This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

[parsifal]

16 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
M-35 Class MSW DKM M-254
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Neutral
Delta Class AR (Repair Ship) USS DELTA (AR9)

USS DELTA Photographed in 1967 whilst on deployment to Vietnam

Project 26 Bis Class CA VMF (Soviet Navy) MOLOTOV

CA MOLOTOV as she appeared in 1942

Allied
HDML 1026, MGBs 312 & 314, Fairmile B ML 274,
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
None

UBOATS
At Sea 14 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-48 U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-101, U-103, U-106, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-138, U-141, U-143, U-201, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-651, U-751, UA

32 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
MLs AGAMEMNON and MENESTHEUS with DDs BRIGHTON, CASTLETON, ST MARYS, and WELLS departed Loch Alsh on the 15th. CL AURORA departed Scapa Flow for AA support on the 15th. British minefield SN.66 in the Iceland Faroes field was laid on the 16th by AGAMEMNON and MENESTHEUS covered by CLs AURORA, NIGERIA, and KENYA.

Northern Waters
BBs KG V and NELSON and DDs BEDOUIN, INTREPID, JUPITER, RAN NESTOR, PUNJABI, and ESKIMO were brought to one hour's notice on the report of two unidentified ships departing Brest. However these were shown in fact to be merchant ships, and the Home Fleet the notice was cancelled.

West Coast
OB.335 departed Liverpool, escort DDs RIPLEY and SHERWOOD, sloop FLEETWOOD, and corvettes CELANDINE and NASTURTIUM. The convoy was joined on the 23rd by AMCs CHESHIRE and DERBYSHIRE. The escorts were detached on the 24th. The convoy arrived at Halifax on 2 July.

Channel
British steam trawler ATLANTIC was damaged by the LW 3 miles SE of Eddystone.
The trawler returned to Plymouth on the 16th

Med/Biscay
Vauquelin Class DD CHEVALIER PAUL (Vichy 2660 grt) was sunk by FAA a/c near Latakia at 0400 as she attempted to carry supplies to Syria. The attack was made by six British Swordfish of 815 Sqn. One was shot down and its crew of Lt M.G.W. Clifford and Sub Lt P. Winter were taken prisoner. The survivors from the DD were picked up by Vichy DDs VALMY and GUEPARD which also picked up the crew of the downed British aircraft. Six French sailors were lost in the DD and nine wounded.

Just after the rescues, the Vichy DDs were engaged by DDs JERVIS and KIMBERLEY and both Vichy DDs suffered some damage.

CLA NAIAD and DDs KINGSTON, HAVOCK, and JAGUAR departed Alexandria to relieve CLA PHOEBE and DDs GRIFFIN and DEFENDER on the blockade/fire support duties.

Submarine UNBEATEN unsuccessfully attacked a large, zigzagging liner south of the Messina Strait.

Submarine CLYDE arrived at Gibraltar from patrol in the Mediterranean. She had on board seven Italian prisoners from Italian steamers STURLA and GIOVANNI BOTTIGLIERE.

Nth Atlantic
HX.133 departed Halifax, escorted by AMC WOLFE and RCN DDs ANNAPOLIS and ST CROIX joined the convoy on the 17th. ANNAPOLIS was detached on the 20th.
BHX.133 departed Bermuda on the 14th escorted by AMC LACONIA. The convoy merged with convoy HX.133 on the 20th at which time the LACONIA was detached.

On the 20th, RCN DD OTTAWA and corvettes CHAMBLY, COLLINGWOOD, ORILLIA, and VIOLET joined and DD ST CROIX was detached. Corvette POLYLANTHUS joined on the 23rd. DDs MALCOLM, RIPLEY, SCIMITAR, and WATCHMAN, sloop FLEETWOOD, corvettes ARABIS, CELANDINE, GLADIOLUS, and NASTURTIUM, and MSWs NIGER and SPEEDWELL joined on the 27th.AMC WOLFE and the OTTAWA escort group were detached on the 27th.Sloop FLEETWOOD and corvettes GLADIOLUS were detached on the 27th. On the 29th, DD RIPLEY and corvette NASTURTIUM were detached. DDs MALCOLM, SCIMITAR, and WATCHMAN and corvette CELANDINE were detached on the 30th. In Home Waters, the convoy was escorted by DD ICARUS, CAM ship MAPLIN, and ASW trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN PRIDE, and NORTHERN WAVE. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 3 July

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 16 JUNE TO DAWN 17 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.

0958-1005 hrs Air raid alert for six enemy aircraft which approach to within 35 miles east of the Island, apparently in an attempt to intercept a Maryland reconnaissance aircraft. 11 Hurricanes are scrambled and the raiders turn back.

0250-0319 hrs Air raid alert for two enemy aircraft which approach the Island singly. The first turns west and drops bombs near Gozo, receding north. The second raider approaches to within five miles of St Paul's Bay, dropping bombs in the sea. Two Hurricanes are scrambled but searchlights do not illuminate the raiders and there are no engagements.

OPERATIONS REPORTS MONDAY 16 JUNE 1941
ROYAL NAVY Unique successful attack on 20000 ton merchant ship; two probable hits (as reported locally, in fact she was unsuccessful). 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 7 Swordfish in operations against Tripoli. 8 Swordfish attacked shipping in Lampedusa Harbour; turned back due to low cloud.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Wellington (one landed in sea off Kalafrana and was lost). Departures 8 Hurricane, 1 Blenheim, 1 Hudson. 69 Squadron 3 Marylands on reconnaissance.

 

[parsifal]

17 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Type II Hunt Class DD ORP KUJAWIAK (L-72)

Flower Class Corvette FNFL ALYSSE (K-100)

Flower Class Corvette HMCS ROSTHERN (K-169)

Bangor Class MSW HMS BLYTH (J-15)

Isles Class ASW Trawler HMS ISLAY (T-172)

Dance Class ASW Trawler HMS POLKA (T-139)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MA/SB 26
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-43 sank the MV CATHRINE (UK 2727 grt) in the Nth Atlantic whilst the vessel was on passage from Freetown to Barrow, carrying a cargo of iron ore and with a crew of 27, 24 of whom were to perish after the attack. At 0315 hrs the unescorted CATHRINE, a straggler from convoy SL-76, , was hit by two torpedoes from U-43 about 600 miles west of Cape Clear. The ship immediately broke in two and disappeared within two minutes. The survivors had no time to launch the lifeboats and clung to wreckage, rafts and an upturned boat after jumping overboard. The U-boat approached to hailing distance some 15 minutes after the ship sank and the Germans reportedly asked the survivors whether they were all right but none of the men replied because they found the question quite absurd, so the U-boat left without questioning them further. Four of the 14 men clinging to the upturned lifeboat lost their grip and drowned during the day, before the remaining survivors managed to right the boat with the help of a sea anchor and baled it out. At about sunrise on 20 June, U-204 spotted this lifeboat and shortly thereafter a raft from the same vessel in approx. 48°45N/23°15W. The survivors later stated that they asked the Germans for water but were told: We have no water for Britishers. The U-boat then left without having asked the usual questions about the name of the vessel, its port of departure or cargo. Subsequently seven of the ten occupants of the lifeboat died from starvation and exposure. During the last eight days there was no food on board and only a small quantity or rain water to sustain them. Eventually, a convoy passed about half a mile away, but they were much too weak to attract attention of the ships or the a/c overhead. On 19 July, only three men were still alive when the boat was found by the British steam trawler BOREAS 35 miles west of Valentia Bay, Co. Kerry. They were landed at Valentia and admitted to a hospital to recover from their ordeal. The master, 21 crew members and two gunners were lost.

Steamer TOTTENHAM (UK 4762 grt) was sunk by DKM raider ATLANTIS in the Central Atlantic. 17 crewmen landed at Trinidad on 2 July, whilst 26 crewmen were made prisoners of war.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

AMC PRETORIA CASTLE captured steamer DESIRADE (Vichy 9645 grt) east of the Antilles.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

UBOATS
At Sea 17 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-48 U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-101, U-103, U-106, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-138, U-141, U-143, U-201, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-651, U-751, UA

32 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
ML PLOVER, escorted by patrol sloop GUILLEMOT, laid minefield BS.58 off the east coast of England. MSWs ELGIN, SUTTON, and ALBURY of the MSWFlot 4 accompanied the minelay.

British steamer JIM was damaged by the LW off the Tyne estuary. The steamer returned to the Tyne on the 18th.

Northern Patrol
CL KENYA arrived at Scapa Flow from Iceland Faroes passage and covering minelay SN.66. CL AURORA also arrived at Scapa Flow also after covering SN.66. CA SUFFOLK and DD ACTIVE departed Iceland for the Denmark Straits patrol. CLA HERMIONE arrived at Iceland from Denmark Straits patrol, refuelled, and was sailed for Scapa Flow. HERMIONE arrived at Scapa Flow on the 18th.

Northern Waters
DD WINCHESTER arrived at Scapa Flow to work up following repairs prior to join Nore Command.

Western Approaches
DD LANCE departed Scapa Flow at 1100 to join Western Approaches following work up. The DD arrived at Greenock on the 18th.

SW Approaches
Submarine P.33 departed the Clyde for Gibraltar arriving on the 28th.

Med/Biscay
CLA PHOEBE and DDs GRIFFIN and DEFENDER arrived at Alexandria on the 18th.

ML ABDIEL departed Alexandria for Famagusta with Fleet Air Arm torpedoes and a small quantity of stores.

A British Buffalo of 805 Sqn failed to return from a patrol over British ships NW of Sidi Barrani. LT K.L. Keith was taken prisoner, but died of wounds on the 26th.

Dutch submarine O.24 unsuccessfully attacked a tanker off La Spezia.

Nth Atlantic
Petty Officer G.H. Fynn and Petty Officer S.G. Blatchford in a Walrus of 773 Squadron were lost when they failed to return to Bermuda after dummy attacks at sea.

Central Atlantic
Ocean boarding vessel MARSDALE arrived at Gibraltar from Western Patrol

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 17 JUNE TO DAWN 18 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.

0210-0421 hrs Air raid alert for six unidentified enemy aircraft which approach from the north east. Four of them cross the coast at various points, and drop 15kg bombs on Iz-Zebbieh, Hal Far, Luqa, Ta Qali, Rabat and in the sea off St George's Bay. 27 of the anti-personnel bombs are dropped close to the headquarters of 8th Bn Manchester Regiment at Ta Saliba. Heavy anti-aircraft guns fire two barrages; no claims.

OPERATIONS REPORTS TUESDAY 17 JUNE 1941

ROYAL NAVY 830 Squadron Operation to attack enemy A/S vessels in Lampedusa, but were forced to turn back owing to bad weather.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Bombay. Departures 9 Hurricane, 1 Blenheim, 2 Hudson, 2 Bombay, 2 Wellington. 69 Squadron 5 Marylands on reconnaissance.

 

[parsifal]

18 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIC U-753

3 ships sunk, total tonnage 23,117 GRT
Sunk on 13 May 1943 in the Nth Atlantic SW of Ireland, by depth charges from the Canadian corvette DRUMHELLER, supported by RN Frigate HMS LAGAN and am RCAF Sunderland from 423 Sqn (RCAF). 47 dead (all hands lost)

Neutral
Elco 77' PT USS PT-26
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Allied
Fairmile Type B FNFL ML 084, HDML 1025, Shakespeare class ASW Trawler HMS ROMEO (T-10)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-552 attacked and sank MV NORFOLK (UK 10948 grt) in the Western Approaches, whilst the vessel was outbound from Newport (UK) to New Zealand via New York. She was carrying some steel plate and general cargo, but not to full capacity. She had embarked a crew of 71, of whom 1 man was to lose his life in the attack. The details of the attack are that at 0328 hrs on 18 June 1941 the unescorted NORFOLK was torpedoed by U-552 about 175 miles NW of Malin Head and sunk by two coups de grace at 0419 and 0438 hrs. One crew member was lost. The master, 63 crew members and six gunners were picked up by HMS SKATE and landed at Londonderry.

UBOATS
Departures
Gotenhaven: U-144, U-135, U-149 (heading east as part of the Drach Nach Osten)

At Sea 18 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-48 U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-101, U-103, U-106, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-138, U-141, U-143, U-144, U135, U-149, U-201, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-651, U-751, UA

35 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FV DORIS II (UK 6 grt) was sunk on a mine three cables SE of Outer Bar Bell Buoy off Sheerness. The crew of two were missing.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Northern Patrol
CL EDINBURGH arrived at Scapa Flow from Denmark Straits patrol. CL MANCHESTER and DD ACHATES arrived at Iceland from Denmark Straits patrol. DD INTREPID departed Scapa Flow for Iceland to join the ASW force operating there. The DD arrived at Reykjavik on the 20th.

Northern Waters
DD IMPULSIVE departed Scapa Flow for Immingham for refitting and installation of TSDS equipment. CA CUMBERLAND arrived at Scapa Flow en-route to refitting after duty in the Sth Atlantic and escorting convoy SL.76 with CL SHEFFIELD.

ORP DD KUJIWIAK, working up, was attacked by the LW. MG fire from the aircraft set off the four inch ready use ammunition locker. One man was killed. The DD called at Dundee to repair and land the dead man. The DD arrived at Scapa Flow to resume work up on the 20th.

DD BATH departed Scapa Flow after working up practices and arrived at Liverpool to join Escort Command on the 19th.

DD WINDSOR departed Dundee on completion of repairs to continue working up practices.

AA ship ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow and escorted convoy WN.41 from Pentland Firth. In the afternoon, the ship transferred to convoy EC.34 covering this convoy until its arrival in Pentland Firth. ALYNBANK returned to Scapa Flow later that night..

Med/Biscay
Vichy DDs VALMY and GUEPARD bombarded British advanced positions in Syria for a short time.

RAN sloop PARRAMATTA and RN tug ST ISSEY and ASW whaler SOUTHERN SEA returned to Alexandria from Mersa Matruh. British troopship GLENROY carried five lighters, some stores, petrol, and military personnel and netlayer PROTECTOR carried a full load of cased petrol to Mersa Matruh where it was unloaded on the 18th.

Central Atlantic
DDs FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, FORESIGHT, FORESTER, and FOXHOUND, returning to Gibraltar after escorting CV VICTORIOUS away, attacked a submarine contact. Type IID U-138 (DKM 314 grt) was forced to the surface by repeated DC attacks carried out by DDs FAULKNOR and FORESTER and then sank 70 miles off Cape Trafalgar. DD FEARLESS picked up the entire crew of 27. The DDs arrived at Gibraltar later that day.

DD WISHART departed Gibraltar to join troopship SCYTHIA and DD DUNCAN, arriving from Freetown. Ocean boarding vessel MARSDALE departed Gibraltar on Western Patrol in company with Norwegian steamer SYDHAV and destroyer FURY as local escort.

SL.78 departed Freetown escorted by AMC ESPERANCE BAY to 27 June, sloop BRIDGEWATER to 21 June, and corvettes ARMERIA, ASHODEL, ASTER, and BURDOCK to 28 June. CA SHROPSHIRE was with the convoy on 26 to 27 June. The cruiser was ordered to leave the convoy and position herself 100 miles west of the convoy. After further attacks on the 27th, AMC ESPERANCE BAY also left the convoy.
Corvette FLEUR DE LYS departed Gibraltar on the 27th and was with the convoy on the 29th. Later on the 29th the corvette returned to Gibraltar. On 7 July, DDs CHELSEA, MANSFIELD, and VERITY, CAM ship PEGASUS, corvettes ARBUTUS to 11 July, BEGONIA, CONVOLVULUS, JASMINE, LARKSPUR, PIMPERNEL, and ROHODENDRON joined the convoy, and arrived at Liverpool on 12 July

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 18 JUNE TO DAWN 19 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.

0915-0929 hrs; 0959-1013 hrs Air raid alert for fifteen enemy aircraft which approach to within 25 miles north of St Paul's Bay. Nine Hurricanes are scrambled and the raiders recede north. The all-clear sounds but the raiders turn south again and repeat their tactics but are driven off again.

1634-1706 hrs Air raid alert for two formations of six and three Italian Macchi 200 fighters which approach the Island in the St Paul's Bay area. Hurricane fighters are scrambled and intercept the second formation 20 miles north of Grand Harbour, shooting down one Macchi 200 and a second probable. One Hurricane catches fire due to a Glycol leak and has to make a forced landing in the Mosta area. The pilot Sgt Livingston bales out but too low for his parachute to open fully and he is killed.

2002 hrs Six Blenheim bombers arrive.

2035 hrs Four Blenheim bombers arrive.

0457-0502 hrs Air raid alert caused by the approach of Wellingtons returning to base.
OPERATIONS REPORTS WEDNESDAY 18 JUNE 1941
AIR HQ Arrivals 10 Blenheim. Departures 2 Bombay. 69 Squadron 5 Marylands on reconnaissance. F/Lt Warburton special operation in Beaufighter crashed on take-off; aircraft destroyed but crew unhurt. 82 Squadron Arrived Malta.

 

[Njaco]

June 18 Wednesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-552 sank British ship Norfolk 150 miles northwest of Ireland at 0438 hours; 1 was killed, 70 survived.

British destroyers HMS "Faulknor", HMS "Fearless", HMS "Forester", HMS "Foresight", and HMS "Foxhound" sank U-138 with depth charges 100 miles west of Gibraltar; all 27 German crew members of U-138 survived and were all taken prisoner.

ASIA: Tokyo halts economic negotiations with Netherlands East Indies.

A Chinese DB-3 was destroyed while flying off on alert to Lanzhou, killing the pilot, Meng Zong-Gao, his navigator and radio operator.

EASTERN EUROPE: Stalin leaves Moscow for his holiday. But before he leaves, Stalin receives warning of a German invasion from the Soviet embassy in London. A German defector to Russian territory says the attack will be made at 0400 hours on 22 June.

Luftwaffe aircraft conduct recon flights over Zapolyarnyj and are fired upon by Soviet AA guns.

In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, Kriegsmarine vessels lay mines in the Baltic overnight. Halder tours military units and confers with Rumanian Minister of War.

GERMANY: The German–Turkish Non-Aggression Pact was signed.

Hitler informs Antonescu of the opening date for Operation Barbarossa.

RAF Bomber Command sends 100 aircraft to attack Bremen overnight.

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria (Operation Exporter): Lt-Gen Lavarack (1st Aust Corps) takes command of operations in Syria (vice Gen Wilson).

The Battle of Damascus: The Battle of Damascus was the final action of the Allied advance on Damascus in Syria. During the night, 5th Indian Brigade (Brig Lloyd) undertakes 12-mile advance through Mezze (3 miles West of Damascus on the road from Quneitra, behind the Vichy French lines) to cut Damascus-Beirut road. They reached Mezzeh at 0415 hours. By 0530 hours, after an hour of fierce hand-to-hand fighting, Mezzeh was captured. However, there was a major problem: the equipment and anti-tank guns travelling up the main road had earlier got ahead of the infantry and run into a Vichy roadblock where most of the vehicles were knocked out. Furthermore, the planned advance by the Free French to Qadim had been delayed, allowing the Vichy defenders to concentrate on the Mezzeh action, putting intense pressure on the Allied position whilst thwarting any attempt to relieve them and bring in vitally needed anti-tank weapons.

Six Gladiators surprise a formation of Dewoitine's over Kissoue and shoot down two, the last kills by a Gladiator in WWII.

NORTH AFRICA: RAF bombers attack Benghazi. Three RAF Brewster Buffaloes are shot down by I./JG 27. As of this date the RAF has lost fourteen warplanes since 16 June including nine from No 1 Squadron of the South African Air Force.

Obfw. Hans-Joachim Marseille was granted medical leave; he would depart Libya for Berlin, Germany shortly.

NORTH AMERICA: William Donovan and Secretary of the Navy Knox meet with Roosevelt about setting up new intelligence coordination organization.

UNITED KINGDOM: British press reported details of development of radiolocation technology (later more popularly known by its American acronym RADAR) and its use in Battle of Britain.

King George and Queen Elizabeth toured Tyneside and visited shipyards and armament factories.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 6 aircraft heavily escorted by Fighter Command on R.A.F. No. 11 Group Circus 15 mission against Bois de Licques. 13 fighter squadrons escorted 6 Blenheims from RAF 2 Group. Ten Luftwaffe fighters were claimed for the loss of 4 British aircraft. RAF Bomber Command sends 57 aircraft to attack Kriegsmarine warships at Brest overnight without success.

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[Njaco]

June 19 Thursday
EASTERN EUROPE: Soviet agent reports to Stalin from Germany and Finland that invasion will begin on 22 June. Soviet Navy issues Grade 2 Alert to fleet commanders. The Soviet Union ordered black-outs in all cities along the border with Germany and the camouflaging of airfields, but still did not deploy for defense. The latter order, the camouflaging of airfields, would be scarcely commenced when the invasion took place.

General Pavel Batov takes command of 9th Rifle Corps.

In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, Kriegsmarine vessels lay mines in the Baltic overnight.

In Rumania, Jews are ordered to relocate to specified urban centers.

GERMANY: In tit-for-tat reprisals, Germany and Italy expel the US consuls. Germany and Italy requested United States consular staffs to evacuate territories under their control by July 15, following United States request of June 16 for German consular evacuation by July 10.

RAF Bomber Command sends 28 aircraft to attack Cologne and 20 aircraft to attack Dusseldorf overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: Axis Convoy departs Naples for Tripoli with five vessels escorted by Italian destroyers "Folgore", "Euro", "Saetta", and "Fulmine".

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria (Operation Exporter): The Battle of Damascus: Indian and Free French troops launched a two-prong attack on Damascus from the south. Major-General John Evetts, commander of the British 6th Infantry Division, arrived to relieve Lloyd and take control of the Allied forces east of Merdjayoun. With the losses suffered by the Indian brigade, he requested that the British 16th Infantry Brigade be detached from the 7th Australian Division and sent to his sector. Generals Lavarack and Wilson decide to concentrate 7th Australian Division (Maj-Gen Allen) on coastal sector as offering best prospects of advance. Australian attack on Merdjayoun is again repulsed after fighting in outskirts. Brig Berryman continues to pound Merdjayoun with artillery. Elsewhere in the region, Vichy French troops held Free French troops at Qadim. By nightfall, the Allied position at Mezzeh was desperate. Ammunition was running low, no food had been eaten for 24 hours, casualties were severe, and medical supplies were exhausted. During the night (when Vichy attacks were suspended), three men managed to reach Gentforce headquarters with the news of the position in Mezzeh.

Vichy asks the American Consul-General to enquire of the British and the Gaullists what their conditions would be for a cessation of hostilities.

NORTH AFRICA: Tobruk Ferry. Australian and British destroyers and sloops (11 vessels) carry out frequent night supply/troop transport missions from Alexandria and Mersa Matruh to Tobruk (June 19-20 to July 11-12). Axis aircraft sink sloop "Auckland" and destroyers "Waterhen" and "Defender".

NORTH AMERICA: US president Roosevelt signed Two Ocean Navy Expansion Act.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Finnish High Command learns the opening date for Barbarossa.

UNITED KINGDOM: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the North-East area including a visit to Billingham to see factories, meet people and see war damage.

WESTERN FRONT: Operation Blot III: The Dock-yards at Le Havre were the target for the RAF. This was a Medium-level attack by 24 Blenheims of 2 Group, followed by a Low-level attack by 12 Blenheim IVs of 2 Group. Weather in the Channel was clear above 6,000 ft., with thick haze below this height. Of the 36 Blenheim IVs, only 24 managed to make the rendezvous over Tangmere, due to poor visibility occasioned by the thick haze. Of the 24 Blenheims, the twelve making the low-level attack abandoned the task due, once again, to the thick haze and fog. A total, therefore, of 9 Blenheim IV attacked getting strikes on the No. 1 Dry-Dock. Light-Flak was encountered, but no enemy-fighter opposition. On the return, RAF No. 616 Squadrons engaged Luftwaffe fighters off Le Havre claiming one as a probable.

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[parsifal]

19 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIC U-575

U-575 under attack on the day of her loss
8 ships sunk, total tonnage 36,010 GRT. Sunk on 13 March 1944 in the Nth Atlantic north of the Azores, , by DCs and gunfire from the Canadian frigate HMCS PRINCE RUPERT, US DD USS HOBSON, US DE USS HAVERFIELD, and by depth charges and rockets from an RAF Wellington and two RAF Flying Fortresses (RAF 206 & 220 Sqns) and a USN Avenger a/c (VC-95 USN) of the US CVE USS BOGUE, with 18 dead and 37 survivors.

Neutral
Cimarron Class AO USS GUADALUPE (AO-32)

USS GUADALUPEunderway bound for the Philippines in September 1941 with a deck cargo of six PT boats (PTs 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 41 of PT-RON-3).

Allied
Flower Class Corvette HMCS MOOSEJAW (K-164)

HDML 1040
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
None

UBOATS
Departures
Bergen: U-48
Gotenhafen: U-140 (headed east)
Kiel: U-431, U-562, U-565, U-652
Lorient: U-556
St Nazaire: U-96

At Sea 19 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-48 U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-96, U-101, U-103, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-140, U-141, U-143, U-144, U145, U-146, U-149, U-201, U-202, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-556, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-562, U-564, U-651, U-751, UA

40 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DD VANESSA was damaged by the LW in the Nth Sea. The DD was then involved in a collision with ASW trawler TURQUOISE. The DD was towed to Yarmouth by DD VESPER. The DD received temporary repairs at Great Yarmouth from 19 to 30 June. The DD was then towed to the Thames and repairing at London to 15 April 1942.

AA ship ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow to meet convoy WN.42 in the Pentland Firth and escorted it to Methil where they arrived on the 19th.

ML PLOVER, escort DD COTSWOLD and a number of MSWs, laid minefield BS.59 off the east coast of England.

Northern Patrol
DDs ECLIPSE and ECHO departed Scapa Flow for Reykjavik to reinforce the ASW screen for the cruisers on the Denmark Straits patrol. The DDs arrived on the 21st.

SW Approaches
Steamer EMPIRE WARRIOR (UK 1306 grt), after breaking away from convoy HG.64 was sunk by FW 200 a/c 2.75 miles off Guadiana Bar, Gulf of Cadiz,. The entire crew were rescued by a Portuguese DD.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer GUNDA (SD 1770 grt) after breaking away from convoy HG.64 was sunk by FW-200 a/c. The steamer had been taken in tow by British steamer PETEREL, but later sank 269°, 3.1nm west of Cape Sardao (Portugal). The entire crew were rescued by the steamer and ASW trawler IMPERIALIST.

Central Atlantic
DD WRESTLER departed Gibraltar for Freetown to join the Sth Atlantic Command

Pacific/Australia
British steamer ELLENGA departed Singapore with personnel aboard. The steamer called at Penang on the 21st and embarked additional personnel. The steamer was escorted by CL DURBAN to 85E.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 19 JUNE TO DAWN 20 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.

1018-1038 hrs Air raid alert for a single enemy bomber escorted by 15 fighters which approach at very high altitude, then cross the Island from east to west, apparently on reconnaissance. Four heavy anti-aircraft guns engage, firing pointer rounds; no claims.

OPERATIONS REPORTS THURSDAY 19 JUNE 1941

AIR HQ Arrivals 5 Blenheim, 1 Maryland, 3 Wellington, 1 Sunderland. Departures 3 Wellingtons. 69 Squadron 5 Marylands on reconnaissance. One fired on an aerodrome near Misurata, making two runs to machine-gun eight SM 79 bombers, setting three on fire. 1 Hurricane on photo-reconnaissance Comiso reports 5 Macchi 200s and at Gela 12 medium unidentified fighters. 82 Squadron 4 Blenheims sent to attack a merchant ship; one returned with wireless failure and a second landed in the sea near Malta, cause unknown. The crew were not found. The remaining two attacked the enemy ship scoring near-misses.

 

[Bernhart]

Three RAF Brewster Buffaloes are shot down by I./JG 27.

didn't realize they used the buffalo in the desert

 

[parsifal]

Im relying on a single source for that statement. May well prove to be wrong. However the source is pretty good (RN day by day) and the fact that they mention a specific unit and a specific pilot suggests its a valid statement. Also I understand that 805 at that time was operating Buffaloes for a while at least, whilst shore based.

I think I might at least be able to confirm 805 was operating buffaloes at this time, and that the sqn was deployed in the Western Desert at that time from the FAA website. if I get a minute ill check

 

[Njaco]

June 20 Friday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-123 sank Portuguese ship "Ganda" off Casablanca, French Morocco at 2030 hours; 5 were killed, 61 survived.

U-203 sights the American battleship USS "Texas". (BB-35) inside Germany's blockade area around Britain. U-203 attacks, but the attack fails and the U-boat remains undetected by the "Texas". The USN's battleship USS "Texas". (BB-35), escorted by three destroyers, is sailing in what the Germans consider as the war, or "blockade" zone, when sighted by the submarine U-203. The Americans are unaware of the sub but they outdistance the sub preventing an attack. As a result of this event, Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, chief of the German Navy, issues an order stating that U.S. warships may only be attacked if they cross the western boundary of the blockade area by 20+ miles (32.2+ km) or within the 20-mile (32.2 km) strip along the western edge of the zone.

EASTERN EUROPE: The German troops amassing on the border with the Soviet Union were told that they were undergoing a large scale exercise.

A Soviet aerial formation, the 6th Fighter Corps, is set up in Moscow for the defence of the capital. On Sunday 22 June, civil air raid precautions in Moscow are to be tested "under realistic conditions."

GERMANY: Alfred Rosenberg delivered a speech in which he stated that the job of feeding Germans was the top German priority, while feeding the conquered peoples in Eastern Europe was not of Germany's concern.

RAF Bomber Command sends 115 aircraft to attack Kiel overnight.

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria (Operation Exporter): Maj-Gen Evetts (6th British Division) is ordered to take over the whole eastern sector. He is reinforced by two battalions of 6th Australian Division and ordered to take Damascus. Brigadier Lloyd, having handed over to Evetts command of the 5th Indian Brigade, sent a force comprising 2 companies from the 3/1st Punjab Regiment, two companies of French Marines and a battery of artillery to fight its way through to Mezzeh in an attempt to relieve the surrounded Indian 5th Infantry Brigade at Mezze. But the attack on Vichy French would result in failure. They could not blast a way through and they progressed only slowly against determined opposition from French tanks. The Indian defenders at Mezzeh had continued to hold out. But by 1330 hours with ammunition exhausted and having had no rations for 50 hours, they were being shelled at point blank range. A decision was made to ask for a truce to evacuate the wounded, to try to buy time for the relieving column (which could be heard fighting in the distance), to reach them. However, the white flag was mis-read as a signal of surrender by the Vichy forces who rushed the positions of the remaining bayonet-wielding defenders and overpowered them. In evening, 2/3 Battalion opened a renewed attack on Mezze and Beirut road, clearing forts southwest of Damascus. A French counter-attack recaptured some of the heights and the CO and HQ of 2/3 Battalion. A detached coy of 2/3 Battalion cut the Damascus-Beirut road. After sundown, Free French troops, British anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns and an Australian machine-gun battalion finally capture Qadim on the Deera-Damascus road. The relieving column, reinforced by a battalion of Australian infantry, recaptured Mezzeh at 1900 hours that evening to find it empty save for the dead.

NORTH AFRICA: In view of the failure of "Operation Battleaxe", Churchill has decided to replace Sir Archibald Wavell as C-in-C Middle East. He believes that the defeat, coming so soon after Rommel's successful offensive and his rebuff of the Allied attack last month, shows that fresh blood is needed to restore British fortunes. Wavell will be told shortly that his successor is to be General Sir Claude Auchinleck, C-in-C India. Although the latter's only combat experience so far in this war has been command of the Anglo-French forces at Narvik, he saw much action in Mesopotamia in 1914-18 and later on the North-West Frontier of India. Known as "The Auk", he is highly regarded and has a keen brain, although he is not as intellectual as Wavell.

NORTH AMERICA: Franklin Roosevelt addressed the US Congress in regards to the sinking of American freighter Robin Moor by German submarine on 21 May 1941. In his speech, the President notes that the sinking of the ship is a;

"...warning that the United States may use the high seas of the world only with Nazi consent. Were we to yield on this we would inevitably submit to world-domination at the hands of the present leaders of the German Reich. We are not yielding and we do not propose to yield."

The speech is forwarded to the German Embassy for their information.

The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was renamed the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) under the command of Major General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold. The USAAF was to be autonomous from the US Army and the Office, Chief of the Air Corps and the Air Force Combat Command are assigned to the USAAF. Major General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold is named Chief of the USAAF and made directly responsible to the Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall. The reason for the change is to coordinate the activities of the Air Force Combat Command and the office of the Chief of the Air Corps..

US Navy placed a contract with the Douglas Aircraft Company for two prototype aircraft of a new carrier torpedo/dive bomber design.

The USN's Task Group 2.6 consisting of the aircraft carrier USS "Wasp" (CV-7), the heavy cruiser USS "Tuscaloosa" (CA-37) and two destroyers departs Hampton Roads, Virginia, for a neutrality patrol that ends at Bermuda on 4 July. Serving in USS "Wasp" are Marine Bombing Squadron One (VMB-1), Fighting Squadron Seventy One (VF-71) and Scouting Squadron Seventy Two (VS-72).

Three USN submarines conduct deep submergence tests off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. At 0738 hours, USS O-9 (SS-70) submerged with 33 men aboard. The sub did not surface thereafter but was crushed by the pressure of the water 402 feet (122.5 m) below. The sub went down 15 miles (24.1 km) off Portsmouth in the area where submarine USS "Squalus" (SS-192) had been lost on 23 May 1939. The sub was too deep for rescue efforts and the ship was declared a total loss on 22 June.

Charles Lindbergh delivers strong isolationist speech in Los Angeles.

NORTHERN EUROPE: In south-eastern Finland, the civilian population in municipalities along the Fenno-Soviet border are evacuated.

The theatre strike in Norway was settled after a month.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Halifax bomber operating from Middleton St George, Co Durham, set off on a mission to Kiel. It left the airfield making a wide circle inland, before setting course for the target - the pilot, concentrating intently on the numerous tasks required, heard with dismay his wireless operator call out " We're heading into the balloon barrage Skipper". The balloon barrage was that protecting Middlesbrough. At the same time a warning device broadcasting from the ground confirmed this. The plane was flying at 4,000 feet and when the pilot looked up, sure enough 7-800 feet above them were the balloons. Skillfully steering in between them and climbing at the same time, he 'tip-toed' out of danger. As a result of this near squeak, an arrangement was entered into with the balloon commander - the Middlesbrough barrage would be hauled down to 500 feet during the bomber's take-off and landing times in future.

WESTERN FRONT: Petain secretly sends emissary to London to discuss cooperation in the Levant.

RAF Bomber Command sends 11 aircraft on anti-shipping missions.

.

 

[Njaco]

June 21 Saturday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Bombardier Henry Herbert Reed (b. 1911), Royal Artillery, was hit in an attack on the SS "Cormount", but only stopped firing to carry another wounded man to safety before falling dead from his wounds. (George Cross)

EASTERN EUROPE: Soviet military attaché to France Major General Ivan Sousloparov warned his superiors in Moscow, Russia of a potential German invasion, which Joseph Stalin immediately disregarded as British provocation. Stalin's opinion was agreed by head of Soviet State Security Lavrentiy Beria, who told Joseph Stalin that Germany would not attack the Soviet Union in 1941. Georgy Zhukov disagreed, but it would not be until 1905 hours when the military attaché to Germany Mikhail Vorontsov provided concrete evidence of German movement when Stalin and the Politburo were finally convinced to organize two new wartime fronts (rather than peacetime military districts) to prepare the defenses. By the time the telegrams were deciphered many units would already be bombed by German aircraft. Elsewhere, in the evening, Soviet Foreign Minister Vycheslav Molotov met with German Ambassador Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg and asked him regarding the rumors of invasion, which Schulenburg denied as false. Within hours, however, to Schulenburg's surprise, he would receive orders from his superiors to destroy documents, code books, ciphers, and communications equipment, and he would receive a declaration of war to be delivered to Molotov in the morning.

Several fighter Gruppen in Rumania are moved closer to the upcoming frontline to support the Russian invasion. On this date, the Stab, II and III./JG 77 transfer from airfields around Bucharest to new fields at Bacau and Roman.

Semyon Timoshenko belatedly ordered the manning of fortifications along the Molotov Line in Soviet-occupied Poland, but only some would be ready for fighting when the German invasion commenced in few hours time. Fighter pilots are ordered not to fire on a German plane which flies over Soviet airspace. The border guard is put on alert, but is forbidden to take any "provocative" action.

Soviet aircraft engineer A. M. Isayev proposed to use compressed air rather than a pump to force propellant into the rocket engine that he was developing for a new fighter design.

GERMANY: Hitler and his staff arrive at the Wolfsschanze [Wolf's Lair], Hitler's eastern headquarters. In the afternoon, Adolf Hitler wrote a message to Benito Mussolini, informing him of the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union. This message would not reach Mussolini until early in the next day, less than an hour before the operation began.

"I waited until this moment, Duce, to send you this information, it is because the final decision itself will not be made until 7 o'clock tonight," Hitler wrote. "I earnestly beg you, therefore, to refrain, above all, from making any explanation to your Ambassador at Moscow, for there is no absolute guarantee that our coded reports cannot be decoded. I, too, shall wait until the last moment to have my own Ambassador informed of the decisions reached."

In response to the failed attack on the US battleship "Texas" Doenitz instructs his U-boats thus:

"Fuhrer orders avoidance any incident with USA during next few weeks. Orders will be rigidly obeyed in all circumstances. In addition attacks till further orders will be restricted to cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers and then only when identified beyond doubt as hostile. Fact that warship is sailing without lights will not be regarded as proof of enemy identity."

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria (Operation Exporter): Free French troops captured the city of Damascus in the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon, but fighting would continue in the surrounding villages. The city, which Vichy troops evacuated yesterday, surrendered to Colonel Cateau and the Australians. It has been a bloody triumph. Elsewhere in the region, at the village of Mezze, the Indian 5th Infantry Brigade surrendered to Vichy French troops after being surrounded for two days; the victorious Vichy French troops, however, would fall back toward Beirut, allowing Australian troops to capture the village later on the same day. The "Habforce" Commonwealth army advances from Syria into Iraq. Habforce is three British and Indian brigades including the British 4th Cavalry Brigade. They are still subject to persistent French air attack on the approaches to Palmyra.

NORTH AFRICA: The Italian garrison at Jimma surrenders to Ethiopian troops under British command. General Gazzera escapes capture when the British forces take Jimma, sw of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

UNITED KINGDOM: After dark, German bombers bombed Southampton, England, and dropped many naval mines in surrounding waters. The bombing caused a leak in the King George V Dry Dock, and demolished the down-line platform of the Southern Railway Central Station, blocking much rail traffic.

WESTERN FRONT: While Luftwaffe units are being transferred to the East in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Russia only two Jagdgeschwader are left on the French Coast to battle the British. The planes of JG 2 and JG 26 total about 140 available Bf 109Es and Fs for operations. Because of the depletion of units on the Western front The Night Blitz on England is halted.

RAF 11 Group Circus 16 was an attack on the St. Omer Airfields at 1200 hours. Bombers taking part were 6 Blenheim IVs of 2 Group escorted by 17 fighter squadrons. One Blenheim from RAF No.21 Sqn was lost. At 1600 hours, RAF 11 Group flew Circus 17, a raid on the airfield at Desvres. Again, there were 6 Blenheim IVs of 2 (B) Group escorted by 17 fighter squadrons.

This day has its ups and downs for Oberstleutnant Galland, Kommodore of JG 26. At noon all three Gruppen of JG 26 are sent to intercept a formation of RAF bombers raiding the airfield at St. Omer. At 1232 hours Obslt. Galland shoots down a Blenheim bomber over the airfield at St. Omer and at 1236 hours he destroys another Blenheim, his 68th and 69th victories. But his plane is damaged by escorting British Spitfire fighters from RAF No. 145 Squadron and he breaks away to land at Calais-Marck airfield. He returns to his base by courier at Audembert but his wingman, Obfw. Hegenauer, who is shot down in the morning, does not return. At 1600 hours a second British attack sends the Geschwader into the air again. Obslt. Galland takes off alone and joins up with I./JG 26. Sighting the British escorting fighters, he dives and shoots down a Spitfire northeast of Boulogne, his 70th kill. But while trying to confirm the kill, Obslt. Galland is himself shot down and suffers serious injury. This time he ditched the aircraft, his parachute barely opening before reaching ground, and was brought to a first aid station by French civilians using a horse-drawn cart. He spends some time in hospital where he smokes one of his trademark cigars while on the operating table. While at the hospital he is visited by Oberst Theo Osterkamp who lets him know that Galland is to be awarded the newly created Schwerten or Swords to his Knights Cross, the first Luftwaffe pilot so honored.

Douglas Bader shot down a German Bf 109E aircraft off Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Near Ramsgate, Lt. Josef 'Pips' Priller of 1./JG 26 downs a Spitfire from RAF No 603 Squadron for his twenty-fourth kill. The British lose six fighters and one Blenheim shot down during the raids while the Luftwaffe lose four pilots killed – including one from JG 2, Carl-Hans Röders with eight victories,– and two taken prisoner including five victory Experte Franz Luders of JG 26.

Vichy France enacted a law to exclude Jews from schools. The law limited Jews to only 3 percent of university students.

.

 

[Njaco]

June 22 Sunday
UNTERNEHMEN BARBAROSSA
EASTERN FRONT: Germany invades the Soviet Union.

At 0415 hours, Germany invades the USSR, breaking their non-aggression agreement, in the largest military operation ever. 3.5 million German and Romanian troops (with 3,350 tanks, 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses) cross the border along an 1800 mile front from East Prussia on the Baltic Sea, Poland in the middle and Romania on the Black Sea, overwhelming Soviet defenses which were further disadvantaged by poor communications. Facing them is the world's largest army comprised of 230 divisions of 14,000 men each, with 20,000 tanks (many obsolete.) The Russian Army is organized into four Military Districts. Commanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Armeegruppe Mitte was tasked with attacking from Poland through the Białystok - Minsk - Smolensk axis towards Moscow. The Armeegruppe included the 9. and 4.Armees. Its armored forces were Hoth's 3.Panzergruppe and Guderian's 2.Panzergruppe. The two infantry Armies fielded 33 divisions and the Panzer Armies fielded nine armored divisions, six motorized divisions and a cavalry division.

At about 0100 hours, the Red Army was ordered to assume defensive posture, but it was too late to improve defenses significantly as Germany tore up the non-aggression pact and launched Operation Barbarossa. At 0325 hours, Georgy Zhukov woke Joseph Stalin by phone to inform him of the news of the invasion; initially, Stalin refused to give Zhukov the permission to strike back at the Germans, believing it to be a German provocation. At 0130 hours Stalin is convinced of a German invasion and orders an alert and dispersal of Red Air Force units in the western border areas of the U.S.S.R, stating, "Before dawn on June 22nd all aircraft are to be dispersed on their airfields and carefully camouflaged. All units will come to immediate readiness." But the orders are delayed and don't reach the airfields until later in the morning. General Dmitry Pavlov ordered, belatedly as the German invasion had already begun, his troops to man the fortified regions in his sector in Byelorussia at 0300 hrs. At 0630 hours, Stalin finally realized it was a full scale invasion and gave his authorization for the Red Army to fire back.

Italy declares war on the Soviet Union. Rumania declares war on the Soviet Union. Ankara declares strict neutrality in the Russo-German conflict.

GROUND OPERATIONS
Armeegruppe Nord: German Armeegruppe Nord (Army Group North), commanded by Wilhelm von Leeb, attacks through the Baltic states heading to Leningrad. Kuchler's 18.Armee, Hoepner's 4.Panzergruppe and Busch's 16.Armee attacks into Lithuania. Dietl's German BergkorpsNorwegen crosses from Norway and deploys along the Soviet border in the Petsamo region of Finland. Lithuanian Activist Front begins anti-Soviet uprising and partisan operations. Germany insists on transit of a division from Norway to Finland and other concessions from Stockholm. Baltic Military District redesignated Northwestern Front, commanded by General Fedor Kuznetsov.

Operation Renntier: The Germans executed Operation Renntier to secure the nickel mines around Petsamo in Finland. The German 2.Gebirgs-Division occupied the area around Liinakhamari and the German 3.Gebirgs-Division occupied Luostari.

Armeegruppe Mitte: Armeegruppe Mitte (Army Group Center), commanded by Fedor von Bock, attacks north of the Pripet Marshes from Brest-Litovsk. Hoth's 3.Panzergruppe, Stauss's 9.Armee, Kluge's 4.Armee and Guderian's 2.Panzergruppe attacks into Lithuania and Byelorussia. Western Military District redesignated Western Front, commanded by General Dmitrii Pavlov.

The Battle of Białystok–Minsk: 3.Panzergruppe attacked, cutting the 11th Army from Western Front, and crossed the Neman River. The 2.Panzergruppe crossed the Bug River. The Panzer Groups' objectives were to meet east of Minsk and prevent any Red Army withdrawal from the encirclement. Operating with the Panzer Groups to encircle the Soviet forces, the 9.Armee and 4.Armee cut into the salient, beginning to encircle Soviet Armies around Białystok.

Armeegruppe Sud: German Armeegruppe Sud (Army Group South), commanded by Gerd von Rundstedt, attacks south of Pripet Marshes toward Kiev. Reichenau's 6.Armee, Kleist's 1.Panzergruppe and Stulpnagel's 17.Armee attacks into the Ukraine. The 11th Army of Romanians and Germans attack across the Pruth River into Bessarabia. Kiev Military District redesignated Southwestern Front, commanded by General Mikhail Kirponos. At about 2115 hours, Soviet Defence Minister Timoshenko issues Directive No. 3, ordering Soviet ground forces in the Southwestern Army Group in the general direction of Lubin, 55 miles inside Poland.

Defense of Brest Fortress: The defence of Brest Fortress was one of the first battles of Operation Barbarossa. The Brest Fortress, defended by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht, held out longer than expected and, after the Second World War had finished, became a symbol of Soviet resistance. The initial artillery fire took the unprepared fortress by surprise, inflicting heavy casualties. Fierce battles were fought in the town of Brest and in the fortress itself. The first German assault on the fortress took place half an hour after the bombardment started. The surprised Soviet defenders were unable to form a solid front and instead defended isolated strongpoints–the most important of which was the fortress itself. Some managed to escape the fortress; most were trapped inside by the encircling German forces. Despite having the advantage of surprise, the subsequent attempt by the Germans to take the fortress with infantry quickly stalled with high losses: about 281 Wehrmacht soldiers died the first day in the fighting for the fortress.

AIR OPERATIONS
At 0340 hours the combined assets of four Luftwaffe air fleets strike a powerful blow to the Red Air Force using 1280 operational aircraft. Using classic blitzkrieg tactics, Luftwaffe bombs supply dumps, railways and airfields. The first Luftwaffe strikes are conducted between 0305 hours and 0315 hours in unison with the Werhmacht's ground attack. Twenty to thirty aircrews deliver special fragmentation bombs (SD-2 2 kg bomblettes and SD-10 10 kg bomblettes) against Soviet airfields using flights of three aircraft assigned to each airfield. The timing of the attack was agreed upon after discussions about who should start first, the Luftwaffe or the Army. The Army's position was to attack first to attain the surprise needed for victory whereas the Luftwaffe's position was to attack first to clear the air of Red Air forces being used to harass the Army. A compromise was reached where the bombing would start at the same time as the Army and 25 minutes before the Luftwaffe's main operations. Orders for the offensive were delivered to aircrews in sealed target folders - some only eight hours before the start of the operation. The selected targets for the first day – derived from photo intelligence gathered from Lufthansa civil aircraft which made scheduled flights over Russia - were thirty-one Russian airfields, three suspected High Staff quarters, two barracks, two artillery positions, one bunker position, one petroleum, oil and lubricant depot and the port facilities at Sevastopol. A total of 868 aircraft – 637 strike aircraft (Stukas, bombers, destroyers) and 231 fighters (Bf 109s) – take part in the destruction of these targets.

At Armeegruppe Nord is Luftflotte 1 commanded by Generaloberst Alfred Keller with I Fliegerkorps. Fighter units in this area are all three Gruppen of JG 54. A formation of Ju 88s from I./KG 76, led by Major Robert Poetter, take off at 0210 hours and attack the Russian airfield at Kadania in Lithuania. The Gruppe loses one bomber when it hits a SD-2 bomblette dropped by another Ju 88. Fighters from JG 54 are tasked with escorting the bombers of KG 1, 76 and 77 and later attack a formation of nine unescorted Russian bombers. Five of the bombers are destroyed. Uffz. Otto Kittel, flying his first mission with 2./JG 54, downs a Russian SB-2 and a Yak 1 to begin his victory tally. Hptm. Heinz Bretnütz, Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 53 – attached to JG 54 for operations in the northern sector - shoots down a Russian Bomber for his thirty-seventh victory but is shot down himself, crash landing behind enemy lines severely wounded. He is hidden by friendly farmers until German forces arrive.

In Armeegruppe Mitte is Luftflotte 2 with II Fliegerkorps and VIII Fliegerkorps. Fighter units in this area are II and III./JG 27, the four Gruppen of JG 51 and the three Gruppen of JG 53. Stukagruppen include II and III StG 1, I and III StG 2, all three Gruppen of StG 77 and IV(Stuka)./LG 1. After an initial attack against Russian airfields, 127 He 111s of KG 53 and Ju 88s of KG 3 bomb Moscow dropping 104 tons of High Explosives and 46,000 incendiary bombs on the city. At Bug near Brest-Litovsk, a single Russian fighter squadron is destroyed while attempting to take-off during an emergency scramble. As the German planes, Ju 87 Stukas from StG 77, land at their airfield after the mission, bombs begin to explode on the airfield. In the hour since the invasion started the Russians have flown formations of bombers to strike back at the Luftwaffe airfields and six Soviet planes are attacking the German airbase. As the six Russian twin-engines planes turn away from the field, German fighters pounce on the formation. Hptm. Herbert Pabst, Staffelkapitän of 6./StG 77 describes what happened next;

"As the first one fired, thin threads of smoke seemed to join it to the bomber. Turning ponderously to the side, the big bird flashed silver, then plunged vertically downwards with its engines screaming. As it crashed, a huge sheet of flame shot upwards. The second bomber became a glare of red, exploded as it dived, and only the bits came floating down like great autumnal leaves. The third turned over backwards on fire. A similar fate befell the rest, the last falling in a village and burning for an hour. Six columns of smoke rose from the horizon. All six had been shot down! They went on coming the whole afternoon. From our airfield alone we saw twenty-one crash and not one get away."

The Russian bombers keep coming straight in all day in formations of upwards of ten aircraft. As soon as one formation is shot down another flight of ten bombers would appear only to be destroyed. It is a slaughter.

One of the most successful of the Jagdgeschwader on the Russian front are the pilots of JG 53 who accounted for the destruction of sixty-two Russian aircraft on this first day of operations. The most successful is the Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 53, Hptm. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, who shoots down five Soviet fighters during three separate missions. At 0400 hours he destroys three I-15s. Later he downs an I-16 and in the afternoon an I-17 fighter. Hptm. Wilcke's Gruppenstab also score against the Russians. Lt. Jürgen Harder begins his victory tally with the destruction of a Russian I-17 and Franz Schiess downs a Russian I-153 at 0725 hours for his first kill.

.

 

[Njaco]

June 22 Sunday continued
UNTERNEHMEN BARBAROSSA
EASTERN FRONT:
JG 51 has its share of victories with its pilots claiming sixty-nine aerial victories over Russian aircraft. Obstlt. Werner Mölders of Stab./JG 51 claims four Soviet aircraft – an I-153 and three SB-2 bombers – bringing his score to seventy-two kills and is immediately awarded the Schwerten, the first award of the Russian campaign and second to Major Galland of JG 26, who received his award the day before. Fw. Heinrich Höfemeier, also with Kommodore Mölders' I./JG 51, claims four kills. Other victors for the day from JG 51 include Herbert Bareuther of 2./JG 51 for his first victory and George-Peter Eder who destroys two Soviet aircraft to bring his score to three. But JG 27 does not fare so well. Major Schnellmann, Kommodore of JG 27 shoots down an I–16 to bring his score to twenty-five but debris from his victim damages his airplane and he bales out and is captured by the Russians. Lt. Hans Witzel of the 5th Staffel, claims a Russian I-15 at 0354 hours and another I-15 at 0355 hours. But his claim of being the first Luftwaffe pilot to destroy a Soviet aircraft goes to another Experten in the Southern sector, at JG 3.

In Armeegruppe Sud is Luftflotte 4 commanded by Generaloberst Alois Lohr with IV Fliegerkorps and V Fliegerkorps. Aircraft units are all four Gruppen of JG 3, I and III./JG 52, II and III./JG 77 and I(Jagd)./LG 1.

Oblt. Robert Olejnik of 1./JG 3 is given credit for the first aerial kill of the campaign. As Oblt. Olejnik comments;

"Everybody knew that I was an early riser and liked to fly the dawn missions. So, shortly before 0330 hours, I took off with my wingman to reconnoiter the Russian airfields along our stretch of the border.Everything seemed quiet in the semi-darkness below. It was not until we were returning to base, and flying back over the first airfield we had visited some 20 minutes earlier, that I spotted signs of activity. Two Russian fighters were preparing to scramble. As we circled 700 – 800 meters overhead, I saw the Russians start their engines and begin to taxi out. They took off immediately and climbed towards us, obviously looking for a fight. They were still some 300 – 400 meters below us when we dived to the attack. I caught the leader with a short burst on my first pass and he went down in flames. His wingman disappeared. Arriving back over our own airfield I waggled my wings to indicate a victory. My comrades, most of whom had only just woken up, peered sleepily from their tent flaps shaking their heads in disbelief."

Oblt. Olejnik is officially credited with the destruction of an I-16 at 0340 hours even though he himself states that this occurred at 0358 hours! Oblt. Olejnik's Gruppenkommandeur, Hptm. Hans von Hahn describes how surprised the Germans are at the strength of the Russians.

"We could hardly believe our eyes. Every airfield was chock full of reconnaissance aircraft, bombers and fighters, all lined up in long straight rows as if on parade. The number of landing strips and aircraft the Russians had concentrated along our borders was staggering."

The two Geschwader operating in the Southern Front account for only forty kills on the opening day of the invasion. The fighters of JG 3 have the most with twenty-five kills, mostly from Gruppenkommandeur Lothar Keller's II./JG 3 who claims two I-16s and two I-153s for the day bringing his overall total to twenty victories. Four pilots of JG 3 begin their victory scores including Oblt. Walther Dahl of the Stabstaffel, who downs an I-18. The Kommodore of JG 3, Major Gunther Lützow destroys a Russian I-18. But not all of JG 3's pilots are successful. Oblt. Willy Stange, Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 3 is shot down in his Bf 109F by Russian anti-aircraft fire and captured. He is killed by his Soviet captors. He has twelve victories with JG 3.

All the victories from the other fighter unit on the Southern Front – fifteen kills for the day for JG 77 - comes from its III Gruppe. Oblt. Kurt Ubben, Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 77 destroys an I-16 and an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber.

Soviet aircraft losses from the first Luftwaffe strikes total about 222 destroyed in the air and 890 destroyed on the ground. German losses are two Bf 109s, one Bf 110, one Ju 87 Stuka, eight Ju 88 and six He 111 bombers. By noon the Russians have 1,200 aircraft destroyed and by the end of the first day of the campaign the Luftwaffe has lost thirty-five aircraft as opposed to 322 Russian aircraft shot down from the air and another 1,489 destroyed on the ground. But of those lost by the Luftwaffe, fifteen are destroyed from non-combat action such as problems with the SD-2 bomblettes that have a habit of exploding prematurely or to detonate upon landing. Many crews are surprised to see several Ju 88s and Do 17s suddenly break in the air and crash to the ground in flames, usually on return trips from the front. Not only were the bombers affected by the faulty bombs but also specially equipped Bf 109 fighters. These Messerschmitts have racks beneath the fuselage that the air pressure of flight causes several of the bombs to remain racked. Shortly after the start of the campaign, SD type munitions are banned from all aircraft that have to carry them internally and only Ju 87s and Hs 123s – with the bomb racks located on the wings within sight of the pilot – are allowed to use the bombs.

At 0715 hours, Soviet Defence Minister Marshal Timoshenko issues Directive No. 2, for bomber and ground-attack aircraft to destroy German aircraft on airfields and concentrations of ground forces, to a depth of 60-95 miles. By this time, most Soviet front-line planes have already been destroyed, and it is not known where German forward air bases or troop concentrations are. The Russian pilots try their best to repulse the invasion. At 0415 hours, Junior Lt. D. W. Kokoryev of the 124th Fighter Regiment knocks the tail off a reconnaissance Do 215 near Sambruv after the guns of his MiG-3 have jammed from attacking a Bf 110. Both planes crash to the ground and Lt. Kokoryev lives. At 0425 hours, Senior Lt. I. T. Ivanov of the 46th Fighter Regiment, destroys a He 111 by ramming the bomber over Rovno. Both planes crash and Lt. Ivanov is killed. Around noon, small formations of Russian medium bombers begin to attack the German front lines.

Finnish ground troops quickly isolated the Soviet base at Hanko and its 25,300-man Soviet garrison. Though Mannerheim initially declared that liberating Hanko would be a primary goal of the war, Finnish troops in the area did not receive authorization to attack the base. The front remained mostly static, with action consisting mainly of artillery strikes and some limited probing or patrol activities on both sides. Small scale naval and amphibious actions took place in the surrounding archipelago. Finnish forces surrounding the base initially consisted of the 17th Division, the 4th Coastal Brigade, and supporting units.

Jews from the Dorohoi district of Romania were branded as communists and spies and transported by cattle cars to concentration camps in Tirgu and Craiova.

At 2300 hours, Vyacheslav Molotov gave a broadcast authorized by Stalin to the citizens of the Soviet Union;

"This war has been forced upon us, not by the German people, not by German workers, peasants and intellectuals, whose sufferings we well understand, but by the clique of bloodthirsty Fascist rulers of Germany who have enslaved Frenchmen, Czechs, Poles, Serbians, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other nations," Molotov said. "The government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and brave falcons of the Soviet Air Force will acquit themselves with honor in performing their duty to the fatherland and to the Soviet people, and will inflict a crushing blow upon the aggressor."

GERMANY: Goebbels reads over the radio a proclamation to Germany regarding invasion of the Soviet Union.

RAF Bomber Command sends 70 aircraft to attack Bremen and 27 aircraft to attack Wilhelmshaven overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: At about 0300 hours, Benito Mussolini was awakened as an urgent message was received from Adolf Hitler's office, informing Mussolini of the invasion of the Soviet Union. Though annoyed by not having been notified earlier, he dutifully declared war on the Soviet Union. Romania would also make a declaration of war on the Soviet Union on this date.

Operation RAILWAY I : HMS "Furious" having returned to the Clyde from Operation Rocket, then loaded her largest cargo so far - 64 Hurricanes and 9 Swordfish. Sailing from the Clyde escorted by the cruiser "Hermione" and destroyers "Lance", "Legion". "Vanquisher" and "Winchelsea" were local UK escort. Later "Faulknor", "Fearless", "Forester", "Foxhound" and "Fury" joined from Gibraltar, where HMS "Furious" arrived on June 25.

MIDDLE EAST: Invasion of Syria (Operation Exporter): British Habforce begins siege of Palmyra in northeastern Syria. After dark and into the next date, a British fleet of two cruiser and six destroyers attacked French destroyer "Guepard" off Syria; "Guepard" was able to flee under the cover of darkness.

Vichy French destroyer "Vauquelin" damaged by RAF aircraft at Beirut.

UNITED KINGDOM: Winston Churchill gave a speech announcing the German invasion of the Soviet Union and explaining Britain's new alliance with Russia.

"No one has been a more consistent opponent of Communism than I have for the last twenty-five years," Churchill said. "I will unsay no word that I have spoken about it. But all this fades away before the spectacle which is now unfolding ... Any man or state who fights on against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe ... It follows, therefore, that we shall give whatever help we can to Russia and the Russian people. We shall appeal to all our friends and allies in every part of the world to take the same course and pursue it, as we shall, faithfully and steadfastly to the end."

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 17 aircraft on anti-shipping missions and a Circus mission heavily escorted by Fighter Command. RAF 11 Group Circus 18 was an attack on the rail-yards at Hazebrouck. The Blenheim IV bombers from 2 (B) Group were escorted by 16 fighter squadrons.


.

 

[parsifal]

20 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIC U-351
[NO IMAGE FOUND]
Used during the war as a training boat

Neutral
Aloe Class Netlayer USS CATALPA (AN-10)

Allied
CVE HMS AUDACITY (D-10)

Abdiel Class ML Cruiser HMS MANXMAN (M-70)

Isles Class ASW Trawler HMS HOXA (T-16)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MMS I Class MSW HMS MMS-33 (J-533)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-123 sank the MV GANDA (Pt 4333 grt) off the French Moroccan Coast. The ship was on passage from Lisbon to Luanda (Angola), and Mozambique with a cargo of general cargo. A crew of 66 was aboard, 5 of whom were to lose their lives in the attack. At 2010 hrs the unescorted and neutral GANDAwas hit near the engine room by one of two torpedoes from U-123 off Casablanca. After the crew abandoned ship, she was hit by a coup de grace at 2019 hrs. When the ship settled but did not sink, the U-boat surfaced and sank her by gunfire. As the Germans approached the lifeboats for questioning they noticed their mistake of sinking a neutral ship and left. After the patrol the war diary was altered upon order of the BdU.

The second officer, the chief engineer, a crewman and two passengers were lost and 19 others wounded. The master, 46 crew members and 14 passengers abandoned ship in a motorboat and a lifeboat. The 26 occupants of the lifeboat were picked up by a ship and landed in Lisbon on 22 June. The 42 occupants of the motorboat were later picked up by a Spanish trawler about 300 miles from the coast and landed at Huelva.

Steamer SCHIELAND (Nor 2249 grt) from convoy FS 520 was sunk by the LW and SBoats in the Nth Sea. There were nine survivors from the steamer; one of which later died of injuries, picked up by DD MENDIP.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Bergen: U-137
Horten (Oslo): U-431, U-653

At Sea 20 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-48 U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-96, U-101, U-103, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-140, U-141, U-143, U-144, U145, U-146, U-149, U-201, U-202, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-556, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-562, U-564, U-651, U-751, UA

40 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
Aux MSW trawler RESMILO (RN 258 grt) was sunk by the LW at Peterhead (near Aberdeen, Scotland). There were no casualties on the trawler.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

ML TEVIOTBANK laid mines in the Nth Sea in minefield BS.64, escort DD MENDIP.

British steamer ILSE was damaged on a mine on the west side of Hartlepool Approach Channel, off the English East Coast.. One crewman was killed. The back of the ship was broken. The afterpart was taken to Middlesborough and a new forepart was built for the ship

British steamer CORMOUNT was damaged by the aerial torpedoes fired by LW a/c off Outer Dowsing Light Vessel in the Nth Sea. One gunner was killed on the steamer.

Northern Patrol
U.203 sighted USN BB TEXAS, escort USN DD TRIPPE, off Iceland. As one of the last nations that the Germans had not yet declared unrestricted U-Boat warfare on, the U-Boat did not attack the US ships.

Northern Waters
CL SHEFFIELD departed Scapa Flow to refit at Rosyth.

DD HAMBLEDON departed Scapa Flow to meet steamers AMSTERDAM and LADY OF MANN off the entrance of Aberdeen.Steamer LADY OF MANN was detached off Duncansby Head to Kirkwall.Steamer AMSTERDAM was escorted to Lerwick.
The two ships departed Lerwick on the 21st and steamer LADY OF MANN joined that afternoon. The ships arrived off Aberdeen just before midnight. The DD then proceeded to Chatham for fitting of SA equipment prior to joining the Nore Command

West Coast
OB.337 departed Liverpool, escort DDs CHELSEA and VETERAN, CAM ship SPRINGBANK, and corvettes ARBUTUS, BEGONIA, LARKSPUR, PIMPERNEL, and RHODODENDRON. DDs MANSFIELD and VERITY and corvette JASMINE joined on the 21st. DD VETERAN was detached on the 21st and DDs MANSFIELD and VERITY on the 24th. The convoy was dispersed on the 28th.

Channel
British tanker INVERARDER was damaged by the LW off the Isle of Wight. The tkr was beached off Motherbank Buoy, Solent. The taken was refloated and taken to Southampton for repairs.

Med/Biscay
DDs DECOY, HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK departed Alexandria for Haifa. On the 21st DDs HERO, KIMBERLEY, and JACKAL departed Haifa on relief for Alexandria.

Submarine PARTHIAN departed Alexandria to patrol off the Levant. Submarine SEVERN unsuccessfully attacked a steamer off Palermo. Submarine TETRARCH unsuccessfully attacked a steamer off Lemnos.

RM submarine ONDINA sank steamer REFAH (Tu 3805 grt) 40 miles sth of the Turkish port of Mersin. 25 crewmen and 142 military passengers were lost on the steamer. At the time it was suspected that the ship had been sunk by Vichy forces. Vichy patrol a/c had circled the sinking ship but failed to report anything to Turkish authorities. Survivors did give an account confirming a torpedo hit and this immediately strained relations with the Germans and the Italians. The Italian Navy suppressed the sinking had been carried out by them until many years after the war.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer BUCCARI (FI 4543 grt) was mined and sunk off Ginosa (Taranto) when on passage from Messina for Taranto.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DDs FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, FORESTER, and FOXHOUND departed Gibraltar to escort BC RENOWN and CV ARK ROYAL into Gibraltar. DD FURY was ordered to part company with ocean boarding vessel MARSDALE and join the escort. On the 22nd, Force H.arrived back at Gibraltar.

Nth Atlantic
HX.134 departed Halifax, escort BB REVENGE, AMC MALOJA, corvettes DAUPHIN and NAPANEE, and auxiliary PV RAYON D'OR. The corvettes and the PV were detached later that day. The convoy joined with BHX.134 on the the 23rd, which haddeparted Bermuda on the 19th escorted by AMC ASCANIA, which detached on the 23rd.

On the 24th, sloops ABERDEEN and SANDWICH and corvettes HEPATICA, PRIMROSE, TRILLIUM, and WINDFLOWER joined. This group, and the AMC, were detached on 4 July. Corvette BITTERSWEET joined on 3 July and on 4 July, DDrs ROSBOROUGH, SALISBURY, and SHERWOOD, corvettes CARNATION, HOLLYHOCK, and NIGELLA, MSWs BRITOMART and SALAMANDER, and ASW trawler ST APOLLO joined. DD BULLDOG joined on 5 July. DD BULLDOG, sloop ABERDEEN, and corvette AUBRETIA were detached on 8 July. The remainder of the escorts arrived with the convoy at Liverpool on 9 July.

Convoy SC.35 departed Sidney CB, escorted by AMC AUSONIA and aux PVs RACCOON and REINDEER. The PVs were detached on the 24th. On the 24th, sloop ABERDEEN and corvettes TRILLIUM and WINDFLOWER joined the convoy. The corvettes were detached on 4 August. On 4 August, DDs BULLDOG and SALISBURY, corvettes AUBRETIA, CARNATION, HOLLYHOCK, and NIGELLA, and MSWs BRITOMART and SALAMANDER joined the convoy. MSWs SEAGULL and SHARPSHOOTER joined on 7 July. Corvette PICOTEE joined on 8 July. On 8 July, sloop ABERDEEN and the minesweepers were detached. The convoy arrived in the Clyde on 9 July.

Central Atlantic
British vessels SPRINGTIDE and SPRINGDALE and naval trawler CANNA departed Gibraltar for Freetown with DD AVONVALE as local escort. Norwegian tkr NORVINN sailed and company and proceeded to the west.

Pacific/Australia
CL MAURITIUS relieved CA SHROPSHIRE in the 4th Cruiser Squadron at Colombo.

USN CV WASP, CA TUSCALOOSA, and DDs ANDERSON and ROWAN departed Hampton Roads on neutrality patrol. The patrol concluded on 4 July at Bermuda.

O-Class submarine O.9 (USN 559 grt) on a test dive SE of Portsmouth New Hampshire, , was lost in an accident with the entire crew of 33 also losing their lives.

On the morning of 19 June 1941, O-9 and two of her sisters, O-6 and O-10, left as a group from the submarine base in New London, for the submarine test depth diving area east of the Isle of Shoals. Upon reaching their designated training area the following day, some 15 mi (24 km) off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, O-6 made the first dive, followed by O-10. Finally, at 08:37, O-9 began her dive. At 10:32, O-9 had not returned to the surface.
Rescue ships swung into action immediately. Sister ships O-6 and O-10, submarine TRITON, Rescue Ship FALCON and other ships searched for O-9. That evening, pieces of debris with markings from O-9 were recovered. In water 450 ft (140 m) deep, she was thought to be crushed, since her hull was only designed to withstand depths of 212 ft

Divers went down from 1300 hrs on 21 June until 1143 on 22 June. Divers could stay only a short time at the 440 ft depth but nonetheless set endurance and depth records for salvage operations until those operations were cancelled, as they were considered too risky. Rescue operations were discontinued on 22 June. The boat and her 33 officers and men were declared lost as of 20 June.

The precise location of the wreck remained unknown until 20 September 1997. Based on several years of research by Glen M. Reem (USNR Retired) the O-9 was finally located.. Her hull has been crushed from just abaft the conning tower all the way to the stern, though the forward hull appeared intact. There are no plans to salvage O-9.

Sonar imagery of the located O-9 wreck

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 20 JUNE TO DAWN 21 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.
No air raids.
OPERATIONS REPORTS FRIDAY 20 JUNE 1941
AIR HQ Arrivals 8 Blenheim. Departures 1 Hudson. 69 Squadron 5 Marylands on reconnaissance; F/O Warburton machine-gunned aircraft on aerodrome at Misurata, with success. 82 Squadron 5 Blenheims searched for reported convoy without success.

 

[parsifal]

21 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIC U-374

+Unno Von Fischel, sole survivor of the U-374

1 ship sunk, total tonnage 3,349 GRT. Sunk on 12 January 1942 in the Med SW of Cape Spartivento, , by torpedoes from RN Sub HMS UNBEATEN. 42 dead and 1 survivor.

Type VIIC U-434

No ships sunk or damaged. Sunk on 18 December 1941 in the Central Atlantic Nth of Madeira, by DCs from the British escort DD HMS BLANKNEY and the RN DD HM STANLEY. 2 dead and 42 survivors.

Allied
Type II Escort DD HMS HEYTHROP (L-85)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Dance Class ASW Trawler HMS MINUET (T-131)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
Steamer GASFIRE (UK 3001 grt) was sunk on a mine 10 miles east of Southwold (off the Norwich coast)

Steamer KENNETH HAWKSFIELD (UK 1546 grt) was sunk on a mine off the east Coast of England. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]


UBOATS
Departures
Bergen: U-137
Gotenhafen: U-142
Kiel: U-81

At Sea 21 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-96, U-101, U-103, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-137, U-140, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-144, U-145, U-146, U-149, U-201, U-202, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-556, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-562, U-564, U-651, U-751, UA

41 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
Sloop STORK departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth on completion of work up. DD ANTHONY departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth to clean boilers. The DD arrived that evening.

AA ship ALYNBANK departed Methil and escorted convoy EC.35 to Pentland Firth, arriving on the 22nd. The ship then proceeded to Scapa Flow.

DD PYTCHLEY was escorting convoy FN.483 with DD VORTIGERN. The PYTCHLEY was damaged by a mine two miles off Flamborough Head. There were no casualties. DD VORTIGERN towed the destroyer to the Tyne. PYTCHLEY was under repair until December 1942.

MSW PLOVER, escort DD EGLINTON, laid minefield BS.60 off the east coast of England.

British steamer DORINE was damaged by the LW off Sheringham The steamer arrived at Hartlepool on the 23rd.

Norwegian steamer SKUM was damaged by the LW near No. 57 Buoy. The steamer was towed to Great Yarmouth and subsequently to London for repairs.


Northern Patrol
CL AURORA departed Scapa Flow to relieve CL NIGERIA on patrol west of the Iceland Faroes minefield. DDs ECLIPSE and ECHO arrived in Iceland. The ECHO departed that day to join CA SUFFOLK on Denmark Straits patrol.

Northern Waters
DD ARROW departed Chatham to rejoin the Home Fleet after repairs. However, off Flamborough Head, the DD struck a mine at 2000 and was badly damaged. She arrived at Middlesborough for repairs on the 22nd. Repairs were completed on 20 November.

DD ELECTRA departed Scapa Flow at 1015 for Sheerness for refitting. The DD arrived on the 22nd.

West Coast
CV VICTORIOUS arrived in the Clyde after ferrying aircraft to Malta. OB.338 departed Liverpool. On the 22nd, DDs MALCOLM, SCIMITAR, and WATCHMAN, CAM ship MAPLIN, corvettes ARABIS and VIOLET, MSWs NIGER and SPEEDWELL, and ASW trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN PRIDE, NORTHERN SPRAY,and NORTHERN WAVE joined the convoy outside Liverpool. This group was detached on the 26th. On the 26th, RCN DDs NIAGARA and SAGUENAY, AMC RANPURA, and corvettes PICOU and RIMOUSKI joined. DD NIAGARA was detached on 2 July. The convoy was dispersed on 3 July.

SW Approaches
CLA HERMIONE was attached to the Western Approaches Command. The CLA departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde to escort CVL FURIOUS on a ferry trip to Gibraltar.

On the 22nd, the ships with DDs LANCE and LEGION departed the Clyde for Gibraltar

Med/Biscay
ML LATONA arrived at Alexandria to join the Med Flt. The ML had departed England on 16 May and proceeded, via Capetown. Corvette ERICA arrived at Alexandria to join the Med Flt.

Vichy DD VAUQUELIN arrived at Beirut that morning with the same mission as destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL had attempted earlier. The DD had been sighted by British a/c at 1340 on the 20th. However, contact was lost and no attack could be was made.

Vichy hospital ship CANADA (9684grt) was intercepted by DD JACKAL in 34-12N, 31-05E at 1400. Force B of CLA NAIAD and DDs DECOY, HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK supported the operation. The hospital ship was taken to Haifa, escorted by destroyer JACKAL, for inspection and released on the 22nd.

Submarine OSIRIS arrived at Gibraltar from Holy Loch after refitting at Chatham from 25 January to 10 May.

Nth Atlantic
ML LATONA arrived at Alexandria to join the Med Flt. The ML had departed England on 16 May and proceeded, via Capetown. Corvette ERICA arrived at Alexandria to join the Med Flt.

Vichy DD VAUQUELIN arrived at Beirut that morning with the same mission as destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL had attempted earlier. The DD had been sighted by British a/c at 1340 on the 20th. However, contact was lost and no attack could be was made.

Vichy hospital ship CANADA (9684grt) was intercepted by DD JACKAL in 34-12N, 31-05E at 1400. ForceB of CLA NAIAD and DDs DECOY, HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK supported the operation. The hospital ship was taken to Haifa, escorted by destroyer JACKAL, for inspection and released on the 22nd.

Submarine OSIRIS arrived at Gibraltar from Holy Loch after refitting at Chatham from 25 January to 10 May.

Central Atlantic
Supply ship BABITONGA (DKM 4422 grt) was scuttled when she was intercepted by Heavy cruiser LONDON in the central Atlantic, near St Paul Rocks.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer CRITON (Ex-Vichy 4564grt) was captured by AMC CILICIA on 9 May off Freetownat. The steamer was taken to Freetown arriving on 11 May. The steamer joined convoy SL.78 on the 19th for passage to Belfast, but she straggled and eventually mechanical problems forced her to begin a return to Freetown. She did not make it, as she was intercepted by Vichy PV l AIR FRANCE IV which ordered her to proceed to Konakri. When the steamer made a radio report, the PV sank the steamer. 10crewmen were killed on the steamer whilst 24 crewmen and the armed guard from AMC QUEEN OF BERMUDA under the command of Sub Lt S.K. Stretton RNR, were interned at Konakri.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Malta
Weather Hot and sunny.

No air raids.

0217-0245 hrs Air raid alert for four unidentified enemy aircraft which approach singly from the north east, crossing the coast at various points. Bombs are dropped near Della Grazia searchlight and in the sea off Delimara and Rinella. Ten heavy anti-aircraft gun positions fire three barrages; no claims. Hurricane fighters are scrambled but there are no searchlight illuminations and no engagements.

0256-0317 hrs Air raid alert for two enemy aircraft approaching the Island. They turn away before reaching the coast.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SATURDAY 21 JUNE 1941


AIR HQ Arrivals 6 Blenheim. Departures 3 Blenheim. 69 Squadron 2 Marylands on reconnaissance; 1 Hurricane on photo-reconnaissance.

 

[parsifal]

22 JUNE 1941
OPERATIONS
Baltic

Eastern Front
Note on sources: There is contradictory and incomplete information concerning the naval conflict on the Eastern Front. For this reason Ive tried to use both German and Russian source material, in addition to the regular histories Ive used so far:

Sources Ive consulted to put this together include:

I used following Russian-language sources:

A.V. Platonov "Sovetskie boevye korabli 1941-1945" ("Soviet warships 1941-1945"), part 3 "Podvodnye lodki" ("Submarines") St.Petersburg 1996

M.Morozov "Podvodnye lodki tipa SC" ("Submarines type SC") 2002

German sources include Jurgen Rohwer's "ASA"

On line sources include:

"Siege of Odessa" 8 Aug 1941 - 16 Oct 1941" Contributor Peter Chen http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=128


"Soviet Empire" no stated author; two separate pages, one for the Baltic and one for the Black Sea.
http://www.soviet-empire.com/ussr/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=53730

Axis forces

Baltic

Marinekommando Nord under the command of Admiral Claasen and headquartered in Kiel, had the following forces at its disposal for Barbarossa:

Pre-Dreadnoughts: SCHLESIEN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN
U-Boats: 22nd U-Boot flotilla, commanding (U140, 142, 144, 145, and 149)
MSW gps: GRILLE, PREUSSEN, SKAGERRAK & VERSAILLES
Minesweeper groups Nord: 5th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 31st Sweeper Flotillas
Sperrbrecher groups: 6th, 8th and 138th
Subchasers: 11th Submarine chaser flotilla, 11th and 12th Räumboote flotilla
Naval Group "D": MSW gp "Cobra", S-Boat Flot 1 (S26, 39, 40, 101, 102, and 103) S-Boat Flot 5 (S27, 28, 29, 45 and 47), MSW Flot 5 (part) (R56, 57, 58, 60, 61 and 62), Base ships CARL PETERS & TSINGTAO,

The Finnish Navy
(Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS". I will refer to merchant shipping simply as FN)

FN Coastal Patrol Flotilla (V304-308 and V310- 314), Coastal gunboats ILMARINEN, VÄINÄMÖINEN, HÄMEENMAA, KARJALA, TURUNMAA & UUSIMAA, 3 submarines and some lesser ships. Most of the Finnish Merchant Marine had however been turned over to the Allies after many vessels had been seized by the Germans in 1939.

Supporting the Marinekommando Nord was a force known as Baltenflotte, which had been formed at the insistence of the Fuhrer and consisted of the BB TIRPITZ, CS Adm SCHEER, CLs EMDEN, KOLN, LEIPZIG, NURNBERG, DDs Z-25, Z-26, Z-27, and TB-Flot 2. It had been tasked with destroying the Soviet Baltic Fleet should it try to escape to neutral Sweden or venture from the Gulf of Finland. As this did not happen, and aerial reconnaissance showed severe damage to the remaining ships of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, the Baltenflotte was disbanded before October 1941.

Black Sea
In the Black Sea, the main responsibility for naval matters fell to the Romanian Fleet (Romanian Royal Navy which were referred to as "NMS" Nava Majestati Sale. In 1939 there were 35 ocean going merchant vessels totaling 111,617 grt.

The Bulgarians had a very small navy which took no part in the war against Russia, but her merchant shipping such as it was consisted of 14 vessels with a 17646grt of ocean going vessels in 1939, were sometimes requisitioned (at a price) by the Germans.

NMS forces in the Black Sea in 1941 consist4ed roughly as follows:


The Navy was made up of two tactical units: the Sea Division and the Danube Division. There were also the smaller "Sulina" Naval Detachment and the Upper Danube Sector.

The Sea Division had the mission to defend the coast line from any enemy attack. It consisted in the Sea Naval Force, the "Constanta" Harbour Area Command, the "Constanta" Coastal Artillery Group (6 batteries), the Seaplane Flotilla (3 squadrons with 20 airplanes in total), the Naval Equipment and Materials Storehouses, the Service Group and the sedentary part of the Coastal Artillery Regiment.


The Sea Naval Force was made up of:

• the Destroyer Squadron: 4 ships
• the Gunboat Section: 3 ships
• the Corvette Section: 3 ships
• the Mine-laying Section: 5 ships
• the Submarine and Torpedo Boats Group: 1+3 ships

The Danube Division had the mission to defend the Romanian part of the river. It consisted in:

• the River Naval Force:
  • the Monitor Squadron: 3 ships
  • the Torpedo Boat Section: 2 ships
  • the Landing Company
  • the Underwater Defence Group
  • the Service Group
• the "Tulcea" Tactical Group:
  • the River Group: 2 monitors and 4 torpedo boats
  • the Underwater Defence Sector
  • the Supply Convoy

The "Sulina" Naval Detachment had the mission to secure the defence of the Danube Delta. It had three smaller detachments: "Sulina", "Periprava" and "Chilia Veche" and the Patrol Boat Section.

The Upper Danube Sector had the mission to defend the line along the river from Cazane to Portile-de-Fier. It was made up of 2 artillery batteries, a search-light section, a river boat section (2 ships), the sedentary part of the Marine Regiment and of the Navy Engineer Regiment.


On 22 June 1941, the navy had at its disposal 40 main military ships: 23 on the Black Sea and 17 on the Danube. The 4 DDs (NMS REGELE FERDINAND, NMS REGINA MARIA, NMS MARASESTI and NMS MARASTI) were the most important Romanian warships, but only the first two were newer (1928-29). Sub NMS DELFINUL was launched in 1936. The 3 corvettes (NMS NALUCA, MEUL and SBORUL) and the 3 gunboats (NMS GHICULESCU, STIHI and DUMITRESCU) were built before WWI. The 3 modern MTBs (NMS VIFORUL, VIJELIA and NMSVISCOLUL) and ML NMS AMIRAL MURGESCU were the most modern ships (from 1939).

On the Danube, the main warships were the 7 monitors (NMS KOGALNICEANU, BRATIANU, LAHOVARI, CATARGIU, BASARABIA, BUCOVINA, and ARDEAL). The first four were built in 1907 and the other three shortly before WWI. There were also 4 torpedo boats built in 1907, two armoured patrol boats and 5 riverboats imported from Czechoslovakia in 1940-41.

The Navy had requisitioned many ships (cargo-boats, tugs, oil tankers etc.) from the Romanian Maritime Service, the "Steaua Romana" company, the Romanian River Navigation company and others.

Soviet Forces
Northern Fleet
The fleet included 8 destroyers, 15 submarines, 2 torpedo boats, 7 patrol boats, 2 minesweepers, and 116 airplanes.

In August 1940, the Soviets created the White Sea Military Base to defend the coastline, bases, ports, and other installations. The "White Sea Flotilla" was established in August 1941

The Baltic Fleet

The Baltic Fleet is known to have consisted of at least the following units 22 June 1941
(Note in this account Soviet naval vessel will have the prefix VMF (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot), whilst merchant vessel will be simply prefixed SU):

3rd Battle Group:
BBs MARAT, OKTYABRASKAYA REVOLUSTIYA, DDs LENINGRAD, MINSK, ARTYOM, ENGELS, JAKOV SVERDLOV, KALININ, KARL MARX, VOLODARSKY

Light Battle Group:
CAs KIROV, MAKSIM GORKIY, DDs GNEVNOY, GRODNOY, GROZHJASHTSHY, SMETLIVOY AND STEREGUSHTSHY, STOROZHEVOI, STOIKII, SILNOI, SEREDITOI. DD LENIN was in refit at the time of the attack

There were 6 Novik Class DDs (WWI types), but I have been unable to pinpoint their names
65 subs organized into 4 "Submarine Brigades", 7 Escort Vessels, 39 Mine warfare Vessels, and 48 MTBs. Soon after the invasion there were many extemporized additions, and the river flotillas remain a bit of a mystery Im afraid.

The German submarine bases named Krefeld and Seeburg were established in Saaristomerre, Finland.

The precise size of the Soviet Merchant service is not known, but Lloyds register of ships in 1939, gives the Soviets 1,316, 766 tons in all areas, contained within 716 vessels. The average size of Soviet merchant vessel was small, at 1800 grt.

I have no data on the size of the merchant fleets for the Baltic States, now under soviet occupation. My guess is that they might have owned or controlled around 100000 tons each. Most of these ships had been divided up more or less evenly between Germany and USSR, with a few still working for the allies.


The Black Sea Fleet
BB PARIZHSKAYA KOMMUNA, CAs MOLOTOV, VOROSHILOV, KRASNI KAVKAZ, CLs CHERVONA UKRAINA, and KRASNI KRIM, DDs (Leaders), 2 x LENINGRAD class and TASHKENT, 6 Type 7 DDs, 5 Type 7U DDs, 4 x WWI Type Dds (Novik Class) 44 submarines, 2 ocen going gunboats 18 MSWs and 84 MTBs. There were numerous river craft of various types

East Front Naval Operations
Germany began the Baltic Sea campaign by laying a number of minefields just prior to and right after 21 June 1941. Specifically, the Germans laid three minefields in proximity to German waters – "Wartburg I" minefield off of the coast of Klaipeda (Memel), "Wartburg II" minefield between Karlskrona, Sweden, and Klaipeda (Memel), and "Wartburg III" minefield off of the Gotland coast close to Swedish waters. The primary purpose of these minefields was to prevent the Soviet Baltic Sea Fleet from attacking the vital German-Swedish commerce routes. In addition to establishing these mine fields, Helsinki became a German forward-area naval base. The Wartburg mining efforts were successful as they caused the Soviet navy to take losses in the early days of the war.

Although DKM had started its minelaying campaign in the Baltics a few days before Barbarossa, the first official naval action between the DKM and the Soviets forces is believed to have occurred at 0345 hours, 22 June 1941. Border Guard Boat (PV) MO-4 type motor ASW boat MO-238 (NKVD 57 grt)was intercepted by DKM S Boats and sunk with the claim awarded to DKM S-44.

On the same day, DKM S-Boat S-59 torpedoed and sank MV GAYSMA (SU 3077 grt) (cargo of timber), Master, 6 crew were lost / 2 were captured / 24 crew survived, while S-31 sank MV LIIZA (SU 782 GRT). Crew were captured.

VMF Fugas-class MSW TSZCZ-204 FUGAS laid over 200 mines near Libau between 22 and 23 June 1941 , which caused the sinking of MSW M-3134 (DKM 350 grt (est)) on 1 July 1941.

Other losses on this minefield
SC UJ-113 (DKM 550 grt) on 10/July.
PV V-309 MARTIN DONANDT (DKM 350 grt)on 28/October.
MSW M-1708 ALDEBARAN (DKM 700 grt) on 31/October.
MSW M-1706 GERTRUDE (DKM 700 grt) on 22/November.
Soviet Cargo Ships seized by the Axis on 22-6-41

The extent to which the Soviets were supporting the German war effort up to Barbarossa is indicated by the amount of shipping that was seized on the 22nd June.

According to Soviet Merchant Marine Losses in WW2, by Andrey Nelogov ( http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/Soviet_Merchant_Marine_Losses_in_WW2 )
the following losses were incurred 22-6-41
Steamer HILDUR (Est 1856 grt) at Stettin. Renamed RIMAGE.
Steamer AUSEJKUS (UK 1309 grt). Renamed CORTELSBURG.
Steamer DNESTR (SU 3580 grt). Renamed PERNAU, Master and 34 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
Steamer ELTON (SU 1799 grt). Renamed INSTERBURG. Master and 31 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin
Steamer KAGANOVITCH (SU 3663 grt). Renamed LIBAU. one of Soviet Leaders, Chief of Soviet Railways) Cargo ship / 3663 BRT / Baltic State Shipping Co. / Capt.S.N.Ermolaev; Master and 42 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
Steamer KHASAN (SU 3979 grt). Renamed PALATIA.
Steamer MAGNITOGORSK (SU 3566 grt). Renamed TROSTBURG. Master and 38 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Danzig.
Steamer SPIDOLA (Lat 2833 grt). Renamed RUDAU.
Steamer TALLINN (SU 4479 grt). Renamed DITMAR KOEL.
Steamer VOLGOLES (SU 3946 grt). Renamed CALMAR. Baltic State Shipping Co. Master and 34 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin. One of Volgoles type timber carriers
Steamer hopper MAJA (SU 550 grt (est))was built at Hamburg for Russia, completing trials on the 19th, was seized by the Germans. .
MV HASAN (SU 3979 grt) Baltic State Shipping Co. Master and 35 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
MV ANDREJS KALNINS (SU 3002 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 35 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV ARIA (SU 3678 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV AUSMA (SU 1905 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 35 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
MV VALDONA (SU 3042 grt)Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 8 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Rotterdam.
MV GAUJA (SU 1408 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 19 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin
MV GUNDEGA (SU 3583 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 29 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV DOLE (SU 3811 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV KANGARS (SU 2722 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Hamburg.
MV KAUPO (SU 2905 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 26 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV KLINTS (SU 1250 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and crew were blocked in Port of Lissabon.
MV CONSUL P.DANNEBERG (SU 2747 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 24 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
MV KRIVS (SU 1340 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co. / Capt.K.Steins; Master and 19 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Hamburg.
MV SPORTS (SU 3283 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 23 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Danzig.
MV TAUTMILA (SU 3724 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 5 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Rotterdam.
MV EVERONIKA (SU 3743 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co; Master and 29 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV EVERTONS (SU 4107 grt) Latvian State Shipping Co.; Master and 34 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
SAILING VESSEL GUN (SU 1600 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. She was captured by Germans in Copenhagen.
MV IRENE (SU 620 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. She was captured by Germans in Copenhagen.
MV KADRI (SU 2775 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co.; Master and 30 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Gotenhaven.
MV KOIDULAA (SU 3741 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co.; Master and 33 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Lubeck.
MV MAI (SU 1549 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 33 crew were arrested in Sweden.
MV PEET (SU 2111 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 30 were arrested in Sweden.
MV SIGRID (SU 1809 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Stettin.
MV TALLINN (SU 7800 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 39 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Gotenhaven.
MV TOOMAS (SU 1372 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and crew were detained in Sweden.
MV HILDUR (SU 1856 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Hamburg.
MV EGON (SU 607 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and crew were taken prisoners in Denmark.
FERRY ESTONIA (SU 1080 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. She was captured by Germans at Sea on route from Stockholm and Tallinn. Master and 29 crew were taken prisoners.
MV KOIDULA (SU 1893 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Master and 27 crew were taken prisoners in Port of Koenigsberg.
TUG PERKUNAS (SU 150 grt)She was sunk by German aircrafts
FERRY RUHNO (SU 498 grt) Estonian State Shipping Co. Leningrad Sea Port Canal; Mines; 3 crew were lost

 

[parsifal]

22 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
none

Losses
U-141 sank Steamer CALABRIA (SD 1277 grt) in the Western Approaches. The vessel was on passage from Freetown to Humber via Belfast when lost, transporting palm kernels and copra. A crew of 24 was aboard, 3 of whom were to be lost in the attack At 0329 hrs the unarmed CALABRIA, a straggler from convoy SL-76 due to a foul bottom since 4 June, was hit on the starboard side aft of amidships by one torpedo from U-141 and sank by the stern after 30 minutes about 100 miles 280° from Inishtrahull Lightship. The ship had been missed with the first two torpedoes at 0027 and 0213 hours. Three crew members on watch below were killed by the explosion. All survivors, four of them injured, abandoned ship in the port lifeboat about ten minutes after the hit because the starboard boat had been destroyed in the attack. While the lifeboat sailed for the nearby coast, they observed an outbound convoy and twice spotted an aircraft without being able to attract attention until a third aircraft finally saw them about three miles off land and alerted DDs HMS COSSACK and SIKH, which were on an ASW patrol in the area and had inspected the Swedish ship a few days before the attack. At 2300 hrs on 23 June, the survivors were picked up by the latter about 1,5 miles from Inishtrahull, transferred to HMS GUARDIAN and landed at Londonderry.

U-77 sank Steamer ARAKAKA (UK 2379 grt) in the Nth Atlantic The ship was travelling to St johns when lost, empty and with a crew of 40, all of whom were to lose their lives. At 2236 hrs the unescorted ARAKAKA was hit at the aft end of the engine room by one stern torpedo fired by U-77 and sank by the stern within one minute about 450 miles east of St. John's, Newfoundland. The U-boat had spotted the slowly moving vessel about one hour earlier in heavy fog and had some troubles getting into a favorable attack position due to deteriorating visibility and high seas, losing contact momentarily until eventually carrying out a submerged torpedo attack from a distance of less than 600 meters. Surfacing after the attack, the U-boat investigated the sinking position and found a large oil slick, a wide field of debris and a few survivors clinging to an upturned lifeboat. They were questioned by the Germans, who apparently misunderstood the name of the ship as the Greek steam merchant ALEXANDRIA. The master, 35 crew members, one gunner and three meteorological office personnel were lost. The ship had been employed as a weather observation ship in the Atlantic since September 1940.

Steamer BALZAC (UK 5372 grt) was sunk by DKM disguised raider ATLANTIS she was sunk 400 miles E of Maceio, Brazil. Two crewmen were killed and one died on the steamer. 45 crewmen were made PoWs.

UBOATS
Departures
Horten: U-373

At Sea 22 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-96, U-101, U-103, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-137, U-140, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-144, U-145, U-146, U-149, U-201, U-202, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-556, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-562, U-564, U-651, U-751, UA

41 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Baltic
(See Previous Posts)

Northern Waters
DD HEYTHROP arrived at Scapa Flow to work up.

ASW trawler BEECH (RN 540 grt) was sunk by the LW at Scrabster (far nth of the Scottish mainland. The skipper was lost with the trawler.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

West Coast
Submarine SEVERN unsuccessfully attacked a submarine in 40-44N, 14-20E

Med/Biscay
Submarine THRASHER departed Gibraltar with supplies for Malta, arriving on the 29th.

Submarine UNION sank steamer PIETRO QUERINI (FI 1004 grt) south of Pantelleria.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Vichy DD VAUQUELIN, which arrived on the 21st from Toulon, was damaged by FAA airstrikes at Beirut.

British tankerPASS OF BALMAHA departed Alexandria escorted by sloops AUCKLAND and RAN PARRAMATTA for Tobruk.

Greek store ship ANTIKLIA departed Alexandria for Tobruk, escorted by sloop FLAMINGO. Due to air attacks on the tanker convoy, this group was ordered on the 25th to remain at Mersa Matruh.

Submarine THRASHER departed Gibraltar with stores for Malta and Alexandria.

Central Atlantic
DDs WISHART and DUNCAN with troopship SCYTHIA arrived at Gibraltar. DDs FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, FORESTER, FOXHOUND, and FURY departed Gibraltar on the 22nd to intercept a German supply ship sighted by ocean boarding vessel MARSDALE.

British ship CORBRAE and ASW whalers KOS 10 and KOS 11 departed Gibraltar for Freetown, with local escort of DD ERIDGE

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 22 JUNE TO DAWN 23 JUNE 1941

Weather Hot and sunny.

1118-1135 hrs Air raid alert for four separate formations of two or more aircraft approaching from the north. One formation turns at 35 miles and recedes. A second circles at about 45 miles from Malta. Two Macchi 200s approach to within eight miles of Gozo. 27 Hurricanes are scrambled, of which six intercept and attack, shooting down one Macchi 200 fighter into the sea. A search finds no survivors. A second escapes by executing a spinning dive almost to sea level before pulling out. The remaining enemy fighters in the area turn away on the approach of the Hurricanes.

2015 hrs A submarine is reported surfacing three miles north of Marsalforn Bay, Gozo.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SUNDAY 22 JUNE 1941

ROYAL NAVY Union successful attack, sank 2800 ton ship.

AIR HQ Arrivals 4 Blenheim. Departures 69 Squadron 5 Marylands on reconnaissance; 1 Hurricane on photo-reconnaissance. 82 Squadron 6 Blenheims attacked convoy; one failed to return.

KALAFRANA A Swordfish floatplane manned by personnel of Fleet Air Arm was allocated permanently to Kalafrana to augment existing facilities for rescue work.

 

[parsifal]

23 JUNE 1941
Known Reinforcements
Allied
White 73' Type MTB 46

Losses
Steamer HULL TRADER (UK 717 grt), formerly SS EDITH, was sunk on a mine one mile 270° from No.57C Buoy, Cromer. Eleven crewmen were lost on the steamer.

Steamer TRELISSICK (UK 5265 grt) was sunk by the LW 3½ miles 114° from Sheringham Buoy, Cromer. Two crewmen were lost on the steamer.

U-BOATS
Departures
Kiel: U-451
Lorient: U-66
St Nazaire: U-98

At Sea 23 June 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-79, U-96, U-98, U-101, U-103, U-107, U-108, U-111, U-123, U-137, U-140, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-144, U-145, U-146, U-149, U-201, U-202, U-203, U-204, U-371, U-552, U-553, U-556, U-557, U-558, U-559, U-561, U-562, U-564, U-651, U-751, UA

43 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Baltic
East Front

Baltic
Type IX (Stalinec) Class Sub S-1 (VMF 840 grt) was sunk off the Hiiumaa coast.

DKM S Boat S-44 torpedoed and sank MV ALF (SU 166 grt) whilst S-43 sank the Lightship KHIUMADAL (SU 150 grt(est)

German sources claim Soviet S101 was lost near Hiiumaa island, however Soviet sources state this ship survived the war, not being discarded until the 1950's. USN intelligence reports from the '50s support this, so I have disallowed the claim. That same day, the Soviet CA "MAXIM GORKI" hit a German 250kg mine in the Apolda mine field. She made it to Tallinn, was made seaworthy again and proceeded to Kronstadt a few days later. On 28 June 1941, five German S-boats boldly entered Liepaja harbor and took the port. The German 291.Infanterie-Division arrived a day later.

In addition to the Baltic Sea, minor naval engagements also took place on Estonia's Lake Peipus. In 1915, the Russian first formed a small fleet on Lake Peipus. During the interwar period, Tartu was the home of the Estonian Lake Peipus Fleet. The largest vessels were approximatley 140 ton gunboats armed with 102mm, 75mm and 47mm guns. All of these-Estonian boats were heavily damaged through Luftwaffe attacks. Once the Germans had secured the area, they repaired all of the boats for their own use.

Serie VI Bis submarine M.78 (VMF 161 grt) was sunk by U.144 east of Ventspils, Latvia, west of Windau.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Gnevnyi class DD GNEVNY (VMF 1855 grt) was sunk by a mine off Hango.

Gnevnyi class DD BYSTRYI (VMF 1855 grt) was sunk by the LW at Sevastapool. Some sources are in conflict with this claim, saying the ship was lost to mines. Perhaps the ship was lost to a mine dropped by LW a/c?

Ex-Latvian Ronis Class Sub RONIS (VMF 350 grt) was scuttled by the retreating Soviet Army at Libau to prevent her capture by the Germans.

Ex-Latvian Ronis Class Sub SPIDOLA (VMF 350 grt)was scuttled by the retreating Soviet Army at Libau to prevent her capture by the Germans.

Black Sea/Caspian
Battle of Danube (or Tulcea).
(my apologies for my poor translation of Soviet history)

The clashes on Danube river on the first days of war are still unclear and go largely unreported in western accounts. The Romanians deployed their riverine monitors and claims that Basarabia and Mihail Kogalniceanu clashed in two consecutive days against their soviet rivals.

They claimed to have hit at least 3 soviet monitors, 2 patrol boats, 1 tug and to have sunk another patrol boat.

Actually they clashed against the monitors ROSTOVTSEV, ZHEMCHUZHIN and ZHELEZNAKOV supported by small BK gunboats.

Painting of ZHELEZNAKOV.

There are more details about the first engagement.: the Romanians shelled the Soviet bank (with unclear effects, also shelling civilian areas) to focus later on the Soviet monitor. ZHELEZNAKOV suffered moderate damages after a near miss, the Soviet units returned fire even if they mostly focused on ground targets (batteries).

There are even less details about the skirmish on day 23 June, but Soviet units suffered no damage.

There are not clear details for now about the Romanian evaluation of the soviet fire.

The operations on Danube river were ended by August: most of the soviet units managed to reach the open sea and overcome the Romanian attempts to prevent it (such block was attempted only with batteries).

North Sea
MSW trawler NOGI (RN 299 grt) was sunk by the LW off Norfolk.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

British steamer CAMROUX II was damaged on a mine one mile NE of No.17 Buoy, Flamborough Head. The steamer was towed to Immingham.

British steamer TOLWORTH was damaged by the LW in the NthSea. The steamer was drydocked in the Tyne for repairs.

Northern Patrol
CL NIGERIA arrived at Scapa Flow from Faroes Iceland patrol. CL MANCHESTER and DD ECLIPSE departed Iceland to relieve CA SUFFOLK on Denmark Straits patrol.

Med/Biscay
Vichy DD GUEPARD was engaged by CLA NAIAD and CL LEANDER and DDs JAGUAR, KINGSTON, and RAN NIZAM north of Beirut.. GUEPARD was damaged by British gunfire, whilst CL LEANDER was struck by one shell which did not explode.

DDs JERVIS, HAVOCK, HOTSPUR, and DECOY were carrying ASW sweeps in the area.

Following temporary repairs at Alexandria, light cruiser ORION departed Alexandria on the 23rd for Port Said to have her catapult re-embarked. The cruiser departed Aden for Simonstown on the 29th. At Simonstown, her catapult was removed and installed on CVS ALBATROSS.

The CL crossed the Pacific and departed Balboa on 28 August. ORION arrived at MareIsland on 5 September and was under repair until 15 February 1942.

There was a German air raid on Alexandria from 0315 to 0510 on the 23rd. BB WARSPITE was slightly damaged by a near miss of a heavy bomb.Two bulges were flooded.

Nth Atlantic
Convoy HX.133 was sighted by U.203.

Central Atlantic
Supply ship ALSTERTOR (DKM 3039 grt) was located on the 22nd by Ocean boarding vessel MARSDALE and a Catalina aircraft, but contact was lost. The supply ship scuttled in 41-12N, 13-10W after she was intercepted by destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, FORESTER, FOXHOUND, and FURY of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla.

The ALSTERTOR was built as reefer vessel in Sweden for Norwegian owners. She was bought by Sloman, Hamburg for the South-American fruit-run (Hamburg-Santos) but taken over one year later by the Kriegsmarine. She then served as supply vessel in the Indian and Atlantic Ocean. On 22. of June 1941 she was on voyage for France. On board were many prisoners of ships which were scuttled by the DKM Raider ATLANTIS.

She was spotted on latitude off Gibraltar. She was then chased by the RN DDs FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, FORESTER, FORESIGHT, FOXHOUND and MARSDALE. Finally the crew scuttled the ship south off Cap Finisterre. They were then picked up by the pursuing RN DDs. Survivors from the ship included 78 British pows from British steamers TRAFALGAR and RABAUL.

The DDs then proceeded to meet CVL FURIOUS arriving from the Clyde. Submarine P.33, which had also been searching for the German ship was ordered to continue her passage to Gibraltar.

Dutch submarine O.24 arrived at Gibraltar from patrol in the Mediterranean.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 23 JUNE TO DAWN 24 JUNE 1941
Weather Hot and sunny.

No air raids.

Two submarines were reported surfacing three and six miles respectively from Marsalforn. Swordfish are sent to investigate but see nothing. It was suspected that the submarines were searching for the missing pilot of a Macchi fighter shot down yesterday.

OPERATIONS REPORTS MONDAY 23 JUNE 1941

ROYAL NAVY 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 5 Swordfish despatched to attack Spanish Quay and port facilities in TripoliHarbour. 7000 lbs of high explosives and 450 lbs of incendiaries were dropped. Direct hits were observed on the railway, and a fire is started near a customs house.

AIR HQ Arrivals 1 Sunderland, 1 Heinkel 115 float plane. Departures 8 Blenheim. 4 Hurricanes attacked flying boats moored at Syracuse, scoring a number of hits on boats, a hangar and barracks. 69 Squadron 4 Marylands on reconnaissance; 1 Hurricane on photo-reconnaissance. 82 Squadron 3 Blenheims attacked an enemy ship near Kerkennah; scored near-misses. Two aircraft went out for a second attempt to sink the ship but it had disappeared.

 

[Njaco]

June 23 Monday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: British vessel "Trelissick" and British minesweeping trawler "Nogi" are sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft.

Convoy HX-133: In the North Atlantic, the largest convoy battle to date begins around HX-133. Ten U-boats are concentrated to attack the convoy, which at first has four escorts. After leaving Halifax, the convoy had just sufficient time to form up when dense fog came in and remained for four or five days. During this time there were several collisions resulting in five ships having to return to port.

ASIA: German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sends a cable message to Japan, urging them to attack the Soviet Union to the north. Japan decides to wait until Germans capture Moscow and reach the line of the Volga river. At an official conference in Japan of army-navy executives and civilian government representatives, the decision is made to adopt a north-south integration strategy. The military would be ready to move in either or both directions, depending on future events.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: The German offensive continues to make astonishing progress, spearheaded by the armored and motorized forces. German Panzers penetrate 40-50 miles into Soviet territory. German panzer units begin to meet Soviet tank formations rushing to the front. The Soviet columns are badly organized and depleted because of constant air attacks. The Soviet Army's counter-attack near Tilsit, Ostpreußen, Germany (now Sovetsk, Russia) was beaten back. Meanwhile, German forces crossed the Bug River, penetrating 50 miles beyond the Soviet lines. On the approaches to Vilnius, German tank columns bypass pockets of resistance and drive deep into the Soviet rear areas.

Armeegruppe Nord: German 18.Armee crosses into Latvia. German 4.Panzergruppe (Hoeppner) defeated a Soviet counterattack and continues pushing toward Dvina river while 16.Armee pushes toward the Niemen river. 4.Panzergruppe has advanced almost 50 miles.

The German 6.Panzerdivision encountered Soviet KV tanks for the first time at the Dubysa River in Lithuania. German General Reinhard was surprised to learn that the Soviet military possessed such a heavy tank, especially after learning that some German 105-millimeter shells were bouncing off the thick armor, and that some KV tanks had reportedly crushed German vehicles and guns by driving over them.

Armeegruppe Mitte: German 3.Panzergruppe (Hoth) captures Grodno and have captured bridges over the Niemen River. 2.Panzergruppe (Guderian) pushes toward Slutsk and have made deep penetrations on either side of Brest Litovsk.

Armeegruppe Sud: German 6.Armee advances into the Pripet marshes. 1.Panzergruppe (Kleist) has made some ground but the Soviet defense in their southern front is stronger. 1.Panzergruppe captures Berestechko and reaches the Styr river (see Battle of Brody ) and 17.Armee pushes toward Lvov.

The Battle of Brody: was a tank battle fought between the 1.Panzergruppe's III Armeekorps and XLVIII Armeekorps (Motorized) and five mechanized corps of the Soviet 5th Army and 6th Army in the triangle formed by the towns Dubno, Lutsk, and Brody. Although the Red Army formations inflicted heavy losses on the German forces, they were outmaneuvered and suffered enormous losses in tanks. This was one of the most intense armoured engagements in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa and one of the largest tank battles of World War II. 1.Panzergruppe, led by Generaloberst Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, was ordered to secure the Bug River crossings and advance to Rovno and Korosten with the strategic objective of Kiev. It deployed two Corps forward and advanced between Lviv and Rovno in an attempt to cut the Lviv–Kiev railway line, thus driving a wedge along junction point between the Soviet 5th and 6th Armies. Stavka ordered a general counter-attack under the title of directive No. 3 on the authority of Chief of General Staff Georgy Zhukov. Six Soviet mechanized corps, with over 2,500 tanks, were massed to take part in a concentric counter-attack through the flanks of 1.Panzergruppe. The intention was to later attempt a pincer movement from the north (Soviet 5th Army) and south (6th Army) that met west of Dubno in order to trap units of the 6th and 17th German Armies on the northern flank of Armeegruppe Sud. The Soviets sent their surviving aircraft to support the offensive. The air battle resulted in heavy casualties for the attacking Soviets. JG 3, under the command of Fliegerkorps IV, shot down 24 Tupolev SBs on the first day. Among the casualties was the commander of 86 SBAP, Lt.-Col. Sorokin. Just 20 of the initial 251 SBs remained with the unit. German losses were also heavy, with 28 destroyed and 23 damaged aircraft (including 8 He 111s and Ju 88s). Many Soviet front-line commanders were left to their own devices, and this had an impact on the effectiveness of Soviet command and control. In one instance, the commander to the 41st Tank Division of the 22nd Mechanized Corps, for want of any new directives, moved his division to the designated assembly point for his corps at Kovel laid out in the pre-war plan, and in so doing, moved his division away from the fighting. As a result of these and other problems assembling the forces for the attack, the scheduled time for the operation was set back 6 hours to 04:00 on 24 June. By the time this decision was made on the evening 23 June, barely 48 hours since the war had begun, the 11.Panzerdivision, with the 16. Panzerdivision traveling in its wake, had already penetrated 40 miles into Soviet territory. The 13. and 14. Panzerdivisionen were well their way up the road to Lutsk with the objective of reaching the Styr River on the 24th, and the 44., 298., and 299. Infanterie-Divisionen were moving up to consolidate the advance. Even with the delayed schedule, the counter-attack began piecemeal, since the full complement of forces could not be brought into position until two days later. Only two tank divisions of 15th Mechanized Corps in the south and a single tank division of 22nd Mechanized Corps in the north were in position to begin the attack on the 24th.

From the air, German Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed another 1,200 Soviet aircraft on this day. In Army Group North, the Messerschmitts of JG 54 fly against Soviet bombers raiding the German advance. At 1145 hours the fighters of JG 54 intercept a formation of nine Russian SB-2 bombers over the Kedainiai area. Eight of the bombers are shot down. The last bomber is attacked by Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9 Staffel who nearly exhausts his ammunition trying to bring the twin-engined plane down. Running low on fuel and ammunition, Obstlt. Bob tries one more time and comes to within fifty meters and scores hits on the Russian plane. As he pulls up over the burning bomber, the Russian rear gunner fires and damages Obstlt. Bob's Messerschmitt. Unable to return to base, Obstlt. Bob belly lands in a clearing 200 kilometers behind the lines. Sustaining no injuries, Obstlt. Bob makes his escape into some nearby woods and prepares to make it back to the German lines. In Army Group Center JG 27 loses Wilhelm Wiesinger when he is killed in combat. He has ten aerial victories. In Army Group South, Hptm. Woitke of II./JG 52 shoots down three Russian I-16s during a single sortie. Hptm. Bernhard Woldenga, Kommodore of JG 77, is appointed Kommodore of JG 27 in place of the captured Major Schnellmann. Hptm. Woldenga's place at JG 77 is taken by Major Gotthard Handrick, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 52. Major Albert Blumensaat, Gruppenkommandeur of Erg. Gruppe JG 77, is posted as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 52 in place of the departing Major Handrick. The Luftwaffe claims 775 Russian aircraft destroyed during the day, many of them on the ground.

General Kopets, commander of Soviet bomber forces, commits suicide.

German submarine U-144 sank Soviet submarine M-78 9 miles west of Vindava, Latvia at 0654 hours, killing all 15 aboard. Soviet destroyer "Gnevniy" hit a mine and sank off the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia. Soviet destroyer "Bystryb" hit a mine and sank in the Black Sea off Sevastopol, Russia. Soviet submarines "Ronis", "Spidola", and S-1 were scuttled by their own crews at Libau, Latvia to prevent German capture.

Light cruiser "Voroshilov" bombarded Constanza, Romania.

German Gestapo leader Mueller issued directives to the Gestapo office in the city of Tilsit, Germany (now Sovetsk, Russia) to set up Einsatkommando Tilsit which would be responsible for killing Jews in Lithuania.

Stavka was created with Stalin and Molotov as civilian members. Timoshenko, Zhukov, Voroshilov, and Budenny serve as Red Army members of Stavka and Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov serves as Red Fleet member. Beria, Shaposhnikov, Meretskov, Vatutin, Kulik, Zhigarev, Voronov, Mikoyan, Kaganovich, Voznesensky, Zhdanov, Malenkov, and Mekhlis appointed as advisors to Stavka.

Pavelic government of Croatia offers to send troops to fight under German command against Soviet Union.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 62 aircraft to attack Cologne, 41 aircraft to attack Dusseldorf and 26 aircraft to attack Kiel overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: Mussolini offers to send an Italian expeditionary corps of three divisions to join German forces on the Russian Front.

MIDDLE EAST: The 5,000 man 1st Greek Brigade was established by the British in Palestine under the command of Colonel Ev. Antoniou. The Brigade (under Colonel Pafsanias Katsotas) would later see action in 1942 at El Alamein in Egypt as a part of the British 50th Division.

HMAS "Nizam", (destroyer), and HM Ships "Naiad", "Leander", "Jaguar", and "Kingston", engaged the French destroyers "Guepard" and "Valmy", in a running battle 10 miles north of Beirut, Syria, (now Lebanon). The enemy vessels withdrew into port.

NORTH AMERICA: US Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Stark ordered the 1st Defense Battalion of the Fleet Marine Force of the US Marine Corps to be established at Wake Island as soon as possible.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Juozas Ambrzevicius (Juozas Brazaitis), one of the leaders of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF), began serving as the acting PM of the Provisional Government of Lithuania and continued to August 5, 1941. He died in exile in 1974.

UNITED KINGDOM: The Southern Railway Central Station in London, England, damaged by German bombing over the night of 21 to 22 Jun 1941, was cleared of debris and returned to full operational status.

Britain completes the first chain of three GEE aircraft guidance stations.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 39 aircraft on anti-shipping missions and Circus missions heavily escorted by Fighter Command. RAF 11 Group Circus 19 was an attack on Chocques by 21 Blenheim IVs of 2 (B) Group. The operation was escorted by 18 fighter squadrons. A formation of Spitfires is bounced by Bf 109s from I./JG 26. Lt. Josef 'Pips' Priller of 1./JG 26 destroys a RAF Spitfire over the Somme Estuary while Oblt. Johannes Seifert of 3./JG 26 claims a Spitfire near Samer. Oblt. Heinz Gottlob, also of 1./JG 26 destroys a Spitfire. JG 2 loses Carl-Hans Röders who has eight combat victories when he is killed in action. R.A.F. No. 11 Group Circus 20 was an attack on the airfield at Mardyck. Six Blenheim IVs of 2 (B) Group were escorted by 14 fighter squadrons and lost 2 bombers. 13-5-4 were claimed for 2 aircraft lost.

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[Njaco]

June 24 Tuesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy HX-133: A big day for U-boat U-203. Convoy HX-133 was attacked by U-203 at 0140 hours resulting in Norwegian vessel S/S "Soloy" being torpedoed and sunk. U-203 then attacked and sunk British vessel "Kinross" and Dutch vessel "Schie". The convoy was again attacked at 1800 hours by U-651, resulting in British vessel S/S "Brockley Hill" also being torpedoed and sunk. Finally, Norwegian vessel "Vigrid" was attacked and sunk by U-371.

ASIA: Japan asserted pressure on France for Indochina.

Japanese bombers attacked Chongqing, China again, damaging the British Consulate among other buildings.

IJN aircraft carrier "Hiyo" launched after conversion from passenger liner.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: The German attacks continue to make rapid gains. In the Baltics, Kaunas is captured as is Vilna, farther east, by forces of 3.Panzergruppe (left flank of Armeegruppe Mitte). Farther south, the Soviet garrison of the fortress town of Brest-Litovsk, which is now far behind the front line, is assaulted by forces of German 4.Armee (right flank of Armeegruppe Mitte).

Armeegruppe Nord: Forces of German Armeegruppe Nord moved into Lithuania and Byelorussia. German 16.Armee captures Kaunas. Finnish forces land and occupy the previously demilitarized Aaland islands.

Armeegruppe Mitte: German 3.Panzergruppe captures Wilno (Vilna) as 2.Panzergruppe pushes toward Baranovichi. German 4.Armee attacking Soviet defenders besieged in Brest-Litovsk but Soviet 15th and 22nd Mechanized Corps counterattacked the German Panzer group.

Armeegruppe Sud: German 17.Armee captures Nemirov. Ivan Bagramyan attempted to launch a counterattack against German advances in Ukraine, but it would fail to achieve much due to the unprepared state of his troops.

The Battle of Brody: Gustav Shrodek, a tank commander of the 15.Panzer Regiment (11.Panzerdivision), recorded the scene:

"At dawn of June 24th, the regiment underwent its first attack by Russian bombers. It shall not be the only one this day; completely the opposite. As a result of this the regiment now has several dead and wounded."

Near total Luftwaffe air superiority was to be a major factor in breaking up the Soviet counter-attack. Three Soviet formations deployed a potent force of modern T-34 and KV tanks: the 4th, 8th, and 15th Mechanized Corps. The 717 such tanks comprised almost a half of the country's 1,600 production of these two models. There was little to no communication between the individual corps to ensure co-ordination. The 22.Mechanisierte Korps attacked towards Voinitsa. The battle between 1.Panzergruppe and the Soviet mechanized corps was the fiercest of the whole invasion, lasting four full days. The Soviets fought furiously and crews of German tank and anti-tank guns found to their horror that the new Soviet T-34 tanks were almost immune to their weapons. The new KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks were impervious to virtually all German anti-tank weapons, but the Red Army's logistics had completely broken down due to Luftwaffe attacks. The five Red Army corps were mishandled while being concentrated into large powerful groups. The German troops sought to isolate individual units and destroy them. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe ranging over the battlefields was able to separate the supporting infantry and deny them resupply of fuel and ammunition. Ultimately due to lack of adequate planning and overall coordination, the Soviet counter-attack failed to meet at Dubno.

Leningrad Military District was redesignated Soviet Northern Front, commanded by General Popov. General Aleksei Antonov appointed Chief of Staff, Southwestern Front.

In the Northern sector Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9./JG 54 continues to make his way to German lines. At one point he enters what he believes is an abandoned hut in the woods. Opening the door he comes face to face with two Russian soldiers. Obstlt. Bob determines that the Russians are deserters and after a short greeting, quickly leaves the two soldiers in the hut. In the Central sector Moscow is subjected to two raids of 115 Luftwaffe bombers then another 100 bombers during the day.

The Russian NKVD executes Major Schnellmann, the captured Kommodore of JG 27. Hptm. Franz von Werra, famous for his escape from Canada, takes over as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 53 when Oblt. Wilfried Balfanz goes missing in action. Oblt. Balfanz had ten victories flying with JG 51 and JG 53.

The fighters of JG 51 destroy fifty-seven Lend-lease Martin bombers the Russians use to raid the German front line. Gefr. Anton "Toni" Hafner of 8./JG 51 scores his first victory as does Hans Strelow who gets his first kill. Karl-Heinz Schnell, another pilot with Gefr. Hafner's 8th Staffel, begins the day with nine kills to his credit and destroys six Russian aircraft to almost double his victory total. The Kommodore of JG 51, Obstlt. Mölders only gets one kill for the day, a Russian SB-2 to bring his score to seventy-four victories.

In Russia a Council of Evacuation was set up with emergency powers to oversee the evacuation of machinery, skilled workers and food stuffs on a large scale, away from the German advance.

Soviet Air Force Directorate chief Pavel Rychagov, as well as his wife Maria Nesterenko, a famed aviatrix, were arrested during the purge of the Soviet Air Force. Soviet Deputy Defense Commissar General Kirill Meretskov was arrested by agents of the 3rd NKO Directorate. He would later be cleared of suspicion in Sep 1941 and was given front line command once again.

Hungary broke relations with the Soviet Union.

The entire Jewish male population of Gorzhdy, Lithuania, was exterminated.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 54 aircraft to attack Cologne, 48 aircraft to attack Kiel and 31 aircraft to attack Dusseldorf overnight. A RAF Handley Page Halifax four-engined bomber is destroyed by a night-fighter version of the Bf 110C with a nose mounted cannon.

MEDITERRANEAN: "Scirè" launched manned torpedoes into Grand Harbour, Malta. They failed to damage any enemy vessels.

All day, German and Italian bombers attack British sloop HMS "Auckland" and Australian sloop HMAS "Parramatta", escorting tanker "Pass of Balmaha" from Alexandria to Tobruk with 750 tons of aviation fuel. At 1736 hours, HMS "Auckland" is hit by a bomb which destroys her stern and then capsizes (38 killed). 162 crew are rescued from the water by HMAS "Parramatta", under continued dive bomb attack, before HMS "Auckland" explodes and sinks. "Pass of Balmaha" is damaged by near-misses and towed into Tobruk by Australian destroyer HMAS "Waterhen".

RAF bombers attack Benghazi and Tripoli.

MIDDLE EAST: Australian 25th Infantry Brigade recaptures Merjayun.

NORTH AMERICA: Roosevelt announces United States will send aid to the Soviet Union.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Captured whaler "Adjutant" with German prize crew arrives in New Zealand waters for minelaying operations.

UNITED KINGDOM: British House of Commons voted for the second £1,000,000,000 war credit of the year as war expenditure now exceeded £10,250,000 per day.

WESTERN FRONT: Large demonstrations began in Madrid, Spain in support of the German invasion of the Soviet Union; demonstrations soon spread to other parts of Spain. Spanish Foreign Minister Ramón Serrano Suñer encourages Spaniards to volunteer to fight with Germany against Russia. Within days, 18,000 openings for a complete division are filled. Agustin Muñoz Guardes is selected as General. The unit becomes known as the Blue Division.

RAF Bomber Command sends 18 aircraft on a Circus mission heavily escorted by Fighter Command. RAF 11 Group Circus 21 was an attack on the Thermal Power-Station at Comines. Seventeen RAF 2 Group Blenheims made rendezvous with the Escort Wing, at 2000 hours at 5.000 ft., over Martlesham. Before setting-course 2 bombers returned to base early due technical failures. The remainder proceeded to Comines, making landfall over Dunkirk at 12,000 ft. and dropping 7.5-tons GP bombs from 10,000 ft. The formation returned via Dunkirk and Dungeness without event. Several combats occurred in which 9-7-5 was claimed for the loss of 2 pilots.

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[Njaco]

June 25 Wednesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Greek vessel "Anna Bulgaris" was sunk by U-77 and Greek vessels "Ellinico" and "Nicolas Pateras" were sunk by U-108.

ASIA: Japanese Imperial General Headquarters agrees to use troops if necessary to force France to allow bases in southern Indochina. Japanese Imperial General Headquarters sets deadline of 10 August for decision about attacking Soviet Union, thus allowing time to concentrate troops and conduct campaign before winter.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa:
Armeegruppe Nord: Soviet 12th Mechanized Corps attacked German 4.Panzergruppe with KV and T-34 tanks. Escorted by warships of the Northern Fleet, Soviet ground reinforcements were transported by sea to Murmansk. Soviet defenses stiffen around Murmansk, stopping the Germans short of their goal. The Germans would never capture the vital supply port. General Popov of Soviet Northern Front orders construction of defensive line from Kingisepp to Lake Ilmen to protect Leningrad.

Armeegruppe Mitte: Major Russian forces are close to being surrounded in the Bialystok area by Panzer units of Armeegruppe Mitte. The forces of Soviet West Front (Pavlov), principally deployed in the Bialystok salient and containing forces of the Soviet 3rd Army (Kuznetsov) southwest of Grodno and 10th Army (Golubev) west of Bialystok as well as 4th Army (Korobkov) to the south of the salient, are threatened by a double envelopment by the infantry of the German 9.Armee and 4.Armee (of Armeegruppe Mitte) marching from the north and south. German 2.Panzergruppe captures Baranovichi, threatening to encircle Soviet Western Front. In the evening, German 47.Panzerkorps (part of 2.Panzergruppe) cuts the main route from Bialystok to the east, between Wolkowysk and Slonim, isolating the Soviet 3rd and 10th Armies in the Bialystok salient. General Pavlov's Soviet Western Front begins disintegrating under these attacks by German Armeegruppe Mitte. The Soviet 13th Army withdrew from Maladzyechna.

Armeegruppe Sud: Armeegruppe Sud meets stiff opposition as the Soviet Southwest Front concentrates large tank formations in front of the advancing 1.Panzergruppe. Soviet counter attacks around Grodno continue but begin to falter. German Army 1.Panzergruppe captured Dubno and Lutsk in Ukraine. German 17.Armee engaged around Lvov.

In the North Obstlt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob of 9./JG 54 comes upon a German column and rejoins his Geschwader. Soviet Air Force attacked several Finnish airfields, hoping to destroy Luftwaffe aircraft believed to be stationed there. The fighters of II./JG 27 and III./JG 53 in the Central sector each claim twenty-five Russian bombers shot down by each Geschwader Gruppen. Lt. Gustav Langanke of 5./JG 27 downs seven Tupolev SB-2 bombers. Fw. Hermann Neuhoff of III./JG 53 downs three Russian aircraft including an IL-2 Sturmovik. At JG 51, Oblt. Hans Kolbow Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 51 destroys five Russian bombers in a row to become an 'instant Experten'. The Kommodore of JG 51, Obstlt. Mölders, claims only a SB-2 to reach seventy-five kills. Rudolf Nielinger of II./JG 51 also destroys an SB-2 for his first victory.

Lithuanian militiamen in Kovno were encouraged by German security officers to stage a pogrom, and that night 1,500 Jews were murdered with particular savagery.

Colonel General Vasily Kuznetsov was ordered by Semyon Timoshenko to organize a defense along the Daugava River (Western Dvina). Soviet Southern Front created, commanded by General Tiulenev. Soviet task force led by cruiser Voroshilov departs Sevastopol to bombard Constanza.

GERMANY: French Lieutenant E. Boulé, a prisoner of war at Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, Germany, was nearly successful at his escape. Dressed as a young German woman and readily walking away from the castle, he accidentally dropped his watch and was caught when a German guard returned the watch to him.

Himmler departs aboard his headquarters train for Russian front with adjutant Jochen Peiper.

RAF Bomber Command sends 64 aircraft to attack Bremen and 47 aircraft to attack Kiel overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: Axis Convoy departs Naples for Tripoli with four vessels escorted by Italian destroyers "Aviere", "Geniere", "Gioberti", and "Da Noli" and supported by two cruisers and three more destroyers, but convoy diverted to Taranto.

MIDDLE EAST: British submarine HMS "Parthian" sank Vichy French submarine "Souffleur" by torpedo off Syria.

NORTH AMERICA: President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which calls for the "Full Participation in the Defense Program by All Persons, Regardless Of Race, Creed, Color, Or National Origin". Roosevelt also created the Fair Employment Practice Committee to implement it. He also declared that the Siberian port Vladivostok, would be exempt from the neutrality statutes so supplies could flow to Russia.

USN task force departs Hampton Roads on neutrality patrol.

NORTH AFRICA: General Wavell accompanies Averell Harriman to East Africa. Allied aircraft attack airfields at Gazala.

RAF aircraft attack isolated Italian positions at Debra Tabor.

NORTHERN EUROPE: In Stockholm, Sweden the Riksdag sanctioned the passage of the German Wehrmacht's Engelbrecht Division from Norway across Swedish soil to the front in Finland. German 163rd Infantry Division begins transferring by rail across Sweden to Finland. After two weeks, 15,000 troops with weapons and supplies have been transported.

Soviets denounced Finland. Moscow broadcast denounced Finland, adding,

"The Finnish militarists have flagrantly violated the Soviet-Finnish peace treaty. The rulers of Finland have begun military operations against our country . . . The Soviet Union has fulfilled the peace treaty conscientiously. But the rulers of Finland, under orders from Hitler, have plunged the long-suffering Finnish people into a war against the Soviet Union. Scoring the most elementary of international laws and the vital interests of their own people, the Finnish warmongers have again launched a campaign against the Soviet Union. . . . The ignoble rulers of Finland have not learned any lesson from the campaign of the winter of 1939 and 1940. They are asking for another, a final, lesson, and that lesson the Finnish perpetrators of fascism will get."

Soviets attack Finnish targets including Helsinki with almost 500 aircraft, opening air offensive. Helsinki declares that due to Soviet air attacks, Finland finds itself in a state of war.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Captured Norwegian whaler "Adjutant" with German prize crew lays mines off Lyttelton and Wellington, New Zealand.

UNITED KINGDOM: During the day, a report was released that, for the week ending at 0600 hours on 25 Jun 1941, about 39 people were killed and 116 were seriously injured in Britain due to German bombing; none of the casualties were from London, England. After dark, German bombers bombed Southampton and dropped many naval mines in surrounding waters.

General Brian Horrocks takes command of 44th Infantry Division.

During the day a total of three Heinkel He 111s of I./KG 26 were lost in an attack on Newcastle, their fates being unknown.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 34 aircraft on anti-shipping missions and Circus missions heavily escorted by Fighter Command. The RAF conducted two raids over France, both raids consisting of two squadrons of Blenheims and sixteen squadrons of fighters. RAF 11 Group Circus 22 containing 12 Blenheim IVs of 2 (B) Group under heavy fighter escort from 16 fighter squadrons, bombed the Hazebrouck marshalling yards, blowing up munitions train and bridge. The I./JG 26 intercepted the first raid and shot down five Spitfires without any losses for the Gruppe. Oblt. Josef 'Pips' Priller of 1./JG 26 downs one of the Spitfires over Gravelines. The second raid was RAF 11 Group Circus 23 – an attack on the airfield at St. Omer. 13 Blenheim IVs of 2 (B) Group were escorted by fighters from 19 squadrons. The second RAF raid was described by Oblt. Heinz Gottlob;

"Priller led one Schwarm, and I led the other. We saw about eighteen Spitfires over the Channel. They had apparently already seen us, since they were flying in a defensive circle. We were at about 8,500 meters. The Indians were about 500 meters below us. Priller banked to the left to reach firing position. My Schwarm cut behind him. Suddenly there was an explosion in my airplane. Holes appeared in the floor of the cockpit, between my legs. I saw the legs of my fur flying boots ripple as several shots passed through them. Then several cannon shells hit the right side of my cockpit. I tried to dive away using my elevators, but got no response . . . Since I was already in a left bank, I kicked the rudder sharply and entered a wingover toward the ground. I needed to dive to an altitude at which I could bail out without suffocating. During the dive, I noticed that my oxygen cylinder was empty, surrounded by blue fumes. Shot through! Fortunately, I was not prone to altitude sickness. I ripped my mask off at 4,200 meters and prepared to bail out. I was then hit again. Since all the fragments came from beneath my instrument panel and flew back above my head, I believe that this was my own ammunition exploding. Everything now happened lightning-fast . . . Suddenly I was struck on the chin with such force that my head flew back to the right . . . I felt terrible, piercing pain in my nose, eyes and skull. I began to lose my will and my consciousness. I squinted at the release lever, but could not summon the strength to bail out. As everything was turning black, a voice called out 'Get out now!' I actually heard the voice, but have no memory of what came afterward. . . I do not know whether my parachute opened by itself, or whether I struck the tail and that caused it to open. Although the battle had begun over mid-Channel, I was now over French soil, fortunately near the Naval hospital at Hardinghem . . . At 2105 hours I landed at the feet of a surgeon from the hospital, who was out taking a walk . . . I regained consciousness eight days later."

Douglas Bader shot down two German Bf 109F aircraft.

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