May 18th, 1941 (SUNDAY)
POLAND: Gdynia: The German battleship BISMARK and heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen, under fleet commander Admiral Lutjens, put to sea to raid the Atlantic. A simultaneous sortie by the two battlecruisers from Brest is fortunately prevented by the damage inflicted by the RAF.
U-126 collided in Danzig Bay with the German Seeburg and suffered severe damages.
ITALY: Rome: The Duke of Spoleto accepts the crown of Croatia from a Croatian delegation; he
will be King Tomislav I.
Count Ciano writes: "The Croatians arrive with Pavelich at their head. They are
in good humour and well-disposed toward us. I should say that they are better disposed than
the Albanians when they offered the crown. The ceremony is more or less the same as that
with the Albanians. In the streets, few and undemonstrative people. Not many realize the
importance of the event. When His Majesty designated the Duke of Spoleto and the delegates
saw him, there was a murmur of approval among them. Let us hope that it will be the same
when they hear him speak. Everything went in due form; also the signing of the Acts, the
content of which seemed to those who had knowledge of them to bear a better political
meaning than was expected. It now remains to be seen if what we have built will be
lasting. Maybe I am mistaken in my personal impression, but there is a feeling in the air
that Italian domination in Croatia is to be temporary. And this is why the public is
indifferent..." (Mike Yaklich)
Rome: The Italian High Command announced:
Our counteroperations against the Allies in North Africa have been completely successful. The enemy has been forced to retreat. Large numbers of prisoners and supplies have falled into our hands. Our aerial formations have attacked Tobruk. We bombed defence installations, troop assemblies and motor vehicles in the sector west of Sollum and shot down a British bomber and two enemy fighters in aerial combat. British aircraft in the Aegean raided Rhodes, causing insignificant damage. At Amba Alagi in East Africa, our troops have put up a heroic resistance under the personal command of the Duke of Aosta. Combat conditions are worsening hourly due to the lack of material, the losses we have suffered and the impossibility of tending and evacuating the wounded. An enemy assault was repelled in the area around Galla and Sidamo (Ethiopia).
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: PO Alfred Edward Sephton (b. 1911), remained at his post during an air attack on HMS Coventry, despite a terrible wound; he later died. (VC)SYRIA: Damascus: The German News Bureau announced:
IRAQ: British forces reach Habbaniyah Air Field in Iraq.
On Friday the Iraqi air force successfully bombed several [British] ships outside the port of Basra.
ETHIOPIA: Amba Alagi: 18,000 Italian troops under the Duke of Aosta, finding themselves in a hopeless plight in the East African desert war surrender to the Allies.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Baddeck commissioned.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2227, the unescorted Piako was hit underneath the bridge by one torpedo from U-107 about 130 miles southwest of Freetown, stopped, sent distress signals and was abandoned by the crew. A coup de grāce was fired at 2243, which hit in the after part, broke off the stern and caused the ship to sink. Ten crewmembers were lost. The master, 62 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by HMS Bridgewater and landed at Freetown.