24 February 1939

February 24th, 1939 (FRIDAY)

HUNGARY: Budapest. Hungary joins the anti-Comintern pact.

U.S.A.: Seattle, Washington State: Twenty Chinese-American children, whose parents are cannery workers, begin picketing a Japanese ship at Astoria, in protest at the Japanese aggression in China. Japan's consul in Portland demands that the children be in school. When the school board so orders, their mothers replace the children. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union honours the pickets and refuses to load 21 rail wagons with steel scrap. The ship owners turn to a federal arbitrator, who rules that the workers are in violation of their contract. The workers ignore him. See article... (Bruce Ramsey, Seattle Times 1999)

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24 February 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

February 24th, 1940 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Hucclecote, Gloucester: The first prototype Hawker Typhoon (P5212) makes its maiden flight.

Spit Fort, Hampshire: Blackburn Botha (L6111) crashes into the sea during mine laying experiments.

RAF Bomber Command: 'Security Patrols' - Hornum - Borkum. 77 Sqn. Two aircraft. 102 Sqn. Two aircraft. Moderate opposition.

Westminster: The government is launching a big recruiting and training drive for the engineering and metal industries. At the same time it acknowledges that it will still fail to meet the vast demand for skilled labour.
Unemployed men aged between 17 and 45 will be given up to six months training at 22 Ministry of Labour centres. Within a year 40,000 should be ready for work in the arms factories.
Unemployed men over 45 will be accepted "if fit and handy". Men between 20 and 25 are excluded from the scheme. They will soon be conscripted into the armed forces. All men in training will get free midday meals on each day of attendance at the centres.

Minesweeping trawlers HMS Hickory and Chestnut launched.

Battleship HMS Anson launched.

Corvette USS Restless (ex-HMS Periwinkle) launched.

Corvettes HMS Peony and Snowberry laid down.

GERMANY: Munich: Hitler warns: "We cannot be defeated either economically or militarily ... The world may be full of devils but we will succeed."

Germany and Italy sign a trade agreement giving the Italians an increased coal supply.

Berlin: Revised orders for the attack in the west are issued. The Army High Command (OKH) has been conducting exercises throughout the winter and especially in the early days of this month because of dissatisfaction with the existing attack plan. Following the conversation between Erich von Manstein, Commander of the XXXVIII Corps, and Chancellor Adolf Hitler on 17 February and an OKH presentation to him on the 18th it has been decided to revise the plans to emphasize the role of Army Group A and an attack through the Belgian Ardennes into France near Sedan. If successful the German forces would sweep towards Paris and the Channel coast, cutting off British forces from their French allies and by-passing the Maginot Line. As far as technique goes the plans are fairly traditional. The emphasis is still not yet fully on the possibilities of the panzer advance. Although the direction of the attack is certainly bold, the old school see early problems when it becomes necessary to cross the Meuse River. The tank enthusiasts are more concerned about exploiting the advance after the crossing.

Plans were changed following the Mechelen incident when earlier invasion plans fell into allied hands.

DENMARK: Copenhagen: The Scandinavian foreign ministers meet to discuss war problems.

FINLAND: Today and tomorrow Brigadier Ling and the new British ambassador Gordon Vereker meet PM Risto Ryti and FM Väinö Tanner. They inform the Finns that the Allies could send 20 000 men. Finland has to request the aid by 5 March.

MALTA: U.S. freighter SS Scottsburg is detained for several hours by British authorities, but is allowed to proceed the same day.

CANADA: Corvettes HMS Spikenard, Windflower and Hepatica laid down Lauzon, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: The Bureau of Aeronautics issue a contract for television equipment, including camera, transmitter, and receiver, that is capable of airborne operation. Such equipment promises to be useful both in transmitting instrument readings obtained from radio-controlled structural flight tests, and in providing target and guidance information necessary should radio-controlled aircraft be converted to offensive weapons. (Gordon Rottman)

Frances Langford records one of the classic songs of all time -- and one that would become a Walt Disney trademark. "When You Wish Upon a Star" is recorded on Decca Records during a session in Los Angeles, California. One can hear the song not only on record, but as the theme in the opening credits of any Disney movie, video and TV program and those “I’m going to Disneyland/World!” commercials, too.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

SS Royal Archer struck a mine laid by U-21 on 4 Nov, 1939 and sank at 56.06N, 02.55W.

MS Santos was sunk off Kirkwall by U-63. Among the 31 dead were 3 passengers and 6 men from the Swedish merchant Liana, which was sunk by U-14 on 16 Feb.

24 February 1941

February 24th, 1941 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: The first operational flight by Avro Manchesters takes place with a raid on Brest by aircraft of No. 207 Squadron.

At a meeting of British and Greek political and military leaders, Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, said Britain could offer three infantry divisions to help Greece, the Polish Brigade and an armoured brigade, a total of 100,000 men. (Anthony Staunton)

Destroyer HMS Inconstant launched.

Minesweeper HMS Cromarty launched.

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: Admiral Darlan is appointed head of the government.

GERMANY: Munich: "Now our sea warfare can begin in earnest," Hitler told a hand-picked audience here today. He was speaking in a charged atmosphere at the beercellar where what became the Nazi Party was founded in 1919. he pulled no punches. "Our Nazi methods were unattractive to many," he said. "But I was a soldier and had come from the front, where I had got used to a rough tongue." Hitler reported on the progress of the intensive training of U-boat crews to man the new boats streaming out of his shipyards.

His claim that U-boats have sunk 190,000 tons of shipping in the last two days, may be exaggeration; that is more like the month's total. Nevertheless it is far more than the Allies can afford.

U-512 laid down.

BALKANS: Italian forces repel a British attempt to capture the island of Kastellórizo (Καστελλόριζω) in the Dodecanese.

This involved a commando assault on the island. On 23 Feb the destroyers HEREWARD and DECOY embarked commandos at Suda Bay and proceeded to Kastellórizo with the cruisers GLOUCESTER and BONAVENTURE and the river gunboat LADYBIRD. The troops were landed at dawn on the 25th from the destroyers, while LADYBIRD landed marines.

Although the island was quickly occupied the Italian forces in Rhodes reacted with vigour and bombed the island heavily between 0800 and 0930. LADYBIRD, slightly damaged, re-embarked the marines and left for Cyprus.

Some off topic trivia: It was off Kastellórizo in WWI that the aircraft carrier HMS BEN-MY-CHREE was sunk, the only carrier lost to enemy action in WWI and the only one ever sunk by shore batteries.

It had been intended to transport a permanent garrison for Kastellórizo on the armed boarding vessel HMS ROSAURA, but after the setback of 25 February the troops were instead embarked in the HM destroyers HERO and DECOY at Alexandria. (Ric Pelvin)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer HMS Dainty, escorting supplies to Tobruk with the Inshore Squadron, is sunk off the port by German Ju87s. There are 33 casualties.

The monitor, HMS Terror, which has been of valuable assistance to the army in North Africa, sinks off Derna in Libya, after three days of air attacks.

LIBYA: A troop of guns of the British 16th Anti-Tank Company and two troops of the King’s Own Dragoon Guards are ambushed near Aghelia by a patrol of German tanks, armored cars and motorcycles. This is the first contact on the ground between British and German forces.

JAPAN: Tokyo: In the clearest statement yet on Japan's expansionist policy and the ideology behind it, foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, today declared Japan's belief in its "natural right" to Oceania - the western Pacific, including Australia.

Speaking to the Japanese parliament he said: "I believe the white race must cede Oceania to the Asiatics." Mr Matsuoka said that the region has sufficient natural resources to support 600-800 million people. "I believe we have a natural right to migrate there," he said.

The name Oceania usually refers to the islands of the Pacific, but an Oceania for 600 million would also have to include Australasia."

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Brantford and Midland laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.: Washington: The US has ruled out the possibility of the dispatch of US Navy capital ships to Singapore. The US view is that the loss of Singapore, while it would be unfortunate, would not have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war but could imperil the US Pacific Fleet.

The US announced its decision at the Anglo-American staff conversations which opened here (Singapore) last month. The US Representative at these talks is RADM "Speck" Purnell, Chief of Staff of the US Asiatic Fleet.

Associated Press reports from Washington:

OPM plus ACCND equals maze.

That is not an algebraic formula but statement of fact. OPM is the Office of Production Management. ACCND is the Advisory Commission to the Council of National defence. Maze is what their variety of overlapping functions add up to.

So complicated is the labyrinth of committees, commissions, and co-ordination offices encircling the defence organisation that men long experienced in drawing charts of government agencies have been baffled.

It defies mapping. Officials spent several weeks trying to prepare a chart, but each tentative draft struck a snag when official approval was sought. The government is still without a blueprint of its defence machinery.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0053, a second torpedo was fired from U-123 which struck after two minutes, stopping SS Grootekerk. At 0105, a coup de grâce was fired, but this was a surface runner, which struck in that part of the ship where the crew was lowering the lifeboats. The ship sank shortly thereafter. There were no survivors among the crew of 18 Dutch and 34 Chinese.

At 2143, SS Nailsea Lass, a straggler from Convoy SLS-64, was hit under the bridge by one torpedo from U-48 and sank by the bow at 2219 hours 60 miles SW of Fastnet. Five crewmembers were lost. The master and the chief officer were taken prisoner, landed at St Nazaire on 27 February and taken to the German POW camp Milag Nord. The second officer and 18 crewmembers landed at Ballyoughtraugh, Co. Kerry and the third officer and nine crewmembers near Berehaven, Co Cork.

SS Waynegate sunk by U-73 at 58.50N, 21.47W.

At 004, SS Cape Nelson in Convoy OB-288 was torpedoed and sunk by U-95 southwest of Iceland. The master and three crewmembers were lost. 34 crewmembers were picked up by the British merchant Harberton and landed at Halifax on 4 Mar, 1941.

At 0027, U-95 fired one torpedo at the convoy OB-288 about 300 miles NNW of Rockall and missed the intended target, the CO thought that he hit another ship beyond. This is not confirmed from Allied reports. At 0028, the U-boat fired a second torpedo, which struck Marslew in the stern and observed the ship sinking. The master and twelve crewmembers were lost. The British SS Empire Cheetah picked up 21 crewmembers and two gunners.

SS Templemoat sunk by U-95 at 59.27N, 20.20W in Convoy OB-288.

At 0116, SS Linaria, dispersed from Convoy OB-288, was torpedoed and sunk by U-96 SW of Reykjavik. The master, 30 crewmembers and three gunners were lost.

SS Sirikishna sunk by U-96 at 58N, 21W in Convoy OB-288.

At 0624, steam tanker British Gunner in convoy OB-289 was torpedoed and damaged by U-97 273 miles northwest of Cape Wrath. Four hours later, the corvette HMS Petunia ordered the crew to abandon ship in 61°16N/12°20W, even though the master reported that his ship could be towed to port. Three crewmembers were lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the corvette and landed at Stornoway, Hebrides.

At 0818, U-97 attacked Convoy OB-289 for the third time and damaged the G.C. Brøvig with one torpedo. The tanker lost the bow, but the bulkhead held and the engines remained intact. She continued her voyage at slow speed with steering tow assistance by corvette HMS Petunia, arriving at Stornoway on 27 February. With permanent repairs made in Falmouth, she returned to service after three months.

At 0212, U-97 fired two torpedoes at Convoy OB-289 SW of the Faröe Islands and reported one ship sunk. In fact the Mansepool and Jonathan Holt were hit and sunk. The master, 38 crewmembers, two gunners and ten passengers from the Jonathan Holt were lost. Two crew embers and one passenger were picked up by corvette HMS Petunia and landed at Stornoway. Two crewmembers and one passenger were picked up by the British rescue ship Copeland and landed at Greenock. Two crewmembers from Mansepool were lost. The master, 19 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the British SS Thomas Holt and later transferred to HMS Petunia which had earlier rescued 17 other crewmembers from the same vessel and brought them all to Stornoway.

24 February 1942

February 24th, 1942 (TUESDAY)

GERMANY: U-276 laid down.

BLACK SEA: Some 764 Romanian Jewish refugees heading for Palestine are killed when a Soviet submarine sinks their steamer Struma.

The Romanian ship 'Struma' sailed from Constansa under the command of a Bulgarian captain, G.T. Gorbatenkoin, and flying the Panamanian flag. There are 747 Romanian Jews on board, many from the town of Barland, their hope was to reach Palestine. After three days at sea, the Struma anchored off the outer harbour at Instanbul, with engine trouble. Here she awaited British permission to proceed to Palestine, permission which the British refused, one reason given was "It will encourage a flood of refugees". Turkey, for some unknown reason, likewise refused them to disembark although the local Jewish community, who were already running a camp for Displaced Persons, were quite willing to take the Struma's passengers and were in the meantime supplying them with food and water.

One of the passengers, Medeea Marcovici, suffered an embolism and was transferred to the Jewish hospital in Instanbul. She was granted a visa for Palestine and died in 1996. After two months at Instanbul with engines that were damaged beyond repair, conditions on board became appalling, many of the passengers now suffering from dysentery and malnutrition.

Eventually the Turkish police arrived to tow the Struma out into the Black Sea. The British had exerted strong pressure on Turkey to pursue this course. The enraged passengers fought them off, but a second attempt, where force was used, succeeded and the Struma was towed out and cast adrift outside Turkish territorial waters. This inhuman decision by the Turkish and British governments was to destroy the special relationship between Britain and the Zionist Jews.

On the water for 74 days since leaving Constansa, the Struma, hopelessly overcrowded, and with no country willing to accept them, was suddenly torpedoed and sunk by the Russian submarine SHCH-213 commanded by Lt. Col. Isaev, just ten miles from Instanbul. All on board, a total of 796 persons, perished except one, nineteen year old David Stoljar who today (1999) lives in Oregon USA.

The British High Commissioner in Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, stated: 'The fate of these people was tragic, but the fact remains that they were nationals of a country at war with Britain, proceeding direct from enemy territory. Palestine was under no obligations towards them". (Denis Peck)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Six German divisions cut off at Demyansk in the northern sector of the Moscow front are defying all the Red Army's efforts to crush them. The Demyansk pocket and other similarly defended localities are frustrating the Soviet offensive.

One remarkable aspect of the Demyansk operation is that the 100,000 men in the pocket are completely cut off and are being supplied with food, fuel and ammunition by air.

All types of aircraft are being used. Junkers Ju52 transports are the main workhorses, but bombers are also carrying in supplies. They are protected by every available Messerschmidt Bf109, but the Russians are having a field day, while other bombers are being shot down by a flak corridor set up by the USSR.

Supplies are also being airlifted into another fiercely defended pocket, or "hedgehog", around Kholm. It is even more dangerous here, for the airfield is in range of Russian artillery and the Germans are being forced to drop supplies by parachute or land them by glider.

The effect of the "hedgehogs" is the break up the cohesion of the Russian front. The Russians cannot maintain their offensive and the Germans cannot regroup effectively. Both sides are now showing signs of exhaustion. The Germans lose more men from frostbite than from gunshot, and the Russians are simply running out of steam.

INDIA: Major General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, arrives at Karachi from the U.S.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) embarks U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party of 12, plus five sailors, off Manila Bay. Their original destination is Surabaya, Java, but because of the deteriorating situation on Java, they are taken to Fremantle, Western Australia.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The evacuation of Java continues with all USAAF heavy bombers ordered to fly to Australia or other bases within range. Japanese aircraft attack the advance depot at Bandoeng and destroy three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses on the ground.
The first definite indication that the Japanese invasion of Java is imminent is a report, received today, of a large fleet of enemy transports with a strong escort, heading southward in the Strait of Makassar.

AUSTRALIA: U.S. Major General Lewis Brereton and his staff depart Melbourne, Victoria, for India aboard two heavy bombers. Brereton will command the 10th Air Force in India.

WAKE ISLAND: Beginning at 0710 hours, the USN’s Task Force Sixteen (TF 16) (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) raids Wake Island to destroy Japanese installations there. SBD Dauntlesses and TBD Devastators of Bombing Squadron Six (VB 6), Scouting Squadron Six (VS 6) and Torpedo Squadron Six (VT 6) from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) and SOC-1 Seagulls of Cruiser Scouting Squadron Five (VCS 5) from heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) bomb installations in the atoll. The bombardment unit consisting of USS Northampton and USS Salt Lake City and destroyers USS Balch (DD-363) and USS Maury (DD-401) (Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance) shells the atoll. Combined efforts of USS Enterprise's planes (bombing and strafing) and ships' gunfire sink two guardboats and two Kawanishi H6K4, Navy Type 97 Flying Boats (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Mavis”) on the water; F4F Wildcat pilots of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) later shoot down a third H6K4 near Wake at about 0830 hours. Fortunately, the bombing and shelling of Wake harms none of the American marines, sailors and construction workers too badly wounded to have been evacuated in the initial increment of POWs, and the civilian workmen retained on the island to continue work on defenses. One SBD of VS 6 is lost, however, and its crew taken prisoner.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Glen”), to reconnoiter Pearl Harbor.

CANADA: All male Japanese Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 ordered to be removed from 100-mile (161 kilometre) wide zone along the coast of British Columbia.

U.S.A.: The Voice of America shortwave radio station broadcasts for the first time with the words, "The Voice of America speaks. ... we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or bad, but we shall tell you the truth." Its first programs are in German.
The USN’s Bureau of Aeronautics issues a contract for television equipment, including camera, transmitter, and receiver, that is capable of airborne operation. Such equipment promises to be useful both in transmitting instrument readings obtained from radio-controlled structural flight tests, and in providing target and guidance information necessary should radio-controlled aircraft be converted to offensive weapons.

The US gun manufacturers stopped production of 12 gauge shotguns for civilian consumption as they converted to war production. (Mike Ballard)

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

At 0428, 1942, U-558 fired a spread of two torpedoes at Convoy ONS-67 SE of St John's and observed two hits on the Inverarder, which sank by the bow after 15 minutes. The master, 33 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by the British SS Empire Flame, transferred to the rescue ship Toward and landed at Halifax on 1 March.

At 0145, SS Empire Hail, dispersed from Convoy ON-66, was torpedoed and sunk by U-94 east of St John's. The master, 41 crewmembers and seven gunners were lost.

At 1035, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 and heard a detonation but could not observe anything since she had to dive. Motor tanker Diloma was hit by one torpedo was able to proceed at a reduced speed and reached Halifax a few hours after the convoy.

At 0855, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 about 420 miles SSE of St John's and observed two hits on SS Empire Celt with columns of fire and of water, although the sinking was not seen. At 0950, U-558 attacked ONS-67 in grid BC 8932 (43°51N, 43°15W) and fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first and third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158, but the torpedo struck the already damaged Eidanger. Empire Celt later broke in two; the stern part remained afloat and was last seen in 46°45N/51°27W on 4 March. Four crewmembers and two gunners were lost. The master and 22 survivors were picked up by Canadian rescue ship Citadelle and 24 survivors by armed trawler HMS St Zeno and landed at St John's on 27 Feb.

SS White Crest sunk by U-162 at 47.45N, 38.15W.

At 0950, U-558 fired three torpedoes at Convoy ONS-67 east of Halifax in 43°45N/43°15W (grid BC 8932) and observed three hits. Two ships stopped, the third continued on. The description of the target and the extremely large hole in the tanker’s side make it certain that not only the first torpedo but the third one too hit the Anadara. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way, but the ship, which was sighted with engines stopped, was, according to the position given, the Eidanger. In the morning, U-587 attempted to finish off a tanker behind the convoy with a torpedo and gunfire, leaving it in sinking condition. The description of the target confirms that it was the Anadara. The master, 53 crewmembers and eight gunners from the Anadara were lost.

At 0651, U-558 attacked Convoy ONS-67, heard two explosions and saw one cloud of smoke rising near the bow of the Eidanger, which had been hit by one torpedo on the starboard side, causing extensive damage to the bridge and forward. The tanker stopped, shifted the ballast to the aft tanks to press the propeller under water and with the bow partially awash tried to reach the convoy, which had geared 80 degrees to starboard to shake off the U-boats. At 0950 hours, U-558 attacked again in grid BC 8932 (43.51N, 43.15W) and fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first and third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158 at 0855 (she foundered later), but the torpedo struck the damaged Eidanger on the starboard side right in front of the mast. The U-boat later sighted her with engines stopped and fore section now submerged. All 39 crewmembers abandoned the Eidanger and were picked up by the British rescue ship Toward, which had observed the attack. At 1540 hours, U-558 found a drifting tanker in grid BC 8689 (43.51N/43.35W), which was identified as Eidanger and sank her with a coup de grâce.

24 February 1943

February 24th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The first MK I Hawker Tempest fighter (HM 599) with wing radiators, flies today. (22)

Whilst on final working up trials in home waters, U class submarine HMS Vandal is lost by accident. She was performing a deep dive in Inchmarnock Water, off Kilbrennan Sound, Lochranza, Clyde, on the West coast of Scotland and not heard from again. On 22 February 1943 she left the depot ship Forth, on Holy Loch, to carry out a three-day exercise in the Clyde, which was to include a deep dive on the 24th. During the exercise the submarine was under no obligation to communicate with her base and no alarm was felt when she did not do so. On 24 February 1943 Vandal was observed leaving her anchorage just north of the Isle of Arran. Her wreck was discovered by divers in December 1994, and given the status of a war grave in 1995. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Submarine HMS Tantalus is launched.

NORTH SEA: Submarine KNM Uredd lost off Norway in an unknown minefield in Noviken in Nordland. The Germans deployed the mines just a few days before the submarine arrived.

GERMANY: Hermann Esser, the state secretary for tourism, reads a speech by Hitler declaring that "the might of the world Jewish coalition" will soon be smashed.

U-1009 laid down.

U-310, U-539 commissioned.

BALTIC SEA: U-232 collided with U-649 during training in the Bay of Danzig. U-649 sank as a result of that incident, taking 35 of her crew with her.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 1354, US Liberty Ship Nathanael Greene in Convoy MKS-8 was hit on the starboard side by two of three torpedoes from U-565 about 40 miles NE of Oran. The first torpedo struck between the #1 and #2 hatches and the second in the engine room. The explosions severely damaged the deck cargo, damaged the amidships deckhouse, disabled the engines, destroyed the starboard boiler and flooded the forward compartments and the machinery spaces. One officer and three men on watch below were killed while seven others were injured. Only a few minutes later, German aircraft attacked the convoy and the disabled Nathanael Greene was hit amidships by one aerial torpedo. The most of the nine officers, 32 crewmen and 16 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and four .50cal guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats, while 26 men jumped directly onboard HMS Brixham, which came alongside and later picked up the remaining survivors from the boats and the water. The minesweeper took the Nathanael Greene in tow until the British salvage tug Restive took over at 2100 and beached the vBALessel at Salamanda, four miles west of Mostaganem at 0630 the next day. The ship was declared a total loss, but the repair ship managed to save at least 400 tons of her cargo.

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel is appointed commander of Army Group Afrika which includes Von Arnims 5th Panzer Army and the 1st Italian Army of General Messe.

CHINA: Dr. Joseph Needham arrived in Southwest China. He had been sent by the British Council to aid the war effort there by facilitating the provision of laboratory equipment and scientific books and journals to Chinese scientists. More...

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Corvette HMCS Vancouver arrived Kodiak and placed under US control.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Burrfish laid down Portsmouth, New York.

Destroyer escorts USS Fair, Manlove and Waterman laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

At 0754, SS Ingria in Convoy ON-166 was struck by one FAT torpedo from U-600 between #4 hold and the engine room. The crew abandoned the vessel when the deck was awash. At 0813, U-628 fired a spread of four FAT torpedoes, followed by a stern shot two minutes later and heard five explosions, thus claiming two ships sunk and another damaged. The Ingria was only sunk instantly by one further torpedo hit, so the other explosions were probably depth charges from corvette HMCS Rosthern, which later picked up survivors.

At 0116, U-653 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy ON-166, observed two hits and heard two detonations. Feiler reported two ships sunk and another damaged. In fact, one torpedo detonated near the Delilian without damaging the vessel, while another torpedo struck the Madoera in station #13 at the bow. The crew quickly abandoned ship in several lifeboats, but the master decided at daylight to re-board the ship with 15 men. Together with the chief engineer he inspected the damage. The bow was now deeper in the water, while one boiler had remained operational. They managed to reduce the list to the bow and the water in #2 hold and in the engine room levelled. The ship got underway at 4 knots for St John’s, but after several days, she ran into an ice field about 200 miles from Newfoundland. The master slowly navigated through the ice and managed to reach St John’s on 1 March. One lifeboat with three Lascar seamen came across a lifeboat with 23 survivors from the Jonathan Sturges, which had been sunk by U-707 shortly before the Madoera herself was sunk. The Dutch lifeboat had already picked up 12 survivors from the same ship from rafts and took over six others to equalize the number of survivors in each boat. The survivors in the Dutch boat were picked up by destroyer USS Belknap on 12 March and landed two days later in Argentia. Another lifeboat with the second engineer, two Dutch greasers and several natives was found by U-591, which took the second engineer aboard. Three weeks later he was transferred to U-758 and arrived at Bordeaux on 30 March. On 27 February, a third lifeboat was found by U-753, which took six (white) men aboard and brought them to La Pallice, but left 29 natives adrift. The two lifeboats and occupants were never found.

At 0111 and 0114, U-707 fired two torpedoes at stragglers just behind Convoy ON-166 during a squall and reported one ship sunk and another damaged. In fact, both torpedoes struck the Jonathan Sturges in the #1 and #2 holds. The engines were secured and the eight officers, 36 crewmen and 31 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats and four rafts, but one of the boats swamped in the heavy seas and the occupants were picked up by the other lifeboats. The vessel was last seen barely above the water with her stern in the air, almost broken in two forward of amidships. Four crewmembers and 11 armed guards went down with the ship. On 27 February, a boat with 23 survivors came across a boat with three Lascar seamen from the Madoera, which had been torpedoed by U-653 at the same time. Four crewmembers and two armed guards were transferred to the foreign boat, which had already picked up eight crewmembers and four armed guards from rafts. The survivors in this boat were picked up by destroyer USS Belknap on 12 March and landed in Argentia two days later, but one crewmember died of exposure. The other lifeboat with the master, the chief mate, 11 crewmembers and four armed guards was never heard of again, like another boat containing ten crewmembers and seven armed guards. The last lifeboat with five crewmembers and two armed guards was found on 5 April by U-336, but one crewmember already died of exposure on 22 March. The survivors were picked up by the U-boat and landed at Brest on 11 April, later transferred to a POW camp near Bremen.

24 February 1944

February 24th, 1944 (THURSDAY)

EUROPE: This is the start of "Big Week" which really lasts until March 6,1944 which broke the back of the Luftwaffe. The 445th Bomb Group endured four and one half hours of fighter attack and lost 13 out of 25 airplanes. Yet they accurately destroyed the Goather Wagonwerke which produced the ME210. The Luftwaffe never recovered from the loss of almost 500 experienced fighter pilots that week. Most of them fell to the guns of the 8th Fighter Command. (Hal Turrel)

"Big Week"
238 of 266 B-17s dispatched hit Schweinfurt; 11 are lost. 295 of 304 B-17s dispatched hit Rostock and targets of opportunity; 5 aircraft are lost. 213 of 239 B-24s dispatched hit the factory and airfield at Gotha and targets of opportunity; 33 B-24s are lost.

UNITED KINGDOM: Merchant ship Fort Stikine, sails from the Mersey. Her destination is "secret" but her cargo clearly marked for Karachi and Bombay. On deck are crated gliders, whilst below, her Bombay cargo includes crated aircraft and shells, torpedoes, mines, rockets, magnesium and bombs totalling 1,400 tons of explosive. Also on board, in No. 2 'tween deck, were 124 bars of gold worth nearly one million pounds. (78)

Kirkby, Lancashire: Mr. Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater (b.1913), civil servant, led the task of removing 17,000 possibly defective bomb fuses from a factory after a fatal blast on 22 February. (George Cross)

Corvette HMCS Copper Cliff launched Blyth.

Submarines HMS Varne and Supreme launched.

Corvette HMCS Huntsville (ex-HMS Wolvesey Castle) launched Troon, Scotland.

Corvette HMCS Petrolia (ex-HMS Sherborne Castle) launched Belfast.

Minesweeper HMS Octavia commissioned.

GERMANY: U-1054 launched.

FINLAND: The prime minister says that Finland is prepared to make peace immediately with Russia, subject to conditions.

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-713 sunk in the Arctic NW of Narvik, Norway, in position 69.27N, 04.53E, by depth charges from destroyer HMS Keppel. 50 dead (all hands lost).

ITALY: Subadar Subramanian (b.?), Madras Sappers and Miners, died when he threw himself onto a mine to shield others. (George Cross)

GREECE: During test firing with the machine gun from U-453 at the base in Salamis were two men killed (not crewmembers).

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Cape Breton departed Halifax to join EG-6 in UK.

U.S.A.: Norfolk, Virginia: Josephine "Joe" Doolittle, the wife of Lt-Gen James Harold Doolittle, Commanding General of the US Eighth Air Force, breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow and christens the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La.

The USS INTREPID, crippled by a Japanese torpedo one week ago, stands into Pearl Harbor after having maintained direction with a jury-rigged sail. (Skip Guidry)

Minesweepers USS Roselle and Ruddy laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-257 (KptLt. Heinz Rahe, CO) is sunk in approximate position 47.19N, 26.00W, by depth charges from the Canadian River Class frigate HMCS Waskesiu (K330), LCdr. James Philip Fraser, RCNR, CO, and the British frigate HMS Nene (K272). 30 dead and 19 survivors.

Waskesiu was part of Escort Group 6, operating in support of convoy SC-153. Waskesiu detected the submarine on Asdic shortly after 02:00 and, although the Group Commander was convinced the contact was ‘non-sub’, LCdr. Fraser (an ex-RCMP marine division officer) was persuaded by his Asdic operators to persist. Waskesiu conducted many hedgehog and depth charge attacks until 05:50, when the submarine surfaced. The ship engaged the submarine with guns and closed to ram but the submarine avoided and manoeuvred away. The submarine sank a few moments later. Due to the darkness and rough seas, only 19 of U-257's 49 crewmembers were rescued. KptLt. Rahe was seen to throw his lifejacket and one-man raft to survivors and re-entered the boat just moments before it sank.
[According to a crew member on the HMCS Waskesiu the HMS Nene only participated in picking up survivors while the Canadian frigate dropped the depth charges, after both frigates had picked up an ASDIC signal that the Canadians insisted was a U-boat, that sank the boat.] (Alex Gordon)

German submarine U-761 was detected by PBY-5A Catalinas from VP-63, now based at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Port Lyautey, French Morocco, during an attempt to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. The two VP-63 aircraft used their MAD gear to detect, track, and assist in the sinking of U-761, the first sinking of a submarine aided by MAD equipment. The U-boat was attacked by an RAF Catalina Mk. IB of No. 202 Squadron, based at Gibraltar, and a PV-1 Ventura of USN Bombing Squadron One Hundred Twenty Seven (VB-127) also based at NAF Port Lyautey. The crew of the VB-127 Ventura, assisted in the kill by dropping depth charges on U-761 when it surfaced. Following the attack by VB-127 PV-1, the U-boat was scuttled in the mid-Atlantic near Tangier, in position 35.55N, 0545W, in view of approaching British destroyers. Nine of the 57 men aboard were lost; the 48 survivors, including the captain, were picked up by HMS Anthony and HMS Wishart.

24 February 1945

February 24th, 1945 (SATURDAY)

ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-480 is sunk south-east of Isles of Scilly, in position 49.51.783N, 06.06.750W, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Duckworth and Rowly. 48 dead (all hands lost).
[U-480 apparently sank 10 miles to the south-east of the Isles of Scilly. This boat has possibly been located by a diver but I have yet to confirm it. According to Lloyds Register of Shipping its position is 49.51.47N, 06.06.45W]

U-927 is sunk south-east of Falmouth, in position 49.45N, 04.45W, by depth charges from a British Warwick aircraft (Sqdn. 179/K). 47 dead (all hands lost).

(Alex Gordon)

GERMANY: Jülich is captured by XIX Corps of the US 9th Army.

British and Canadian attacks drive southeast toward Udem and Weeze.

U-3007 sunk near Bremen, by bombs. Wreck broken up. 1 dead.

U-2540 commissioned.

NORWAY: U-1195 sailed from Bergen on her first and final patrol.

ARCTIC OCEAN: U-boat loses a man overboard from U-997. [Bootsmaat Erich Sachse].

EGYPT: Cairo: Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha, is assassinated after reading out a royal decree declaring war on Germany and Japan.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: The second airfield is captured on Iwo Jima.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine RO.49 is sunk by the USS Lagarto (SS-371) south of Japan. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: ASW trawler HMS Ellesmere sunk by U-1203 at 49.04N, 05.31W.

SS Oriskany in Convoy BTC-78 was torpedoed and sunk by U-1208 west of Lands End. The master, the convoy commodore), 21 crewmembers, seven naval staff members and four gunners were lost.

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