1939
SEPTEMBER
1939
|
DEFENCE
OF
BRITISH COASTS
|
| - Right
through
until May 1940 U-boats operated around
the coasts
of Britain and in the North Sea.
Scotland's Moray
Firth was often a focus for their
activities.
They attacked with both torpedoes and
magnetic
mines. Mines
were
also
laid by surface ships and
aircraft.
-
British East Coast convoys (FN/FS)
commenced between
the Thames Estuary and the Firth of
Forth in
Scotland. Southend-on-Sea, the
Thames peacetime
seaside resort, saw over 2,000
convoys arrive and
depart in the course of the war.
-
Defensive
mine laying began
with an anti-U-boat barrier in the
English Channel
across the Straits of Dover,
followed by an East
Coast barrier to protect coastal
convoy routes.
|
DECLARATIONS
OF WAR
3rd - After
Germany invaded Poland on the 1st, Britain and
France
demanded the withdrawal of German forces. The
ultimatum
expired and at 11.15am on the 3rd, Prime
Minister Neville
Chamberlain broadcast to announce that Britain
was at war
with Germany. He formed a War Cabinet with
Winston
Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Western Front
-
Advance units of the British Expeditionary Force
were
carried by destroyers from Portsmouth to France
on the
4th September. By June 1940 half a million men
had been
carried in both directions without loss.
Monthly Loss Summary
33
British, Allied and neutral ships of 85,000 tons
in UK
waters.
OCTOBER
1939
8th - The
anti-U-boat mine barrage in the Strait of Dover
was
completed and accounted for three U-boats,
starting with "U-12" on the 8th.
13th - "U-40"
was also
mined and sunk in the Strait of
Dover.
14th - Returning
to
Scapa Flow after guarding the Fair Isle passage
during a
recent sortie by battlecruiser "Gneisenau", and
now at anchor, battleship "ROYAL OAK"
was torpedoed
and sunk by
"U-47" (Lt-Cdr Prien) in the early hours of the
14th with the loss of 833 men. The Home Fleet
moved to
Loch Ewe on the W Scottish coast
German Sea and Air
Attacks - These were stepped up against
merchant
shipping and warships in British waters. In
their first
attack on British territory, Ju.88's bombed
ships in the
Firth of Forth, Scotland on the 16th October
and
slightly damagd cruisers
"Southampton",
"Edinburgh" and
destroyer "Mohawk". Next day more Ju.88's struck
at Scapa Flow
and the old gunnery training battleship "Iron
Duke"
was bomb-damaged
and
had to be beached. German destroyers and later
other
surface vessels started laying mines off the
British East
Coast. Aircraft also attacked the East Coast
convoy
routes, but initially without success. In
defence, it
took some months for RAF Fighter Command to
arrange
effective sweeps, but there were too few AA guns
to arm
merchantmen.
24th - The
third
U-boat sunk in the Strait of Dover was "U-16" on
the 24th. No more attempts were
made to pass through the English Channel and
U-boats were
forced to sailed around the north of Scotland to
reach
the Atlantic.
Monthly Loss Summary
- 24
British, Allied and neutral ships of 63,000 tons
in UK
waters.
NOVEMBER
1939
13th - As
U-boat
and surface ship-laid mines continued to inflict
heavy
losses on merchant ships and warships alike,
cruiser
minelayer "Adventure" and accompanying destroyer
"BLANCHE"
were
mined in the
Thames
Estuary. "Blanche" was a total loss. More
serious casualties followed a week later.
21st - Recently
completed
light cruiser "Belfast"
was badly
damaged in the Firth of Forth
on a magnetic mine laid by "U-21". With her
back broken and machinery mountings shattered
she was out
of action for three years.
21st - Destroyer
"GIPSY" was
also lost on
mines laid by
destroyers off the British east coast port of
Harwich.
Magnetic Mines
-
German seaplanes also laid the first magnetic
mines off
the East Coast and dropped one on tidal flats at
Shoeburyness in the Thames Estuary. It was
defused on the
23rd November and recovered by Lt-Cdr Ouvry
(awarded the
George Cross), a vital step in the battle
against a
weapon which was causing heavy losses and long
shipping
delays. In November alone, 27 ships of 121,000
tons were
sunk and for a time the Thames Estuary was
virtually
closed to shipping.
Merchant Shipping
War -
The first HN/ON convoys sailed between the Firth
of Forth
and Norway in November covered by the Home
Fleet. The
convoys were discontinued in April 1940.
Monthly Loss Summary
43
British, Allied and neutral ships of 156,000
tons in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1939
4th
-
Returning from the hunt for the German
battle-cruisers
after the sinking of "Rawalpindi" on the 23rd
November, battleship "Nelson"
was
damaged by a mine laid
by
"U-31" off Loch Ewe, northwest Scotland.
12th
-
Battleship "Barham" was involved in two
incidents. On the 12th in the North Channel
separating
Northern Ireland and Scotland, she collided with
and sank "DUCHESS",
one of her screening
destroyers.
28th - Two
weeks
after colliding with "Duchess", "Barham"
was
torpedoed and
damaged off the Hebrides
by "U-30" (Lt Cdr Lemp)
Merchant Shipping
War
- Trawlers were the main victims of the first
successful
attacks by German aircraft off the East Coast.
By the end
of March they had accounted for 30 vessels of
37,000
tons. Losses from mines remained high - 33 ships
of
83,000 tons in December.
Monthly Loss Summary
66
British, Allied and Neutral ships of 152,000
tons in UK
waters.
1940
JANUARY
1940
1st - AA
cruiser “Coventry”
was
damaged in an
air raid
on the Shetland Islands, north of Scotland.
19th - As
destroyer
“GRENVILLE” returned from contraband control
off the Dutch coast she was lost on a
destroyer-laid mine
off the Thames Estuary.
21st -
Searching
for a reported U-boat off the Moray Firth,
destroyer
“EXMOUTH”
was
torpedoed by “U-22”
and lost with all hands.
Merchant Shipping
War -
U-boats were particularly active in the Moray
Firth area
off the Scottish coast and in the rest of the
North Sea
through until March 1940. In January alone they
sank 14
ships - all neutrals.
Monthly Loss Summary
64
British, Allied and neutral ships of 179,000
tons in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1940
12th - “U-33”
on a minelaying operation in the
Firth of Clyde, eastern Scotland was sunk by
minesweeper
“Gleaner”.
18th - In an
attack
on Norway/UK convoy HN12, destroyer “DARING”
was
sunk by “U-23” in the
northern North Sea, east of the Pentland Firth.
Monthly Loss Summary
- 46
British, Allied and neutral ships of 152,000
tons in UK
waters.
- 3
German U-boats
MARCH
1940
16th - Home
Fleet
was bombed in Scapa Flow and heavy cruiser
"Norfolk" damaged.
Merchant Shipping
War -
Since September 1939, 430,000 tons of shipping
had been
sent to the bottom by mines around the coasts of
Britain
- a loss rate only second to U-boats. Now the
Royal Navy
slowly countered magnetic mines with the
introduction of
ship-degaussing and 'LL' minesweeping gear.
Although
mines, contact, magnetic and later acoustic
remained a
threat throughout the war, they never again
represented
the danger of the first few months.
Monthly Loss Summary
- 43
British, Allied and neutral ships of 96,000 tons
in UK
waters
APRIL
1940
9th,
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
Atomic Bomb -
Just
as the “phoney war” ended in Europe (it never
existed at sea) the end of the war was
foreshadowed when
the British government established the Maud
Committee to
oversee nuclear research.
German Codes -
The
Bletchley Park Ultra programme was now decoding
some
Luftwaffe low-level Enigma codes, partly because
of poor
German security procedures. There was little
evidence the
hard-won information influenced the war over the
next two
violent months.
29th -
Submarine “UNITY” was
lost in
collision with a Norwegian
merchantman off the northeast coast of England.
Monthly Loss Summary
54
British, Allied and neutral ships of 134,000
tons from
all causes.
MAY
1940
Following a 10th May
House
of Commons debate on the Norwegian campaign,
Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and
Winston
Churchill assumed leadership. Albert V.
Alexander
succeeded him as First Lord of the Admiralty.
The planned
attack on Narvik would still go ahead, but that
same day
the German Blitzkrieg on Holland, Belgium and
France was
launched.
10th
- Germany invaded Holland, Belgium,
Luxembourg
26th
May-4th June - Dunkirk Evacuation
(Operation 'Dynamo')
31st - German
“U-13”
was believed sunk by
sloop “Weston” off the English East Coast
fishing port of Lowestoft.
Monthly Loss Summary
90
British, Allied and neutral ships of 231,000
tons from
all causes.
JUNE
1940
Italy
declares War on Britain and France
German Codes - 'Ultra'
was
now breaking the Luftwaffe Enigma codes with
some
regularity, and early in the month had its first
major
breakthrough when supporting evidence for the
Knickebein
navigation aid for bombers was obtained. Army
codes were
more secure because of the greater use of land
lines for
communications, and the Naval ones would not be
penetrated until mid-1941.
30th - The
first
German troops landed on the Channel Islands, the
only
part of the British Empire occupied by the
Germans
throughout the war.
By early June 1940
the
Royal Navy was taking steps to meet the threat
of German
invasion. Any invasion fleet would be attacked
as it
built up and before it could reach British
shores. Four
destroyer flotillas with cruiser support moved
south, and
escort and other vessels were on patrol
offshore. The
removal of these escorts from Atlantic convoy
duties
contributed to the sinking of many merchant
ships, and
eventually they returned to these duties. After
setting
out in early May, a heavily escorted convoy
carrying
Australian and New Zealand troops arrived in
Britain.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
6
British, Allied and neutral ships of 45,000 tons
from all
causes.
JULY
1940
Battle of Britain
-
Hitler decided that an invasion of Britain –
“Operation Sealion” - was possible and ordered
preliminary air attacks starting with English
Channel
shipping and ports. On the 16th, preparations
got
underway for the landing and assault operations
scheduled
to start in mid-August. On the 19th July Hitler
offered
to make peace with Britain. Three days later his
overtures were rejected.
French
Navy
in Britain - The
two
World War 1 French battleships "Courbet"
and "Paris" and several destroyers and
submarines, including the giant "Surcouf" were
in British ports. On the 3rd they were boarded
and
seized, but not before there were casualties on
both
sides including three British and one French
dead.
4th - Anchored off
the SE breakwater within Portland Harbour,
auxiliary AA
ship "FOYLE
BANK"
(Capt H
P Wilson) was
attacked
by 33 Ju87 divebombers and
apparently hit by a total of 22 bombs. With one
of the
attackers shot down, she sank to the bottom with
176 men
killed out of a total crew of 19 officers and
279 crew.
+ Leading Seaman Jack
Mantle,
gunner in the "Foyle Bank", continued in action
although mortally wounded and was posthumously
awarded
the Victoria
Cross. According to
one source she was sunk off Portland in attacks
on
Thames-out convoy 0A178 which also accounted for
four
merchantmen. Photographs of her hit and sinking
bear out
the Portland Harbour location.
16th - Cruiser
"Glasgow" rammed and sank accompanying
destroyer "IMOGEN" off the Pentland Firth, north
of Scotland.
20th - Heavy
German
attacks continued on shipping and four
destroyers (1-4)
were bombed and sunk over the
next few
days, to add to the losses already sustained.
The first
was "BRAZEN" (1)
on convoy duty off Dover,
27th - Two
more
destroyers were lost to air attack in British
waters - "WREN" (2)
off Aldeburgh on the English East Coast as
she gave AA cover to minesweepers, and
"CODRINGTON" (3)
in Dover harbour.
29th - The
fourth
destroyer loss to bombing was "DELIGHT"
(4)
escorting a Channel convoy off
Portland.
Merchant Shipping
War
- With the Germans now so close to British
shores, new
coastal convoy routes had to be established and
integrated with overseas convoys. The
Thames/Forth FN/FS
convoys between south east England and Scotland
continued
along the East Coast. Two additional routes were
instituted: Forth/Clyde, EN/WN, around the north
of
Scotland between the east and west coasts; and
Thames/English Channel, CW/CE, through the
Strait of
Dover to south and south west England. Channel
losses
were so heavy that CW/CE convoys were stopped
for a
while. On the 25th/26th, CW8 lost eight of its
21 ships
to attacks by Stukas and E-boats. Four more
merchantmen
and two destroyers were damaged.
Monthly Loss Summary
67
British, Allied and neutral ships of 192,000
tons in UK
waters.
AUGUST
1940
Battle of Britain
-
The Luftwaffe switched its attacks from English
Channel
ports and shipping to RAF Fighter Command and on
the 13th
launched a major offensive - 'Adlertag' -
especially
against airfields. Damage to the airfields and
installations, and losses in aircraft on both
sides were
heavy. Bombs dropped on London on the 24th led
to RAF
Bomber Command raiding Berlin the next night. By
the end
of the month the first possible date for
'Operation
Sealion' had been put back to late September.
Royal Navy Codes -
These
were changed and for the first time operational
signals
were secure from German interception and
decoding. it
would be another three years before the convoy
codes were
made safe from the German B-Service.
Monthly Loss Summary
45
British, Allied and neutral ships of 163,000
tons in UK
waters.
SEPTEMBER
1940
Battle of Britain
-
By now heavy units of the Home Fleet had come
south from
Scapa Flow ready to oppose the expected German
invasion.
The Blitz on Britain got under way on the 7th
when major
raids were launched against London. An attack on
the 15th
- subsequently known as Battle of Britain Day -
led to
heavy Luftwaffe losses, although nowhere near
the claimed
185 aircraft: the Luftwaffe lost around 60 in
exchange
for 26 RAF fighters. Operation 'Sealion' was
shortly
postponed until further notice and invasion
shipping
started to disperse. The Blitz did not let up.
9th - Cruiser
"Galatea" was
damaged by an
acoustic mine in the
Thames Estuary,
18th - Major
bombing raids on Clydeside, Scotland badly
damaged heavy
cruiser "Sussex" as she refitted.
Monthly Loss Summary
39
British, Allied and neutral ships of 131,000
tons in UK
waters.
OCTOBER
1940
Birmingham, Liverpool
and
Manchester joined London as targets for German
bombers in
the Blitz. On the 12th the planned invasion of
Britain
was postponed until the next spring.
19th -
Destroyer "VENETIA", of World War 1 vintage was
sunk
by a mine in the Thames Estuary while on patrol.
30th -
Destroyer "STURDY", local Western Approaches
escort
for Halifax/UK convoy SC8, ran aground off the
west coast
of Scotland, on Tiree Island. She was a total
loss.
Monthly Loss Summary
43
British, Allied and neutral ships of 132,000
tons in UK
waters.
NOVEMBER
1940
The Blitz continued
with a
particularly damaging raid on Coventry on the
night of
the 14th. Night-time attacks on London and other
ports
and cities carried on through to May. German
cities also
were targets for the RAF. Former Prime Minister
Neville
Chamberlain died on the 9th.
16th -
Submarine "SWORDFISH", setting out on Bay of
Biscay
patrol, struck an enemy mine off the Isle of
Wight,
southern England and sank.
Monthly Loss Summary
48
British, Allied and neutral ships of 93,000 tons
in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1940
Royal Navy - Adm
Sir
John Tovey succeeded Adm Forbes as
Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.
5th - The
ex-American destroyer "CAMERON" undergoing refit
in Portsmouth
harbour was bombed and badly damaged. Not worth
repairing, she was used for experimental
purposes.
17th -
Following
repairs to bomb damage, destroyer "ACHERON"
was
carrying out
trials off the Isle of
Wight, southern England when she detonated a
mine and
went to the bottom.
Monthly Loss Summary
34
British, Allied and neutral ships of 83,000 tons
in UK
waters.
1941
JANUARY
1941
The Blitz on Britain
continued with attacks on Bristol, Cardiff,
London and
Portsmouth during the month.
15th - Cruiser
minelayer "Adventure"
was
damaged for the second
time on a
mine, this time on passage from Milford Haven,
southwest
Wales to Liverpool. The last time was off the
Thames in
November 1939 - just 14 crisis-filled months
earlier.
Merchant Shipping
War
- Losses due to air attack and mines remained a
major
problem. Aircraft and E-boats had now added
acoustic to
the magnetic and moored contact mines in their
armoury,
but they never matched up to the threat that
magnetic
mines represented a year earlier.
Monthly Loss Summary
15
British, Allied and neutral ships of 37,000 tons
in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1941
25th - Escort
destroyer "EXMOOR"
was
the first of
the 'Hunt' class to be
lost. She was torpedoed off Lowestoft, east
coast of
England by German E-boat "S-30" while escorting
Thames/Forth convoy FN417.
Monthly Loss Summary
26
British, Allied and neutral ships of 51,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MARCH
1941
Battle
of
the Atlantic Committee - On
6th March 1941, faced with the mortal
threat of the German U-boat and aircraft
offensive in the
Atlantic, Winston Churchill issued his famous
Battle of
the Atlantic directive.
Merchant Shipping
War -
Royal Navy motor gun-boats (MGB's) were
entering
service to combat E-boat attacks on East Coast
convoys.
Improved motor torpedo boats (MTBs) were also
being built
to attack German coastal shipping.
Monthly Loss Summary
73
British, Allied and neutral ships of 153,000
tons in UK
waters.
APRIL
1941
Monthly Loss
Summary
40
British, Allied and neutral ships of 99,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MAY
1941
May
1941 included a
breakthrough in the capture of German Enigma
coding
material, the hunt for and sinking of the
"Bismarck", the fearful Royal Navy losses off
Crete, continuing confirmation that Russia was
about to
be attacked by Germany, and further
deterioration in
relations with Japan. One can only imagine the
thoughts
and feelings of Prime Minister
Churchill
and his senior advisers as they responded
day-by-day to
these momentous developments.
Heavy raids on
Belfast in
Northern Ireland, the Scottish Clyde, Liverpool
and
especially London on the night of the 10th/11th
marked
the virtual end of the Blitz. The bulk of the
Luftwaffe
was now transferring east for the attack on
Russia. RAF
raids on Germany continued, and would grow as a
major
plank in British and Allied strategy for the
defeat of
Germany.
Germany - Rudolf
Hess,
Hitler's deputy, flew to Britain on his
self-appointed peace mission. He was disowned by
Germany
and imprisoned in Britain.
Monthly Loss Summary
99
British, Allied and neutral ships of 101,000
tons in UK
waters.
JUNE
1941
Germany
Attacks Russia
Atomic Bomb -
The
report on nuclear research by the Maud Committee
led to
the setting up of a development programme by
Imperial
Chemical Industries. Code named 'Tube Alloys',
it oversaw
both atomic bomb and reactor work.
10th - Patrol
sloop
"PINTAIL"
was
mined off the
Humber escorting Thames/Forth coastal
convoy FN477.
Monthly Loss Summary
34
British, Allied and neutral ships of 86,000 tons
in UK
waters.
JULY
1941
19th -
Submarine "UMPIRE", working up and on passage
north
with an East Coast convoy, was rammed and sunk
off Cromer
by an armed trawler escorting a southbound
convoy.
Monthly Loss Summary
18
British, Allied and neutral ships of 15,000 tons
in UK
waters.
AUGUST
1941
Monthly
Loss
Summary
11
British, Allied and neutral ships of 20,000 tons
in UK
waters.
SEPTEMBER
1941
Monthly
Loss
Summary
13
British, Allied and neutral ships of 55,000 tons
in UK
waters.
OCTOBER
1941
Monthly
Loss
Summary
12
British, Allied and neutral ships of 83,000 tons
in UK
waters.
NOVEMBER
1941
Monthly
Loss
Summary
20
British, Allied and neutral ships of 30,000 tons
in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1941
Japan
attacked Hong Kong, Malaya and Pearl
Harbor
5th-6th December -
Britain declared war on Finland, Hungary and
Rumania.
7th-8th -
By the 8th, Japan had declared war on Britain
Monthly Loss Summary
19
British, Allied and neutral ships of 57,000 tons
in UK
waters.
1942
JANUARY
1942
The first United
States
troops landed in Northern Ireland.
Merchant Shipping
War
- E-boats and aircraft continued to attack
British
coastal convoy routes directly and with magnetic
and
acoustic mines. Convoy escorts and minesweepers
fought
back, supported by RAF Fighter Command, but had
their
losses: 9th - Escorting a southbound
East Coast
convoy, destroyer "VIMIERA"
was mined
and sunk in the Thames
Estuary.
Monthly Loss Summary
14
British, Allied and neutral ships of 19,000 tons
in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1942
11th-13th
- The Channel Dash - The Brest Squadron
with
"Scharnhorst", "Gneisenau" and
"Prinz Eugen" left late on the 11th for
Germany. The aim was to pass through the Strait
of Dover
around noon the next day. A number of problems
conspired
to prevent the RAF standing patrols detecting
their
departure. The first intimation of the breakout
came with
a RAF report around 10.45 on the 12th as
the
German force steamed towards Boulogne. This left
little
time for attacks to be mounted. Soon after
midday the
first was made by five motor torpedo boats from
Dover and
six Swordfish torpedo-bombers of 825 Squadron
(Lt-Cdr
Esmonde), but no hits were made. All Swordfish
were shot
down. Lt-Cdr Eugene Esmonde was posthumously
awarded the Victoria Cross.
Battle of Britain
-
Operation 'Sealion', the planned German invasion
of
Britain was finally cancelled.
Air War - Air
Marshal Harris was appointed C-in-C RAF Bomber
Command
for the all-out bombing campaign against
Germany. This
was Britain's main weapon in the war on the
German
homeland until late 1944.
Monthly Loss Summary
5
British, Allied and neutral ships of 11,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MARCH
1942
Combined
Operations
- Lord Louis Mountbatten was promoted Vice-Adm
and
appointed Chief of Combined Operations as
planning
continued for the raids on St Nazaire and later
Dieppe.
15th -
Destroyer "VORTIGERN" escorting Forth/Thames
convoy
FS749, was torpedoed and sunk by E-boat "S-104"
off Cromer on the east coast of England.
Monthly Loss Summary
8
British, Allied and neutral ships of 15,000 tons
in UK
waters.
APRIL
1942
Air War -
Following
a successful RAF attack on the old city of
Lubeck in
March, the 'Baedeker' raids were carried out at
Hitler's
orders against historic British cities such as
Bath and
York.
Monthly Loss Summary
14
British, Allied and neutral ships of 56,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MAY
1942
Monthly Loss Summary
14
British, Allied and neutral ships of 59,000 tons
in UK
waters
JUNE
1942
Monthly Loss Summary
5
British, Allied and neutral ships of 3,000 tons
in UK
waters.
JULY
1942
Air
War
- The first USAAF aircraft, flying from British
bases,
joined RAF Bomber Command in an attack on
occupied
Europe.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
9
British, Allied and neutral ships of 23,000 tons
in UK
waters.
AUGUST
1942
Raid
on Dieppe: Operation 'Jubilee' -
Some 6,000 troops,
mainly Canadian, sailed from south coast of
England ports
on the 18th on the unsuccessful raid.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
For
the first time since September 1939, no merchant
ships
were lost in UK waters in August 1942.
SEPTEMBER
1942
Monthly
Loss
Summary
1
merchant ship of 2,000 tons in UK waters.
OCTOBER
1942
Monthly
Loss
Summary
6
British, Allied and neutral ships of 13,000 tons
in UK
waters.
NOVEMBER
1942
Monthly
Loss
Summary
5
British, Allied and neutral ships of 6,000 tons
in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1942
3rd
-
Escort destroyer "PENYLAN", with
Portsmouth/Bristol Channel convoy
PW257, was sunk by E-boat "S-115" in the
English Channel off Start Point.
Monthly Loss Summary
10
British, Allied and neutral ships of 9,000 tons
in UK
waters.
1943
JANUARY
1943
Air War - RAF
Bomber Command by night and increasingly the
USAAF by day
mounted a growing attack on Germany and occupied
Europe
from British airfields.
Merchant Shipping
War
- German aircraft, E-boats and mines continued
to
threaten shipping around the coasts of Britain,
but few
ships were now being lost due to the combined
effort of
the RAF fighters, convoy escorts and
minesweepers.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
4
British, Allied and neutral ships of 16,000 tons
in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1943
23rd
-
On or around the 23rd, submarine "VANDAL"
was lost,
cause unknown as she worked up
in the Firth of Clyde area of Scotland.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
2
British, Allied and neutral ships of 5,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MARCH
1943
27th - Escort
carrier "DASHER" worked up in the Firth of Clyde
after
repairs to damage sustained during the February
Russian
convoy JW53. An aviation gasoline explosion led
to her
total destruction.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
2
ships of 900 tons in UK waters.
APRIL
1943
Monthly
Loss
Summary
5
British, Allied and neutral ships of 10,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MAY
1943
Royal
Navy
- After 2 1/2 years in post as C-in-C Home
Fleet, Adm
Tovey moved to command of The Nore. He was
succeeded by
Adm Sir Bruce Fraser.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
1
merchant ship of 1,600 tons in UK waters.
JUNE
1943
Air War - RAF
bombers flew on to North Africa for the first
time after
attacking German targets. On their return to
Britain they
hit northern Italy.
Monthly Loss Summary
1 ship
of 150 tons in UK waters.
JULY
1943
Invasion
of Sicily
Monthly
Loss
Summary
Until
November 1943 only two small ships were lost in
UK waters
SEPTEMBER
1943
Italy:
Surrender and Invasion
OCTOBER
1943
Royal
Navy
- Adm of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, First Sea
Lord since
1939, suffered a stroke in August 1943 at the
time of the
Quebec conference. He had since resigned and
died on 21st
October - Trafalgar Day. Adm Fraser was offered
the post
as Winston Churchill's first choice, but
declined, and
Adm Sir Andrew B. Cunningham filled the Navy's
most
senior position on the 15th
23rd
-
Cruiser "Charybdis", accompanied by two fleet
and four 'Hunt' class destroyers, sailed from
Plymouth to
intercept a German blockade runner off the coast
of
Brittany in Operation 'Tunnel'. The cruiser and
one
escort destroyer were sunk
NOVEMBER
1943
Merchant
Shipping
War - E-boats and mines were still capable
of taking a toll of coastal shipping. In the
night of the
4th/5th, Channel convoy CW221 lost three ships
off Beachy
Head to E-boat attack, and later in the month
two more
were mined off Harwich.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
7
British, Allied and neutral ships of 13,000 tons
in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1943
Monthly
Loss
Summary
1
merchant ship of 6,000 tons in UK waters.
1944
JANUARY
1944
Air War - From
their many bases in Britain, RAF and USAAF
operations
against Germany and occupied Europe increased in
intensity. In February the Luftwaffe carried out
a number
of raids on London in the 'Little Blitz'.
Monthly Loss Summary
8
British, Allied and neutral ships of 7,000 tons
in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1944
5th
-
Escort carrier "Slinger"
was
mined and
damaged in the Thames Estuary
off Sheerness.
20th
-
On patrol off Trevose Head, southwest England
for a
reported U-boat, destroyer "WARWICK"
was
torpedoed and sunk by
"U-413" - the first enemy submarine to
effectively penetrate British coastal waters
since 1940.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
3
ships of 4,000 tons in UK waters.
MARCH
1944
20th - An
ex-German
submarine was lost. On the 20th "GRAPH" (the
captured "U-570")
broke her tow and ran aground on Islay Island
off the
west coast of Scotland.
Monthly Loss Summary
Between
now and the invasion of Normandy in June 1944
only one
small ship was lost in UK waters
MAY
1944
Air
War
- A V-2 rocket crashed near Warsaw and
resistance groups
managed to arrange for the parts to be
successfully
airlifted to Britain.
JUNE
1944
Royal
Navy
- Adm Sir Henry Moore was appointed C-in-C,
Home
Fleet in succession to Adm Fraser who was to
command the
British Pacific Fleet.
Normandy Invasion:
Operation 'Overlord' -
After years of
preparation the whole vast operation was mounted
from
Britain. From
his
headquarters outside Portsmouth on 1st June, Adm
Ramsey
took command of the immense armada of ships
collected
together for Operation 'Neptune', the naval part
of
'Overlord'. The Naval Task Forces totalled 672
warships
for assault convoy escort, minesweeping, shore
bombardment, local defence, etc, and 4,126 major
and
minor landing ships and craft for initial
assault and
ferry purposes: a grand total of 4,798.
Departure points
from England for the assault forces, from west
to east
were:
Plymouth
- one US infantry division
as "Omaha" Beach follow-up
Dartmouth - US 7th Corps for "Utah"
Beach
Portland - US 5th Corps for "Omaha"
Beach
Southampton - British 30th Corps for
"Gold" Beach
Portsmouth - Canadian forces of British 1st
Corps
for "Juno" Beach
Newhaven - British 1st Corps for
"Sword" Beach
Thames area - British armoured division
follow-up
The
south
coast of England also saw the construction and
assembly
of the 'Mulberry'
harbour
project of two artificial harbours
and
five 'Gooseberry' breakwaters including 400
'Mulberry'
units totalling 1.5 million tons and including:
(1) up to
6,000-ton 'Phoenix' concrete breakwaters;
(2) 160 tugs
for towing; and (3)
59 old merchantmen and warships to be
sunk as blockships for the 'Gooseberries'. The
Isle of
Wight was the terminal for the PLUTO
project; specially equipped vessels which laid a
Pipeline
Under The Ocean to carry petroleum fuel across
the
English Channel to France. There was in fact
more than
one pipeline. The assault forces sailed from
their ports
of departure on the 5th to a position off
the Isle
of Wight, and then headed south through swept
channels
down 'The Spout' towards Normandy to land on the
6th. By the end of June
nearly 660,000
men had been carried from Britain to France with
their
equipment and supplies.
In spite of the vast
number of warships lying off the Normandy
beaches,
escorting the follow-up convoys and patrolling
the
Western Approaches, losses were comparatively
few.
British ships and attacking U-boats lost close
to English
shores included: 12th - battleship
"Warspite", the ship that ended the war with
the greatest number of Royal Navy battle
honours, had
left her gunfire support duties off the Normandy
beaches
to be fitted with replacement gun barrels. On
passage to
Rosyth, Scotland she was damaged by a mine of
Harwich and
was out of action until August. 13th -
Escorting a
follow-up convoy to the beaches, destroyer
"BOADICEA"
was
sunk in the English
Channel off
Portland Bill by torpedo bombers. 15th -
Frigate
"BLACKWOOD"
was torpedoed
off Brittany by "U-764"
and sank in tow off Portland Bill. 15th
- Frigate "MOURNE"
was
sunk by "U-767" off
Land's End. 18th - Three days after
sinking
"Mourne", "U-767"
was
caught off
the Channel Islands by
destroyers "Fame", "Havelock" and
"Inconstant" of 14th EG and sent to the bottom.
25th - Two U-boats were lost off Start
Point in
the English Channel - "U-1191" to frigates
"Affleck"
and "Balfour" of the 1st EG, and "U-269" to
"Bickerton" (Capt
Macintyre) of the 5th EG. 27th/29th -
Two days
after badly damaging corvette "PINK"
(constructive total loss) on the
27th and sinking two merchantmen, "U-988"
was caught
and sank off the Channel
Islands by frigates "Cooke",
"Domett", "Duckworth" and
"Essington" of 3rd EG and a RAF Liberator of No
224 Squadron.
Air War - On
the
13th the first V-1 flying bomb landed on London
at the
start of a three-month campaign against
southeast
England. Amongst the weapons shortly used
against them
was Britain's first jet fighter, the Gloster
Meteor.
Merchant Shipping
War -
Until the closing days of the war, the schnorkel
U-boats
operating in UK waters were especially worrying.
When
submerged as invariably they were, detection
from the air
was difficult even with 10cm wavelength radar,
and
location usually had to wait until after they
had
attacked. Then they suffered badly, usually to
the
surface warship escorts.
Monthly Loss Summary
19
British, Allied and neutral ships of 75,000 tons
in UK
waters.
JULY
1944
U-boat Operations
against the Normandy Beachhead - Those
U-boats that
did get through the Channel defences sank and
damaged a
number of ships, but a number were lost off
southern
England: 6th - In a convoy attack off
Beachy Head,
"U-678"
was
lost to
Canadian destroyers
"Ottawa" and "Kootenay" and British
corvette "Statice". 18th - Frigate
"Balfour" on patrol southeast of Start Point
sank "U-672". 21st - Escorting frigates
"Curzon" and Ekins" sank "U-212" off Beachy
Head. 26th - As "U-214" tried to lay
mines off Start Point,
she was sunk by frigate "Cooke" of the 3rd EG. 31st
- "U-333"
was
destroyed to
the west of the Scilly
Islands by sloop "Starling" and frigate
"Loch Killin" of the 2nd EG using the new
Squid. This marked the first success with this
ahead-throwing A/S weapon firing three large
mortar
bombs.
Monthly Loss Summary
8
British, Allied and neutral ships of 19,000 tons
in UK
waters.
AUGUST
1944
Western Front
- Canadian First Army headed along the coast to
capture
the Channel ports and nearby V-1 "Buzz-bomb"
launch sites. Lack of supplies, particularly
fuel,
started to become a major problem, and capturing
Antwerp,
Belgium was a matter of the highest priority.
British Convoy
Routes
- As the German Biscay bases became untenable,
the South
Western Approaches to the British Isles were
opened to
Allied convoys for the first time in four years.
West and
North Africa/UK convoys SL167 and MKS58 were the
first to
benefit from the shortened journey.
U-boat Operations
-
U-boats passing through the Bay of Biscay and
operating
in the Channel and its approaches suffered badly
at the
hands of the air and sea patrols and escorts.
More Allied
ships and German U-boats went to the bottom off
British
coasts: 4th - Escort destroyer
"Wensleydale" and frigate "Stayner"
on patrol off Beachy Head, sank "U-671" shortly
after she sailed from
Boulogne. 8th - Canadian corvette
"REGINA"
was sunk
off Trevose Head, north
Cornwall by "U-667" as she escorted Bristol
Channel convoy EBC66. 15th - Attacking a
convoy to
the south of the Isle of Wight, "U-741"
was
sunk by corvette
"Orchis". 20th - After sinking one
merchantman from a convoy off Beachy Head,
"U-413"
was
counter-attacked and
lost to
destroyers "Forester", "Vidette" and
escort destroyer "Wensleydale". 21st/22nd
- Off the Isle of Wight, "U-480" sank Canadian
corvette "ALBERNI" on the 21st and British fleet
minesweeper "LOYALTY" next day.
Monthly Loss Summary
12
British, Allied and neutral ships of 55,000 tons
in UK
waters.
SEPTEMBER
1944
Start
of British Isles Inshore Campaign
1st - On
passage
into the Bristol Channel as part of the U-boat
Inshore
Campaign, "U-247"
was sunk
close to Lands End by
patrolling Canadian frigates "St John" and
"Swansea" of the 9th EG.
Air War -
Although
Allied bombers continued to bomb V-1
installations along
the Channel coast of France, it was only when
Canadian
First Army overran the sites that London and the
southeast of England saw the last one land. By
then
nearly 10,000 launchings of the sub-sonic
pilotless
"cruise missile" had inflicted 25,000 dead and
wounded civilian casualties. Then on the 8th,
the first
supersonic V-2 rocket hit London in a deadly
campaign
that lasted for over six months, and against
which there
was no defence.
27th - Ex-US
destroyer "ROCKINGHAM"
was the
last of her class to be lost
while flying the White Ensign, when she hit a
mine off
Aberdeen and went down in the North Sea. At the
time she
was acting as a target ship for aircraft
training.
Monthly Loss Summary
3
British, Allied and neutral ships of 21,000 tons
in UK
waters.
OCTOBER
1944
Monthly
Loss
Summary
2
British, Allied and neutral ships of 1,700 tons
in UK
waters
NOVEMBER
1944
21st
-
Escort destroyer "WENSLEYDALE"
was
badly damaged
in collision with an LST
in the Thames Estuary and placed in reserve.
Monthly
Loss
Summary
3
British, Allied and neutral ships of 9,000 tons
in UK
waters.
DECEMBER
1944
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - The inshore
campaign by U-boats gained
some successes, but at a cost: 18th -
"U-1209" ran aground near Lands End at the
far tip of SW England and was wrecked. 30th
-
Allied aircraft now had few successes against
the
schnorkel-equipped U-boats. As an exception,
"U-772"
was
lost off Portland Bill
to a RCAF
Leigh Light Wellington of No 407 Squadron.
Monthly Loss Summary
18
British, Allied and neutral ships of 86,000 tons
in UK
waters.
1945
JANUARY
1945
Royal Navy -
Adm
Sir Bertram Ramsey, Allied Naval Commander,
Expeditionary
Force, architect of the Dunkirk evacuation and
with major
responsibility for the North African and Sicily
landings
as well as command of Operation 'Neptune', was
killed in
an air crash in France on the 2nd. Vice-Adm Sir
Harold
Burrough succeeded him.
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - As the campaign
continued, there were
losses on both sides: 15th/16th - Off
the Clyde,
Scotland on the 15th, "U-482" torpedoed
a merchantman and badly
damaged escort carrier "THANE" (not repaired and
laid up)
ferrying aircraft from Northern Ireland. After a
long
hunt the U-boat was sunk next day by frigate
"Loch
Craggie" and sloops "Amethyst",
"Hart", "Peacock" and
"Starling" of the 22nd EG. 21st - After
torpedoing a merchant ship from a Thames/
Bristol Channel
convoy, "U-1199"
was
sunk close to Lands End by
escorting destroyer "lcarus" and corvette
"Mignonette". 26th - "U-1172" severely
damaged frigate "MANNERS"
(constructive total
loss) off the Isle of Man and was sunk in the
counter-attack by sister ships "Aylmer",
"Bentinck" and "Calder" of the 4th
and 5th EGs. 27th - Further south in St
George's
Channel, and after attacking Halifax/UK convoy
HX322, "U-1051"
was sunk by frigates
"Bligh", "Keats" and
"Tyler" of the 5th EG.
Merchant Shipping
War
- E-boats and small battle units continued
operating out
of Holland against Allied shipping in the North
Sea and
English Channel, and were now joined by Seehunde
midget
submarines. The new craft enjoyed some success,
but mines
remained the biggest problem for the Allies at
sea.
Allied air and sea patrols and minesweeping kept
all
these dangers under control.
Monthly Loss Summary
12
British, Allied and neutral ships of 47,000 tons
in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY
1945
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - U-boats still
took a steady toll of
shipping in the inshore campaign and sank two
corvettes,
but a number were lost, mainly to the Royal
Navy: 16th
- Attacking Scottish coastal convoy WN74 off the
Moray
Firth,
"U-309"
was lost to
Canadian frigate "St John" of 9th EG. 20th
- "U-208"
attacked convoy HX337
in St George's Channel between SE Ireland and
Wales, and
sank escorting corvette "VERVAIN". The U-boat
was then hunted down
and destroyed by sloop "Amethyst" of 22nd EG.
"Amethyst" became famous in "The Amethyst
Incident" involving the Chinese People's Army
during
the Chinese Civil War.
22nd - Off
Falmouth, Bristol Channel/Thames convoy BTC76
was
attacked by "U-1004" and Canadian corvette
"TRENTONIAN"
was
sent to the
bottom of the English
Channel. 24th - During the inshore
campaign, 10
U-boats were sunk in the Lands End area, three
in
February. On the 24th "U-480"
sank a
merchant ship from coastal convoy
BTC78 and was then hunted down and finished off
by
frigates "Duckworth" and "Rowley" of
the 3rd EG. 27th - Three days later
"U-1018" attacked BTC81 to be sunk by
frigate "Loch Fada" of the 2nd EG. On the same
day "U-327"
was
detected by a
USN liberator and sunk
by "Loch Fada" again, working with
"Labuan" and "Wild Goose".
Monthly Loss Summary
19
British, Allied and neutral ships of 49,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MARCH
1945
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - The inshore
campaign continues. 7th -
"U-1302" successfully attacked Halifax/UK
convoy SC167 in St George's Channel, but after a
long
search off the coast of western Wales was sunk
by
Canadian frigates "La Hulloise",
"Strathadam" and "Thetford Mines" of
the 25th EG. 10th - Deep minefields
laid by the
Royal Navy to protect UK inshore waters from the
U-boats
claimed two victims. On the 10th, "U-275"
was
lost in the English
Channel off
Beachy Head. 12th - Between now and the
29th,
three more U-boats went down close to Lands End,
starting
with "U-683" to frigate "Loch
Ruthven" and sloop "Wild Goose" of the 2nd
EG. 14th - South African frigate "Natal"
on passage off the Firth of Forth, Scotland in
the North
Sea sank "U-714". 22nd - "U-296"
was also
sunk off the north coast of
Ireland - by RAF aircraft of No 120 Squadron. 26th
- The second loss off Lands End was "U-399",
sunk by frigate
"Duckworth" and other ships of 3rd EG. The same
Group accounted for the third U-boat off Lands
End on the
29th. 27th - The frigates of 21st EG
were split
into two divisions, and sank three U-boats in
the
Hebrides area. On the 27th, "U-965"
was sunk
by Hedgehog off the northern end
of the islands by the 'first' division -
"Conn", accompanied by "Deane" and
"Rupert". The same day further south, "U-722"
went down
to the 'second' division -
"Byron", "Fitzroy" and
"Redmill". 29th - "U-246" torpedoed and
badly damaged
Canadian frigate "TEME" (constructive total
loss), but was then
hunted down and sunk by "Duckworth" and the 3rd
EG off Lands End. 30th - Frigates
"Conn", "Deane" and
"Rupert", the 'first' division of 21st EG and
still off the northern end of the Hebrides, sank
"U-1021".
Air War - The
last
V-2 landed on London on the 27th, by which time
1,000
rockets had killed and wounded nearly 10,000
people in
southeast England.
Monthly Loss Summary
23
British, Allied and neutral ships of 84,000 tons
in UK
waters.
APRIL
1945
U-boat
Campaign - Throughout
the month over 40 U-boats were lost in and
around the
waters of northwest Europe. The Royal Navy was
directly
involved in 12 of
the sinkings, including: 5th - "U-1169"
went
down off the
southeast coast of
Ireland in a deep-laid minefield in St George's
Channel. 6th
- Two U-boats were sunk in Channel operations.
The first,
"U-1195"
sank
a ship from a
convoy off the Isle of
Wight, and was lost to old escorting destroyer
"Watchman". 12th - Two more were lost in
the Irish Sea northwest of Anglesey, Wales.
"U-1024"
was disabled
by the Squid of frigate
"Loch Glendhu" of 8th EG. Boarded by "Loch
More", she was taken in tow but foundered. 15th
- The second U-boat sunk in Channel operations
was "U-1063". Attacking a convoy off
Start Point, she was sent to the bottom off
Land's End by
frigate "Loch Killin" of 17th EG. 16th -
"U-1274" attacked Forth/Thames convoy FS1784
off St Abbs Head, SE Scotland, sinking one ship,
but was
then lost to destroyer "Viceroy" of the escort.
30th - The second loss in the Irish Sea
was "U-242" detected by a RAF Sunderland of No
201 Squadron and sunk by destroyers "Havelock"
and "Hesperus" of the 14th EG.
Monthly Loss Summary
14
British, Allied and neutral ships of 50,000 tons
in UK
waters.
MAY
1945
End of
the U-boats
7th - U-boats
gained their last success when Type XXIII
coastal boat
"U-2336" sank merchantmen "Avondale
Park" and "Sneland" off the Firth of
Forth.
8th -
Operational
U-boats were ordered to surface and sailed for
Allied
ports flying a black flag of surrender. Most
made for the
UK, although a few reached the US.
9th - The
first of
over 150 surrendered boats started to arrive in
Britain,
but more than 200 were scuttled. Of those
surrendering, a
quarter were taken over by the Allied powers and
in
Operation 'Deadlight', the remainder sunk by the
Royal
Navy in the Atlantic off Northern Ireland
through to
January 1946.
Monthly Loss Summary
- 2
merchant ships of 5,000 tons in UK waters.
JUNE
1945
Winston Churchill's
Conservative Party was swept from power and the
Labour
Party under Clement Attlee took over the reins
of
Britain's wartime Coalition Government.
