Battle of the Atlantic

• The British steamer Rydal Force (1101t) sinks on a mine south of Gulf Light Vessel with the loss of 11 crewmen. This is a result of a German minelaying operation on the 21st. 2 survivors are rescued by the British minesweeping trawler Sarah Hide.
• The British trawler Leonard (217t) is sunk in the North Sea by German bombing.
• The German steamer Cronshagen (1787t) is sunk and the Latvian steamer Gundega (3583t) is badly damaged on mines off Drogden near Copenhagen.
• The German armed merchant cruiser Orion sinks the British steamer Haxby (5207t) in the South Atlantic with the loss of 17 crewmen.

Norway

The German forces in the Osterdal reach Rendal. In the north Narvik is bombarded in an attempt to bring about the surrender of the German garrison. If this looks likely, a landing is to be made. The battleship Warspite, a heavy cruiser and 3 light cruisers are used but despite this concentration of force the commanding general decides that the naval guns will not have sufficiently disrupted the German positions because of their unsuitable, flat trajectory of fire. The naval commander is Adm of the Fleet Lord Cork. This officer has been brought back to active service at Churchill's request and his position is somewhat anomolous. He is senior in the service to even the commander of the Home Fleet but is using ships from that fleet for his mission. His seniority poses problems in his relations with the military commanders who are at times reluctant to insist on measures which their military knowledge makes them believe essential. Churchill and his political colleagues have done little to clarify this situation.

3 French destroyers engage German patrol boats in the Skagerrak and repel air attacks.

Germany assumes administrative control over occupied Norway after King Haakon refuses to negotiate with the invasion force. Hitler decrees the action 'in order to safeguard public order and public life in those parts of Norwegian territory which are under the protection of German troops...'.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet at Lahaina Roads, April 24, 1940. The Japanese had hoped to catch some of the US fleet in the deep water anchorage at Lahaina Roads, but were disappointed to find none there on December 7, 1941

The U.S. Pacific Fleet