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• » 20 Feb 1945

• German Armeegruppe Kurland suffered heavy Soviet attacks in Lithuania, but was able to resist. ww2dbase [TH]
• HMS Vervain (Lieutenant Commander R. A. Howell) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-1276 off the coast of Ireland. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | AC]
• HMS Activity arrived in Colombo, Ceylon. ww2dbase [Activity | CPC]
• USS Hawkbill attacked a Japanese convoy, sinking cargo ship Daizen Maru. ww2dbase [Hawkbill | CPC]
• George Patton wrote to Omar Bradley, urging Bradley to convince Dwight Eisenhower to allow Bradley's army group to attack aggressively toward the Rhine River. ww2dbase [Advance to the Rhine | CPC]
• USS Bailey arrived at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. ww2dbase [Bailey | DS]

• Du Yuming was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. ww2dbase [Du Yuming | CPC]

• Kamikaze rescued survivors of torpedoed destroyer Nokaze off Annam, French Indochina. ww2dbase [Kamikaze | Annam | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid against rail facilities at Nürnberg, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Nürnberg | DS]

• USS Parche arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Parche | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | CPC]
• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: The first major contingent of WAVES arrived this date. Air Group 33 departed. Air Group 5 arrived on board. ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• US and Brazilian troops of US 5th Army launched Operation Encore against German positions at Monte Castello and Monte Della Torraca 61 kilometers southwest of Bologna, Italy. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Castello | Monte Castello, Emilia-Romagna | CPC]

• Unryu was struck from the Japanese Navy list. ww2dbase [Unryu | CPC]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) launched 3 days of support missions over Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands. ww2dbase [Battle of Iwo Jima | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands | DS]
• Landing ship No. 121 was completed and was transferred to the Japanese Army. ww2dbase [No. 101/103-class | CPC]
• Patrol Boat No. 102 completed the installation of a new tripod foremast, a Type 22 surface radar, and a Type 13 air-search radar while in Drydock No. 4 at Kure, Hiroshima, Japan. ww2dbase [Kure Naval Arsenal | Stewart | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]

• USS Pintado was detected by a Japanese aircraft in the South China Sea, which damaged her with depth charges. ww2dbase [Pintado | South China Sea | CPC]
• USS Sunfish collided with a piece of ice floe, bending both of her periscopes. She set sail for Guam, Mariana Islands to receive repairs. ww2dbase [Sunfish (Gato-class) | CPC]

• Destroyer USS Shaw departed San Pedro Bay, Leyte as part of a convoy bound for the Nasugbu, Luzon area. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 2 | Shaw | San Pedro Bay, Leyte | DS]

• German V-2 rocket hit a factory Ilford, London, England, United Kingdom, killing 7 and injuring 94. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | Vergeltungswaffe 2 | London, England | CPC]

• USS S-38 was sunk as a target by aerial bombing. ww2dbase [S-38 | CPC]

20 Feb 1945 Interactive Map