22 Apr 1941

Yugoslavia
  • The British submarine HMS Regent arrived at the Bay of Kotor in the Adriatic Sea off Montenegro, Yugoslavia. She entered the bay with colours flying only to find that the Germans had overrun the area and given control to the Italians. Lieutenant Commander H. C. Browne took on board Yugoslavian officers who were instructed to arrange for the British minister of the area to be picked up by the submarine. Regent then moved to another place where the British minister might be embarked. There they were met by a Yugoslav officer and an Italian Army captain. Browne was invited to go ashore and meet an Italian admiral at Kotor before he was to be allowed to see the British minister. Browne refused to leave the boat and then offered to sent one of his officers ashore. Lieutenant D. Lambert, RN then left Regent and an Italian Army officer went on board Regent as hostage. During the afternoon, while waiting for Lieutenant Lambert to return, several Italian aircraft were seen flying round the Regent. At 1535 hours two aircraft started dive bombing attacks. Regent then got underway to leave the bay. She was near-missed several times and damage was caused to her so it was decided to abandon the attempt to evacuate the British minister. Lieutenant Lambert must now also be left ashore, when outside the bay, HMS Regent dived and set course for the Strait of Otranto. When clear of the strait, a signal was sent to report damage done to Regent. Also three of the crew had been injured, including Browne himself, and the first lieutenant. Browne decided to proceed to Malta for much needed medical attention. ww2dbase [Kotor, Montenegro | HM]

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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