World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Monday, June 9, 1941
Day 648

June 9, 1941: Front page of the Nottingham Evening Post, Nottingham, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the Birmingham Gazette, Birmingham, England.
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Note the report in column 3: "5,000 Drowned in India"
(A cyclone which hit India reportedly killed 5,000 people.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
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Note the report in column 5: "U.S. Destroyer Attacks Submarine"
(This event occurred on Apr. 11th, but it was a one-sided attack. USS Niblack DD-424, after picking-up the survivors of the Dutch steamship Saleier on Apr. 11th, which had been sunk by U-52 on the 10th, picked up a sound contact and dropped three depth charges against what they thought was a German U-boat. If there had been a U-boat, this would have been the first hostile action between the United States and Germany, but there was no U-boat. Even though U-52 had sunk the Saleier on the 10th, they immediately left the area. Kapitänleutnant Otto Salman, the commanding officer of U-52, makes no mention in his war diary of being attacked on that date. According to the German Navy High Command, no other U-boat was in the area, and no other U-boat reported an attack on this date. The U.S. Navy later concluded that the attack had been against a false target.

The first confirmed action between the United States and Germany was not until Sept. 4, 1941 when USS Greer DD-145 was fired on by U-652. Both torpedoes missed, but Greer dropped depth charges against the U-boat.

In a strange twist of fate, On Oct. 31, 1941, Niblack was one of the ships which rescued survivors from the USS Reuben James DD-245, which was the first U.S. Navy ship sunk by enemy action in World War II.

It should be noted that the first U.S. owned ship sunk by direct enemy action was the SS Robin Moor, which was sunk on May 21, but was not reported until today. You can see the report in The Evening Star below.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Note the report in columns 5-6: "Predicts End Of U-Boat Menace"
(Vice-President of General Motors, Charles Kettering, stating that the U.S. had developed a new devise that would detect U-boats on the surface, information the Germans must have appreciated.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of The News, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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Note the report in column 4: "U.S. Merchant Ship Is Reported Sunk in South Atlantic"
(This is the first report of the sinking of Robin Moor. At this time, it was not known that the ship had been sunk by a U-boat. In fact, it was sunk by U-69 and it was the first U.S. merchant ship sunk by direct enemy action in World War II. The first U.S. owned ship sunk in World War II was the City of Rayville, which was sunk by a mine laid by the German auxiliary minelayer Passat on Nov. 9, 1940. The first U.S. owned merchant ship sunk by direct enemy action was the Charles Pratt, sunk by U-65 on Dec. 21, 1940, but it had been transferred to Panama and was flying the Panamanian flag when lost. Robin Moor was known by the U-boat commander to be a U.S. ship when it was sunk.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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Note the report in column 2: "5000 Reportedly Killed In Blast"
(Report states that 5,000 people were killed in an explosion at Smederevo Fortress near Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Wikipedia claims the number as several hundred to 2,500 killed. The real number is unknown.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of The Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
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June 9, 1941: Front page of the Briesetal-Bote, Kreis Niederbarnim, Brandenburg, Germany.
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1. Einfall der Briten in Syrien.
(British invasion of Syria.)


June 9, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Luftwaffe und U=Boote im Angriff - Seit 1,Juni über 150.000 BRT. versenkt.
(Luftwaffe and submarines attack - Since June 1st over 150,000 BRT. sunk.)



   
Page published June 9, 2022