14 Thursday
Atlantic Squadron Neutrality Patrol assets deployed: Destroyers Davis (DD 395), Jouett (DD 396), Benham (DD 397), and Ellet (DD 398) operate between Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Placentia Bay, Newfoundland (Grand Banks Patrol); destroyers Hamilton (DD 141) and Leary (DD 158) operate off Georges Shoals; destroyers Goff (DD 247) and Hopkins (DD 249) and patrol squadron VP 54 (PBY-2s), supported by minesweeper (small seaplane tender) Owl (AM 2), operate out of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island; destroyers Decatur (DD 341), Barry (DD 248), and Reuben James (DD 245) and auxiliary (high-speed transport) Manley (AG 28), with shore-based squadrons VP 52 and VP 53 (P2Y-2s), operate out of Chesapeake Bay; destroyers Babbitt (DD 128) and Claxton (DD 140) patrol the Florida Straits; heavy cruisers San Francisco (CA 38) and Tuscaloosa (CA 37), destroyers Truxtun (DD 229), Simpson (DD 221), Broome (DD 210), and Borie (DD 215), and patrol squadrons VP 33 (PBY-3s) and VP 51 (PBY-1s), supported by small seaplane tenders Lapwing (AVP 1), Thrush (AVP 3), and Gannet (AVP 8), watch the Caribbean and the Atlantic side of the Lesser Antilles; and heavy cruisers Quincy (CA 39) and Vincennes (CA 44) operate off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Held in reserve in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is a striking force consisting of carrier Ranger (CV 4) (her embarked air group consisting of squadrons VB 4, VF 4, VS 41, and VS 42) and battleships New York (BB 34) and Texas (BB 35). Arkansas (BB 33) and gunnery training ship (ex-battleship) Wyoming (AG 17) are carrying out training cruise for USNR midshipmen.7
U.S. freighter City of Joliet is detained by French authorities and her cargo examined (see 5 October).
Acting Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison, meeting with the press, Washington, D.C., 14 September 1939, warns belligerents that they “would be taking a long chance” attacking U.S. ships. To Edison’s left are Lieutenant Bernard L. Austin (standing) and Commander Leland P. Lovette (seated), from the Public Relations section of the Office of Naval Intelligence. (NHC, NH 56939)
16 Saturday
Naval Attaché in Berlin reports that Grössadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, has informed him that all submarine commanders had reported negatively concerning the sinking of British passenger liner Athenia (see 22 September and 7 November).
British Admiralty, reflecting the need to protect the Atlantic lifeline necessary to Britain’s survival, announces establishment of convoy system for its merchant shipping; first Halifax–United Kingdom convoy (HX 1) sails—eighteen ships escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Saguenay.
German submarine U 31 inaugurates U-boat campaign against convoys when she attacks west-bound convoy OB 4, torpedoing and sinking British merchant steamer Aviemore in the North Atlantic, 49°11′N, 13°38′W.
U.S. freighter Shickshinny is detained at Glasgow, Scotland, by British authorities (see 18 September).
17 Sunday
USSR, its western border secure after its 23 August 1939 ceasefire with the Japanese along the Manchukuo-Mongolia frontier, invades eastern Poland.
British use of Home Fleet aircraft carriers to hunt German submarines, begun on 3 September, ends after U 29 torpedoes and sinks HMS Courageous southwest of the British Isles, 50°10′N, 14°45′W. Courageous is the first capital ship lost by any of the warring powers. “A wonderful success,” the German U-boat High Command War Diary exults, “and confirmation of the fact that the English defense forces are not as effective as they advertise themselves to be.”
U.S. freighter Black Condor is detained by British authorities (see 24 September).
18 Monday
President Roosevelt authorizes Coast Guard to enlist 2,000 additional men and to build two training stations.
Heavy cruiser San Francisco (CA 38) arrives at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and reports that Dominican authorities are exercising proper precautions to learn promptly of the entry of any belligerent warship into Semana Bay, Dominican Republic.
U.S. freighter Warrior, detained by British authorities since 7 September, is released after her cargo of phosphates is requisitioned. Freighter Shickshinny, detained since 16 September at Glasgow, Scotland, is permitted to sail without unloading cargo deemed by British authorities to be contraband. Shickshinny, however, is to unload those items at Mersey, England.
Destroyer Downes (DD 375) under way, 27 September 1939, painted as part of a Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) camouflage experiment. Ocean Gray replaces the standard navy gray overall scheme; hull numbers, usually white with black shadowing, are dark gray. (NHC, NH 63132)
U.S. freighter Eglantine is stopped by German submarine, ordered not to use her radio, and to send her papers to the U-boat for examination. The Germans allow Eglantine to proceed, but advise her not to use her radio for three hours.
19 Tuesday
VP 21 (PBYs), assigned to the Asiatic Fleet to provide aerial reconnaissance capability to safeguard the neutrality of the Philippines, departs Pearl Harbor for Manila, P.I. The squadron will fly via Midway, Wake, and Guam (see 25 September). Seaplane tender (destroyer) Childs (AVD 1) will provide support at Wake, the least developed place on the movement westward.
U.S. freighter Black Hawk is detained by British authorities (see 4 October); freighter Black Eagle, detained by the British since 12 September at the Downs, is released.
20 Wednesday
Squadron 40-T departs Villefranche, France; flagship, light cruiser Trenton (CL 11) (Rear Admiral Charles E. Courtney), and destroyer Jacob Jones (DD 130) head for Lisbon, Portugal; destroyer Badger (DD 126) heads for Marseilles, France (see 23 September).
U.S. freighters Ethan Allen and Ipswich are detained by British authorities (see 30 September).
21 Thursday
President Roosevelt asks for repeal of arms embargo provision of Neutrality Act of 1937 (see 4 November).
22 Friday
German submarine U 30 arrives at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, where her commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp, informs Commander U-boats, in private, that he (Lemp) believes himself responsible for sinking British passenger liner Athenia (see 7 November).
U.S. freighter Syros is detained by French authorities (see 10 October).
23 Saturday
Squadron 40-T arrives at Lisbon, Portugal; en route, flagship, light cruiser Trenton (CL 11) (Rear Admiral Charles E. Courtney) intercepts distress signal from British freighter Constant which reports being pursued by what she believes to be a German U-boat. Rear Admiral Courtney sends destroyer Jacob Jones (DD 130) to provide water and provisions to the English merchantman.
24 Sunday
Seaplane tender Langley (AV 3) arrives at Manila, P.I., to serve as the flagship for Commander Aircraft Asiatic Fleet (Commander Arthur C. Davis) (see 25 September).
U.S. freighter Black Condor, detained by British authorities since 17 September, is released.
25 Monday
VP 21 arrives at Manila, P.I.; it will be tended by Langley (AV 3), which arrived the previous day.
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