November 25th, 1940 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 101 Sqn.
attacks the oil refinery at Wanne Eickel. one aircraft makes a crash landing injuring the crew.
The prototype De Havilland D.H. 98 Mosquito, RAF s/n E0234, msn 98001, makes its first flight at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, piloted by Geoffrey de Havilland.
Arthur Harris is appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff for the RAF.
The first success of mine sweepers against German acoustic mines; three are exploded.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Conquistador sunk in a collision in the Thames Estuary.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Kennymore mined and sunk in a collision in the Thames Estuary.
VICHY FRANCE:
On Dupuy's first visit to Vichy he meets Petain, Darlan, Huntziger and Chevalier over the next 11 days. Petain assures Dupuy that 'I am obliged officially to maintain the balance between both sides, but you know where my sympathies lie.'
Petain seemed willing to contemplate surrendering colonial bases to the Germans , regarding this as only 'passive' collaboration.
GERMANY:
BULGARIA:
Bulgaria responds to Soviet pressure and refuses to join the Axis
pact.
EUROPE: The German puppet government of Slovakia signs the Tripartite Pact.
PALESTINE: The passenger liner SS Patria blows up in Haifa harbor, killing 267 illegal Jewish immigrants. They are among 3,000 Jewish refugees from Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czechoslovakia; and Danzig, Poland, who are attempting to reach Palestine. In September, a convoy of four river steamers, set sail down the Danube River and reached the Romanian port of Tulcea where they transferred to three Greek cargo ships named Atlantic, Pacific and Milos. Eventually the ships reached Palestinian waters, but the British Colonial Office refused them permission to land. It was finally decided to deport the refugees to the British island of Mauritius where a special camp was to be built. [Mauritius is 720 square mile (1 864 square kilometer) island in the Indian Ocean about 461 nautical miles (853 kilometers) east of Madagascar.] The three ships are then brought into Haifa harbor where the liner SS Patria is berthed. The refugees are embarked on the Patria and as the last passengers from the Atlantic are coming aboard, a tremendous explosion rips the liner apart. The death toll is 267 refugees killed. The explosion is the work of the Jewish underground army, the Haganah, who meant only to damage the ship to prevent it sailing but has miscalculated the amount of explosives.
PACIFIC OCEAN: The 247 ton coastal steamer SS Holmwood, en route from New Zealand's Chatham Islands, located about 350 nautical miles (644 kilometers) east of New Zealand, to the mainland is intercepted by the German raiders HK Komet (Ship number 45 known to the British as Raider B) and Orion (Ship number 36 known to the British as Raider A) and the supply ship Kulmerland at 0720 hours. The Holmwood is carrying 29 passengers and crew, including four women and four children, 1,370 sheep, two dogs and a horse. All of the crew and passengers are removed to Komet and the sheep were distributed among the three ships and SS Holmwood was sunk by gunfire.
CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Cobalt and Orillia commissioned.
U.S.A.: The first Martin Model 179, USAAF B-26-MA Marauder, s/n 40-1361, msn 1226, makes its first flight at the Martin Airport in Middle River, Maryland, piloted by William K. Ebel, the chief engineer of the Glenn L. Martin Company.
Additional National Guard units are inducted into Federal service. Called up are two divisions, six brigades, 21 regiments and five observation squadrons. The divisions are Alabama's 31st and Texas' 36th. Two of the regiments are coast artillery regiments and one is a cavalry regiment.
Walter Lanz releases Knock Knock, an Andy Panda cartoon. One of the
characters that debuts is Woody Woodpecker.