21 Oct 1941 | World War II Database

21 Oct 1941

Civilian ship Steel Architect was launched. ww2dbase [Copahee | CPC]
The cruisers HMS Aurora (Captain W. G. Agnew) and HMS Penelope (Captain A. D. Nicholl) arrived in Malta and with the destroyers HMS Lance and HMS Lively formed a small squadron known as Force K. For some reason Force K always seemed to go to sea on a Saturday. ww2dbase [AC]
German submarine U-79 hit British gunboat HMS Gnat with a torpedo 30 miles northwest of Bardia, Libya at 0334 hours, blowing away 20 feet of her bow but caused no casualties. Gnat would be successfully towed back to Alexandria, Egypt where she would serve as a stationary anti-aircraft gun platform. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-123 damaged British armed merchant cruiser HMS Aurania with a torpedo 400 miles west of Ireland at 0428 hours; a lifeboat launched sank with 2 killed, 3 rescued by destroyer HMS Croome, and 1 captured by U-123; Aurania was escorting Allied convoy SL-89 and would be successfully towed to port for repairs. At 2200 hours, German submarine U-82 attacked the same convoy, sinking the ships Serbino (14 were killed, 51 survived) and Treverbyn (all 46 aboard were killed). ww2dbase [CPC]
Cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers HMAS Napier, HMS Hasty, and HMS Decoy departed Alexandria, Egypt with supplies for Tobruk, Libya, returning with men of the Australian 9th Division in the early hours of the following day. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
A civilian on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic spotted a submarine off its coast, but the report was not regarded as important. The submarine was most likely German submarine U-68, which would strike on the next day. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-106 departed Lorient, France. ww2dbase [CPC]
The Jager Report (issued on 1 Dec 1941) noted that 718 adult male, 1,063 adult female, and 586 children, all Jews, were killed in Vilnius, Lithuania for a total of 2,367 people. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

Black Sea

Soviet submarine M58 hit a mine laid by the Romanians and sank in the Black Sea near the opening of the Danube River, killing all 19 aboard. ww2dbase [CPC]

Czechoslovakia

Horst Böhme was promoted to the rank of SS-Standartenführer. ww2dbase [Horst Böhme | Prague | CPC]

Germany

Georg von Küchler was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht daily radio report. ww2dbase [Georg von Küchler | CPC]

Norway

U-132 arrived at Kirkenes, Norway, completing her first war patrol. ww2dbase [U-132 | Kirkenes, Finnmark | CPC]

Ukraine

Troops of the German 6.Armee captured Stalino in the Donets Basin in southern Ukraine. ww2dbase [Stalino | TH]

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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