Baltic Sea

German air attacks sink the Soviet battleship Marat at Kronstadt. Several other Soviet warships are damaged including the battleship Oktyabrskawa Revolutsia and the destroyer Minsk. Damaged from air attacks at Leningrad include the cruiser Maksim Gorki.

Stukas Attack Soviet Warships at Kronstadt Again

Stukas attack Soviet warships at Kronstadt again and shipyards at Leningrad. WWI-era battleship Marat is hit with 2 1,000kg bombs, causing the forward magazine to explode, and sinks in 11 meters of water (326 killed). Marat will be refloated and her rear turrets used as a floating battery, firing 1971 12-inch shells in the defense of Leningrad. Soviet cruisers Maksim Gorki (damaged) and Kirov are attacked by German bombers while, under repair at Leningrad, and submarines P-2 & M-74 are sunk in the dockyards.

Eastern Front

Luftwaffe ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel, piloting a Ju-87 Stuka, sinks the Soviet battleship Marat in shallow water in Kronstadt harbor (she is hit by bombs that detonate the forward magazines).

The Soviets on Saaremaa fall back to the Salme position and attempt a final stand. Heavy fighting rages along this position for a week.

After a brief lull, the 18th Army launches a new attack upon the Soviet forces south of Leningrad. Heavy fighting erupts at Pulkovo, but lack of armor prevents a German breakthrough. With only 20 panzers available to aid its attack, the 18th Army is quickly involved in close-quarters fighting with the 42nd and 55th Armies. Only the XXXIX Panzer Corps remains with Army Group North, this unit destined to pursue operations east of the Volkhov.

Inside the Kiev pocket the remnants of the 37th Army gives up the struggle and surrenders.

France, Politics

Free France officially comes into being. The Comité National Francais is set up in London with General de Gaulle at its head. The government-in-exile will 'exercise, in fact, as well as provisionally, the normal attributes of public power'.

De Gaulle meets King George VI

Mediterranean

The British submarine Triumph sinks the German steamer Luvsee (2372t) 6 miles northeast of Sebenico.

Occupied France

German authorities in Paris announce that any French male assisting or hiding a British airman will be shot; females guilty of similar offenses will be sent to a concentration camp in Germany.

United States, Politics

At a press conference Roosevelt announces that the United States is thinking of arming its merchant shipping against possible German attacks.