20 September - 26 September 1941

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20 September 1941

Atlantic Ocean : Battle of OG-74 (Outbound Gibraltar) started whe n convoy was disvored by Luftwaffe FW-200 Condor aircraft that led U-Boats towards it. German submarine U-124 sank British ships Baltallinn and Empire Moat of Allied convoy OG-74 500 miles west of Brest, France at 2331 hours; 60 survivors were rescued by British rescue ship Walmer Castle. Meanwhile, a Martlet Mk II fighter of No. 802 Squadron from Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Audacity shot down a German Fw 200 C Condor aircraft attempting to shadow OG-74; it was the first kill by a British carrier-based aircraft.

Meanwhile German submarine U-552 sank two tankers and U-74 sank catapult armed merchant ship Empire Burton, all of Allied convoy SC-44, 200 miles east of Iceland between 0113 and 0327 hours; 102 survivors were rescued by British corvette HMS Honeysuckle.

German submarine U-111 sank British ship Cingalese Prince 500 miles east of Brazil; 57 were killed, 20 survived in lifeboats.

At 0327 hours, off east coast of Greenland, the 6,325-ton Norwegian motor tanker Barbro carrying 9,000 tons of petrol was torpedoed by German submarine U-552 (Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp). Two torpedoes hit the ship and she immediately burst into flames, trapping the 34 crew on board. Other ships in convoy SC-44 could only watch helplessly as she sank.

Gibraltar : Italian submarine Scirè launched three manned torpedoes into Gibraltar harbor, which sank tanker Fiona Shell (killing 1), damaged tanker RFA Denbydale, and damaged freighter Durham. All six Italian personnel manning the three torpedoes swam to Spain and would eventually return to Italy as heroes.

Libya : British minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hasty delivered 1,000 troops and 120 tons of supplies to Tobruk, Libya after sundown. They departed for Alexandria, Egypt 30 minutes after arrival.

Lithuania , Baltics : British minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hasty delivered 1,000 troops and 120 tons of supplies to Tobruk, Libya after sundown. They departed for Alexandria, Egypt 30 minutes after arrival.

UK : Enigma decryption in Bletchley Park gives British intelligence advance warning about German attack plans on Moscow

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21 September 1941

Leningrad : German JU-87 Stuka dive bombers sank Soviet battleship Marat in shallow water at Kronstadt near Leningrad, Russia with two 1,000-kilogram bombs. Near Leningrad, Russia, Soviet dreadnought Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya was badly damaged by three bombs which knock out two of her turrets. She would be under repairs until Nov 1942, when she resumed fire support missions in defence of Leningrad. German JU-87 Stuka dibve bombers also hit and sank Soviet destroyer Steregoushy in Kronstadt naval base.

Latvia : Soviet forces evacuated Latvian capital Riga.

USSR : Joseph Stalin sent a message to Georgy Zhukov, Andrei Zhdanov, Nikolai Kuznetsov, and Vsevolod Merkulov, noting that if the Germans used Russian civilians as messengers to request Soviet troops at Leningrad, Russia to surrender, those civilians must be all killed for that they were “more dangerous than the fascists”.

Ukraine : Soviet forces attacked the Romanian 15th Infantry Division near Odessa, Ukraine by landing 1,617 troops of the 3rd Naval Rifle Regiment (by Soviet cruiser Krasni Kavkaz, cruiser Krasni Krym, destroyer Boyki, destroyer Besposhchadny, destroyer Bezuprechny, and destroyer Frunze) and by launching 157th and 421st Rifle Divisions on the ground. Soviet destroyer Frunze was sunk by German JU-87 Stuka dive bombers in the action.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-201 sank British ships Runa, Lissa, and Rhineland of Allied convoy OG-74 500 miles west of Brest, France at 2320 hours. While British rescue ship Walmer Castle came to aid the survivors, a German Fw 200 aircraft attacked her, killing 16 previously-rescued survivors onboard the ship; Walmer Castle sustained heavy damage in the attack and was scuttled by British corvette HMS Marigold and sloop HMS Deptford.

North Sea : British tanker Vancouver struck a mine and sunk

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22 September 1941

South Atlantic : German submarines U-68 attacked Allied convoy SL-87 (Sierra Leone convoy) 300 miles west of the Canary Islands at 0222 hours, sinking British merchant ship Silverbelle. At 2346 hours , U-103 attacked the same convoy, sinking British merchant ships Edward (all 63 aboard survived) and Niceto de Larrinaga Blyden (2 killed, 53 survived).

North Atlantic : German submarine U-562 sank British ship Erna III 200 miles east of Iceland at 0233 hours, killing all 25 aboard.

Tobruk , Libya : British minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMS Kandahar, HMS Jaguar, and HMS Griffin departed Alexandria, Egypt with supplies for Tobruk, Libya. They would arrive overnight and return on the following day.

UK : British cruiser HMS London departed Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom with Lord Beaverbrook and Averell Harriman aboard for Archangel, Russia for Lend-Lease discussions. She was escorted by Soviet and British destroyers. Meanwhile King George II of the Hellenes, with members of his family and government who have escaped from Crete, Greece arrived in England, United Kingdom.

23 September 1941

France : The German occupation authorities in Paris, France issued a decree that stated that any French man concealing or assisting a British Airman would be shot, and any woman would be sent to a concentration camp.

Leningrad : Soviet battleship Marat, already sunk in shallow water two days prior, was hit by two bombs from German JU-87 Stuka dive bombers at Kronstadt near Leningrad, Russia, igniting the forward magazine. German dive bombers also attacked naval facilities at Kronstadt, sinking Soviet submarines P-2 and M-74 and damaging Soviet cruisers Maksim Gorki and Kirov. The Leningrad-class destroyer leader Minsk was sunk by Stuka aircraft of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 in Kronstadt Harbour near Leningrad, Russia. She was later salvaged and recommissioned in Jun 1943.

USSR : German soldiers massacred entire village of Krasnora Gora after killing of three German sentries by partisans.

Mediterranean Sea. Royal Navy sıubmarine HMS Triumph torpedoed and sank both Italian cargo ship Poseidone and German cargo ship Luvsee in Adriatic Sea. Italian coaster Carmolo Novi struck a mine and sank off Livorno , Tuscany.

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24 September 1941

South Atlantic : German submarine U-107 and U-67 attacked Allied convoy SL-87 and sank four British ships 350 miles west of Madeira island; 16 were killed, 197 survived.

North Atlantic : Allied convoy ON.18 became the first westbound convoy to be escorted by American ships as it made rendezvous with US destroyers USS Madison, USS Gleaves, USS Lansdale, USS Hughes and USS Simpson in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Indian Ocean : German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran stopped, evacuated, and scuttled Greek ship Stamatios G. Embiricos in the Indian Ocean 600 miles west of the Maldives islands; the crew of 31 were captured.

Tobruk , Libya : British minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMS Napir, HMS Kingston, and HMS Hotspur departed Alexandria, Egypt with troops and supplies for the besieged Tobruk, Libya; they would set sail to return to Alexandria overnight, arriving in the following day. Meanwhile Italian cargo ship Prospero was bombed and sunk by RAF Maryland bombers off Libya

Ukraine : German Army Group South under command of Field Marshal Von Rundstedt started its offensive from southern Ukraine towards Crimea, Russia. The German Einsatzgruppe C set up its headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine.

London , UK : General Charles De Gaulle , leader of Free French announced formation of National Comitte as French goverment in exile

Gibraltar : First U-Boat passed through Gibraltar and entered into Mediterranean.

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25 September 1941

Leningrad : Hitler ordered a halt to attacks on Leningrad in northern Russia, instead ordering that the city be starved into submission

South Atlantic : German submarine U-124 torpedoed and sank British ship Empire Stream from convoy HG73 (Homebound Gibraltar) 500 miles north of the Azores islands at 0744 hours; 8 were killed, 27 survived. Norwegian cargo ship Varenberg from same convoy was also torpedoed by U-203 and sunk.

Russia : German and Romanian troops from 11th German Army reached the Perekop Isthmus in Russia and began to cut off the Crimean Peninsula.

Baltic Sea : German minelayer Konign Luise struck a Soviet mine and sunk off Finland

26 September 1941

London , UK : General de Gaulle’s Free French government signed an alliance with the Soviet Union.

North Sea : British cargo ship British Prince was bombed and sunk by Luftwaffe bombers

South Atlantic : German submarines U-124 and U-203 attacked Allied convoy HG-73 500 miles north of the Azores islands and sank six Allied merchant ships; HMS Larkspur counterattacked U-203 with depth charges but caused no damage.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch sank Italian ship Citta Di Bastia off Greece; the Italian ship was en route from Piraeus to Crete.

Tobruk , Libya : British minelaying cruiser HMS Latona and destroyers HMS Jackal, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hasty departed Alexandria, Egypt with troops and supplies for the besieged Tobruk, Libya; they would set sail to return to Alexandria overnight, arriving in the following day

Kovno , Lithuania : when a Lithuanian policeman patrolling a street in the Kovno ghetto thought that he heard a shot being fired, 1,800 Jews living in the street—men, women and children—were rounded up, loaded on to lorries, driven to one of the pre-First World War forts on the outskirts of the city, and killed. On the following day, on no provocation at all, 3,446 Jews in the Lithuanian town of Eisiskes, including more than eight hundred children, were taken to specially dug pits in the Jewish cemetery, and shot down by machine-gun fire.

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