In the Month of May 1941

US NAVY

1 May 1941, Thursday

UNITED STATES—Office of Public Relations is established as an independent office directly under the Secretary of the Navy, "to serve as liaison between the people and their Navy and, within the limits of military security, to keep the public informed of the activities of the Navy."

2 May 1941, Friday

ATLANTIC—Admiral Ernest J. King breaks his flag as Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet in heavy cruiser Augusta (CA‑31), at Newport, Rhode Island.

            Fifth "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutter, authorized for transfer on 10 April under Lend‑Lease, is turned over to the Royal Navy. Chelan becomes HMS Lulworth (see 12, 20 and 30 May).

6 May 1941, Tuesday

CANAL ZONE—Carrier Yorktown (CV‑5) suffers slight damage (a long dent and scraped paint) when the ship's prominent "knuckle” rubs one side of Miraflores Lock, during night transit of the Panama Canal.

9 May 1941, Friday

ATLANTIC—TG 1, comprising carrier Ranger (CV‑4) (VF 41, VS 41 and VS 42), heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA‑44), and destroyers Sampson (DD‑394) and Eberle (DD‑430), sets out from Bermuda to begin a 4,675‑mile neutrality patrol that will conclude at Bermuda on 23 May.

            German submarine U‑110 is damaged in action with British destroyers HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway [ex‑ U.S. destroyer Hunt (DD‑191)] and corvette HMS Aubretia. Boarding party from Bulldog recovers a veritable cryptanalysis windfall, including an intact enigma machine and important current codes. Broadway is damaged in the encounter by collision with U‑110, which sinks the following day. U‑110's commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Fritz‑Julius Lemp (who had been in command of U‑30 when she had sunk British liner Athenia on 3 September 1939) is not among the survivors rescued.

12 May 1941, Monday

UNITED STATES—Ambassador Nomura Kichasaburo presents Secretary of State Cordell Hull with Japanese proposal for establishment of "just peace in the Pacific."

            Three "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutters, authorized for transfer on 10 April under Lend‑Lease, are turned over to the Royal Navy. Champlain becomes HMS Sennen; Sebago becomes HMS Walney, and Cayuga becomes HMS Totland (see 20 and 30 May).

US MARINE CORPS

UNITED STATES—Ambassador Nomura of Japan presents Secretary of State Cordell Hull with Japanese proposal for a “just peace in the Pacific. ”

14 May 1941, Wednesday

US NAVY

PACIFIC— Fleet Exercise No. 1 commences off coast of California. The maneuvers involve a landing on San Clemente Island and a bombardment exercise in which heavy cruisers and destroyers bombard shore targets (see 18 June).

15 May 1941, Thursday

UNITED STATES—During paratroop training at Camp Kearney, California, Second Lieutenant Walter A. Osipoff, USMC, becomes fouled in static cable and ripcord lines and dangles 100 feet to the rear of the R2D from which he was to jump. Efforts to bring him into the plane are unsuccessful. Seeing his plight, Lieutenant W.W. Lowery and Naval Aviation Pilot J. R. McCants take off in an SOC and effect a daring mid‑air rescue.

18 May 1941, Sunday

UNITED STATES—Auxiliary Bear (AG‑29) reaches Boston, Massachusetts, winding up her work in support of the U.S. Antarctic Service’s 1939‑1941 expedition.

20 May 1941, Tuesday

MEDITERRANEAN—German airborne troops invade Crete.

ATLANTIC—TG 2 (Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen), comprising carrier Wasp (CV‑7) (VF 71, VS 72, VMB 2), heavy cruiser

            Quincy (CA‑39) and destroyers Livermore (DD‑429) and Kearny (DD‑432), departs Bermuda to conduct a 4,170‑mileneutrality patrol that will conclude at Bermuda on 3 June.

            Ninth "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutter, authorized for transfer on 10 April under Lend‑Lease, is turned over to the Royal Navy: Shoshone becomes HMS Languard (see 30 May).

21 May 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—Unarmed U.S. freighter Robin Moor, en route to South Africa and Mozambique, is stopped and sunk by German submarine U‑69 (torpedo and gunfire) about 700 miles off the west coast of Africa, 06°10'N, 25°40'W. Robin Moor‑‑her nationality prominently reflected in the U.S. flags painted on her sides‑‑is the first American merchantman sunk by a U‑boat in World War II. There are no casualties among her 38‑man crew and eight passengers, and U‑69's commanding officer, Kapitanleutnant Jost Metzler, provides the Americans with rations (see 3, 8 and 20 June).

24 May 1941, Saturday

UNITED STATES—Construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for the Navy is authorized.

ATLANTIC—Battle of Denmark Strait: British battle cruiser HMS Hood is sunk, and battleship HMS Prince of Wales damaged, by German battleship Bismarck (which is damaged by a shell from the latter capital ship) and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. British Home Fleet elements at sea then pursue the German battleship; carrier HMS Victorious launches FAA Swordfish that in the prevailing poor visibility conditions almost attack Coast Guard cutter Modoc, which is in the vicinity searching for survivors of ships sunk in convoy HX German submarine torpedoes had wreaked great destruction against the ships in HX 126: U‑94 had sunk British steamers Harpagus and Norman Monarch and Norwegian motor tanker John P. Pederson; U‑556 had damaged British motor tanker San Felix and sunk British motor tanker British Security and motorship Darlington Court; U‑111 had sunk British steamer Cockaponset; U‑98had sunk British steamer Rothermere; U‑109 had sunk British steamer Marconi; and U‑93 had sunk Dutch motor tanker Elusa. Bismarck, although damaged by an aerial torpedo, eludes her shadowers and disappears, while detaching her consort, Prinz Eugen, to conduct independent operations. One of the pursuing ships is British battleship HMS Rodney, en route to the United States for a refit at Boston when she is rerouted to participate in the hunt for Bismarck; on board is U.S. Naval Observer Lieutenant Commander Joseph H. Wellings, who witnesses the ensuing battle from that unique vantage point.

            PBYs (VP 52) operating from seaplane tender Albemarle (AV‑5) at Argentia, Newfoundland, and braving foul weather and dangerous flying conditions, search for Bismarck in the western Atlantic.

25 May 1941, Sunday

UNITED STATES—State Department informs German Chargé d'Affaires Hans Thomsen that an investigation into the incident concerning the tearing down of the Reich flag over the German consulate in San Francisco, California, on 18 January has yielded the fact that the individual involved was a U.S. Navy enlisted man who was tried and found guilty by court‑martial for the offense, and was serving "an appropriate sentence."

26 May 1941, Monday

ATLANTIC—Naval observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR, flying an RAF Catalina (Coastal Command No. 209 Squadron) sights Bismarck. British fleet units alter course accordingly and converge on the lone German capital ship. The same day, another naval observer, Lieutenant James E. Johnson, flying another RAF Catalina (Coastal Command No. 240Squadron) maintains contact with the German battleship as well.

27 May 1941, Tuesday

ATLANTIC—President issues proclamation that an unlimited national emergency confronts the United States, requiring that American military, naval, air, and civilian defenses be readied to repel any and all acts or threats of aggression directed toward any part of the Western Hemisphere. In a separate address to the nation to acquaint it with "cold, hard fact" that the conflict in Europe has developed into a "world war for world‑domination." The President announces that the Atlantic Neutrality Patrol has been extended and that the Atlantic Fleet, greatly increased during the past year, is being constantly built up. He also mentions the dangers posed by "Nazi battleships of great striking‑power" that pose “an actual military danger to the Americas," undoubtedly a reference to the recent operations of German battleship Bismarck. The President states the national policy as two‑fold: active resistance "to every attempt by Hitler to extend his Nazi domination to the Western Hemisphere, or to threaten it," and "his every attempt to gain control of the seas, and giving "every possible assistance to Britain and to all who, with Britain, are resisting Hitlerism or its equivalent with force of arms." The delivery of supplies to Britain, Roosevelt tells the nation, "is imperative. This can be done; it must be done; it will be done."

            German battleship Bismarck is overwhelmed and sunk by British naval force, 300 nautical miles west of Ushant, France, 48°10'N, 16°12'W.

US MARINE CORPS

UNITED STATES—President declares a state of unlimited emergency; he announces that the Atlantic Neutrality Patrol is extended and that Pacific Fleet units have been transferred to the Atlantic.

29 May 1941, Thursday

US NAVY

ATLANTIC—In the event that Germany invades Spain and Portugal, the Joint Board (the oldest inter‑service agency, established in1903 to facilitate Army‑Navy planning) approves a plan for an occupation of the Portuguese Azores Islands; the joint Marine Corps‑Army effort is to be headed by Major General Holland M. Smith, USMC (Commanding General 1stMarine Division).

            TG 3, comprising carrier Ranger (CV‑4) (VB 5, VF 5, and VS 5), heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa (CA‑37), and destroyers McDougal (DD‑358) and Eberle (DD‑430), departs Bermuda for a 4,355‑mile neutrality patrol that will conclude there on 8 June.

30 May 1941, Friday

ATLANTIC—Last "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutter, authorized for transfer on 10 April under Lend‑Lease, is transferred to the Royal Navy: Itasca becomes HMS Gorleston.

31 May 1941, Saturday

ATLANTIC—TG 1 (Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook), comprising Yorktown (CV‑5) (VF 41, VS 41, VS 42, and VT 5), heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA‑44), and destroyers Sampson (DD‑394) and Gwin (DD‑433), departs Bermuda for 4,550‑mileneutrality patrol that will conclude at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 12 June.