17 Feb 1941 | World War II Database

17 Feb 1941

An Italian Auto-Saharan Company detachment counterattacked Free French and British forces near Kufra, Libya in failure. ww2dbase [Battle of Kufra | CPC]
German submarine U-101 sank British ship Gairsoppa 370 miles west of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom shortly after 0000 hours, killing 84. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-103 damaged British tanker Edwy R. Brown with five torpedoes 100 miles south of Iceland between 0633 and 0833 hours, eventually sinking the tanker. 50 took to two lifeboats, but they were never seen again. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-69 sank British ship Siamese Prince 200 miles northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom at 2212 hours. 57 took to lifeboats, but they were never seen again. ww2dbase [CPC]
Turkey and Bulgaria signed a friendship agreement in Sofia, Bulgaria. Under pressure from Germany, Turkey also agreed to not protest German troop movements through Bulgaria. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
British Admiral Sir Percy Noble was appointed Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches. ww2dbase [AC]
The decision to despatch a British Expeditionary Force to Greece was communicated to General Bernard Freyberg VC, General Officer Commanding New Zealand Division. The force initially was planned to consist of the New Zealand Division, 1st British Armoured Brigade, 6th Australian Division, Polish independent Brigade Group and 7th Australian Division. However Erwin Rommel's sudden advance into the Cyrenaica of Libya would result in the Poles and 7th Australian Division being held back to defend Tobruk. ww2dbase [Bernard Freyberg | AC]

Germany

The order for the construction of Z35 was issued. ww2dbase [Z35 | CPC]
The order for the construction of Z36 was issued. ww2dbase [Z36 | CPC]
The order for destroyer Z43 was issued. ww2dbase [Z43 | CPC]

Italy

The 6,161-ton Italian tanker Cesco, damaged by a torpedo from British submarine HMS Rover three days prior, was towed to Taranto, Italy. ww2dbase [Taranto, Puglia | HM]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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