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• German armed merchant cruisers Orion and Komet stopped the 16,712-ton passenger ship Rangitane 400 miles east of New Zealand at 0300 hours. Of the 201 crew and 111 passengers, 16 were killed during the attack and the remainder were captured. Due to the distress signal sent out by Rangitane's crew, the Germans only had time to transfer the captives aboard but not the 14,000 tons of food and 45 bars of silver before Komet sank Rangitane with a torpedo. Rangitane was the largest passenger ship to be sunk by German merchant raiders during WW2. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
• German submarine U-95 sank British ship Irene Maria northwest of Ireland at 0100 hours, killing the entire crew of 25. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-104 damaged British tanker Charles F. Meyer and sank British ship Diplomat (14 were killed, 39 survived). ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-103 sank British ship Glenmoor northwest of Ireland at 1956 hours; 31 were killed, 2 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Morosini sighted two vessels near the Spanish coast at 1037 hours. She approached, but the vessels moved out of view. ww2dbase [Morosini | CPC]

• Chinese 27th, 31st, and 44th Divisions counterattacked against the Japanese offensive in Hubei Province, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Han River | Hubei | CPC]

• Battle of Spartivento: At 1000 hours, spotter aircraft from British Force H (Operation Collar; escorting Allied convoy ME4) and the Italian interception fleet found each other, and a surface battle soon broke out. The British were initially outgunned (especially as the carrier aircraft were held back), but at 1130 hours the arrival of battleship HMS Ramillies and cruisers HMS Berwick and HMS Newcastle evened up the two sides. Italian Admiral Campioni, with orders to avoid combat unless his forces were superior, began to withdraw at about 1230 hours; battleship Vittorio Veneto's heavy fire stopped the British pursuit. British cruiser HMS Berwick was hit by cruiser Fiume twice at 1222 and 1235 hours (7 killed), while Italian destroyer Lanciere had to be towed back to port after being hit by cruiser HMS Manchester. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | TH]

• In Romania, the ruling party Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King Carol II of Romania's aides, including former minister Nicolae Iorga. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Kichisaburo Nomura was named the Japanese Ambassador to the United States. ww2dbase [Kichisaburo Nomura | CPC]

27 Nov 1940 Interactive Map