Sunday, 11 February

Convoy HN.10B with twenty Norwegian, seven Swedish and two Finnish ships departed Bergen on the 11th, escorted by destroyers COSSACK, SIKH, MOHAWK and TARTAR, with twelve of the ships being detached down the west coast of Britain. Next day, HN.11 with one British, fifteen Norwegian, ten Swedish and one Finnish ship left Bergen and were escorted by the same warships from HN.10B, but in this case, none of the ships were bound for west coast ports. Still on the 12th, COSSACK and GURKHA attacked a submarine contact northeast of Sumburgh Head in 60-12N, 00-22, and on the 13th SIKH also attacked a contact, off Aberdeen in 57-15. 7N, 1-47. That same day, the 13th, destroyer DIANA departed Rosyth to relieve destroyers COSSACK and GURKHA for operation DT. They reached Rosyth later in the day, as did the east bound section of HN.10B. Light cruisers EDINBURGH and ARETHUSA also arrived in Rosyth, on the 14th, and the later convoy, HN.11 safely reached Methil on the 15th.

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Destroyer GALLANT, leaving Aberdeen, damaged her propellers on a submerged object, and was docked for examination.

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Heavy cruiser NORFOLK arrived at Scapa Flow from Northern Patrol.

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Armed merchant cruiser ASTURIAS departed the Clyde on Northern Patrol.

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Heavy cruiser DEVONSHIRE intercepted Norwegian steamer BORGLAND (3636grt/总吨位) and requested a trawler to take her in to Kirkwall.

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Destroyer EXPRESS attacked a submarine contact off Flamborough Head in 54?13N, 00?08E.

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Destroyer KINGSTON was submarine hunting 22 miles west by south of Dubh Artch.

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Destroyer GREYHOUND lost Acting S/Lt R A S. Brown RNR, a petty officer and five ratings when her boat capsized in the Humber.

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During the night of the 11th/12th, minelayer PRINCESS VICTORIA with destroyers EXPRESS and ESK laid the 52 mines in minefield LD 3 (first half). After the operation, the minelayer anchored in Yarmouth Roads.

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Anti-submarine trawler HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (399grt/总吨位), escorting a convoy, attacked a submarine contact off the Smalls in 51-38N, 5-57. Destroyer WINCHELSEA joined in the hunt.

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Convoy OA.88GF departed Southend on the 8th, escorted by destroyer BROKE which was relieved on the 10th by sloop BIDEFORD and destroyer VETERAN, while OB.88GF sailed from Liverpool, also on the 8th with 29 ships escorted by sloop LEITH and destroyer VERSATILE. On the 11th, they merged as OG.18F. Destroyer VERSATILE escorted the convoy on the 11th before detaching to HG.18F, sloops LEITH and BIDEFORD were with the convoy from the 11th to 17th, and destroyer ACTIVE joined it in the Gibraltar approaches out of Gibraltar, where OG.18F arrived on the 17th.

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Convoy FN.92 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers JUPITER, VIVIEN and sloop PELICAN, and arrived in the Tyne on the 13th.

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Convoy FS.93 departed the Tyne at 2300 escorted by destroyers VEGA, JAGUAR and sloop STORK, and arrived at Southend on the 13th.

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U.9 sank Estonian steamer LINDA (1213grt/总吨位) 100 miles west of Utsire in 58?51N, 01?54E. One member of the crew was lost, and the survivors rescued by Swedish steamer BIRGITTA (1363grt/总吨位).

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U.37 sank trawler TOGIMO (290grt/总吨位) in 50?40N, 11?02 with the loss of one crewman. Survivors were picked up by Spanish steamer MONTE NAVAJO (5754grt/总吨位).

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U.50 sank Swedish steamer ORANIA (1854grt/总吨位) 60 miles NE of the Shetlands. Fourteen crew were lost and ten survivors picked up by destroyer FEARLESS and transferred to FOXHOUND, which landed them at Lerwick. Four destroyers were searching in the area for the submarine.

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U.53 sank Norwegian steamer SNESTAD (4114grt/总吨位) with the loss of two crew in 58?40N, 13?40 and badly damaged British tanker IMPERIAL TRANSPORT (8022grt/总吨位) in 59N, 12. The tanker broke in two, the forward section sank and destroyer KINGSTON tried unsuccessfully to tow the stern section, after which she stood by until tug BUCCANEER arrived. She tried three times, then other tugs arrived. On the 15th, destroyer FORESTER was detailed to join the damaged ship. She was relieved by destroyer MOHAWK, which departed the Clyde on the 20th, and she in turn was relieved by escort vessel GLEANER. FORESTER and BUCCANEER arrived in the Clyde on the 22nd and four more days later, on the 26th, under the tow of tugs ST MARTIN and ENGLISHMAN and escorted by escort vessel GLEANER, IMPERIAL TRANSPORT also reached the Clyde. She was beached in Kilchattan Bay on the Isle of Bute and later rebuilt.

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Trade negotiations between Germany and Russia which began in the latter part of 1939 were signed in Moscow. As part of the treaty, German handed over the incomplete heavy cruiser LUTZOW, plans for battleship BISMARCK, heavy naval guns, and about thirty aircraft including ME.109 fighters, ME.110 fighter bombers and JU.88 bombers. The sale of incomplete heavy cruisers SEYDLITZ and PRINZ EUGEN and turrets of two of the Z-programme battleships had also been discussed during the negotiations, but had been vetoed by Hitler on 8 December.

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Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, battlecruiser RENOWN, and destroyers HASTY and HERO, which departed Gibraltar on the 10th to return to England, searched for the German ships which had escaped from Vigo (Operation VO). Other ships taking part included aircraft carrier HERMES which left Freetown at 1200/11th, light cruiser GALATEA from Gibraltar at 1800/12th, and French destroyers TRIOMPHANT and FOUGUEUX on patrol in 43-00N between 13 and 11. Destroyer departures from Plymouth were KEITH, WAKEFUL and VETERAN on the 9th, ANTELOPE on the 10th to join ARK ROYAL at 0900/12th in 45-00N, 15-00, ACASTA, WHITSHED, VESPER at 1430/11th with ARDENT to sail as soon as possible, and WREN, WOLVERINE and HEARTY at 0830/12th. Aircraft from ARK ROYAL sighted several of the German steamers, leading to the capture of ROSTOCK and MOREA.

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German steamer ROSTOCK (2542grt/总吨位), which left Vigo on the 9th/10th, was captured off the Spanish coast by French sloop ELAN. A prize crew was put aboard and she was taken into Brest arriving on the 14th. Renamed SAINT MAURICE for French service, she reverted to German service after the fall of France.

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Light cruiser GLOUCESTER departed Mombasa and arrived at Durban on the 21st.