29 May 1941
  • Prinz Eugen arrived at Brest, France. ww2dbase [Prinz Eugen | CPC]
  • A British force of cruiser and destroyers embarked 3,486 men at Heraklion, Crete and departed for Egypt at 0245 hours. At 0400 hours, HMS Imperial's steering failed; she transferred her crew and passengers, and then was scuttled by HMS Hotspur. After dawn, HMS Hereward was bombed by Italian aircraft, 76 were killed and 89 survivors were captured. Cruisers HMS Orion and HMS Dido were also attacked, killing 105 crew and 260 passengers on the former and 27 crew and 100 passengers on the latter. The force would finally arrive at Alexandria, Egypt at 2000 hours. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
  • German submarine U-557 sank British ship Empire Storm in the North Atlantic at 2043 hours; 3 were killed, 40 survived and were rescued by Norwegian ship Marita. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-38 sank British ship Tabaristan 250 miles off Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 2350 hours; 21 were killed, 39 survived and were rescued by British armed trawlers HMS Bengali and HMS Turcoman. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • The German Navy began to execute its plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | CPC]
  • HMS Eagle began patrolling the South Atlantic for German shipping. ww2dbase [Eagle | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • The 407-ton German weather-reporting trawler August Wriedt was captured by the destroyer HMS Bedouin (Commander J. A. McCoy RN) in the North Sea heading for Greenland. She was later taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Maria. ww2dbase [North Sea | AC]
Bermuda Germany
  • 13 British and Polish prisoners of war of Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, Germany attempted to escape via a tunnel, but the attempt was a failure. ww2dbase [Colditz Castle | Colditz, Sachsen | CPC]
  • U-132 was commissioned into service with Kapitänleutnant Ernst Vogelsang in command, and was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Flotilla. ww2dbase [U-132 | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • Isaac Sweers was commissioned into service with Commander Jacques Houtsmuller in command. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | CPC]
United States
  • US Navy extended its boundaries of Neutrality Patrol to North and South Atlantic. On the same day, a joint US Army-US Navy plan was drafted to occupy the Portuguese Azores islands with 14,000 Marines and 14,000 troops; the proposed commanding officer was US Marine Corps Major General Holland M. Smith. ww2dbase [United States Neutrality Patrol | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 29 May 1941
Washington off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States, 29 May 1941A-20A Havoc bomber of US 58th Bomb Squadron flying over Oahu, US Territory of Hawaii, 29 May 1941USS Washington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 29 May 1941

29 May 1941 Interactive Map

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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