HMS Charybdis, AA cruiser, sunk 1943 (Navy Photos)         NAVAL-HISTORY.NET 1998-2011 Archived by British Library, US Library of Congress, and Bavarian State Library Working with the Citizen Science Alliance Zooniverse Project/University of Oxford     "Knowledge not shared is lost" - with thanks to Don Kindell  RN & RM Casualties  1914-2008 US Navy & USMC Casualties WW1 World War 1 Inter-War World War 2 Royal Navy Ships - Convoy escorts  Naval-Military Campaigns Naval Events - War Diaries  Royal Navy in World War 2 Post-War Falklands War Ships & Seas Links & Contact

SUGGESTED STARTING POINT TYPE IN MEN, SHIPS, BATTLES, DATES  etc   All New   Admiralty War Diaries North Atlantic Command, Gibraltar, April-December 1942 West Africa Command, Freetown, April-December 1942, January-April 1943 South Atlantic Command, Capetown, January-February 1942 Mediterranean Fleet, April-December 1942 Malta Command, April-December 1942 __________   Updated and detailed World War 2 histories of capital ships HMS King George V, Nelson, Prince of Wales and Repulse - all by Mike Simmonds   King George V's story includes combat details of the sinking of German battleship Bismarck, and British Pacific Fleet operations off Okinawa in Operation Iceberg   "Old Weather" - Naval History and Climate Change Under the leadership of the University of Oxford's Zooniverse programme, the UK Met Office, National Maritime Museum and Naval-History.Net are working together to extract weather and historical information from the logbooks of 280 warships around the time of World War 1, including HMS Swiftsure (above - Photo Ships) The Project is well on the way to completion, but help is still needed. To take part in this unique and invaluable contribution to naval history, please go to OldWeather.org     Dedications   This site is partly dedicated to my father, Ordnance Artificer George Smith (left, at Gibraltar in 1942, before Malta convoy Operation 'Pedestal'), lost in the sinking of HMS Charybdis off the Brittany coast on 23rd October 1943. Few men survived and just a handful of bodies were washed ashore on Guernsey. When they were buried by the German authorities, thousand's of Channel Islander's attended, and ever since, Guernsey has commemorated the cruiser's loss, usually with a Royal Navy guardship present - an unusual honour given the thousands of British warships and auxiliaries sunk in two World Wars alone.   In 2003, Guernsey Post issued this stamp (©Guernsey Post Limited 2003) bearing a painting of HMS Charybdis as well as Hunt-class escort destroyer HMS Limbourne, torpedoed at the same time (by T-type small destroyers, not E-boats as often described). I am grateful to Guernsey Post for permission to reproduce this rather beautiful stamp.   Naval-History.Net is also dedicated to my grandfather, Chief Yeoman of Signals George Smith DSM. He joined the Royal Navy in 1904, and was sunk twice in World War 1 - destroyer HMS Medusa and cruiser HMS Cassandra. Post-war, he served with the North Russian Expeditionary Force 1919, cruised the Baltic in 1921, served on HMS Curlew on the America & West Indies Station 1922-25 and HMS Durban on the China Station in 1926-28. He joined the Royal Naval Shore Signal Service in 1928 and served as a Chief Officer through World War 2 and on to 1948.   He was an early and avid photographer, and perhaps because of his experiences as a Signalman, a natural communicator. A lovely man, I am proud to make all his work available on the Internet. He would have appreciated and understood the value of the Web.     Site information   Use of material - please acknowledge www.naval-history.net   Archives - can be found at British Library/WebArchive and Internet Archive/Wayback Machine   Copyright 1998-2011, updated October 2011   see also J B Phillips New Testament & Background by Gordon Smith     Background & Comments   Naval-History.Net started in 1998 with books written by Gordon Smith:   'an invaluable reference book on the war at sea (in World War 2) .... as well as an informative guide to naval strategy', Lloyds List   'contributed tremendously to my knowledge of the war', Francois Heisbourg, Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London   'excellent source for naval history of the First and Second World Wars, campaign summaries and more.' - Imperial War Museum (London)   'arguable the best military history site currently online .....' - BBC family history magazine Who Do You Think You Are, June 2008     Since its early days, Naval-History.Net has been considerably enlarged and enriched by the researches of  Don Kindell from the United States, Lieutenant-Commander Geoff Mason RN (Rtd), and other contributors whose names will be found on the pages they helped make available. Over the last 30 or more years, Don and Geoff have produced an estimated total of 15,000 pages of work, most of which is now online. You can find out more in:   Naval History and the Internet - the Story of One Site   Note on major Naval-History.Net sources the late Lt Cdr Geoff Mason RN Rtd - Don Kindell     Notices     Read online - support the Royal Navy     An excellent read                     NAVAL and MARINE CORPS CASUALTY LISTS       ROYAL NAVY & DOMINION CASUALTIES, 1914-2008 by Name and Date/Ship, including Royal Marines, over 125,000 names by Don Kindell, US Researcher also World War 2 period - Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Indian Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, South African Naval Force, Royal Norwegian Navy     UNITED STATES NAVY, COAST GUARD & MARINE CORPS CASUALTIES World War 1 by Name, Date/Ship, Branches   WORLD WAR 1, 1914-18   BACKGROUND   ROAD TO WAR, Franco-Prussian War to Sarajevo, 1871-1914 EXPANSION and ORGANISATION of the IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY 1897-1918 - A Note Rise of the Dreadnought Battleship, 1906 to 1914 World War 1 - A MARITIME WAR World War 1 Documentaries & Films, 1914 to 2008       MEN   CASUALTY LISTS Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1914-1918  by Don Kindell United States Navy, Marine Corps & Coast Guard, 1917-18 French Navy - 25 Sailors commemorated in a New York Cemetery __________   Royal Navy - Warships and Auxiliary Crew Numbers Royal Navy - Badges of Rank for Officers, Men and Boys United States Navy - Badges of Rank for Officers and Enlisted Men   Some of the Men who served: Louis Bechennec, Fireman/Stoker, French Navy, including Serbian Evacuation Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, Skipper RNR, HM Q-ship Nelson & the Hales Naval Family Samuel R Hitchin, First Mate, SS Highland Brae, POW on German Kronprinz Wilhelm John R Hunter, Lieutenant RNVR, Canadian Motor Launch skipper, photographic record William T G Jones, Seaman, lost with collier SS Mersario, 1 October 1917 Beresford Richards, Surgeon Sub-Lt, RNVR, HMS Zubian and Dover Patrol, 1918 George W Smith (upper left) DSM, Chief Yeoman of Signals, 1888-1977, his service record       SHIPS   1914 and most of 1915 currently available   BRITISH VESSELS LOST and DAMAGED AT SEA in WORLD WAR 1 by Gordon Smith   an enlarged and corrected version of the original HMSO "British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918"         Selection of World War 1-era Royal Navy Warships and Auxiliaries - summaries and images. See also OldWeather.org   TRIBUTE to BRITISH SHIPBUILDING and REPAIR INDUSTRIES 1914-18 including Royal Naval Dockyards and Research Establishments   British Vessels Lost at Sea including Naval, Merchant Ships and Fishing Vessels, from "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1914-18", HMSO   HMS Zubian, destroyer, in 1918 Elco-built Motor Launches for the Royal Navy HMS Cheery, Admiralty drifter   British Shipbreaking Industry       ROYAL NAVY Victoria Cross  fishing smack HMS Nelson   Battle Honours and Single-Ship Actions, 1914-1918 with links to despatches, casualties and honours/awards   Statistical Tables Relating to the War (included in the Royal Navy Estimates 1919-20)     from the London Gazette - August 1914 to December 1920   ROYAL NAVY DESPATCHES ARMY DESPATCHES including those with accounts of Naval operations and roles   ROYAL NAVY HONOURS and GALLANTRY AWARDS   Royal Navy Ships Receiving Naval Salvage and Prize Bounty Money         OTHER NAVIES   Austro-Hungarian Navy French Navy Royal Hellenic or Greek Navy Imperial Japanese Navy Turkish or Ottoman Navy United States Navy, also      Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Casualties      Officers and Enlisted Ranks      Medal of Honor 1915-18      US Marine Corps in the World War      Chronology of US Marine Corps in the World War       EVENTS and ....   North Sea in outline 1914-18 Eastern Front and Baltic Sea 1914-18 Mediterranean, including Turkish Waters & Black Sea, 1914-18         .... NAVAL CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES and ACTIONS - London Gazette Despatches, Casualties, Awards etc       Achilles & Dundee v Leopard Action, March 1917 BELGIAN COAST OPERATIONS, 1914-1918 British East Coast Raid & Minesweeping Operations, December 1914 CAMEROONS CAMPAIGN, 1914 Carmania v Cap Trafalgar Action, September 1914 Coronel, Battle of, November 1914 DARDANELLES & GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGNS, 1915-1916 (in 5 Parts) Dogger Bank, Battle of, January 1915 Falklands, Battle of the, December 1914 Heligoland Bight, Battle of, August 1914 JUTLAND, BATTLE OF, 31May/1June 1916 (in 4 Parts) Königsberg Action, July 1915 MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN, 1914-1918 Suez Canal, Defence of the  1915 Sydney v Emden Action, November 1914 ZEEBRUGGE & OSTEND RAIDS, April & May 1918       MEDALS   Victoria Cross at Sea, including RN Division 1914-19 Albert Medal at Sea, including Merchant Navy  1915-19 Medal of Honor, US Navy and Marine Corps 1915-18 Pour le Merité, the "Blue Max", Imperial German Navy including naval aviation       CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS   The Navy Everywhere, by Conrad Gato -  the RN in Africa,  E. Europe, Middle East   On the Coast of France: United States Naval Forces in French Waters by Joseph Husband, Ensign, USNRF The United States Marine Corps in the World War by Edwin N. McClellan,  Major, U. S. Marines           INTER-WAR, 1918-39   MEN   CASUALTY LISTS of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1918-1939 by Don Kindell   Post-World War 1 service of George W Smith DSM: North Russian Expeditionary Force 1919 HMS Vanquisher, Baltic Sea Cruise 1921 HMS Curlew, America & West Indies Station 1922-25 HMS Durban, China Station 1926-28 Royal Naval Shore Signal Service 1929-48       SHIPS   Royal Navy WARSHIP SERVICE Summaries by Lt Cdr G Mason   Cox's Navy, Salvaging the German High Seas Fleet by Tony Booth       ROYAL NAVY     Royal Navy Estimates 1919-20 and Summary of Naval Activities since the Armistice         EVENTS   Versailles Treaty to Polish Blitzkrieg 1919-39 Russian Civil War 1919 Point Honda Disaster of the US Navy 1923           WORLD WAR 2, 1939-45   MEN   CASUALTY LISTS of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies, 1939-1945  by Don Kindell   Some of the Men who served: Horace Carswell DSM, MM, BEM, Chief Steward, and Russian Convoy PQ.17 Sidney Kerslake RNR, Leading Seaman, 1920-99, Norway and Russian Convoys Edward Palmer BEM, Coxswain, attack on HMS Foyle Bank July 1940 Harold Siddall, Stoker, 1916-97, from Scapa Flow to Crete, and on to a German Stalag George Smith (left), Ordnance Artificer, 1916-43, HMS Charybdis Henry Sutton, Petty Officer, HMS Blackpool, and his Letter from Normandy, June 1944 Frank Taylor, Able Seaman, HMS Scarab, Mediterranean service 1943-44 Roderick Timms, Lt Cdr, RD*, RNR and Coastal Forces, 1941-45 (external site) Maurice Whiteing, Leading Air Mechanic, HMS Indomitable, Far East, 1944-1945 Basil Woolf, MID, Petty Officer, the Battle for Walcheren, 1st November 1944       SHIPS       SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2 including Class Information by Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Mason, RN (Rtd)   also   CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of ROYAL and DOMINION NAVY VESSELS by Don Kindell     Major BRITISH WARSHIP LOSSES  with commanding officers, loss locations and casualties - Capital ships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers & escort destroyers, submarines, including X-craft British Naval Losses  by Name, Date, Theatre, Type of ship, from "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1939-45", HMSO   HMS Indomitable in the Far East 1944-45, a photographic record HMS Charybdis:      All in a Day's Work - Her Career by 'Rocky' Royle      Her Loss and Commemoration, by the Charybdis Association        Account of Her Loss from Captured German Archives Capture of British Yard Minesweeper BYMS-72, 1943 Aegean Campaign, by Cdr Bruhn USN HM Harbour Defence Motor Launch No.1001, RN and later career Thames Lighters at War, off the British & US Normandy beaches       ROYAL NAVY   Royal Navy at Beginning and End of World War 2 Royal Navy, Royal Marine, Single-Ship Battle Honours 1939-45, with links to Campaigns   Naval Life and Customs by Lt-Cdr John Irving RN, a gem of a book Ranks, Trades, Pay & Allowances, Badges of Rank 1942   Naval-related Code Names - Alphabetically - Chronologically Royal Navy Minelaying Operations Warrant Officers in the Royal Navy - a history Officer/Rating Relationships in the Royal Navy 1941-1972 Pennant Numbers - with Addendum on the Pacific 1944-45, all by Lt Cdr G Mason Naval Parties of the Royal Navy, World War 2 by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow       DOMINION and ALLLIED NAVIES under Royal Navy control   Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Indian Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, South African Naval Force - ship histories, convoy movements, casualties 1939-47 plus links South African Naval Nomenclature for Navy & Ships by Vice Adm Alan Grose RN (Rtd) Royal Norwegian Navy - ship histories, convoy movements, casualties 1940-45 plus links       EVENTS   NAVAL and MILITARY CAMPAIGN SUMMARIES by Type of Warfare, Navies, Theatres by Gordon Smith       BRITISH and OTHER NAVIES DAY-BY-DAY 1939-42 Ship Movements, Actions, Losses by Don Kindell     ADMIRALTY WAR DIARIES and REPORTS transcribed by Don Kindell     ROYAL, DOMINION & ALLIED NAVIES in WORLD WAR 2  Month-by-Month across all Theatres   by Gordon Smith         CONVOYS   CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of ROYAL and DOMINION NAVY VESSELS by Don Kindell    THE SUPPLY OF MALTA 1940-1942, including the Malta Convoys ROUTE TO THE EAST - the WS (Winston’s Special) Convoys, both by the late Arnold Hague   RUSSIAN CONVOYS including Russian Front Summary Maps   Allied Convoy Codes, courtesy HyperWar Foundation ConvoyWeb - convoy lists and more (external site)       MEDALS   Victoria Cross at Sea, 1940-45 George Cross & Albert Medal at Sea, 1939-45 Medal of Honor at Sea, 1941-45   Imperial Japanese Navy and Order of the Golden Kite - A Note       TECHNICAL   Allied Anti-Submarine Weapons - A Note High Frequency Radio Direction Finding - HF/DF or Huff Duff New Zealand's Contribution to Radar Development Hydrographic Survey Work in the RN up to the 1980's, all by Lt Cdr G Mason The Early Days of Wireless at Sea by Louis C. Kleber       MAPS, etc   Campaign and Battle Maps, World Wars 1 & 2, Falklands War Posters of the Royal Navy in World War 2 Service Magazines of the World's Forces Victory Celebrations in London, June 1946       POST-WAR, 1945-present   MEN   CASUALTY LISTS of the Royal Navy 1945-present  by Don Kindell   David Hamilton, Commander [F}, RN, his seagoing and flying career, 1939-1968 James Summerlee, Lieutenant Commander, MID, RN (Rtd), FAA, Korea and Suez SAR       SHIPS & ESTABLISHMENTS   Royal Navy WARSHIP SERVICE Summaries   Loch-class Frigates in the Dutch East Indies 1945-1946 Salvage Operations by RN Frigates 1950-1964 Modernisation of Town and Colony-class Light Cruisers, all by Lt Cdr G Mason Naval Parties of the Royal Navy, Postwar by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow Navy-Mad in the Nineteen Fifties by Gordon Smith       EVENTS   Royal Navy Chronology - 1946-1950 - 1951-1960 - 1961-1970 by Lt Cdr G Mason   BATTLE ATLAS of the FALKLANDS WAR 1982 by Land, Sea and Air by Gordon Smith   Passing Through Ascension - Photographic record of Ascension Island during the War   Missiles in the Malouines/Falklands - the Art of Daniel Bechennec                 Excellent coverage of Post-War period (external site)       SHIPS and SEAS       Torpedo Craft Through the Art of Joe Hinds, including the amazing planned German Type 5B   Ship and Naval Base Crests, from "Empire to Commonwealth" by Father Anthony Hathaway-Taylor, also RN and RCN Badges by Ed Buscall (external sites)   Sailing in the Bristol Channel by Gordon Smith   British Pathé Newsreel Archives 1897-1970 - Naval history footage (external site)       revised 2/12/11

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