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• Heavy cruisers USS Wichita and USS Quincy departed Pernambuco, Brazil for Montevideo, Uruguay. ww2dbase [Quincy (New Orleans-class) | Pernambuco | CPC]

• The British Royal Navy cruiser HMS Carlisle shot down an Italian aircraft attacking Berbera, British Somaliland. On the same day, destroyer HMS Kimberley and sloop HMS Auckland shelled the port of El Sheikha, which had recently been captured by Italian forces. On the ground, Italian troops attacked British defenses at Tug Argan, but the defense held. ww2dbase [Invasion of British Somaliland | El Sheikha | CPC]

• Admiral Thomas C. Hart of the US Navy Asiatic Fleet shifted his flag from heavy cruiser USS Augusta to submarine USS Porpoise at Qingdao, Shandong, China and departed for Shanghai. It was the first time a Asiatic Fleet chief had traveled in a submarine. ww2dbase [Porpoise | Qingdao, Shandong | CPC]

• The first shells fired from the French side of the English Channel fell upon Dover, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [AC]
• Philippe Pétain gave a speech over radio, speaking about government programs for the youth. His radio speech was written by Minister of Education René Gillouin. ww2dbase [Philippe Pétain | CPC]

• Erich Raeder met with Adolf Hitler and attempted to convince Hitler to reduce the landing front for the planned invasion of Britain as the German Navy had little means to maintain the security of a wide landing area. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Erich Raeder | CPC]

• German submarine U-60 sank Swedish ship Nils Gorthon 10 miles north of Ireland at 2147 hours; 5 were killed and 16 survived. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]

• Maggiore Baracca departed La Spezia, Italy at 0805 hours for exercises, returning at 1730 hours. ww2dbase [Maggiore Baracca | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

• German Luftwaffe launched Adlerangriff, Eagle Attack, in the afternoon, but miscommunications in the morning meant some aircraft took off early and suffered heavy casualties. At 1500 hours, 300 German aircraft were launched. 86 British Fleet Air Arm and 1 RAF Fighter Command aircraft were destroyed on the ground and 13 RAF Fighter Command aircraft (2 Spitfire and 11 Hurricane) shot down; the Germans lost 87 airmen killed or captured; 40 German bombers and 36 German fighters were lost. Overnight, German aircraft damaged aircraft factories in Belfast and Castle Bromwich. The minesweeping trawler HMT Elizabeth Angela was sunk by air attack on this day off Dover, killing 1. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• James Lacey was shot down by a German He 111 aircraft over Britain. ww2dbase [James Lacey | England | AC]

• US President Franklin Roosevelt met with Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, and Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles regarding the possibilities of transferring destroyers to the United Kingdom. Later on the same day, Roosevelt sent a telegram to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill via Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles and Ambassador to London Joseph Kennedy, noting that "it may be possible to furnish to the British Government... at least 50 destroyers" in exchange for the promise of the Royal Navy never turning over its ships to the Germans even in the event of a Germany victory over the United Kingdom and for 99-year leases for land for military bases. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Frank Knox | Henry Stimson | Washington, District of Columbia | CPC]

13 Aug 1940 Interactive Map