Background Events - September 1939-March 1940
Battle
of Atlantic starts,
'Phoney War' on land, Battle of River Plate
1939
Friday, 15 September
Western
Atlantic
- Canadian destroyers FRASER
and ST LAURENT arrived at Halifax
for escort duties.
Kingston, Jamaica-UK (KJF) convoys - the first of the series, KJF.1, sailed with light
cruiser ORION as escort from the 15th to 17th.
The
series only continued until 8 October 1939 with three more
KJF’s leaving
Kingston, all unescorted - KJF.2
departing 22nd and arriving 6 October, KJF.3 departing 29th
and arriving 14
October, and KJF.4 departing 8 October and arriving 22nd.
Northern
Patrol
- light cruiser DUNEDIN
departed Scapa Flow for Northern Patrol duties and
arrived back on the 18th.
British
northern waters
- battleship NELSON
departed
Loch Ewe on the evening of the 15th, escorted by destroyers
SOMALI, MASHONA,
MATABELE and arrived at Scapa Flow next morning.
Destroyer
FURY,
which had departed Scapa Flow on the 14th escorting
battleship RODNEY,
joined aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL
at sea on anti-submarine patrol.
Heavy
cruiser NORFOLK departed Scapa Flow.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA departed Scapa Flow
and arrived back on the 16th.
British
east coast/North Sea
– U.36
sank steamer TRURO
(974grt) 130 miles ENE of Rattray Head in 58‑20N,
02‑00E. Survivors were picked up by a Belgian trawler.
British
aircraft bombed a submarine contact 60 miles east of
Aberdeen. Destroyer SABRE was already
hunting in the area and was joined by destroyer FORESIGHT,
which had departed
Scapa Flow on the 16th.
Destroyer
BROKE
attacked a submarine contact off Flamborough Head.
Light
cruiser NEWCASTLE relieved light cruiser
SHEFFIELD
for duties with the Humber
Force, although SHEFFIELD continued in the 18th Cruiser Squadron for another week.
Destroyers
JERVIS,
JAVELIN, JERSEY, JUPITER departed the Humber to search for a reported damaged German submarine in
the North
Sea.
There
was no contact, and the ships were badly battered by heavy
weather.
JUPITER and JAVELIN also attacked a submarine contact three
miles NE of
Flamborough. British trawler SILURIA (207grt) passing
between them during their
hunt, rode over a submerged object which she reported as a
suspected submarine.
On return, JERVIS boiler cleaned and repaired at Rosyth from
the 17th to 22nd
and JERSEY docked at Chatham from the 18th to 20th.
Destroyer
VALOROUS
attacked a submarine contact 10 miles east of Lowestoft.
Convoy FN.5 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 16th.
English
Channel - destroyer
WREN
made two attacks on a submarine contact off Cherbourg.
Belgian
liner ALEX VAN OPSTAL (5965grt) sank on a mine laid by U.26 on the 8th off Shambles Light ½
mile east of Weymouth
and Greek steamer ATLANTICOS
(5446grt) rescued her survivors. As ALEX VAN OPSTAL went
down, she put
number three submarine detection loop out of action.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.2 departed Barry,
escorted by destroyers WOLVERINE and WAKEFUL, and arrived at
Quiberon Bay on the 16th. The convoy was
also escorted by French large destroyers MOGADOR and VOLTA
from 0600 to 2000 on
the 16th.
DB.2
departed Southampton with one personnel ship for Brest,
escorted by destroyers WREN
and VENOMOUS and arrived on the 16th. The following DB.3 was
cancelled.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.5 of two ships, and OA.5A
of twelve, departed Southend. Destroyers JANUS, JACKAL and
Polish GROM departed
Devonport to escort them from the 15th to 18th, when the
convoy dispersed.
JANUS arrived back at Devonport on the 18th and JACKAL on
the 20th.
OB.5
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers
VERSATILE and VIMY until the 18th and joined by destroyer
VIVACIOUS
Southwestern
approaches
- steamer ROTHESAY CASTLE (7016grt) was attacked by
U.26, 120 miles SW of Fastnet, but not damaged
U.53
seriously damaged British tanker CHEYENNE (8825grt)
150
miles WSW of Fastnet at 50‑20N, 13‑30W. The crew was picked
up
by Norwegian steamer IDA BAKKE (5455grt) which was directed to the tanker
by U.53. As U.53 was scuttling CHEYENNE
with gunfire, destroyer
MACKAY, 11th Flotilla arrived and drove her off. Finding
CHEYENNE beyond salvage, MACKAY
finished off the tanker with gunfire.
Central
and South Atlantic
– light cruiser COLOMBO
(above - Navy Photos) departed Gibraltar for
Casablanca and arrived back on the 17th.
Heavy
cruiser CUMBERLAND arrived at Rio de Janiero with destroyers HAVOCK
and HOTSPUR. After refuelling and reprovisioning, the
destroyers departed that
night and CUMBERLAND
next day. CUMBERLAND was ordered to commence escort
duties with HAVOCK from Rio de Janiero, while heavy cruiser
EXETER
with HOTSPUR was to escort
outbound shipping from Montevideo.
Chinese
waters
- sloop SANDWICH departing Tienstin under tow
because of low water, ran aground at Taku. She was towed off
by five tugs, but
a towing line fouled a propeller. With tug ST BREOCK in
attendance, SANDWICH left the area.
Saturday, 16 September
Halifax, Nova
Scotia-UK (HX) convoys - the first of the convoys, HX 1, departed Halifax at 1400 with
Canadian destroyers ST LAURENT
and SAGUENAY as local escorts. On the 17th,
353 miles east of Halifax, the convoy was turned over to
heavy cruisers YORK
and BERWICK.
The cruisers
arrived back at Halifax
on the 20th, while the convoy
reached Liverpool on the 30th.
British
northern waters
- aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL
and destroyers FAULKNOR, FIREDRAKE, FEARLESS, FURY,
FORESTER, FORTUNE arrived
at Loch Ewe to refuel. Destroyer FOXHOUND, also with ARK
ROYAL’s screen,
arrived at Scapa Flow for her refuelling.
Light
cruiser DRAGON
arrived at Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
MATABELE
departed Scapa Flow and arrived at Loch Ewe on the 17th.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
arrived at Loch Ewe.
Destroyer
FORESIGHT
departed Scapa Flow to assist destroyer SABRE hunting a submarine reported
by aircraft. FORESIGHT oiled at Rosyth on the 17th and
arrived back at Scapa
Flow on the 18th.
Scottish
west coast
- British trawler WELLVALE (271grt) was lost to
unknown
cause.
British
east coast
– convoy FS.6 departed Methil
and arrived at Southend on the 18th.
Destroyer
WANDERER
attacked a submarine contact 10 miles E by S of Flamborough
Head.
Sloop HASTINGS also attacked a contact, but this time 38 miles E by S
of Flamborough Head.
Destroyer
VALOROUS
attacked submarine contacts 10 miles east of Lowestoft and
also 32 miles SW of Spurn
Point.
Steamer
CITY OF PARIS (10,902grt) in convoy FN.6 was damaged 3½
miles ENE of Aldeburgh in 52‑14N, 01‑43E by a mine laid by U.13 on
the 4th.
British
submarine H.34, carrying out experiments off Harwich, was
bombed by a friendly
aircraft. No damage was done.
Convoy FN.6 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 18th.
Humber Force - light
cruisers
GLASGOW
and SOUTHAMPTON
departed the Humber and arrived at Rosyth on the
17th. SOUTHAMPTON boiler-cleaned from 17th to
19th, GLASGOW from 19th to 21st.
Dover
Straits
- steamer BRAMDEN (1594grt), inbound from Dunkirk,
was sunk on a British
defensive minefield in 51‑22N, 02‑31E, with three crew lost.
Southwestern
approaches
- aircraft carrier COURAGEOUS
departed Plymouth for anti-submarine hunting in the Western
Approaches, west of
12-00W and north of 250° from Land's End. She was joined
outside the breakwater
at 0930 by destroyers INGLEFIELD, IVANHOE, IMPULSIVE.
Destroyer INTREPID, which
had not completed embarking depth charges departed Plymouth
later in the day and joined
them at 1500. IMPULSIVE attacked a submarine contact at 2035
and INGLEFIELD
went to assist. At 2150, the search was abandoned as a
"non-sub"
contact.
Light cruisers CARADOC and CERES
with destroyer KELLY departed Plymouth
for anti-submarine patrol in
the Western Approaches. The cruisers returned on the 18th.
U.33
sank steamer ARKLESIDE
(1567grt) 150 miles SW of Land's End in 48‑00N, 09‑30W.
Destroyer
WHIRLWIND
attacked a submarine contact 330 miles WSW of Land's End.
U.31
sank steamer AVIEMORE (4060grt)
at 0815, 350 miles west of Land's End in 49-11N, 13‑38W. She was sailing as an
independent crossing ahead of convoy OB.4 and not a member
of the convoy as
frequently reported. Twenty three crew were lost and 11
survivors were by
destroyer WARWICK. A ship in OB.4 was attacked by U.31 at
0040 but was not
damaged. WARWICK was then missed at 0827 by a torpedo from U.31 in
49-17N, 13-38W, but in the counter-attack, the submarine
sustained light
damage.
Destroyers
KEMPENFELT
and VESPER attacked a submarine contact ESE of Fastnet.
Royal
Fleet Auxiliary BACCHUS (5150grt) was missed by a torpedo,
170 miles SW of
Fastnet at 2242.
U.27
sank British trawler RUDYARD KIPLING
(333grt) 100 miles west of Donegal. The entire crew were
towed in their boats
by the submarine to within five miles of the coast.
Destroyers SOMALI and
MATABELE and aircraft were ordered to the area to search for
the submarine.
Mediterranean -
Heavy cruiser SHROPSHIRE arrived at Malta
for docking, departed on the
18th and reached Alexandria
on the 20th.
Sunday, 17 September
Norwegian
Sea
- German steamer CLARE HUGO
STINNES I (5294grt) which had run aground on Raftsund on the
9th was refloated
on this date and taken to Trondheim
to offload her cargo on the
21st. With a damaged bottom, she remained at Trondheim until
early October when she
left for repairs at Tingvold arriving on 6 October. She
underwent repairs until 7 April 1940, then left Tingvold for Ulvik in Hardangersfjord.
This move did not save her during the Norwegian campaign as
she was soon
captured by Norwegian forces, but only until 20 April when
she was recaptured
by German naval forces.
ARK ROYAL, North Western approaches - aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL with destroyers
FURY, FORESTER, FORTUNE, FEARLESS departed Loch Ewe for her
second
anti-submarine patrol NW of Ireland. Destroyers SOMALI and
MATABELE sailed
ahead to search for a reported submarine in the area of
Tory
Island. FORTUNE was later detached to
join.
On
the 17th seven miles west of Tory Island, steamer BARON
LOVAT (3395grt)
was attacked by a submarine and ARK ROYAL's aircraft sent to
search the area.
With
the loss of COURAGEOUS
(below), ARK ROYAL and escorts were ordered to return to
Loch Ewe at 1400/18th. Still on the 18th, ARK ROYAL’s
aircraft sighted a
submarine in the afternoon, which FURY unsuccessfully depth
charged in 55‑48N,
10‑50W.
Destroyers
SOMALI,
MATABELE, FORTUNE rejoined the force at 1545/18th. SOMALI
and MATABELE
were again detached at 2047/18th to assist British trawler
LORD MINTO which was
under attack. ARK ROYAL arrived in harbour at 0950/19th.
British
northern waters
- heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed Scapa Flow on patrol. Returning on the
20th, she was ordered to proceed through Fair Isle Channel,
due to submarine
activity in Pentland Firth and arrived back on the 21st.
Battleship
NELSON
departed Scapa Flow, unaccompanied, and arrived at Loch Ewe that evening.
Destroyer
MASHONA
arrived at Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
FAME
departed Scapa Flow escorting British tanker SAN ALBERTO
(7397grt) to Invergordon.
FAME arrived back at Scapa Flow on the 18th with tanker
MONTENOL.
British
west coast
- patrol sloop PC.74,
operating as decoy ship CHATGROVE, was damaged in a
collision with British
trawler TOM MOORE (194grt) at Liverpool. PC.74 was repaired at Liverpool
completing on 4 October.
U.32
laid mines in Bristol Channel, which sank two merchant ships.
British
east coast
- sloops BITTERN and
ENCHANTRESS, both escorting an east coast convoy, separately
attacked submarine
contacts off Flamborough Head.
North
Sea
- submarine SEAHORSE departed
Dundee on patrol on the 16th, and now on the 17th, attacked
U.36 at 1200 while
she was searching a Danish merchant ship 100 miles east of
Montrose in 56-42N,
0-52E. Three torpedoes were fired at 1210, with one
apparently hitting, but not
exploding. U.36 examined neutrals Norwegian steamers IRIS
(1177grt) and ELDRID
(1712grt), Swedish steamer NORMA (1287grt) and Danish
steamer OSLO (1412grt) on the 17th.
U.41
captured Finnish merchant ships VEGA (1073grt) and SUOMEN
POIKA (1099grt) in
the North
Sea
at 58N, 04E and sent both ships back to Germany with prize
crews.
Baltic
- Polish submarine SEP (Lt Cdr
Salamon), with two compartments flooded and diving planes
inoperative, arrived
at Landsort, Sweden,
for internment.
Dover
Straits
- patrol sloop KITTIWAKE
struck a British mine at 1900 in the Goodwins-Ruytingen
minefield two miles
east of South Goodwin Light Vessel and only a few cables
from minesweepers
sinking shallow mines. She was badly damaged with one rating
killed and four
missing from the blast. Cdr E R Conder was blown off the
bridge and later
picked up by a trawler. Minesweeper HARRIER
took 39 crewmen on board and towed
KITTIWAKE to Dover.
On 7 October she was towed by
tugs GONDIA and SIMLA to Sheerness and under repair until
18 January 1941.
English
Channel
- minelaying-cruiser
ADVENTURE,
escorted by destroyer BEAGLE, departed Dover to return to
Portsmouth where they arrived safely.
UK-France
convoys
- DB.4 departed Southampton with troops and arrived at Brest
on the 19th.
MB.4
departed Southampton with eight cargo ships
carrying war materials and arrived at Brest on the 19th.
BC.1F
of steamers FENELLA and TYNWALD departed Quiberon Bay
escorted by destroyers KEITH
and VIVACIOUS. The convoy safely arrived at Barry Roads on
the 19th.
BC.1S
of steamers BARON MINTO, BELLEROPHON, and TRELAWNEY departed
the Loire, escorted by destroyers
ELECTRA and ESCORT. The convoy arrived in Bristol Channel on
the 19th.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.6 departed Southend,
while destroyers JUNO and AMAZON departed Devonport to escort the
convoy from the 17th to 20th. The destroyers arrived back at
Devonport on the
21st.
OB.6
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers
WINCHELSEA and WALPOLE.
Loss
of aircraft carrier
COURAGEOUS
-
COURAGEOUS (Capt William Makeig-Jones) was on anti-submarine
patrol 350 miles
west of Land's End with destroyers INGLEFIELD, INTREPID,
IMPULSIVE, IVANHOE.
The distress call from KARIFISTAN was received and
COURAGEOUS flew off four
aircraft and detached destroyers INGLEFIELD and INTREPID to
assist. One of the
aircraft dropped a bomb on U.53 causing her to dive.
Then
U.29 sighted COURAGEOUS in 50‑10N, 14‑45W and fired two
torpedoes
at 1920. They exploded port side and COURAGEOUS sank at
2015.
Capt
Makeig-Jones, Lt Cdr P H Cardew, 811 Squadron’s Lt H J C
Walton-Wilson, Lt A F
Ingram, Lt (A) T D M MacDonald and PO Airman B J Owen, 822
Squadron’s Sub Lt (A)
D F Williams and Acting Sub Lt (A) G J B Pollard, Paymaster
Cdr M Lawrey,
Commissioned Gunners A J Hocken Rtd and F J Smith,
Commissioned Boatswain P J
O'Brien Rtd, Warrant Engineers J H Winter, F E Blackman and
J J Spilman,
Schoolmaster W E Tomlinson, Warrant Writer J D Latham,
Warrant Supply Officer G
B Jess and 501 ratings, including 36 RAF service crewmen,
were lost. IMPULSIVE
was unable to do any more than assist in rescuing survivors
(Casualty
List).
IVANHOE
made three anti-submarine attacks at 2000, 2017, and 2028
during a five hour
search and IVANHOE and INTREPID searched until daylight.
Destroyers KEMPENFELT
and ECHO submarine hunting in the area
went to assist.
Light
cruisers CARADOC
and CERES
and destroyer KELLY investigating a possible
submarine contact off Land's End received the COURAGEOUS SOS
and sped to the scene to
rescue survivors. INGLEFIELD arrived back at 2335.
American
steamer COLLINGSWORTH (5101grt), steamer DIDO (3554grt),
Dutch liner
VEENDAM (15,450grt) also rescued survivors. DIDO picked up
23 officers and 195
five ratings. The survivors were transferred from the
merchant ships to
INGLEFIELD and KELLY, and arrived at Devonport on the
evening of 18 September.
INTREPID escorted steamer DIDO to Liverpool.
Cdr
C W G M Woodhouse was rescued, but never recovered from his
injuries and died
on 27 July 1940
while attached to HMS DRAKE.
U.29
left her patrol area for Wilhelmshaven
for refuelling with only one
torpedo left.
Southwestern
approaches
- destroyer ANTELOPE with
destroyer JACKAL in company attacked a submarine contact 15
miles SSW of Land's End.
Destroyer
KELLY,
70 miles SW of Land's End made three attacks on submarine
contacts early
on the 17th.
U.53
attacked steamer KARIFISTAN (5193grt) at 1445, 280 miles WSW
of Fastnet
in 50‑16N, 16‑55W. She was able to get off a radio report
before
being sunk by U.53. Six crewmen were lost and the survivors
were picked up by
American steamer AMERICAN FARMER (7430grt).
Spanish
and Portuguese coasts - French
large
destroyers LE FANTASQUE, LE TERRIBLE, L’AUDACIEUX patrolled
off the Spanish
coast from the 17th to 19th.
Light
cruiser CAPETOWN
departed Gibraltar as escort with SL.1 and arrived back on the 27th.
Mediterranean
Fleet
- arrived back at Alexandria after covering Mediterranean
convoys GC.1 and Green 1.
Indian
Ocean
- Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
departed Mombasa and arrived at Aden on the 22nd.
Monday, 18 September
Northern
Patrol
- light cruiser CARDIFF
departed Scapa Flow on Northern Patrol duties,
arriving back on the 22nd.
U.35
and other U-boats in Northwestern approaches
- U.35 sank British trawlers ARLITA (326grt) 22
miles WNW of St
Kilda and LORD MINTO (295grt) off
the Butt of Lewis, 30miles NW of St Kilda in 57-51N, 9-28W
on the 18th. The
survivors were picked up by British trawler NANCY HAGUE
(299grt), which was in
company and spared by the submarine to rescue the other two
crews.
At
0409/19th, U.35 stopped trawler ALVIS (279grt) 29 miles
north of St Kilda. She
was ordered to dismantle her radio and proceed to Fleetwood.
This trawler was
erroneously reported in early sources as the RIVER TAY
(203grt).
At
0600/19th, trawler NEIL MACKAY (209grt) was chased by an
unknown U-boat, 22 miles W by N of
the Butt of Lewis.
These
attacks put into motion a major anti-submarine operation by
destroyers
beginning on the 19th.
British
northern waters
- light cruisers AURORA,
EDINBURGH,
BELFAST,
and SHEFFIELD
departed Sullom Voe after
refuelling and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 20th.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA with destroyer FOXHOUND departed Scapa
Flow for patrol in Fair Isle
Channel, stopping Danish steamer MAROCCO (1641grt) on the
18th and sending her
into Kirkwall for inspection. At 2029/18th,
FOXHOUND attacked a submarine contact east of the Orkneys
and on the 20th
detached to investigate another contact. During this hunt,
FOXHOUND experienced
a defect to her depth charge thrower and repaired at Scapa
Flow alongside light cruiser
AURORA. CALCUTTA arrived back on the 21st.
Light
cruiser DELHI arrived at Scapa Flow.
Light
cruiser ENTERPRISE departed Scapa
Flow and arrived back on the 21st.
British
east coast
- U.23 laid mines in St Andrews Bay between Dundee and the
Firth of Forth.
Convoy
FS.7 departed Methil and
arrived at Southend on the 20th.
Destroyer
JUPITER
made an attack on U.21 off Dunbar, but no damage was done. The submarine was also
attacked unsuccessfully by aircraft.
Destroyers
EXPRESS
and ESK arrived at the Humber after escorting convoys off Flamborough Head.
Convoy
FN.7 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 20th.
North
Sea -
destroyer BOREAS on patrol was near missed by German
bombing, but not damaged.
U.7
departed Kiel for patrol in the North
Sea and returned on 3 October.
Baltic
- Polish submarine ORZEL,
commanded by Lt Grudzinski, escaped internment at Tallin and
began a 16 day
patrol in the Baltic before heading for England.
Polish
submarine RYS, with damaged periscopes and low on fuel,
arrived at Stavnas, Sweden, for internment.
English
Channel
– destroyer JAGUAR with
destroyer VANOC in company attacked a submarine contact off
St Albans Head,
Dorset.
Light
cruisers CERES
and CARADOC
departed Plymouth on escort duties and arrived
back on the 20th.
Destroyer
VANOC
attacked a submarine contact SW of Eddystone.
Destroyer
ISIS
attacked a submarine contact 20 miles south of the Lizard,
Cornwall.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.3S of 16 steamers
including BARON GRAHAM, BARON MACLAY, NEW TEXAS (Cdre), and
TREWORLAS
departed Bristol
Channel
escorted by destroyers MONTROSE (SO), VENETIA, and VISCOUNT. The convoy safely arrived in the Loire
on the 20th.
UK-Turkey
- Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA
departed Liverpool with steamer CLAN MENZIES
(7336grt) carrying military stores for Turkey. Both ships
arrived at Gibraltar on the 22nd and continued on
to Malta.
From Malta on the 27th, the steamer
proceeded to Istanbul
and BLYSKAWICA returned to Plymouth, arriving on 1 October.
Southwestern
approaches
- destroyer INTREPID attacked
a submarine contact 30 miles N by W of Land's End.
U.32
sank steamer KENSINGTON COURT
(4863grt) with gunfire 70 miles SW of Fastnet in 50‑31N,
08‑27W.
The submarine was attacked by British aircraft, but was not
damaged. Destroyer
KELLY was dispatched to assist, but before arriving on the
scene, the crew had
been picked up by a Sunderland flying boat of RAF 204 Squadron.
Gibraltar area
- destroyers EXMOUTH, ENCOUNTER, ECLIPSE, ESCAPADE departed
Gibraltar to return to England after escorting convoy GC.1,
and arrived at Plymouth
on the 20th.
The
French 2nd Squadron of battleships PROVENCE, BRETAGNE,
LORRAINE with four
destroyers (LE PALME, LE MARS, and TEMPÊTE of the 1st
Division, and one other -
the other destroyers of the Squadron were with GC.1)
departed Gibraltar to
return to Oran.
Mediterranean
- anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY
departed Alexandria on patrol.
Destroyers
DECOY,
DEFENDER, DELIGHT, and DUCHESS arrived at Suez, passed
through the Canal and
arrived at Alexandria
next day to join the
Mediterranean Fleet.
Central
and South Atlantic
– the French instituted a Canary Islands submarine patrol.
ARGO and
CENTAURE of the 4th Submarine Division departed Casablanca
on the 22nd to begin the
patrol, followed in rotation by LE CENTAURE, ARGO, PASCAL,
HENRI POINCARÉ, also
of the 4th Division.
Light
cruiser DANAE
departed Simonstown on patrol and arrived back on the 21st.
Tuesday, 19 September
Western
Atlantic
- in response to a submarine
report in Neutrality Area l off Nova Scotia, American
destroyer LEARY
(DD.158) (LCDR E Watts) departed Boston to search for the
supposed
German submarine. After several hours of unsuccessful
search, LEARY returned to
Boston on the 20th.
Convoy
HXF.1 departed Halifax at 1400 escorted by Canadian
destroyers FRASER and
SAGUENAY, with cover provided by heavy cruisers BERWICK
and YORK
on the 19th and 20th. In the
Western Approaches, the convoy was escorted on the 27th to
29th by destroyer
AMAZON, which had escorted OA.9. Convoy HXF.1 arrived at
Liverpool on the 29th.
Convoy
KJ.1 departed Kingston
escorted by light cruiser ORION
from the 19th to 22nd. In Home Waters, the convoy was
escorted by
destroyer VIVACIOUS from 10th to 11th October, when the
convoy arrived.
British
northern waters
- destroyers FORESIGHT and FAME departed Scapa Flow on
patrol.
Destroyers
FORTUNE,
ESKIMO, TARTAR, PUNJABI departed Loch Ewe on patrol.
British
east coast
- destroyer WANDERER attacked
a submarine contact off Flamborough.
Destroyer
WALLACE
attacked a submarine contact 10 miles east of Cromer Knoll.
English
Channel
- destroyer VANOC attacked a
submarine contact 15 miles SW of Eddystone.
UK-out
convoys
- destroyers ACASTA and JANUS
departed Plymouth on the 19th to escort OA.7, consisting of 28 ships,
which had left Southend on the 19th. They were joined on the
20th by destroyer
ARDENT, the convoy dispersed on the 22nd in 48N, 12-30W and
the destroyers
returned to Plymouth.
OB.7
departed Liverpool, escorted by destroyer
WHIRLWIND until the 20th. She was relieved by destroyer
MACKAY as escort from
the 20th to 22nd, and MACKAY by WARWICK escorted the convoy
from 19 to
22 September.
UK-France
convoys
- MB.5 departed Southampton with six cargo ships, escorted
by destroyers ACHATES, SARDONYX, and ACHERON. The convoy
arrived at Brest on the 21st.
BC.3
F.of steamers FENELLA, ST JULIEN, and ULSTER PRINCE departed
Bristol Channel
and arrived at Quiberon Bay on the 20th. The convoy with the
same ships
departed Quiberon Bay
on the 21st and arrived in Bristol Channel on the 22nd.
Southwestern
approaches
- British aircraft dropped
bombs on a submarine contact 30 miles N by W of Land's End.
Destroyer INTREPID
was sent to investigate.
Destroyers
INGLEFIELD and KELLY attacked a submarine contact 70 miles
southeast of Fastnet. This was later determined to be the
wreck of steamer KENSINGTON COURT (4863grt) sunk on the
18th.
Morocco-Biscay
- a French unnumbered convoy
of steamers MARRAKECH, KERGUELEN, KILISSI, KATIOLA departed
Casablanca escorted by destroyers
BRESTOIS and FOUDROYANT. The convoy arrived at Bordeaux on
the 23rd.
Caribbean
- Light cruiser ORION
and
Australian light cruiser PERTH
departed Kingston on patrol. ORION arrived back
on the 23rd.
Wednesday, 20 September
Northern
Patrol
- light cruiser EMERALD
departed Scapa
Flow
on Northern Patrol duties and arrived back on the 28th.
A/S
operations, northern waters
- after U.35 sank British
trawlers off the Butt of Lewis on the 18th, a submarine hunt
began on the 19th.
Destroyers SOMALI, MATABELE, PUNJABI, TARTAR, ESKIMO of the
6th Flotilla and
FAULKNOR, FORTUNE, FEARLESS, FIREDRAKE, FURY, FORESTER of
the 8th Flotilla
departed Loch Ewe on the 19th for the hunt. Two of these
destroyers were
employed on Fair Isle Channel patrol and the other two
divisions of destroyers
were off the Butt of Lewis.
FAME unsuccessfully attacked U.27 at 0100/20th, 10
miles WNW of Fair Isle. FORTUNE and FORESTER then sank U.27
at 0342 off the
Butt of Lewis in 58‑35N, 09‑02E. FORTUNE, which was able to
retrieve secret documents from the submarine before the
submarine sank,
FAULKNOR, and FURY rescued the entire crew of four officers
and 34 ratings
which were transferred to FEARLESS.
FAULKNOR
attacked another contact at 1112/20th, 20 miles NW of the
Butt of Lewis.
Home
Fleet
- battleships NELSON
and
RODNEY,
battlecruisers HOOD
and REPULSE,
aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL,
and
destroyers FIREDRAKE, FORTUNE, TARTAR, PUNJABI departed Loch
Ewe at 1915/20th.
Destroyers FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, FURY, FEARLESS, FORESTER,
FORESIGHT departed Scapa Flow on the 20th and joined the
arriving force.
FOXHOUND
had problems with her depth charge thrower during the U.27
hunt and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 20th. The defects were
repaired alongside light cruiser
AURORA.
FIREDRAKE
attacked
a submarine contact at 0945/21st, 312° from Dunnet Head,
assisted by
destroyer FORTUNE.
The
fleet, joined at sea by destroyers MATABELE, MASHONA,
ESKIMO, BEDOUIN, arrived
at Scapa
Flow
for refuelling on the 21st. Destroyers FAME and SOMALI also
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 21st.
British
northern waters
- destroyers FORESTER, FURY,
FAULKNOR, and MASHONA departed Scapa Flow on patrol.
British
west coast
- two Anson bombers attacked a
submarine off Lundy Island.
Destroyers WOLVERINE,
WITHERINGTON, VOLUNTEER, VERITY departed Milford Haven at
0055/21st to hunt for
the submarine.
British
east coast
– Polish submarine WILK arrived at Rosyth from the
Baltic, then departed for Scapa Flow on the 21st, escorted by destroyer STURDY.
Convoy FS.8 departed Methil, and arrived at Southend on the 22nd.
Convoy
FN.8 departed Southend, arrived at Methil on the 22nd.
North
Sea
- submarines STARFISH and
STURGEON were withdrawn from patrol areas off the Norwegian
coast allocated at
the outset of the war to RAF Coastal Command. Aircraft now
took over the
patrol, starting with Hudson
bombers on the 18th.
Submarines SEAHORSE and TRITON remained on patrol off the
Norwegian coast to
intercept German merchant ships. The submarines were then
deployed in the
Heligoland Bight, off Jutland, and in the Skagerrak.
English
Channel
- aircraft carrier HERMES
departed Plymouth with destroyer KELLY on aircraft flying exercises.
After the exercises, HERMES returned to Plymouth
and KELLY went on to Portland to join destroyer KINGSTON
which was working up.
Light
cruiser CARADOC
departed Plymouth
on escort duties and arrived
back on the 21st.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.2 of steamers CITY OF PRETORIA and HARMATTAN
departed the Loire escorted by destroyers MONTROSE and
WAKEFUL, and safely
arrived in Bristol Channel on the 22nd.
DB.5
departed Southampton with three personnel ships,
escorted by destroyers VANSITTART and SCIMITAR, and arrived
at Brest on the 21st.
Southwestern
approaches
- British aircraft attacked a
submarine contact 40 miles WSW of the Scillies. Destroyer
ILEX was sent to
investigate, but did not regain the contact.
Mediterranean
- light cruisers ARETHUSA
and
PENELOPE
departed Alexandria
for patrol south of the
Otranto Straits. They refuelled at Malta on the 25th/26th,
sailed on the
27th and patrolled Kithera Channel. They arrived back at
Alexandria on the 30th.
Convoy
Blue 2 departed Port Said
with 10 merchant ships.
Destroyers GREYHOUND, GLOWWORM and sloops FLEETWOOD and
ABERDEEN escorted the convoy from the
20th to 30th, and were joined by French destroyer TROMBE and
torpedo boat
POMONE from the 26th to 29th.The convoy arrived at Gibraltar
on the 30th.
Central
and South Atlantic
– convoy SLF.1 was escorted by
light cruiser NEPTUNE,
departing Freetown on the 20th. The cruiser was
detached on the 23rd and proceeded to Dakar. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 28th.
Heavy
cruiser EXETER departed Montevideo
to patrol off Rio de Janiero.
Indian
Ocean
- aircraft carrier EAGLE
departed Colombo for a week of raider hunting in the Indian
Ocean.
Thursday, 21 September
British
northern waters
- destroyers ESK and EXPRESS
arrived at Invergordon from the Humber to escort tanker SAN
ALBERTO (7397grt). They
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 21st.
North
Sea
- light cruiser CAIRO
and destroyers CODRINGTON,
BEAGLE, BLANCHE, BOADICEA were involved in operation CL, a
sweep towards Texel to intercept German merchant
steamers. Following this operation, these ships covered
convoy FN.9.
Baltic
- German auxiliary
anti-submarine trawler UJ.171 (trawler
NETTELBECK) was wrecked in the Baltic.
English
Channel
- light cruiser CERES
departed
Plymouth and arrived back the same day.
UK-France
convoys
- MB.6 of seven cargo ships,
escorted by destroyers ARROW, ANTHONY, SALADIN, departed
Southampton, and arrived at Brest on the 23rd.
BC.4F
of steamer TYNWALD departed Barry in the Bristol Channel
escorted by destroyers ESCORT,
ELECTRA, VIVACIOUS and arrived at Quiberon Bay on the 23rd.
Not long after
sailing, ESCORT and WESSEX attacked a submarine contact 30
miles SW of Swansea. BC.4 departed Bristol Channel
at the same time with steamers
BARON KINNAIRD and CLAN MONROE and the two convoys arrived
together.
UK-out
convoys
- destroyers JANUS, JACKAL and
Polish GROM departed Devonport to escort convoy OA.8, after
it had departed
Southend with 22 ships. JACKAL and GROM were with the convoy
from the 21st to
24th, and JANUS from the 22nd to 24th, when the convoy
dispersed. The
destroyers arrived back at Devonport on the 25th.
Convoy
OB.8 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VERSATILE and VIMY to the 24th.
Southwestern
approaches
- U.35 torpedoed and damaged
steamer TEAKWOOD (6014grt) from convoy OA.7 south of Land's
End at 49‑39N, 06‑39W.
The damaged ship was taken to Falmouth, escorted by
destroyer ARDENT.
En route to Falmouth,
destroyer VESPER relieved
ARDENT which returned to the convoy. Destroyers ECHO, which
departed Plymouth on the 21st, with IMPERIAL and
KEMPENFELT searched the area.
French
convoys, Mediterranean
- during the night of 21st/22nd,
French convoys L.1, escorted by large destroyers VAUTOUR and
GERFAUT, and L.3,
escorted by large destroyers GUEPARD and VERDUN, converged
80 miles west of
Malta.
In
a first collision, French liner MARIETTE PACHA (12239grt)
with L.3 had a
damaged bow and proceeded to Malta, escorted by liner EL
D'JEZAIR. French liner CHENONEAUX (14825grt) with L.1 was
towed to Malta by tug ROYSTER, arriving on
the 23rd. Large destroyer VAUTOUR with L.3 and liner EL
D'JEZAIR with L.1 also
collided.
On
the 28th, MARIETTE PACHA departed Malta escorted by
destroyers
HOSTILE, HERO, HEREWARD, HASTY for Marseilles. The
destroyers remained with
the liner until the 30th, then returned to Malta, arriving 2
October.
CHENONCEAUX was under repair at Malta for four months.
Central
Atlantic
- convoy SL.2 departed Freetown on the 21st, escorted by
light
cruiser DESPATCH
and destroyer HUNTER, but HUNTER was ordered to return to
Freetown at 1500/21st. DESPATCH
remained and then parted company at 0600/28th, arriving back
on 2 October. The
convoy reached Liverpool on 7 October.
During
the night of 21st/22nd September, German steamers CAP NORTE
(13,615grt), TIJUCA
(5918grt), and CURITYBA (4969grt) departed Pernambuco to
return to Germany.
Indian
Ocean
- light cruiser MANCHESTER
arrived at Bombay.
Chinese
waters
- destroyer DIANA departed Hong Kong on the 21st, Singapore
on the 25th, and Colombo on the 29th en route to the
Mediterranean Fleet. She arrived at Suez on 11 October.
Australian
waters
- Australian light cruiser HOBART
arrived at Sydney.
Pacific
- before the war started,
German steamer LEIPZIG
(5898grt) departed Christobal
on 24 August when Australian light cruiser PERTH
arrived, and reached Guajaquil, Ecuador on 8 September. On
the 20th, a
short time before light cruiser ACHILLES
arrived off the port, she left Guajaquil and arrived at Callao, Peru
on the 21st. ACHILLES departed
later the same day.
Friday, 22 September
Western
Atlantic
- heavy cruiser BERWICK
departed Halifax on escort duties.
Northern
Patrol
- light cruisers CALYPSO
and DUNEDIN
departed Scapa Flow on Northern Patrol duties.
CALYPSO was missed by a torpedo at 2340 in 61-50N, 8-22W.
Light
cruiser ENTERPRISE departed Scapa
Flow on Northern Patrol duties, and
arrived back on the 28th.
British
northern waters
- light cruiser DELHI
arrived at Scapa Flow.
Operation
SK, North Sea
- Rear Admiral, Destroyers on
light cruiser
AURORA
with destroyers TARTAR, BEDOUIN, PUNJABI, ESKIMO departed
Scapa Flow and light cruisers SOUTHAMPTON,
GLASGOW,
SHEFFIELD
with destroyers
JERVIS, JERSEY, JAVELIN, JUPITER of the 7th Flotilla
departed Rosyth to attack
German shipping off the Norwegian coast.
To
cover the operation, battlecruisers HOOD
and REPULSE
left Scapa Flow with destroyers FAME, FORESIGHT, FIREDRAKE,
FORTUNE. Soon after sailing, FORTUNE got a submarine contact
which was
confirmed by destroyer FIREDRAKE, but attacks did not
produce any results.
Battleships NELSON
and RODNEY,
aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL,
and destroyers FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, FEARLESS, MATABELE,
MASHONA, SOMALI also left
Scapa Flow as cover.
Destroyers
FURY
and FORESTER departed Newcastle
to join Forbes at sea, and 15
miles off the mouth of the Tyne, depth charged a submarine contact. Destroyers ESK and
EXPRESS also departed Scapa Flow to join the operation.
However,
when destroyers JAVELIN and JERSEY collided later on the 22nd, 120 miles WSW of Lister
Light in 57‑09N, 03‑08W, the raid was abandoned. JAVELIN
could only
steam at 10 knots and was escorted by JERVIS and JUPITER to
Newcastle.
Meanwhile JERSEY headed for Leith at slow speed escorted by
MASHONA and ESKIMO, which arrived back at Scapa Flow on the
24th.
Destroyers
FURY
and FORESTER attacked a submarine contact 15 miles off the
mouth of the Tyne, while destroyer EXPRESS
sighted a floating mine off the port side of battlecruiser
HOOD, came up and
exploded the mine with gunfire. On the 23rd, when an
explosion was felt four
miles from HOOD, destroyers FORTUNE, FIREDRAKE, MASHONA,
MATABELE were sent to
investigate. They carried out attacks in 58‑17N, 01‑30W.
By
23 September, all forces involved had returned to their
ports of departure. JERSEY repaired at Leith, returning to
service on 9
October, and JAVELIN at Newcastle.
She left the Tyne on 21 October for further
repairs at Hartlepool, but was damaged in another collision en route.
British
east coast
- convoy FS.9 departed Methil
and arrived at Southend on the 24th.
British
submarine L.26 was damaged in collision with Blyth Pier.
Destroyer
WREN
attacked a submarine contact six miles WSW of Owers Light
Vessel.
Minesweeper
HUSSAR
and minesweeping trawlers MASTIFF and CEDAR attempted to
locate and
examine a German mine after steamers MAGDAPUR and CITY OF
PARIS were mined off Orfordness.
Convoy FN.9 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 24th.
Norwegian
waters -
U.7 sank steamer ARKENSIDE (2694grt) 25 miles SW of
Bergen in 60‑07N, 04‑37E. Her entire crew was rescued.
U.4
captured Finnish steamer MARTTI RAGNAR
(2262grt) 50 miles off Arendal, Norway,
took her in tow to a point
five miles south of Arendal and scuttled her with explosive
charges. No crew
were lost.
Engish
Channel
- destroyer JAGUAR
investigated a crossing-of-a-loop reading off Portland,
which indicated a possible
submarine in the area.
Destroyer
JACKAL
attacked a submarine contact 4½ miles S by E of Start Point,
and was
joined by destroyer ECLIPSE.
Light
cruisers CERES
and CARADOC
departed Plymouth on escort duties and arrived
back the next day.
UK-France
convoys
- DB.6 departed Southampton with two personnel ships,
escorted by destroyers VANSITTART and VENOMOUS, and arrived
at Brest on the 23rd.
Bay of
Biscay
- From the 22nd, French
submarines ACHILLES, CASABIANCA, PASTEUR, SFAX of the 2nd
Division from Admiral
West were stationed in turn near Cape Ortegal to keep watch
on German
merchant ships in northern Spanish ports. The last patrol
ended on 3 November.
Mediterranean
- Convoy Green 2 (AB.3)
departed Gibraltar with 18 ships for Port Said, escorted b
destroyers HARDY,
HERO, HEREWARD, HASTY, HOSTILE from the 22nd to 27th. The
destroyers then
proceeded to Malta.Destroyers COSSACK, MAORI, NUBIAN, ZULU
provided escort from
27 September to 2 October when it arrived at Port Said.
Mediterranean
Fleet
- destroyer (and sloop) status
on the 22nd was as follows:
AFRIDI
and GURKHA were at sea with French convoy L.3 proceeding
from Marseilles to Beirut. They joined the convoy
southeast of Malta
on the 23rd after the
collisions between large destroyer VAUTOUR and steamer EL
D'JEZAIR, and
steamers CHENONCEAUX and MARIETTE PACHA. MOHAWK and SIKH
were also at sea.
AFRIDI and GURKHA arrived at Alexandria on the 26th, and
MOHAWK and
SIKH on the 28th. COSSACK, MAORI, ZULU, NUBIAN were at
Alexandria due to leave on the 24th to
take over Green 2 off Malta on the 27th. They arrived at
Malta on the 26th and departed next
morning.
GALLANT
had been at Alexandria
since the 21st after returning
from the Dardanelles. She was to have met steamer EOCENE
(4216grt) carrying Polish gold, but the steamer did not
arrive. GARLAND was at Alexandria under repair. GRAFTON was
at Malta awaiting the arrival of
steamer CLAN MENZIES (7336grt). GRENVILLE, GIPSY, GRENADE,
GRIFFIN were at sea. They departed Alexandria on the 22nd
for Gibraltar to take over Green 3 on the
28th. GREYHOUND and GLOWWORM were with Blue 2, due to arrive
at Gibraltar on the 28th.
HARDY,
HERO, HEREWARD, HOSTILE, and HASTY were escorting Green 2
from Gibraltar, and due to arrive at Malta on the 27th to
make good
defects prior to leaving the Mediterranean station. They
departed Malta on 2 October for Gibraltar.
Sloops
ABERDEEN and FLEETWOOD were with Blue 2
due to arrive at Gibraltar on the 28th. Sloops GRIMSBY
and DEPTFORD were at Alexandria since arriving from the Red
Sea on the 19th.
Central
Atlantic
- on the 22nd, French
submarines AGOSTA and OUESSANT of the 8th Division, Admiral
West left their
patrol areas off the Azores for Martinique, arriving on the 29th, to guard the Antilles
passages against German
blockade runners. On 5 October, submarines BÉVÉZIERS and
SIDI FERRUCH of the
8th Division were ordered to join them and arrived on 27
October.
On
27 December, the relief of these submarines was ordered. The
submarines passed Gibraltar on 16 January. On 22 February 1940, French submarines VENUS, IRIS, CERES, and PALLAS of
the 15th Submarine Division from Bizerte
arrived in the Caribbean. These submarines departed
station on 1 May and arrived back at Toulon on 3
June 1940.
South
Atlantic
- destroyer HAVOCK departed Montevideo with the first
outbound local
convoy, consisting of steamers SUSSEX, ROXBY, EL CIERVO, and
Falkland Island Company ship LAFONIA (1961grt). They were
covered by heavy
cruiser EXETER. At dusk, the convoy dispersed and HAVOCK escorted
steamer LAFONIA, carrying troops for the defense of the
Falkland
Islands, to Port Stanley.
Indian
Ocean
- light cruiser LIVERPOOL
departed Aden for Bombay, arriving on the 27th.
Far
East
- heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
departed Hong
Kong
on escort duties and arrived back on 13 October for docking
prior to transferring
to the East Indies Station.
Saturday, 23 September
German
policy
- Adm Raeder ordered U-boats
to sink all merchant ships using their radios when stopped.
Submarine
TRIDENT
– completed and departed Liverpool for trials in Gareloch
Bay, escorted by escort
vessel/minesweeper GLEANER.
British
northern waters
- battleship ROYAL
SOVEREIGN
departed Scapa
Flow
at 2330, escorted by destroyers ESK and EXPRESS, to refit at
Portsmouth. At 1750/24th, the destroyers
attacked a submarine contact 25 miles off the north coast of
Ireland. The three ships arrived at Portsmouth at 0930/26th.
Western
Atlantic
- convoy HX.2 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by heavy
cruiser YORK and Canadian destroyers ST
LAURENT, FRASER, and SAGUENAY. YORK detached on the 25th,
and the
convoy reached Liverpool on 10 October.
British
east coast
- destroyers FORTUNE and
FIREDRAKE attacked U.14, 40 miles NNE of Peterhead, but no
damage was done.
Skagerrak -
U.4 captured Finnish steamer WALMA (1361grt)
off Smagen on the west coast of Sweden and scuttled her off
Hallo in
58‑15N, 11‑00E. The entire crew was saved.
Southern
England - Midshipman
J C Casey and
Midshipman R M B Kettle, flying Harvards of the RAF No 1
Flying Training School
at Netheravon, Wiltshire were killed when their aircraft
collided NE of the
airfield.
UK-France
convoys
- MB.7 of seven cargo ships
departed Southampton, escorted by destroyers
ACHATES, SARDONYX, and ACHERON, and arrived at Brest on the
25th.
BC.3S
of 21 steamers, including BARON GRAHAM, BARON MACLAY, NEW
TEXAS (Cdre) departed Quiberon Bay escorted by destroyers
WOLVERINE and WESSEX,
and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 25th.
BC.4F
of steamer TYNWALD departed Loire Bay escorted by destroyers
ESCORT
and ELECTR, also arriving in Bristol Channel
on the 25th.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.9 of 32 ships departed
Southend. Destroyers JUNO and AMAZON departed Devonport to escort the
convoy and were with it from the 23rd to 26th. The
destroyers then detached to
convoy HXF.1 before arriving back at Plymouth
on the 29th.
OB.9
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VANOC
and WHIRLWIND until the 26th.
Caribbean
-
Australian light cruiser PERTH
south of Jamaica received a direction finding
bearing NW of her of a German vessel, most probably pocket
battleship
DEUTSCHLAND.
Southwestern
approaches
- destroyer JACKAL attacked a
submarine contact 20 miles SW of Land's End. ECLIPSE
attacked the same contact
at 1027. Destroyer EXMOUTH (D.12) was ordered to continue
the hunt with
EXMOUTH, ECLIPSE, ENCOUNTER, ESCAPADE, JACKAL.
Indian
Ocean
- Light cruiser MANCHESTER
departed Bombay.
Sunday, 24 September
German
policy
- Adm Raeder lifted the order
protecting French shipping from U-boat attacks.
Northern
Patrol
– light cruiser DELHI
departed Scapa Flow on this date with DUNEDIN
for Northern Patrol duties,
and arrived back on 1 October.
Northwestern
approaches
- German steamer MINDEN
(4318grt) which had departed
Rio de Janiero on the 6th and was now 330 miles NW of Cape
Wrath in 62‑00N,
15‑34W, scuttled herself when intercepted by light cruiser
CALYPSO,
which
had left Scapa
Flow
on the 22nd. Light cruiser DUNEDIN,
which left on the 24th,
arrived on the scene alerted by CALYPSO's contact report,
but MINDEN had already scuttled. The crew
was taken aboard DUNEDIN
which arrived at Scapa Flow on the 28th.
U.33
sank British trawler CALDEW (287grt)
north of the Hebrides in 60‑47N, 06‑20W. The survivors were picked up by Swedish
steamer KRONPRINCESSAN MARGARETA (3789grt), but she was
stopped by German destroyer
FRIEDRICH IHN and torpedo boat ILTIS in the Skagerrak and the 11 British seaman taken off. They spent the war in Stalag XB.
North
Channel
- British aircraft attacked a
submarine contact two miles NE of Fairhead, NE Ireland.
Patrol sloops
SHELDRAKE, SHEARWATER, KINGFISHER, WIDGEON departed Belfast
on the 24th to join the hunt.
Rescue
of submarine SPEARFISH, North Sea - SPEARFISH (LT J H Eaden) on patrol off Horns Reef was
badly damaged by German anti-submarine forces and unable to
submerge. Creeping
along the neutral Danish coast, she was able to radio for
help at 0510/25th.
Light
cruisers SOUTHAMPTON
and GLASGOW
of the Humber Force departed Rosyth at 0723
and joined destroyers JERVIS and JUPITER off May Island at
0910. They were to operate
off the Norwegian coast at 60N with destroyers SOMALI,
MATABELE, MASHONA, and
ESKIMO, already off the Norwegian coast in order to cover
SPEARFISH’s return.
Destroyers
FORESIGHT
and FAME with one other destroyer were on Fair Isle
Patrol. Light cruisers
AURORA and SHEFFIELD,
also at sea, proceeded well
into the approaches of the Skagerrak and met the SPEARFISH to provide cover.
The
rescue force was supported by battlecruisers RENOWN
and HOOD,
cruisers NORFOLK,
NEWCASTLE,
EDINBURGH,
and destroyers FAULKNOR,
FOXHOUND, FORESTER, FEARLESS, FORTUNE, FIREDRAKE which
departed Scapa Flow on the 25th.
Battleships
NELSON
and RODNEY,
aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL,
and destroyers BEDOUIN, PUNJABI,
TARTAR, FURY departed Scapa Flow on the 25th to cover the Humber Force returning
with SPEARFISH. FAME and FORESIGHT which had been at sea since 24
September joined the NELSON force at sea. MASHONA and
MATABELE also later
joined at sea. FORESIGHT attacked a submarine contact north
of the Orkneys.
Only
destroyer ASHANTI
which was having turbine
repairs was absent from the operation.
At
1724, MATABELE was detached to investigate Danish steamer
OVE TOFT (2135grt)
and did not rejoin the Fleet until after dark. At 1925,
SOMALI and ESKIMO were
detached to join SPEARFISH, reaching her in 57‑04N, 06‑40E
at
0100/26th and escorting her towards Rosyth screened by the
Humber Force.
In
German air attacks on the British forces, the screening
GLASGOW was able to drive off an
attack on SPEARFISH. ARK ROYAL was near missed and HOOD was
struck by a
glancing bomb that did not explode. LT B S. McEwen, flying a
Skua of ARK ROYAL’s
803 Squadron, shot down a Do.18 aircraft whose aircrew was
picked up by SOMALI.
Finally SHEFFIELD
was bombed, but sustained no
damage.
The
Humber Force, SPEARFISH and destroyers ESKIMO and MATABELE,
covered by AURORA, SHEFFIELD, SOMALI and BEDOUIN, arrived
safely at Rosyth late on the 26th. SPEARFISH docked at
Newcastle for repairs lasting until 4 March 1940.
Home
Fleet and Humber
Force
- After refuelling, Humber
Force and the Home Fleet units sailed again on patrol on the
27th. Heavy
cruiser NORFOLK was detached for Northern Patrol.
At
2103/26th, destroyer FORTUNE attacked a submarine contact 45
miles ESE of Duncansby Head.
Home
Fleet destroyers FAME, PUNJABI, FORESIGHT, FAULKNOR, FEARLESS,
FORESTER, MASHONA, FURY, detached from the Main Force,
arrived at Scapa for
refuelling on the 27th.
Shortly
before arriving at Scapa Flow and after a submarine attack on battlecruiser HOOD was
reported, destroyers FOXHOUND, FIREDRAKE, ESKIMO, TARTAR,
BEDOUIN detached to
search for the submarine. FIREDRAKE, in company with PUNJABI
and FORTUNE had
been hunting since midnight for a submarine reported by FAA aircraft at
1812/26th. Then at 0255/27th, 20 miles east of Scapa,
FORTUNE attacked a
contact
The
Main Fleet arrived at Scapa later that day. FORTUNE
immediately started boiler
cleaning which was completed on the 29th.
After
a submarine was reported by aircraft 55 miles ENE of Rattray
Head, FURY,
FORESTER, FORESIGHT, ASHANTI
left Scapa Flow to search.
Destroyers
TARTAR
and BEDOUIN arrived early on the 28th. Later that day,
TARTAR, BEDOUIN,
PUNJABI, SOMALI, MASHONA, MATABELE, FEARLESS, FORTUNE, FAME,
FORESIGHT departed Scapa Flow on an anti-submarine sweep.
All arrived back on the 30th.
British
east coast
- convoy FS.10 departed Methil,
and arrived at Southend on the 26th.
Destroyers
JUPITER
and WHITLEY attacked a submarine contact six miles north of
St Abbs
Head. WHITLEY, which was escorting an east coast convoy,
again attacked a
submarine contacts 45 miles NE of Blyth and then five miles
SE of the Farne
Islands.
French
merchant ship PHRYNE (2660grt) was
sunk 3½ miles east of Aldeburgh Light Vessel on a mine laid
by U.13 on the 4th.
Survivors were rescued by destroyers BRAZEN and BOREAS and
reached the Tyne that evening.
Convoy FN.10 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 26th.
Norwegian
waters
- U.34 took in prize Estonian
steamer HANONIA (2534grt) off the
Norwegian coast. She was taken to Hamburg, later
commissioned as Schiff
11 by the German Navy and used in minelaying off the English
coast.
U.4
sank Swedish steamer GERTRUD BRATT
(1510grt) ten miles off Jomfruland, SE Norway
off Lillesand in 58‑40N,
09‑52E.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.5F of steamer BEN MY CHREE departed Bristol Channel
escorted by destroyer ESCORT
and ELECTRA, and arrived in the Loire on the 25th. The convoy was also escorted by
French large destroyers MOGADOR and VOLTA from 0600 to 2000
on the 25th.
BC.5
of 12 steamers, including BEAVERDALE (Cdre), CITY OF DERBY,
DELIUS, LOWICK,
TREHATA, VOLO departed Bristol Channel escorted by
destroyers VIVACIOUS,
VISCOUNT, VENETIA, VANESSA, arriving in the Loire on the
26th.
DB.7
departed Southampton of two personnel ships,
escorted by destroyers VANSITTART and VENOMOUS, and arrived
at Brest on the 25th.
Southwestern
approaches
- U.31 sank steamer HAZELSIDE (4646grt) 10 miles SE
of
Fastnet in 51‑17N, 09‑22W. Twelve crewmen were lost and 22
injured
and rescued. Destroyers VIMY and VERSATILE were sent to
search for the
submarine, and at 1352/25th, a Sunderland flying boat dropped seven bombs on U.31, ten
miles SE of Fastnet. Three were reported as direct hits, but
no damage was
done.
South
Atlantic
- Light cruiser AJAX
sailed north from the Falklands to Rio de Janiero to relieve
heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
which was heading towards Ascension Island on a sweep for
German supply
ships.
Monday, 25 September
Western
Atlantic
- convoy HXF.2 departed Halifax at 0700 escorted by Canadian
destroyers SAGUENAY and FRASER, before they detached on the 26th. The convoy reached
Liverpool
on 4 October, but there were
no HXF.3, HXF.4, or HXF.5.
Northern
Patrol
- Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA
was temporarily attached to
the 7th Cruiser Squadron, operating on Northern Patrol.
British
northern waters
- light cruisers DIOMEDE
and
DRAGON
arrived at Scapa Flow.
Irish
Sea
- patrol sloop KINGFISHER
attacked a submarine contact 10 miles NE of St John's Point,
Ireland.
British
east coast - destroyers
BRAZEN and BOREAS
attacked a submarine contact 10 miles east of Sunderland.
Sloop
BITTERN attacked a submarine contact off Flamborough Head.
Sloop
ENCHANTRESS attacked a submarine contact 20 miles SE of the
Humber.
Norwegian
waters -
U.36 sank Swedish merchant
ship SILESIA
(1839grt) 45 miles WNW of
Egersund.
Baltic
-
Polish submarine ZBIK arrived
at Sandhamn, Sweden,
for internment.
Anti-submarine
minefields,
Dover Straits
- the British started laying a deep minefield between
Folkestone and Cap Griz
Nez to close the Straits to German submarine traffic.
Minelayers ADVENTURE,
PLOVER
and auxiliary minelayers SHEPPERTON, HAMPTON laid 3636 mines
and completed
the field on 23 October.
Only
U.31 was able to pass successfully through the Dover Strait
during the war, on the
11th/12th September. U.35 attempted to pass through at
approximately the same
time, but was forced to abandon the attempt and instead
proceeded to her patrol
area by the north-about route.
U.12
was lost in the field on 8
October, U.40 on the 13th, and U.16 badly
damaged and ultimately lost
on the 24th.
English
Channel
- after working up at Portland, destroyer JAGUAR sailed and
arrived at Grimsby
on the 26th. She left there on
the 28th and arrived at Rosyth the same day to join Humber
Force.
Light
cruiser CARADOC
began repairing defects at Devonport, which were completed
on 6
October.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.10 departed Southend with
42 ships, escorted by destroyers ACASTA and ARDENT from the
23rd to 28th, when
the convoy dispersed.
OB.10
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers
WINCHELSEA and WALPOLE until the 28th.
Central
and South Atlantic
- convoy SLF.2 departed Freetown without an escort on the
25th
and arrived at Southend on 6 October.
Destroyers
HYPERION
and HUNTER of the 4th Division sailed from Freetown on the
25th to an area SW of
Ascension Island to intercept suspected German raiders. On
the 28th, they
joined heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND,
which departed Rio de Janiero
on the 25th, and light cruiser NEPTUNE
from Freetown on the 26th, but no enemy
shipping was found. CUMBERLAND
and NEPTUNE headed for Freetown and arrived on 2 October.
Following refuelling, CUMBERLAND
departed on the 3rd to return
to South America Station, arriving on the 9th.
New
Zealand waters
- New Zealand
light cruiser LEANDER
departed
Auckland and headed into the seas south
of New Zealand
for Auckland and Campbell Islands. She reached the area on
the
28th and after carrying out an inspection, sailed for
Wellington, arriving on 1 October. A
second inspection of the area was conducted in November
1939.
Tuesday, 26 September
British
northern waters
- German submarines were
deployed off the Orkneys to intercept British naval units -
U.10 from 26
September to 15 October, U.22 from 28 September to 16
October, U.23 from 2nd to
16th October, U.20 from the 1st to 17th, and U.18 from the
3rd to 16th. On 29
September, U.22 fired at a submarine east of Dogger Head,
but the attack failed
due to torpedo defect.
British
east coast
- convoy FS.11 departed
Methil, and arrived at Southend on the 28th.
Convoy FN.11 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 28th.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO departed Dover
and arrived at Grimsby later the same day.
Kattegat/Skagerrak/Baltic
– German
destroyers HANS LODY, FRIEDRICH IHN, ERICH
STEINBRINCK and four torpedo boats of the 6th Torpedo Boat
Flotilla inspected
45 merchant ships in the Kattegat from the 26th to 28th.
Destroyers
WILHELM
HEIDKAMP, BERND VON ARNIM, ERICH GIESE, DIETHER VON ROEDER,
HANS LÜDEMANN, HERMANN KÜNNE, KARL
GALSTER stopped 58 merchant ships in the Skagerrak from the
28th to 30th. Nine
were sent to Kiel
as prizes and ARNIM captured
two Danish steamers with cargo bound for England. On the
30th, ROEDER,
LÜDEMANN, KÜNNE, GALSTER proceeded to Swinemünde and
HEIDKAMP, ARNIM, GIESE to Kiel.
Beginning
on
the 30th and continuing through 6 October, German destroyers
and torpedo
boats stopped and inspected 72 merchant ships for contraband
in the Skagerrak and Kattegat. They seized Swedish steamer
ASPEN (1304grt) on the 30th, and
Finnish steamer ORIENT (4160grt) and Latvian steamer IMANTA
(1233grt) on 1
October for contraband violations. German destroyers MAX
SCHULTZ, BRUNO HEINEMANN, and
PAUL JACOBI were detached from exercises in the Baltic to
escort the prizes
into port
German
waters
- U.30 arrived at Wilhelmshaven escorted by minesweeper M.7.
U.29 also arrived on the 26th.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.4 departed Quiberon Bay and arrived in Bristol Channel
on the 28th.
BC.5F
of steamer BEN MY CHREE departed Quiberon
Bay with destroyers ECLIPSE,
ENCOUNTER, ESCAPADE, EXMOUTH and arrived safely in the
Bristol Channel on the 27th.
Gibraltar-UK
(HG) convoys
- The first of the series,
HG.1, departed Gibraltar with 27 ships and local escort provided by destroyers GRENVILLE,
GIPSY, GRIFFIN, GRENADE. Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA joined the escort
from the 26th to 28th and light cruiser COLOMBO
from the 26th to 5 October.
After
leaving convoy OG.1, destroyers IMOGEN and ILEX were escorts
from 3 October
until the 4th, and ISIS and IMPERIAL, from the 3rd
to 5th. Destroyers INTREPID and ECHO joined on the 5th until
the
6th when the convoy and tankers ABBEYDALE and SERBOL arrived
at Liverpool.
COLOMBO
and IMPERIAL arrived at
Devonport on the 5th and ECHO on the 6th.
Convoy
HGF.1 departed Gibraltar with steamers SCYTHIA (19,761grt), ORFORD (20,043grt), MEMNON
(7506grt), and ORCADES (23,456grt) and no escort. They
arrived at Liverpool
on 1 October.
Mediterranean
- Sloop FOWEY arrived at Alexandria from the East Indies.
Caribbean/ Atlantic
- convoy KJ.2 departed Kingston escorted by light cruiser ORION
from the 26th to 29th and French submarine SURCOUF from the
26th to 17
October. Destroyers MALCOLM, VANOC, WARWICK, VANESSA joined
the escort on the
15th. VANOC, WARWICK,
VANESSA detached on the 17th,
and MALCOLM on the 18th, when the convoy arrived.
Wednesday, 27 September
British
northern waters
- destroyers FURY and FORESTER
on Fair Isle Channel Patrol were informed of a possible
submarine in the south
side of Fair Isle Channel.
Destroyer
FOXHOUND
screened the attempted salvage of Norwegian steamer SARDINIA
(1975grt) which had run
aground off the Burness Peninsula,
north of Kirkwall, Orkneys.
U.10
on patrol in the North Sea was ordered to carry out a reconnaissance of the Orkneys area.
British
east coast
- destroyer VALOROUS and sloop
HASTINGS were attacked by German
bombers in the Firth of Forth, but neither were damaged.
Light
cruiser GLASGOW
and destroyer JERVIS departed Rosyth to investigate an enemy
vessel report 220 miles ENE of Rosyth. They arrived back that evening without
contact.
German
waters
- U.36 sank Swedish steamer ALGERIA (1617grt) at 58.27N,
04.08W.
English
Channel
- aircraft carrier HERMES
was
taken in hand at Devonport for repairs prior to transfer
overseas.
UK-France
convoys
- convoy BC.6 of steamers
ADJUTANT, BAHARISTAN, BARON MINTO, BELLEROPHON (Cdre),
BIELA, CAIRNGORM,
CUSTODIAN, DALEMOOR, DIPLOMAT, ENA DE LARRINGA, GOLDFINCH,
HARMATTAN, JACINTH,
SANDHILL, TRELAWNY, and TREVERBYN departed Bristol Channel
escorted by
destroyers EXMOUTH, ESCAPADE, ENCOUNTER, ECLIPSE, and
WESSEX. The convoy
arrived in the Loire on the 29th. Escort was also provided by French large destroyers
INDOMPTABLE, TRIOMPHANT, MALIN on the 28th.
DB.8
of two personnel ships, escorted by destroyers VANSITTART
and VENOMOUS,
departed Southampton, and arrived at Brest on the 28th.
Convoy
MB.7 departed Southampton with seven cargo ships, escorted by destroyers ARROW
and INTREPID and also arrived at Brest
on the 28th.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.11 of 11 ships departed
Southend. Destroyers KEMPENFELT and ECHO departed Devonport
to provide
escort OA.11, with ECHO arriving back on 2 October.
OB.11
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers MACKAY
and VIMY until the 30th.
Gibraltar area
- British cableship RETRIEVER, escorted by destroyer VELOX
departed Gibraltar to carry out repairs at
36-58N, 08-26W and 36-06N, 07-30W.
Mediterranean
- destroyers COSSACK, MAORI,
ZULU, NUBIAN departed Malta for escort duties with convoy
Green 2.
Polish
gold, Mediterranean - The gold being carried from Poland
to prevent it falling into
German hands had arrived at Beirut.
French light cruiser ÉMILE
BERTIN and destroyers VAUBAN and ÉPERVIER departed Toulon
and at Beirut, BERTIN embarked 57 tons of
gold and the destroyers 18 tons. The ships left on the 24th,
and arrived at Toulon on this date, the 27th. The
gold was sent on to Paris,
arriving 24 October.
Indian
Ocean
- heavy cruiser CORNWALL
arrived at Colombo, then departed on the 28th,
arriving Calcutta on 1 October.
Light
cruiser LIVERPOOL
arrived at Bombay.
Thursday, 28 September
Northern
Patrol
- light cruisers CARDIFF
and DRAGON
departed Scapa Flow on Northern Patrol duties, and
arrived back 5 October.
British
northern waters
- U.18 and U.22 were ordered
into the approaches to Scapa Flow.
British
east coast
- after a submarine was
reported by British aircraft, destroyers FURY, FORESTER,
FORESIGHT, ASHANTI
searched 55 miles ENE of Rattray Head.
Convoy FS.12 departed Methil and arrived at Southend on the 30th. There
was no FS.13.
Light
cruiser SOUTHAMPTON
and destroyers JERVIS and JUPITER attacked a submarine
contact outside May Island.
Convoy FN.12 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 30th. There
was no FN.13.
Norwegian
waters
- U.32 sank Norwegian steamer JERN (875grt) 65 miles
west of
Skudesnes in 58-30N, 2-50E. No crew were lost and her
14 survivors rescued by the
Swedish CALEDONIA.
U.16
sank Swedish steamer NYLAND
(3378grt) off Kvitsoey, 45 miles SW of Stavanger. Her
survivors were rescued by
Norwegian minelayer OLAV TRYGGVASON.
U.7
sank Norwegian steamer SOLAAS
(1368grt) 25 miles SW of Lister Light. (DB - The
German "Seekrieg" states
that SOLASS was sunk next day on the 29th by Luftwaffe
I/ZG26 in the North Sea. Editor: According to "Axis
Submaríne Successes" by Rohwer, U.36 stopped SOLASS on the
28th, released her, but she sank next day, possibly mined)
English
Channel
- destroyer KEMPENFELT,
escorting convoy OA.11, collided with steamer HESTER
(1199grt) off
Newhaven. She was taken to Devonport for repairs which
completed 7 November.
Destroyer
IMPULSIVE
on patrol in the English Channel
was damaged by heavy seas, and
taken to Devonport for repairs completed 23 October.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.6F of steamers FENELLA,
ST JULIEN, TYNWALD, ULSTER
PRINCE departed Barry Roads
escorted by destroyers KEITH and MONTROSE and arrived safely
at Quiberon Bay on the 29th.
Mediterranean
- destroyers GRENVILLE,
GRENADE, GIPSY, GRIFFIN
departed Gibraltar on escort duties with convoy
Green 3, consisting of 15 ships. Destroyers GREYHOUND and
GLOWWORM were also at
Gibraltar on this date, but not
employed. The four escorting destroyers were relieved on 3
October by
destroyers GRAFTON, GALLANT and sloop DEPTFORD which
continued with the convoy
to Alexandria, arriving on the 7th.
Central
and South Atlantic
- French submarine PONCELET
sighted German merchant ship CHEMNITZ (5522grt)
at 0830, shortly after she departed Las Palmas, Canary
Islands to return to
Germany. She was stopped in 38-05N, 30-40W at 1305 and
escorted to Casablanca, arriving 3 October. CHEMNITZ was
renamed SAINT BERTRAND in
French service and served in the French Merchant Marine
until the fall of France when she returned to German
hands. Between the 25th and 1 October, light cruiser DUGUAY
TROUIN had been
searching for CHEMNITZ as well as steamer AMASIS, both of which had been reported departing Las
Palmas early on the 24th
Convoy
SL.3 departed Freetown
on the 28th September,
escorted by light cruiser DAUNTLESS,
both arriving at Gibraltar on 9 October. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the15th.
Destroyers
of
the 4th Destroyer Division were ordered home from the South
Atlantic. However, the order was
cancelled on 1 October because of German raider activity in
the South Atlantic.
Light
cruiser DANAE
departed Simonstown on escort duties and arrived back on 2
October.
Indian
Ocean
- light cruiser BIRMINGHAM
arrived at Singapore.
Pacific
- New Zealand light cruiser ACHILLES
arrived
at Buenaventura, Colombia
and departed on the 30th,
escorting steamer ORDUNA (15,507grt) to Callao, where they
both arrived
safely on 4 October.
Friday, 29 September
Western
Atlantic
- heavy cruiser YORK
arrived at Halifax after convoy HX.2 escort duty.
British
east coast
- anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA
departed Scapa Flow on escort duty and arrived at Grimsby at
2337/29th.
Training
ship CALEDONIA (ex-White
Star
liner MAJESTIC, 56,551grt) was gutted by fire and sank at
Rosyth. There
were no casualties. The hulk was broken up in situ beginning
in October 1942.
Destroyers
JERVIS,
JUPITER, JAGUAR attacked a submarine contact at 1158 in the
Firth of
Forth, three miles at 345° from Fidra. At 1544, JUPITER and
JERVIS attacked a
contact five miles 55°from Inchkeith Light. This search
continued on the 30th.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO departed Grimsby
on escort duties and arrived
back on 2 October.
Norwegian
waters
- U.7 torpedoed Norwegian
steamer TAKSTAAS (1830grt) in 60‑15N,
04‑41E, 16 miles off Bergen and a Norwegian torpedo boat
rescued the
crew. The abandoned TAKSTAAS remained afloat, taken in tow
by Norwegian salvage
tug HERKULES (124grt), but broke in half. The aft part half
was taken into port
and later scrapped.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.5 of 15 steamers,
including BEAVERDALE (Cdre), BULLFINCH, CITY OF DERBY,
DELIUS, LOWICK, TREHATA,
TREWORLAS, VOLO departed the Loire escorted by destroyers EXMOUTH, ECHO,
ESCAPADE, ENCOUNTER, and
ECLIPSE. The convoy arrived safely in Bristol Channel
on 1 October.
Convoy
DB.9 departed Southampton with two personnel ships, escorted by destroyers
VANSITTART and VENOMOUS and arrived at Brest
on the 30th.
Convoy
MB.9 departed Southampton with six cargo ships, escorted by destroyers ACHERON
and ACHATES, also arriving at Brest
on the 30th.
UK-out
convoys
- OA.12G departed Southend
with 21 ships, escorted by destroyers IMPERIAL and ISIS to 3
October and light
cruiser CERES
to the 8th. OB.12G departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers
ILEX
and IMOGEN to 2 October, when both convoys became OG 1.
SO.19
departed Portsmouth, from Spithead,
with steamers ALCANTARA
(22,209grt), ATHLONE CASTLE
(25,564grt), EMPRESS OF
AUSTRALIA (21,833grt), FRANCONIA (20,175grt), escorted by destroyers INGLEFIELD
and IVANHOE. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar
on 3 October without the
escorts, which had been separated by heavy weather, and
arrived separately the
same day. The convoy headed into the Mediteranean as Convoy
Red 2.
Indian
Ocean
- Light cruiser LIVERPOOL
departed Bombay and arrived at Colombo on 3 October.
Aircraft
carrier EAGLE
departed Colombo
on raider hunting duties.
Saturday, 30 September
German
policy
- prize regulations were
lifted for German U-boats operating in the North Sea.
Western
Atlantic
- convoy HX.3 departed Halifax at 0800 escorted by Canadian
destroyers FRASER and ST LAURENT,
and was joined at sea by four
unescorted steamers which had departed Halifax as HX.3S on
the 29th. Heavy cruiser BERWICK
patrolled five miles ahead of the convoy. The destroyers
were detached
on 1 October and BERWICK on the 2nd. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 14th October.
Steamer
HARTBRIDGE (5080grt) was lost after grounding on Seal
Island near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Northern
Patrol
- light cruisers DIOMEDE
and DUNEDIN
departed Scapa Flow for Northern Patrol duties,
with DUNEDIN arriving back on 7 October.
British
east coast
- submarine THISTLE departed Scapa Flow for patrol in the
North Sea and still on the 30th,
unsuccessfully attacked a German submarine.
Submarine
H.34,
on patrol with minesweeping trawler EURYALUS (242grt), fired
torpedoes at
U.3 at 0220, 15 miles north of Kinnaird Head, but all
missed.
Destroyer
JERVIS
was damaged by destroyer JUPITER berthing alongside at
Rosyth. JERVIS
was repaired in three days at Rosyth.
Convoy FS.14 departed Methil, and arrived at Southend on 2 October.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
arrived in the Tyne for repairs at North Shields. These were completed on 6
October, ESKIMO left on the 7th and arrived at Scapa
Flow the same day.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA, now assigned to the Humber Force, departed Grimsby
on escort duties, arriving
back on 1 October.
Convoy FN.14 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on 2 October.
Danish
waters
- U.3 sank Danish steamer VENDIA (1150grt) 35 miles
NW of
Hanstolm, Denmark,
and Danish steamer GUN (1198grt) 30 miles NW of
Hanstolm.
VENDIA lost 11 crew, while U.3 picked up six survivors and
Danish steamer SVAVA
(1193grt) rescued the rest. The crew of GUN was picked up by
Danish steamer
DAGMAR (844grt).
German
waters
- destroyers PAUL JACOBI and
BRUNO HEINEMANN, which had recently completed refitting and
repairs at Wilhelmshaven, were attacked by British
bombers in the German Bight, but neither was damaged.
Destroyers of the 1st
Flotilla in the Jade prepared to sail in support, but the
attack ended before
they sailed.
Dutch
waters
- Dutch minesweeper JAN VAN
GELDER was badly damaged by a mine off Terschelling, with
three of her crew
seriously injured.
English
Channel
- light cruiser CERES
departed
Plymouth on escort duties and arrived
back later the same day.
Destroyer
MONTROSE
attacked a submarine contact 31 miles south of Plymouth, and
was joined in the seach
by destroyers ACHATES, ACHERON, ARROW, INTREPID, KINGSTON.
UK-France
convoys
- BC.7S of 17 steamers,
including BARON MACLAY and NEW
TEXAS (Cdre) departed Bristol
Channel, escorted by destroyers VIVACIOUS, VISCOUNT, ESCORT,
ELECTRA and
arrived in the Loire on 2 October.
BC.7F
of steamers BEN MY CHREE, LADY OF MANN, ST PATRICK departed Bristol
Channel escorted by destroyers WAKEFUL
and VENETIA. The convoy arrived in the Loire on 1 October
and was also
escorted on that day by French large destroyers LE
FANTASQUE, LE TERRIBLE, and
L’AUDACIEUX.
Caribbean
- convoy KJ.(B)1 departed Kingston, unescorted most of the
way,
but was joined by destroyer WINCHELSEA from 12 to 14
October, when the convoy
arrived in England.
There was one other KJ.(B)
convoy, KJ.(B)2 which departed Kingston on 8 October and
arrived on
the 22nd, also unescorted at the start. Both convoys
consisted of three banana
boats each.
Australian
light
cruiser PERTH
departed Kingston on patrol duties.
Mediterranean
- Convoy Blue 3 departed Port Said with 24 ships. Destroyers
DUCHESS, DEFENDER and sloops GRIMSBY and FOWEY provided
escort from
the 30th to 5 October, when off Malta DUCHESS and DEFENDER
were
relieved by destroyers GRENADE and GRIFFIN. GRENADE and
GRIFFIN detached off Algiers on the 8th to return to Malta
and the convoy continued
without escort from Algiers
to Gibraltar.
Destroyers
DUNCAN,
DAINTY, DARING, after calling at Colombo on the 17th‑19th
and Aden on the 26th‑27th
September, reached Suez
to join the Mediterranean
Fleet.
South
Atlantic - German
pocket battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE sank steamer CLEMENT
(5051grt) off Pernambuco IN 09‑05S, 34‑05W. The
crew was put into boats until GRAF SPEE stopped Greek
steamer PAPALEMOS
(3748grt) and put on board CLEMENT’s Master and Chief
Engineer. They were put
ashore at Cape Verde
Island on 9 October. One boat with 13
crew was picked up by Brazilian steamer ITATINGA (2114grt)
on 1 October and
taken to Bahia, arriving on the 3rd. The
other three boats with the rest of the crew reached Maceio
on the 4th.
September,
miscellaneous
British
destroyers
- with the outbreak of the
war, and as destroyers of the 21st Flotilla relieved them,
remaining ships of
the 2nd Flotilla in the Mediterranean were ordered to Freetown.
At
the end of September, the following destroyers were under
repair (excluded from
this and subsequent end-of-month lists are destroyers in
dockyard control for
conversion or long repairs) - AMAZON
at
Plymouth with defects, BLANCHE at Chatham repairing,
BOADICEA at Chatham
repairing, BRILLIANT at Chatham repairing, DIAMOND at
Singapore repairing,
ESKIMO at Newcastle with defects, GARLAND at Alexandria
repairing, GRAFTON at
Malta repairing, GROM at Plymouth with defects, ICARUS at
Malta repairing,
IMPULSIVE at Plymouth with defects, JAVELIN at Newcastle
repairing, JERSEY at
Leith repairing, JERVIS at Rosyth repairing, JUNO at Devonport with defects, KEMPENFELT at Plymouth with defects, PUNJABI
at Scapa Flow boiler-cleaning, VANQUISHER at Plymouth
repairing, VETERAN at
Chatham repairing, WALKER at Plymouth repairing, WALLACE at
Hull repairing,
WINDSOR at Portsmouth repairing, Polish BURZA at Plymouth
with defects.
German
supply ships
- merchant ships CHARLOTTE
SCHLIEMANN (7747grt) and CORRIENTES
(4565grt) at Las Palmas at the outbreak of the war
were assigned to replenish U-boats for operations off
Gibraltar.
