November 10th, 1941 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill announces in a speech: "... should the United States become involved in a war with Japan, a British declaration of war will follow within the hour."
Destroyer HMS Troubridge laid down.
GERMANY: U-528 laid down.
FINLAND: The Finnish troops of Group O (Maj. Gen. Woldemar Oinonen) cut the Murmansk railway at Perälahti. This doesn't seriously hinder the Soviet supply flow, however; Soviets had already constructed a railway further east.
U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine losses:
M-34 Black Sea Fleet Constanta area. (mined)
M-59 of the Black Sea Fleet in the Sulina area.
S-34 Black Sea Fleet off Emine Cape (mined in Burgas Bay) (Mike Yared)(146 and 147)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: USN Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander-in-Chief Asiatic Fleet, receives permission to withdraw the river gunboats from the Yangtze River in China and Marine forces from China.
CANADA: Calgary: LAC Karl Mander Gravell (b.1922), RCAF, crashed and tried, despite terrible burns and the loss of an eye, to save his pilot. He later died. (George Cross)
A troop convoy designated WS-124 sails from Halifax, consisting mainly of U.S. transports, with a U.S. escort formed around the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) as far as South Africa. Among the transports are the three premier liners of the American merchant marine (America, Manhattan and Washington), now in Navy service as USS West Point, Wakefield and Mount Vernon, respectively, transporting more than 20,000 British soldiers. The convoy is initially destined for Basra. (Keith Allen)
U.S.A.: Submarine USS Tunny laid down.
The Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., NOMURA Kichisaburo, sends the following message to the Foreign Office in Tokyo: "I sent Moore [a] to contact Senator Thomas of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and [Secretary of State Cordell] Hull. His report reads as follows: "The United States is not bluffing. If Japan invades again, the United States will fight with Japan. Psychologically the American people are ready. The Navy is prepared and ready for action." Yesterday evening, Sunday, a certain Cabinet member, discarding all quibbling, began by saying to me: "You are indeed a dear friend of mine and I tell this to you alone." Then he continued: "The American Government is receiving a number of reliable reports that Japan will be on the move soon. The American Government does not believe that your visit on Monday to the President or the coming of Mr. KURUSU Saburu will have any effect on the general situation." I took pains to explain in detail how impatient the
Japanese have grown since the freezing; how they are eager for a quick understanding; how both the Government and the people do not desire a Japanese-American war; and how we will hope for peace until the end."
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-752 was slightly damaged when it struck bottom in the Arctic Sea.
USN destroyer USS Ericsson (DD-440), screening convoy HX-157 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact later evaluated as a "doubtful" submarine.