November 21st, 1915

- Senator René Besnard, undersecretary of state of aviation in the War Ministry, publishes today a revised plan for aircraft production, which calls for an air arm of 128 squadrons by spring 1916.  In addition to expanding the French air force, Besnard, proposes significant changes to its composition - fewer bomber units to allow for additional fighter squadrons, and halting production of outdated observation planes and 80-hp to 100-hp engines.  Most significantly, and most controversially, he proposes to construct eight hundred all-purpose twin-engine three-seat aircraft, which to some parliamentary deputies appears to run counter to the trend in aviation towards specialization.

- Italian attacks continue along the Isonzo today.  North of Oslavija, the Italians attack out of the trench seized yesterday, but when they are repulsed an Austro-Hungarian counterattack hits them while they are disorganized and they abandon most of the ground won yesterday.  To the south further assaults are launched today against the heights at Podgora, and again they are defeated in hand-to-hand fighting.  On the front of the Italian 3rd Army, another assault south of Mt. San Michele manages to secure a small stretch of the line at St. Martino, and are able to hold most of the ground in the face of heavy Austro-Hungarian counterattacks.

Given the continued Italian attacks, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian 5th Army orders the recently-arrived 9th Division to replace 28th Division on the southern end of the Isonzo front, pulling the latter out to serve as the army's reserve.

- Given the ongoing diplomatic dispute with the American government regarding the sinking of the Italian liner Ancona on the 7th, the German submarine U38, along with its crew, is entered into the Austro-Hungarian navy's List of Warships.  If the issue does ot arbitration, the Austro-Hungarian government can point to the list to show that U38 is in fact Austro-Hungarian, though of course it is German.

November 16th, 1915

- On the Italian Front, heavy snowstorms restricts visibility and makes movement difficult, leading Cadorna to temporarily suspend offensive operations.

- U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing asks the American ambassador in Vienna to ask the Austro-Hungarian government to examine the list of submarines in the Austro-Hungarian navy and report which one sunk the Italian liner Ancona on the 7th.  Such a request is problematic, of course, since U38, the submarine responsible, does not appear on the list.

November 7th, 1915

- Elements of the German IV Reserve and X Reserve Corps seize the Serbian city of Kruševac.  Over the past two days, the Germans have captured six to seven thousand prisoners, as well as fifty locomotives and 1100 loaded railcars immobilized by the collapse of the Serbian rail network.

- Three days after sinking the French transport Calvados, the German submarine U38 strikes again today, and ignites a diplomatic firestorm.  Off Bizerte it intercepts the Italian passenger liner Ancona en route from Messina to New York.  Initially the liner attempts to escape, but shelling from U38 brings it to a halt.  The captain of U38 gives the crew and passengers of Ancona forty-five minutes to abandon ship, but when he sees smokes on the horizon he decides that Ancona may have summoned a warship to its rescue, and orders a torpedo fired into the liner.  Quickly sinking, over two hundred passengers are lost, several of whom are Americans.

The Italian passenger liner Ancona.

The loss of American life by itself is contentious, given the crises provoked by the sinking of Lusitania and Arabic in earlier this year.  Further complicating matters is that U38 flew the Austro-Hungarian while surfaced, standard practice for German submarines when attacking Italian-flagged ships, given that Germany and Italy are not at war.  This means, of course, that diplomatic protests by the Americans over the sinking of Ancona are directed at Austria-Hungary, not Germany, and the navies of the two allies have to ensure they have their stories straight to appease the Americans.

- As the Persian government of Mustaufi ul-Mamalik negotiates with the German ambassador for an alliance, Russian forces in northern Persia continue to cement their grip on the region.  Since the spring, a Russian detachment has been garrisoned at Kazvin, less than ninety miles northwest of Teheran, and in an effort to dissuade the Persian government from anti-Entente activity demonstrates towards the Persian capital today, sending the message that they could occupy Tehran if they desired to.