US NAVY
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.
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