6 MORE SHIPS SUNK; BRITISH WEIGH BAN ON REICH EXPORTS (11/21/39)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 11/21/39 | Raymond Daniell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime”.)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

[O]n November 21 Himmler announced to the public that the assassination plot against Hitler at the Buergerbraukeller had been solved. It was done at the instigation of the British Intelligence Service, two of whose leaders, Stevens and Best, had been arrested “on the Dutch-German frontier” on the day following the bombing. The actual perpetrator was given as Georg Elser, a German Communist carpenter residing in Munich.

Himmler’s detailed account of the crime sounded “fishy” to me, as I wrote in my diary the same day. But his accomplishment was very real. “What Himmler and his gang are up to, obviously,” I jotted down, “is to convince the gullible German people that the British government tried to win the war by murdering Hitler and his chief aides.”

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

[Homer_J_Simpson]

November 19 – One ship sunk by a mine, 4 column headline.
November 20 – Five ships sunk by mines, 3 column headline
November 21 – Six ships sunk by mines, 1 column headline

The novelty is wearing off.

6 More Ships Sunk; British Weigh Ban on Reich Exports – 1-3
Merchant Ships Sunk in War – 3
Nazi Listing of Veendam For Sinking Is ‘Mistake’ – 4
British See Nazis in Mine Offensive - 5

[abb]

German magnetic mines prove threatening
Tuesday, November 21, 1939 www.onwar.com

In Britain... The brand-new British cruiser, Belfast, is seriously damaged by a German magnetic mine in the Firth of Forth. The destroyer Gypsy is sunk by a magnetic mine. The Japanese passenger liner Terukuni Maru is struck by a German mine as well, in the Thames estuary.

In London... Prime Minister Chamberlain announces that German merchant shipping will be seized in retaliation for indiscriminate mine warfare. All goods in Britain, earmarked for shipment to Germany, are confiscated.

In Bratislava... In a treaty signed with Germany, Slovakia is given 225 square miles of former Polish territory (which Poland had progressively annexed from Czechoslovakia in 1920, 1924 and 1938).

In the North Atlantic... The German battle cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst begin a sortie.

[abb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belfast_(C35)

HMS Belfast is an ex-Royal Navy Town-class cruiser and now a museum ship operated by the Imperial War Museum. Commissioned in August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast spent much of the early war years undergoing repairs after being damaged by a German mine in November 1940. Recommissioned in November 1942, she saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and participated in the Battle of North Cape in December of that year. In June 1944 Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings. She saw further action during the Korean War.

Decommissioned in 1963 following a number of overseas tours Belfast was initially expected to be disposed of as scrap. After a campaign by a private trust she was preserved as a museum ship and berthed on the River Thames in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in 1971 Belfast has been maintained as a branch of the Imperial War Museum since 1978. In Royal Navy service for 24 years HMS Belfast was, in the view of historian and Imperial War Museum director Noble Frankland, capable of representing “a whole generation of [historical evidence]”.[2] A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives around a quarter of a million visitors per year.[3] As a branch of a national museum, Belfast is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, by admissions income and the Imperial War Museum’s other commercial activity.

http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/

[abb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst’s first wartime operation was a sortie into the Iceland-Faroes passage, which lasted six days from 21-27 November 1939, with Gneisenau in which she sank the British Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Rawalpindi, although her victim fought a tough defensive battle.[10] The Rawalpindi’s Captain, Edward Coverley Kennedy (father of naval Historian Ludovic Kennedy[11]), had been notified at around 15:30 hrs that a large warship had been sighted. Kennedy identified it as the Deutschland. Sighting another large ship, Kennedy thought it was a British Heavy Cruiser, and hoped it would be Rawalpindi’s savior. He therefore ignored the warning shots fired by Scharnhorst. Unfortunately the ship sighted was Gneisenau, and Kennedy found himself surrounded. The ensuing battle lasted just 15 minutes. Scharnhorst eventually sank the ship, killing 238 of the crew, including Kennedy. The German squadron stopped to rescue 38 survivors from the freezing seas. The German commanders on both Gneisenau and Scharnhorst commented on the bravery of the Captain and his crew.[12]

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Commissioned in August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast spent much of the early war years undergoing repairs after being damaged by a German mine in November 1940.

Does Wiki have the year wrong? At this point the Brits think she was torpedoed by a U-Boat.

[B.O. Plenty]

bump

[abb]

Yes, that is an error. Later in the article it gives the correct date.

[abb]

One other thing. Remember our discussion a couple of months ago about all the “auxiliaries” drafted into Royal Navy service? Trawlers, yachts, etc., and what they did?

Much of their duty was for mine hunting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_Patrol_Service

[PzLdr]

SCHARNHORST. Most successful German warship of WWII. My favorite.

Only surface ship to sink an enemy fleet carrier in war [H.M.S GLORIOUS, June 8, 1940]. Participated in successful commerce raid in Atlantic, Spring, 1941.

Led Channel Dash [with GNIESENAU and PRINZ EUGEN], 1942 [surviving at least two mine hits].Sunk off North Cape, Boxing Day, 1943 [last battleship-battleship action in history] by H.M.S DUKE of YORK], with almost all hands lost. [H.M.S BELFAST also involved]

[investigateworld]

I believe the Japs sank the USS Gambier Bay (Escort Carrier) with NGF in the Pacicfic.

[PzLdr]

Yes they did. But it wasn’t a full sized carrier. GLORIOUS was.

[abb]

Yes. One of the most eye-catching warships ever constructed, in my opinion. The "clipper" or "Atlantic" bow just sets it off and makes it look very much like what it is - a ship built to go in harm's way.

[PzLdr]

It would have REALLY gotten interesting if the Kriegsmarine had been able to refit SCHARNHORST and GNIESENAU with the 15” rifles that they had planned to install. Nine 15” guns on ships that fast would have given the Brits fits.

[CougarGA7]

Very interesting. However, I do want to point out that on October 25, 1944, the battleship West Virginia opened up on the battleship Yamashiro. The California, Tennessee, and Mississippi also joined in. They was during the Battle of Surigao Strait (often just considered part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf) and as far as I know was the last battleship to battleship engagement.