City of Flint
Just damn! I put my posts in the wrong thread!
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/oct39/f09oct39.htm
Hitler decrees a western campaign
Monday, October 9, 1939 www.onwar.com
From Berlin... Hitler issues Directive No. 6. Its message is simple: “Should it become evident in the near future that England and, under her influence, France also, are not disposed to bring the war to an end, I have decided, without further loss of time to go over to the offensive.” The offensive is to be directed across the Low Countries and is intended to defeat strong sections of the French and British armies when these arrive to help the Dutch and the Belgians. The ground taken is to provide protection for the Ruhr and to give bases for the air war against Britain. The aims of the plan are, therefore, limited when compared with the Schlieffen Plan of 1914 or with the scheme which is actually adopted in May 1940. There is no mention of completely defeating France. This order is a further blow to the autonomy of the German army. Their view is that, although it lies within Hitler’s authority as head of state and Commander in Chief of the Wehrmacht to order an attack to be prepared as soon as possible, the army should be asked where and how this attack should take place. Even Keitel argues against Hitler on this issue.
In Paris... Thirty-five of the 46 Communist deputies in the French parliament are arrested for agitating against the war.
In Britain... War conditions have allegedly brought food profiteering, with tenpenny steaks quadrupled in price.
In Finland... Finland calls up military reservists in response to Soviet pressure for border revisions.
In the North Atlantic... The US cargo ship, City of Flint, is captured by the German pocket battleship Deutschland. The Germans search the ship and seize it when contraband supplies for Britain are found on board, under the Prize Rules for war at sea. The ship, with a prize crew, heads for the Soviet port of Murmansk. This incident influences American public opinion in favor of modifying the Neutrality Act, currently being debated in Congress.
In China... There is a Chinese victory at Changsha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_City_of_Flint
SS City of Flint
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SS City of Flint, a freighter of the United States Merchant Marine, was the first American ship captured by the Germans during World War II. Under the command of Captain Joseph H. Gainard, City of Flint first became involved in the war when she rescued 200 survivors of the torpedoed British passenger liner SS Athenia on 3 September 1939. The Athenia was torpedoed by the German submarine U-30 that afternoon, and sent out a distress signal. Several ships responded. The Captain of HMS Electra, LCDR Sammy A. Buss, was Senior Officer Present, so he took charge. He sent the destroyer HMS Fame on an anti-submarine sweep of the area, while Electra, another destroyer HMS Escort, the Swedish yacht Southern Cross, the Norwegian cargo ship Knute Nelson, and the City of Flint rescued the survivors. Between the ships, about 980 passengers and crew were rescued; only 112 people were lost, and Athenia sank the next morning.
On 9 October 1939, City of Flint was carrying 4000 tons of lubricating oil from New York to Britain while marked as a neutral ship. The pocket battleship Deutschland seized her some 1200 miles out from New York, declaring her cargo to be contraband and the ship a prize of war. A fifteen strong German prize crew painted out all US insignia and hoisted the German ensign.
To avoid the Royal Navy, the prize crew headed for Tromsø, arriving on 20 October 1939. The Norwegians, neutral at the time and disturbed by the sinking of the merchant SS Lorentz W. Hansen, refused entry to the Germans, giving them 24 hours to leave. The RNoN destroyer HNoMS Sleipner escorted the City of Flint out of Norwegian territorial waters at 1620 hrs the next day.[1]
The prize crew then sailed for Murmansk, claiming havarie (the privilege of sanctuary for damage caused at sea). The ship lay in Murmansk harbor under the control of the German prize crew for several days and was eventually sent out by the Russians, who stated that if the Germans claimed havarie, the American crew could not be prisoners of war.
In the several weeks that elapsed, the United States ordered many US merchant ships to register with other countries, so as to continue supporting the Allies without violating the US’s nominal neutrality. The Royal Navy began closing on the captured ship.
The prize crew then tried Norway again, the port of Haugesund. The Norwegian government again refused entry, describing the German crew as kidnappers. The approaching Royal Navy left the prize crew no choice, though; on 3 November they entered the harbor. The Norwegian Admiralty dispatched the minelayer HNoMS Olav Tryggvason and boarded the City of Flint with its second in command, captain B. Dingsør and thirty armed sailors, who on 6 November returned City of Flint to Captain Gainard’s command. He unloaded his cargo in Bergen and set sail in ballast for the US. The German prize crew was interned at Kongsvinger Fortress.
City of Flint continued in service in the Atlantic until she was sunk on 23 January 1943.
City of Flint