Thursday, January 27, 2011

Day 516 January 28, 1941

At 6.49 AM, British cruiser HMS Naiad (part of Admiral Tovey’s task force searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) spots the German warships in the Iceland-Faroes passage, heading for the Atlantic. Under strict orders not to engage superior British forces, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau turn around to go North of Iceland through the Denmark Strait.

Operation Compass. Italian artillery on top of Wadi Derna keep Australian 6th Division pinned down outside the coastal town of Derna, 100 miles Northwest of Tobruk.

250 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Luigi Torelli sinks British SS Urla (all 42 crew rescued). In the same area, British corvette HMS Bluebell and destroyer HMS Westcott collide (HMS Bluebell under repair at Liverpool until March 4).

Off Cape Bon, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upholder damages German steamer Duisberg, which is towed into Tripoli and repaired. Italian torpedo boat Orione, carrying survivors from steamer Ingo, stands by.

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