ITALY: Count Ciano notes in his diary: "The Duke of Spoleto comes on a visit. He wishes to take Guariglia (my note: diplomat, former ambassador to Germany and France) with him to Zagreb, and this seems to me an excellent choice. He said nothing of any particular importance, but the tone of his conversation was distinctly anti-German." (Mike Yaklich)

GREECE: CRETE: Early in the morning 4,000 men are evacuated from Heraklion on the north side. As they do so the damaged HMS Imperial has to be scuttled. She is heading south from Heraklion at high speed when she suffers a loss of steering. It is decided that there is no time available to allow the steering fault to be repaired, so the crew are taken off the ship by HMS Hotspur and Imperial is scuttled at 35 23N, 25 40E. HMS Hereward is hit in an air attack 5 miles south of Crete at 35 20N, 26 30E. It is decided to leave her on her own rather than delay the rest of the force, and Hereward is last seen heading slowly towards Crete shrouded in smoke. She is eventually sunk in an air attack close to land, and Italian motor boats rescue the majority of the survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108) Shortly, HMS Dido and HMS Irion are badly damaged to the southeast. Evacuations from the port of Sfakia continue as well.

NEWFOUNDLAND: U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron Fifty Two (VP-52), based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Argentia, Newfoundland with PBY-5 Catalinas, deploys four aircraft to Reykjavik, Iceland, based on the seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Belknap (AVD-8). The aircraft survey the east coast of Greenland where Danish weather stations are suspected of being in use by the Germans for relaying weather forecasts to the submarine wolfpacks. Inspections of the facilities shows that they are abandoned and the detachment returns to NAS Argentia on 8 June 1941.

RN auxiliary oiler Teakwood arrived St John's to support NEF. The establishment of the NEF posed significant logistical challenges. There were virtually no naval facilities at St. John's and the issue of which Government would pay for the necessary development provoked a prolonged exchange between Canada and Great Britain. The short-term solution was to employ a 'Base Force Afloat' (USN term) through the use of depot and stores ships, afloat accommodations, and 'post' tankers. Teakwood, although termed an 'oiler' was neither intended nor equipped for underway replenishment. Teakwood was built in 1927 for the Jacobs Line. Her Gross Registered Tonnage was 6,000 tons and her deadweight cargo capacity was 9,100 tons. She was 415 feet long. Her draught was 26 feet and she could make 10.5 knots. She was, in most ways, typical of inter-war period British tankers, although her capacity was a bit under the wartime planning average of 10,000 tons. Plans for fuel oil storage tanks at St. John's were increased several times. Work on the base did not begin until Aug 41 whereas the first warships arrived on 27 May. By Aug 41, 40 ships were based at St. John's. The logistical demand constantly outpaced the capacity of the 'base' to provide support. The demand for fuel reached a weekly total of 39,000 barrels by Mar 42. The original plan to build tankage for 89,000 barrels was obviously inadequate and in March another 180,000 barrels expanded the plan. The first of the shore tanks did not go into operation until Sep 42 and the last tanks were finished in Sep 43. Because of enemy action, the main problem became one of getting fuel to St. John's. As soon as the last tanks were useable, Teakwood joined a shuttle service hauling fuel from Halifax and Montreal. She was returned to the UK in Dec 43.

U.S.A.: Washington: The US agrees to train RAF pilots to fly American planes supplied under Lend-Lease.
The U.S. Army Air Corps (superseded by the US Army Air Forces effective 20 June 1941) activates the Air Corps Ferrying Command  to assist the British in the movement by air of American-built planes from factories in the United States to Britain and the Middle East. Initially, the aircraft were flown to Canada or to bases in the U.S. where British pilots would pick them up. But the command was shortly tasked with delivering aircraft across the Atlantic to the UK and Africa. 

In Washington, an Army-Navy planning board draws up a plan for the occupation of the Portuguese Azores Islands in the event that Germany invades Spain and/or Portugal. The joint Army-Marine occupation force will be commanded by Major General Holland M. Smith, USMC, Commanding General 1st Marine Division.