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| 1941, March 30 |
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| Battle of Cape Matapan. Three Italian cruisers and two destroyers were sunk by British naval forces in the waters between Crete and Greece. | 1 |
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| April 10 |
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| The U.S. declared Greenland under its protection and established naval and air bases there. | 2 |
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| May 24 |
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| The giant battleship Bismarck escaped into the Atlantic, where it sank the British dreadnought Hood, but was itself destroyed by combined British air and naval attack (May 27). | 3 |
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| July 7 |
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| U.S. troops landed in Iceland to relieve British occupying forces, provide for the defense of the island, and develop air and naval bases. | 4 |
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| Sept. 16 |
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| The U.S. Navy assumed protection of all shipments as far as Iceland. | 5 |
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| Oct. 17 |
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| The U.S. destroyer Kearny was torpedoed off Iceland but reached port. The destroyer Reuben James, likewise torpedoed in the Atlantic, was lost (Oct. 31). | 6 |
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| Dec. 7 |
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| THE JAPANESE OPENED A SURPRISE ATTACK ON HAWAII, THE PHILIPPINES, MALAYA, AND HONG KONG. (For developments in the Pacific area, see (See 1941, Dec. 7). | 7 |
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