Battle of the Atlantic

Around noon the German battleship Bismarck and her consort, Prinz Eugen, enter the Denmark Strait after rounding Iceland to the north. The minefields that the British have laid along the coast of Iceland, of which the Kriegsmarine is well aware, compel the 2 warships to pass well out to sea, right in the middle of the channel. The sky is unusually clear.

At 7:22pm the 2 German ships are sighted by the patrolling British cruiser Suffolk. Word is immeadiately sent to the other 3 ships in the British formation.

An hour later the Norfolk also sights the German ships 6 miles away and signals their positions to the flagship. Within a few minutes the Bismarck approaches and opens fire on the Norfolk. The British cruiser manages to escape from the Bismarck's broadsides.

At this point Adm Lütjens, commanding the German ships, realizes that every little change of coarse and speed by his ships is observed and signaled to the British flagship; he may wonder whether he ought to abandon the plan of reaching the Atlantic and return to Germany. He decides, however, to press on.

Taken from the Prince of Wales, this is one of the last known photographs of the Hood before her loss on 24 May 1941.

The Hood from the Prince of Wales

At midnight, Vice-Adm Holland calculated from the Suffolk's signals that the Hood is only 120 miles from the Bismarck. The information flow from the 2 cruisers, however, stops as they have lost contact with the German ships.

U-38 sinks the Dutch steamer Berhala (6622t) from dispersed Convoy OB-381 250 miles from Freetown with the loss of 3 crewmen. 59 survivors are picked up by a British warship and taken to Freetown.

Crete

The Germans continue to exploit their hold on Maleme, sending in artillery units and fighter aircraft. Hurricane aircraft equipped with supplementary fuel tanks attack Maleme airfield. Some manage to land at Haraklion, under fire by the Germans, but not for long. Later in the day the first German fighters succeed in landing at Maleme.

To alert their own airforce to their presence, soldiers spread the Swastika across boats used by the SS troops to cross the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, on 23 May 1941. (AP Photo)

Soldiers Spread the Swastika across Boats

Gen Ringel, in command of the German operations in Crete, receives reinforcements of mountain troops and decides to clean up the whole western part of the island. The British have formed a defensive line running from the coast to the hills, in the area near Galatas. Ringel decides to split the forces in the Maleme sector in two: the paratroops are to attack along the northern coastal road while the mountain infantry move south into the rough interior to take the British in the flank. The same evening the 'western group' joins up with the 3rd Parachute Regt at Canea.

Mediterranean

Stukas attack and sink the destroyers Kashmir and Kelly near Crete. Lord Louis Mountbatten is aboard Kelly. In Suda Bay Me-109s destroy 5 British MTBs.