Battle of the Atlantic

• The battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia in company with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen for an Atlantic cruise under the command of Adm Günther Lütjens. The operation is called Rheinübung, 'Rhine Crossing'. Captain aboard the Bismarck is Capt Ernst Lindemann, and of the Prinz Eugen, Capt Helmuth Brinkmann. The giant battleship, 50,900 tons fully laden, is armed with 8 380-mm guns and 19 152-mm guns and is capable of a speed of 20 knots. She is on her first mission. Laid down in 1936, launched in 1939 and ready for service in the first months of 1941, the Bismarck is the very best that German shipyards can produce, which is why the ship's movements are so carefully watched by the British Admiralty, both by air reconnaissance and by reports sent in by spies.
  

  Bismarck, still wearing her Baltic camouflage, sails for Norway.

  German Battleship Bismarck

  The news that the ship is leaving the harbor of Gdynia at once puts the British authorities on the alert. Their first move is to intensify their aerial reconnaissance so as to keep the dreaded enemy ship under observation. Various German supply ships are already at sea.
• U-107 sinks the British steamer Piako (8286t) 130 miles southwest of Freetown with the loss of 10 of her crew. 65 survivors are rescued by the British sloop Bridgewater.

Iraq

After outflanking an Iraqi blocking force the British relieving group, Kingcol, reaches Habbaniyah airfield.

Mediterranean

The British submarine Tetrarch sinks the Italian steamer Giovinezza (2362t) off Benghazi.

Syria

Gen Dentz broadcasts, warning his troops in Vichy-controlled Syria to meet force with force. Airfields in Syria are bombed again by the RAF.

Yugoslavia, Politics

A Croat delegation arrives in Rome to offer the crown to the Duke of Spoleto. He is proclaimed King Tomislav II of Croatia. He will relinquish his throne in 1943.