Today in World War II History—September 23, 1941
Thursday, September 23, 2021 by Sarah Sundin

Battleship USS Massachusetts, Battleship Cove, Fall River MA (Photo: Sarah Sundin, July 2014)
80 Years Ago—Sept. 23, 1941: Germans declare French men who help downed British airmen will be shot; women will be sent to concentration camps.
Battleship USS Massachusetts is launched at Quincy, MA (currently a museum ship at Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA).
On the same day, the Germans sunk the Soviet battleship Murat in a dive bomber attack, the first instance of that happening in war (rather than as an exercise).