November 1941

[November 1], 1941 (Saturday)

• A formal statement from Adolf Hitler claimed that the United States "has attacked Germany" and that Roosevelt had been placed before the "tribunal" for world judgment. Germany disputed the American account of the sinking of the Reuben James and claimed that a German submarine only attacked after American destroyers attacked German submarines first.
• German troops occupied Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula.
• Jews in Slovakia were required to travel in separate train compartments and send and receive letters marked with the Star of David.
• The Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara River opened to traffic, connecting the United States and Canada.
• German submarine U-214 was commissioned.
• Ansel Adams took the photograph Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.
• Born: Marina Baura, actress, in Galicia, Spain; Nigel Dempster, journalist and author, in Calcutta, British India ; Robert Foxworth, actor, in Houston, Texas

  [November 2], 1941 (Sunday)

• The Finnish conquest of East Karelia was completed when the Soviets withdrew from Kondopoga.
• The Soviet cruiser Voroshilov was bombed in harbour by the Luftwaffe at Novorossiysk and put out of action until February 1942.
• A Vichy French convoy of freighters and passenger ships was captured north of Madagascar by British cruisers.
• Born: Bruce Welch, guitarist, producer and member of The Shadows, in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England

  [November 3], 1941 (Monday)

• The Germans captured Kursk.
• The British merchant ship Flynderborg was sunk off Newfoundland by German submarine U-202.
• German submarine U-755 was commissioned.
• Died: Samuel Murray, 72, American sculptor and educator

  [November 4], 1941 (Tuesday)

• The Germans captured Feodosia on the Crimean Peninsula.
• The British battleship HMS Duke of York was commissioned.
• Fiorello H. La Guardia was re-elected to a third term as Mayor of New York City.
• Viscount Halifax was pelted with eggs and tomatoes by isolationist women demonstrators in Detroit as he was leaving City Hall. Halifax was afterwards quoted as saying, "How fortunate you Americans are, in Britain we get only one egg a week and we are glad of those." The quote was actually fabricated by someone in the British Press Service, but it was widely disseminated in the media and created a burst of sympathy and goodwill towards the British and Halifax in particular.
• Dolph Camilli of the Brooklyn Dodgers was named the National League's Most Valuable Player.
• German submarine U-509 was commissioned.

  [November 5], 1941 (Wednesday)

• Isoroku Yamamoto issued Top Secret Order No. 1 to the Japanese Combined Fleet, detailing the plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• The Soviet submarine ShCh-324 was lost in the Baltic Sea off Tallinn, presumably to a naval mine.
• The Noël Coward play Blithe Spirit made its Broadway debut at the Morosco Theatre.
• German submarines U-172 and U-457 were commissioned.
• Born: Art Garfunkel, musician and actor, in Queens, New York

  [November 6], 1941 (Thursday)

• Joseph Stalin made a radio address broadcast worldwide declaring that Hitler's "crazy plan" to draw Britain and the United States into a coalition to destroy the Soviet Union had failed. Stalin said that a coalition of the United States, Britain and the USSR was "now a reality" and expressed his hopes that a "second front" would be established "in the near future."
• Between 15,000 and 18,000 Jews were taken to the Sosenki forest outside of Rovno and massacred over the next two days.
• Frostbite began to appear among German troops on the Eastern Front.
• German submarine U-595 was commissioned.
• Born: Doug Sahm, musician and founder of the Sir Douglas Quintet, in San Antonio, Texas

  [November 7], 1941 (Friday)

• The Soviet hospital ship Armenia was sunk by German bombers while evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers from Crimea. As many as 7,000 people were killed in the sinking, making it one of the worst maritime disasters in history.
• In an important symbolic event, Soviet troops marched in Red Square to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution as per the annual tradition. Soldiers taking part in the parade marched straight on to the front line.
• The United States Senate voted 50 to 37 to amend the Neutrality Act to allow merchantmen to be armed and permit U.S. ships to enter combat zones.
• The cargo ship MV Nottingham was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-74.
• Senior commanders of the Japanese Army and Navy were informed that the start of war against Britain and the United States was tentatively set for December 8.
• Bette Davis became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• Born: Angelo Scola, cardinal, in Malgrate, Italy
• Died: Albin Zollinger, 46, Swiss writer

  [November 8], 1941 (Saturday)

• In conjunction with the creation of the Lwów Ghetto, 5,000 of the city's Jews were executed.
• The Germans captured Tikhvin.
• The Battle of the Duisburg Convoy was fought over the night of November 8/9, ending in British victory.
• The Communist Party of Albania was founded.
• German submarine U-254 was commissioned.

  [November 9], 1941 (Sunday)

• The Germans occupied the Crimean city of Yalta.
• A referendum on the policies of Ion Antonescu was held in Romania. The vote was recorded as 99.99% in favour.
• Born: Tom Fogerty, musician and rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival, in Berkeley, California

  [November 10], 1941 (Monday)

• The British launched Operation Flipper, a commando raid on the headquarters of Erwin Rommel.
• The German 50th Infantry Division under the command of Erich von Manstein launched a major assault against Sevastopol.
• Elements of Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's Pearl Harbor strike force began departing Kure naval base.
• Winston Churchill declared that although he would view "with keen sorrow" the opening of a conflict between Japan and the English-speaking world, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan the British declaration will follow within the hour."

  [November 11], 1941 (Tuesday)

• A general election was held in the Philippines. Incumbent President Manuel L. Quezon won an unprecedented second term.
• German submarine U-580 sank in the Baltic Sea after a collision with the target ship Angelburg.
• President Roosevelt gave an Armistice Day address at Arlington National Cemetery. "Our observance of this Anniversary has a particular significance in the year 1941," the president said. "For we are able today as we were not always able in the past to measure our indebtedness to those who died... Whatever we knew or thought we knew a few years or months ago, we know now that the danger of brutality and tyranny and slavery to freedom-loving peoples can be real and terrible. We know why these men fought to keep our freedom - and why the wars that save a people's liberties are wars worth fighting and worth winning - and at any price."
• The Australian War Memorial was opened in Canberra.
• Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees was named the American League's Most Valuable Player. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak beat out Ted Williams'.406 batting average, 291 points to 254.
• Died: Charles Huntziger, 61, French army general

  [November 12], 1941 (Wednesday)

• The Soviet 52nd Army counterattacked at Volkhov.
• King George VI opened a new session of British Parliament. "The developments of the past year have strengthened the resolution of my peoples and of my allies to prosecute this war against aggression until final victory," his speech from the throne began.
• British Commandos executed Operation Astrakan, an overnight raid on Houlgate in France.

  [November 13], 1941 (Thursday)

• The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal was torpedoed and severely damaged off Gibraltar by the German submarine U-81.
• The Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina was sunk at Sevastopol by German aircraft.
• U.S. Congress voted 212 to 194 to abolish combat zones, thereby allowing U.S. ships to carry goods directly to ports of belligerent countries.
• German submarine U-596 was commissioned.
• Born: Mel Stottlemyre, baseball player and coach, in Hazleton, Missouri

  [November 14], 1941 (Friday)

• Despite efforts to salvage the Ark Royal, she had to be abandoned to sink some 12 hours after having been torpedoed.
• The British cargo ship Empire Defender was torpedoed and sunk south of the Galite Islands, Tunisia by Italian aircraft.
• The Alfred Hitchcock-directed romantic psychological thriller film Suspicion starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine was released.
• Died: Paraskev Stoyanov, 70, Bulgarian-Romanian surgeon, anarchist and professor

  [November 15], 1941 (Saturday)

• The Germans renewed the drive on Moscow after a three-week lull. The Soviets were pushed back from the Volga Reservoir north of the capital but with temperatures dropping to -20 Celsius across the Eastern Front, the German advance was very slow.
• German submarine U-583 sank in the Baltic Sea with no survivors after a collision with U-153.
• German submarines U-173 and U-459 were commissioned.

  [November 16], 1941 (Sunday)

• The German 11th Army captured Kerch on the far eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula.
• German submarine U-433 was depth charged and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea south of Málaga by the British corvette HMS Marigold.
• Died: Miina Härma, 77, Estonian composer