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• German submarines sank six merchant vessels that each flew French, Spanish, Greek, Panamanian, Dutch, and Norwegian flags. A total of 40 men were killed on the six vessels. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Seeadler escorted battleship Scharnhorst, battleship Gneisenau, and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. ww2dbase [Seeadler | CPC]

• Finnish troops destroyed a pocket of Soviet troops north of Lake Ladoga, capturing 32 field guns, 30 anti-tank guns, 1 mortar, 20 tanks, 15 machine guns, 25 trucks, and 32 field kitchen; the Soviets suffered 1,000 deaths and 250 men taken prisoner; Finnish losses were only 166 deaths. At the defensive V-line, however, the Finnish units were overwhelmed and began to be overrun at two locations. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]

• German Army General Franz Halder, reluctantly, as ordered by Adolf Hitler, incorporated General Erich von Manstein's planned thrust through the Ardennes Forest into the invasion plans for France. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]
• German battlecruiser Gneisenau embarked on Operation Nordmark, aiming to intercept British convoy traffic in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Gneisenau | HM]
• German battlecruiser Scharnhorst embarked on Operation Nordmark, aiming to intercept British convoy traffic in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Scharnhorst | HM]
• German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper embarked on Operation Nordmark, aiming to intercept British convoy traffic in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Admiral Hipper | HM]
• German destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp, Karl Galster, and Wolfgang Zenker embarked on Operation Nordmark, aiming to intercept British convoy traffic in the North Sea. During the night, Wolfgang Zenker was forced to return to base when she began taking on water. ww2dbase [HM]

• Alessandro Malaspina was launched in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

• British Royal Navy D-class destroyer HMS Daring (H16; Commander Sydney Alan Cooper), whilst escorting Allied convoy HN-12 from Norway, was attacked by German submarine U-23 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) at 0354 hours. Two torpedoes struck the 1,375-ton ship and she sank immediately about 40 miles east of the Pentland Firth, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom. 147 officers and men were lost. 1 officer and 3 ratings were picked up from a float by HMS Ingleield (D02) and taken to Scapa Flow, Scotland and another rating was found amidst the debris and rescued by the submarine HMS Thistle (N24) assisted by HMS Ilex (D61) and taken to Rosyth, Scotland. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | Scotland | AC, HM]

18 Feb 1940 Interactive Map