Monday, March 21, 2011

Day 569 March 22, 1941

At 3 AM, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are met by destroyers from Brest and arrive safely in port at 7 AM. They have covered 17,800 miles in 60 days, sinking or capturing 22 merchant vessels (total 113,690 tons). Royal Navy sends destroyers HMS Kelly, Kipling, Kashmir and Jackal to intercept but it is too late.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea. British and Indian troops continue to hold Fort Dologorodoc despite fierce Italian counterattacks and shelling from across the Dongolaas Gorge. British make plans to remove Italians from positions overlooking the roadblock to allow sappers and miners to reopen the road.

Mid-Atlantic, halfway between Sierra Leone and Brazil, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran stops empty British tanker Agnita with shellfire. After the crew abandons ship and is taken prisoner, Kormoran requires demolition charges plus 9 105mm shells and finally a torpedo to sink the empty ship.

No comments:

Post a Comment