February 16th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Minesweeping trawler HMS Wistaria commissioned.
GERMANY:
U-213,
U-214,
U-215,
U-216,
U-217,
U-218 ordered.
SWEDEN: Sweden gives public its
refusal to send troops to Finland or allow the passage of British and French
troops. On the next day the Soviet government expresses its approval.
GIBRALTAR: The U.S. freighter SS Excalibur is detained for several hours by British authorities at Gibraltar but is released; freighter SS Exermont, detained since 14 February, is allowed to proceed as well.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the Altmark incident, the Graf Spee's supply ship with Merchant Navy prisoners aboard
is located off Norway and takes refuge in Jøssingfjord, within territorial waters. In the
evening the destroyer HMS Cossack (Capt. Vian) goes alongside, and after a short struggle
a boarding party releases the 299 prisoners with the cry: 'The Navy's here!'
After the sinking of the Graf Spee, the Altmark sailed for Europe taking a route near the
Arctic to avoid detection. Incredibly, the Norwegians who stopped and searched her found
neither her concealed guns nor the prisoners. Two British destroyers then chased her into
Jøssingfjord. The Cossack lowered two boats, but they could not move through the ice. The
Altmark then made two attempts to ram the Cossack. As the two ships scraped together
several members of the boarding party leapt aboard the German ship. The Altmark then ran
aground and the rest of the Royal Navy party scrambled over the side, opening fire with
their rifles and charging with fixed bayonets and cutlasses. Four German crewmen were killed. One
prisoner said: "It was a hit and run affair along the decks and round corners, ...
more of a rathunt than anything. You can imagine our joy when we heard English voices
shouting down at us.
The captain of the Altmark had denied the existence of the prisoners right up to the end.
One prisoner told how they had shouted, hammered and blown SOS whistles to attract the
attention of the Norwegian search party at Bergen. The Germans turned a fire hose on them
to stop them, and to drown the noise they turned on a winch. Even so the prisoners found
it difficult to understand why the Norwegians had not noticed something of their presence.
Afterwards the Germans told them that their behaviour was mutiny and put out a notice
saying: "On account of today's behaviour of the prisoners, they will get bread and
water tomorrow instead of the regular meals."
To mount the rescue the Cossack had to violate Norwegian territorial waters, but since the
Norwegians had failed to find guns or prisoners most Britons will feel that this was
justified.
In all seven Germans died in this operation, and were buried
at
Jøssingfjord, and 6 were wounded.
The dead were: stewards Stender, Bremer, and Steffen,
greaser Rothe, a guard Schurmann and Meyer. Hans Berndsen died from exposure
after falling through the ice and being rescued by two officers from Cossack,
that makes the seven. Most of the Germans killed had been attempting to lower a
boat to escape. Afterwards, 18 German seamen were picked up from the water
wrapped in blankets and given hot tea. One of them failed to revive (presumably
Berndsen).
20 Germans were missing after the boarding, but 19 returned after staying with Norwegian families. The remaining man did not turn up, and it was assumed that he had drowned in the general scramble as men fled across the ice or jumped into the sea. (85)(Alex Gordon)
At 2125, U-14
attacked two ships north of Kinnaird Head and torpedoed first SS Osmed and ten
minutes later SS Liana. Liana sank 24 miles north of Kinnaird Head, taking ten
crewmen with her. SS Santos picked up the survivors, which was herself sunk by
U-63 on 24 February with the
loss of six men from the Liana. Osmed sank after one torpedo hit 20 miles north
of Kinnaird Head, taking 13 crewmen with her.