BRITISH SMASH 12 ITALIAN WAR VESSELS; 3 OF DUCE’S 6 BATTLESHIPS LISTED AS HIT (11/14/40)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 11/14/40 | Raymond Daniell, C.L. Sulzberger, James Aldridge, Hanson W. Baldwin

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Raid Taranto Base – 2-4
Italy Denies British Claim; Censor Deletes all Details – 2
Nazi Radio Stations Use New Technique in Raids – 2
Italian and Nazi Atlantic Fleets Merged, Gayda Says, Predicting Hard Naval War – 4
British-Greek Tie Impresses Soviet – 4
The International Situation – 5
Yugoslavia Uneasy Again over Germany – 5
Streicher’s Swan Song an Attack on The Times – 5
2 Zones of France are Still Isolated – 5
Italians Captured – 6
Japanese Poised – 7-8
Greeks Mopping Up after Big Battle – 8-9
Britain’s Fleet Strikes – 9
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Europe and Africa – 10-11

Editorials – 12-13
The British Navy Strikes
Two of ‘09
Hands Across the Border
The Irrepressibles
Take a Look at New York
A Brave Ship Dies

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/nov40/f14nov40.htm

Luftwaffe bombs Coventry

Thursday, November 14, 1940 www.onwar.com

Over Britain... There is an especially heavy and effective German attack on Coventry involving 449 planes. Factories and historic buildings are badly damaged. Warning has been received during the afternoon of the day and the few precautions possible at this short notice have been taken by the relevant authorities.

In the Balkans... All the Greek forces have gone over to the offensive against the Italian invaders. Reinforcements have been brought from the troops facing Bulgaria. British aid to Greece begins to arrive. Over the course of the next two days, four cruisers ferry 3400 troops and airfield staff from Alexandria to Piraeus. By November 20th another 4000 have arrived.

In Singapore... The new British Commander in Chief for the Far East, Air Marshal Brooke-Popham arrives.

[SampleMan]

The Taranto raid was a year before Pearl Harbor and should have been an eye opener for us concerning surpise attacks on a naval port by a carrier force.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/14.htm

November 14th, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Aircraft of Nos. 101, 105 and 110 Squadrons attack Cambrai and Beauvais, home of KG 76 and KG 53. Also airfields at Etaples, Knocke, Rennes and Amiens/Glisy are bombed.

Coventry:

Special Constable Brandon Moss (b. 1909) saved four people trapped under the dangerously unstable debris of two bombed buildings. (George Cross)

London:

The Air Ministry announced:

Today the German Luftwaffe made several unsuccessful attempts to penetrate to London. British fighters put up vigorous resistance enabling them to repel each of the attack waves. Not one bomb fell on London.

In another announcement the Air Ministry said:

On the night before Thursday, the Italian naval port of Taranto was again bombed.

London: Neville Chamberlain’s funeral is held at Westminster Abbey.

Prime Minister to General Wavell: General situation makes it very desirable to undertake operation (Operation Compass) of which you spoke to Eden. It is unlikely that Germany will leave her flagging ally unsupported indefinitely. ...now is the time to take risks and strike the Italians ...

Corvettes HMS Auricula and Wallflower launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Soviet-German negotiations on the USSR joining the alliance of the fascist states failed. (Dave Shirlaw)

ITALY:

Rome: The Italian Stefani News Agency reported:

The Italian Armed Forces Bulletin No. 138 reported on the enemy raid on Taranto on the night of 11th-12th November. Yesterday in the House of Commons, Churchill gave a completely false version of this incident. However, Italian authorities do not think it necessary to reply to this kind of tendentious twisting of the facts.

ALBANIA: Dimitry Statharos reaches the Albanian front south of Koritsa (Korce) and participates in a week long bombardment of the Italian stronghold. The next two and a half weeks will be his busiest combat period of the six month campaign, in addition to bombarding Italian positions he and his men must fight off the cold and hunger as it is in this three week period that food supplies arrive sporadically and his men must turn to boiling snails at times in order to get by. (Steve Statharos)

SINGAPORE: Air Marshall Brooke-Popham arrives as the new British Commander in Chief.

CANADA: Corvette HMS Trillium arrived Halifax from builder Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Minesweeper HMCS Mahone launched North Vancouver, British Columbia. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Washington: It is reported that Congress has had to take other quarters because engineers have decided that the 112-ton roof of the House chamber and the 90-ton roof of the Senate may crash any day.

Destroyers USS Hobson and Emmons laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 441 November 14, 1940

A clear moonlit night provides ideal conditions for Operation Moonlight Sonata, a major Luftwaffe raid on the ancient industrial city of Coventry in the English Midlands. At 7.20 PM, 13 Heinkel He-111 bombers (of Kampfgruppe 100) drop marker flares to illuminate the city. 437 He-111s (of Luftflotte 3) follow, flying multiple sorties in small groups all night and returning to bases in France to reload. They drop 450 tons of high explosive bombs (to damage water mains and crater roads, hindering firefighting efforts), 50 parachute mines (to blast off rooftops over a wide area) and 36,000 incendiary bombs (to ignite the old wood timbered buildings). RAF night fighters lack radar and are ineffective; only 1 He11 is shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The raid is a devastating success, destroying 60,000 buildings (including the cathedral), killing 600 civilians and injuring 1000 more. German propaganda gloats, using the term “Coventrate” for the strategy of leveling British cities. It is a strategy that will come back to haunt Germany.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/coventry/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8936000/8936620.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11746328
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/coventry/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/stories/things_to_do/newsid_9172000/9172755.stm

German bombers raid Alexandria, Egypt, sinking Egyptian steamer Zamzam.

[central_va]

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79

[central_va]

Italian MAS boat

[J Aguilar]

General Franco and Portuguese Salazar had just agreed that their terrotiries wouldn’t be used by others as a base to attack the other country, that is, Hitler wouldn’t have had permission to attack Portugal from Spain.

Furthermore, General Franco knew at that point that the war was going to be longer, and did not want to join it.

Overall, Germany and Italy both used Romanian oil, which was relatively scarce if consumed by battleships and cruisers. That was an important factor regarding the underperformance of Italian units (a big untrained fleet) and the preference of Hitler for U-boats.

Taranto, the precedent of Pearl Harbor, was a tactic mistake from the Italian side (keeping the entire fleet in the same harbour) and, especially, a superb operation of Admiral Cunnigham and the British side.

[PzLdr]

To keep ENIGMA a secret, Churchill allowed the attack on Coventry to proceed without ordering any extra defensive measures by the RAF or Army AA, despite advance notice of the raid due to codebreaking.

[TimSkalaBim]

From the above "Greeks Mopping Up After Big Battle article":

"Prisoners are still being taken. Not much time is wasted in marching them in. Retribution in these parts is swift and terrible."

Guess the Greeks aren't in the mood to set up prison camp accommodations for their uninvited guests. The article states that these are the actions of guerilla bands; is this also the policy of the regular Greek army units?

[Enchante]

The Japanese paid attention and learned.

The US Navy, alas, did not.

Of course, the argument can be made that it was a net benefit to the USA to lose the bulk of the battleship fleet immediately at Pearl Harbor b/c it forced immediate near-exclusive focus upon carrier warfare.

However, if several US carriers had happened to be in Pearl on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941 and the US carrier fleet had been crippled at the outset by the lack of vigilance in the air defenses and anti-torpedo defenses at Pearl, then the first year or more of the war in the Pacific would have been dismal indeed.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

To keep ENIGMA a secret, Churchill allowed the attack on Coventry to proceed without ordering any extra defensive measures by the RAF or Army AA, despite advance notice of the raid due to codebreaking.

I searched the index of Churchill's memoirs for a mention of this detail. Didn't find any. When Churchill wrote them - 1946 or 47 I would guess - ENIGMA might still have been classified materaial. But still . . .

[PAR35]

Taranto, the precedent of Pearl Harbor, was a tactic mistake from the Italian side (keeping the entire fleet in the same harbour)

A tactic that the US had adopted for the Atlantic fleet.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Taranto raid was a year before Pearl Harbor and should have been an eye opener for us concerning surpise attacks on a naval port by a carrier force.

"The crippling of Italy's battle fleet at Taranto is a blow that will be heard around the world. Like the destruction of the French fleet at Oran, it liberates British sea power for action in other fields."

Thus begins today's lead editorial (at #12). It was a blow heard clearly in Tokyo, but not fully appreciated in Washington. The sub-headline on Page 1 - "JAPANESE POISED" - is a nice unintended omen in today's edition

[magslinger]

SONOBUOY PING!

Battle of Taranto ping.

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[Vanders9]

The Japanese navy studied the attack on Taranto extensively when planning the Pearl Harbor attack.