21 May 1939

May 21st, 1939 (SUNDAY)

GERMANY: The first Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter (Cross of Honour of the German Mother) is awarded today by the Nazis. It is part of a programme to encourage German women to have large families and accompanies cash incentives. More...

Paul Cohn, a Jewish schoolboy, receives permission to join a 'KinderTransport' of Jewish refugee children bound for England to escape the Nazis. He will never see his parents again. More...

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Yesterday Tomorrow

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21 May 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

May 21st, 1940 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - road/rail communications at Euskirchen, Julich and Rheydt. 10 Sqn. Ten aircraft. All bombed (2 - 6,000 feet). 51 Sqn. 12 aircraft, all bombed. One FTR. 58 Sqn. 12 aircraft, all bombed. Moderate to severe opposition. 77 Sqn. Seven aircraft. One returned early U/S, six bombed. 102 Sqn. Nine aircraft. Two returned early U/S, one FTR.

ASW trawler HMS Hornpipe launched.

Corvette HMS Hibiscus commissioned.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Chestnut commissioned.

NORTH SEA: U-8 encountered an enemy submarine, but neither boat attacked.

BELGIUM: CSM George Gristock (b. 1905), Royal Norfolk Regiment, led an attack to cover his company’s right flank, and put a machine-gun post out of action. He died of severe leg wounds. (Later awarded the VC).

L/Cpl Harry Nicholls (1918-75), Grenadier Guards, despite shrapnel wounds, led an assault over two ridges, knocking out three machine-guns and attacking infantry before his capture (VC).

FRANCE: Weygand flies to the north to come to an agreement with the Belgian, British and French leaders for carrying out an offensive to cut off the Panzer spearhead. He orders the Belgians to cover the French and British on the east, while the rest attack southwards on the Arras-Cambrai front, with as strong a force as possible "in order to take advantage of the fact that the Panzers had not been joined by their major infantry units.... It would be best to include the maximum number of British divisions as they are in good condition. They must be relieved by French and Belgian troops which are not in good enough condition to attack. The Somme army, meanwhile, would attack from south to north.
In the evening, General Weygand is involved in an auto accident trying to coordinate attacks for both north and south of the German advance. The attacks will never take place.

The 7th Panzer Division suffers early in a British attack. The Matilda tanks are finally halted with a few of the German 88s.

MAP

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:RAF 263 Sqn., equipped with Gladiator, flies off HMS Furious into Bardufoss. This is the first stage of the Allied plan to recapture Narvik.
The French, Polish and British forces reach Rombaksfiord near Narvik in Norway.

HMS Ark Royal, HMS Furious and HMS Glorious are in company off Narvik, intent on successfully ferrying the 18 Gladiator IIs of 263 Squadron, RAF from HMS Furious to Bardufoss landing ground.

At 0300, Ark Royal sends off a fighter patrol of six Skuas to cover the actual landings. The first section of three from 800 Squadron (Lt. K. V. V. Spurway, RN) and the second section from 803 Squadron (Lt. J. M. Christian, RN). All ran into fog, rain, and low cloud, but no German aircraft. While the Spurway's section managed to return intact, Christian's section became separated; two returned independently to the ship, but S-Lt. Easton, RN was forced to land in Norway.

Meanwhile, HMS Furious began dispatching the RAF fighters in sections, each led by a Swordfish of 818 Squadron. The process ended up being both dangerous and extended, but eventually 16 of the precious fighters reached the field successfully. Tragically, one Swordfish and the two Gladiator's following it crashed into a fog covered mountain, killing one Gladiator pilot, PO Walter Phillip Richards, RAFVR, and badly injuring the other, FL R. S. Mills DFC, RAF as well as the entire Swordfish crew, S-Lt. J. A. Welply, RN (p), S-Lt. G. P. Simpson, RN (O), and LA H. H. Simpson, RN (TAG). Considering the atrocious weather, the limited losses were somewhat miraculous. It certainly eliminated the expected aerial opposition.

At 0730, Ark Royal was able to welcome home a lost chick when Swordfish 2K, missing since 13 May, returned from a week of solitude at Skaanland landing ground. The aircraft had successfully force-landed there after being fogged in while executing a reconnaissance mission. Thereafter, the crew had waited for the field to dry out enough for a successful takeoff while Ark was in range.

At 1120, one more fighter patrol was sent off to Narvik, but it was forced to return do to the low cloud base. By that point, Wells had received word that all the remaining Gladiators had successfully landed at Bardufoss, so flying was suspended for the day. The fleet then separated to return to Scapa Flow, Ark Royal, in dire need of replenishment of her ordnance stores sailing in one force, Furious and Glorious, the later still carrying the Hurricanes of 46 Squadron, RAF as Skaanland landing ground was not yet serviceable, proceeding in a second force.

Thus ended the second foray into Norwegian waters by the Fleet Air Arm.

During her two-week excursion off Norway, HMS Ark Royal's air group had flown some 250 sorties, some 60 percent of them by the three Skua Squadron's. 13 Aircraft had been lost, 8 Skuas and 5 Swordfish, though crew fatalities had been limited to two, the CO and Squadron Observer of 803 Squadron, Lt. W. P. Lucy and Lt. M. C. E. Hanson. For the next few days, the aerial defence of the troops ashore in northern Norway would rest solely in the hands of the Gladiator fighters of 263 Squadron.

GERMANY: The Wehrmacht High Command announced:-

‘The greatest offensive operation ever to take place in the west, is achieving its first strategic success following upon a series of major individual tactical successes. The French Ninth Army on the Meuse between Namur and Sedan, whose duty it was to establish and maintain communication between the powerful enemy strategic group in Belgium, and the Maginot Line south of Sedan, has been smashed and is breaking up. The Luftwaffe has played an outstanding role in this victory march of the German Army. By its complete command of the air, its destruction of river crossings and transport installations, and its assaults on march and transport columns, it has hastened the dissolution of the French Ninth Army and nipped in the bud all attempts made so far to threaten the flanks of our breakthrough.’

Berlin: Hitler grows impatient, complaining that the infantry is not following the armour closely enough.
Admiral Raeder mentions to Hitler the possibility of it becoming necessary to actually invade the British Isles.

U-569, U-570 laid down.

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Trout launched.

21 May 1941

May 21st, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)

FRANCE: The Germans request that foreign diplomatic agents in Paris evacuate by June 10.

GERMANY:

U-170 laid down.

U-129, U-402 commissioned.

U-156, U-208 launched.

GREECE: CRETE: Student decides to deploy all his remaining forces on the island to seize the airfield at Maleme. The wounded General Meindl is succeeded by Colonel Ramcke, who parachutes in today. At dawn Dr. Neumann, acting commander of I. Battalion Sturm regiment, overseas the storming of Hill 107 that dominate Maleme airfield. By 17:00 Maleme is in German hands and several Ju52s had already landed.

The first companies of the German 100th Mountain Infantry Regiment land at Maleme.

At 1800 on May 21st, Ramcke and 500 Fallschirmjäger reinforcements drop into Crete west of the Tavronitis and east of the airfield at Maleme. Upon landing, Ramcke is briefed on the current situation by Oberleutnant Göttsche, the Nachrichtenoffizier of Luftlande Sturmregiment Stab.

Oberst Meindl had been evacuated, many of the Sturm Regiment officers had been killed or wounded in the fighting. However, there was some good news. Maleme airfield had been captured but allied artillery spotters were dug in on the slopes of Hill 107, which overlooked the airfield and were directing fire on to the airstrip. One assault group was about to launch an attack on Hill 107 and the first of the JU52's carrying the badly needed Mountain Troops had just landed, although under heavy artillery fire. Once grouped, the Gebirgsjäger were ordered to head south and outflank the enemy positions. Two battle groups of Fallschirmjäger were ordered eastwards to try and break through to Group Centre at Chania.

In the evening of the 21st, Ramcke was informed that the assault on Hill 107 had failed. Hours later he was informed that the seaborne armada had been destroyed whilst en-route to Crete.

In the opening stages of the attack on Crete, cruiser minelayer HMS Abdiel lays mines off the west coast of Greece, which sink the Italian destroyer 'Mirabello' and two transports.

In the morning destroyer HMS Juno is sunk and cruiser HMS Ajax slightly damaged as they withdraw southwest of Crete. Juno is bombed by German aircraft and sunk at 34 35N, 26 34E. There are 97 survivors rescued by HMS Nubian, HMS KANDAHAR and HMS Kingston. (Alex Gordon)(108) Later that evening HMS Ajax, with HMS Dido, HMS Orion and four destroyers savage a German troop convoy of small craft. More such vessels are sunk over the next few days off the north coast.

In the opening stages of the attack on Crete, cruiser minelayer HMS Abdiel lays mines off the west coast of Greece, which sink the Italian destroyer 'Mirabello' and two transports. In the morning destroyer HMS Juno is sunk and cruiser HMS Ajax slightly damaged as they withdraw SW of Crete. Later that evening HMS Ajax, with Dido, Orion and four destroyers savage a German troop convoy of small craft. More such vessels are sunk over the next few days off the north coast.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: HMS Furious and HMS Ark Royal fly off 48 Hurricanes to Malta.

PALESTINE: Wavell orders General Maitland Wilson to prepare plans for invasion of Syria. Wilson will have 7 Aust Div (less one brigade), 5 Indian Brigade and 5,000 Free French. Altogether the initial invasion force will be about 34,000 – 18,000 Australians, 9,000 British, 5,000 Free French and 2,000 Indians. The Vichy commander General Dentz has about 35,000 troops comprising 20 battalions of French-led Senegalese, Algerian and Moroccan troops, plus four battalions of 6th French Foreign Legion Regiment. These 3,000 mixed French, Spanish, Germans, Russians and Irish will prove the best troops on the Vichy side and will frequently be shifted to threatened sectors. Crucially, General Dentz has 90 first-line tanks, whereas the British have none, and only limited Australian light armour. The allies have 70 aircraft versus 100 French aircraft. The French Dewoitine S520 will prove the equal of Commonwealth Hurricanes and Tomahawks. Both sides will make use of naval bombardment on the coastal axis, however the allies have a stronger naval force. Vice-Admiral King RN has three cruisers, six destroyers and a landing ship versus several French destroyers. (Michael Alexander)

A French defector, Colonel Collet, informs the Free French that the Vichy French army in Syria would not oppose arrival of German air units and would fight the Allies. They had already assumed defensive positions along the border.

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: Jan Smuts, South Africa's Prime Minister and war overlord, was today given a present for his 71st birthday: a field marshal's baton.

"Your promotion to the highest military rank will be warmly welcomed," King George cabled, "not only for your great and devoted services, but as a leader of a people whose fighting men have been playing a most brilliant part in the victorious campaign in East Africa."

The esteem in which Smuts is now held in Britain is not without its ironies; in the Boer War he had been the leader of a Boer kommando group against the British forces. Later, after the peace negotiations, he was widely regarded as the architect of South Africa's Dominion status.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Grunert recommends to Marshall that a conference be held at the Philippine Department Headquarters at Fort McKinley to develop plans for defence of the islands, this to be paid for from the $52 million in impounded “Sugar Excise Funds”. This was either ignored or not approved.

Marshall informs Stimson that MacArthur "> MacArthur would command when the Philippine forces were mobilized. (Marc Small)

CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Drummondville launched Montreal.

U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt promises six additional small aircraft carriers to Churchill. The first three should be available in three or four months.
(Jack McKillop adds): These were six Bobue/Prince William Class ships that the US Navy identified as BAVG's, i.e., British Aircraft Escort Vessels. They were:

BAVG-1: Ex SS Mormacland built by the Sun Shipbuilding Co and converted at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, Virginia. Transferred to the Royal Navy on 17 Nov 41, named HMS Archer, and returned to US Navy on 9 Jan 46. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 26 Feb 46 and she was sold.

BAVG-2: Ex SS Rio Hudson built by and converted by Bethlehem Steel on Staten Island, New York. Transferred to the Royal Navy on 2 Mar 42 and named HMS Avenger. The ship was torpedoed on 15 Nov 42 and sunk at Gibraltar. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 16 May 44.

BAVG-3: Ex SS Rio Parana built by and converted at Atlantic Basin Iron Works. Transferred to Roayl Navy on 5 May 42; returned to US Navy 9 Apr 45 and loaned to France the same day as Dixmude. Returned to US Navy 10 Jun 66 and sunk as a target.

BAVG-4: Ex SS Rio de la Plata built by Sun Shipbuilding and converted at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. Transferred to Royal Navy Sep 41 and named HMS Charger. Returned to US Navy 4 Oct 41, reclassified AVG-30 and commissioned as USS Charger, 3 Mar 42. She served mainly as a training ship on the East Coast until struck from the Navy List in Mar 46.

BAVG-5: Ex SS Rio de Janeiro built by and converted at Tietjen and Lang Dry Dock Co. Transferred to the Royal Navy and named HMS Dasher. She was destroyed on 27 Mar 43 by an internal explosion and her name was struck from the Navy List on 2 Jun 45.

BAVG-6: Bogue Class ship built by Willamette Iron. Transferred to the Royal Navy 31 Jan 43 and named HMS Tracker. Returned to US Navy 29 Nov 45 and her name was struck from the Navy List on 21 Jan 46.

The ninth Lake-class US Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Shoshone (CGC-50), is transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Languard.

The USN begins work on a liquid-fuelled assisted takeoff unit for use on patrol planes which became known as jet assisted takeoff (JATO).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German U-boat, U-69 (Jost Metzler) stops and sinks the US merchant freighter SS Robin Moore with a torpedo and gunfire 700 miles west of Liberia in Africa. The Robin Moore was enroute to South Africa and Mozambique and U.S. flags are prominently painted on her sides. All 46 people aboard, including eight passengers, are uninjured and board lifeboats. President Roosevelt describes this as "an act of intimidation" to which "we do not propose to yield".

A few hours later U-69 spotted British freighter TEWKESBURY (Master Captain Pryse on a passage from the River Plate to the U.K.), and after 4 hours of getting into position, fired one torpedo that hit the ship. TEWKESBURY was abandoned as she was sinking, and when the two boats were clear, U-69 fire 25 HE shells into her superstructure and hull, but she would not sink fast enough, so U-69 turned stern on and fired a torpedo from her stern tube. TEWKESBURY broke in half and sank 7 minutes later. However TEWKESBURY managed to broadcast SOS and her position several times, thereby alerting the Admiralty that there was a U-boat further west and south than any U-boat had previously ventured. U-69 continued on her secret mission to mine Takoradi and Lagos, but with her position compromised, she radioed back in plain text (she'd passed over her ENIGMA machine and code books earlier because of the risk of capture) to Doenitz that she had sunk ROBIN MOOR too. After long lifeboat voyages, in which the two boats from TEWKESBURY got separated, both boats were independently picked up. Captain Pryse's boat was spotted by (US) EXHIBITOR after five and a half days. Chief Officer Howlett's boat was spotted by (US) ANTINOUS after thirteen and a half days. All crew of the TEWKESBURY survived. Both boats had to fight off shark attacks, and the attentions of other curious creatures. Howlett eventually received an MBE for his leadership, whilst Bosun Ramirez received a King's Commendation for Brave Conduct for grappling a shark that mounted the sternsheets of his lifeboat, thereby saving the occupants. (Bernard de Neumann )

U-69 on her long mission, having handed over her confidential books and Enigma coding machine when she refuelled from Egerland on 19 May, encountered US merchantman Robin Moor. Having ordered her to stop and then investigating her manifest and cargo, Metzler (commander of U-69) decided to sink her. The crew and passengers were ordered into the boats, and then U-69 sank her with one torpedo and several rounds of HE. Robin Moor was the first US merchant ship sunk by hostile action in the Second World War. (Sunk in position 6.10N, 25.40W) U-69 then set off again heading eastwards, and in the late afternoon encountered the British merchantman Tewkesbury which was identified as British by her stern-mounted deck-gun and, after sunset, lack of navigation lights. U-69 took almost 4 hours to get into position because of the zigzag course Tewkesbury was steering, and then fired one torpedo from just over 1 km that hit Tewkesbury in number 2 hold. The ship, which got away, and received an acknowledgement, her position and type of attacker, was abandoned but did not sink. After about 15 minutes U-69 began firing HE shells at her from her deck gun hitting the superstructure and causing a fire. Tewkesbury still did not sink. 36 minutes after beginning the shelling U-69 turned stern on and from a range of 625 meters fired one torpedo from her stern tube at the stationary ship. Tewkesbury broke in two and sank quickly with the bow section first in position 5.49N, 24.09W. Her position revealed, and with no coding apparatus, U-69 radioed back to BdU in plain text his reports of the sinkings. One of Robin Moor's boats was picked up by a British merchantman on 3 June and the other on 8 June by a Brazilian merchantman. One of Tewkesbury's boats was picked up by US merchantman Exhibitor on 26 May and the other by US merchantman Knoxville City on 2 June. All crew and passengers from both ships survived, but the Chief Engineer of Tewkesbury died from the injuries he sustained a few months later.

In the evening the German ships BISMARK and Prinz Eugen are sighted in a fjord south of Bergen. two of the Home Fleet's capital ships, HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales (the latter new and still working up), sail from Scapa Flow towards Iceland to support the cruisers on Northern Patrol.

The Elusa was in Convoy HX-126 which had already lost seven ships the day before. Her crew witnessed the explosion of the British Security, which was also carrying gasoline and was sunk with all hands by U-556. U-93 had tried for hours to come into a position from which an attack was possible, and when at last a torpedo was launched it missed the target, a tanker. In a second attack at 0522 two single torpedoes were launched on a freighter and on a tanker, but missed the targets again. However, the torpedo aimed at the freighter hit the Elusa at 0529. Immediately after the tanker was hit, the cargo caught fire, mainly in the rear section of the vessel where the crew quarters were located. According to regulations they had stopped the main engines. Some crewmembers at the rear of the ship did not wait for orders to abandon ship. They immediately lowered the lifeboats and left the vessel, which saved their lives. Amidships some Chinese crewmembers also lowered a lifeboat without orders, and rowed away before the other crewmembers could enter it. Remembering the fate of the British Security, doubtless they wished to waste no time distancing themselves from their explosive cargo. The other crewmembers succeeded in lowering another lifeboat, in which all the remaining crewmembers found a place. The master coolly remained on board the Elusa, throwing the classified documents overboard and succeeding in levelling the vessel, which was listing to starboard. Thirty minutes after the hit a British destroyer arrived, rescued the crewmembers in the three lifeboats and took the master aboard. The destroyer stayed near the burning ship during the night. Soon it became clear that the first engineer was missing (caught by surprise by the fire). Moreover two Chinese, the third cook and a donkeyman drowned when they tried to get into the lifeboats. In the next morning the master, the first mate and the second engineer reboarded the Elusa and they saw how devastating the fire had been, but they also discovered that the boilers of the vessel were still in good shape. But fact was that the vessel was not able to sail under its own power and the distance to the nearest tug was too big, so they left the Elusa who was still afloat (She sank later in 58.30N/38.10W). The 49 survivors were disembarked at Reykjavik on 25 May.

At 0512, the Marconi, dispersed from Convoy OB-322, was hit by one torpedo from U-98 and sank after 33 minutes SSE of Cape Farewell. The ship had been missed by the same U-boat in grid AJ 3455 at 1836 on 20 May. 19 crewmembers and three gunners were lost. The master, 54 crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by USCGC General Greene and landed at St John's.

21 May 1942

May 21st, 1942 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Rescue tug HMS Bold launched.

Minesweeper HMS Ardrossan commissioned.

Submarine HMS Unshaken commissioned.

NETHERLANDS: The second "Liro" (Lippmann, Rosenthal and Co. Bank) Decree greatly expands the scope of the registration and confiscation efforts aimed at Dutch Jews. They are now forced to declare all of their possessions, from the contents of safety deposit boxes to their dinnerware, and to surrender their valuable objects and collections to Liro. Jews are required to hand over their teaspoons, but may retain their dental fillings made of precious metal (209 p.176). (Peter Kilduff, Jennifer L. Foray)

GERMANY: East Prussia: Rastenburg: Hitler postpones the planned invasion of Malta until after Egypt has been conquered by the Axis.

U-844 laid down.

U-197 launched.

U-623 commissioned.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In the opening stages of the attack on Crete, cruiser minelayer HMS Abdiel lays mines off the west coast of Greece, which sink the Italian destroyer 'Mirabello' and two transports. In the morning destroyer HMS Juno is sunk and cruiser HMS Ajax slightly damaged as they withdraw SW of Crete. Later that evening HMS Ajax, with Dido, Orion and four destroyers savage a German troop convoy of small craft. More such vessels are sunk over the next few days off the north coast.

CANADA: First arrivals at camps at Kaslo, New Denver, Slocan, Sandon and Tashme, British Columbia.

Minesweeper HMCS St Boniface laid down Port Arthur, Ontario.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Tortilla Flat" is released in the U.S. Based on John Steinbeck's novel, the film is directed by Victor Fleming and stars Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamar, John Garfield, Frank Morgan, Akim Tamiroff, Sheldon Leonard, Donald Meek and John Qualen. The plot involves unsavoury characters in a California fishing community. Frank Morgan was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award.

German submarine U-588 sinks an unarmed U.S. merchant freighter off the coast of New Jersey. The Germans provide the Americans with rum and cigarettes and help righting a capsized lifeboat.

Submarine USS Pargo laid down.

Minesweeper USS Broadbill launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0348, the unescorted Clare was hit by one torpedo from U-103 about 40 miles off the coast of Cuba. The torpedo struck at the foremast between cargo holds #1 and #2, about six feet below the waterline. The blast created a hole about 15 feet in diameter, demolished the entire front of the ship and scattered the cargo below the above decks. The vessel lost way rapidly and sank 30 minutes later, listing to port about 25° and then going down quickly by the head. The radio operator sent an SOS four times but received no answer and the armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and two .30cal guns) had no chance to fire at the U-boat because it remained submerged. The entire complement of eight officers, 25 crewmen and seven armed guards abandoned ship in one lifeboat and three rafts. The boat reached Cape Corrientes, Cuba in eight hours and a Cuban gunboat picked up the men on the rafts.

ASW trawler HMS Retriever escorted Convoy PQ-16 from 21 May 1942 until 23 May 1942.

Destroyer ORP Garland joins an escort of Convoy PQ-16 from Iceland to Murmansk. From May 25th to May 28, ORP Garland participated in defense of the convoy against numerous attacks of the Luftwaffe. On May 28, she was released from escort duty and sent to Murmansk due to damage and loss of 22 dead and 46 wounded seamen and officers.

About 0415, U-103 fired from about 400 yards a star shell across the bow of the unescorted Elizabeth, which was en route on a zigzag course at 11 knots about 30 miles south of Cape Corrientes, Cuba. Three minutes later a shell struck the stack. At 04.35 hours, one torpedo was fired that struck the port side between the #3 hatch and the engine room. The explosion killed the three men on watch below and destroyed the main steam line, the condenser, the shelter deck and the radio shack. The ship quickly stopped and the radio operator sent distress signals and received acknowledgments. The armed guards fired two shots from the after 4in gun (the ship was also armed with two .30cal guns) at the U-boat but missed. Ten minutes later the complement of eight officers, 27 men and seven armed guards abandoned ship in one lifeboat and one raft. After another ten minutes the vessel sank stern first. Three men on the raft were never seen again. 21 hours after the attack the remaining 36 men landed on the western Cuban coast, halfway between Cape San Antonio and Cape Corrientes. The master Walter Gwynn Hudgins had already experienced a sinking, when his former ship, the Barbara, was sunk by U-126 (Bauer) 7 Mar 1942.

Steam tanker Faja de Oro sunk by U-106 at 23.30N, 84.24W.

At 1829, the unescorted Presidente Trujillo was torpedoed by U-156 and sank within four minutes. The ship was armed with one 75mm gun and three AA machine guns.

At 0323 and 0324, U-159 fired four torpedoes at a group of five ships in Convoy OS-28 about 140 miles ESE of Santa Maria, Azores and heard four detonations and saw a column of fire. Three ships were seen sinking, one of them burning. One of the damaged ships was then hit by another torpedo from a second spread of two torpedoes at 0325. However, only the New Brunswick and Montenol were hit and sunk. Montenol was badly damaged, abandoned and later scuttled by gunfire by HMS Woodruff. Three crewmembers were lost. The master, 52 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by HMS Wellington and landed at Freetown. Two crewmembers and one gunner from New Brunswick were lost. The master, 53 crewmembers and five gunners were rescued. Twelve survivors rescued by HMS Totland, ten by HMS Wellington, the master and six crewmembers by HMS Weston, five by HMS Woodruff and 25 survivors by the British merchant Inchanga and landed at Freetown.

SS Torondoc sunk by U-69 at 14.45N, 62.15W.

SS Troisdoc (1,925 GRT) Canadian Paterson Steamships bulk laker was sunk west of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea, in position 18.15N, 079.20W, by U-588, Kptlt Viktor Vogel, CO. Troisdoc was on route from St Thomas, to Georgetown, British Guyana, in ballast for a load of bauxite. All 19 crewmembers were able to abandon the ship safely into lifeboats. The submarine surfaced and approached the lifeboats and inquired as to the ship's name, its destination and cargo before departing. The crew was rescued five hours later by the Flower-class corvette HMS Clarkia.

The Canadian Paterson Steamships bulk laker Torondoc (1,927 GRT) was sunk off Martinique in the Caribbean Sea in position 14.45N, 062.15W, by U-69, KptLt. Ulrich Gräf, CO. She was on route from Trinidad for St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, with a load of bauxite for transhipment. All of her 23 crewmembers were lost.

21 May 1943

May 21st, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission Number 60: 98 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched against the U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany; 77 hit the target at 1244-1245 hours local and claim 47-5-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; seven B-17s are lost. A second, smaller strike of 63 B-17s is dispatched against the U-boat yards at Emden, Germany; 46 bomb the target at 1244-1246 hours local and claim 31-6-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; five B-17s are lost. At Wilhelmshaven German fighters are reported firing rockets.

The VIII Fighter Command dispatches 105 P-47 Thunderbolts on a fighter sweep in the Ostend/Ghent area; they claim 0-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-47s are lost.

Submarine HMS Utsira laid down.

Rescue tug HMS Hesperia commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Ready commissioned.

GERMANY:

U-851 commissioned.

U-347 launched.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The French naval Squadron at Alexandria, Egypt under Rear Admiral Rene Emile Godfroy decides to join the Allies.

Submarine HMS Sickle attacked U-755 but missed. Sickle then torpedoed and sank U-303 south of Toulon.

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Japanese announce the death of Admiral Yamamoto, shot down last month over Bougainville; the US has remained silent until to avoid revealing that it intercepted a Japanese coded message giving details of his itinerary.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The USAAF's Eleventh Air Force dispatches ten B-24 Liberators, 12 B-25 Mitchells, and 24 P-38 Lightnings to Attu but only three missions, totalling six P-38s and a B-24, are able to bomb and strafe troops and installations. Four other missions, after vainly waiting for a break in the overcast over Attu, bomb the Kiska Island submarine base through the overcast.

The Japanese Navy issues Directive No. 246 ordering that "at the last possible moment, every effort will be made to evacuate the Attu Island defence Force, or even part of it, by submarines." Eight submarines are detailed to make supply and evacuation runs.

CANADA: Fairmile B Type ordered - HMC ML 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129.

U.S.A.: Washington: The Allies agree to stage a cross-channel landing by 1 May 1944.

The U.S. 32d Infantry Regiment takes Point Able, a high point on Prenoesgast Ridge.

The motion picture "The Ox-Bow Incident" is released in the U.S. Based on Walter Van Tilburg Clark's novel, this western drama is directed by William A. Wellman and stars Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell. The plot concerns a lynch mob taking the law in their own hands despite protests from level-headed citizens. The film is nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award but loses out to "Casablanca."

Frigate USS Stoddert laid down.

Minesweeper USS Impeccable launched.

Destroyer USS Black commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Hopping commissioned.

Escort carrier HMS Puncher (ex-USS Willapa) laid down Tacoma, Washington.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: During support/assistance by U-459 the boat lost one man overboard from U-129 briefly from the rubber dinghy, but he was soon rescued. (Other sources say that the man was missing).

U-381 listed as missing south of Greenland. There is no explanation for its loss. 47 dead (all hands lost).

21 May 1944

May 21st, 1944 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine KNM Utsira (ex-HMS Variance) laid down.

EUROPE: Allied air forces launch Operation Chattanooga, the systematic destruction by bombardment of enemy rail targets.

The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 360: 150 bombers and 48 fighters hit V-weapon sites in France without loss; 25 of 40 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques; and 99 of 110 B-24s hit Siracourt. Escort is provided by 48 P-47 s without loss.

617 fighters are dispatched on strafing missions to attack rail stock in Germany; 27 fighters are lost; 91 of 225 locomotives attacked are destroyed; P-47s also dive bomb rail bridges in W Germany; and 1 P-51 pilot claims 25 cows killed; participating are:

- 145 P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 6-0-3 on the ground; eight P-38s are lost,.

- 139 P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; four P-47s are lost.

- 333 P-51 Mustangs claim 17-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 77-0-64 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost.

The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches 50 B-26 Marauders to bomb airfields at Abbeville/Drucat. 600+ P-47s and P-51s attack railroad rolling stock.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-453 sunk in the Ionian Sea NE of Cape Spartivento, in position 38.13N, 16.30E, by depth charges from destroyers HMS Termagant, Tenacious and Liddesdale.

NEW GUINEA: The Airfield at Arare is reopened by US engineers.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The accidental explosion of mortar ammunition being loaded in the tank landing ship USS LST-353 at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, destroys this ship and five other LSTs; three tank landing craft (LCTs); 17 tracked landing vehicles (LVTs); and eight 155 mm guns. Two other LSTs are damaged.

U.S.A.:

Submarine USS Boarfish launched.

Minesweepers USS Hazard, Device and Diploma launched.

Destroyers USS Hank and John W Weeks launched.

Destroyer escort USS Vammen launched.

Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-176 was commissioned. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area including Tacloban, Hollandia, etc.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-995 attacked by an RCAF 4 OTU Sqn Sunderland wounding 5 men.

21 May 1945

May 21st, 1945 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Blackpool: The Labour Party votes to withdraw its support from the coalition government.

Corvette HMCS Stellarton and frigate HMCS Sea Cliff departed Londonderry to join Convoy ON-304.

HMC MTB 727 and 797 paid off.

Minesweeper HMS Michael commissioned.

GERMANY: Belsen: By order of the British, the last remaining hut of the concentration camp is burnt to the ground.

Göring is transferred from Augsburg PoW camp to the Palace Hotel at Mondorf, where he joins other senior Nazis awaiting interrogation.

SOUTH AFRICA: Frigate SAS Transvaal commissioned.

SYRIA: Damascus: Fresh violence in the Middle East seems likely in the wake of decisions today by Syria and Lebanon to break off negotiations with France. Arab nationalists are attempting to assert their claims for independence, but France has so far seemed to determined to maintain its hold on the Levant through indirect rule. In 1941, when the Free French liberated Syria and Lebanon from Vichy, they offered independence. Since then limited self-government, with France controlling defence and external affairs, has been permitted, but attempts to attain full independence have been countered by French imperial troops.

JAPAN: The US III Corps pushes hard on Okinawa. The Japanese begin to pull back from the Shuri Line.

Bonin Islands; Iwo Jima: Three United States' serviceman are killed and eleven injured when two Japanese bombers raid the island at night. Both aircraft are shot down by flak.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Dyess commissioned.

Destroyer USS William C Lawe launched.

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