http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/25.htm
February 25th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Escort destroyer HMS Exmoor is the first of the ‘Hunt’ class to be lost. She is torpedoed off Lowestoft by E-boat S30 while escorting Thames/Forth convoy FN417.
Submarines HMS United and Unruffled laid down.
Corvette HMS Nigella commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
NETHERLANDS: The SS clamps down on a wave of popular demonstrations and strikes protesting the persecution of the Jews. Strikes broke out among the workers in Amsterdam in protest against the round-up of nearly 400 Jews, the head of the SS in Holland, Hanns Albin Rauter, ordered SS troops and German police to open fire on the strikers; 11 were killed. The Jews, 389 in all, were deported to Buchenwald. There 25 died from brutal treatment, or were shot; two months later, the rest were sent to the stone quarries of the Mauthausen camp; by the autumn there were no survivors. (86)
GERMANY: U-180 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: On patrol off the east coast of Tunisia, submarine HMS Upright torpedoes and sinks Italian cruiser ‘Armando Diaz’ as she covers a convoy from Naples to Tripoli, Libya. (Ric Pelvin)
Submarine HMS Usk believed lost with all hands due to mines, off Cape Bon in the Mediterranean. This date marks the last signal received from the submarine but there is no evidence to explain its loss. (Alex Gordon)(108)
ITALIAN SOMALILAND: This evening Lt-Gen. Cunningham’s British Nigerian troops of the 11th African Division have begun to occupy Mogadishu after a day’s lightning advance up the coast from Brava, 120 miles away. Meanwhile, the 12th African Division pushes up the river Juba towards the Abyssinian border town of Dolo. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The motion picture “The Lady Eve” opens at the Paramount Theater in New York City. Directed by Preston Sturges, this romantic comedy stars Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn and William Demarest. (Jack McKillop)
The motion picture “Meet Boston Blackie” opens at the Rialto Theater in New York City. Directed by Robert Florey and starring Chester Morris, this is the first of a series of 14 B crime movies about the detective. (Jack McKillop)
A meeting is held in the Army Chief of Staff’s office in Washington, D.C., concerning defenses in Hawaii. The minutes state that “in view of the Japanese situation the Navy is concerned with the security of the fleet in Hawaii, and apparently the new commander of the fleet there has made a check and reported it to Washington and the Secretary of the Navy has outlined the situation to the Secretary of War. Their particular point is the type of air force in Hawaii, particularly Pursuit. They are in the situation where they must guard against a surprise or trick attack. It is necessary for the fleet to be in anchorage part of the time and they are particularly vulnerable at that time. I do not feel that it is a possibility or even a probability, but they must guard against everything. We also have information regarding the possible use of torpedo planes.” (Jack McKillop)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 544 February 25, 1941
Overnight, the German-held port of Brest, France, is bombed by Avro Manchesters of RAF Bomber Command 207 Squadron from Waddington, Lincolnshire. This is the operational debut of the Manchester, the forerunner to the better-known Avro Lancaster.
At 3.43 AM, 45 miles off Sfax, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upright locates an Italian convoy from Naples to Tripoli, Libya (4 troopships, 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 1 torpedo boat). HMS Upright sinks Italian cruiser Armando Diaz (464 killed, 147 rescued) and unsuccessfully attacks a destroyer.
Operation Canvas. Nigerian Brigade of the 11th African Division has advanced 220 miles along the coast road from Jilib in 2 days. They take Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, unopposed and capture 400,000 gallons of fuel and other stores left behind by the fleeing Italians.
British destroyer HMS Exmoor (escorting convoy FN417 from the Thames estuary to Methil, Scotland) hits a mine or is torpedoed by German motor torpedo boat S-30. A fuel line ruptures, igniting HMS Exmoor which sinks 12 miles off Lowestoft on the East coast of England (105 killed, 32 survivors picked up by sloop HMS Shearwater and trawler Commander Evans).
The motion picture “Meet Boston Blackie” opens at the Rialto Theater in New York City. Directed by Robert Florey and starring Chester Morris, this is the first of a series of 14 B crime movies about the detective. (Jack McKillop)
Crowther will be at the former venue and his initialed associate will cover the latter. Check back tomorrow for their reports.