11 May 1941
- German forces completed the occupation of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
- British Brigadier Kingstone departed Haifa, Palestine with a column of horse cavalry and armored cars to reinforce RAF Habbaniya, Iraq. Meanwhile, the first 3 German Luftwaffe aircraft from Greece landed at Mosul, Iraq. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]
- The first combat mission by the RAF's new four-engine Halifax bombers failed to succeed when the bombers failed to find their French targets. ww2dbase [Halifax | AC]
- Adolf Hitler summoned top Nazi Party officials to discuss how to handle Rudolf Heß's unauthorized flight to the United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
- South African 1st Brigade arrived at Amba Alagi, Abyssinia. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Amba Alagi | CPC]
- German submarine U-103 sank British ship City of Shanghai with the last torpedo 750 miles southwest of Sierra Leone, French West Africa at 0130 hours after tracking her for 16 hours; 6 were killed, 67 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Alessandro Malaspina suffered a misfire in her torpedo No. 4 tube in the bow during a torpedo tube maintenance in the Atlantic Ocean, which damaged the tube opening. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | CPC]
- Comandante Cappellini sighted fellow Italian submarine Luigi Torelli in the Atlantic Ocean at 1930 hours and exchanged recognition signals. ww2dbase [Luigi Torelli | Comandante Cappellini | CPC]
- RAF bombers attacked Hamburg and Bremen in Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Hamburg | CPC]
- Adolf Galland was ordered by Hermann Göring to dispatch his pilots to search for and shoot down Rudolf Hess' Me-110 aircraft somewhere over the North Sea. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | CPC]
- The US Coast Guard South Greenland Survey Expedition completed a survey of the future Bluie West Eight airfield site in Greenland. ww2dbase [Bluie West Eight | South Greenland | CPC]
- John Colville, secretary to Winston Churchill, observed great fires burning on the southern shore of River Thames in London, England, United Kingdom, result of the previous night's bombing. During the day, German Luftwaffe aircraft bombed RAF Feltwell in England. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]

11 May 1941 Interactive Map
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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