World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Wednesday November 13, 1940
Day 440

November 13, 1940: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in columns 5-6: "Bremen Reported Sunk in Kattegat"
(This report is just a rehash of reports in April which claimed Bremen had been sunk...again. Bremen was a famous German ocean liner that the Allies wanted to capture, but never did. Many stories claimed "Bremen captured" or "Bremen sunk" neither of which were true. Bremen escaped to the Soviet Union and then made its way back to Germany. Bremen was destroyed by fire in March 1941 and later scrapped.)
Note the report in column 4: "Captain With Arm Shot Off Fought On"
(The commanding officer of HMS Jervis Bay, Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen, would soon be awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.)
[More about HMS Jervis Bay here.]


November 13, 1940: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of the Birmingham Gazette, Birmingham, England.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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Note the report in column 5: "Queen Elizabeth Leaves New York"
(The report states that there are 900 sailors aboard the great liner, now the Germans know she is on the way across the Atlantic.)
Also note the report in column 6: "Bass Strait Reopens To-morrow"
(The strait had been closed since the sinkings of Cambridge and City of Rayville to clear the mines laid by Passat.)


November 13, 1940: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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Note the report in column 3: "Queen Elizabeth Not Likely To Hit Boston"
(The Associated Press writer apparently does not realize he is writing a report, which describes exactly what not to write about ship movements. He may not have heard that "Loose lips sink ships" because if he had, he might not have written that the world's largest ship, SS Queen Elizabeth, had just pulled out of New York heading for the "dangerous North Atlantic where sea warfare has increased greatly in recent weeks." With that in mind, one would think that maybe the western press and this writer, might not want to inform the enemy of when the ship left port. I am sure the hundreds of people aboard, who the A.P. put at risk, did not appreciate their movements being on the front page of newspapers around the world. One also wonders why newspaper publishers would publish a report like this. Churchill was correct when he attempted to quash information concerning the movements, losses and arrivals of merchant ships.)


November 13, 1940: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 4: "British Shipping Losses"
(First Lord of the Admiralty Mr. A. V. Alexander says losses in first 12 months, including fishing vessels was 1,611,842. Breakdown as follows;
British 406 ships 1,611,84
Allied 103 ships of 474,816
Neutral 253 of 769,212
Total 762 at 2,855,870 tons
3,327 crew and passengers lost, 15,653 saved, 1,100 POW.
Enemy losses 261 ships, 1,269,000 tons.

In a statement by the Admiralty published on Nov. 20, 1940 these figures are given:
Total shipping losses for all nations for the period Sept. 1939 to Oct. 1940 are 4,053,840 tons.
British merchant shipping losses for the same period was 2,092,722.|

Those figures do not include Axis or Axis controlled ships that had been captured, which totaled 157 ships at 669,018 tons. In the post-war Admiralty assessment, the total losses for just British merchant ships was 2,246,384.)
 
Also note the report in column 8: "Atlantic Clipper Forced To Delay Voyage Again"
 
Also note the report in column 8: "92 Are Known Dead In Midwest Storm; Many Missing"


November 13, 1940: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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Note the photos and report at center: "U.S. Destroyer And Submarine Tie Up At KCS Docks For Visit"
(The destroyer, USS O'Brien DD-415 was torpedoed on Sept. 15 by the Japanese submarine I-19, temporary repairs were made and the crew tried to get her home. However, she sank en route on Oct. 19, 1942.

The submarine, USS Thresher SS-200, survived the war having sunk 18 ships for over 63,000 tons.)


November 13, 1940: Front page of The Helena Independent, Helena, Montana.
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November 13, 1940: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
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Note the report in column 2: "Joe Kennedy in S.M. Tomorrow"
(The former ambassador was in San Mateo to visit his son, John, who was attending Stanford at the time.)


November 13, 1940: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Unterredung Hermann Görings mit Molotow.
(Conversation between Göring and Molotov.)


November 13, 1940: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Der Führer empfing Molotow.
(Molotov received by the Führer.)
2. Längere Aussprache in Gegenwart des Reichsaußenministers und des Stellvertretenden Außenkommissars.
(Lengthily discussion in the presence of the Reich Foreign Minister and the Deputy Foreign Commissioner.)



   
Page published November 13, 2021