The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
or ships under American escort. Roosevelt declares that if German or Italian vessels of war enter American-protected waters, they “do so at their own risk.”
German submarines attack convoy SC 42; unarmed Panamanian freighter Montana is torpedoed and sunk by U 105 at 63°40′N, 35°50′W.
UNITED STATES. Executive order provides that such additional Coast Guard vessels, units, or people should be transferred to the Navy as should be agreed upon between the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Chief of Naval Operations (see 6 August and 1 November).
GULF OF SUEZ. Unarmed U.S. freighter Arkansan is damaged by antiaircraft shell fragments during heavy air raid on Port Suez; there are no reported casualties among the 38-man crew.
12 Friday
ATLANTIC. Coast Guard cutter Northland, assisted by cutter North Star, seizes Norwegian trawler Buskoe in MacKenzie Bay, Greenland, thwarting Buskoe’s mission of establishing and servicing German radio weather stations in that region. This is the first capture of a belligerent ship by U.S. naval forces in World War II.
14 Sunday
UNITED STATES. Army General Headquarters (GHQ) maneuvers commence in Louisiana. Army’s neglect of aviation support for its ground troops during the interwar period compels it to ask the Navy to provide planes to take part. Five Navy (VB 2, VF 41, VF 72, VS 5, and VS 42) and four Marine Corps (VMF 111, VMO 151, VMSB 131, and VMSB 132) squadrons take part in the large-scale war games.
ATLANTIC. As TF 15 proceeds toward Iceland, destroyer Truxtun (DD 229) reports submarine emerging from the fog 300 yards away, but low visibility and uncertainty as to the position of MacLeish (DD 220), also in the screen of TF 15, prevents Truxtun from opening fire. After the submarine submerges, Truxtun, MacLeish, and Sampson (DD 394) make depth charge attacks with no verifiable result.
18 Thursday
ATLANTIC. U.S. Navy ships escort east-bound British transatlantic convoy for first time. TU 4.1.1 (Captain Morton L. Deyo), comprising destroyers Ericsson (DD 440), Eherle (DD 430), Ellis (DD 154), Dallas (DD 199), and Upshur (DD 144), assumes ocean escort duties for convoy HX 150, 150 miles south of Newfoundland.
19 Friday
UNITED STATES. Secretary of State Cordell Hull sends note to German Chargé d’Affaires Hans Thomsen concerning settlement of the Robin Moor incident, citing reparations to the amount of $2,967,092.00. German Embassy acknowledges receipt of the note the same day (see 26 September).
20 Saturday
ATLANTIC. Army shore battery fires across the bow of destroyer Charles F. Hughes (DD 428) as TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland) enters Hvalfjordur, Iceland, in foggy weather conditions.
German submarines attack convoy SC 44; among the ships lost in the onslaught are Panamanian freighter Pink Star (ex-Danish Landby) and tanker T. C. Williams, torpedoed and sunk by U 552 at 61°36′N, 35°07′W, and 61°34′N, 35°11′W, respectively.
24 Wednesday
ATLANTIC. Destroyer Eberle (DD 430), in TU 4.1.1, screening convoy HX 150, rescues crew of British freighter Nigaristan, which has suffered an engine room fire.
25 Thursday
ATLANTIC. U.S. Navy escorts (see 18 September) turn over convoy HX 150 to British escort vessels at the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point (MOMP). All convoyed vessels reach port safely
26 Friday
ATLANTIC. Navy orders protection of all ships engaged in commerce in U.S. defensive waters—by patrolling, covering, and escorting and by reporting or destroying German and Italian naval forces encountered.
UNITED STATES. German Chargé d’Affaires Hans Thomsen replies to Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s note of 19 September concerning reparations for the loss of Robin Moor. Referring to the notes of 20 June and 19 September 1941, Thomsen replies that “the two communications made are not such as to lead to an appropriate reply by my government” (see 3 November).
27 Saturday
UNITED STATES. First Maritime Commission EC-2-type freighter (“Liberty” ship), Patrick Henry, is launched at Baltimore, Maryland. This standardized type of ship is to be put into mass production in American shipyards to fulfill the need for merchant vessels in a wartime economy.
28 Sunday
UNITED STATES. Army GHQ maneuvers in Louisiana conclude.
30 Tuesday
ATLANTIC. TU 4.1.5 (Commander William K. Phillips) assumes escort duty for convoy HX 152. During the rough passage to the MOMP, which concludes on 9 October, all destroyers of the unit—Mayo (DD 422) (flagship), Broome (DD 210), Babbitt (DD 128), Leary (DD 158), and Schenck (DD 159)—suffer varying degrees of storm damage.
TU 4.1.3 (Commander Dennis L. Ryan) assumes escort duty for convoy ON 20 at the MOMP (see 2 October).
PACIFIC. Rear Admiral Harold M. Bemis, incapacitated by illness, is relieved as Commandant Sixteenth Naval District and Commandant Navy Yard, Cavite, P.I., by Captain Herbert J. Ray (see 5 November).
OCTOBER
1 Wednesday
EUROPE. United States, British, and Soviet representatives conclude three-day conference in Moscow on aid to the Soviet Union.
UNITED STATES. Secretary of the Navy William Franklin (Frank) Knox approves “popular” names for naval combat aircraft: “Avenger” (Grumman TBF), “Buccaneer” (Brewster SB2A), “Buffalo” (Brewster F2A), “Catalina” (Consolidated PBY), “Coronado” (Consolidated PB2Y), “Corsair” (Vought F4U), “Dauntless” (Douglas SBD), “Devastator” (Douglas TBD), “Helldiver” (Curtiss SB2C), “Kingfisher” (Vought OS2U/Naval Aircraft Factory OS2N), “Mariner” (Martin PBM), “Sea Ranger” (Boeing PBB patrol bomber), “Seagull” (Curtiss S03C), and “Vindicator” (Vought SB2U). Names supplement the Navy’s letter-number designations, which remain unchanged and continue to be used in correspondence.33
Sale of War Savings Bonds to naval personnel is inaugurated on this date; under the direction of a Coordinator for War Savings Bonds, supply corps officers are designated as issuing agents and assigned to 28 major shore activities. Actual sales of the bonds will amount to $61,000,000—over 50 percent in excess of the predicted sales.
ATLANTIC. Naval Air Station, Trinidad, is established.
2 Thursday
UNITED STATES. President Roosevelt rejects Japanese Prime Minister Konoye Fumimaro’s request to meet and discuss Pacific and Far Eastern questions.
ATLANTIC. Destroyer Winslow (DD 359), in screen of convoy ON 20., is detached from TU 4.1.3 to proceed to the assistance of Dutch motor vessel Tuva, torpedoed by German submarine U 575 at 54°16′N, 26°36′W. Although Winslow finds the freighter still afloat, the destroyer depth charges a “doubtful” submarine contact in the vicinity and upon her return is unable to locate any survivors. Winslow rejoins ON 20 the following morning.34
Coast Guard cutter Campbell scuttles irreparably damaged British tanker San Florentino (torpedoed by German submarine U 575 at 52°50′N, 34°40′W, and 52°42′N, 34°51′W).
5 Sunday
ATLANTIC. Destroyer Mayo (DD 422), escorting convoy HX 152, after seeing Swedish motor vessel Kaaparen showing a string of lights for five minutes, thus jeopardizing the convoy, hails the offender and threatens to open fire if the practice is not stopped.
Beneath a banner bearing appropriate sentiments, Captain Arthur W. Radford (right) looks on during ceremonies activating NAS Trinidad,