Posted on 11/28/2010 5:45:03 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/nov40/f28nov40.htm
German ace downed over Britain
Thursday, November 28, 1940 www.onwar.com
Over Britain... British Spitfire fighters intercept a German Me109 formation off the Isle of Wight. Flight Lieutenant Dundas shoots down the German ace Major Wick (with 56 victories) and is himself killed seconds later. During the night, there is a German bombing raid on Liverpool by about 300 aircraft. A parachute mine explosion kills 164 and injures 96.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/28.htm
November 28th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
Liverpool: Lt Harold Reginald Newgass (1896-1984), RNVR, descended into a gasometer (fuel tank, natural gas) six times, with breathing equipment to defuse a mine which had pierced the roof. (George Cross)
Liverpool: Liverpool suffers a devastating overnight raid by the Luftwaffe.
London: Lord Horder, the head of the British Medical Committee, warns the people of the dangers of disease: “We have more to fear from germs than Germans.”
London: Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, announces a reduction in milk supplies to householders during the winter shortage. The authorities advise that all milk used in London and other major cities be boiled to prevent a typhoid epidemic.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Manx Prince mined and sunk off the Humber.
Sloop HMS Ibis launched.
Destroyer HMS Lance launched.
Submarine HMS Thrasher launched.
Corvette HMS Mayflower commissioned.
ASW trawler HMS Mazurka launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Berlin: Der ewige Jude [The Eternal Jew], a film purporting to prove the Jews’ evil influence, opens.
U-209 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ROMANIA: Bucharest: The Romanian government declares a state of emergency.
AEGEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Regulus reported missing in Aegean Sea. (Dave Shirlaw)
SOUTH AFRICA: Corvette SAS Protea laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRENCH INDOCHINA: The Royal Thai Air Force begins aerial bombing after the alleged bombing of Thai positions around Nankorn Panom by French planes. (Michael Alexander)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-47 fired two torpedoes without success at a lone ship in the North Atlantic.
U-103 sank SS Mount Athos and St Elwyn.
U-95 damaged SS Ringhorn.
U-104 is last heard from while operating off the north coast of County Donegal, C ire, about 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) northwest of Londonderry, County Derry, Northern Ireland, in approximate position 55.30N, 08.00W; all 49 crewmen are lost. There is no explanation for the loss. (Jack McKillop)
(Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 455 November 28, 1940
Operation Collar. After yesterday’s engagement 20 miles South of Sardinia at Spartivento, Royal Navy’s Force H turns back to return to Gibraltar and hands over convoy ME4 to Mediterranean fleet to continue East. At 2.30 PM, freighters SS Clan Forbes & SS Clan Fraser arrive at Malta escorted by destroyers HMS Decoy & HMS Hotspur. Destroyers HMS Defender & HMS Hereward and cruisers HMS Manchester & HMS Southampton escort SS New Zealand Star on towards Alexandria, Egypt.
Liverpool is heavily bombed overnight. A parachute mine destroys Edge Hill Training College, Durning Road, which collapses on a large underground shelter holding 300 people. Boiling water from the central heating system pours into the basement and the air is poisoned by fractured gas mains. 166 men, women and children are killed and many more injured.
Minesweeping trawler HMT Manx Prince sinks on a mine in the mouth of the Humber Estuary. The crew is rescued by minesweeping trawler HMT Cortina.
Italian destroyers Pigafetta, Da Recco, Pessagno & Riboty shell Greek positions on the island of Corfu, covered by torpedo boats Bassini & Prestinari.
At 10.25 AM 300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-95 stops Norwegian SS Ringhorn with the deck gun after missing with 2 torpedoes. Ringhorn (carrying 1300 tons of coal) does not sink and the crew reboards and takes her back to Belfast, arriving on December 1. In the same area, U-103 sinks Greek SS Mount Athos at 8.42 AM (19 lives lost) and British SS St. Elwyn at 8.24 PM (24 killed, 16 crew picked up by British merchant Leeds City). U-104 disappears a few miles off the North Coast of Ireland, presumably sunk on a minefield (all 49 hands lost). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/681.html
Richardson is still not very concerned about air attack on the ships at Pearl, but he is more concerned about the effect if they are attacked while at sea. This makes sense to me since if you sink a ship at sea it is gone, but in port at least you have a chance of raising it.
Plus, the air defenses at Pearl are pretty robust in comparison to other port the fleet could be stationed at. San Diego, where Richardson would like to move the fleet to only has about 1/5 of the defensive positions (of any kind) compared to Pearl. It is interesting that Taranto has gotten them thinking about air attacks on capital ships, but I don't think they really grasp how effective this form of attack can be. Meanwhile Billy Mitchell is probably thinking, "and they court-martialed me for proving this."
Tragic situation in Romania; as in many other countries, caught in the vise between rival totalitarian regimes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.