21 Sep 1940 | World War II Database

21 Sep 1940

German submarine U-138 attacked Allied convoy OB-216 10 miles off Malin Head, Ireland at 0227 hours, damaging British ship Empire Adventure, killing 21. Empire Adventure was taken in tow, but would sink on 23 Sep. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
German submarine U-47 detected Allied convoy HX-72 400 miles west of Ireland. With only one torpedo left and seeing so many potential targets (the convoy contained 41 merchant ships and had only 4 destroyers, 1 sloop, and 2 corvettes in escort), commanding officer of U-47 Günther Prien radioed the finding to eight other German submarines. Between 0312 and 0447 hours, German submarine U-99 sank British tanker Invershannon (16 killed, 32 survived), British ship Baron Blythswood (entire crew of 34 killed), and British ship Elmbank (2 killed, 54 survived). At 0614 hours, German submarine U-48 sank British ship Blairangus (6 killed, 28 survived). At 2310 hours, German submarine U-100 sank British ship Canonesa (1 killed, 62 survived), British ship Dalcairn (entire crew of 48 survived), and British tanker Torinia (entire crew of 55 survived). At 2338 hours, U-48 struck again, damaging British ship Broompark (1 killed). ww2dbase [U-47 | CPC]
British carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleship HMS Barham, battleship HMS Resolution, cruiser HMS Devonshire, French sloop Commandant Domine, French sloop Commandant Duboc, and French sloop Savorgnan De Brazza, and several destroyers and troop transports departed Freetown, West Africa for Dakar. ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | CPC]
Werner Mölders was awarded Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal for being the first fighter pilot to achieve 40 victories. ww2dbase [Werner Mölders | CPC]
HMS Cumberland joined HMS Ark Royal, HM Battleships Resolution and Barham, HM Cruisers Devonshire, Australia and Fleet destroyers in support of Free French landing at Dakar and carried out defensive patrol offshore (Operation Menace). ww2dbase [Australia | Ark Royal | Devonshire | Cumberland | Barham | Resolution | DS]

United Kingdom

Through out most of the day, the German Luftwaffe only dispatched reconnaissance missions against Britain. The only major raid of the day came at 1800 hours when over 200 aircraft flew toward London, England, United Kingdom; this attack was turned back by British fighters. In London, the British government officially sanctioned the usage of the Tube underground rail stations as air raid shelters, though this usage had already been in place for some time; many stations had already been equipped with first aid stations, food canteens, bunks, and toilets. The Tube tunnel near the Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly Line was reinforced with concrete and was used to store antiques and artifacts from the British Museum such as the Elgin Marbles. Overnight, London and Liverpool were bombed. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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