http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/15.htm
February 15th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 35 aircraft are sent to bomb the oil refinery at Homberg, 26 claim to attack.
London: Churchill telegrams to Roosevelt.
Many drifting straws seem to indicate Japanese intention to make war on us or do something that would force us to make war on them in the next few weeks or months.
...this is a war of nerves designed to cover Japanese encroachments in Siam and Indo-China. ... I do not think that the Japanese would send large military expedition necessary to lay siege to Singapore. The Japanese would no doubt occupy strategic points and oil fields in Dutch East Indies....They would also raid Australian and New Zealand ports and coasts.”
Churchill wants American warships to be stationed at Singapore to stave off the Japanese threat.
Corvettes HMS Fritillary and Genista laid down.
Destroyer HMS Laforey launched.
Corvettes FS Lobelia (ex-HMS Lobelia) and Bergamont launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler meets the Yugoslav Premier Cvetkovic and his Foreign Minister Cinkar-Markvic at Berchtesgaden to urge them to join the Tripartite Pact. They still refuse to commit their country, in the hope that Hitler will soon be preoccupied with relations with the Soviet Union and that they can get aid from Britain and the USA. (Jack McKillop)
U-78 commissioned.
U-256, U-660, U-765 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
AUSTRIA: The deportation of Jews to ghettoes in Lublin and Kielce, in Poland, begins at the rate of 1,000 a month.
ITALIAN SOMALILAND: Commonwealth troops capture the port of Kismayu.
U.S.A.: Ickes recommends to Roosevelt that the Interior Department be responsible for the defense of the Philippines. (Marc Small)
Lieutenant-Colonel Bradley is ordered to Fort Benning to take up the post of commandant and promoted to Brigadier-General. (W. Jay Stone)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends James B. Conant, President of Harvard University, to the U.K. to discuss military technology. (Jack McKillop)
Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends a message to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet based in the Territory of Hawaii, regarding anti-torpedo baffles for protection against torpedo plane attacks on Pearl Harbor. The message states that “consideration has been given to the installation of anti-torpedo baffles within Pearl Harbor for protection against torpedo plane attacks. It is considered that the relatively shallow depth of water limits the need for anti-torpedo nets in Pearl Harbor. In addition the congestion and the necessity for manoeuvring room limit the practicability of the present type of baffles.”
Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra record “Take the ‘A’ Train” at RCA Victor’s Hollywood, California, studio today. This is one of big band’s all time classics and becomes the Duke’s theme song. (Jack McKillop)
Destroyer USS Ingraham launched.
Net tenders USS Hazel and Ash launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0038, the Alnmoor, a straggler from convoy SC-21, was hit by one torpedo from U-123 and sank SSE of Rockall. The master and 54 crewmembers were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 534 February 15, 1941
At 0.38 AM 600 miles West of Ireland, U-123 sinks British SS Alnmoor (all 55 hands lost).
German cruiser Admiral Hipper returns to Brest, France, after a short but successful cruise (8 ships sunk, 34,000 tons), despite efforts to intercept her by British destroyers HMS Kelly, Kipling, Kashmir and Jackal.
Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. General Platt suspends the piecemeal attacks on the Dongolaas Gorge, the gateway to Keren, to regroup and reinforce his troops and prepare for a set piece battle.