18 Nov 1941 | World War II Database

18 Nov 1941

Japanese luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru arrived at Yokohama, completing her 74th and last round trip across the Pacific. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
British, New Zealand, and Indian troops launched Operation Crusader, a major offensive from Egypt into Libya. Surprise was achieved, and the attack met no serious resistance on the first day. The Germans would later call this offensive Winterschlacht. After sundown, British cruisers HMS Naiad and HMS Euryalus and destroyers HMS Kipling and HMS Jackal bombarded German positions at Halfaya Pass. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
Five large Japanese carrier submarines, each containing midget submarines, departed from Kure Naval Base, Japan for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. Meanwhile, Joseph Rochefort's US Navy cryptanalytic team reported no Japanese carrier movement. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Detailed Timetable | CPC]
Archer was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Archer | CPC]
General John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. ww2dbase [John Dill | AC]
Japan requested Germany to not conclude a separate peace with any common enemies of the two countries, but did not share its plans to attack the United States. ww2dbase [CPC]
The teams dispatched on the previous day out of Leningrad, Russia to Lake Ladoga returned to the besieged city at 0400 hours, reporting that the ice on the lake was about 10 centimeters thick, which made light travel possible, but not for heavy equipment such as 1-ton trucks. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | CPC]
German 4th Panzer Army launched a 400-tank attack 70 miles west of Moscow, Russia, supported by 3 infantry divisions; Soviet 30th Army fell back northward to Klin, while Soviet 16th Army was pushed south to Istra. 120 miles south of Moscow, German 3rd Panzer Army was held up at Tula, with its latest attempt to surround the Soviet garrison there foiled by the newly-arrived Soviet 413th Rifle Division. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | CPC]

France

Morosini departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1740 hours, starting her eighth war patrol. ww2dbase [Morosini | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

Italy

The Italian Navy, which had not heard from Alessandro Malaspina for two months, officially listed Alessandro Malaspina as lost at sea, with the reason being unknown. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | 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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