http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/jul40/f28jul40.htm
Thor defeats Alcantara
Sunday, July 28, 1940 www.onwar.com
The HMS Alcantara, former royal mail liner, armed and in war service when it skirmishes with the German merchant raider Thor in the south Atlantic.
In the South Atlantic... There is an engagement in the south Atlantic between the German auxiliary cruiser Thor and the similar but less well-armed British merchant cruiser Alcantara. Thor is only lightly hit but Alcantara is forced to break off and head for Rio. Only proper British cruisers are adequate to catch and fight such German vessels.
In Britain... All British destroyers are withdrawn from Dover to Portsmouth. This is a significant achievement for the Luftwaffe implying that they may be able to dominate the Channel Narrows during the hours of daylight.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/28.htm
July 28th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - Dornier factory at Wismar.
77 Sqn. Ten aircraft, all bombed. Weather bad, opposition heavy. Flares dropped by enemy aircraft during bomb-runs.
78 Sqn. Four aircraft. One returned early, three bombed. Five fighters seen, but none attacked.
RAF Fighter Command: Weather Fine. Luftwaffe attack shipping off Dover and south-coast ports. All British destroyers are withdrawn from the English Channel between Dover and Portsmouth. This represents a significant achievement for the Luftwaffe. (Dave Shirlaw)
18 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed, 5 RAF aircraft lost.
Bombs fall for the first time on Kidwelly (Carmarthen) and Runcorn (Cheshire).
Heavy raids on Aberdeenshire, Berwick, Calne and Newcastle.
Around 14:00 a large enemy bomber force advances on Dover. Dowding has placed eight squadrons on forward airfields in readiness. A dozen Spitfires of 74 Sqn led by the famous South African ‘Sailor’ Malan (thus known from his merchant navy days) waded in among 36 Bf109s of I/JG 51 over Dover, while Hawkinge’s Hurricane squadrons set about the bombers. Such clear division of effort meant that squadrons would whenever possible no longer split at the battle site. Maybe the enemy sensed a tactical change, for the bombers readily turned about, leaving the escort battling with RAF fighters.
A sharp fight ensued with 41, 74, 257 and 111 Squadrons combating I and II/JG 51 led by Major Werner Molders, who had to force-land his Bf109 in France after it was badly damaged by Sailor Malan. Malan, Plt. Off. Freeborn and Flt. Lt. Kelly, all of 74 Sqn., each destroyed a 109. Another three were damaged, for the loss of two Spitfires and Plt. Off. J.H.R. Young.
He59 seaplanes arrived to rescue German survivors only to find 111 Sqn, which destroyed one and seriously damaged another.
When darkness fell, He115 seaplanes along with He-111s and Ju88s mined British waters.
Night bombers attacked Newcastle, where a dozen HEs fell in a line parallel to and a mile from the Tyne, and Barry, Port Talbot, Colchester, Salford, Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffs), Seaford (Sussex), Staplehurst, Ashford (Kent) and Edenbridge. Also targeted were the Cotswold Slaughters, Midlothian, Cheshire and the Otmoor bombing range.
If you want to read more about this days’ RAF action there is a personal account by Harbourne Stephen of 74 Sq.. on http://www.remembering.org/stephen.html and a whole lot more on Ernie Burton’s Battle of Britain web site.
FRANCE: Germany bans all movement between the Vichy and occupied zones.
FINLAND: Finnish Foreign Minister Witting informs the British Ambassador Sir Gordon Vereker that Finland has to ‘interrupt’ her diplomatic relations with United Kingdom.
After Finland joined the war against Soviet Union, both Finland and UK were willing to keep the diplomatic relations intact. The German pressure upon Finland soon made this impossible, and thus Finland was reluctantly forced to sever the relations. The British Empire didn’t declare war until 6 Dec 1941, apparently because Stalin insisted. (Mikko Härmeinen)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Off the coast of Brazil, German raider ‘Thor’ badly damages the less heavily armed armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara in a gun duel. Alcantara is forced to head for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
At 0557, the unescorted Auckland Star was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 80 miles WNW of Valentia Island, Co. Kerry. The master and 54 crewmembers landed at Dingle, Co. Kerry and 19 crewmembers landed at Slyne Head near Clifden, Co. Galway. (Dave Shirlaw)
And, sometimes, even that isn't enough ...
The German auxiliary cruiser KORMORAN engaged and sank the HMAS SYDNEY, a Leander-class cruiser, off Australia. Although the KORMORAN was also severely damaged and was ultimately scuttled, the SYDNEY was hammered unmercifully by the Germans heavy guns and torpedoed at least once. The SYDNEY staggered off into the darkness and sank with all hands. The wreckage of both ships has only been recently discovered.
Computer animation of SYDNEY/KORMORAN engagement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQwDAeoD-40
...[sorry, I don't know how to put in active links]...