Tuesday, December 19, 1939 - US cruiser brings about German scuttling

[Louis]

In the North Atlantic... The German liner Columbus, closely trailed by the US cruiser Tuscaloosa, is scuttled some 300 miles from the American coast, to avoid capture by the approaching British destroyer HMS Hyperion. The American warship has been trailing the German liner since its departure from Vera Cruz, Mexico and has been constantly reporting the position of the Columbus by radio for any and all ships to hear. The actions taken by the USS Tuscaloosa make the official US position of neutrality highly suspect, but Berlin never protests the incident.

In Britain... Admiralty scientists led by Dr. C. F. Goodeve and Dr. E. C. Bullard develop a means for canceling the magnetic field of a ship and eliminating the threat of German magnetic mines. Known as "degaussing," the system creates a magnetic field exactly opposite to that of the ship. It involves fitting electric cable around the hull of a ship, connected to a generator.

In Paris... The fourth meeting of the Allied Supreme War Council takes place.

In Germany... The surface raider Atlantis is launched.

In the Winter War... The main Soviet attacks against the Mannerheim Line, around Summa, continues.

 

[Vartuoosi]

On 19th of December Ilmari Juutilainen scores his first aerial combat victory, shooting down a DB-3 bomber while flying Fokker D.XXI. By the end of WW2 Juutilainen became the highest scoring non-German ace with 94 comfirmed kills.

Ilmari is brother of another Finnish war hero captain Aarne Juutilainen. Aarne fought in Kollaa during the Winter War and became known as the "Terror of Morocco" because of his service in the French Foreign Legion in 1930-35.