http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/may41/f06may41.htm
British convoy enters Mediterranean
Tuesday, May 6, 1941 www.onwar.com
In the Mediterranean... The British try to run a convoy through the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Egypt. Churchill is the driving force behind this decision and has ordered the operation because he wishes the supplies and tanks carried in the ships to form the basis of an offensive in the desert. The operation is code named Tiger. There are five transports. On May 6th they pass Gibraltar and are joined by one battleship, a carrier from Force H and another battleship which is to go on to join the Mediterranean Fleet. With these heavy units are four cruisers and seven destroyers. Six more destroyers join the convoy from Gibraltar. Also, two convoys leave Alexandria for Malta with an escort of five cruisers and three destroyers. Cunningham takes the whole of the Mediterranean Fleet out in support with three battleships, his single carrier, three cruisers and 19 destroyers.
In Iraq... The British forces consolidate their hold on Habbaniyah airfield, driving the Iraqis back from Sin el Dhibban toward Fallujah, nearer the capital. The 21st Indian Brigade arrives at Basra.
In Moscow... The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet nominates Stalin President of the Council of People’s Commissars. Previously Stalin has held only the office of general secretary of the Communist Party.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/06.htm
May 6th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: The Luftwaffe bombs Belfast with incendiaries.
Submarine HMS Sea Nymph laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: The vice-premier, Admiral Darlan, agrees to let Hitler send German troops to Iraq via Syria.
GERMANY: U-613, U-614 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: Stalin succeeds Molotov as chairman of the council of people’s commissars, adding to his authority.
Moscow: The Soviet military attache in Berlin warns Soviet High Command that Germany is preparing to invade the USSR.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Tiger Convoy: With the Afrika Korps driving through North Africa towards the Suez Canal, pushing the Western Desert Force before them and British forces close to collapse and strategic locations threatened, the British High Command risks sending a reinforcement convoy across the Mediterranean to Alexandria. The convoy consists of five large transport ships, escorted by Ark Royal, the battleships HMS Renown and HMS Queen Elizabeth, the cruisers HMS Sheffield, HMS Naiad, HMS Fiji, and HMS Gloucester, and screened by destroyers of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Prior to Ark Royal’s departure, Captain Holland left to recuperate from stress and poor health, and was replaced by Captain Loben Maund. The convoy left Gibraltar on 6 May, and was detected by Italian aircraft. The convoy, limited to 14 knots (26 km/h) and escorted by so many capital ships, is such a tempting target that Italian and German aircraft are mobilised.
IRAQ: After four days of non-stop British air raids, the Iraqi troops were forced to leave the high ground around Habbaniya and retreat to Baghdad on the night of Tuesday 6 May.
The British 21st Indian Brigade arrives at Basrah.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Philippine Department Air Force established; Clagett assumes command. (Marc Small)
U.S.A.: The Republic XP-47B-RE Thunderbolt (40-3051) makes its first flight at Republic Field, Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Originally ordered as the XP-47-RE, this aircraft is the first of 15,579 P-47s accepted by the USAAF.
Igor Sikorsky sets a new helicopter endurance records when he flies his VS-300 helicopter for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds. (Jack McKillop)
The Douglas XB-19 four-engined bomber begins taxi tests. It has a length of 132.25 feet (40,34 meters), a wingspan of 212 feet (64,62 meters), an empty weight of 86,000 pounds (39 009 kilograms), normal range of 5,200 miles (8 369 kilometer) and a maximum range of 7,710 miles (12 408 kilometers).
Although not delivered with armament, it was designed to have one 37 mm cannon and one .30 calibre (7.62 mm) machine gun in the nose and forward dorsal turret; a .50 calibre (12.7 mm) machine gun in the tail, rear dorsal turret, ventral turret, left and right waist positions; and a .30 calibre machine gun on each side of the bombardier’s position and on each side of the fuselage below the horizontal stabilizer. A normal crew consisted of 16-men but two additional flight mechanics and a six-man relief crew could be accommodated in a special compartment fitted with eight seats and six bunks. To feed this mob, a complete galley was included. The government paid Douglas $1.4 million ($17.32 million in 2006 dollars) but Douglas had spent an additional $4 million ($49.47 million in 2006 dollars) of their own money.
The aircraft was used as a flying laboratory and provided valuable data that was used to develop the Boeing B-29 and the Convair “Aluminum Overcast,” aka, the B-36. During these tests, the plane had many engine-cooled problems and in 1943, the four 2,000 hp Wright R-3350 air-cooled radials engines were replaced with four 1,600 hop Allison XV-3420-1 liquid-cooled engines and the aircraft was redesignated XB-19A. This increased its maximum speed and eliminated the cooling problems. During the next 2-1/2 years, it was transferred from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, to Patterson Field in Dayon, to Lockbourne AAAB in Columbus, Ohio, and finally to Clinton County AAFld, Wilmington, Ohio. Finally, it was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona on 17 August 1946 and was scrapped in 1949. (Jack McKillop)
Bob Hope does his first remote show from March Field, Riverside, California. Initially reluctant to leave the studio, he found an audience of servicemen so primed and ready to laugh that he was forever hooked. The roar of laughter and applause was so loud, he would recall, that he “got goose pimples” during the broadcast. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1717, the Dunkwa, dispersed from Convoy OB-310, was torpedoed and sunk by U-103 216 miles WNW of Freetown. Five crewmembers and three gunners were lost. The master, 37 crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by Dutch merchantman Polydorus and landed at Oban.
MS Surat sunk by U-103 at 08.23N, 15.13W.
At 1052, the Oakdene, dispersed from Convoy OG-59, was hit by one torpedo from U-105 and sank NW of St. Paul Rocks. HMS Dorsetshire picked up the master, 31 crewmembers and three gunners.
U-556 sank steam trawler Emanuel with gunfire.
At 0240, HMS Camito was hit aft of amidships by one torpedo from U-97 WSW of Cape Clear, while escorting the Sangro to the UK. The Italian tanker had been taken as prize on 20 April, while sailing from Brazil to France. The U-boat had spotted the two ships at 1745 on 5 May and had problems to keep contact in heavy seas and bad visibility. Camito was missed at 0202 with a spread of two torpedoes and three minutes later with a stern torpedo before being hit, but continued at slow speed. The U-boat first chased the tanker, which caught fire after being hit by one torpedo at 0353 hours and then returned to the first vessel. Heilmann thought that she is a Q-ship and left the badly damaged ship, which sank the next day in 50°15N/21°16W. (Dave Shirlaw)