LITMIR.BIZ

      Destroyers Leary (DD 158) and Shubrick (DD 268), New York Navy Yard, painted in navy gray with black-shadowed white hull numbers, 3 September 1940. Shubrick, deployed during the summer of 1940 in training naval reservists, will be one of the last group of destroyers turned over to the Royal Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 26 November 1940. As HMS Ripley, she escorts convoys in the Atlantic for the remainder of her active service under the White Ensign; she will be scrapped in 1945. Leary will remain in USN service (see 24 December 1943). (NHC, NH 82138)

      12 Thursday

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49) departs Norfolk, Virginia, with Greenslade Board embarked, bound for her ultimate destination on this leg of the voyage, St. John’s, Newfoundland (see 16 September).

      16 Monday

      President Roosevelt signs Selective Training and Service Act, thus establishing the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States.

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at St. John’s, Newfoundland (see 18 September).

      17 Tuesday

      Special Service Squadron (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt), consisting of gunboats Erie (PG 50) and Charleston (PG 51) and destroyers J. Fred Talbott (DD 156) and Tattnall (DD 125), is disbanded (see 21 September).

      18 Wednesday

      Second group of ships involved in the transfer to Britain—Kalk (DD 170), Maddox (DD 168), Cowell (DD 167), Foote (DD 169), Hopewell (DD 181), Abbot (DD 184), Thomas (DD 182), and Doran (DD 185)—arrives at Halifax, Nova Scotia (see 23 September).

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49), with Greenslade Board embarked, shifts from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Argentia (see 21 September).

      19 Thursday

      Battleship Oklahoma (BB 37) collides with U.S. tug Goliah, Puget Sound, Washington.

      20 Friday

      Third group of ships involved in the destroyers-for-bases agreement—Mackenzie (DD 175), Haraden (DD 183), Williams (DD 108), Thatcher (DD 162), McCook (DD 252), and Bancroft (DD 256)—arrives at Halifax, Nova Scotia (see 24 September).

      21 Saturday

      Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt hauls down his flag as Commander Special Service Squadron; gunboat Erie (PG 50) is assigned to the Fifteenth Naval District and sister ship Charleston (PG 51) to the Thirteenth.

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49), with Greenslade Board embarked, departs Argentia, Newfoundland, for Boston, Massachusetts (see 23 September).

      22 Sunday

      Vichy France signs pact at Hanoi ceding airfields and agreeing to admit Japanese troops into northern Indochina.

      23 Monday

      Second group of ships involved in the transfer to Britain is turned over to Royal Navy crews at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kalk (DD 170) becomes HMS Hamilton, Maddox (DD 168) becomes HMS Georgetown, Cowell (DD 167) becomes HMS Brighton, Foote (DD 169) becomes HMS Roxborough, Hopewell (DD 181) becomes HMS Bath, Abbot (DD 184) becomes HMS Charlestown, Thomas (DD 182) becomes HMS St. Albans, and Doran (DD 185) becomes HMS St. Marys.

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at Boston, Massachusetts, but sails for Norfolk, Virginia, the same day (see 25 September).

      24 Tuesday

      Defense Communication Board is established; membership includes Director of Naval Communications (Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes).

      Third group of ships involved in the destroyers-for-bases agreement is turned over to the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mackenzie (DD 175) becomes HMCS Annapolis, Haraden (DD 183) becomes HMCS Columbia, Williams (DD 108) becomes HMCS St. Clair, Thatcher (DD 162) becomes HMCS Niagara, McCook (DD 252) becomes HMCS St. Croix, and Bancroft (DD 256) becomes HMCS St. Francis.

      Operation MENACE, the British–Free French attempt to take Dakar, French West Africa, commences (see 25 September).

      25 Wednesday

      Heavy cruiser Louisville (CA 28) departs Colón, C.Z., for Recife, Brazil, on the first leg of her goodwill cruise to Latin American ports.

      Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49), with Greenslade Board embarked, arrives at Norfolk, Virginia (see 29 September).

      Operation MENACE, the British–Free French attempt to take Dakar, French West Africa, is abandoned as Vichy French resistance proves surprisingly vigorous.

      French port of Nouméa, New Caledonia, sides with Free France.