Battle of the Atlantic
- The British submarine Sunfish sinks the Finnish steamer Oscar Midling (2182t) off Stadlandet with the loss of the entire crew.
- The Italian submarine Argo sinks the British steamer Silverpine (5066t), a straggler from Convoy OB-252 with the loss of 36 of her crew.
- British motor torpedo boats MTB-32, MTB-29 and MTB-31 attack German shipping off Flushing. The German steamer Paranagua (6062t) is sunk in the attack.
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]The Blitz
75 bombers of Luftflotte III drop 90 tons of high explosives and 5,300 incendiaries on Portsmouth. The result is 1 serious, 9 medium and many small fires. There on 2 major fires in the dockyard; one on the Southern Railway Jetty and the other on Number 8 Dock. The fire in this area causes a loss of 1 former US Navy destroyer. In the raid 44 people are killed and 139 injured. A large number of businesses and private properties are destroyed. There is a bomb hit on the Carlton Cinema in Cosham High Street causing 43 casualties.
Damage in London |
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| ]Germany, Planning
An outline plan for the attack on the Soviet Union is presented to Hitler by the army. As in the last version it provides for a three-pronged attack, with the center force moving toward Moscow being the strongest. Hitler agrees to allow planning to go ahead on this basis but suggests some modifications (see December 18). He also orders planning for the attack on Greece to continue.
[ | ]German Raiders
The German disguised raider Thor damages the British armed merchant cruiser Carnarvon Castle (20,000t) off Rio de Janeiro.
[ | ]Greek-Albanian Front
The Italians, faced with an increasingly serious situation, have brought in substantial reinforcements through the port of Valona and the airfield at Tiranë including the Tridentina Alpine division, but a good number of them fall out as they march up to the line. They are extremely short of equipment; there are little or no reserves of ammunition and of woollen clothing (and in the very cold weather there are many cases of frostbite). None the less the Italian command succeeds in establishing a defensive line from Himarë (Klimara) along the coast to north of Sarandë on Lake Okhrida - largely because the Greeks, hardly motorized at all and entirely without armor, cannot exploit their successes. The pivot of the Italian line lies at the positions between Klisura (Këlcyrë) and Tepelenë (Tepeleni) in the Vijosë (Voiussa) valley. In the Pindus Mountains the Greeks advance towards Klisura. Klisura is lost and re-taken. Chaos reigns among the Italians. There is heavy fighting in the Vijosë valley and at Hill 731, Monastir.
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