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• German torpedo boats Falke, Greif, Kondor, Seeadler, and Wolf sank British anti-submarine trawler HMT Warwick Deeping (no deaths), French submarine chasers Ch.6 (9 killed, 12 captured) and CH.7 (12 killed, 8 captured), and French armed trawler Listrac (12 killed, 25 wounded) in the English Channel off the Isle of Wight overnight. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Seeadler | Greif | Kondor | Falke | Wolf | English Channel | CPC]
• Seeadler patrolled in the English Channel. ww2dbase [Seeadler | English Channel | CPC]
• German submarine U-48 attacked Allied convoy HX-77 250 miles northwest of Ireland in the evening; at 2150 hours, Norwegian ship Brandanger was sunk (6 killed, 24 survived); at 2209 hours, British ship Port Gisborne was sunk (26 killed when lifeboat capsized, 38 survived). ww2dbase [U-48 | First Happy Time | CPC]

• Between 0333 and 0351 hours, in Operation Medium, British battleship Revenge and destroyers Javelin, Jaguar, Jupiter, Kashmir, Kelvin, and Kipling bombarded Cherbourg, France. German torpedo boats attempted to interfere, but the German boats were fought off. ww2dbase [Cherbourg, Basse-Normandie | CPC]
• Charles Hunziger presented the Order of Merit and the Croix de Guerre medals to the American Hospital in Paris, France. ww2dbase [Charles Huntziger | Paris | CPC]
• The Vichy French government forbade employment of married women in the public sector; this was one of a series of policies with the goal of boosting birth rate. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Vichy France passed the Married Women's Work Act, which forbade a wife from public sector employment if her husband could provide for the family. This law would be suspended on 12 Sep 1942. ww2dbase [CPC]

• During the night, 4 British Hampden aircraft (out of 5 launched) from Lindholme, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom attacked battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven, Germany to little effect. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | Wilhelmshaven, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• Italian bombers attacked Allied convoy BS.6 in the Red Sea 50 miles off of Italian East Africa, damaging escorting vessel British sloop HMS Auckland. ww2dbase [Red Sea | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi participated in the annual naval review in Tokyo Bay, Japan. ww2dbase [Akashi | Tokyo Bay | CPC]
• Settsu participated in a naval review in Yokohama Bay, Japan. ww2dbase [Settsu | Yokohama, Kanagawa | CPC]

• A convoy of 4 merchant ships arrived at Malta from Alexandria, Egypt. The escorting British Mediterranean Fleet began to sail back to Alexandra, but was spotted by an Italian civilian aircraft 100 miles southeast of Malta. Italian destroyers and torpedo boats were dispatched to intercept. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]
• Garland entered drydocks at Malta for repairs. ww2dbase [Garland | CPC]

• While small raids of 10 or few aircraft harassed southern England, United Kingdom all day, a number of larger raids, with 25 to 90 aircraft, attacked larger towns. The larger raids were composed mostly of fighters as the Germans continued to try to wear down British fighter strength. On this day, the Germans lost 1 Do 17 bomber and 4 Bf 109 fighters, while the British lost 8 fighters with 3 pilots killed. Overnight, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and the Tyne and Tees areas were bombed; 3 Do 17 bombers were shot down over Anglesey after attacking Liverpool, at the cost of 1 British fighter. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
• British destroyer HMS Zulu hit an acoustic mine in the Firth of Forth, Scotland at 0920 hours, badly damaging the ship, but incurred no casualties. She would remain under repair at nearby Rosyth until Jan 1941. ww2dbase [Firth of Forth, Scotland | CPC]
• Werner Mölders claimed his 43rd victory over Canterbury, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Werner Mölders | Canterbury, England | CPC]

11 Oct 1940 Interactive Map