Baltic Sea

The Soviet destroyer Engels sinks on a mine off Cape Juminda, Estonia.

Battle of the Atlantic

The British steamer Skagerak (1283t) sinks on a mine in the River Orwell, Harwich with the loss of 18 on board.

Eastern Front

Gen Konev leads a new Soviet counterattack in the Gomel area. It makes little progress. In the north the Finnish attacks continue to press forward and Viipuri is surrounded.

The Karelian Front fails to stop the Finnish Southeastern Army from isolating Vyborg and 3 Soviet rifle divisions. The Finnisn 12th and 18th Divs, of the IV Corps, inflict substantial casualties on the Soviets.

German forces are now within 6 miles of Tallinn, and the XLI Panzer Corps is only 20 miles from Leningrad, although the Soviet XLI Rifle Corps if fighting hard to halt its progress. The XXXIX Panzer Corps, meanwhile, completes its deployment alongside the I and XXVIII Corps for the investment of Leningrad from the southeast.

The German LVII Panzer Corps continues to batter Velikiye Luki. Farther south, the XXIV Panzer Corps captures Novo Sybkov. In an effort to slow the German advance, the Soviet 21st Army launches a counterattack against the 2nd Army near Gomel.[MORE]

Iran

British and Soviet forces move into Iran. The British and Soviet ambassadors in Teheran present an ultimatum to the Iranian government. They have been worried by reports of German 'tourists' being in the country and have decided to demand that Iran accept their 'protection' of its oil supplies. The British land forces are led by Gen E. P. Quinan and their naval support by Adm Robert Arbuthnot. They advance in two areas, to seize the oil installations near Abadan, and from northeast of Baghdad to take similar sites around Kermanshah. The Soviet forces advance in 3 columns under Gen Novikov's command. One column moves on Tabriz while the other 2 advance on either side of the Caspian. There is little opposition to either the British or the Soviet forces.

There are British landings at Bandar Shapur, Abadan and Khormashahr in the Persian Gulf area. 2 small Iranian warships are sunk and several Axis merchant ships are seized. The British forces moving on Kermanshah, commanded by Gen Slim, and all 3 Soviet columns soon make good progress. The Soviets bomb Tabriz.

Shah Reza Pahlevi protests against the Allies' aggression. Among other things, this action by the Allies has the effect of reinforcing Turkish determination to remain neutral.

Iranian warship Babr (Tiger)

The Iranian warship Babr (Tiger) after being shelled by the British sloop Shoreham, during the surprise attack on Iran, August 1941. The Babr was later sunk by the Australian sloop Yarra.

Mediterranean

Over the next two days force H carries out another offensive operation. Aircraft from Ark Royal attack the Italian airfield at Tempio in northern Sardinia. In Operation Mincemeat the HMS Manxman, disguised as a large French destroyer, lays mines off Livorno, Italy. The battleship Nelson is in support. The Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio also come out but they move against a suspected Malta operation and there is no contact. The cruiser Bolzano is torpedoed by the submarine Triumph.