On The Week of 22-28 October 1939

US NAVY

Sunday, 22 October 1939

            U.S. freighters Endicott and West Gambo are detained by French authorities and portions of their cargo ordered ashore as contraband; 750 bales of carbon black from West Gambo and 2,276 bars of copper and 1,796 bags of carbon black from Endicott (see 2 November).

            U.S. steamship President Hayes is detained by British naval authorities at Alexandria, Egypt, and searched for contraband (see 23 October); freighter Patrick Henry, detained by the British since 10 October, is released.

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee stops British freighter Trevanion, embarks her crew, and sinks the ship at19°40'S, 04°02'W.

Monday, 23 October 1939

            U.S. freighter City of Flint arrives at Murmansk (see 24, 27 and 28 October and 3 November).

            U.S. freighter Tulsa is detained at London by British authorities (see 9 November).

            U.S. steamship President Hayes, detained by British naval authorities at Alexandria, Egypt, the previous day, is released, but not before a consignment of rubber earmarked for delivery to Genoa, Italy, is unloaded. The cargo is held at Alexandria for about two weeks, and then reloaded on board steamship President Polk. The President of the shipping concern involved (American President Lines) subsequently requests the Department of State to protest methods employed by the British naval authorities at Port Said and Alexandria in searching that company's vessels. “The fact that [the] British...allowed this eventual delivery," the shipping company executive complains, "indicates that [the] shipment ought never have been interfered with in [the] first place."

Tuesday, 24 October 1939

            British light cruiser HMS Orion and Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay locate German tanker Emmy Friedrich in the Yucatan Channel; British light cruiser HMS Caradoc subsequently intercepts Emmy Friedrich whose crew scuttles her to avoid capture.

            British steamships Menin Ridge and Ledbury are attacked and sunk by German submarine U 37 (torpedoes and gunfire, respectively) 36°01'N, 07°22'W. U.S. freighter Crown City rescues the only five survivors from the 27‑ man crew of Menin Ridge and Ledbury's entire 33‑man crew.

            Soviet authorities intern U.S. freighter City of Flint's German prize crew from armored ship Deutschland at Murmansk (see 27‑28 October and 3 November).

            U.S. freighter Wacosta is detained by British authorities (see 8 November); freighter Iberville, detained by the British since 13 October, is released after cargo due to be discharged at Antwerp and Rotterdam, Holland, is seized as contraband. British authorities at Kirkwall remove 468 bags of U.S. mail destined for Gothenborg, Sweden and 18 for Helsinki, Finland, from Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden.

Wednesday, 25 October 1939

            U.S. freighter Sundance, detained at London, England, by British authorities since 11 October, is released; freighter West Hobomac, detained by the British since 18 October, is released.

            U.S. freighter Nashaba, detained at Le Havre by French authorities since 14 October, is released.

Thursday, 26 October 1939

            U.S. freighter Black Eagle is detained by British authorities (see 5 November).

            U.S. Consul at Gibraltar William E. Chapman confers informally with British naval authorities there concerning protracted delays in detention of American merchantmen (see 27 October).

Friday, 27 October 1939

            U.S. freighter City of Flint is again placed under German naval prize crew from armored ship Deutschland (see 28October and 3 November).

            U.S. Consul at Gibraltar William E. Chapman meets informally with British Colonial Secretary there, and objects to protracted delay in detention of U.S. merchantmen, especially freighter Exporter, which has on board diplomatic pouches bound for Athens, Greece. Consul Chapman's low‑key approach bears fruit. Exporter, detained since 14October, is released later that day, as are freighters Oakman (detained since 13 October) and Meanticut (detained since 21 October).

Saturday, 28 October 1939

            U.S. freighter City of Flint, again under German control, sails from Murmansk for Norwegian waters. At no time during City of Flint's enforced stay at Murmansk has the ship's master, Captain Joseph A. Gainard (an inactive USNR officer) been allowed to communicate with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow (see 3 November).

            U.S. freighter Black Tern, detained at Weymouth, England, by British authorities since 11 October, is released.

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee makes rendezvous with tanker Altmark near Tristan de Cunha. The warship refuels from the auxiliary, and transfers British freighter Trevanion's crew to her.

 

On The Week of 15-21 October 1939

US NAVY

15 October 1939

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee meets tanker Altmark and refuels (see 17 October).

Monday, 16 October 1939

            German tanker Emmy Friedrich, whose cargo includes refrigerants needed for the magazine cooling systems in armored ship Admiral Graf Spee, then on a raiding foray into the Atlantic, departs Tampico, Mexico. Neutrality Patrol assets, including carrier Ranger (CV‑4) and heavy cruiser San Francisco (CA‑38), are mobilized to locate and trail the ship if the need arises (see 24 October).

            U.S. freighter Gateway City is detained by British authorities (see 31 October); freighter Black Heron, detained by the British at Weymouth, England, since 7 October, is released.

Tuesday, 17 October, 1939

            U.S. freighter Cranford is detained by British authorities (see 21 October); freighter Black Falcon, detained by the British since 6 October, is released.

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee transfers crew of British freighter Huntsman to tanker Altmark; Huntsman is then sunk with demolition charges at 16°00'S, 17°00'W.

Wednesday, 18 October 1939

            Naval landing force from gunboats Asheville (PG‑21) and Tulsa (PG‑22) and destroyer Whipple (DD‑217) is withdrawn from Kulangsu, China, where it had been protecting the American Consulate and the Hope Memorial Hospital since 17 May.

            U.S. freighter West Hobomac is detained by British authorities (see 25 October).

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee transfers crews of British freighters Newton Beech and Ashlea to tanker Altmark. The two German ships then part company for a time (see 28 October).

Thursday, 19 October 1939

            Gunboat Erie (PG‑50) arrives off Manzanillo, Mexico, on neutrality patrol; she will monitor movements of German freighter Havelland until 11 December. Commander Special Service Squadron (Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox Jr.) commends the gunboat's work as "the outstanding event" of offshore patrol work conducted by the Squadron.

Friday, 20 October 1939

            Commander Atlantic Squadron informs his ships to use plain language radio reporting of contacts.

            U.S. freighter Scanstates, detained at Kirkwall, Orkneys, by British authorities since 14 October, is released.

Saturday, 21 October 1939

            U.S. freighter City of Flint, under prize crew from German armored ship Deutschland, puts in to Tromsø, Norway, for water. Norwegian government, however, orders the ship to leave; she sails for Soviet waters (see 23, 24, 27 and 28 October and 3 November).

            U.S. freighter Meanticut is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities and ordered to proceed to Oran to discharge certain cargo earmarked for delivery to Italy (see 27 October).

 

On The Week of 8-15 October 1939

US NAVY

Sunday, 8 October 8,

            Coast Guard cutter Campbell joins U.S. passenger liner Iroquois, followed later by destroyers Davis (DD‑395) and Benham (DD‑397). The four ships proceed in company to New York (see 11 October).

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee takes on board crews of British freighters Ashlea and Newton Beech in the South Atlantic and sinks the latter with demolition charges.

Monday, 9 October 1939

            President Roosevelt, in memorandum for the Acting Secretary of the Navy, expresses displeasure with "the slowness of getting the East Coast, Caribbean, and Gulf Patrol under way," the "lag between the making of contacts and the follow‑up of the contact," and the weakness of the liaison between the Navy, the Coast Guard and the State Department. The Chief Executive emphasizes that "in this whole patrol business time is of the essence and loss of contact with surface ships will not be tolerated." Roosevelt urges that patrol planes and naval or Coast Guard ships “may report the sighting of any submarine or suspicious surface ship in plain English" (see 20 October).

            German armored ship Deutschland seizes U.S. freighter City of Flint, en route from New York to the United Kingdom, as "contraband carrier" and places a prize crew on board (see 21, 23, 24, 27 and 28 October and 3 November).

            British Northern Patrol continues operations between the Shetlands, Faeroes, and Iceland; light cruiser HMS Belfast captures German passenger ship Cap Norte.

Tuesday, 10 October 1939

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee stops and puts prize crew on board British freighter Huntsman in the South Atlantic at 08°30'S, 05°15'W.

            U.S. freighter Patrick Henry is detained by British authorities (see 22 October). British authorities remove from freighter Black Gull (detained since 6 October) 293 sacks of American mail addressed to Rotterdam, Holland, and 10to Antwerp, Belgium. This is among the first instances of the British removing mail addressed to neutral countries and opening and censoring sealed letter mail sent from the United States (see 11 October).

            U.S. freighter Syros, detained by French authorities since 14 September, is released.

            Norwegian freighter Brott, detained at Sivinemünde, Germany, since early October with a cargo of wood pulp/wood pulp products, is released by German authorities to proceed on her voyage to the United States.

Wednesday, 11 October 1939

            Submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR‑6), driven aground at Tsingtao, China, by a severe hurricane on 31 August, is refloated.

            U.S. passenger liner Iroquois arrives safely in New York harbor, having been accompanied for three days by Coast Guard cutter Campbell and destroyers Davis (DD‑395) and Benham (DD‑397). Iroquois will later be acquired by the Navy on 22 July 1940 and will be converted to a hospital ship. As Solace (AH‑5) she will play an important role at Pearl Harbor (see 7 December 1941).

            U.S. freighter Sundance is detained at London, England, by British authorities (see 25 October); freighter Black Tern is detained at Weymouth, England (see 12 and 28 October); freighter Black Gull, detained by the British since 6 October, is released.

Thursday, 12 October 1939

            German submarines attack convoys of French and British shipping; U 48 shells and sinks French motor tanker Emile Miguet (from convoy KJ 2S) at 50°15'N, 14°50'W, and later torpedoes and sinks British freighter Heronspool (convoy OB 17S) at 50°13'N, 14°48'W. U.S. merchantmen rescue the survivors: freighter Black Hawk rescues Emile Miguet's crew, passenger liner President Harding rescues Heronspool's.

            British warships operating on the Northern Patrol continue to stop neutral merchantman; between this date and 26October, 112 vessels are stopped, of which 23 are detained at Kirkwall for the inspection of their cargoes.

            British seizure of U.S. mail continues: authorities at the contraband control station at Weymouth remove 94 sacks addressed to Rotterdam, 81 to Antwerp and 184 to Germany, from U.S. freighter Black Tern, which had been detained the day before; authorities at the Downs remove 77 sacks of parcel post, 33 sacks of registered mail, and 156 sacks of regular mail addressed to the Netherlands, in addition to 65 sacks of mail addressed to Belgium, 4 to Luxembourg, 3to Danzig, and 259 to Germany, from Dutch motorship Zaandam.

Friday, 13 October 1939

            U.S. freighter Iberville is detained by British authorities (see 24 October); freighter Oakman is detained by the British (see 27 October).

            German submarine U 47 penetrates defenses of British fleet base at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, shortly before midnight and attacks. Her initial spread of torpedoes causes no damage to battleship HMS Royal Oak and aircraft repair vessel HMS Pegasus (see 14 October).

Saturday, 14 October 1939

            German submarine U 47 quickly carries out second attack in the confines of Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, and torpedoes battleship HMS Royal Oak, 58°55'N, 02°59'W, which sinks in 13 minutes.

            German armored ship Deutschland sinks Norwegian freighter Lorentz W. Hansen 420 miles east of Newfoundland,49°05'N, 43°44'W.

            U.S. freighter Scanstates is detained at Kirkwall, Orkneys, by British authorities; freighter Exporter is detained at Gibraltar by the British (see 20 and 27 October, respectively).

            U.S. freighter Nashaba is detained at Le Havre by French authorities (see 25 October).

 

On The Week of 1-7 October 1939

US NAVY

Sunday, 1 October 1939

            As of this date, the U.S. Navy consists of 396 commissioned ships divided amongst the major U.S. Fleet commands afloat:

            Battle Force (Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, and Aircraft),

            Submarine Force,

            Base Force;

            Scouting Force (Cruisers and Aircraft);

            Atlantic Squadron; 

            Asiatic Fleet;

            Special Service Squadron and

            Squadron 40‑T.

There are 175 district craft in service in the following naval districts:

            First (headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts),

            Third (New York),

            Fourth (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania),

            Fifth (Norfolk, Virginia),

            Sixth, Seventh and Eighth(Charleston, South Carolina),

            Ninth (Great Lakes, Illinois),

            Eleventh (San Diego, California),

            Twelfth (San Francisco, California),

            Thirteenth (Seattle, Washington),

            Fourteenth (Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii),

            Fifteenth (Balboa, Canal Zone) and

            Sixteenth (Cavite, Philippine Islands);

Vessels not in commission (but includes those ordered recommissioned incident to the expansion of the fleet) number 151; 5 district craft are carried as not in service. Vessels listed as "in service" include some used for USNR or Naval Militia training. Vessels not in commission include those loaned to the states of Pennsylvania, California, New York and Massachusetts for use as maritime school ships, the Maritime Commission and the Sea Scouts; as well as "relics" like the Civil War vintage Hartford, the Spanish‑American War prize Reina Mercedes, and Spanish‑American War veterans Olympia and Oregon. Interestingly, the 1 October 1939 list contains the gunboat Panay (PR‑5), bombed and sunk by Japanese naval aircraft in the Yangtze River on 12 December 1937.

            Word of German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee's sinking of British freighter Clement reaches British Admiralty, which begins disposition of ships to meet the threat posed by the surface raider in the South Atlantic (see 5 October).

Monday, 2 October 1939

            Act of Panama is approved by Conference of Foreign Ministers of American Republics meeting in Panama City, establishing a Pan‑American neutrality zone 300 miles wide off the coasts of the United States and Latin America.

            German government notifies the United States that merchant vessels must submit to visit and search, and that neutral merchant vessels refrain from suspicious actions when sighting German men‑of‑war and that they stop when summoned to do so. Maritime Commission, and State and Navy Department representatives who meet to contemplate the request consider it proper and should be complied with.

            Chief of Naval Operations instructs all planning agencies within the naval establishment to accord precedence to the preparation of ORANGE (Japan) war plans.

            River gunboat Tutuila (PR‑4) is damaged when she is accidentally rammed by Chungking Ferry Boat Co. Ferry No. 2 at Chungking, China.

            Norwegian motor vessel Hoegh Transporter is sunk by mine off St. John Island, entrance to Singapore harbor; the two Americans among the passengers survive, one is uninjured.

Wednesday, 4 October 1939

            U.S. Naval Attaché in Berlin reports that Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, has informed him of a plot wherein U.S. passenger liner Iroquois, that had sailed from Cobh, Ireland, with 566 American passengers on 3 October, would be sunk (ostensibly by the British) as she neared the east coast of the United States under "Athenia circumstances" for the apparent purpose of arousing anti‑German feeling. Admiral Raeder gives credence to his source in neutral Ireland as being "very reliable" (see 5, 8 and 11 October).

            U.S. freighter Black Hawk, detained by British authorities since 19 September, is released.

Thursday, 5 October 1939

            Hawaiian Detachment is formed and sent to its new operating base, Pearl Harbor, T.H.; carrier Enterprise (CV‑6) (flagship), two heavy cruiser divisions, two destroyer squadrons and a light cruiser flagship, a destroyer tender and a proportionate number of small auxiliaries make up the force.

            Navy Department informs U.S. passenger liner Iroquois of word received late the previous day concerning the plot to sink the ship as she nears the east coast. "As a purely precautionary measure," President Roosevelt announces this day, “a Coast Guard vessel and several navy ships from the [neutrality] patrol will meet the Iroquois at sea and will accompany her to an American port" (see 8 and 11 October).

            British Admiralty and French Ministry of Marine form eight "hunting groups" in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to counter the threat posed by German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee. That same day, the object of that attention, Admiral Graf Spee, captures British freighter Newton Beech in the South Atlantic at 09°35'S, 06°30'W.

            U.S. freighter Exeter is detained by French authorities at Marseilles, France (see 6 October); freighter City of Joliet, detained by the French since 14 September, is released.

            Secretary of State Cordell Hull requests Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in Germany Alexander C. Kirk, to ascertain why German authorities have detained Swedish motorship Korsholm (at Swinemünde), Estonian steamship Minna (at Kiel), and Norwegian steamship Brott (at Sivinemünde). All of the neutral merchantmen carry cargoes of wood pulp or wood pulp products consigned to various American firms. These are the first instances of cargoes bound for the United States held up for investigation by German authorities. While no U.S. ships are detained, cargoes bound for American concerns in neutral (Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Norwegian) merchant ships come under scrutiny by the Germans (see 10 October and 8 and 27 December).

Friday, 6 October 1939

            Last organized Polish resistance ceases at Kock.

            U.S. freighters Black Gull and Black Falcon are detained by British authorities (see 10‑11 and 17 October, respectively).

            U.S. freighter Exeter, detained at Marseilles, France, the previous day, is released. She subsequently reports having been examined several times by French naval authorities.

Saturday, 7 October 1939

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee stops and boards British freighter Ashlea in the South Atlantic at 09°00'S,03°00'W, and after transferring her crew to Newton Beech, sinks Ashlea with demolition charges.

            U.S. freighter Black Heron is detained by British authorities at Weymouth, England (see 16 October).

 

Time to catch up! 86 Years Ago 27-30 September 1939

The Navy was the primary contributor to the US official combat chronologies in prior to the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.  25 September 1945 marked the final set of entries in the four service chronologies and the blog has finished posting the events of the closing of the war on it’s 80^th anniversary and started with the origins.  In an effort to align future posts with the 85^th anniversary dates, they will now each cover a week for periods prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. 

Wednesday, 27 September 1939

US NAVY

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.

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

Thursday, 28 September 1939

US NAVY

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.

Friday, 29 September 1939

US NAVY

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 proceed 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.

Saturday, 30 September 1939

US NAVY

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.

 

85 Years Ago, Friday, 27 September 1940

US NAVY

            Germany, Italy, and Japan sign Tripartite Pact at Berlin, thus establishing the Berlin‑Rome‑Tokyo Axis.

 

86 Years Ago, Tuesday, 26 September 1939

US NAVY

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

85 Years Ago, Wednesday, 25 September 1940

US NAVY

            Heavy cruiser Louisville (CA‑28) departs Colon, C.Z., for Recife, Brazil, on the first leg of her goodwill cruise to Latin American ports.

            Light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at Norfolk (see 29 September 1940).

            Operation menace, the British‑Free French attempt to take Dakar, is abandoned as Vichy French resistance proves surprisingly vigorous.

            French port of Nouméa, New Caledonia, sides with Free France.

86 Years Ago, Monday, 25 September 1939

US NAVY

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

85 Years Ago, Tuesday, 24 September 1940

US NAVY

            Defense Communication Board is established; membership includes Director of Naval Communications (Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes).

            Third group of ships involved in the destroyers‑for‑bases agreement are turned over to the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mackenzie (DD‑175) becomes HMCS Annapolis, Haraden (DD‑183) becomes HMCS Columbia, Williams (DD‑108) becomes HMCS St. Clair, Thatcher (DD‑162) becomes HMCS Niagara, McCook (DD‑252) becomes HMCS St. Croix and Bancroft (DD‑256) becomes HMCS St. Francis.

            Operation menace, the British‑Free French attempt to take Dakar, commences this day (see 25 September).

80 Years Ago, Monday, 24 September 1945

US NAVY

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

 

US ARMY

 

US MARINE CORPS

Gen Krueger, commander of the Sixth Army, assumes command of all occupation forces ashore on Kyushu. Gen Worton and his party arrive in Tientsin.

 

86 Years Ago, Sunday, 24 September 1939

US NAVY

            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. 

80 Years Ago, Sunday, 23 September 1945

US NAVY

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

 

US ARMY

 

US MARINE CORPS

First elements of 2d Marine Division (2d and 6th Marines) land at Nagasaki. 6th Marine Division (less 4th Marines) begins loading operations at Guam for deployment to China.

 

85 Years Ago, Monday, 23 September 1940

US NAVY

            Second group of ships involved in the transfer to Britain is turned over to Royal Navy crews at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kalk (DD‑170) becomes HMS Hamilton, Maddox (DD‑168) becomes HMS Georgetown, Cowell (DD‑167) becomes HMS Brighton, Foote (DD‑169) becomes HMS Roxborough, Hopewell (DD‑181) becomes HMS Bath, Abbot (DD‑184) becomes HMS Charlestown, Thomas (DD‑182) becomes HMS St. Albans, and Doran (DD‑185) becomes HMS St. Marys.

            Light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at Boston, but sails for Norfolk the someday (see 25 September).

86 Years Ago, Saturday 23 September 1939

US NAVY

            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.

80 Years Ago, Saturday, 22 September 1945

US NAVY

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

 

US ARMY

 

US MARINE CORPS

5th Marine Division arrives and lands at Sasebo.

85 Years Ago, Sunday, 22 September 1940

US NAVY

            Vichy France signs pact at Hanoi ceding airfields and agreeing to admit Japanese troops into northern Indochina.

86 Years Ago, Friday, 22 September 1939

US NAVY

            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).

85 Years Ago, Saturday, 21 September 1940

US NAVY

            Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt hauls down his flag as Commander Special Service Squadron; gunboat Erie (PG‑50) is assigned to the Fifteenth Naval District and sistership Charleston (PG‑51) to the Thirteenth.

            Light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49), with Greenslade Board embarked, departs Argentia for Boston (see 23 September).

 

86 Years Ago, Thursday, 21 September 1939

US NAVY

            President Roosevelt asks for repeal of arms embargo provision of Neutrality Act of 1937 (see 4 November).

85 Years Ago, Friday, 20 September 1940

 US NAVY

            Third group of ships involved in the destroyers‑for‑ bases agreement‑‑Mackenzie (DD‑175), Haraden (DD‑183), Williams (DD‑108), Thatcher (DD‑162), McCook (DD‑252) and Bancroft (DD‑256) ‑‑arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia (see 24 September).

86 Years Ago, Wednesday, 20 September 1939

US NAVY

            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). 

80 Years Ago, Wednesday, 19 September 1945

 US NAVY

 

US ARMY AIR FORCE

 

US ARMY

 

US MARINE CORPS

Led by Gen Worton, III Amphibious Corps advance party departs Guam for North China 

85 Years Ago, Thursday, 19 September 1940

US NAVY

            Battleship Oklahoma (BB‑37) collides with U.S. tug Goliath, Puget Sound, Washington. 

86 Years Ago, Tuesday, 19 September 1939

US NAVY

            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 25 September). 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.

85 Years Ago, Wednesday, 18 September 1940

US NAVY

            Second group of ships involved in the transfer to Britain‑‑Kalk (DD‑170), Maddox (DD‑168), Cowell (DD‑167), Foote (DD‑169), Hopewell (DD‑181), Abbot (DD‑184), Thomas (DD‑182) and Doran (DD‑185) ‑‑ arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia (see 23 September).

            Light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49), with Greenslade Board embarked, shifts from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Argentia (see 21 September).

86 Years Ago, Monday, 18 September 1939

US NAVY

            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.

85 Years Ago, Tuesday, 17 September 1940

US NAVY

            Special Service Squadron (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt), consisting of gunboats Erie (PG‑50) and Charleston (PG‑51) and destroyers J. Fred Talbott (DD‑156) and Tattnall (DD‑125), is disbanded.

86 Years Ago, Sunday, 17 September 1939

US NAVY

            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).

85 Years Ago, Monday, 16 September 1940

US NAVY

            President Roosevelt signs Selective Training and Service Act, thus establishing the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States.

            Light cruiser St. Louis (CL‑49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at St. John's, Newfoundland (see 18September).