In the Mediterranean... On Crete, in the face of the growing strength and complete German air superiority, the British commander Freyberg cancels a counterattack against Maleme for the night of May 22-23rd and orders a withdrawal instead. A second German convoy is turned back but is not pursued far because the Luftwaffe intervenes. In various actions during the day the battleship Warspite is badly damaged and two cruisers and one destroyer are sunk. Admiral Cunningham, ashore in Alexandria, orders the fleet to return after being wrongly informed that ammunition for the battleship's antiaircraft guns is in very short supply. During the night of May 22-23rd the Maleme airfield is bombarded by Lord Mountbatten's 5th Destroyer Flotilla. King George of Greece is evacuated from the island to Egypt during the night.

In the North Atlantic... British planes report correctly that the German ships Bismark and Prinz Eugen have also put to sea and the Commander in Chief of the British Home Fleet, Admiral Tovey, therefore, sets out with the battleship King George V and the carrier Victorious. The battle cruiser Repulse joins this force later in the day. Tovey plans to reinforce the patrols watching the Faeroes-Iceland passage while Holland in the Hood goes to give further strength to the forces in the Denmark Strait.