On 1 – 15 November 1941

US NAVY

1 November 1941, Saturday

US NAVY

UNITED STATES—Executive order places Coast Guard under jurisdiction of Department of the Navy for duration of national emergency.

PACIFIC—Pacific Escort Force is formed at Pearl Harbor to protect transports and certain merchant vessels carrying troops and valuable military cargoes between Hawaii and the Far East.

ATLANTIC—PBYs (VP 73) provide air coverage for convoy ON 30.  

            Destroyers Dallas (DD‑199), Ellis (DD‑154), and Eberle (DD‑430), screening convoy HX 157, carry out depth charge attacks on sound contacts off St. John's, Newfoundland.

US MARINE CORPS

UNITED STATES—Second Joint Training Force (JTF-2), composed of the 2d Marine Division, the U.S. Army 3d Infantry Division, and the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing organized at Camp Elliott, San Diego, California, to become a part of the Pacific Fleet.

2 November 1941, Sunday

ATLANTIC—TF 14 (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt) (see 25 October 1941 for composition) reaches MOMP and exchanges convoy “Cargo" for CT 5, eight British transports carrying 20,000 British troops earmarked for the Middle East. Convoy CT5's first destination is Halifax, Nova Scotia.

            PBMs (VP 74) provide air coverage for convoy ON 30.

3 November 1941, Monday

UNITED STATES—Secretary of State Hull releases to the press the correspondence of June and September detailing the German refusal to pay reparations for sinking U.S. freighter Robin Moor on 21 May.

ATLANTIC—PBYs (VP 73) provide air coverage for convoy ON 31.

            Destroyer Upshur (DD‑144), escorting convoy HX 157, depth charges sound contact (later determined to be most likely a whale or blackfish) at 56°56'N, 49°21'W.

4 November 1941, Tuesday

ATLANTIC—PBYs (VP 73) provide air coverage for convoy ON 31.

            British RFA oiler Olwen reports German surface raider attack at 03°04'N, 22°42'W. Commander‑in‑Chief, South Atlantic, Vice Admiral Algernon U. Willis, RN, orders heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire (accompanied by armed merchant cruiser HMS Canton) to investigate. Light cruiser HMS Dunedin and special service vessels HMS Queen Emma and Princess Beatrix are ordered to depart Freetown, Sierra Leone to join in the search. Dorsetshire and Canton part company, with the former heading southeast and the latter steaming toward a position to the northwest, to be supported by TG 3.6, light cruiser Omaha (CL‑4) and destroyer Somers (DD‑381), which are at that time well to the northwest of the reported enemy position. Light cruiser Memphis (CL‑4) and destroyers Davis (DD‑395) and Jouett (DD‑396), near to Olwen's position, search the area without result; Omaha and Somers search unsuccessfully for survivors (see 5‑6 November).

5 November 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—Oiler Laramie (A0 16) is rammed by Panamanian freighter Montrose, Tunugdliark Fjord, Narsarssuak, Greenland, but suffers no damage in the accidental encounter caused by stormy weather.

            Search for German raider reported by British RFA oiler Olwen the previous day continues; Commander‑in‑Chief South Atlantic (Vice Admiral Algernon U. Willis, RN) informs British ships of the unsuccessful efforts by the five U.S. ships (two light cruisers and three destroyers) involved in the search the previous day (see 6 November).

PACIFIC—Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell relieves Captain Herbert J. Ray as Commandant, Sixteenth Naval District and Commander, Philippine Naval Coastal Frontier. Ray had been acting in that capacity due to the illness of Rear Admiral Harold M. Bemis.

6 November 1941, Thursday

ATLANTIC—Unsuccessful search for German raider reported by British RFA oiler Olwen on 4 November is not entirely fruitless: TG 3.6, light cruiser Omaha (CL‑4) (Captain Theodore E. Chandler) and destroyer Somers (DD‑381), en route to Recife, Brazil, returning from the 3,023‑mile patrol, captures German blockade runner Odenwald, disguised as U.S. freighter Willmoto, in Atlantic equatorial waters, 00°40'N, 28°04'W. Boarding party from Omaha (Lieutenant George K. Carmichael) reaches Odenwald as Germans explode charges to scuttle the ship. Omaha's sailors, however, joined by a diesel engine specialist from Somers, prevent Odenwald's loss while the cruiser's SOCs and her accompanying destroyer screen the operation. The three ships then proceed to Trinidad because of possible complications with the Brazilian government; in view of the precarious fuel state in the American ships, Somers's crew ingeniously rigs a sail that cuts fuel consumption and allows her to reach her destination with fuel to spare. British RFA oiler Olwen subsequently reports that she had made the "raider" signal when what was probably a surfaced submarine had fired upon her at dawn on 4 November 1941. Ten U.S. and British warships had searched for two days for a phantom enemy.

            Destroyer Madison (DD‑425), on the flank of convoy ON 39, carries out depth charge attack at 45°50'N, 40°40'W; investigation later proves their quarry to have been a whale.

7 November 1941, Friday

ATLANTIC—Destroyers Lansdale (DD‑426), Charles F. Hughes (DD‑428), and Gleaves (DD‑423), while in TU 4.1.2 escorting convoy ON 30, make depth charge attacks on sound contact. Destroyer Madison (DD‑425) sights bleeding whale soon thereafter, leading to the conclusion that the warships had attacked a large marine mammal.

8 November 1941, Saturday

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Niblack (DD‑424) damages Norwegian freighter Astra in collision, Reykjavik, Iceland.

            Naval Operating Base, Iceland, is established; Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman is the first commandant.

9 November 1941, Sunday

ATLANTIC—TU 4.1.4 (Captain Alan G. Kirk) departs Argentia, Newfoundland, to screen 31‑ship convoy HX 159. It is the first escort task unit that includes in its composition a Coast Guard cutter, Campbell. The convoy will not be attacked by U‑boats although the presence of whales and blackfish result in attacks on sound contacts on five occasions (see 11,12, and 13 November).

10 November 1941, Monday

ATLANTIC—U.S.‑escorted convoy WS 12 (Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook), formed around carrier Ranger (CV‑4) and transporting more than 20,000 British soldiers (see 2 November) in six U.S. Navy transports, sails from Halifax.

            Destroyer Ericsson (DD‑440), screening convoy HX 157, depth charges sound contact later evaluated as a "doubtful” submarine.

PACIFIC—Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet (Admiral Thomas C. Hart) receives permission to withdraw river gunboats from the Yangtze and USMC forces from China.

11 November 1941, Tuesday

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Edison (DD‑439), en route to rendezvous with convoy ON 34, depth charges sound contact.

            Destroyer Decatur (DD‑341), screening convoy HX 159, depth charges sound contact off the Grand Banks; it is later evaluated as a "doubtful" submarine.

12 November 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—TU 4.1.3 (Commander Richard E. Webb) assumes escort duty for convoy ON 34.

            Destroyer Decatur (DD‑341), screening convoy HX 159, twice depth charges sound contacts that are later evaluated as "non‑submarine." Destroyer Badger (DD‑126), depth charges sound contact that is later evaluated as perhaps Decatur’s wake. Coast Guard cutter Campbell reports sound contact and conducts search; she is joined by destroyer Livermore (DD‑429).

13 November 1941, Tuesday

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Edison (DD‑439), screening convoy ON 34 southwest of Iceland, depth charges sound contact.

            Destroyer Decatur (DD‑341), screening convoy HX 159, depth charges sound contact; although it is regarded as a good contact, the ensuing search yields no evidence of a submarine.

14 November 1941, Friday

PACIFIC—Marines are ordered withdrawn from Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China.

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Benson (DD‑421) and Niblack (DD‑424), screening convoy ON 34, depth charge sound contacts.

            Destroyer Edison (DD‑439), en route to MOMP in TU 4.1.1 to screen convoy ON 35, attacks a sound contact southwest of Iceland at 62°53'N, 24°30'W.

US MARINE CORPS

PACIFIC—Marines are ordered to leave Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China.

15 November 1941, Saturday

US NAVY

UNITED STATES—Army GHQ maneuvers begin in North and South Carolina. Two U.S. Navy (VB 8 and VS 8) and two Marine Corps (VMF 111 and VMF 121) squadrons take part in the large‑scale war games.

ATLANTIC—TU 4.1.1 (Captain Marion Y. Cohen) assumes escort duty for convoy ON 35 at the MOMP. There will be no U‑boat attacks on the convoy, but nearly continuous heavy weather between 16 and 25 November result in 16 of the 26 ships straggling.