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• German submarine U-48 sank British ship Marina at 0007 hours; 2 were killed and 37 survived. At 1849 hours, U-48 struck again, sinking British ship Magdalena, killing the entire crew of 31. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS S-31 was recommissioned into service. ww2dbase [S-31 | CPC]
• Douglas Bader shot down a German Do 17 aircraft and a Ju 88 aircraft. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | CPC]
• HMS Cumberland deployed in pursuit of French warships Gloire, Georges Leygues and Montcalm with HM Australian Cruiser Australia (Note: These ships sailed from Dakar without detection. French ships were later intercepted by HM Cruisers Cornwall and Delhi. The cruiser Gloire was persuaded to go into Casablanca but the other ships went back to Dakar). ww2dbase [Gloire | Georges Leygues | Montcalm | Cumberland | Australia | DS]

• U-48 hit the British passenger liner City of Benares, a ship evacuating 90 British children and their families to Canada, with a torpedo 600 miles west of Ireland at 0001 hours. The ship listed heavily, which prevented many of the lifeboats from being launched. She sank at about 0030 hours, taking down 121 crew and 134 passengers (including 77 children). Destroyer HMS Hurricane arrived on the following day and rescued 105 survivors. After this incident, the British government suspended the policy of sending children aboard. ww2dbase [TH]
• Alpino Bagnolini sighted a freighter 20 miles west of Porto, Portugal at 1410 hours. She submerged at 1500 hours, approached, and then identified the target as Spanish freighter Cabo Tortosa. Commanding officer Franco Pittoni considered stopping the ship and checking for papers, but the apperance of smoke on the horizon, feared to be Allied warships, led Pittoni to bypass the checking of papers and to attack the freighter. A bow torpedo hit Cabo Tortosa at 1543 hours, and she sank about 1.5 hours later. All aboard survived and were later rescued by Spanish ship Monte Ayala. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• Emperor Kangde presided over the dedication ceremony of the National Martyr Shrine of Manchukuo in Xinjing, the capital of the puppet state. ww2dbase [Puyi | Changchun, Jilin | CPC]

• The American Library in Paris, France reopened. ww2dbase [Paris | CPC]
• Gloire departed Toulon, France for Libreville, French Equatorial Africa. ww2dbase [Gloire | Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | CPC]

• Montcalm departed Dakar, French West Africa. ww2dbase [Montcalm | Dakar | CPC]
• Cruiser Georges Leygues departed Dakar, French West Africa. ww2dbase [Georges Leygues | Dakar | CPC]

• Akagi departed Kure, Japan. ww2dbase [Akagi | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• Italian submarine Bagnolini torpedoed and sank neutral Spanish ship Cabo Tortosa, owned by the Ybarra & Compania of Seville, off Porto, Portugal. The sinking took over 90 minutes and did not cause any loss of life but was still a regrettable incident. The Spanish vessel was suspected of having cargo destined for Great Britain, but it did not, it was simply ferrying from Huelva to Bilbao. Lieutenant Commander Tosoni Pittoni of the Bagnolini had surfaced in order to verify the identity and cargo of the ship but seeing smoke on the horizon and fearing it may have been Royal Navy Forces from Gibraltar made the decision to attack. The crew members were rescued by Spanish ship Monte Ayala. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Porto | CPC, HM]

• At about 0015 hours, an indiscriminate German air raid on London's Oxford Street severely damaged both the Peter Robinson and John Lewis stores; elsewhere, the Inner Temple Library and County Hall are also hit. At noon, 70 German Ju 88 bombers escorted by 100 Bf 109 fighters crossed the English Channel and were intercepted by British fighters of No. 11 Group RAF; 60 of the bombers would reach London, England, United Kingdom and drop their bombs. At 1600 hours, 200 bombers in multiple waves attacked targets in Kent in southern England; they were engaged by fighters of No. 11 and No. 12 Groups and suffered 23 bombers and 10 fighters lost, but they were able to shoot down 12 British fighters in exchange. Overnight, London was bombed by several waves of bombers; Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and other cities were also attacked. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC, AC]
• Hans-Joachim Marseille scored his fifth kill, a British Spitfire fighter, over Dover, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Dover, England | CPC]

18 Sep 1940 Interactive Map