Battle of the Atlantic

• U-67 sinks the British steamer St Clair II (3753t) from Convoy SL-87 west-northwest of the Canary Islands with the loss of 13 of her crew. 31 survivors are picked up by the British sloops Gorleston and Lulworth.
• In an attack on the same convoy, Convoy SL-87, U-107 sinks the British steamers John Holt (4975t), Lafian (4876t) and Dixcove (3790t) southwest of Madeira. 1 crewman is lost from the John Holt, 68 survivors are picked up by the British sloop Gorleston. All 47 of the crew of the Lafian are rescued by the Gorleston. 2 crewmen are lost from the Dixcove, 51 survivors are picked up by the Gorleston and the Lulworth.
• The German minelayer Konigin Luise is lost on a mine near Helsinki.

Eastern Front

The advance of the tank forces of Army Group South reaches to within 40 miles of Kharkov. Marshal Budënny regroups Russian forces there.

Gen Meretskov takes command of the 7th Army defending the line of the Svir.

Despite determined attacks, the 18th Army is unable to break through to Leningrad. The 54th Army continues its counterattack at Sinyavino but meets with a singular lack of success.

The Soviets begin to place pressure upon the Germans in the Valdai Hills area. Sporadic attacks fail to force the Germans back and a counterattack by the 3rd SS Motorized Division Totenkopf forces the Soviets back.

Inside the Kiev pocket, the 5th and 21st Armies surrender. Elements of the 5th Army fights on, joining with the remnants of the Southwest Front headquarters group in its attempt to break free.

Hansen's LIV Corps launches another ferocious attack Perekov with the 45th and 73rd Infantry Divisions. The narrow confines of the isthmus prevents the Germans from encircling the defending divisions, giving them no option other than costly frontal attacks.

The main part of Army Group South redeploys for the continuation of the advance east. Reichenau's 6th Army assembles for a thrust toward Kharkov, while Stuplnagel's 17th Army is to advance into the Donbas. The strike component of the army group, the 1st Panzer Group, moves up to the Dniepr bridgeheads at Zaporozhe and Dnepropetrovsk in preparation for the drive to the Azov Sea and the expectd encirclement of the South Front.

German Raiders

The Greek steamer Stamatios G. Embiricos (3941t) is sunk by the German raider Kormoran in the Indian Ocean west of the Maldives with the loss of 5 of her crew. 30 surviving crew members are picked up over the next 3 days by the raider and made prisoners of war.

Mediterranean

• The first German U-boat to enter the Mediterranean passes Gibraltar. 6 boats of the first group will arrive in the next two weeks. Later in the year about half the German U-boat force will be engaged in the Mediterranean. Their most notable successes will be the sinking of the battleship Barham and the carrier Ark Royal.
• In a major effort to carry supplies to Malta, Operation HALBERD is launched from Gibraltar. There are 9 transports in the convoy and their escorts and covering force include 3 battleships (Nelson, Rodney and Prince of Wales), 1 carrier (Ark Royal), 5 cruisers and 18 destroyers. Adm Somerville is in command of the covering force.
• The Italian steamer Prospero (971t) is sunk by British bombing at Benghazi.

World Affairs

Sixteen governments sign the Atlantic Charter at ceremonies in London and Washington. They include the UK, USA, USSR, the countries of the British Empire (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa) and many of the exiled governments of Europe including Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia.