June 1st, 1939 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Liverpool Bay: 99 crew, RN onlookers, civilians and dockyard workers die when the Royal Navy's latest submarine Thetis sinks during trials. Four of those on board make successful escapes from 150 feet down. (Alex Gordon)
Destroyer HMS KIMBERLEY is launched.
GERMANY: The first prototype Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V1, D-OPZE, takes off from Bremen airfield. It is powered by a fan-cooled 1,550 hp BMW 139 radial which is fitted with a special ducted spinner to reduce drag. Flugkapitän Hans Sander, Focke-Wulf's chief test pilot is very impressed with the aircraft but complains that the engine overheats rapidly. (14) (Ron Babuka)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES:
MacArthur">
MacArthur writes to Captain Bonner Fellers claiming that he had told
Hoover in 1930 that, if war came, he would defend the Philippines completely,
and that Hoover had concurred. This
has been challenged.
U.S.A.: Director of the Naval Research Laboratory, Captain Hollis M. Cooley, proposes research in atomic energy for future use in nuclear powered submarine.