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• German submarine U-123 detected Allied convoy HX121 150 miles south of Iceland and radioed the finding to 5 other submarines. At 0415 hours, U-552 sank a tanker. At 0725 hours, U-96 sank 2 tankers and 1 freighter. While attacking, U-65 was sunk by depth charges launched by British destroyer HMS Douglas, killing the entire crew of 50. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Maggiore Baracca ceased her search for Allied convoy HG 60 in the Atlantic Ocean. ww2dbase [Maggiore Baracca | CPC]

• British Stirling bombers of No. 7 Squadron RAF attacked Emden, Germany during the day. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Emden, Weser-Ems | CPC]
• In Berlin, Germany, German ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg attempted to convince Adolf Hitler that the Soviet Union was generally friendly toward Germany, and the two nations could achieve greater friendship by working closer together. ww2dbase [Berlin | CPC]

• German aircraft sank Greek torpedo boat Kyzikos and 2 other ships during the day. 2 companies of the German 5th Panzer Division captured the port of Kalamata, Greece, disrupting evacuation of Allied troops; though Allied forces would recapture the port by the end of the day, all British ships had already departed from Kalamata. Overnight, 4,170 Allied troops were evacuated from the Peloponnese Peninsula in southern Greece. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
• Sergeant Jack Hinton of New Zealand 2nd Division led an attack to retake the quay at Kalamata, Greece, clearing out 3 machine gun nests and a mortar with grenades and capturing a 6-inch gun. He was shot in the stomach and taken prisoner. He would later win the Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [Kalamata | CPC]
• Günther Altenburg was made the Reich Plenipotentiary for Greece. ww2dbase [Günther Altenburg | CPC]

• German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin attacked British ship Clan Buchanan in the Arabian Sea 1,200 miles east of Mogadishu, British Somaliland. Before the crew of 110 surrendered and the ship scuttled, a distress signal was sent out, and British warships were dispatched to the area to hunt for Pinguin. ww2dbase [Pinguin | Arabian Sea | CPC]

• At 0600 hours, German bombers attacked Tobruk, Libya. During the day, German Deputy Chief of Staff Friedrich Paulus ordered Erwin Rommel to delay the planned ground assault on Tobruk. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | Tobruk | CPC]
• Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down his 8th kill, a British Blenheim light bomber, over the water off Tobruk, Libya. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Tobruk | CPC]

• German bombers attacked Malta overnight, badly damaging destroyer HMS Encounter in the drydock and destroying minesweeper HMS Fermoy. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• British minesweeping trawler HMT Caroline, manned by Dutch sailors, hit a mine and sank off Milford Haven, Wales, United Kingdom, killing the entire crew. ww2dbase [Milford Haven, Wales | CPC]
• Winston Churchill, without reference to the Chiefs of Staff, issued a directive stating that there is no need at the present time to make provisions for the defence of Malaya and Singapore. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Winston Churchill | London, England | AC]

• Charles Sweeney joined the United States Army Air Corps; he would later become the pilot of B-29 Superfortress bomber Bockscar that delivered the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. ww2dbase [Charles Sweeney | CPC]
• The USS Essex keel was laid at Newport News, Virginia, United States, the first of the Essex-class aircraft carriers. ww2dbase [Essex | Essex-class | Newport News Shipbuilding | Newport News, Virginia | DS]

28 Apr 1941 Interactive Map