On The Week of 26 November – 2 December 1939

US NAVY

Sunday, 26 November 1939

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee and tanker Altmark rendezvous in South Atlantic (see 27 and 29 November).

Monday, 27 November 1939

            U.S. freighter Effingham is detained at Ramsgate, England, by British authorities (see 7 December);

            Freighter Azalea City is detained at London (see 11 December). Freighter Excambion, detained at Gibraltar by the British since 20 November, is released.

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee refuels from tanker Altmark in South Atlantic (see 29 November).

Tuesday, 28 November 1939

            USSR denounces its 1932 Non‑Aggression Pact with Finland (see 30 November).

            U.S. freighter Winston Salem is detained at Ramsgate, England, by British authorities (see 7 December).

Wednesday, 29 November 1939

            Submarine S 38 (SS‑143) is damaged by explosion of after storage battery, Olongapo, P.I.; four sailors suffer injuries.

            U.S. freighter Nishmaha is detained by French authorities at Marseilles; her cargo (cotton, paraffin and beef casings) is held pending the decision of the Contraband Committee in London (see 8 December).

            U.S. freighter Extavia is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities (see 14 December).

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee re‑embarks from accompanying tanker Altmark all British merchant marine officers from the six ships that the "pocket battleship" has sunk up to that point. The officers are to be taken back to Germany; the crewmen remain imprisoned on board Altmark (see 16 February 1940).

Thursday, 30 November 1939

            USSR invades Finland, which will receive not only American aid but British and French as well; the Finnish struggle (albeit against an initially inept Soviet invasion force) arouses the admiration of many (see 14 December).

            Destroyer Reuben James (DD‑245) is damaged by grounding, Lobos Cay, Cuba.

            U.S. freighter Extavia, with cargo destined for Istanbul, Turkey, and the Piraeus, Greece, is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities.

Friday, 1 December 1939

            Submarine Division 14 arrives on the Asiatic Station, the first modern reinforcements received by the Asiatic Fleet in many years. Submarines comprising the division are Pickerel (SS‑177) (flag), Porpoise (SS‑172), Perch (SS‑176), Pike (SS‑173), Tarpon (SS‑175) and Permit (SS‑178).

Saturday, 2 December 1939

            German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee stops British freighter Doric Star; the warship then torpedoes, shells, and sinks the merchantman at 19°15'S, 05°05'E.