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• Italy annexed Dalmatia into its borders. ww2dbase [TH]
• Battleship Bismarck anchored in the bay at 1200 hours to embark supplies and fuel for Operation Rheinübung. ww2dbase [Bismarck | CPC]
• Prinz Eugen departed for Operation Rheinübung. ww2dbase [Prinz Eugen | CPC]
• German submarine U-107 sank British ship Piako 130 miles west of Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 2227 hours; 10 were killed, 65 survived and rescued by British sloop HMS Bridgewater. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British battleship HMS Nelson and aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, en route from Cape Town, South Africa to Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa in search of German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis, sailed within 7 kilometers of the German ship without detecting her. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]
• German dive bombers attacked British hospital ship Aba 50 miles south of Crete, Greece. Petty Officer Alfred Sephton of British light cruiser HMS Coventry won the Victoria Cross for directing anti-aircraft fire against the German aircraft despite being partially blinded by a machine gun bullet; he would die from his injuries on the next day. In anticipation of a German invasion of Crete, Greece, 700 Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders were transported from Port Said, Egypt, on troopship Glengyle; they would land at Tymbaki, Crete after sundown. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
• British aircraft from RAF Habbaniya bombed Iraqi positions in Falluja throughout the day. Meanwhile, Arab troops loyal to Britain relieved the besieged RAF Habbaniyah which was defended only by out-of-date training aircraft. The base had been under attack from the pro-German forces of General Rashid Ali using Bf 110 and He 111 aircraft. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]

• Alessandro Malaspina sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 1505 hours at the range of 6,000 meters and submerged to escape being sighted in return. At 2150 hours, she sighted shadows on the horizon; fearing they were Allied warships, she submerged again. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | CPC]

• General Mosley Mayne, British commander of Indian 5th Division, had lunch with Italian commander Duke of Aosta at Amba Alagi, Ethiopia. The Italian duke agreed to not destroy guns, to not destroy supplies, and to dismantle or identify mines. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Amba Alagi | CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini began receiving repairs at Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• HMS York, crippled at Suda Bay, Crete, Greece, was further damaged by German aircraft. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | York | Suda Bay, Crete | CPC]

• After sundown, German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen departed Gotenhafen (Gdynia), occupied Poland for the North Atlantic. The fleet was commanded by Admiral Günther Lütjens aboard Bismarck. ww2dbase [Battle of Denmark Strait | Deutsche Werke Gotenhafen | Gdynia, Pomorskie | CPC]

• Soviet leadership began a purge against Soviet Air Force officers. ww2dbase [CPC]

18 May 1941 Interactive Map