Battle of the Atlantic

• At 3:16am the Suffolk loses contact with the Bismarck as the German ship seems to have evaporated. At 8:10am Swordfish take off again from the Victorious in search of the enemy ship, but it's of no use. The German ship cannot be located. For much of the day the British commanders are in the dark as to Bismarck's position but Lütjens breaks radio silence to report and is picked up on the British direction-finding equipment. This information is passed to Adm Tovey but is at first misinterpreted, perhaps because the radio bearings are plotted on an unsuitable navigation chart. Tovey now has King George V and Rodney, but both are short of fuel and by this mistake they lose their chance of meeting the Bismarck unless her speed can be reduced. During the operation the British have been most worried to protect the convoy lanes and block the Bismarck's return home by the northern routes. The best dispositions to prevent the Bismarck reaching Brest have not yet been made.
• U-103 sinks the Dutch steamer Wangi Wangi (7789t) 90 miles south of Monrovia, Liberia with the loss of 1 crewman. 92 survivors make it to Liberia in lifeboats the next day.
• The German steamer Silvia (1049t) is sunk by bombing near Den Helder

Crete

The German forces now really go over to the offensive. Their objectives are Alikianou, from which they can advance and cut the main road to the island south of Suda Bay, Galatas, southwest of Canea, and the village of Carceri, near Galatas, In the evening they take the position at Galatas, despite British counterattacks with the bayonet; they lose it for a while but re-take it after savage fighting. The fighting is very intense and the town changes hands several times during the next two days. Inland they fail to reach their objective at Alikianou, tenaciously defended by the Greek 8th Regt.

British Soldiers Surrender to German Paratroopers

King George of the Helenes and his ministers escape from Crete to Egypt.

Mediterranean

• During the night 3 groups of Italian 'frogmen', under the command of Lt Decio Cataliani, succeed in entering Gibraltar harbor in their E-Boats, but their operation fails as a result of the defective working of the 'pigs' or low velocity torpedoes.
• The British tanker Helka (3471t) and the British sloop Grimsby are sunk by Italian bombers about 40 miles northeast of Tobruk. 2 crewmen are lost on the tanker and 11 on the sloop.
• The Greek steamer Leros (846t) is sunk by German bombing at Heraklion.