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• 15 German dive bombers attacked 6 British minesweeping trawlers and escort destroyers in the English Channel 20 miles off Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England. Destroyer HMS Wren sank after one of the several near misses she suffered made a large hole below the waterline (killing 37), while destoyer HMS Montrose lost her bow and had to be towed to Harwich, Essex. German aircraft also bombed Dover in southern England, sinking destroyer HMS Codrington who was undergoing boiler cleaning (wounding 3 and killing several civilian workers). At the end of the day, the Germans lost 2 fighters and 1 Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber, while the British lost 1 Spitfire fighter and 1 Hurricane fighter. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• The first five Beaufighter IF fighters were handed over to the RAF for evaluation. ww2dbase [Beaufighter | AC]
• A Board of Enquiry was held regarding the sinking of HMS Effingham two months prior. ww2dbase [Effingham | CPC]

• German submarine U-34 attacked Allied convoy OB-188 350 miles west of Scotland, United Kingdom before sunrise, sinking 5,260-ton British Royal Mail merchant ship Sambre at 0258 hours. Sambre was hit in the stern and sank slowly; the master and the entire crew of 47 were picked up by HMS Winchelsea (D 46) and later landed at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. At 0313 hours, U-34 torpedoed and sank the 10,364-ton British motor tanker Thiara; she was hit in the bow by a G7e torpedo and sank about 170 miles southwest of Rockall. 25 crew members aboard Thiara were lost. The master, 31 crew members and four passengers were also picked up by HMS Winchelsea and landed at Liverpool. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC, HM]

• Alpino Bagnolini sighted a submarine off Cape Santa Maria de Leuca, Italy at 0215 hours, but lost contact shortly after. Around the same time, Reginaldo Giuliani also reported a submarine in the same area. Thus, it was possible that the two Italian submarines had sighted each other. At 1200 hours, Alpino Bagnolini arrived at Taranto, Italy at 1200 hours, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Reginaldo Giuliani | CPC]

• The 11,938-ton whale factory ship Salvestria was mined and sunk three miles from Inchkeith Lighthouse at the entrance to the river Water of Leith, Scotland, United Kingdom. Ten men were killed. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Edinburgh, Scotland | HM]
• The 477-ton dredging ship Durdham sank after striking a mine off Lavernock Point, Wales, United Kingdom. She was owned by the Bristol Sand Company, and was clearing channels out of the port of Avonmouth in the Severn Estuary. Seven crew were killed in the explosion. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Lavernock, Wales | HM]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and US Congress House of Representatives' Naval Affairs Committee chairman Carl Vinson departed Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC, United States aboard presidential yacht Potomac for Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Washington | CPC]

27 Jul 1940 Interactive Map