Atlantic

The British battleship Prince of Wales leaves the Clyde for the Far East. Adm Phillips is aboard on the way to take command of the new Far East Fleet which is to be created around Prince of Wales.

Diplomatic Relations

Roosevelt and Churchill condemn recent German reprisals in France - 100 hostages shot at Bordeaux and Nantes following the assassination of 2 German officers.

Eastern Front

Near Moscow, bitter fighting continues amid deep snowfalls. The first German offensive against Moscow, however, is exhausted. There are two main reasons, the tenacious Soviet resistance and the adverse weather conditions.

Resistance in the pocket south of Bryansk, is quelled, the greater part of the 3rd, 13th and elements of the 50th Armies having been destroyed in the fighting. 50,000 prisoners have fallen into German hands and an equal number have been killed.

Operation TYPHOON continues to grind forward as the Germans continue to make minor gains throughout the Moscow axis as assault units push forward through the mud. Rusa falls to the 10th Panzer Division. Volokolamsk railway station falls to German units.

Kharkov falls to the 6th Army after costly street fighting with the 21st and 38th Army rearguards.

Mediterranean

• During the night, the British fast cruiser-minelayer Latona is sunk by Stukas off Bardia. 27 of the crew are lost. Survivors are picked up by the British destroyers Encounter and Hero.
• The British submarine Triumph sinks the Italian steamer Monrosa (6703t) in the Aegean.

A Nazi propaganda photo shows soldiers of the German Army measuring weather conditions in Tunisia, published 25 October 1941.

German Soldiers Measuring Weather Conditions