2 Dec 1940 | World War II Database

2 Dec 1940

German submarine U-99 attacked British armed merchant cruiser HMS Forfar with five torpedoes between 0546 and 0657 hours, sinking her; 172 were killed, 21 survived. Shortly after, German submarines U-47, U-52, U-94, U-99, and U-101 attacked Allied convoy HX-90 unescorted 300 miles west of Ireland between 0400 and 0730 hours; her ocean escorts had departed on the previous day, and her coastal escorts failed to arrive due to poor weather. 5 ships were sunk (totaling 22,868 tons), while 2 were damaged; 119 were killed. After the coastal escorts finally arrived, U-94 pressed one further attack after dark, sinking two more ships, killing 5. ww2dbase [U-47 | CPC]
German submarine U-37 sank Swedish ship Gwalia at 0418 hours (16 killed, 4 survived) and British ship Jeanne M. at 0446 hours (7 killed, 19 survived); both attacks were about 230 miles north of Cape Roca, Portugal. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-43 sank British ship Pacific President at 0901 hours (entire crew of 50 killed) and British tanker Victor Ross at 0941 hours (entire crew of 44 killed). ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-99 sank Norwegian ship Samnanger at 2050 hours, killing the entire crew of 30. ww2dbase [CPC]
Overnight, German bombers bombed Britstol, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
Crown Prince Yi Un was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [Yi Un | CPC]

Atlantic Ocean

HMS Hermes made rendezvous with light cruiser HMS Dragon in the South Atlantic. ww2dbase [Hermes | CPC]
Jaguar and Iltis began laying a minefield off Dover, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Iltis | Jaguar | English Channel | CPC]
Capitano Tarantini discovered a large Allied convoy, but she was discovered by the convoy's escorts in turn. The submarine survived a long depth charge attack; Capitano Tarantini's crew counted 106 depth charge detonations. ww2dbase [Capitano Tarantini | CPC]

China

Colonel Seiichi Miyamoto was named the commanding officer of Japanese Unit 516 chemical weapons research unit based in Qiqihar, Nenjiang Province, China, replacing Colonel Oyanazu Masao. ww2dbase [Qiqihar, Nenjiang | CPC]

Gibraltar

British Admiral of the Fleet William Boyle (Earl of Cork and Orrery) arrived at Gibraltar aboard destroyer HMS Jersey to conduct a Board of Inquiry into Admiral James Somerville's decision to disengage at the Battle of Spartivento. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

Taiwan

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma was named the commanding officer of the Taiwan Army. ww2dbase [Masaharu Homma | CPC]

United States

Henry Arnold was promoted to the permanent rank of brigadier general. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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