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WWII On This Day: October 19

What happened on October 19 during World War II? This date brings together 1 event from 1940, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
German Type IXA submarine U-37 in dock at Lorient in 1940 after the French Atlantic ports became U-boat bases.
Mannewitz · Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-1032-11A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
The Happy Time and the Wolfpacks

The boats turn from SC 7 to HX 79

As the SC 7 battle ended, U-47 located the faster HX 79 and BdU redirected boats toward the new contact. During the night of 19–20 October five attacking U-boats sank twelve merchant ships totalling about 75,000 gross tons despite the arrival of a substantial escort. The sequence mattered as much as the individual totals. German command had used one convoy contact to gather boats, then shifted surviving attackers immediately onto another convoy. SC 7 and HX 79 lost thirty-two ships in four days, the sharpest demonstration yet that convoy itself…