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1942 Sailings
WS 15
The
convoy sailed from Liverpool (10.1) and the Clyde (11.1), and finally formed up
off Oversay on 12.1.42 in the formation shown below:
The A/S
escort force was made up of the destroyers shown below:
VANOC and WALKER 12 to 15.1, VANQUISHER, VOLUNTEER and WITHERINGTON 12 to 17.1, ANTHONY 17 to 18.1, GARLAND and NORMAN 17 to 25.1, VANSITTART and VIMY 21 to 25.1.
Ocean
escort, other than as shown above, was provided by the armed merchant cruisers
ASCANIA and CHESHIRE, the Dutch AA cruiser HEEMSKERK and the destroyer BOREAS
from 12 to 25.1, while the battleship RESOLUTION joined on 17.1 to 25.1, the
convoy arriving at Freetown 25.1.42.
The
first casualty for some time in WS convoys, and the first due to submarine
attack, took place on 16.1 when LLANGIBBY CASTLE was hit right aft by a torpedo
from U 402. She retired damaged to Ponta Delgada from whence, under escort and
accompanied by a tug, she returned to Gibraltar and then to the UK for repairs.
A number
of the warships listed as ocean escort were in fact on passage to the Indian
Ocean for duty; also included was the Turkish destroyer DEMIR HISAR, recently
completed in Britain. She was temporarily commissioned with a British crew for
the delivery passage and operated as part of the escort.
The
convoy sailed from Freetown 29.1 with its formation unchanged, escorted by the
battleship RESOLUTION, armed merchant cruiser CHESHIRE and destroyer DEMIR
HISAR for Capetown off which port it arrived 9.2 when DORSET, ELISABETH BAKKE,
LACONIA, ORONTES and PASTEUR plus the Dutch submarine depot ship COLOMBIA were
detached to enter Capetown under escort of RESOLUTION, arriving 10.2 while the
remainder of the convoy went on to Durban, arriving 13.2, accompanied by the
armed merchant cruisers DUNNOTTAR CASTLE and WORCESTERSHIRE and the sloop
MILFORD.
The five
Capetown ships (ELISABETH BAKKE remained at Capetown) sailed 14.2 escorted by
the armed merchant cruiser CHESHIRE and made their rendezvous with the Durban
contingent (less ARAWA and LETITIA) off that port on 17.2
The
escort from Durban consisted of the cruiser CERES, and the destroyer NORMAN
with the CHESHIRE from Capetown.
During
the northward passage, a three part division of the convoy took place:
WS 15A
DORSET,
LACONIA, MELBOURNE STAR, ORONTES, OTRANTO, PASTEUR and VICEROY OF INDIA
detached 26.2 escorted to the vicinity of Aden by the cruisers CERES and
COLOMBO, dispersing off Aden 1.3.42 to proceed independently to Suez.
WS 15B
BRITANNIC,
STIRLING CASTLE and STRATHMORE detached on 26.2 and proceeded to Bombay
escorted by the armed merchant cruiser WORCESTERSHIRE which was joined on 28.2
by the CORFU until 2.3, the convoy arriving at Bombay 4.3.
The
remaining ships of the convoy formed the third reinforcement convoy for
Singapore under the title:
DM 3
This
convoy was composed of the ships shown below, and formed on 22.2:
The
convoy was escorted by the battleship
RAMILLIES and the destroyer NORMAN, both
of which joined 22.2.
Singapore
had, of course, surrendered while the Capetown ships were on their way to
Durban; the orders for the convoy were therefore amended prior to the Durban
sailing to proceed to Batavia to bolster the Allied garrison of the East Indies
islands. Even this intention was overtaken by the Japanese advance, and the
convoy was again diverted to Colombo, no doubt to the immense relief of all
onboard.
The
escort left the convoy to fuel at Addu Atoll on 28.2 and rejoined 29.2, on
which day the armed merchant cruiser CORFU also joined the escort.
Orders
were again changed on 2.3, CORFU to detach at once with AAGTEKERK, CHRISTIAAN
HUYGENS, EMPIRE WOODLARK, PORT CHALMERS and STRATHANAVER to proceed to Bombay,
arriving there 6.3.42. RAMILLIES and NORMAN took the remaining ships, of which
STAFFORDSHIRE now became Commodore, to Colombo where they arrived 4.3
WS 16
The next
convoy of the series assembled off Oversay on 17.2.42, having sailed from Liverpool
and the Clyde (on 16.2):
STRATHAIRD
sailed late, delayed with defects, and finally joined the convoy 21.2 under the
escort of cruiser NEWCASTLE and
destroyer PALADIN. CITY OF EDINBURGH and CITY OF LINCOLN both had
problems with shifting cargo and returned to the Clyde and Liverpool
respectively. POTARO also fell out 18.2 but proceeded to Freetown independently
where she rejoined the convoy.
Escort
from Oversay comprised:
The
battleship
MALAYA, aircraft carrier EAGLE, cruiser
HERMIONE and destroyers
ACTIVE, ANTHONY, BLANKNEY, CROOME, DUNCAN, FIREDRAKE, LAFOREY and LIGHTNING
from 17 to 21.2, destroyers VERITY, WALKER and WITHERINGTON 17 to 22.2,
aircraft carrier
FORMIDABLE (she was on passage overseas), cruiser NEWCASTLE
and destroyer PALADIN 21.2 to 1.3, destroyers BOREAS, BRILLIANT and WILD SWAN
26.2 to 1.3.
The carrier ARGUS also took passage with the
convoy en route to Gibraltar with fighter aircraft for the reinforcement of
Malta.
The
convoy arrived at Freetown 1.3.42.
The
convoy sailed from Freetown, its merchant ship composition unchanged, on 6.3
escorted locally by the corvette NIGELLA for one day, the destroyers BRILLIANT
and WILD SWAN to 8.3, the corvette JASMINE until 12.3 and the sloop BRIDGEWATER
to 18.3. The cruiser NEWCASTLE provided the major escort until 17.3, the date
on which the convoy split off Capetown, when the armed merchant cruisers
CHESHIRE and DUNNOTTAR CASTLE and the sloop MILFORD joined.
BERGENSFJORD,
BRISBANE STAR, DELFTDIJK, DENBIGHSHIRE, NEA HELLAS, PORT JACKSON, POTARO and
SIBAJAK entered Capetown under the local escort of the corvettes FREESIA and
FRITILLARY. The remaining merchant ships went on to Durban escorted by the
armed merchant cruisers CHESHIRE, DUNNOTTAR CASTLE and WORCESTERSHIRE (which
relieved MILFORD on 17.3), arriving at Durban 21.3.
The
Capetown ships sailed on 22.3, escorted by the cruiser NEWCASTLE and the sloop
MILFORD, and met the Durban vessels, excluding MONARCH OF BERMIDA, MOOLTAN and
STRATHAIRD which remained in port, off Durban on 25.3. The convoy, its escort
reinforced by the cruiser GLASGOW and armed merchant cruiser WORCESTERSHIRE
from Durban, proceeded northward; NEWCASTLE detached at midnight on 25.3. On
1.4 the cruiser COLOMBO and armed merchant cruiser ALAUNIA relieved the escort
and on 3.4 the convoy divided into the Aden and Bombay portions.
The
combined convoy steamed in the following formation:
Commodore
ships remained as previously.
WS 16A
BERGENSFJORD, NEA HELLAS and VOLENDAM formed
the Aden convoy escorted by COLOMBO from the splitting position on 3.4 until
dispersed off Aden 6.4.42 after which the ships went to Suez as independents.
WS 16B
The
Bombay detacchment steamed in the following order from 3.4.
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