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• Vichy France revoked the French citizenship of naturalized Jews. Meanwhile, in German-occupied Alsace-Lorraine, 22,000 French citizens were forcibly deported to France. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Phoenix attacked Italian torpedo boat Albatros southeast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, with all torpedoes missing their target. Albatros responded with torpedoes of her own, sinking HMS Phoenix and killing the entire crew of 55. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Thor sank British ship Wendover in the South Atlantic, killing 4 and capturing 36 civilian crew and 1 Royal Navy gunner. ww2dbase [Thor | CPC]
• German submarine U-61 torpedoed British tanker Scottish Minstrel 130 miles northwest of Ireland, killing 9; 32 were later rescued by corvette HMS Gardenia. With her cargo of 9,200 tons of fuel oil burning, the tanker would remain afloat for another day before sinking. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• Vichy France de-naturalized its Jewish citizens. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British destroyer Whaddon was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of British destroyer Dulverton was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British and Australian warships bombarded Bardia, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Italian bombers attacked the British base at Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Hugh Dalton was appointed the political chief of the British Special Operations Executive. ww2dbase [Special Operations Executive | CPC]
• The keel of British submarine Saracen was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Spanish agents met with the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and warned him that his fellow countrymen were sending him to be the governor of the Bahamas to remove him from power. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Carsten Grøm, master of Norwegian steam tanker Sarita which was sunken by German submarine UA two days prior, still adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, ordered all survivors to disembark rafts and to board the lifeboat, which kept course for Barbados. ww2dbase [UA | HM]
• The 8,194-ton ocean liner SS Lady Somers, serving as an auxiliary cruiser under Commander George L. Dunbar, with 175 crew and passengers, was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Morosini, Commander C. C. Athos Fraternale, in the North Atlantic. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | HM]

• 54 Japanese aircraft based in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China attacked Chongqing, China in two waves; 31 Chinese fighters (I-15bis, I-16, and Hawk III models) rose to intercept, claiming damage on several bombers. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Chongqing | CPC]
• Liu Zhesheng shot down two Japanese aircraft. ww2dbase [Liu Zhesheng | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive 16 for the preparation of an invasion plan for southern Britain in mid-Aug. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci set sail from Naples, Italy at 0930 hours for exercises, returning at 1625 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• The British submarine HMS Taku sank the Italian auxiliary minesweeper-schooner Vincenzo P. with gunfire in the Gulf of Sidra. ww2dbase [Sidr | HM]

• British submarine P33 attacked an Italian convoy south of Punta Sciaccazza, Pantelleria, Italy and sank the 5,293-ton Italian passenger-motor vessel Barbarigo. ww2dbase [HM]

• British destroyer HMS Imogen collided with cruiser HMS Glasgow in heavy fog off Pentland Firth and Duncansby Head, in northern Scotland, United Kingdom. She caught fire and was later abandoned, drifting 20 miles before sinking; 17 were killed and 133 were rescued. HMS Glasgow saw 2 killed and suffered a 6-foot hole above the waterline; she would be under repair at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom until 4 Sep. ww2dbase [Glasgow | Pentland Firth, Scotland | TH]
• Low cloud, fog, and heavy rain kept German aircraft grounded until the early afternoon. In the mid-afternoon, German bombers crossed the English Channel. One German Ju 88 bomber was shot down over the Isle of Wight by Spitfire fighters of No. 601 Squadron, and one German He 111 bomber was shot down in northeastern Scotland, United Kingdom during the bombing of Fraserburgh and Peterhead by Spitfire fighters of No. 603 Squadron. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• The 268-ton British merchant cargo ship Farfield (built in 1921 by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd. and owned at the time of her loss by Coppack Brothers & Co.) was sunk by German aircraft seven miles off South Stack Light off the north-west coast of Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom whilst enroute to Gloucester from Penmenmawr. Eight people lost their lives. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | South Stack, Wales | HM]

16 Jul 1940 Interactive Map