20 Dec 1940

- 15 British carrier aircraft from HMS Illustrious attacked an Italian convoy off Kerkennah islands, Tunisia between 0515 and 0615 hours, sinking two of the three ships in the convoy. ww2dbase [Illustrious | CPC]
- Italian submarine Calvi sank British ship Carlton 300 miles west of Ireland, killing 31. ww2dbase [CPC]
- British destroyer Berkeley hit a mine in the River Medway in southern England, United Kingdom; she was damaged but did not sink. ww2dbase [CPC]
- US President Roosevelt named a four-member defense board under William A. Knudsen to prepare defense measures and to hasten the aid to the United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
- Two Spitfire fighters of No. 66 Squadron from RAF Biggin Hill in London, England, United Kingdom carried out a sweep over Breck and Le Touquet in France, strafing power transformers, camps and road traffic. This marked a change in RAF fighter tactics to a more offensive role. ww2dbase [AC]
- The British Royal Navy battleship, HMS Warspite, arrived at Malta's Grand Harbour to a rapturous welcome from the islanders. ww2dbase [Warspite | AC]
- The Defense Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union officially adopted the PPSh-41 submachine gun. ww2dbase [PPSh-41 | CPC]
- Liverpool, England, United Kingdom was bombed by the Luftwaffe. 42 were killed when two official shelters collapsed, 72 were killed when bombs destroyed a shelter in the Blackstock Gardens tenement, and a further 42 were killed when an unofficial shelter at Bentinck Street under railway arches was hit. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Liverpool, England | 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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