29 Jun 1940 | World War II Database

29 Jun 1940

Operation Catapult: The British Admiralty gave Vice Admiral Somerville explicit instructions to secure the transfer, surrender, or destruction of the French warships at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria. Force H under his command consisted of battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution, battlecruiser HMS Hood, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Arethusa and HMS Enterprise, and 11 destroyers. ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | CPC]
German submarine U-99 was again subjected to friendly fire. Upon leaving Wilhelmshaven, Germany, she was attacked by a German aircraft with 3 bombs. She dove under the surface to avoid the bombs, but sustained minor damage when she hit the sea floor. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-51 sank British decoy ship HMS Edgehill with three torpedoes southwest of Ireland. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-47 torpedoed and sank British ship Empire Toucan southwest of Ireland, which broke in half; 3 were killed and 31 were rescued. Destroyer HMS Hurricane scuttled the aft portion of the ship which remained afloat. ww2dbase [U-47 | CPC]
German submarine U-26 sank Greek steamer Frangoula B. Goulandris southwest of Ireland; 6 were killed and 32 were rescued. ww2dbase [CPC]
Destroyer USS O'Brien departed Rio Grande du Sol, Brazil for Santos, Brazil. ww2dbase [O'Brien | CPC]
Adolf Hitler arrived at his headquarters at Tannenberg in southern Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
Maximilian von Weichs was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. ww2dbase [Maximilian von Weichs | CPC]
HMS Hermes received orders to set sail toward Dakar, French West Africa. ww2dbase [Hermes | CPC]
HMS Cumberland joined escort at Greenock for Middle East convoy WS1 for passage to Capetown, South Africa. ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]

Germany

U-56 departed Wilhelmshaven, Germany and began her tenth patrol. ww2dbase [U-56 | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | CPC]

Italy

Leonardo da Vinci set sail from Castellammare di Stabia, Italy at 0800 hours for exercises, returning at 1705 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Napoli, Campania | CPC]
Comandante Cappellini arrived at La Spezia, Italy at 1950 hours, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

Mediterranean Sea

Capitano Tarantini sighted a British destroyer, probably HMS Dainty, in the Mediterranean Sea southwest of Cape Matawan, Greece at 0500 hours. She fired a torpedo, which missed. and the British destroyer counterattacked, also without success. ww2dbase [Capitano Tarantini | CPC]

United Kingdom

Greek steam merchant Orion landed the four survivors of Dutch motor tanker Moordrecht at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. Moordrecht had been sunk by German submarine U-48 nine days prior. ww2dbase [Liverpool, England | HM]

United States

US President Franklin Roosevelt departed Washington DC, United States aboard the yacht Potomac; the ship was accompanied by auxiliary vessel Cuyahoga. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Washington | 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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