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• February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike began in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazi occupation administration. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German battleship Tirpitz was commissioned to Kapitän zur See Friedrich Karl Topp. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Upright attacked an Italian convoy 45 miles off Sfax, Tunisia at 0343 hours, sinking Italian cruiser Armando Diaz; 464 were killed, 147 survived. The convoy was traveling from Naples, Italy to Tripoli, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Nigerian Brigade of the British 11th African Division captured Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland, Italian East Africa and the 400,000 gallons of fuel in its stores. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | CPC]

• Jaguar and Iltis began laying a minefield off Eastbourne, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Iltis | Jaguar | English Channel | CPC]

• Battleship Tirpitz was completed. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]

• Royal Navy Submarine HMS Parthian (Commander M. G. Rimington, DSO, RN) acted as a beacon to guide the ships in that participated in Operation Abstention, which aimed to take control of the Italian-held Greek island of Kastelorizo off the Turkish coast. A raiding party of 200 commandos was landed by destroyers HMS Decoy (H 73; Commander E. G. McGregor, DSO, RN) and HMS Hereward (H 93; Commander C. W. Greening, RN). The gunboat HMS Ladybird (Lieutenant Commander (retired) J.F. Blackburn, RN) landed Royal Marines. However, the operation was a failure as Italian forces led by Admiral Luigi Biancheri reacted with vigour and retook the island. ww2dbase [Kastelorizo, Rhodes | HM]

• Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent (Lieutenant Commander H.C. Browne, RN) attacked a southbound enemy convoy north-west of Tripoli, Libya. Two torpedoes were fired at one of the merchant vessels but they both missed. The convoy attacked was made up by German merchant vessels Ankara (4,768 tons), Marburg (7,564 tons), Kybfels (7,764 tons) and Reichenfels (7,744 tons). They were escorted by the Italian destroyers Aviere, Geniere and the torpedo boat Castore. ww2dbase [HM]

• Viktor Abakumov was named the NKVD deputy commissar. ww2dbase [Viktor Abakumov | CPC]

• While escorting convoy FN 417, British destroyer HMS Exmoor (Lieutenant Commmander R. T. Lampard) either hit a mine and sank or was sunk by German motor torpedo boat S-30 12 miles off Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Exmoor put up a strong defence of her convoy, but after the explosion she sank quickly. Four officers, including her Commanding Officer, and 100 men were lost with the ship; 32 survived. No ships of the convoy suffered loss or damage. ww2dbase [Lowestoft, England | CPC, HM]
• After sundown, torpedo boats Iltis (Lieutenant Commander Jacobsen) and Jaguar (Lieutenant Commander Hartenstein) carried out mining operations off Eastbourne on the Sussex coast of England, United Kingdom. The minefield would be known as "Augsburg A". ww2dbase [England | HM]

• USS Nevada departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Nevada | Bremerton, Washington | DS]

25 Feb 1941 Interactive Map