[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

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Saturday, 24 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
Battle of the Denmark Strait between KMS Bismarck & Prinz Eugen and HMS Hood and Prince of Wales. HMS Hood is sunk by Bismarck at 0601h, at about 63° 22' North, 32° 17' West. Out of a crew of 1,418 men, only three survived. Prince of Wales withdraws from the battle due to heavy damage. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen do not pursue but head south.

Operation "Merkur" (Mercury):
On Wednesday, 21 May 1941, German troops have taken the strategically important Hill 107 and Maleme airfield.
An Axis convoy of around 20 caïques, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat Lupo, tried to land German reinforcements near Maleme. Force D under Rear-Admiral Irvine Glennie, with three light cruisers and four destroyers, intercepted the convoy before midnight; the convoy turned back with the loss of more than half of its boats, despite Lupo's defence.
On 22/23 May 1941, another Axis landing attempt is repelled by Force C (three cruisers and four destroyers, commanded by Rear Admiral Edward Leigh Stuart King) but is taking heavy losses from the German Luftwaffe, as is Force A1 commanded by Rear Admiral H B Rawlings.
Fighting against fresh German troops, that are being flown in by the Luftwaffe, the Allies retreat southward and on May 24, after air attacks on Allied positions in Kastelli/Heraklion, the 95th Gebirgs Pioneer Battalion advanced on the town. These air attacks enable the escape of German paratroopers captured on 20 May; the escapees killed or captured several New Zealand officers assigned to lead the 1st Greek Regiment. Fighting with the remnants of the 1st Greek Regiment will continue in the Kastelli area until 26 May, hampering German efforts to land reinforcements at Heraklion.

Started new career in August 2019 to commemorate the beginning of WWII, 80 years before ...

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Tuesday, 27 May 1941: - U.A.K. and 2nd Training Division (U.L.D.), Gotenhafen -

Work-up's and Trials with the U.A.K. (Kpt.z.S.R. BRÄUTIGAM), the 2nd Training Division, Gotenhafen (Freg.Kpt. HARTMANN).

Operation "Rheinübung":
After being immobilized by Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Arc Royal, KMS Bismarck is sunk by the British H Force and elements of the Home Fleet at 1039 hours in the approximate position of 48° 09' North, 16° 07'. Prinz Eugen escapes to Brest.

Out of a crew of more than 2,200 officers, non-commissioned officers and men, around 800 sailors manage to abandon the Bismarck before she sinks. The rest of the crew, many of them still alive, sink with the battleship.

An hour later, the Dorsetshire pick up 86 sailors and the Maori another 25. The temperature of the water is 13° C. The British do not recover more men because they claim there are U-boats in the area.

Towards 2000 hours, U74 (Kapitänleutnant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat) rescues three more sailors. They are Herbert Manthey, Otto Höntzsch and Georg Herzog.

Meanwhile, the Spanish heavy cruiser Canarias (Captain Benigno González-Aller) has left the port of El Ferrol at 1140 on 27 May in an attempt to rescue some survivors from the Bismarck.

Operation "Merkur":
On 26 May, in the face of the stalled German advance, senior Wehrmacht officers had requested Mussolini to send Italian Army units to Crete in order to help the German forces fighting there. On the afternoon of 27 May, an Italian convoy departs from Rhodes with the intention of landing a brigade from the 50th Infantry Division "Regina", supported by 13 L3/35 light tanks. The escort is made up of the destroyer "Francesco Crispi", the torpedo-boats "Lira", "Lince", and "Libra", two MAS motor torpedo boats, while the amphibious force is comprised of four fishing vessels, two steamships, one river boat, two reefer ships, three tugs and three tankers. The Italian commander in the "Dodecanese" had volunteered the services of his men as early as 21 May, but the request had to pass through German channels to Hermann Göring, who finally authorized the move when it became clear that the German effort was not moving ahead as quickly as planned. The Italians will land 3,000 men of the division and their equipment at Sitia on 28 May at 17:20h and advanced west mostly unopposed, rendezvousing with the Germans at Ierapetra.

During the night of 26/27 May, a detachment of some 800 men from No. 7 and No. 50/52 Commandos, as part of Layforce, landed at Souda Bay (Colonel Robert Laycock). Laycock had tried to land the force on 25 May, but had turned back due to bad weather. Although armed mainly with only rifles and a small number of machine guns, they were to carry out rearguard actions in order to buy the garrison enough time to carry out an evacuation.

Troops of the German 141st Mountain Regiment block a section of the road between Souda and Chania. On the morning of 27 May, the New Zealand 28th (Māori) Battalion, the Australian 2/7th Battalion and the Australian 2/8th Battalion clear the road by a bayonet charge (the "Battle of 42nd Street").

Command in London decides the cause is hopeless after General Wavell informs the Prime Minister at 0842h, 27 May, that the battle is lost, and orderes an evacuation. Freyberg concurrently orderes his troops to withdraw to the south coast to be evacuated. 2 hours later, KMS Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic.