23 February 1943

UNITED KINGDOM: London: De Gaulle asks General Giraud to declare a Free French Republic in North Africa.

U-53 (TypeVIIB) is sunk in the North Sea in the mid Orkneys, position 58.50N, 02.58W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Gurkha. 42 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 1250, the unescorted SS Fintra was torpedoed and sunk by U-371 NE of Algiers. The master, 21 crewmembers and one passenger were saved. Seven crewmembers and five gunners were lost.

U-443 sunk in the Mediterranean near Algiers, in position 36.55N, 02.25E, by depth charges from the British escort destroyers HMS Bicester, Lamerton and Wheatland. 48 dead (all hands lost).

LIBYA: Rommel moves up to command Army Group Africa. Messe replaces him as commander of the Italian 1st Army. (Jeff Chrisman)

U.S.A.: The first USN Curtiss Wright C-46 transport is delivered to LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

CARIBBEAN SEA: At 2217, U-202 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy UC-1. The first struck the Murena and the second the British Fortitude; both tankers were able to continue their voyage, though in a damaged condition. The third torpedo failed and the last hit the Empire Norseman, which had been already damaged by U-382 was later sunk by a coup de grâce from U-558. At 2221, U-202 fired the stern torpedo and sank Esso Baton Rouge. The torpedo struck Esso Baton Rouge in station #43 on the starboard side between the engine room and aft bunkers. The explosion carried away the bulkhead between the tanks and the engine room, filled the latter compartment with burning oil, killed one officer and one man on watch below and stopped the engines. Debris flew over 50 feet in the air and one armed guard was killed. As the ship started to settle by the stern, the eight officers, 35 men and 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats, after three rafts were carried away, because the ship still had headway. Within 90 minutes all survivors were picked up by sloop HMS Totland. The tanker finally sank by the stern about 0400 the next morning. Two crewmembers and one armed guard, all seriously burned from flaming oil, were treated on the sloop and put ashore at Antigua on 4 March. The remaining survivors were transferred to the Dutch steam merchant Maaskerk and arrived in Trinidad on 6 March. At 2345, the drifting wreck of the Empire Norseman was sunk by a coup de grâce from U-558. The master, 41 crewmembers and eleven gunners from the Empire Norseman were picked up by HMS Totland, transferred to the Dutch merchantman Maaskerk and landed at Trinidad.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German Falke acoustic torpedo scores its first operational success when a U-boat sinks a tanker from convoy UC-1.

U-522 (Type IXC) is sunk in the mid-Atlantic south-west of Madeira, Portugal, position 31.27N, 26.22W, by depth charges from the British coastguard cutter Totland. 51 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

At 0735, U-186 fired a spread of three torpedoes at Convoy ON-166 about 310 miles south of Cape Race and observed one hit after 2 minutes 32 seconds on the ship in station #12, the Hastings, which was erroneously reported as Hassop. A second hit, after 2 minutes 35 seconds was possibly on the same ship, which sank within seven minutes. After 2 minutes 41 seconds a third hit was heard but not observed. At 0740 hours, U-186 fired a spread of two stern torpedoes and heard two detonations on different targets, but only the Eulima was hit, the second detonation being a depth charge from USCGC Spencer. At 1130 hours, the drifting wreck of the Eulima was sunk by a coup de grâce and gunfire from U-186. The master, 52 crewmembers and nine gunners from the Eulima were lost. The third officer J. Campkin was taken prisoner by U-186, landed at Lorient on 5 March and taken to the POW camp Milag Nord near Bremen. A lookout on the Hastings spotted a torpedo just before it struck the port side at #5 hold. The explosion flooded the engine room, sprung bulkheads between the #4 and #5 holds, destroyed the steering gear and cut the power of the ship. The ten officers, 31 crewmembers, 20 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, two .30cal and four 20mm guns) and one passenger on board began to abandon ship in three lifeboats and two rafts. The ship sank stern first after 7 minutes. One officer and eight crewmen were lost. The remaining survivors were picked up after 20 minutes by corvette HMCS Chilliwack and landed at St John's.

At 0210 one of the four diesel engines broke down in rough weather and the Winkler in position 63 of the ON-166 reduced to 8 knots for repairs. She had become the last ship of the convoy and was damaged at 0714 by a FAT torpedo from U-628. The ship spent about 1 hour to rescue survivors from the Norwegian tanker Glittre (The tanker was damaged in the same attack from U-628 and was later sunk by U-603). At 0800 corvette HMS Dianthus arrived, ordered the Winkler back to the convoy, picked up the survivors and followed. At 0842 three torpedoes from U-223 struck the ship and sank her within 45 seconds, taking 14 crewmembers and 5 Armed Guards with her. HMS Dianthus got Asdic contact but was unable to drop depth charges, because U-223 dove under the survivors. So she picked up 32 survivors (19 crewmembers and 13 Armed Guards) and landed them at St John's three days later.

At 1438, the unescorted and neutral SS Kyleclare was hit by two torpedoes from U-456 and disappeared in the explosions.

At 0741, SS Athelprincess, a straggler from Convoy UC-1, was hit by two torpedoes from U-522 and sank west of Madeira. One crewmember was lost. The master, 42 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up by sloop HMS Weston, transferred to destroyer USS Hilary P. Jones and landed at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

At 0714, U-628 fired FAT torpedoes at Convoy ON-166 in grid BD 4564. One torpedo damaged Winkler, which was later sunk by U-223 and another struck Glittre on the port side in the engine room. Glittre became a straggler and was sunk by two torpedoes from U-603 at 0842 the same day. Two men died in the engine room and the cook was killed in his cabin. The survivors were picked up by HMS Dianthus.

Convoy rescue ship SS Stockport torpedoed and sunk by U-604 at 45N, 44W.

U-522 sunk in the mid-Atlantic SW of Madeira, Portugal in position 31.27N, 26.22W, by depth charges from sloop HMS Totland. 51 dead (all hands lost).