9 Feb 1941 | World War II Database

9 Feb 1941

Admiral Darlan became the new Vice Premier of Vichy France. ww2dbase [François Darlan | TH, CPC]
13 British aircraft from Scampton, Lincolnshire attacked battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The air crews reported to have caused damage, but in actuality no hits were scored. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
Allied troops captured El Agheila, Libya, marking an end of Operation Compass. ww2dbase [Operation Compass | CPC]
Erwin Rommel was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
British Force H, including two battleships and one cruiser, with carrier HMS Ark Royal supporting from a distance, bombarded Genoa, Italy at 0815 hours. 273 15-inch shells and 782 6-inch shells were fired. Four merchant ships and a training vessel were sunk, 18 ships were damaged, harbor facilities and nearby industrial areas were damaged, and the cathedral was also hit. 144 Italians were killed, most of whom were civilians. The British lost 1 Swordfish torpedo bomber. Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto, Cesare, and Doria, supported by cruiser and destroyers, were launched to intercept the British fleet but failed to find them. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-37 attacked Allied convoy HG-53 435 miles west of Gibraltar at 0430 hours, sinking British ships Estrellano (5 killed, 21 survived) and Courland (3 killed, 27 survived). U-37 had also reported the sighting to aircraft based in Bordeaux, France, which led to the arrival of five Fw 200 Condor bombers, which sank British ships Jura, Dagmar I, and Brittanic and Norwegian ship Tejo. ww2dbase [CPC]
British cruiser HMS Neptune was damaged by German bombing at Plymouth, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [CPC]

Atlantic Ocean

German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau detected Allied convoy HX-106 off Newfoundland at 0830 hours. Because it was escorted by British battleship Ramilies, the German fleet withdrew at 1000 hours per orders not to engage British capital ships. ww2dbase [Operation Berlin | Gneisenau | Scharnhorst | CPC]