The day is not quite over, I hope that everyone is having a nice and safe weekend.
Here is the World War 2 history for today:
16 Nov 1935
Germany
The Blohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany received the contract for laying down the hull of the future battleship Bismarck; the construction number was BV 509. ww2dbase [Blohm und Voss | Bismarck | Hamburg | CPC]
The order for the construction of Prinz Eugen was awarded to Germaniawerft of Kiel, Germany. ww2dbase [Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft | Prinz Eugen | CPC]
16 Nov 1936
Spanish Nationalist Colonel José Varela's troops had forced a bridgehead over the River Manzanares en route to Madrid, Spain. They would capture almost three quarters of the University City in the coming week before being stopped by Spanish Republican militias. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]
16 Nov 1937
China
Chiang Kaishek ordered Chinese government ministries and agencies to depart from the capital city of Nanjing within the next three to four days. ww2dbase [Battle of Nanjing and the Rape of Nanjing | Nanjing | CPC]
16 Nov 1939
In Egypt, Major General Michael O'Mare Creagh replaced Major General P. C. S. "Hobo" Hobart as GOC of the Mobile Division (Later 7th Armoured). ww2dbase [AC]
16 Nov 1940
American destroyer Punkett intercepted German tanker Phrygia; Phrygia's crew scuttled the ship to avoid capture. ww2dbase [CPC]
The Greek 3rd Army Corps broke through the Italian 9th Army defensive line at Korcë, Albania. Far to the south, 4,230 British troops arrived at Pireaus, Greece by sea. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
German submarine U-65 sank British ship Fabian with torpedo and her deck gun 250 miles southwest of Sierra Leone, killing 6. 33 survivors were briefly interrogated, given food and water, and placed in lifeboats; they would later be rescued by British tanker British Statesman. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-137 sank British ship Planter 30 miles north of Ireland at 2015 hours; 13 were killed and 60 survivors were picked up by British destroyer HMS Clare. ww2dbase [CPC]
British anti-submarine trawler HMT Arsenal collided with Polish destroyer Burza 4 miles south of Toward, Clyde River estuary, Scotland, United Kingdom. Arsenal sank as her depth charges were detonated, which damaged HMS Arrow which came to rescue survivors. Tug Superman also participated in the rescue. ww2dbase [CPC]
Heinz Guderian was named commander of Panzer Group 2. ww2dbase [Heinz Guderian | AC]
16 Nov 1941
Japanese carrier fleet exercised in the Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
Canadian troops arrived at Hong Kong. ww2dbase [CPC]
German 3rd Panzer Party established a crossing over the Lama River 70 miles west of Moscow, Russia. ww2dbase [Battle of Moscow | CPC]
British corvette HMS Marigold damaged German submarine U-433 with depth charges 50 miles east of Gibraltar at 2255 hours. After U-433 surfaced, Marigold continued to attack her with guns. U-433's crew scuttled the boat after suffering 6 killed; the 38 survivors were captured. ww2dbase [CPC]
Japan
Obsolete Japanese battleship Settsu began to sail around the Inland Sea in Japan to generate fake radio communication messages at different ports. ww2dbase [Attack on Pearl Harbor | Settsu | Detailed Timetable | CPC]
Crown Prince Yi Un was attached to the training department of the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [Yi Un | CPC]
Russia
The German 11.Armee captured Kerch, Russia. Soviet Deputy Navy Commissar Admiral Gordei Levchenko was arrested after being deemed responsible for this defeat. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Kerch, Krym | TH, CPC]
16 Nov 1942
American destroyers sank German submarine U-173 off Casablanca, French Morocco. ww2dbase [Operation Torch | CPC]
The first US Marine night fighter squadron, VMF(N)-531, was commissioned at Cherry Point, North Carolina, United States under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Schwable. ww2dbase [CPC]
Australian Papua
The US 128th Infantry Regiment began an attack on Japanese positions south of Buna, Australian Papua. The 1st Battalion (Colonel McCoy) attacked along the coast from Embogo and crossed the Samboga River, while the 3rd Battalion (Colonel Miller) attacked inland from Simemi. Their objectives were the air strips at the centre of the Japanese eastern defences. On the first day opposition was minor but their sole supply line, consisting of six barges ferrying supplies from the airstrip at Ponondetta further to the east, was destroyed when Japanese Zero fighters strafed the barges, destroying their loads of ammunition, medicine and critically, the artillery and mortars. With the loss of the barges further movement was delayed until 19 Nov 1942 as troops and stores had to come by foot. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Buna | AC]
Italy
The Italian Air Force merged its "Loreto" combat engineers battalion and the 1st Air Force Paratroop Unit to form the 1st Air Force Assault Regiment "Amedeo d'Aosta" at Marsala, Sicily, Italy. ww2dbase [Marsala, Sicilia | CPC]
United States
Joseph Rochefort was transferred to the US Navy Office of the Chief of Naval Operations based in Washington DC, United States. Later in the day, he wrote a personal letter to his former subordinates in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, noting that his relief was the result of politics, and asking them to be loyal to his successor William Goggins, who was not part of the bureaucratic in-fighting. ww2dbase [Joseph Rochefort | Washington | CPC]
LST-412 was launched at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. ww2dbase [LST-412 | Baltimore, Maryland | CPC]
16 Nov 1943
Greek island Leros again surrendered to the Germans; Germans carried out severe reprisals against the Italians who cooperated with British forces. ww2dbase [Dodecanese Campaign | CPC]
US 705th Railway Grand Division, the 758th Railway Shop Battalion, and the 721st, 725th, 726th, 745th, and 748th Railway Operating Battalions were transferred to British India to assist in the expansion of railway systems from India to Burma. ww2dbase [CPC]
Caroline Islands
The US submarine Corvina was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-176 south of Truk, Caroline Islands. I-176 launched three Type95 torpedoes with two hitting Corvina. All 82 aboard Corvina were lost. ww2dbase [Corvina | Type 95 | Truk | AC]
Dutch East Indies
Patrol Boat No. 102
(ex USS Stewart) arrived at Surabaya, Dutch East Indies at 1350 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
16 Nov 1944
USS Trepang departed for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Trepang | CPC]
US First and Ninth Armies began attacking east of Aachen, Germany, aimed at the Roer Dams. ww2dbase [TH]
With sufficient ports now usable by the Allies in Europe, the Red Ball Express was shut down. ww2dbase [TH]
USS Ray fired two torpedoes at a grounded Japanese transport in the Philippine Islands; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]
Did any torpedoes hit a truck?
Battleship USS Maryland with cruisers USS St. Louis and USS Columbia and destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Taylor, USS Lang, USS McCord, USS Trathen, USS Hazelwood, and USS MacDonough arrived at Leyte Gulf, Philippines and joined a task group patrolling the gulf’s entrance. ww2dbase [Maryland | St. Louis | Columbia | Nicholas | DS]
16 Nov 2015
United States
US President Barack Obama announced his intention to awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Minoru Yasui posthumously. ww2dbase [Minoru Yasui | Washington | CPC]
Minoru Yasui
https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=1111
Korean Crown Prince Yi Un
https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=360
Joseph Rochefort did not graduate high school until 1948! He consulted on Tora! Tora! Tora! and the 1976 version of Midway.
https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=726
https://ww2db.com/event/today/11/16