85 Years Ago, September 1939

September 1939 is the generally accepted beginning of the Second World War, especially in the western hemisphere and Europe.  Yet, Japan had been engaged in China for most of the decade having invaded Manchuria 18 September 1931 following the Mukden incident.  The Second Sino-Japanese War began in earnest with the Marco Polo Bridge incident 7 July 1937 leading to an invasion of the remainder of China.  Japan drew first U.S. blood on 12 December 1937 with the sinking of the USS Panay (PR-5) on the Yangtze River. Three Yokosuka B4Y Type-96 biplane carrier Naval bombers dropped eighteen 132 lb (60 kg) bombs on Panay scoring two hits and nine Nakajima A4N Type-95 biplane Naval fighters strafed her. Diplomacy and reparations prevailed for the moment, but the stage was set to widen the war into the truly global conflict that followed. 

 

The world situation continued to degrade, Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia nearly set off full conflict, averted by the appeasement of the Munich agreement in 1938.  The pot of war stew continued to simmer, despite the attempt to turn down the heat. It boiled over in September 1939.  This month’s summary is taken from The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II.

 

September 1, Fri. ‑‑World War II begins as Germany invades Poland with a power and rapidity that convincingly demonstrates to the world the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war." Italy announces its neutrality. Ultimately, the global conflict set in motion on this late summer day will engulf much of the globe and wreak far‑reaching changes in the world order. The U.S. Navy in September 1939 is, for the most part, concentrated on the west coast of the United States, reflecting the nation's traditional interest in the Far East and its isolationist leanings away from Europe. Although the matter is discussed as hostilities have loomed on the horizon late in August 1939, there are no plans to use U.S. naval vessels to repatriate American citizens except in "collecting small groups [of Americans] in the Mediterranean area for transportation to places where they can move to safe ports for embarkation."

Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OpNav) sends dispatch to commanders in chief of Asiatic Fleet, United States Fleet, Atlantic Squadron, Special Service Squadron and Squadron 40‑T: "Reliably informed [that] German submarines are set to operate on Atlantic trade routes and that a dozen German merchant vessels will operate as armed raiders [and that] neutral merchantmen may expect Great Britain may institute may expect Great Britain may institute similar practices as in last war." Additional addressees to this warning include the three new warships on shakedown cruises: light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49) (at Punta Delgada, Azores), destroyer Anderson (DD‑411) (at Montreal, Canada) and submarine Spearfish (SS‑190) (en route from New York City to Bahia, Brazil).

Hydrographic Office begins issuing, by despatch and bulletin, special warnings of restrictions and dangers to navigation incident to the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and Poland. Special Warning Number One is that the German government has announced that Danzig Bay is a danger area due to military operations taking place there.

President Roosevelt appoints Admiral William D. Leahy, who has recently retired as Chief of Naval Operations, as Work Projects Administrator for the Territory of Puerto Rico (see 11 September).

Light cruiser Marblehead (CL‑12) transports marines from Chinwangtao, China, to Shanghai. The emergency movement is to bring the Fourth Marine Regiment to full strength in the event that the Japanese take advantage of the European war to force an incident at Shanghai.

German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee, which has left Wilhelmshaven on 21 August for the South Atlantic, makes rendezvous with tanker Altmark southwest of the Canary Islands. The fuel oil carried in Altmark's bunkers was obtained in August at Port Arthur, Texas. Admiral Graf Spee's sistership Deutschland, which had departed Wilhelmshaven on 24 August, is deployed to raid commerce in the North Atlantic.

September 3, Sun. ‑‑Great Britain and France declare war on Germany in accordance with their prewar pledges to Poland. Australia and New Zealand follow. Irish Free State, however, a British dominion, declares its neutrality.

German submarines (previously deployed to operating areas in late August) begin attacks upon British shipping: during these early operations, U 30 (Kapitanleutnant Fritz‑Julius Lemp) torpedoes (without warning) British passenger liner Athenia south of Rockall Bank, 56°44'N, 14°05'W; 28 American citizens are among the dead. U.S. freighter City of Flint, Swedish yacht Southern Cross, Norwegian freighter Knute Nelson, and British destroyers HMS Electra and HMS Escort rescue survivors. Despite having been given strict orders that all merchant vessels are to be treated in accordance with naval prize law (giving a warning before attacking) Lemp's torpedoing Athenia in the belief

that she is an armed merchant cruiser gives the British the erroneous impression that Germany has commenced unrestricted submarine warfare (see 16 and 22 September and 8 November).

Within a fortnight, U 30 is herself a victim, when she is bombed by Skuas from British carrier HMS Ark Royal on 14September 1939. With a slightly damaged bow and two torpedo tubes out of action, U 30 puts in to Reykjavik, Iceland, on 19 September to land a seriously wounded man before she returns to sea.

European war comes to the Americas: less than three hours after the British declaration of war on Germany, light cruiser HMS Ajax intercepts German freighter Olinda, outward bound from Montevideo, Uruguay, off the River Plate,34°58'S, 53°32'W. Not having a prize crew available to seize the enemy merchantman, Ajax shells and sinks her (see 4September).

British Home Fleet deploys aircraft carriers to seek out and destroy German submarines: HMS Ark Royal off the northwestern approaches to the British Isles, HMS Courageous and HMS Hermes off the southwestern approaches (see 17 September).

U.S. freighter Saccarappa, with a cargo of phosphates and cotton, is seized by British authorities (see 8 September).

September 4, Mon. ‑‑British passenger liner Athenia sinks as the result of damage sustained the previous day when torpedoed by German submarine U 30. After the sinking of Athenia is confirmed through radio intelligence and news broadcasts, the German Naval War Staff radios all U‑boats at sea that the Führer has ordered that no hostile action be taken "for the present" against passenger ships, even if they are travelling in convoy (see 16 September). Publicly, Germany will continue to deny responsibility for the sinking of Athenia until the post‑war Nuremberg Trials bring the truth to light.

Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OpNav) orders Commander Atlantic Squadron to establish, as soon as possible, a combined air and ship patrol to observe and report, in cipher, the movements of warships of warring nations, east from Boston along a line to 42°30'N, 65°00'W then south to 19°N then around the seaward outline of the Windward and Leeward Islands, to the British island of Trinidad.

European war again comes to the Americas: British light cruiser HMS Ajax intercepts German freighter Carl Fritzen200 miles east‑southeast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 33°22'S, 48°50'W, and sinks the merchantman with gunfire.

Captain Alan G. Kirk, U.S. Naval Attaché, and Commander Norman R. Hitchcock, Assistant Naval Attaché and Assistant Naval Attaché for Air, are flown to Galway, Ireland, where they interview Athenia's surviving officers and men. The attaché's investigation concludes that Athenia was torpedoed by a submarine.

President Roosevelt proclaims the neutrality of the United States in the war between Germany and France, Poland, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, and orders the Navy to form a Neutrality Patrol (see below).

Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral Harold R. Stark) directs Commander Atlantic Squadron (Rear Admiral Alfred W. Johnson) to maintain an offshore patrol to report "in confidential system" the movements of all foreign men‑of‑war approaching or leaving the east coast of the United States and approaching and entering or leaving the Caribbean. U.S. Navy ships are to avoid making a report of foreign men‑of‑war or suspicious craft, however, on making contact or when in their vicinity to avoid the performance of unneutral service "or creating the impression that an unneutral service is being performed" (see 9 October). The patrol is to extend about 300 miles off the eastern coastline of the United States and along the eastern boundary of the Caribbean (see 6 September). Furthermore, U.S. naval vessels are to report the presence of foreign warships sighted at sea to the district commandant concerned.

Destroyers Davis (DD‑395) and Benham (DD‑397) (two 327‑foot Coast Guard cutters will be assigned later) are designated as the Grand Banks Patrol. They are to render rescue and other neutral assistance in emergencies and to observe and report ("in confidential system") movements of all foreign warships. They are to patrol across existing steamer lanes to the southward of the Grand Banks and to approximately 50° Maritime Commission (Hydrographic Office Special Warning No. 9) directs that all U.S. merchant ships en route to or from Europe are not to steer a zig zag course, are not to black out at night, and are to paint the U.S. flag on each side of the hull, on hatches fore and aft, and on sun decks of passenger vessels, and to illuminate the colors flying from the flagstaff at night. In Hydrographic Office Special Warning No. 12 (promulgated the same day), U.S. merchant vessels engaged in domestic, "near‑by foreign" or transpacific trade are not required to paint the flag on hull, hatches and decks, but otherwise are to follow the other instructions contained in Special Warning No. 9.

U.S. freighter Black Osprey, bound for Rotterdam, Holland, and Antwerp, Belgium, is stopped by British warship off Lizard Head and ordered into the port of Weymouth, one of the five "contraband control bases" (the others are Ramsgate, Kirkwall, Gibraltar and Haifa) established by the British government (see 13 September and 31 October). Freighter Lehigh, bound for Hamburg, Germany, is detained by the British (see 7 September).

Philippine motorship Don Isidro, on her maiden voyage en route from her builders' yard at Kiel, Germany, to Manila, P.I., clears the Suez Canal; U.S. government immediately protests British authorities having removed, at Port Said, two German engineers (on board "to guarantee construction and demonstrate proper manning" of the new vessel) from Don Isidro (which is under the American flag) as illegal and a violation of the neutral rights of the United States (see29 April 1940).

U.S. steamship President Roosevelt off‑loads British Scott‑Paine‑type motor torpedo boat PT 9 at New York; PT 9will be the prototype for the motor torpedo boats constructed by the Electric Boat Company.

Commander Atlantic Squadron (Rear Admiral Alfred W. Johnson) begins to establish the off‑shore Neutrality Patrol. Seaplane tenders Gannet (AVP‑8) and Thrush (AVP‑3) sail for San Juan, Puerto Rico, to establish a seaplane base there.

Rear Admiral Charles E. Courtney relieves Rear Admiral Henry E. Lackey as Commander Squadron 40‑T, on board light cruiser Trenton (CL‑11), the squadron flagship, at Villefranche‑sur‑Mer, France. Squadron 40‑T had been formed in 1936 to protect American lives and property during the Spanish Civil War; its ships operate directly under the control of the Chief of Naval Operations.

French authorities remove two seamen of German nationality from U.S. freighter Exochorda at Marseilles, France.

British Northern Patrol (7th and 12th Cruiser Squadrons) commences operation between Shetland and Faeroe Islands, and Iceland. Light cruisers HMS Caledon, HMS Calypso, HMS Diomede, HMS Dragon, HMS Effingham, HMS Emerald, HMS Cardiff and HMS Dunedin are the ships that undertake this work. The patrol stops 108 merchantmen over the next three weeks, ordering 28 into the port of Kirkwall to have their cargoes inspected.

Cruiser Division 7 (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) sails to establish patrol off the eastern seaboard between Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia. Heavy cruisers Quincy (CA‑39) and Vincennes (CA‑44) depart first, San Francisco (CA‑38) (flagship) and Tuscaloosa (CA‑37) follow. The ships, burning running lights, are to observe and report the movements of foreign men‑of‑war, and, as required, render prompt assistance to ships or planes encountered.

British steamer Olivegrove is stopped, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U 33 200 miles northwest of Spain,49°05'N, 15°58'W; upon receiving Olivegrove's distress signal, U.S. passenger liner Washington, en route to the British Isles to evacuate American citizens from the European war zone, alters course and increases speed to reach the scene. Meanwhile, U 33's commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Hans‑Wilhelm von Dresky, treats the British survivors courteously, and aids in their rescue by having distress rockets fired to guide Washington to the two lifeboats containing the 33‑man crew, which she picks up without loss.

U.S. freighter Lehigh, detained by British authorities since 5 September, is released; freighter Warrior is detained by the British (see 18 September).

U.S. passenger liner Santa Paula is hailed by British cruiser (unidentified) 30 miles off Curaçao, N.W.I. and ordered to stop; after a delay of 20 minutes, Santa Paula is allowed to proceed (see 8 September 1939). Tanker I.C. White is challenged by cruiser (nationality unidentified) 15 miles off Baranquilla, Colombia, but is allowed to proceed without further hindrance.

Incident to the European war, the U.S. Naval Observatory is closed to all visitors except those specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Navy.

President Roosevelt proclaims a "limited national emergency" and orders enlisted strength of all armed forces increased‑‑naval enlisted men from 110,813 to 145,000; Marine Corps from 18,325 to 25,000‑‑and authorizes recall to active duty of officers, men, and nurses on retired lists of Navy and Marine Corps.

Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles and British Ambassador to the U.S. Lord Lothian have "off‑the‑record talk"(at the former's request) concerning the brief detention of U.S. passenger liner Santa Paula the day before. Lord

Lothian is informed that Santa Paula's captain had been asked "to give formal assurances whether there were any German passengers on board, the implication being that if the captain had not given such assurances, the officers of the cruiser would have boarded [Santa Paula] to search for German passengers and possibly might have taken some off." Undersecretary Welles goes on to say that "any act by British cruisers affecting American ships in waters so close to the United States involving possible boarding of them and taking off of civilian passengers would create a very highly unfortunate impression upon American public opinion at this time and was something undesirable in itself, since if civilian passengers actually had been taken off, such act would be clearly counter to international law." Lord Lothian agrees and promises to "take the necessary steps to prevent occurrences of this kind from happening."

Allies announce a long‑range blockade of Germany.

British authorities seize cargo (phosphates and cotton) of U.S. freighter Saccarappa; after the items deemed contraband are unloaded, the ship is released to continue on her voyage.

U.S. freighter Wacosta, bound from Glasgow, Scotland, to New York, is stopped by German submarine (unidentified). Wacosta is detained for three hours while the Germans examine her papers and search her holds, but is permitted to proceed.

U.S. steamship President Harding is detained by French authorities and various items of her cargo (including 135 tons of copper and 34 tons of petroleum products) seized as contraband. The ship is released promptly.

Canada declares war on Germany.

U.S. freighter Hybert is detained for two hours by a U‑boat (unidentified); Hybert is released but the Germans warn the merchantman not to use her radio for 24 hours.

September 11, Mon. ‑‑Germany announces counterblockade of Allies.

Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Ret.), former Chief of Naval Operations (1937‑1939), takes office as Governor of Puerto Rico.

Navy charters barkentine Bear of Oakland for operations in the U.S. Antarctic Service and commissions her as auxiliary Bear (AG‑29). The U.S. Navy originally acquires Bear, built in Scotland for the sealing trade, to rescue the survivors of the ill‑fated Greeley Arctic Expedition in 1884. The Navy transfers the ship to the U.S. Treasury Department in 1885 for deployment in the Revenue Cutter Service (later U.S. Coast Guard). In 1929, the Coast Guard transfers her to private ownership. Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, USN (Ret.) acquires Bear in 1932 for use in Antarctic exploration. (The expedition will be under the command of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, USN (Ret.) (Byrdis appointed commanding officer of the expedition on 13 July 1939). Civilian sources provide scientific staff and dog drivers; sailors, marines and soldiers perform the supporting aviation, radio, photography, commissary, carpentry, and mechanical duties, as well as operate tractors and light tanks and the Armour Institute of Technology's Snow Cruiser, the unique vehicle developed for polar exploration.

U.S. tanker R.G. Stewart is stopped by shot fired across her bow by German submarine U 38 about 253 miles west of Ushant, France, 48°17'N, 11°16'W. Soon thereafter, U 38 shells, torpedoes and sinks British motor tanker Inverliffey; R.G. Stewart rescues the tanker's crew and later transfers them to U.S. freighter City of Joliet for transportation to Antwerp, Belgium.

German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee provisions from tanker Altmark; security measure of launching the warship’s AR 196 pays dividends, as British heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland is spotted closing the area. Admiral Graf Spee and her consort alter course and are thus not sighted.

USAAC 21st Reconnaissance Squadron (B‑18s) (Major Howard Craig, USAAC) reports to Commander Atlantic Squadron for duty in connection with the Neutrality Patrol. It is based at Miami, Florida.

Instructions to Neutrality Patrol are modified to include covering the approaches to the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Channel and the Straits of Florida.

U.S. freighter Black Eagle is detained by British authorities at the Downs, the roadstead in the English Channel off the coast of Kent (see 19 September).

September 13, Wed. ‑‑Submarine Squalus (SS‑192), which had accidentally sunk off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 23 May during a scheduled test dive (of her 59‑man crew, 26 men perish and 33 are rescued by McCann Rescue Chamber), arrives under tow at Portsmouth Navy Yard for extensive repairs. She is decommissioned on 15 November 1939, renamed Sailfish (SS‑192) on 9 February 1940, and recommissioned on 15 May 1940.

U.S. freighter Sea Arrow is launched at Oakland, California, the first major ocean‑going vessel of that type completed on the west coast since World War I. The ship is later acquired by the Navy on 8 July 1940 and converted to the seaplane tender Tangier (AV‑8).

U.S. freighter Black Osprey, detained at Weymouth, England, by British authorities since 5 September 1939, is released (see 31 October 1939).

Norwegian motor vessel Ronda strikes mine off Terschelling island, Netherlands, 54°10'N, 04°34'E; two U.S. citizens perish. Survivors (including four Americans) are subsequently rescued by Italian freighter Providencia.

Dutch minesweeper Willem van Ewijck is lost off Terschelling on 8 September 1939 to a Dutch mine.

September 14, Thu. ‑‑Atlantic Squadron Neutrality Patrol assets deployed this date: destroyers Davis (DD‑395), Jouett (DD‑396), Benham(DD‑397) and Ellet (DD‑398) operate between Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Placentia Bay, Newfoundland (Grand Banks Patrol); destroyers Hamilton (DD‑141) and Leary (DD‑158) operate off Georges Shoals; Goff (DD 247) and Hopkins(DD‑249) and PBY‑2s (VP 54), supported by minesweeper [small seaplane tender] Owl (AM‑2) operate out of Narragansett Bay; destroyers Decatur (DD‑341), Barry (DD‑248), Reuben James (DD‑245) and auxiliary [high speed transport] Manley (AG‑28), with shore‑based VP 52 and VP 53 (P2Y‑2s) operate out of Chesapeake Bay; destroyers Babbitt (DD‑128) and Claxton (DD‑140) patrol the Florida Straits; heavy cruisers San Francisco (CA‑38) and Tuscaloosa (CA‑37), destroyers Truxtun (DD‑229), Simpson (DD‑221), Broome (DD‑220) and Borie (DD‑215) and patrol squadrons VP 33 (PBY‑3s) and VP 51 (PBY‑1s), supported by small seaplane tenders Lapwing (AVP‑1), Thrush(AVP‑3) and Gannet (AVP‑8) watch the Caribbean and the Atlantic side of the Lesser Antilles; heavy cruisers Quincy(CA‑39) and Vincennes (CA‑44) operate off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; held in reserve in Hampton Roads is a striking force consisting of carrier Ranger (CV‑4) (her embarked air group consisting of squadrons VB 4, VF 4, VS 41and VS 42) and battleships New York (BB‑34) and Texas (BB‑35). Arkansas (BB‑33) and gunnery training ship (ex‑»battleship) Wyoming (AG‑17) are carrying out training cruise for USNR midshipmen. The destroyers find the going rough on the Grand Banks; they will be replaced by 327‑foot Coast Guard cutters that will be administratively assigned to Destroyer Division 18.

U.S. freighter City of Joliet is detained by French authorities and her cargo examined (see 5 October).

September 16, Sat. ‑‑Naval Attaché in Berlin reports that Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, has informed him that all submarine commanders had reported negatively concerning the sinking of British passenger liner Athenia (see 22 September and 8 November).

British Admiralty, reflecting the need to protect the Atlantic lifeline necessary to Britain's survival, announces establishment of convoy system for its merchant shipping; first Halifax‑United Kingdom convoy (HX 1) sails‑‑eighteen ships escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS St. Laurence and HMCS Saguenay.

German submarine U 31 inaugurates U‑boat campaign against convoys when she attacks westbound convoy OB 4, torpedoing and sinking British merchant steamer Aviemore in the North Atlantic, 49°11'N, 13°38'W.

U.S. freighter Shickshinny is detained at Glasgow, Scotland, by British authorities (see 18 September).

September 17, Sun. ‑‑USSR, its western border secure after its 23 August 1939 ceasefire with the Japanese along the Manchukuo‑Mongolia frontier, invades eastern Poland.

British use of Home Fleet aircraft carriers to hunt German submarines, begun on 3 September, ends after U 29torpedoes and sinks HMS Courageous southwest of the British Isles, 50°10'N, 14°45'W. Courageous is the first capital ship lost by any of the combatants. "A wonderful success," the German U‑boat High Command War Diary

exults, "and confirmation of the fact that the English defense forces are not as effective as they advertise themselves to be."

U.S. freighter Black Condor is detained by British authorities (see 24 September).

September 18, Mon. ‑‑President Roosevelt authorizes Coast Guard to enlist 2,000 additional men and to build two training stations.

Heavy cruiser San Francisco (CA‑38) arrives at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and reports that Dominican authorities are exercising proper precautions to learn promptly of the entry of any belligerent warship into Semana Bay, Dominican Republic.

U.S. freighter Warrior, detained by British authorities since 7 September, is released after her cargo of phosphates is requisitioned. Freighter Shickshinny, detained since 16 September at Glasgow, Scotland, is permitted to sail without unloading cargo deemed by British authorities to be contraband. Shickshinny, however, is to unload those items at Mersey, England.

U.S. freighter Eglantine is stopped by German submarine, ordered not to use her radio, and to send her papers to the U‑boat for examination. The Germans allow Eglantine to proceed, but advise her not to use her radio for three hours.

September 19, Tue. ‑‑VP 21 (PBYs), assigned to the Asiatic Fleet to provide aerial reconnaissance capability to safeguard the neutrality of the Philippines, departs Pearl Harbor for Manila, P.I. The squadron will fly via Midway, Wake, and Guam (see 25September). Seaplane tender (destroyer) Childs (AVD‑1) will provide support at Wake, the least developed place on the movement westward.

U.S. freighter Black Hawk is detained by British authorities (see 4 October); freighter Black Eagle, detained by the British since 12 September at the Downs, is released.

September 20, Wed. ‑‑Squadron 40‑T departs Villefranche, France; flagship, light cruiser Trenton (CL‑11) (Rear Admiral Charles E. Courtney) and destroyer Jacob Jones (DD‑130) head for Lisbon, Portugal; destroyer Badger (DD‑126) for Marseilles, France (see 23 September).

U.S. freighters Ethan Allen and Ipswich are detained by British authorities (see 30 September).

September 21, Thu. ‑‑President Roosevelt asks for repeal of arms embargo provision of Neutrality Act of 1937 (see 4 November).

September 22, Fri. ‑‑German submarine U 30 arrives at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, where her commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Fritz‑Julius Lemp, informs Commander U‑boats, in private, that he [Lemp] believes himself responsible for sinking British passenger liner Athenia (see 8 November).

U.S. freighter Syros is detained by French authorities (see 10 October).

September 23, Sat. ‑‑Squadron 40‑T arrives at Lisbon, Portugal; en route, flagship, light cruiser Trenton (CL‑11) (Rear Admiral Charles E. Courtney) intercepts distress signal from British freighter Constant which reports being pursued by what she believes to be a German U‑boat. Rear Admiral Courtney sends destroyer Jacob Jones (DD‑130) to provide water and provisions to the English merchantman.

September 24, Sun. ‑‑Seaplane tender Langley (AV‑3) arrives at Manila, P.I., to serve as the flagship for Commander Aircraft Asiatic Fleet (Commander Arthur C. Davis) (see 25 September).

U.S. freighter Black Condor, detained by British authorities since 17 September, is released.

September 25, Mon. ‑‑VP 21 arrives at Manila, P.I.; it will be tended by Langley (AV‑3), which arrived the previous day.

September 26, Tue. ‑‑German armored ships Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland, poised in the South and North Atlantic, respectively, receive their orders to begin commerce raiding operations.

September 27, Wed. ‑‑Warsaw falls; Poland surrenders unconditionally to Germany and the USSR. After the fall of Poland, the war on the western front degenerates into a stalemate, sometimes derisively called the sitzkrieg ("sitting war") after the blitzkrieg that had crushed Polish resistance in September.

Commandant of the Coast Guard informs Commander of the Boston Division that upon withdrawal of destroyers from the Grand Banks Patrol, the patrol will be maintained by two Campbell‑class 327‑foot cutters.

Cambell-class cutter USCGC Taney (W-37) preserved at Baltimore. JCB photo 19 Sep 2024. Click to enlarge.

U.S. freighter Executive is detained by French authorities at Casablanca, French Morocco (see 29 September).

September 28, Thu. ‑‑Hawaiian Detachment, U.S. Fleet, is established in response to Japan's continuing undeclared war against China that has been underway since 7 July 1937. The establishment of the Hawaiian Detachment, to be based at Pearl Harbor, necessitates changing the schedules of the supply ships and oilers needed to provide logistics support.

September 29, Fri. ‑‑Poland is partitioned by Germany and the Soviet Union.

U.S. freighter Executive, detained at Casablanca, French Morocco, since 27 September, is released by French authorities, provided that she proceeds to Bizerte, Tunisia.

British warships operating on the Northern Patrol continue to stop neutral merchantman; between this date and 12October, 63 vessels are stopped, of which 20 are detained at Kirkwall for the inspection of their cargoes.

Battleship Arizona (BB‑39) engineering plant is sabotaged, San Pedro, California. A thorough FBI investigation into the occurrence opines that the deed is done to embarrass certain ship's officers rather than cause serious damage.

September 30, Sat. ‑‑Rear Admiral Hayne Ellis relieves Rear Admiral Alfred W. Johnson as Commander Atlantic Squadron on board the squadron’s flagship, battleship Texas (BB‑35).

Vice Admiral Adolphus Andrews (Commander Scouting Force) assumes command of Hawaiian Detachment, breaking his flag in heavy cruiser Indianapolis (CA‑35). Andrews will shift his flag to carrier Enterprise (CV‑6) on 3 October prior to the detachment's move to its operating base (see 5 October).

European war again comes to the Americas: German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee stops and sinks British steamship Clement 75 miles southeast of Pernambuco, Brazil, 09°05'S, 34°05'W (see 1 and 5 October).

U.S. freighters Ethan Allen and Ipswich, detained by British authorities since 20 September, are released. Cargo destined for Bremen and Hamburg, however, is seized and taken off Ipswich.