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• Hungarian Prime Minister Teleki and Foreign Minister Csaky signed a protocol in Vienna, Austria, joining the Tripartite Pact. ww2dbase [The Tripartite Pact | TH]
• British cruiser HMS York delivered anti-aircraft guns to Piraeus, Greece and returned to Alexandria, Egypt. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | York | CPC]
• British bombers sank Italian ship Ardita III in the Red Sea off Assab, Italian East Africa. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Italian torpedo boat Confienza sank after colliding with Italian armed merchant cruiser Capitano A. Cecchi off Brindisi, Italy. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin stopped British ship Maimoa with gunfire in the southern Indian Ocean after a long chase. The crew of 87 were taken prisoner and the ship was scuttled. ww2dbase [Pinguin | CPC]
• 116 German bombers dropped 132 tons of high explosive bombs and 296 incendiary bombs on Birmingham, England, United Kingdom overnight. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
• Wilhelm Gustloff completed its service as a Navy hospital ship. ww2dbase [Wilhelm Gustloff | CPC]

• Morosini received intelligence at 2000 hours regarding an Allied convoy having departed Gibraltar at 1400 hours. She sailed toward Gibraltar to intercept, but would not find any targets. ww2dbase [Morosini | CPC]

• No. 261 Squadron RAF was transferred to RAF Station Takali. ww2dbase [RAF Takali | Ta' Qali | CPC]

• North American Aviation’s chief test pilot, Paul Balfour, made his first flight in the NA-73X, the prototype for what would become the P-51 Mustang from Mines Field, Inglewood, California (Balfour's first flight in the airplane, not the airplane's first flight). After 12 minutes of flight, Balfour neglected to switch fuel tanks and the engine starved. Balfour made a dead-stick landing in a farmer's field but when the wheels dug into the soft earth, the airplane nosed over onto its back. Balfour was not injured and the airplane was repaired. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]

20 Nov 1940 Interactive Map