In the Month of April 1941

US NAVY

1 April 1941, Tuesday

PACIFIC—Heavy cruisers Chicago (CA‑29) (Rear Admiral John H. Newton, Commander Cruisers Scouting Force) and Portland (CA‑33) and destroyers Clark (DD‑361), Conyngham (DD‑371), Reid (DD‑369), Cassin (DD‑372) and Downes (DD‑375) arrive at Suva, Fiji Islands (see 3 April 1941).

            ANTARCTIC—Interior Department motorship North Star and auxiliary Bear (AG‑29) of the U.S. Antarctic Service, depart Punta Arenas, Chile; the former will proceed back to the United States via the west coast of South America, the latter via the east coast (see 5 and 18 May, respectively).

3 April 1941, Thursday

PACIFIC—Heavy cruisers Chicago (CA‑29) and Portland (CA‑33) and destroyers Clark (DD‑361), Conyngham (DD‑371), Reid (DD‑369), Cassin (DD‑372) and Downes (DD‑375) depart Suva, Fiji Islands, for Pearl Harbor (see 10 April).

6 April 1941, Sunday

EUROPE—German troops invade Yugoslavia and Greece; Italy declares war on Yugoslavia.

7 April 1941, Monday

ATLANTIC—Naval Operating Base, Bermuda, is established, Captain Jules James in command.

9 April 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—Battleship North Carolina (BB‑55) is commissioned at New York Navy Yard, the first new U.S. Navy battleship to enter the fleet since West Virginia (BB‑48) was commissioned in 1923.

UNITED STATES—Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Danish Minister to the United States Henrik de Kauffman sign AgreementRelating to the Defense of Greenland.

10 April 1941, Thursday

ATLANTIC—President Roosevelt, equating the defense of the United Kingdom to the defense of the United States, authorizes, under Lend‑Lease, the transfer of 10 "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy. Coast Guardsmen will train the British crews in the waters of Long Island Sound (see 30 April, 2, 12, 20 and 30 May).

PACIFIC—Heavy cruisers Chicago (CA‑29) and Portland (CA‑33) and destroyers Clark (DD‑361), Conyngham (DD‑371), Reid (DD‑369), Cassin (DD‑372) and Downes (DD‑375) arrive at Pearl Harbor, thus winding up the Australia‑New Zealand good‑will cruise.

11 April 1941, Friday

UNITED STATES— President proclaims that the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are no longer combat areas and are open to U.S. shipping.

ATLANTIC—Destroyer Niblack (DD‑424), while rescuing survivors of Dutch freighter Saleier (torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U‑52 the day before at 58°04'N, 30°48'W, after the dispersal of convoy OB 306) depth charges what is believed to be a German U‑boat off Iceland. A thorough investigation by the German navy, however, will conclude that none of their submarines are in the vicinity at the time of Niblack's attack. The U.S. Navy's conclusion is that Niblack has depth‑charged a false contact.

13 April 1941, Sunday

GENERAL—Soviet‑Japanese Non‑Aggression Pact is signed.

15 April 1941, Tuesday

UNITED STATES—President Roosevelt signs executive order allowing Navy, Marine Corps, and Army Air Corps individuals to sign contracts with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) in China for one year, after which time the men can rejoin their respective services with no loss in rank. This is the first step toward forming the American Volunteer Group (AVG), which will become known as the "Flying Tigers." Over half of the pilots in the AVG will be from the Navy and Marine Corps.

16 April 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—Heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA‑44) arrives at New York, having transported gold from Simonstown, South Africa.

17 April 1941, Thursday

EUROPE—Yugoslavia capitulates to Axis.

ATLANTIC—Egyptian steamship Zamzam is shelled and sunk by German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (Schiffe 16, aka "Raider C") in South Atlantic; 138 Americans (including 24 British‑American Ambulance Corps drivers) are among rescued passengers. Even U.S. citizens travelling in ostensibly neutral ships find themselves at risk. [Zamzam was en route from New York to Mombasa, Kenya. After debarking, the ambulance unit was to travel by rail to Kisumu, Uganda and then overland towards Lake Chad, Anglo‑Egyptian Sudan, and link up with Free French elements in the East African campaign. They carried enough supplies and spare parts (including 600,000 Lucky Strike cigarettes) to remain in the field for a year.)

            Purportedly, the surreptitious photographs snapped of Atlantis by Life magazine photographer Carl Mydans, who is serendipitously among the passengers, will prove helpful in providing the Royal Navy with a record of the auxiliary cruiser’s appearance. [Note: The Life Magazine photographer aboard the Zamzam was not Carl Mydans. Embarking Zamzam in Recife, Brazil was Life Magazine photographer David E. Scherman and Charles J.V. Murphy, a reporter for Fortune Magazine. Murphy had been with the Admiral Byrd expedition to Antarctica in 1932‑33 as a media reporter. Zamzam had been scheduled to arrive in Recife via Port au Spain on 1 April 41, but was delayed due to heavy weather during the passage of the Caribbean Sea until 08 April. Murphy and Scherman had flown into Recife from New York via San Juan and Para' (Belem) in hopes of catching up with Zamzam which had departed New York on 20 March.]

21 April 1941, Monday

PACIFIC—Battleship Arizona (BB‑39) and destroyer Davis (DD‑395) collide while fueling during exercises in Hawaiian Operating Area.

22 April 1941, Tuesday

UNITED STATES—Authorized enlisted strength of regular navy is increased to 232,000.

23 April 1941, Wednesday

MEDITERRANEAN—Greece signs armistice with Germany.

24 April 1941, Thursday

ATLANTIC—Neutrality Patrol is extended east to 26°W.

25 April 1941, Friday

ATLANTIC—Coast Guard cutter Ingham relieves Coast Guard cutter Campbell at Lisbon, Portugal.

26 April 1941, Saturday

ATLANTIC—Neutrality Patrol is ordered extended southward to 20°S. Accordingly, carrier task group patrols are inaugurated this date when carrier Wasp (CV‑7) (embarked squadrons: VF 72, VS 71, and VS 72) departs Hampton Roads accompanied by heavy cruiser Quincy (CA‑39) and destroyers Livermore (DD‑429) and Kearny (DD‑432). TG 2, as the force is designated, will steam 5,292 miles before it arrives at Bermuda on 12 May.

27 April 1941, Sunday

PACIFIC—American‑Dutch‑British Conference at Singapore ends, having reached agreement on combined operating plan of local defense forces in the event of war with Japan; Captain William R. Purnell, Chief of Staff to Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet, is senior U.S. representative.

30 April 1941, Wednesday

ATLANTIC—First four "Lake"‑class Coast Guard cutters are turned over to the Royal Navy: Pontchartrain becomes HMS Hartland; Tahoe becomes HMS Fishguard; Mendota becomes HMS Culver, and Itasca becomes HMS Gorleston (see2, 12, 20 and 30 May).