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1927   (WEDNESDAY) 

UNITED STATES: The USN commissions its second aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga (CV-3) at Camden, New Jersey. Much larger than the earlier USS Langley (CV-1), the ship displaced 36,000 tons and had a flight deck almost 900 feet (274 meters) long, with an island superstructure for flight control.

1933   (THURSDAY) 

SYRIA: The French and Syrian governments sign a treaty whereby France agrees to support Syria's admission into the League of Nations within four years. In return, Syria agrees to maintain an alliance with France for 25 years during which time the French will exercise extensive control over Syria's foreign relations, military, and financial affairs. The treaty does not apply to the other Syrian states and the agreement reflects the terms of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty.

UNITED STATES: The Roosevelt administration formally recognizes the Soviet government ending a long period of estrangement. The Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, arrived in Washington, DC on 7 November to begin negotiations. In a formal exchange of notes, the Soviets promise not to interfere in the domestic affairs of the United States, including propaganda; to extend religious freedom to Americans living in the Soviet Union; to negotiate an agreement to guarantee a fair trial for American citizens accused of crimes in the USSR; and to negotiate a settlement of mutual claims (an agreement on tsarist debts to the U.S. is never negotiated). Official recognition restores trade relations between the two countries, although the volume does not reach anticipated levels.

1936   (MONDAY) 

UNITED KINGDOM: In the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden expresses "regrets" over steps taken by Germany saying, "On May 21, 1935, the German Chancellor stated publicly that as regards the remaining Articles of the Treaty, including those relating to international rivers, . . . the German Government `will only carry out by means of peaceable understandings such revisions as will be inevitable in the course of time.'  . . . In these circumstances it is a matter of regret to His Majesty's Government that at a time when discussions were proceeding and despite the assurances given last year, the German Government would once again have abandoned procedure by negotiation in favour of unilateral action."

November 16th, 1939 (THURSDAY)

The cost of living rose by 2.5 per cent in October.

London: Britain is in the grip of spy fever, although more than 6,000 suspected men and women have already been detained. In the first few days of the war, the entire detective force of Scotland Yard was employed rounding up suspected enemy agents and sympathisers who had been identified by the intelligence services. They have been detained for the duration of the war.

Hundreds of thousands of items which leave Britain each week by post for neutral countries are being examined and censored, mainly at Liverpool. A staff of 1,700 linguistic experts examines letters not only for what they say but also for messages in invisible ink.

GERMANY:

U-105, U-137, U-138, U-140 laid down.

U-62 launched.

FINLAND: Helsinki: Russia, seeking to protect its naval bases at Leningrad and Murmansk, from possible attack by Germany is demanding the cession of strategic Finnish territory and the lease of Finnish ports in exchange for land in the desolate swamps and forests of Karelia.

The Soviet People's Commissar of Defence, Kliment Vorosilov has already ordered the Red Army to move into attacking positions along the Finnish border. (See)

The Finns, fearful that this would merely be the prelude to a Soviet take-over of their country, are refusing. They are preparing to go to war with their giant neighbour.

ROMANIA: King Carol's offer of mediation is rejected by both sides.

CANADA: Patrol vessel HMCS Fleur de Lis commissioned. Built by Canadian Vickers Montreal, Province of Quebec.. Launched 1929, 316 tons, 164.6x21.1x11.6ft, 12kts, triple screw vessel, diesel 1800 BH, crew 6/30, 1-.303 mg. Pendant's (Z31)(A)>(J16) Custom Service 1929, RCMP 1932, RCN 1939, sold 1945 Post WW.II, sold 1945, Marine Industries, Sorel, Province of Quebec.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-43 sank SS Arlington Court in Convoy SL-7A.

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November 16th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Five crews of 105 Squadron ( Blenheim) hit the airfields at Hingene, Evere, Duerne and Vucht. One aircraft is lost to ground fire.

ASW trawler HMS Arsenal sunk on the Clyde after colliding with destroyer ORP Burza.

Corvette HMS Pimpernel launched.

Light cruiser HMS Jamaica launched.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Arran launched.

Corvette HMS Bryony laid down.

Corvette KNS Montbretia (ex-HMS Montbretia) laid down.

Destroyer HMS Cotswold commissioned.

The Canada Steamships merchantman Sherbrooke (2,052 GRT) was damaged when she was attacked by Luftwaffe bombers in the North Sea, off Orfordness. There is no record of casualties in this incident.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: Submarine HMS Swordfish, setting out on bay of Biscay patrol, strikes an enemy mine off the Isle of Wight and sinks.

FRANCE: In accordance with Acting U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Welles's request of 13 November, U.S. ChargC) d'Affaires ad interim H. Freeman Matthews meets with Marshal Henri Philippe PC)tain, Vichy French Head of State and President of the Council, concerning the possible move of French battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart. PC)tain assures the U.S. envoy that the two capital ships would be used to defend French territory and would never be used against the British. "Under present circumstances," PC)tain informs Matthews, "I have neither the right nor the possibility of selling them."

GERMANY: U-147, U-148, U-751 launched.

RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Hamburg causing heavy damage when during the nights of 15/16 and 16/17 November, a total of over 200 aircraft are despatched to Hamburg. (Curiously, in light of subsequent events, these are the second and third consecutive nights that the city had been targeted). On the first night, heavy damage is caused at the Blohm & Voss shipyard and over 60 fires started, but on the next raid, only 60 aircraft are able to find their target. A further 25 found alternatives, but the damage is far less severe.

ALBANIA: The Greeks, with little mechanized equipment and an obsolete air force, turn back the Italian invaders and penetrate into Albania. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, expecting a speedy and overwhelming victory, is embarrassed by the failure of the poorly planned invasion.

GREECE: 3,500 British military personnel have been ferried from Alexandria to Piraeus.

     RAF No. 84 Squadron arrives at Menidi Airfield with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers and is assigned to HQ British Air Forces in Greece. This is the second RAF squadron to arrive in Greece from Egypt.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Gouldburn launched.

Minesweeper HMAS Townsville laid down.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Camrose and Sorel launched Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Osprey commissioned.

The USN's Bureau of Aeronautics establishes a catapult procurement program for Essex class aircraft carriers. One flight deck catapult and one athwartships hangar deck catapult are to be installed on each of 11 ships.

CARIBBEAN SEA: In the Gulf of Mexico, USN destroyer USS McCormick (DD-223), on Neutrality Patrol off Tampico, Mexico, foils an attempt by German freighter SS Orinoco to make a break for European waters. Destroyer USS Plunkett (DD-431), by her very presence, thwarts German tanker SS Phrygia's bid for freedom; Phrygia's crew scuttles her.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-137 sank SS Planter.

U-65 sank SS Fabian in Convoy OB-234. U-65 provided two shipwrecked survivors of sunken Fabian with medical aid, food and water.

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November 16th, 1941 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyer HMS Tumult laid down.

Submarine HMS P-39commissioned.

GERMANY: U-603, U-604 launched.

Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels publishes in the German magazine Das Reich that "The Jews wanted the war, and now they have it"- referring to the Nazi propaganda scheme to shift the blame for the world war onto European Jewry, thereby giving the Nazis a rationalization for the so-called Final Solution.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-433 sunk at 2155hrs in the Mediterranean south of Malaga, Spain, in position 36.13N, 04.42W, after being damaged by depth charges and gunfire 25nm east of Gibraltar by the British corvette HMS Marigold. 6 dead and 38 survivors.

IRAQ: Iraq breaks diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

JAPAN: Two units of the Japanese Navy's Advance Group, Pearl Harbor Strike Force, depart Yokosuka today. The 2nd Submarine Unit consists of seven submarines two of which are carrying "Glen" seaplanes (Kugisho E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplanes). All seven arrive on station off Hawaii on 6 December; one, with a "Glen", is stationed about 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) north of Oahu; three are station between Kauai and Oahu, and three, one with a "Glen", are stationed between Oahu and Molokai. One submarine of the Support Group, HIJMS I-10, also departs. On 7 December, HIJMS I-10 is underway between the Fiji and Samoa Islands.

HONG KONG: The converted passenger liner SS Awatea, escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Robert (F 56), arrives here this evening, carrying two battalions consisting of 96 officers (plus two Auxiliary Services supervisors) and 1,877 Canadian troops under Brigadier John Lawson, Commanding Officer West Brigade. The units are The Royal Rifles of Canada and The Winnipeg Grenadiers. The Canadians will boost the garrison in Hong Kong, but, as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself has pointed out, two semi-trained battalions are unlikely to deter Japan from war, but will merely increase the numbers of prisoners the Japanese can take. The Canadians seem only too aware of this. "Oh God, another Dunkirk," Signalman William Allister said when he heard where he was going. "No fella," another voice added, "at Dunkirk they had somewhere to go." The 212 vehicles assigned to the force are aboard the freighter SS Don Jose but these vehicles will never reach Hong Kong.

  The Don Jose had only just reached Manila, Philippine Islands when the war with Japan begins, and the U.S. forces are given approval to use the Canadian equipment in the defense of the Philippines.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Air Force USAFFE is redesignated the FEAF. (Marc Small)

AUSTRALIA: Brereton dispatched by MacArthur"> MacArthur on a three-week, 11,500-mile jaunt to Rabaul, Port Moresby, Townsville, and Melbourne, to comply with Marshall’s directive of 30 SEP 41 regarding use of airfields in British Empire areas.

NEWFOUNDLAND: USN Task Unit 4.1.5 clears Argentia to assume escort duty for convoy HX-160 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to U.K.); between 17 and 28 November, heavy seas will cause varying degrees of damage to destroyers USS Mayo (DD-422), Nicholson (DD-424), Babbitt (DD-128), Leary (DD-158) and Schenck (DD-159). The convoy is not attacked by U-boats.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Howorth laid down.

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November 16th, 1942 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Light fleet carrier HMS Vengeance laid down.

Destroyer HMS Raider commissioned.

In London, Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander-in-Chief Free French Forces, meets with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to protest the continuation of the regime of Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa. Churchill assures him that he understands his concerns and that the measure is only a temporary expedient aimed at facilitating the ouster of the Axis forces from North Africa.

FRANCE: During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five ports: eight aircraft mine the Gironde Estuary; three each lay mines of Bayonne and Lorient; and two each lay mines off St Jean de Luz and St. Nazaire; two aircraft are lost. Four other aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

GERMANY: U-721, U-857, U-993 laid down.

U-169, U-192, U-668 commissioned.

During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb marshalling yard in three small towns: two each bomb Emmerich and Julich and one bombs Lingen.

     During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomb Command aircraft lay mines off port cities: four lay mines in the Heligoland Bight south and east of the island of Helgoland with the loss of one aircraft; three mine the Elbe River Estuary; and one lays mines off Swinemunde.

BALTIC SEA: U-418 collided with the fishing boat Stralsund off Danzig during exercises.

U.S.S.R.: (Sergey Anisimov)(69)Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega Flotillas: Shipping loss. GB "Krasnoe Znamya" - by Finnish torpedo-cutters at the bay of Lavensari Is. (later raised, went into service in 1944)
Mikko Härmeinen adds: This raid (which my sources place on 18 Nov 1942) was led by kapteeniluutnantti (equivalent of USN Lieutenant Sr. grade) Jouko Pirhonen, who after the war became vara-amiraali (Vice-Admiral) and the Chief of the Navy. Kapteeniluutnantti Pirhonen received the Mannerheim Cross, 2nd class mainly because of this success.

The story goes that after the war Jouko Pirhonen attended a formal reception where there also were Soviet naval officers present. Pirhonen was sitting on a table where a dignified-looking Russian admiral was also seated. The Russian admiral noticed Pirhonen's Mannerheim Cross and asked him for what he had received it. Pirhonen answered that he had led the raid that sunk the "Krasnoje Znamja" at Lavansaari harbour. The Russian admiral looked at him for a long moment, and then said: "I was in that ship". A long, uneasy silence followed. Then the admiral continued: "It was a very close call, the water rising up to my neck." 

Then he raised his glass and proposed a toast to Pirhonen for what he had done. One professional talking to another.

TUNISIA: The British First Army, 36th Brigade, continues their movement into Tunisia taking Djebel Abiod. The 1st Parachute Battalion lands at Souk el Arba, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tabarka. By nightfall they are approaching Beja. Several thousand Germans form a bridgehead in the Bizerte-Tunis area. The French XIX Corps reports contact with a German patrol on the Bédja-Djebel Abiod highway. French forces at Oued Zarga and Mateur drive off Axis patrols.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains drop British paratroops at Souk el Arba. Six B-17 Flying Fortresses, of the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) based at Maison Blanche, Algeria, raid Sidi Ahmed Airfield at Bizerte; thus the 97th which flew the first USAAF heavy bomber mission from the U.K., on 17 August, becomes the first Twelfth Air Force bombardment group to fly a combat mission in Africa.

LIBYA: USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Germiston area.

ALGERIA: General de Gaulle announces that the Free French will not accept Darlan's authority. To the US the arrangement is useful, while the British share the French apprehensions.

News Chronicle:

    Four British officers who escaped from a Moroccan prison camp have now joined up with the U.S. troops in French Morocco.

They were in a British transport which was torpedoed on September 12. They are Wing-Commander J. Blackburn, Major Creedon, King's On Royal Regiment, Flight-Lieut. Oliver, and Mr. Sims, an engineer of the Merchant Navy. The tansport was torpedoed 700 miles south-west of Freetown, West Africa, while repatriating about 1,000 troops and 1,800 Italian prisoners. The rescued men, who included about 400 Italians, spent five days adrift in lifeboats, and were fed by Axis submarines - six German and one Italian - which kept them together by cruising on the surface.

The submarines supplied the survivors with hot food every day. "To our surprise they treated us very well," said Wing-Commander Blackburn. "They took about 50 women and children aboard the submarines and treated them with the greatest consideration."

On the sixth day a French cruiser and two destroyers, summoned by the submarines, appeared and brought the survivors to Casablanca, where they were interned. Two officers were kept as "token" prisoners.

Altogether about 600 British from the transport survived.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the U.S. 32d Infantry and Australian 7th Divisions move forward to eliminate the Buna-Gona beachhead, the 32d toward Buna and 7th toward Gona and Sanananda. The Japanese, expected to be few and dispirited, are prepared for a determined stand and have organized a series of strong positions favored by terrain for defense. Colonel YOKOYAMA Yosuke commands all forces west of the Girua River and Captain YASUDA Yoshitatsu those east of river. In the Australian 7th Division sector on the west, the 25th Brigade moves toward Gona and Sanananda and the 16th Brigade completes crossing the Kumusi River and moves forward to Popondetta, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Buna. To the east, the U.S. 32d Infantry Division’s 126th Infantry Regiment heads for Buna along the axis Inonda-Horanda-Dobodura, and the Warren Force (based on 128th Infantry Regiment) moves the along coast toward Cape Endaiadere. Although by evening the Australian artillery is

  employed to support coastal advance, Warren Force suffers severe blow when small craft bringing urgently needed supplies are destroyed by Japanese planes; among personnel embarked on these is Major General Edwin F. Harding, Commanding General U.S. 32d Infantry Division, who swims to shore.

     In the air over Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs attack the areas around Buna, Gona, Soputa, Sanananda, and Giruwa, hitting antiaircraft positions, buildings, barges, and troop concentrations.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the Japanese establish the 8th Army Area at Rabaul under command of Lieutenant General IMAMURA Hitoshi. This command comprises two armies: the 17th, charged with operations in the Solomon Islands, and the 18th, to operate in New Guinea.

NEW CALEDONIA: Admiral William F. Halsey, commander of the South Pacific Area and commander of the South Pacific Force, moves the responsibility for handling cargo discharge and loading at Noumea to the Army. Brigadier General Raymond E.S. Williamson applies skill and leadership to this task, successfully!

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Glenelg commissioned.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force weather reconnaissance flight is flown over Japanese-held Kiska and Attu Islands. On Attu Island, demolition charges are dropped on Holtz Bay, antiaircraft guns, and on a village; results are not observed.

CANADA: HMC ML 097 commissioned.

U.S.A.: Marine Night Fighting Squadron Five Hundred Thirty One [VMF(N)-531] is commissioned at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The first aircraft received were two North American SNJ-4 Texan trainers, q.v., later supplemented with Brewster SB2A-4 Buccaneers, q.v. The squadron will be assigned two PV-1s equipped with Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment, Very High Frequency (VHF) radio sets and British Airborne Intercept (A.I.) Radar Mk. IV. Unlike the USN’s PV-1s,the crew of the Marine aircraft consisted of three men, the pilot, radar operator and dorsal turret gunner.

Minesweeper USS Capable launched.

Minesweeper USS Steady commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Clan MacTaggart sunk by U-92 36.08N 07.23W, 100 miles west of Gibraltar while sailing independently.

U-173 sunk at Casablanca in position 33.40N, 07.35W by depth charges from the US destroyers USS Woolsey, USS Swanson and USS Quick. 57 dead (all hands lost).

First ASW mission by an American B-24 over the Bay of Biscay.

U-552 took on an ill crewmember from U-462 in the mid-Atlantic.

U-608 sank SS Irish Pine.

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November 16th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: British Admiral Louis Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command (SEAC).

Corvette HMS Charlock launched.

Frigate HMS Tortola launched.

FRANCE: Eighty four USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the Istres-Le-Tube Airfield with the loss of three aircraft, and B-26 Marauders hit Salon-de-Provence Airfield. P-38 Lightnings escort the B-26 Marauders.

GERMANY: During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 21 Mosquitos to hit three cities: six bomb Gelsenkirchen; five hit Cologne; four attack a rolling mill in Kefeld and three bomb the Edelstahlwerke steel works in Krefeld.

U-792 commissioned.

U-368 launched.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 131 hitting three towns: 173 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb a hydro works at Rjuken with the loss of one aircraft; 132 B-17s bomb a molybdenum mine at Knaben with the loss of one aircraft; and one bombs the industrial area of Kvinlassen.

U.S.S.R.: North of Zhitomir the Soviet advance continues. The German force which is involved in a counterattack from the south is very small, but small penetrations give the appearance of a larger force.

ITALY: In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps is ordered to attack toward the general line Ortona-Lanciano on 20 November. Adverse weather conditions subsequently force General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, to postpone the date. The 78th Division has secured a small bridgehead on the north bank of the Sangro River and is gradually expanding it.

GREECE: Dodecanese: Germany captures Leros, and the Allies decide to evacuate all the islands except Castelrosso.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, escorted by USAAF Fifteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings, attack Eleusis Airfield near Athens.

YUGOSLAVIA: USAAF (Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb the airfield at Sibenik. .

EUROPE: Two transports are taking over 2,000 Dutch Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

INDIA: Lieutenant General George E. Stratemeyer's Headquarters, Army Air Forces, India-Burma Sector, virtually rejects the proposals by Major General Claire Chennault, Commanding General USAAF Fourteenth Air Force, for 1944 for logistical reasons. Hump tonnage requested cannot be supplied. Since the Operation TWILIGHT plan for B-29 Superfortresses to be brought to the U.S. Army's China-Burma-India Theater is approved, the priority of Fourteenth Air Force must be lowered.

Corvette INS Mahratta launched.

CEYLON: Admiral Louis Mountbatten activates his new command, the South East Asia Command (SEAC), and takes over operational control from Commander-in-Chief India. Movement orders are issued to U.S. forces who are to help operate the Bengal and Assam railroad.

CHINA: Eleven USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators, two B-25 Mitchells, and four P-40s attack the docks at Kowloon; two B-25s damage two freighters near Nampang and Saint John Island, two more score hits on a tanker off the China coast south of Swatow, and two others bomb barracks and a warehouse on Nampang Island.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s on armed reconnaissance in the Yen Bay-Dong Cuong area strafe railroad stations and barracks; a B-25 and 12 P-40s hit a cavalry unit, barge, houses, and numerous sampans at Shihmen; the Li-Chou area also is attacked.

NEW GUINEA: The Australians use tanks in their advance near Sattelberg.

In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 26th Brigade, 9th Division, begins their advance on Sattelberg. Meanwhile, the 24th Brigade establishes positions north of Scarlet Beach; Scarlet Beach is located about 5.5 miles (8,8 kilometers) north of Finschhafen. In the air, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit installations near Finschhafen and bomb and strafe a coastal track west of Reiss Point; P-39 Airacobras, with P-40s covering, strafe barges from Saidor to Madang. P-38 Lightnings battle a large force of fighters over Wewak, destroying six; two P-38s are lost.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Junee launched.

AMERICAN SAMOA: The USMC's Central Pacific Combat Air Transport Service (CenCATS) is activated at Tutuila Airfield at Tafuna on Tutuila Island. This unit will oversee Marine transport units in the Central Pacific.

GILBERT ISLANDS: Single USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based in the Ellice Islands bomb Little Makin Island and Tarawa Atoll.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators based in the Ellice Islands bomb Jaluit and Maloelap Atolls while single aircraft hit Kwajalein Atoll.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, a continuous road through the beachhead is completed, vastly improving supply situation.

     Over 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells fly sweeps over areas of the Bougainville coastline, Buka Passage, and Sohano Island; supply dumps and barges are hit; 30+ P-40s and P-39 Airacobras also carry out sweeps over the area, hitting gun positions and other targets in the Buka Passage, several targets of opportunity along the east coast, Kieta harbor, Tonolai harbor, and Ballale Island.

     During the night of 16/17 November, 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force) B-25 Mitchells and four B-24 Liberators attack Buka Airfield on Buka Island north of Bougainville.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Corvina (SS-226) is sunk by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-176, about 173 nautical miles (320 kilometers) south-southeast of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, in position 05.05N, 151.10E; all 82 crewmen are lost. Corvina is the only USN submarine sunk by a Japanese submarine in World War II.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Swansea arrived Halifax from Esquimalt.

HMC ML 115 and ML 119 commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Hawkesbury launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Frigate HMCS Kirkland Lake (ex-HMCS St Jerome) laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMCS Stellarton laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.: Destroyer escort USS Durant commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Daniel and Richard S Bull launched.

Destroyer escort USS Robert Brazier laid down.

Destroyer USS Waldron laid down.

Submarine USS Corvina sunk by submarine HIJMS I-176 south off Truk wile on her maiden war patrol. No survivors.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-280 sunk SW of Iceland, in position 49.11N, 27.32W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 86/M). 49 dead (all hands lost).

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November 16th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

Aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent (ex-HMS Magnificent) launched Belfast.

Corvettes HMCS Coppercliff and Collingwood left Londonderry to escort 55-ship Southend to New York City Convoy ONS-266. The convoy arrived safely on 3 Dec, 1944.

Frigate HMS Bigbury Bay launched.

Minesweeper HMS Maenad commissioned.

Destroyer KNM Arendal commissioned.

In U.S. Third Army's XX Corps area, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, silencing guns of the Hackenberg, takes a ridge beyond; the 358th Infantry seizes Inglange and Metzervisse. Combat Command B, 10th Armored Division, reaches Kirschnaumen; Combat Command A’s Task Force Chamberlain gets beyond Laumesfeld while Task Force Standish takes Ste Marguerite. Task Force Bacon, 95th Infantry Division, starts south toward Metz along the east bank of the Moselle River, advancing steadily 4.5 miles (7,25 kilometers) miles to Trémery. In the region west of the Moselle River, the 377th and 378th Infantry Regiments take up pursuit as the Germans begin withdrawing their bridgehead, abandoning Woippy; the 379th Infantry, strengthening its attack, takes St Hubert Farm and Moscou Farm. The 5th Infantry Division attacks north toward Metz: the 11th Infantry Regiment contains the Verdun Forts and is heavily engaged at Frescaty Airfield; the 10th Infantry finishes clearing

  Marly and pushes on toward Magny; the 2d Infantry is largely engaged at the Nied Francaise River line, but a battalion pushes toward Frontigny. In the XII Corps area, Combat Command A, 6th Armored Division, and 318th and 319th Infantry Regiments, 8oth Infantry Division, attack toward Faulquemont, supported by massed fire from Cote de Suisse, and seize the high ground south of town; during the advance, the Germans are driven from five towns and about 1,200 prisoners are taken.

     In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, the 79th Infantry Division gains ground toward the Vezouse River, overrunning Barbas. The French 2d Armored Division, which is to exploit the expected breakthrough of infantrymen, clears the Nonhigny with reconnaissance elements of Combat Command R. In the VI Corps area, 103d Infantry Division clears part of the triangular hill mass southwest of St Die.

     In the French First Army area, I Corps overruns Ste Marie and pushes on toward Montbéliard on the left and thrusts to Roches-les-Blamont on the right.

BELGIUM: Three government ministers resign because of differences between the government in exile and the resistance.

Ten V-bombs kill 263 civilians in Antwerp.

NETHERLANDS: In the British Second Army’s VIII Corps area, the 15th Division finds Meijel clear of the Germans. In the XII Corps area, patrols reach the Zig Canal, southeast of Meijel.

GERMANY: Allied strategic air strikes are made in preparation for the upcoming offensives by the 9th and 1st US Armies. The biggest contingent came from the US Eighth Army Air Force, which deployed 1,208 B-17s and B-24s on targets such as railway lines and gun positions in Düren and Eschweiler near Aachen. RAF Bomber Command joined the attack on Düren, Julich and Heinsberg.

All three towns were seriously damaged, with 2,403 people killed in Düren. Around 9,400 tons of high-explosive bombs were dropped by the combined forces in an action to assist the US armies as they prepare to cross the Roer river. It reflects the increasing co-ordination between land and air forces.

Control of the air was an essential pre-requisite for the success of the landings in Normandy, and the Allied air forces (including the Poles and Canadians) have continued to attack German airfields and supply lines. Launch sites for the V2 rocket and synthetic oil plants are prime targets, but Sir Arthur Harris is now planning an outright assault on German cities, with Berlin as the prime target.

The US  9th Army advances toward Geilenkirchen and Eschweiler heading for the Rühr. The US 1st Army advances toward Düren to the east of Aachen.

The U.S. Ninth and First Armies open a co-ordinated offensive to clear the Roer Plain between the Wurm and the Roer Rivers. The combined air- ground effort is called Operation QUEEN. The air phase of QUEEN marks the greatest close support effort yet made by Allied air forces, British and U.S. strategic and tactical air forces joining in the assault on relatively small zone of attack and dropping more than 9,400 tons (8 528 metric tonnes) of high-explosive bombs.

     In the U.S. Ninth Army area, XIX Corps attacks for a crossing of the Roer at Juelich at 1245 hours. Combat Command B, 2d Armored Division, pushes toward Gereonsweiler on the left flank of corps from Waurichen and Beggendorf, seizing Immendorf, Floverich, and Puffendorf. Puffendorf is in the outer ring of the Juelich defenses. Efforts of one column to take Apweiler are costly and unsuccessful, but another column seizes a hill 700 yards (640 meters) northeast of Puffendorf on the highway to Gereonsweiler. In the center, the 29th Infantry Division, committing a battalion each from 115th and 175th Regiments, attacks from the Baesweiler-Oidtweiler area toward Aldenhoven en route to Juelich but is stopped close to the line of departure near the villages of Siersdorf and Bettendorf. The 30th Infantry Division, reinforced by a regiment of the 84th, attacks south in the Wuerselen area with three regiments abreast, the 117th taking Mariadorf and 120th overrunning Euchen; bit littl

 e progress is made in Wuerselen.

     In the U.S. First Army area, VII Corps opens an attack at 1245 hours, pushing toward Dueren and Cologne to secure Roer River crossings, with the 104th Infantry Regiment, 3d Armored, 1st Infantry, and 4th Infantry Divisions from left to right. The 104th Infantry Division makes their main effort on the right with 414th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by a battalion of the 415th Infantry, driving toward the Donnerberg (Hill 287) and Eschweiler Woods; German opposition from commanding ground of the Donnerberg limits progress, but elements secure a weak hold on the Birkengang, suburb of Stolberg northwest of the Donnerberg; the rest of the 104th Infantry Division conducts limited actions to the north without making appreciable headway. Combat Command B, 3d Armored Division, attacks in the Stolberg corridor toward four villages at the western base of Hamich Ridge. Task Force Mills loses 15 tanks in a vain effort to take Hastenrath and Scherpenseel. Task Force Lovelady seizes Kot

 tench and Werth. The 1st Infantry Division, reinforced by the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, makes the main effort of the corps from Schevenhuette, pressing through Huertgen Forest toward Langerwehe and Juengersdorf; the 47th Infantry Regiment gets a battalion into Gressenich; the 16th and 26th Infantry Regiments attack in the Huertgen Forest astride the Schevenhuette-Langerwehe highway, the 26th Infantry Regiment on the right, but lacks tank support and advance slowly; the 16th Infantry reaches the edge of the woods overlooking Hamich. The 4th Infantry Division, reinforced by Combat Command R of the 5th Armored Division, attacks on a broad front in the Huertgen Forest at the scene of earlier battles in an effort to break through between Schevenhuette and Huertgen, making their main effort on the left in order to support the 1st Infantry Division: elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment on the north and the 22d Infantry Regiment in the center make extremely slo

 w progress against well-organized positions within the forest; the 12th Infantry Regiment can scarcely move on plateau southwest of Huertgen.

     The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 715 in support of Operation QUEEN: 1,243 bombers and 282 fighters, along with Ninth Air Force and RAF aircraft, are dispatched to attack tactical targets east of Aachen, Germany in support of the US First and Ninth Armies' offensive; 1 fighter is lost: 713 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators hit Eschweiler and 478 B-17s hit Duren.

     Eighty USAAF Ninth Air Force 9th Bombardment Division bombers hit defended areas and strongpoints at Echtz, Luchem, and Eschweiler; IX Tactical Air Command fighter-bombers dive-bomb gun positions and other targets in the Stolberg and Hurtgen areas and XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US XX Corps in the Merzig, Trier, and Saarbrucken area; the XXIX Tactical Air Command attacks targets in 12 west German towns.

     During the day, RAF Bomber Command is asked to bomb three towns near the German lines in the area between Aachen and the Rhine in support of Operation QUEEN. The RAF dispatches 1,188 aircraft to attack Duren, Jülich and Heinsburg in order to cut communications behind the German lines. Duren is attacked by 485 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos, Jülich by 413 Halifaxes, 78 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos and Heinsberg by 182 Lancasters. Three Lancasters are lost on the Duren raid and a Lancaster on the Heinsberg raid.

     Four hundred forty eight USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators attack the Munich marshalling yard with the loss of three aircraft. Over 250 P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings support the attack on Munich.

U-2333, U-3020 launched.

U-2339 commissioned.

AUSTRIA: The primary target for the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force today is the Main marshalling yard at Innsbruck: 62 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the yard with the loss of three aircraft. One each B-17 bomb the marshalling yard at Villach and the railroad at Zillertaller.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army area, the British XIII Corps pauses to regroup so that troops may be rotated.

     In the British Eighth Army area, V Corps halts along the line of the Montone and Cosina Rivers and regroups.

     USAAF Twelfth Air Force medium bombers fly 250+ sorties against rail lines in the Brenner Pass and other parts of northeastern Italy destroying the railroad bridge at Sacile; fighter-bombers in support of the British Eighth Army advance to the northwest of Forli, hit guns, ammunition supplies, and other military targets, attack pipeline crossings of the Po River at Ostiglia and Ferrara, and pontoon stores near Ficarola, as well as hitting communications targets north of the battle area.

     USAAF Fifteenth Air Force bombs hit three targets: three bomb a railroad bridge at Casarsa, two attack the railroad in the Brenner Pass and one hits a railroad bridge at Pinzano.

     During the night of 16/17 November, RAF bombers of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group fly two missions: 77 drop supplies to partisans in Northern Italy and ten bomb a pontoon bridge at Ficorolo.

YUGOSLAVIA: Twenty USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Visegrad Airfield and five others hit a highway; 26 P-38 Lightnings strafe transport targets on roads between Sarajevo and Novi Pazar.

CHINA: Twenty three USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Changsha; eight B-25 Mitchells hit Lohochai and bomb the Wanling, Burma area. Over 70 P-40s and P-51 Mustangs over SE and SW China on armed reconnaissance attack road, river, and rail traffic, town areas, and other targets of opportunity at several scattered locations.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the British 36th Division is still held up in the railroad corridor by stubborn opposition in the Pinwe area. Two companies are isolated by a Japanese roadblock and have to be withdrawn.

     Thirty USAAF Tenth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts hit troop concentrations and supply areas at Naungmo, Nawngmoloi, and Lashio; 11 support ground forces in the Pinwe area, four attack bridges at Meza and over the Sindaw River; four bomb the Meza railroad station, 16 sweep the railroad from Sagaing to Kanbalu, and 16 strafe Nawnghkio and Hsumhsai Airfields.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Sixteen USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells hit Nghia Trang, Duc Tho, Nha Trang, and Do Len.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: LEYTE—In the U.S. Sixth Army’s X Corps area on Leyte, two battalions of the 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, begin a drive on Ormoc, passing through the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, on Breakneck Ridge. One battalion is soon halted but the second pushes forward 350 yards (320 meters) without opposition.

     In the central Philippines and in the Mindanao Island area, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25 Mitchells, B-24 Liberators, and fighter-bombers hit airfields, harbors, shipping, and targets of opportunity.

EAST INDIES: In the Kendari area and on the northeast peninsula of Celebes Island, and on Halmahera Island in the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers pound airfields, villages and shipping. B-25 Mitchells also support ground forces in the Mapia Island and bomb Namlea Airfield on Boeroe (Buroe) Island.

BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: Twelve USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb shipping at Chichi Jima Island while two others attack barges at Haha Jima. During the night of 16/17 November, a B-24 on a snooper mission in the Bonin Islands attacks shipping.

MARIANA ISLANDS: Twelve USAAF Seventh Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts and three P-38 Lightnings hit the airfield on Pagan Island in the first combat strike by P-38s in the Mariana Islands.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Trutta commissioned.

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November 16th, 1945

UNITED KINGDOM: Wallsend on the Tyne: HMS Superb, an 11,000 ton cruiser, is launched from the Swan Hunter shipyard.

London: The United Nationa Cultural and Educational Organisation (UNESCO)  is founded. 

GERMANY: Under the code name "Westward Ho" 202 paintings leave Germany despite the protests of the US Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAandA) branch. (Peter Kilduff)(205 p.58)

JAPAN: Several remnant politicians of the old, prewar Minsei-to (Public Welfare Party) organize the Nihon Shinpo-to (Japan Moderate Progressive Party). A throwback to the old koku system of acquiring social station by achieving wealth, the Nihon Shinpo-to decided to elect as president the first member who could come up with three million yen ($1.5 million) in needed campaign funds. One of Kakuei Tanaka construction company advisors, Tadao Oasa, asked him to give the money to his friend, Chuji Machida, who was in a tight race with the former Tosei-ha military general, Kazushige Ugaki. Tanaka honoured the request and Machida won the party post. In return, Machida and Oasa's Nihon Shimpo-to Party told Tanaka that if he would give them 150,000 Yen ($78,000) to then and follow their directives, they could get him elected. (Mike Lenox)

CANADA:

U.S.A.: Yeshiva College (University), chartered in NY, first US Jewish College.

The discovery of americium and curium is announced. 

"Casper the Friendly Ghost" is released by Famous Studios.

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