November 16th, 1940 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Coventry: The Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, escorts King George VI through the ruins of the city. The Mayor remarks: "We've always wanted a site for a new civic centre, and now we have it."RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Five crews of 105 Squadron ( Blenheim) hit the airfields at Hingene, Evere, Duerne and Vucht. One aircraft is lost to ground fire.
ASW trawler HMS Arsenal sunk on the Clyde after colliding with destroyer ORP Burza.
Corvette HMS Pimpernel launched.
Light cruiser HMS Jamaica launched.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Arran launched.
Corvette HMS Bryony laid down.
Corvette KNS Montbretia (ex-HMS Montbretia) laid down.
Destroyer HMS Cotswold commissioned.
The Canada Steamships merchantman Sherbrooke (2,052 GRT) was damaged when she was attacked by Luftwaffe bombers in the North Sea, off Orfordness. There is no record of casualties in this incident.
ENGLISH CHANNEL: Submarine HMS Swordfish, setting out on bay of Biscay patrol, strikes an enemy mine off the Isle of Wight and sinks.
FRANCE: In accordance with Acting U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Welles's request of 13 November, U.S. ChargC) d'Affaires ad interim H. Freeman Matthews meets with Marshal Henri Philippe PC)tain, Vichy French Head of State and President of the Council, concerning the possible move of French battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart. PC)tain assures the U.S. envoy that the two capital ships would be used to defend French territory and would never be used against the British. "Under present circumstances," PC)tain informs Matthews, "I have neither the right nor the possibility of selling them."
GERMANY: U-147, U-148, U-751 launched.
RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Hamburg causing heavy damage when during the nights of 15/16 and 16/17 November, a total of over 200 aircraft are despatched to Hamburg. (Curiously, in light of subsequent events, these are the second and third consecutive nights that the city had been targeted). On the first night, heavy damage is caused at the Blohm & Voss shipyard and over 60 fires started, but on the next raid, only 60 aircraft are able to find their target. A further 25 found alternatives, but the damage is far less severe.
ALBANIA: The Greeks, with little mechanized equipment and an obsolete air force, turn back the Italian invaders and penetrate into Albania. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, expecting a speedy and overwhelming victory, is embarrassed by the failure of the poorly planned invasion.
GREECE: 3,500 British military personnel have been ferried from Alexandria to Piraeus.
RAF No. 84 Squadron arrives at Menidi Airfield with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers and is assigned to HQ British Air Forces in Greece. This is the second RAF squadron to arrive in Greece from Egypt.
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Gouldburn launched.
Minesweeper HMAS Townsville laid down.
CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Camrose and Sorel launched Sorel, Province of Quebec.
U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Osprey commissioned.
The USN's Bureau of Aeronautics establishes a catapult procurement program for Essex class aircraft carriers. One flight deck catapult and one athwartships hangar deck catapult are to be installed on each of 11 ships.
CARIBBEAN SEA: In the Gulf of Mexico, USN destroyer USS McCormick (DD-223), on Neutrality Patrol off Tampico, Mexico, foils an attempt by German freighter SS Orinoco to make a break for European waters. Destroyer USS Plunkett (DD-431), by her very presence, thwarts German tanker SS Phrygia's bid for freedom; Phrygia's crew scuttles her.
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-137 sank SS Planter.
U-65 sank SS Fabian in Convoy OB-234. U-65 provided two shipwrecked survivors of sunken Fabian with medical aid, food and water.