December 19, 1939 The Soviet 7th Army conducts the heaviest attacks yet against the Mannerheim Line in the Summa sector. In their attack on Summa, the Soviet Army lost 20 of 100 tanks. The Finns continue to hold. Soviet battleships Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and Marat and escorting warships bombard Fort Saarenpää. However, the defenders claimed at least one artillery hit on Marat and the ship was forced to retreat with damage. Finnish forces attack Soviet 8th Army positions north of Lake Ladoga. German armored ship Admiral Graf Spees former commanding officer, Kapitan zur See Hans Langsdorff, commits suicide at Montevideo, Uruguay. New Japanese ambassador Saburo Kurusu meets with Hitler. Heydrich places SS officer Adolf Eichmann in charge of organizing deportations of Jewish populations in occupied territories. A German Labor Front leader asserts the Nazis’ divine right to rule. The Reich’s mission to dominate is among the war aims, he says, also demanding the annihilation of Britain, the obstacle to German success. Allied Supreme War Council meets in Paris. British 5th Infantry Division begins moving to France. Admiralty scientists led by Dr. C. F. Goodeve and Dr. E. C. Bullard have found a way to defeat the magnetic mine threat. Since the mines are detonated by a ships magnetic field, a system of canceling this out has been developed. Ships will be fitted with electric cables passed round the hulls and connected to the generators. Known as degaussing, this will create a magnetic field exactly opposite to the ships. Methods have also been found for sweeping for these mines. Experiments using wooden trawlers towing sweeps made up of energized electrical cables have proved successful in detonating them. A Vickers Wellington IA (P2518), was taken off the production line at Weybridge and fitted with a large magnetic coil 48 feet in diameter attached to the underside of the nose, tail and outer planes. Fed with electrical power from a 35kW Maudesley generator driven by a Ford V8 engine the aircraft still had to fly as low as 60 feet above the water to ensure detonation. Destroyer HMS Hyperion intercepts the German passenger liner SS Columbus 450 miles east of Cape May, New Jersey; the latter is scuttled to prevent capture. Two crewmen perish in the abandonment. The heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) rescues Columbuss survivors (567 men and 9 women stewardesses) and sets course for New York City, the only U.S. port that can handle such a large and sudden influx of aliens. British light cruiser HMS Orion intercepts German freighter Arauca off Miami, Florida; the latter puts in to Port Everglades to avoid capture. Destroyer USS Truxtun (DD-229) has trailed the merchantman at one point; destroyer USS Philip (DD-76) is present when Arauca reaches sanctuary. USAAC B-18 (21st Reconnaissance Squadron), however, witnesses the shot that HMS Orion fires over Araucas bow (in the attempt to force the latter to heave-to) splashing inside American territorial waters off Hialeah, Florida. Learning of this incident, Secretary of State Cordell Hull instructs U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James Joseph P. Kennedy to remind the British Foreign Office that, as neutrals, the American republics are entitled to have their waters free from the commission of any hostile act by any non-American belligerent nation. SS Arauca is interned by the U.S. government and is acquired by the U.S. Navy from the Maritime Commission on 20 April 1942 and eventually commissions Arauca as refrigerated storeship Saturn (AF-40) the same day. The British steam merchant City of Kobe struck a mine and sank near Cross Sand Buoy, Great Yarmouth off the eastern coast of England in the North Sea. Of the ship’s complement, 1 died and 30 survivors were picked up by the minesweeping trawler HMS Tumby and the British coasters Corinia and Faxfleet. The 4,373 ton City of Kobe was carrying general cargo and coal and was bound for India. The British trawler Daneden was bombed and sunk in the North Sea east south east of the Shetland Islands by aircraft of X Fliegerkorps, Luftwaffe. The Danish cargo ship Jytte struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 18 nautical miles (33 km) off Souter Point, Northumberland, United Kingdom with the loss of ten of her 18 crew. Survivors were rescued by the Danish ship Avance. The British trawler River Earn was bombed and sunk in the North Sea east north east of Kinnaird Head (58°30′ N, 2°01′ E) by aircraft of X Fliegerkorps, Luftwaffe. All on board were rescued by the Norwegian ship Rogaland. The Finnish coaster Uko was bombed and sunk in the North Sea 80 nautical miles (150 km) south of Utsire, Rogaland, Norway by Luftwaffe aircraft. All on board were rescued by the Swedish ship Sir Ernest Cassel. Convoy OA 56 departs Southend. Convoy OB 55 departs Liverpool. Convoy OB 56 departs Liverpool. Convoy SL 13F departs Freetown for Liverpool. Convoy HXF 13 departs Halifax for Liverpool. U.S. freighter Nishmaha is free to sail from Marseilles to continue her voyage, but port conditions and weather prevent her from sailing as scheduled. The Viceroy ties India’s fate to war, holding that the country’s future welfare hinges on the success of the Allied forces. The CIO contradicts the claim of a labor shortage in the US. Thousands of mechanics lack work. A Senator upholds private insurance. He sees a “politician’s paradise” if the federal government can enter the field. The final rush begins for holiday trade. Customers have waited for a dip in prices, with men’s clothing and liquor items that are selling. Canadian troops arrive in Britain. One hundred U.S. volunteers are also part of the force Japanese troops captured Kunlun Pass 59 kilometers northeast of Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. Chinese 2nd War Area troops advance toward Yicheng. Chinese 3rd War Area attempts to interdict Japanese boat traffic on the Yangtze River with anti-tank guns. The Japanese 104th Infantry Division is engaged with elements of Chinese 4th War Area around Yinchanao. The 35th Army and 81st Army of Chinese 8th War Area make attacks into Paotou overnight. Elements of Japanese 33rd Infantry Division and 40th Infantry Division withdrawing from Shihmen and Shihpihu as Chinese 9th War Area conducts attacks around Hsintanpu, Tungshan, and Ninlinchiao. Chinese North Route Force captures Kaofengyi. Elements of Japanese 5th Infantry Division are under attack and isolated around Kunlunkuan. Liner SS Prince David purchased from Canadian National Steamship Lines for conversion to AMC HMCS Prince David. Armed merchant cruisers were used to supplement the escort of convoys against large enemy surface warships. The RN was unable to provide either battleships or cruisers to act as escort for all convoys and resorted to using converted liners instead. U-70 laid down. The German freighter Goldenfels was commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 16. Her commander was 40-year-old, newly-promoted Captain, Bernhard Rogge. The newly converted ship was armed with six rapid-fire 150mm L/45 C/16 guns, one 75mm cannon, two 37mm flak guns, four 20mm flak guns, four 53.3cm torpedo tubes, with 24 torpedoes, two Heinkel He-114 A-2 seaplanes, and carried 92 sea-mines. As it was the privilege of each raider captain to name his ship, Rogge informed his 346 hand-picked officers and crew that he would be naming her the Atlantis. The destroyer HMS Havant (H 32) was commissioned. Her first commander was Lt. Commander Anthony F. Burnell-Nugent. Photograph: HMS Havant, stopped. Royal Navy official photographer. Imperial War Museum, MoD Foxhill Collection of Ship Photographs, Photograph # FL 10170.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:13:44 +0000
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