5 Nov 1940
  • Roosevelt was re-elected as President of the United States. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | TH]
  • German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer approached Allied convoy HX-84 in the North Atlatic in the late afternoon, and British armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay moved in to intercept. Hopelessly outgunned, Jervis Bay was sunk within 15 minutes of the gun battle; 190 were killed and 65 survived; Captain Fegen of Jervis Bay would be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his efforts to slow Admiral Scheer. Nevertheless, Admiral Scheer was able to sink 5 additional British ships in the convoy before the convoy scattered and escaped, killing an additional 208 sailors. ww2dbase [Admiral Scheer | TH]
  • Free French troops captured Lambaréné, French Equatorial Africa (in present day Gabon) about 100 kilometer inland up the Ogooué River. Meanwhile, Free French, Foreign Legion, and Colonial troops set sail from Douala, French Cameroun for another Vichy-held city in French Equatorial Africa, Libreville. ww2dbase [Battle of Gabon | CPC]
  • German submarine U-99 sank British tanker Scottish Maiden 180 miles northwest of Ireland at 0255 hours, killing 16; she was carrying 3,000 tons of diesel oil and 6,500 tons of marine fuel. British destroyer HMS Beagle picked up 28 survivors. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Greek cavalry troops under General Georgios Stanotas began a new attack on the enveloped Italian Julia Division in the Vovousa valley in northern Greece. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
  • British cruisers Sydney and Ajax departed Alexandra, Egypt to land supplies at Suda Bay, Crete, Greece. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | HM]
  • British cruisers Sydney and Ajax landed supplies at Suda Bay, Crete, Greece and then joined the Mediterranean Fleet at sea. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | HM]
Egypt
  • While at Alexandria, Egypt, a leak was found in the fuel system of HMS Eagle, requiring her to receive repairs; the damage was caused by near misses by Italian bombers on 12 Oct 1940. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]
France
  • Hermann Göring issued an order to loot the art treasures at the Louvre museum in Paris, France, which were to be distributed to German museums and private collections of Nazi leaders, with a large portion of the art reserved for himself. ww2dbase [Hermann Göring | 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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North Carolina at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States, 1 Nov 1941; note measure 12 modified camouflage




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Famous WW2 Quote
"Goddam it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!"

Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943