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• Alessandro Malaspina was ordered to change its patrol area in the Atlantic Ocean at dawn. At 2300 hours, she was given the orders to patrol a large area of water with autonomy. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | CPC]

• Canadian corvette HMCS Brandon was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Colonel Ruben Lagus, commanding officer of Finnish 5th Division, was nominated for the Mannerheim Cross 2nd Class award. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Vichy France enacted a law that required Jews to register their businesses, which in effect excluded all Jews from commerce and industry. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]

• Adolf Hitler sent an armored train equipped with anti-aircraft weapons to Benito Mussolini as a birthday present. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]
• The German News Bureau in Berlin, Germany reported to the public that the Soviet capital of Moscow had been attacked by German bombers for the first time during the previous night; the aircraft were launched from captured airfields within a few hundred miles from the city. Meanwhile, the German High Command announced that the bombing of Moscow was done in retaliation for Soviet bombings on Bucharest, Romania and Helsinki, Finland. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | Berlin | CPC]
• The keel of German submarine U-450 was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-117 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-171 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Italian Count Galeazzo Ciano noted in his diary that Benito Mussolini had staged a mock air raid over Rome, Italy on this date, with anti-aircraft positions firing. The purpose of this production was to give the citizens the impression that a serious war was going on. ww2dbase [Galeazzo Ciano | Rome | CPC]

• Japanese Foreign Minister Teijiro Toyoda, who had replaced Yosuke Matsuoka only four days prior, reaffirmed Japan's alliance with Germany and Italy, meanwhile, he attempted to stabilize the deteriorating relations with the United States. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Italian submarine Diaspro fired four torpedoes on HMS Ark Royal and HMAS Nestor escorting the Operation Substance convoy in the Mediterranean Sea; all torpedoes missed. 8 SM79s torpedo bombers and 15 bombers (SM79 and Cant Z1007) took off from Sardinia, Italy to attack the same convoy, but they would fail to locate any of the ships. ww2dbase [Diaspro | Malta Campaign | CPC]
• 1,996-ton Italian motor tanker Brarena was under way from Palermo, Italy to Tripoli, Libya when she caught fire after another ship sailing in the convoy carrying ammunition was bombed and exploded. The Barena was taken under tow but British aircraft scored hits on her and sank her. The tanker had been under Norwegian control at the beginning of the war but was seized by the Italian government. ww2dbase [HM]

• As of this date, all Japanese ships were forced out of the Panama Canal Zone. ww2dbase [CPC]

• In captivity at the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, Russia, General Dimitry Pavlov explained that out of the 600 artillery fortifications on the western border, only 169 of them actually had guns inside, and other similar facts explained why he could not counterattack the German forces as Joseph Stalin had ordered. Regardless, he was found guilty and was executed before the end of the day. His rank was stripped and his properties were confiscated by the state. ww2dbase [Dmitry Pavlov | Lefortovo Prison | Moscow | CPC]
• The Soviet NKGB was merged into the NKVD. ww2dbase [Moscow | CPC]
• For the second consecutive night, German bombers attacked Moscow, Russia. Of the 115 bombers dispatched, two failed to returned, one of which was a pathfinder aircraft while the other served in the traditional bomber role. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | Moscow | CPC]
• The Soviet Information Bureau reported that Moscow, Russia experienced its first air raid of the war during the previous night by over 200 German bombers. The report claimed that Soviet nightfighters and anti-aircraft weapons forced the bulk of the Germans to turn back before reaching Moscow; those that broke through the defenses destroyed a number of civilian dwellings, missing key military targets. 17 German aircraft were reportedly shot down. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | Moscow | CPC]
• Israel Fisanovich was made the commanding officer of submarine M-172. ww2dbase [Israel Fisanovich | CPC]

• Remy Van Lierde arrived in Britain. ww2dbase [Remy Van Lierde | CPC]
• British destroyer HMS Cowdray was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British corvette HMS Fritillary was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British minesweeper HMS Ardrossan was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The keel of destroyer USS Harding was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]

22 Jul 1941 Interactive Map