Battle of the Atlantic

• U-126 sinks the British steamer Peru (6961t) southwest of Cape Palmas, Liberia. The entire crew of 60 are picked up by the South African whaler Uniwaleco.
• The Soviet destroyer Surovy sinks on a mine off Hango, Finland.

Diplomatic Relations

China requests that the British fly air cover over the Burma Road.

Eastern Front

There is an important conference of German commanders at Orsha at which Gen Halder presents the final plans for the culminating offensive against Moscow. The II Panzergruppe under Guderian is to advance from Tula towards Kolomna. The 2nd Army will protect its flank. The 4th Army will make a frontal assault in order to engage the maximum number of Russian forces. The III Panzergruppe under Hoth is to cross the Moscow-Volga canal and outflank Moscow to the north, then turn southeast to meet up with Guderian's force. The left flank will be protected by the 9th Army. The generals who will have to execute the scheme are not entirely happy with it but their opposition is fairly half-hearted and the plan is agreed.

German and Romanian troops make an unsuccessful attempt to take Sebastopol by storm.

There is heavy fighting around Tikhvin while the 52nd Army continues to attack the XXXVIII Corps near Malaya Vyshera. The temperature is minus 22 degrees Centigrade.

Mediterranean

The British force that delivered some aircraft to Malta is attacked by 2 U-boats, U-81 and U-205, on its return to Gibraltar. Ark Royal is hit once by a torpedo from U-81, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Guggenberger, and badly damaged, but is able to continue towards Gibraltar. Also suffering damages from the U-boat attack is the battleship Malaya.

Sinking of the Ark Royal

United States, Politics

Changes in the Neutrality Laws pass Congress. US merchant ships may now be armed and enter war zones and to unload munitions in British ports. These administration-sponsored measures only pass by a small margin even after the Kearny incident and other development in the Atlantic have been carefully presented as German aggressions. The small margin shows that the US is not yet ready to go to war.