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• Adolf Hitler rejected Heinz Guderian's advice to attack Moscow, Russia; instead, he moved troops to the south. ww2dbase [Operation Barbarossa | CPC]
• Orion arrived at Gironde, Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
• HMS Zinnia was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-564 off the coast of Portugal. ww2dbase [AC]

• At 2347 hours the 1,409-ton Norwegian merchant steamer Inger was heading towards Loch Ewe, Scotland, United Kingdom when she was hit by two torpedoes fired from German submarine U-143 (Oberleutnant zur See Harald Gelhaus). She was carrying 1,500 tons of coke and had been ordered to alter her course and return to Loch Ewe, no reason was ever given for these orders. After being struck by the torpedoes the Inger sank quickly, 30 miles northwest of the Butt of Lewis, Scotland. A lifeboat floated free and three men in it rescued another 11 of the crew, none of the other nine including two British gunners, were found. There were two escort armed trawlers with the Inger, however, these continued to Loch Ewe without searching for any survivors. Later, an aircraft spotted the lifeboat and the survivors were taken to Stornoway by the Fishing trawler The Ladylove. ww2dbase [HM]
• The 2,129-ton Norwegian merchant steamer Spind had left Convoy OG-71 to make her own way. She was targeted by German submarine U-552 (Oberleutnant zur See Erich Topp) at 0648 hours off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula, however the two torpedoes both became surface runners and missed, forcing the submarine to surface seven minutes later to attack with her guns. The fired 20 rounds of 8.8cm and 250 rounds of 2cm before having to dive after the destroyer HMS Boreas (H 77) appeared and opened fire. The crew of the Norwegian ship had managed to fire off a couple of rounds before all the crew abandoned the vessel. All 25 got into lifeboats, the Second Mate had been shot and badly hurt whilst lowering himself into the boat. Erich Topp tried once again to torpedo the Spind but again there was a problem with the missile, this time failing to detonate after hitting the ship. The destroyer went on to attack the submarine but Topp was able to dive deep and escape. The Spind was burning in the accommodations amidships and the bunker coal in the 'tween deck area. The destroyer tried to extinguish the fire before picking up the survivors. After a second attempt to extinguish the fire, the ship was shelled by the destroyer and sank within five minutes. ww2dbase [HM]
• Comandante Cappellini was ordered to move to a new patrol area in the Atlantic Ocean at 0000 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• Shokaku arrived at Ariake, Tokyo, Japan and became the flagship of 1st Air Fleet of Carrier Division 5. ww2dbase [Shokaku | Tokyo | CPC]

23 Aug 1941 Interactive Map