Sunday, 9 February

Destroyer ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow at 2145 to search for the survivors of a crashed aircraft off Wick.

No trace was found.

Troopship AMSTERDAM departed Scapa Flow at 2300 and destroyer ESCAPADE joined her and escorted her to Aberdeen.

The destroyer arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1600.

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Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA departed Scapa Flow at 0945 to escort convoy WN.81 until dark.

The ship then escorted convoy EN.69 from off Buchan Ness to Pentland Firth.

At 1030/10th, the ship transferred to convoy WN.82 and remained with it until dark.

At 2330/10th, the ship arrived back at Scapa Flow.

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Convoy OB.284 departed Liverpool, eoscted by destroyers VANOC and VOLUNTEER, sloop ABERDEEN, corvettes FLEUR DE LYS and TULIP. Destroyer CALDWELL joined on the 10th.

Sloop ABERDEEN and the corvettes were detached on the 12th. The escort was detached on the 13th when the convoy dispersed.

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U.37 sighted convoy HG.53 east of the Azores.

Submarine U.37 sank steamers COURLAND (1325grt/总吨位) and ESTRELLANO (1983grt/总吨位) in 35-53N, 13-13.

Three crew were lost on steamer COURLAND.

Thirty crewwmen were rescued by British steamer BRANDENBURGH (1473grt/总吨位).

Six crew were lost on steamer ESTRELLANO.

German Kondor bombers sank British steamers JURA (1759grt/总吨位), DAGMAR I (2471grt/总吨位), VARNA (1514grt/总吨位), BRITTANIC (2490grt/总吨位), Norwegian steamer TEJO in 35-42N, 14-38.

Fifteen crew and two gunners were lost on steamer JURA.

Four crew and one gunner were lost on steamer DAGMAR I.

One crewman was lost on the steamer BRITTANIC.

All crew on steamer VARNA were rescued.

Steamer VARNA did not sink until 16 February in 44-55N, 22-30.

Four crew were lost on steamer TEJO.

Submarine VELOX picked up twenty six survivors from these ships and arrived back at Gibraltar on the 13th.

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In Operation RESULT, Genoa was bombarded by battlecruiser RENOWN and battleship MALAYA of Force H from 0714 to 0744. Italian battleship DUILO was at Genoa at this time, but was not damaged in the bombardment.

Light cruiser SHEFFIELD bombarded Pisa.

Aircraft from aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, which was escorted by destroyers DUNCAN, ISIS, ENCOUNTER, raided Leghorn and laid mines in the entrance to La Spezia.

A/Sub Lt (A) N. G. Attenborough, A/T/Sub Lt (A) S. . Foote RNVR, Leading Airman G. . Halifax in a Swordfish of 820 Squadron were lost in the ARK ROYAL raid on Leghorn.

Destroyers JUPITER and FIREDRAKE were off Majorica simulating radio traffic for Force H.

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Armed boarding vessels ROSAURA and CHAKLA, escorted by destroyer VOYAGER, departed Alexandria for Tobruk.

British troopship ULSTER PRINCE with 1300 troops, escorted by destroyer STUART, departed Alexandria for Tobruk.

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Submarines USK and TRUANT off Tripoli and UTMOST off Tunisia made unsuccessful attacks on Italian shipping.

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British steamer CRISTA (2590grt/总吨位) was damaged on a mine at Tobruk.

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Ocean boarding vessel MARON departed Gibraltar for Western Patrol.

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Italian coastal steamers IV NOVEMBRE (61grt/总吨位), TENAX (115grt/总吨位), ROSANNA (205grt/总吨位) were lost in stranding on the Sirte coast.

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Convoy BN.15 departed Aden, escorted by sloops SHOREHAM and YARRA, and arrived at Suez on the 16th.

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Convoy HX.108 departed Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser MALOJA and corvettes MAYFLOWER and SNOWBERRY. The armed merchant cruiser was detached on the 18th. Battleship RODNEY proceeded with the convoy on the 18th to 20 February. On the 24th, destroyers MONTGOMERY, WANDERER, WITCH and anti-submarine trawler YORK CITY joined the convoy. Corvette PERIWINKLE joined the escort on the 25th. Corvette PERIWINKLE was detached on the 26th. The remainder of their escort was detached when the convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 27th.