forces against China and seeking a decision there. No indication or likelihood of this is seen. In the general picture and excluding China, where she must continue to fight, her most likely, but by no means certain course is inaction."

HMAS "Canberra", (cruiser), escorted the troop ships "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" from Sydney, to join troop convoy US 12A.

UNITED KINGDOM: British 1st Parachute Brigade was founded with Brigadier Richard Gale in command.

A Hurricane pilot who had run out of ammunition forced down a Bf- 109 during a battle over Kent. He gunned the German, feigned an attack, and eventually forced him to land in a field. Then he circled low and dropped a packet of cigarettes to the Nazi, who picked them up and waved acknowledgement.

WESTERN FRONT: The exhibition "Le Juif et la France" ("The Jews and France") opened in Paris, France based on the work of the anti-Semitic French Professor George Montandon with the urging of the Nazi German occupation. In its first days Le Juif et la France drew 100,000 Parisians. Exhibits appealed to French patriotism by portraying the Jew as the enemy, a monster intent on destroying France.

.

 

[parsifal]

5 SEPTEMBER 1941
Known Reinforcements
Neutral
Aloe Class Netlayer USS BUCKEYE (AN-13)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Acceptor Class MSW USS DEMAND (AMc-74)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Griffin Class Submarine Tender USS PELIAS (AS-14)

Allied
Bangor Class MSW HMCS UMGAVA (J-149)

MMS I Class Coastal MSW HMS MMS 43 (J-543)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Isles Class ASW Trawler HMS PLADDA (T-144)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Gnevnyi (Type 7) Class DD VMF RESHITELNIY

SHCH (Serie XBis) or Scuka Class submarine VMF SHCH - 136

Sister ship SHCH - 303

Losses
U-141 sank trawler JARLINN (Iceland 190 grt) whilst she was returning from the fishing banks near Fleetwood to Reykjavik. Her entire crew of 11 were lost. At 2337 hrs on 5 September 1941 the JARLINN was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-141 and sank immediately with all hands about 120 miles north east of Rockall.

U-501 sank MV EINVIK (Nor 2000 grt) as she straggled behind convoy SC-41. The ship was on passage from Quebec to Cardiff with a crew of 23, all of whom would survive. The EINVIK had lost contact with SC-41 for nearly a week and was sailing alone since a week, when she was torpedoed by U-501 on 5 Sep 1941 about 450 miles sw of Iceland and later sunk by gunfire. Iceland Radio had received her distress signals and an a/c was sent to the position. The aircraft found nothing and they reported that there were probably no survivors. At that time all 23 crew members were heading for Iceland in two lifeboats, which were separated in a storm four days after the sinking. On 12 September, an Icelandic motor boat found twelve men in a lifeboat just west of Heimaey, Iceland and were brought to Vestmanna. The other lifeboat landed at Herdisvik, Iceland the next day.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

RM submarine BARACCA sank steamer TRINIDAD (Pan 434 grt) in the Central Atlantic. Ten crew reached Oporto after twenty days in open boats.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer STEEL SEAFARER (US 5718 grt) was sunk by the LW 200 miles sth of Suez near Shadwan Island. 24 survivors had reached Shadwan Island by boat. These survivors were picked up by CLA COVENTRY. A further 12 crewman had reached Hurghada by boat. No crew were lost. On a voyage from New York to Suez, Eqypt the vessel, clearly marked with an American flag painted on the side, came under attack from the LW in the Red Sea. at 2328 hrs. Steaming at 4 knots with a full load cargo, she proceeded with her navigational lights lit in clear weather and rough seas. The vessel was struck by one bomb in the #5 double bottom tank. An abandon ship order was immediately given and the ship abandoned. The crew launched three boats and the vessel rolled over and sank in 15 mins. All nine officers and 27 crewmen reached Eqypt the next day, 5 men receiving treatment ashore for injuries. Some reports say the ship was carrying 5,700 tons of munitions, being one of numerous American flagged freighters by then carrying, under lucrative charter terms, munitions for British operations in North Africa.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Kiel: U-571

At Sea 5 September 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-94, U-95, U-96, U-98, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-141, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-373, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-572, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 boats

OPERATIONS
East Front
Arctic
RN DDs ELECTRA and ACTIVE arrived at Murmansk on the 5th. The DDs sailed that evening for Archangel.

North Sea
BB KING GEORGE V with DDs BEDOUIN, VIVACIOUS, and VERDUN departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow. DD LAFOREY departed Scapa Flow to relieve DD VERDUN off Kinnaird Head. VERDUN, on relief, returned to Rosyth. The BB and DDs BEDOUIN, VIVACIOUS, and LAFOREY arrived at Scapa Flow that evening.

Northern Patrol
CLs NIGERIA and AURORA refuelled from oiler OLIGARCH and departed Seidisfjord to operate against German shipping off Norway. In a night attack on the 7th at 0130, they attacked a convoy of German steamers BARCELONA and TRAUTENFELS, escorted by Gunnery ship BREMSE, in an inlet east of North Cape. Gunnery Training ship BREMSE (DKM 1870 grt) was sunk in the action. NIGERIA was badly damaged during the engagement, probably striking a Soviet mine. BREMSE was able to draw the cruisers away from the transports. Some sources say she was sunk when rammed by NIGERIA and cut in half. 160 men, over half of her crew, died. Whatever the cause NIGERIA was able to proceed only at eight knots.

DDs BEDOUIN and ESKIMO departed Scapa Flow at 0230for Seidisfjord and proceeded from that port to meet the cruisers. The DDs met the cruisers on the 9th.

CA LONDON departed Hvalfjord on the 9th to assist cruiser NIGERIA, but was recalled to Hvalfjord for operations against DKM CS ADMIRAL SCHEER. All four ships arrived at Scapa Flow on the 10th. On the 11th, NIGERIA, escorted by DDs LAMERTON and BADSWORTH departed Scapa Flow for the Tyne. En route, DDs HOLDERNESS and MEYNELL, which departed Sheerness on the 11th, relieved the DDs off May Island on the 12th. The damage to NIGERIA was arrived in the Tyne on the 12th. She was repaired at Newcastle, completing on 15 December.

Northern Waters
Monitor EREBUS, escorted by motor launch ML.188, departed Scapa Flow at 1600 for Lerwick to carry out special trials in the Shetlands. The two ships arrived at Lerwick on the 6th for trials expected to take six days.

DD LINCOLN arrived at Scapa Flow after escort duty in convoy ON.10 to refuel and carry out degaussing trials. LINCOLN departed Scapa Flow on the 6th to join convoy FS 588 and provide additional escort to the Thames.

West Coast
Convoy ON.13 departed Liverpool eoscted by corvette VERONICA. The convoy was joined on the 6th by DDs DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, SALADIN, SKATE, and VETERAN, corvettes ABELIA and ANEMONE, and ASW trawlers ST KENAN, ST ZENO, and VIZALMA. DD LEAMINGTON and trawler VIZALMA were detached on the 8th and DDs DOUGLAS, SALADIN, SKATE, and VETERAN on the 9th. The remaining escorts remained with the convoy until it was dispersed on the 11th.

Med/Biscay
RNeN submarine O.21 sank steamer ISARCO (FI 5738 grt) 28 miles SE of Ischia. The submarine picked up twenty two survivors from the steamer and arrived back at Gibraltar on the 12th.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

An Italian convoy of steamers ERNESTO, COL DI LANA, and POZARICA departed Tripoli for Naples, escorted by DDs DA RECCO, FRECCIA, FOLGORE, and STRALE. The escort was joined on the 7th by torpedo boat CIRCE. Twenty miles north of Pantelleria, on the 7th, steamer ERNESTO was damaged by Dutch submarine O.21. Steamer ERNESTO with DD STRALE and TB CIRCE arrived at Trapani on the 8th. The convoy arrived at Naples later on the 8th.

Submarine PERSEUS damaged tanker MAYA (FI 3867 grt) which ultimately caused the tankers loss, 5 miles off the turkish island of Tenedos in the Aegean. The ship was from a convoy consisting of Rumanian steamer BALCIK and tanker MAYA, escorted by TB SIRIO, which departed Piraeus for the Dardanelles on the 4th. Because the steamer could not be towed, she was beached becoming a total loss.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Submarine OSIRIS departed Malta for Alexandria with stores and twelve passengers. The submarine arrived on the 12th.

Sth African ASW trawler PROTEA arrived at Suez from South Africa to join the 22nd ASW Trawler Group.

Nth Atlantic
SC.43 departed Sydney, CB, escorted by AMC AUSONIA and corvettes ARVIDA, BARRIE, DAUPHIN, and HEPATICA. The AMC was detached on the 8th and DD READING and corvette PRESCOTT joined. On the 16th, DD READING and corvettes HEPATICA and PRESCOTT were detached. DDs KEPPEL, SABRE, and VENOMOUS joined on the 16th and DDs CAMPBELTOWN, ST ALBANS, and WESTCOTT joined on the 18th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 20th.

Sth Atlantic
CA HAWKINS arrived at Durban

Pacific/Australia
NZ manned CL LEANDER departed Sydney with British liner AQUITANIA The ships arrived at Wellington on the 8th.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 5 SEPTEMBER TO DAWN 6 SEPTEMBER 1941

Weather Cooler and very pleasant.

0445-0545 hrs Air raid alert for a three enemy aircraft approaching from the east. Only two make a half-hearted attempt to cross the coast. One drops nine bombs in and around the grounds of Villa Gauci where troops are billeted; two bombs fail to explode and the Villa is evacuated. Other bombs are dropped north of Dingli and in the sea east of the Island. Two Hurricanes are scrambled but there are no searchlight illuminations or interceptions.

OPERATIONS REPORTS FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 1941

ROYAL NAVY Osiris sailed for Alexandria with stores and passengers. Defensive minelaying in Marsaxlokk was completed.

AIR HQ Arrivals 4 Blenheim, 1 Sunderland, 2 Wellington. Departures 5 Blenheim, 1 Sunderland. 69 SquadronPhotoreconnaissance Catania, Augusta and Syracuse, Palermo Harbour, aerodrome and hydro-electric plant and Tripoli Harbour. Reconnaissance patrols of Tunisian coast and western Ionian Sea. 38 Squadron 9 Wellingtons attacked ships alongside Tripoli Harbour; results uncertain.