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• German submarine U-57 collided with Norwegian ship Rona at Brunsbüttel, Germany. U-57 sank with 6 lost; there were 19 survivors. She would later be raised to serve as a training ship. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-60 sank British collier Ulva about 150 miles southwest of Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0326 hours; 3 were killed and 17 survived. A British convoy escort vessel depth charged German submarine U-101 200 miles west of Ireland, damaging her and causing flooding, but U-101 would survive and reach Lorient, France on 16 Sep for repairs. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• Joachim von Ribbentrop denied that the Second Vienna Arbitration had violated any terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as Vyacheslav Molotov had accused. Furthermore, Ribbentrop complained that the manner in which the Soviet Union had take over the Baltic States was in itself a violation of the pact. ww2dbase [Soviet Demands on Romania and the Second Vienna Arbitration | CPC]

• He Yingqin ordered Nationalist 18th Army to counter the Communist advance along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Huangqiao | CPC]

• Vojtech Tuka convinced the Slovak assembly to enact Constitutional Law 210 which gave the government powers to establish anti-Semitic laws. ww2dbase [Vojtech Tuka | CPC]

• Germany began planning Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain. ww2dbase [TH]

• 50 German Do 17 bombers escorted by 80 Bf 110 fighters and 40 Bf 109 fighters flew up the Thames Estuary in souther England, United Kingdom, then split up to hit RAF airfields at North Weald, Hornchurch, and Debden. All three airfields were badly damaged, but all remained operational. Biggin Hill also saw two minor raids on this date. Luftwaffe lost 17 fighters and 8 bombers, while the RAF lost 20 fighters and 2 bombers (to friendly fire). During a meeting on this date, Kesselring recommended Göring to cease the bombing of British fighter airfields because there were too many of them; instead, he suggested to bomb London and use the threat of civilian deaths to force large numbers of British fighters to come to battle. Overnight, German bombers attacked Kent, Liverpool, and South Wales. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
• Four German Abwehr spies landed from rowing boats on the Kent coast in southern Britain. Poorly trained and without papers the four, Charles van den Kieboom, Carl Meier, Jose Waldberg, and Sjoerd Pons, were quickly apprehended and handed over to Colonel Robin Stephens of Military Intelligence for interrogation. ww2dbase [England | AC]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt announced the destroyers-for-bases deal to the public. Captain Ferdinand L. Reichmuth, the commanding officer of destroyers of the US Navy Atlantic Squadron was placed in charge of the transfer of destroyers to Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Light cruiser USS St. Louis departed Norfolk, Virginia with Rear Admiral John F. Greenslade on board, who was placed in charge to survey land recently gained from the United Kingdom for building military bases. ww2dbase [St. Louis | Norfolk, Virginia | CPC]

3 Sep 1940 Interactive Map