Light cruiser Bremen, the North Sea, north of Dogger Bank, Wednesday, 22 February 1950
Konteradmiral Gerhard Wagner had been surprised to receive orders from the Admiralstab to take his cruiser-destroyer group from its base at Helgoland and exercise in the North Sea; at short notice too. He was happy to get his crews to sea, even in winter weather, but he could not help but feel as if it was just showing the English a
Lange Nase. He looked up and noticed the circling Sunderland of RAF Coastal Command, wondering what its pilot thought of the spurt of activity on the part of
Einzatzgruppe 58.4.
To the south, near Cleaver Bank,
Einzatzgruppe 58.5, with the escort carriers
Pommern and
Westfalen, was supposed to be operating, dispositions whose meaning was unclear. Mentally, Wagner shrugged and checked the Seetakt plot again, reassuring that his ships were keeping proper station.
Handelsblatt. Thursday, 23 February 1950
Heinrich Lanz AG has announced it has formed a partnership with Vehículos Industriales y Agrícolas, S.A of Madrid to manufacture its agricultural tractors at the latter’s new factory at Getafe. It is expected that by year’s end production will be nearing one hundred units per month, with further increases in the New Year.
Militär-Wochenblatt, Friday, 24 February 1950
Both Krupp and Krauss-Maffei have delivered prototypes of their design proposals for a new medium tank to succeed the Standardpanzer Panther. The Krupp design, shown at left, is armed with a 100mm gun of Russian derivation, while the Krauss-Maffei entry, shown at right, carries at 105mm gun developed by Rheinmetall. Both designs feature torsion bar suspensions. No other details have been released at this time. Trials will continue over the next several months.