Battle of the Atlantic
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- US cargo ship City of Flint sailing from New York to Britain is captured by the German pocket battleship Deutschland on the grounds it was carrying contraband material (tractors, fruit and grain). This incident has an effect in swinging American public opinion toward the repeal of the Neutrality Act presently being debated in Congress.
- The British light cruiser Belfast captures the German line Cap Norte (13,615t) 50 miles northwest of the Faroes. She is taken to Kirkwall where she is renamed Empire Trooper and becomes a British troopship.
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]Germany, Planning
Hitler issues Directive No. 6. Its message is simple: 'Should it become evident in the near future that England, and, under her influence, France also, are not disposed to bring the war to an end, I have decided, without further loss of time to go over to the offensive'.
The offensive is to be directed across the Low Countries and is intended to defeat strong sections of the French and British armies when these arrive to help the Dutch and Belgians. The ground taken is to provide protection for the Ruhr and to give bases for the air war against Britian. The aims of the plan are, therefore, limited when compared with the Schlieffen Plan of 1914 or with the scheme which is actually adopted in May 1940. There is no mention of completely defeating France.
The order is a further blow to the autonomy of the German army. Their view is that, although it lies within Hitler's authority as head of state and Commander in Chief of the Wehrmacht to order an attack to be prepared as soon as possible, the army should be asked where and how this attack should take place. Even the normally subservient Keitel argues against Hitler on this issue.
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