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• The first of the purchased US destroyers arrived in Britain. ww2dbase [TH]
• German submarine U-32 sank British ship Empire Ocelot 350 miles west of Ireland at 1609 hours; 2 were killed and 32 were rescued by British destroyer HMS Havelock. German submarine U-37 sank the already-abandoned British ship Corrientes at 2000 hours; she was damaged by U-32 on 26 Sep. German destroyers Eckholdt, Riedel, Lody, Galster, Ihn, and Steinbrinck departed Brest, France and laid mines in Falmouth Bay at the western end of the English Channel. Meanwhile, British anti-submarine trawler Recoil hit a mine and sank in the English Channel off Portland Bill in southern England, United Kingdom; 25 were killed. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• German tanker Shell II was sunk by British bombers in the River Scheldt in the Netherlands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Australian destroyer HMAS Stuart and British aircraft sank Italian submarine Gondar 12 miles off Egypt. Gondar was carrying three piloted torpedoes intended for use against the British Mediterranean Fleet, thus this plan to attack on the fleet at Alexandria was thwarted. Gondar's entire crew of 43 and the 4 torpedo pilots were rescued by HMAS Stuart. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British submarine HMS Pandora sank Italian ship Famiglia 10 miles off Libya between Benghazi and Tobruk. Italian torpedo boat Enrico Cosenz counterattacked unsuccessfully. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down his 7th kill, a British Spitfire fighter, over the English Channel. His fighter received damage in the engagement, but he was able to crash land in France. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | CPC]

• Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci sighted British destroyer HMS Wishart in escort of British battlecruiser HMS Renown in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar. At 1220, she attempted, but failed, to get in position to attack. Two minutes later, she was counterattacked with depth charges by the British, forcing Leonardo da Vinci to remain under the surface until 1929 hours. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]

• Battleship Bismarck departed Kiel, Germany for Gotenhafen (Gdynia), occupied Poland and then into the Baltic Sea for her trials. ww2dbase [Bismarck | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• At 1000 hours, over 120 German aircaft crossed the coast of Kent in southern England, United Kingdom in two waves; British fighters intercepted most of them, and only 6 bombers were able to reach London to release their bombs. At 1330 hours, 35 German bombers escorted by 125 fighters attacked targets in Kent; this group was turned back by 1410 hours. At 1415 hours, 60 German aircraft flew toward Portsmouth, southern England from Cherbourg, France; they were intercepted over the English Channel, released their bombs into the water, and returned to base. Although most German missions failed to reach their targets, the kill ratio of the day favored the Germans; 16 British fighters were shot down with 9 pilots killed, while the Germans only lost 6 fighters. Overnight, London was heavily bombed, while Liverpool was also attacked; meanwhile, German aircraft mined the Thames Estuary. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]
• Nearly half a million mothers and children began evacuating London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]

• Sumner Welles, US Under-Secretary of State, in a statement said that the overwhelming majority of the American nation was determined to render all material support and assistance to the people of Britain "successfully defending their homes with a heroism which is worthy of the finest traditions of that proud people". ww2dbase [AC]

28 Sep 1940 Interactive Map