8 - 14 November 1941

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8 November 1941

Leningrad Front : Troops of the German Army Group North captured Tikhvin near Leningrad, Russia.

Crimea : 11th German Army occupied Yalta

Black Sea : Soviet submarine M-59 struck a mine and sank off Constanza, Romania in the Black Sea; all men aboard were killed.

Barents Sea , Norway : German cargo ship Flottbek struck a Soviet mine and sank

North Sea : Norwegian cargo ship Vicyo was bombed and sunk by Lufrtwaffe JU-88 bombers

Atlantic Ocean : Martlett fighter aircraft launched from Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Audacity intercepted and shot down two Luftwaffe FW-200 Condor recon bombers approaching convoy ON- 76 , Outbound North

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Penelope and destroyers HMS Lance and HMS Lively were dispatched from Malta to intercept an Axis convoy (intelligence gained through Ultra; a Maryland aircraft was dispatched to create the illusion that the convoy was spotted) that had just departed from Italy consisted of German freighters Duisburg and San Marco; Italian freighters Maria, Sagitta, and Rina Corrado; and Italian tankers Conte di Misurata and Minatitlan. This convoy carried 223 troops, 389 vehicles, 34,473 tons of supplies, and 17,281 tons of fuel. The convoy was escorted by two Italian cruisers and seven Italian destroyers.

Japan : Per the Great Army Instruction No. 992, the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy were ordered to coordinate their plans for the opening phases of the Pacific War.

Germany : At the annual Beer Hall Putsch speech, Adolf Hitler claimed that the war with Soviet Union was effectively won, citing 3.6 million prisoners taken, and by conjecture the Soviet forces must had suffered eight to ten million casualties thus far.‘However long the war may last,’ Hitler told the annual beer hall celebration in Munich on November 8, ‘the last battalion in the field will be a German one’, and he added, on a note of triumph: ‘We are deciding the fate of Europe for the next thousand years.’ In regards to the United States, Hitler noted that the aggressive US President Franklin Roosevelt had ordered American ships to deliberately attack any German submarines they crossed, while Hitler continued to order restraint for German submarine captains; nevertheless, he noted that the submarines would fight back fiercely should they be fired upon.

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9 November 1941

Berlin : Head of Gestapo Heinrich MĂŒller ordered that all Soviet prisoners of war bound to be executed who were not fit to travel to the places of execution were to be killed at their places of imprisonment. This was to avoid allowing civilians the see these malnourished and diseased prisoners as it could damage morale.

Black Sea : Hungarian freighter Ungvar struck a mine (previously laid by Soviet submarine L-4) and sank in the Black Sea. Nearby Romanian torpedo boats Viforul and Vijelia were also destroyed in the explosion.
Soviet cargo ship Desna struck a mine and sank off Novorissisyk

Mediterranean Sea : At 0100 hours, Royal Navy cruiser HMS Aurora, cruiser HMS Penelope, destroyer HMS Lance, and destroyer HMS Lively, which had sailed from Malta late on the previous day, intercepted their target, an Axis convoy that was bound for Libya. All five freighters (German freighters Duisburg and San Marco; Italian freighters Maria, Sagitta, and Rina Corrado; and Italian tankers Conte di Misurata and Minatitlan) and Italian destroyer Fulmine were sunk with radar gunnery, while damaging destroyers Grecale and Maestrale. At 0640 hours, Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder attacked Italian destroyer Libeccio, which was busy rescuing survivors of the night time battle; an attempt was made to tow her back to port for repairs, but Libeccio would sink en route.

United Kingdom : One success of the war against the Axis came on November 9, in Britain, when two German agents, both Norwegians, code named ‘Jack’ and ‘ OK ’, who had landed in Scotland from Norway seven months earlier, and had at once agreed to work for Britain, ‘organized’ an act of sabotage in a Ministry of Food warehouse at Wealdstone, just outside London. ‘Fire Bomb in Food Depot’, one British newspaper reported. ‘Incendiarism Suspected at Foodstore’ declared another. For Colonel Lahousen, it was a triumph for the sabotage efforts of ‘Jack’ and ‘ OK ’. For the British it was proof that their double-cross system continued to work, thanks on this occasion to the men they knew as ‘Mutt’ and ‘Jeff’.

Leningrad : That night, November 9, in Leningrad, the Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karl Eliasberg, performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the city’s Philharmonic Hall. The concert was broadcast live to London. ‘Two parts of the symphony were played without interruption,’ Eliasberg later recalled. ‘When the third began, we heard the wail of the sirens and almost immediately the impact of bombs falling nearby, and the thunder of anti-aircraft guns. The building shook. To that accompaniment the orchestra played the symphony to the end. The announcer signed off and wished our listeners in Great Britain goodnight.’

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10 November 1941

Mediterranean Sea : Operation Flipper was launched, with submarines HMS Torbay and HMS Talisman, with commandos aboard, to be delivered behind enemy lines in Libya.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Proteus sank German cargo ship Ithaka off the island of Milos, Greece.
Greek submarine Glaukos damaged German cargo ship Norburg north of Crete, Greece.

Gibraltar : Operation Perpetual convoy, escorted by battleship HMS Malaya, cruiser HMS Hermione, and seven destroyers, departed from Gibraltar. At the center of the convoy, Royal Navy carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Argus were tasked with delivering 37 Hurricane fighters for Malta.

Sevastapol , Crimea : German General Erich von Manstein launched a major assault against Sevastopol, Russia with 50th Infantry Division, followed by the 132nd Infantry Division on the next day. On the Soviet side, Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky (with Major General I. A. Petrov as his deputy) mobilized 52,000 men, of whom 21,000 were sailors, together with 170 guns (some were in modern steel and concrete emplacements), for the defence of Sevastopol.

Rastenburg , East Prussia : Commander in Chief of German Army General Walther von Brauchitsch suffered a heart attack.

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11 November 1941

Berlin : German government report published on this date noted there were 700,000 Soviet prisoners of war employed as forced laborers.

Washington , USA : American Lend-Lease program expanded to include Free France based in Britain.

Atlantic Ocean : A RAF Coastal Command Hudson aircraft of No. 53 Squadron RAF damaged German submarine U-203 with four depth charges in the Bay of Biscay at 1415 hours.

German submarine U-561 torpedoed and sank Panamanian cargo ship Meridian straggling convoy SC 53 at 2335 hours, killing all 26 aboard.

Baltic Sea : After dark, Soviet destroyers Stoiki and Leningrad, minelayer Ural, troop transport Andrei Zhdanov, and three minesweepers departed the island of Gogland (known in Finnish as Suursaari) in the Gulf of Finland for the Hanko Peninsula in southern Finland. After Andrei Zhdanov was sunk by a mine (7 were killed, 66 survived) and Leningrad damaged by a mine, the convoy abandoned its mission to evacuate Soviet troops from Hanko and sailed back to Gogland.

German submarine U-580 collided with target ship Angelburg and sank 33 miles west of Klaipeda, Lithuania by accident; 12 were killed, 32 survived.

Japan : Ten Japanese submarines departed from Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan for Kwajalein of the Marshall Islands, where they would proceed for US Territory of Hawaii

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12 November 1941

Russia : After sundown, the temperature in the Moscow region of Russia dropped to 5 degrees Fahrenheit or -15 degrees Celsius, which was harsh on the troops on either side, but particularly to the Germans who were less prepared to deal with the weather. Many German soldiers found frostbite an unexpected and crippling enemy. The vehicles that had not been frozen, however, were now able to move as the mud hardened, and the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies prepared to take advantage of the situation for an offensive. Meanwhile, 22 infantry divisions, 14 cavalry divisions, and 11 ski battalions began to arrive to reinforce the Soviet capital.

In Orsha , German Army Chief of Staff General Franz Halder held a conferance for a final drive on Moscow

Black Sea : Soviet submarine S-34 was lost off the Bulgarian coast near Cape Emine, presumably to a mine; all 51 aboard were lost.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Argus from the Operation Perpetual convoy launched 37 Hurricane fighters to reinforce Malta

Sevastapol , Crimea : Luftwaffe JU-87 Stuka dive bombers of German StG 77 damaged Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina with 3 bombs at Sevastopol, Russia. Soviet destroyers Sovershenny and Besposhchadny were also damaged, with the former capsizing at the naval shipyard.

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13 November 1941

Russia : German troops fighting near Moscow, Russia were fighting temperatures as low as -8° F (-22° C). As the mud freezes, however, the Germans prepared for a new offensive amidst increasing casualties due to weather. General Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Army would advance from south towards Tula (which turned intoı a stronghold by 50th Soviet Army) while General Hoth’s 3rd Panzer Army would drive from north across Moscow-Volga Canal in a pincer movement around Moscow , meanwhile General Hoepner’s 4th Panzer Army along with 4th and 9th Armies would advance from center directly towards Soviet capital.

Tokyo , Japan : Japanese Admiral Yamamoto gathered his commanders at Iwakuni air base at Yamaguchi, Japan to discuss Pearl Harbor tactics.

Rastenburg , East Prussia : Adolf Hitler ordered the German Navy to restraint from attacking American ships, but should German warships be fired upon by the Americans, they were to fire back in defense.

Baltic Sea : After sundown, Soviet destroyers Gordy and Surovy departed Gogland, Russia for Hanko, Finland, escorted by minelayer Ural, four T-class minesweepers, and four MO-class submarine chasers. En route, Soviet destroyer Surovy, minesweeper T-206, and Submarine chaser MO-301 struck Finnish naval mines and sunk.

Leningrad Front : General Kirill Meretskov attacked German troops at Tikhvin, Russia with Soviet 4th, 52nd, and 54th Armies.

Mediterranean Sea : German submarine U-81 torpedoed Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in the Mediterranean Sea 150 miles east of Gibraltar at 0437 hours; 1 was killed, 1,487 survived. Destroyer escorts counterattacked with 130 depth charges, but U-81 would escape. HMS Ark Royal was taken in tow. Due to bad damage control , HMS Ark Royal sank next day though all of her crew was evacuated safely before.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-126 sank British merchant vessel Peru at 0042 hours, all 50 aboard survived and were rescued by South African whale factory ship Uniwaleco.

Sevastapol , Crimea : Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina, damaged by German aircraft on the previous day, sank at Sevastopol, Russia. Her guns would be salvaged to be used on shore.

United Kingdom : The British Air Ministry instructed Sir Richard Pierse, the Commander-in-Chief RAF Bomber Command, to curtail drastically the scale of sorties against Germany, especially in bad weather. The War Cabinet stated the instruction “having stressed the necessity to conserve our resources in order to built a strong force to be available by the spring of next year”.

Washington , USA : US goverment lifted Neutrality Act , US merchant ships would be armed and can sail into battlezones from now on. In London , UK , ‘This is a very great help to us’, King George VI noted in his diary two days later, ‘though it appears the President had to send a special message to Congress to have it passed.’

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14 November 1941

Leningrad : Supplies airlifted into besieged city

Baltic Sea : Soviet destroyer Gordy struck a mine and sank en route to Hanko, Finland.

Soviet submarine L-2 struck three mines in a minefield off Keri, Estonia in the Baltic Sea between 0107 and 0617 hours, eventually sinking, killing 50 of 53 aboard.

Soviet submarine M-98 struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Finland, killing all aboard.

Black Sea : Soviet submarine ShCh-211 was lost to unknown reason off Varna, Bulgaria in the Black Sea, presumably lost of a Romanian mine.

North Atlantic : German submarine U-561 torpedoed and sank Panamanian cargo ship Crusader in the North Atlantic; 33 were killed, 1 survived.

Libya : Operation Flipper: After dark, submarines HMS Torbay and HMS Talisman delivered 36 (of planned total of 59, due to rough seas) British commandos of No. 11 (Scottish) Group behind enemy lines in Libya.

Mediterranean Sea : The British launched unescorted freighters disguised as French, Italian, and Spanish ships with supplies for Malta. Meanwhile, Operation Astrologer was commenced with transports Empire Defender and Empire Pelican, also with supplies for Malta; Empire Pelican was found and sunk by Italian SM.79 torpedo bombers near the Galite Islands off Tunisia, killing 1.

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