11 Apr 1921
- USS R-1 was ordered to join the Pacific Fleet.
» In-depth article
- USS R-5 departed the east coast of the United States.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1931
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1931
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1931
11 Apr 1932
- In response to the strike held by workers at the Teikovo Calico works outside Moscow, Russia, which was begun on 8 Apr 1932 in response to decreased food rations, a march was organised to a local town to petition the party authorities for food. When one of the strikers delivered an impromptu speech calling for the workers to overthrow the Soviet regime, security troops stormed the mob and arrested ringleaders identified by GPU spies.
- Major General Yoshishige Shimizu was named the chief of staff of the Taiwan Army.
11 Apr 1933
- Battle of the Great Wall: Japanese troops captured Lengkou of the Great Wall.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1934
- The pocket battleship Deutschland sailed from Kiel, Germany as a part of the spring manoeuvres. On board were Hitler and his leading army and navy commanders. It was thought that during the voyage Minister of Defence Blomberg nominated Hitler as a candidate for the Presidency (and thus making him Supreme Commander of the Army).
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1936
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1936
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1936
11 Apr 1937
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1937
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1937
11 Apr 1938
Japan
Japan
- Prince Kotohito, Chief of Japanese Army General Staff, signed Directive No. 11 authorizing the use of poison gas in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1939
United States
United States
- The NA-40B prototype aircraft was destroyed in a crash during testing at Wright Field, Ohio, United States. The entire crew survived the crash.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1940
- British submarine HMS Spearfish damaged the German pocket battleship Lützow, knocking it out of action for one year as one of the six torpedoes fired nearly ripped off the German ship's stern. Not realizing Lützow was unescorted, Spearfish fled from the action as soon as she fired her torpedoes.
» In-depth article - In Norway, the German 196th Division moved north from Oslo up the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys in an attempt to link up with the German forces in Trondheim. In an attempt to halt the German advances, RAF attacked the Stavanger airfield in southern Norway. Norwegian Army General Kristian Laake was relieved of command for his failures in the opening chapters of the German invasion; General Otto Ruge took over as his successor. Meanwhile, German collaborator Vidkun Quisling sent a message to King Haakon VII of Norway, asking him to return to Oslo; seeing through his plot to use him as a puppet, the king chose to ignore the request. Seeing a lack of response from the king and his government, German bombers attacked the village where they were hiding in a failed attempt to wipe out Norwegian leadership. In Britain, Winston Churchill spoke at the House of Commons and used Norway as an example to urge other smaller neutral European countries to join the Allies before Germany violated their neutrality as well.
» In-depth article - British troops occupied the Faroe Islands between Scotland and Iceland.
- Cruiser Köln returned from Norway, arriving at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Message to KAL'MARO: Checking Entrusted To FINO
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1941
- Italian forces redoubled their efforts to link up with units in Albania. In northern Greece, German troops captured Vevi. In the evening, British, Australian, and New Zealand troops engaged German troops in Greece for the first time just south of Vevi, stopping the advance of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Regiment at Klidi Pass.
» In-depth article - 153 Luftwaffe aircraft bombed Bristol, England, United Kingdom; it was nicknamed the "Good Friday Raid". The city's docks, St Philip's Bridge, and residential areas were damaged. The city tramways power supply line was destroyed by the bomb that hit St Philip's Bridge; it was decided that the damage was too severe to repair and all the tram cars were soon to be scrapped for the war effort; none of the tram cars were preserved for historical purposes.
» In-depth article - Italy and Hungary joined the German invasion of Yugoslavia.
» In-depth article - Erwin Rommel performed a flanking movement in Libya, cutting the road east of Bardia at 1300 hours; all attacks on the city itself, however, were repulsed. On the same day, German aircraft bombed Tobruk harbor, damaging British ship Draco.
» In-depth article - George Patton was made the commanding officer of the 2nd Armored Division.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-124 sank Greek ship Aegeon 200 miles southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 2100 hours; 4 were killed, 27 survived.
- German armored train Atlas arrived at Mönichkirchen, Germany (occupied Austria) to prepare the village for Adolf Hitler's arrival on the following day.
- Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini concluded their four-day meeting at Salzburg in occupied Austria, during which Hitler convinced Mussolini to remain in the war.
» In-depth article - Destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk of the British 14th Destroyer Flotilla arrived in Malta to act as a night striking force.
» In-depth article - US President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that the Red Sea was to be no longer considered as a war zone so as to enable it to be used by American shipping.
» In-depth article
- French Lieutenant Alain le Ray became the first Allied serviceman to escape from Colditz Castle, site of the prisoner of war camp Oflag IV-C, in Germany.
11 Apr 1942
See all photos dated 11 Apr 1942
- Fleet Admiral Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, former Chief of Naval General Staff, paid a call on Yamato.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - A Soviet landing attempt near Eupatoria near Sevastopol was halted by the Germans.
» In-depth article - USS Trout damaged Japanese tanker Nisshin Maru 5 miles off the southern coast of Japan.
» In-depth article - American submarine USS Searaven evacuated 33 Australian Army personnel from Timor Island.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-123 damaged US tanker Gulfamerica within 5 kilometers of Jacksonville, Florida, United States at 0422 hours, killing 19 of 48 aboard; the burning hulk would finally sink 5 days later. German submarine U-203 damaged US tanker Harry F. Sinclair Jr. 20 kilometers southeast of Swansboro, North Carolina, United States at 1320 hours, killing 10 of 36 aboard; the hulk would later be towed for repairs. 20 kilometers further east, U-160 sank British ship Ulysses; all 290 aboard survived. German submarine U-103 sank Norwegian ship Grenanger in the middle of the Atlantic ocean at 1855 hours; all 36 aboard survived. Finally, off Brazil, Italian submarine Calvi sank Norwegian vessel Balkis.
» In-depth article - Tatsuta Maru arrived at Makassar, Celebes.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement - Grunion was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article - British anti-submarine trawler HMT St. Cathan collided with Dutch freighter Hebe and sank 60 miles southeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States.
- HMS Torbay attacked two Italian schooners with her deck gun northwest of Corfu, Greece, sinking Gesu Crocifisso and forcing Natalina to ground to prevent sinking.
- US A-20 Havoc bombers attacked Japanese shipping in the Gulf of Huon off Lae, Australian New Guinea, damaging transport Taijun Maru.
» In-depth article - German Ju 88 aircraft attacked Allied convoy QP-10, damaging ship Stone Street and sinking British ship Empire Cowper (19 were killed); a heavy snow storm prevented the Germans from launching another air attack on the Arctic convoy.
» In-depth article
- Eight B-26 Marauder bombers took off from Port Moresby, Australian Papua at 0900 hours; one of them would return to base due to engine trouble. The remaining seven attacked Vunakanau airfield and Lakunai airfield near Rabaul, New Britain, causing minimal damage. As the bomber crews returned to base, they reported a sighting of a fleet carrier (most likely mis-identified Kasuga Maru), causing the commanders to scramble to prepare a major against the target.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- In Burma, British troops formed a new defensive line, Minhia-Taungdwingyi-Pyinmana, on the Irrawaddy River. After dark, the Japanese reached this line, launching a first attack on the Indian 48th Brigade at Kokkogwa.
» In-depth article
- American submarine USS Thresher provided a weather report on Tokyo, Japan for the Doolittle Raiders.
» In-depth article
- Axis bombers attacked La Valletta harbor, Malta, wrecking British destroyer HMS Kingston in the dry dock.
» In-depth article
- US Army Brigadier General Ralph Royce led 10 B-25 bombers and 3 B-17 bombers from Darwin, Australia to Mindanao, Philippine Islands; they were to be used for bombing Japanese forward positions. On the Bataan peninsula on the island of Luzon, 350 Filipino prisoners of war were killed by the Japanese north of Mount Samat during the Bataan Death March.
» In-depth article
- The keel of carrier Crown Point was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
» In-depth article
See all photos dated 11 Apr 1942
11 Apr 1943
- SS doctors at concentration camps were given orders to select prisoners to be sent to Hartheim Castle in Austria to be euthanized.
» In-depth article - The Germans lost several transport aircraft flying between Sicily, Italy and Tunisia, Italian North Africa. On the ground, Allied troops captured Kairouan, Tunisia.
» In-depth article - USS Snook departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol.
» In-depth article - Destroyer HMS Beverley (Lieutenant Commander R. A. Price) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-188 (Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Lüdden) while escorting Atlantic convoy ON-176. Her loss would be officially announced by the Admiralty on 2 May 1943.
- Adolf Hitler issued orders that the best armies, the best leaders and the best weapons were to be made available for employment in the "Encirclement of the enemy forces deployed in the Kursk area".
» In-depth article
- 73 Zero fighters and 27 D3A carrier dive bombers attacked Oro Bay near Dobodura, Australian Papua, sinking 1 US cargo ship, sinking 1 US destroyer, damaging 1 transport, and damaging 1 Australian minesweeper.
» In-depth article
- USS Tunny was observed by a Japanese ship 40 kilometers off of Truk, Caroline Islands, but there was no subsequent attack. Early in the afternoon, she intercepted Japanese submarine I-9; she fired three forward torpedoes, and the Japanese submarines fired two; all torpedoes missed. Japanese aircraft arrived to hunt USS Tunny, but the bombs dropped caused no damage. USS Tunny would remain submerged until sundown. After dark, while on the surface, she made radar contact with a Japanese destroyer; as she moved to attack, the destroyer also detected her, attacking with nine depth charges; Tunny would remain submerged for hours to escape the attack.
» In-depth article
- USS Whale arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1944
- The German SS organization ordered that prisoners who have committed sabotage were to be publicly executed.
- Swiss authorities destroyed the new German Bf 110 aircraft that was brought into Switzerland by a defector pilot two days prior. In appreciation of this gesture, Germany provided Switzerland 12 Me 109 fighters.
» In-depth article - USS Tunny arrived in Brisbane, Australia, ending her fifth war patrol.
» In-depth article - Fieberling was commissioned into service.
» In-depth article - USS Pollack arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her ninth war patrol.
» In-depth article - Anglo-Indian and Japanese troops began a four-day clash at Bunker Hill near Kohima, India.
» In-depth article
- Yamato departed Kure, Japan for trials in the Iyo Nada; she arrived at Hashirajima island in Hiroshima Bay that evening.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
- USS Flying Fish arrived at Majuro, Marshall Islands, ending her ninth war patrol.
» In-depth article
- The Gestapo HQ in The Hague, Netherlands was attacked by RAF Mosquito aircraft.
» In-depth article
- Soviet troops captured Kerch, Ukraine.
11 Apr 1945
See all photos dated 11 Apr 1945
- British Second Army captured Celle, Germany.
- US Third Army captured Weimar, Germany and US Seventh Army reached Schweinfurt.
- The Soviet 4th Guards Army attacked the canals over the Danube River in Vienna, Ostmark, Germany. Nearby, Soviet 20th Guards Rifle Corps and 1st Mechanized Corps attacked the Reichsbrücke Bridge but failing to take it. After observing the fighting on the front lines in the district of Florisdorf, Otto Skorzeny concluded that Vienna was to fall within a day.
» In-depth article - Prisoners of Buchenwald Concentration Camp freed themselves after most of the guards had fled. In the Buchenwald satellite camp of Langenstein, the US 83rd Infantry Division arrived; it had about 1,100 prisoners at the time.
» In-depth article - USS Missouri, USS Enterprise, USS Essex, and 6 destroyers were damaged by Japanese special attack aircraft off Okinawa, Japan.
» In-depth article - American troops captured an intact V-weapon plant in Nordhausen, Germany; top American leadership soon sent in engineers to remove as much equipment as possible ahead of the arrival of Soviet troops.
- Soviet troops reached the Elbe River near Magdeburg, Germany.
- A Japanese special attack aircraft crashed into the starboard side of USS Missouri, causing minor damage. The remains of the Japanese pilot was given a sea burial with military honors.
» In-depth article - USS Gabilan fired four torpedoes at a convoy of small Japanese ships in the South China Sea; all torpedoes missed.
» In-depth article - USS Parche sank a small Japanese freighter off Japan with her deck gun.
» In-depth article
- Anglo-Indian troops captured Pyabwe, Burma at dawn; 2,000 dead Japanese bodies were counted in the region after the fierce battle. To the southwest, mechanized Anglo-Indian troops reached the Taungdwingyi area.
» In-depth article
- Naoto Kohiyama stepped down as the President of the South Manchuria Railway.
- US Ninth Army captured Bochum, Essen, and Goslar, Germany.
» In-depth article
- New Zealand and Polish troops crossed Santerno River in northern Italy.
» In-depth article
- The Toroku Prisoners of War Camp in central Taiwan was closed.
See all photos dated 11 Apr 1945
11 Apr 1946
- Joseph Stalin informed the Soviet Politburo explaining why former Soviet Aviation Industry Commissar Aleksei Shakhurin and his colleagues were arrested, centering largely on their responsibility for manufacturing faulty aircraft during WW2.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1951
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1951
Photo(s) dated 11 Apr 1951
11 Apr 1952
United States
United States
- USS Bluefish arrived at Key West, Florida, United States and joined Submarine Division 41.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1964
United States
United States
- At 0700 hours, public visitation of Douglas MacArthur's casket ceased; between 1800 hours on 9 Apr and this time, 62,000 people filed past the bier. At 0930 hours, the last ceremony was held for MacArthur at the rotunda of what was to become the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The final act of national mourning took place at sunset when a battery at nearby Fort Monroe fired a 19-gun salute.
» In-depth article
11 Apr 1974
- USS Tirante was sold to United Minerals and Alloys of New York, United States for scrapping.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Search WW2DB & Partner Sites
News
- » Pages of Alfred Rosenberg's Diary Found (2013.06.12)
- » British team to search for buried Spitfires in Myanmar (2013.01.08)
- » Japanese Prime Minister to send envoys to South Korea (2013.01.02)
- » See all news
Random Photograph
Site Sponsors
Advertise on ww2db.com
Current Site Statistics
- » 729 biographies
- » 304 events
- » 27116 timeline entries
- » 668 ships
- » 301 aircraft models
- » 163 vehicle models
- » 254 weapon models
- » 65 historical documents
- » 285 book reviews
- » 209 maps
- » 16244 photos, 1473 in color
Famous WW2 Quote
"Since peace is now beyond hope, we can but fight to the end."Chiang Kaishek, 31 Jul 1937