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• Operation Coat was launched with carrier Ark Royal, cruiser Sheffield, and six destroyers to cover British naval forces en route toward Sardinia, Italy. The force was discovered and attacked by Italian aircraft. Italian submarines were also launched, but they failed to locate the British force. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | HM]

• Vichy French submarine Poncelet fired a torpedo at the Allied invasion fleet sailing for Libreville, French Equitorial Africa 50 miles southwest of Libreville, hitting sloop HMS Milford, but the torpedo failed to explode. Poncelet was forced to surface by Milford's depth charges, and then was damaged by bombs from two Walrus biplanes of HMS Devonshire. All but one of Poncelet's complement of 61 surrendered after scuttling the ship; commanding officer Commander de Saussine decided to go down with the ship. ww2dbase [Battle of Gabon | CPC]
• British minesweeping trawler HMT William Wesney hit a mine and sank in the North Sea 13 miles east of Harwich, England, United Kingdom; 5 were killed and 7 survived. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
• Free French minesweeping trawler Poulmic hit a mine and sank off Plymouth, England, United Kingdom; 11 were killed and 7 survived. ww2dbase [English Channel | CPC]
• German 1st and 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotillas (torpedo boats T1, T4, T6, T7, T8, T9, and T10), while sailing to intercept an Allied convoy sailing toward Kinnaird Head, Scotland, United Kingdom, entered a British minefield 40 miles north of the convoy. T6 struck a mine shortly after midnight at the beginning of this day and sank; the survivors were picked up by T7 and T8. The operation was canceled and the two flotillas returned to base. ww2dbase [T9 | T10 | T8 | T7 | T6 | T4 | T1 | CPC]

• British ship Cambridge hit a naval mine laid by German ship Passat and sank 6 miles off Wilson's Promontory, Australia; 1 was killed and 57 were rescued by Australian auxiliary minesweeper Orara. ww2dbase [Victoria | CPC]

• Alpino Bagnolini arrived at Bordeaux, France at 1300 hours, ending her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
• Vichy France passed a law concerning how skiing should be taught, signifying the importance of sports in the new French education philosophy. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Krupp factories in Germany were bombed again by the RAF. ww2dbase [TH]
• Emden entered drydocks for maintenance. ww2dbase [Emden | CPC]

• Rammed by British destroyer HMS Encounter in an episode of misidentification on the previous day, the damaged British submarine HMS Utmost reached Gibraltar, where she would remain for repairs until 23 Nov 1940. ww2dbase [CPC]

• British submarine HMS Swordfish hit a mine and sank 7 miles south of the Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom, killing the entire crew of 39. ww2dbase [England | CPC]
• US diplomat Tyler Kent, a cipher clerk at the American Embassy in Britain, was convicted of espionage by the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, London, England, United Kingdom and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]
• King George VI became Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army. ww2dbase [George VI | London, England | AC]

• Submarine Gar was launched, sponsored by the wife of Rear Admiral George Pettengill. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]

7 Nov 1940 Interactive Map