14 Feb 1940 | World War II Database

14 Feb 1940

German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee's supply ship Altmark reached Norwegian territorial waters off Trondheim. It was Captain Heinrich Dau's intension to remain in neutral Norwegian waters to avoid an attack by the British. ww2dbase [Altmark | CPC]
German submarine U-57 torpedoed British tanker Gretafield 20 miles east of Wick, Scotland. 10 men were killed while 31 survivors were rescued by trawlers HMS Peggy Nutten and HMS Strathalladale. With 13,000 tons of fuel oil on board, she drifted as the oil burned, eventually running aground. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-53 sank Danish ship Martin Goldschmidt west of Ireland at 0500 hours. 5 men were killed while 5 survivors were rescued by Norweigan ship Berto. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-26 sank British steamer Langleeford 70 miles northwest of Fastnet, Ireland at 0800 hours, killing 4. U-26 picked up 30 survivors, interrogated them, and then sent them to County Clare, Ireland. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-48 sank British merchant ship Sultan Star 200 miles west of Land's End, southwestern England at 1700 hours, killing 1 man. Destroyers Whitshed, Vesper, and Acasta retaliated with 22 depth charges but they did not hit U-48. 72 survivors were rescued by Whitshed and delivered to Plymouth, England on the next day. ww2dbase [U-48 | Acasta | CPC]
Finnish troop began withdrawing from the Lähde sector of the Mannerheim Line. Meanwhile, after heavy bombardment, Soviet troops retook the Kirvesmäki fort on the Taipale River on the Mannerheim Line. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
The British government agreed to allow British volunteers to serve in the Finnish armed forces. ww2dbase [AC]

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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