14 Oct 1940 | World War II Database

14 Oct 1940

Three American passenger liners were sent for Japan and China to repatriate American citizens. ww2dbase [CPC]
British anti-submarine trawler HMT Lord Stamp hit a mine and sank off Dorset, England, United Kingdom in the English Channel; 25 were killed. German submarine U-137 hit British armed merchant cruiser HMS Cheshire with a torpedo 100 miles northwest of Ireland at 2128 hours; Cheshire remained afloat, and the 220 crew members were rescued by Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena and British corvette HMS Periwinkle. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
German armed merchant cruiser Orion stopped and scuttled Norwegian ship Ringwood in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles northwest of New Ireland, Bismarck Islands. The crew of 35 was taken prisoner. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
Major Friedrich Kless of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ww2dbase [CPC]
Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer was made the commanding officer of U-56, relieving Otto Harms. ww2dbase [U-56 | CPC]

Mediterranean Sea

En route from Malta to Alexandra, Egypt, aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious detached from the British Mediterranean Fleet and launched an air attack against the Italian Dodecanese Island of Leros. Later in the day, at 1855 hours, an Italian SM79 bomber attacked the fleet 50 miles south of Crete, hitting cruiser HMS Liverpool with a torpedo and blew off her bow after detonating the aviation fuel store, killing 30 and wounding 35; Liverpool would survive the attack and would be towed to Alexandra to receive temporary repairs. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

United Kingdom

Poor weather limited German ability to attack southern England, United Kingdom, thus only a few small attacks were launched against coastal areas; no losses were suffered on either side on this day. Overnight, London, Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, Blackburn, and Preston were bombed; at 2002 hours, a 1,400-kg armor piercing bomb hit Balham Tube Station in London, causing flood that killed 66 of the about 600 civilians using the station for shelter. 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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