24 Dec 1940 | World War II Database

24 Dec 1940

Atlantic Ocean

German submarine U-65 sank British tanker British Premier 50 miles off Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 1641 hours, killing 32. 9 survivors were picked up by cruiser HMS Hawkins on 3 Jan 1941; another lifeboat of 4 survivors was not discovered until 3 Feb 1941. ww2dbase [CPC]
German 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron attacked a British convoy in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, England, United Kingdom. S-28 sank British minesweeping trawler HMT Pelton, killing 20. British destroyer HMS Verdun reported sinking one of the torpedo boats. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
German cruiser Admiral Hipper detected Allied convoy WS.5 700 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain late in the afternoon. The convoy was consisted of 19 troopships and freighters; not noticing that it was escorted by two carriers, three cruisers, and four corvettes, the German commander Admiral Wilhelm Meisel prepared the crew for an attack in the morning. ww2dbase [Admiral Hipper | CPC]

Mediterranean Sea

Greek submarine Papanikolis sank the 3,952-ton troop transport Firenze near Sazan Island in the southern Adriatic Sea. ww2dbase [Papanikolis | Adriatic Sea | CPC]

United States

The US 1st Marine Aircraft Wing completed its transfer to the west coast of the United States. On the same day, the 2nd Marine Brigade was activated under the command of Colonel Henry L. Larsen at Camp Elliott, California, United States. ww2dbase [San Diego, California | 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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