Note: all vessels and aircraft are British or Dominion unless otherwise identified or implied - all ships lost in bold - click for abbreviations

Corrections with thanks to Donald Bertke

 

Background Events - September 1939-March 1940
Battle of Atlantic starts, 'Phoney War' on land, Battle of River Plate

 

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1939

 

 

Sunday, 15 October

 

Admiral Forbes departed Loch Ewe with battleships NELSON, RODNEY, battlecruiser HOOD, aircraft carrier FURIOUS, light cruisers BELFAST, AURORA and destroyers BEDOUIN, FEARLESS, FOXHOUND and FURY.

 

 After light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON and destroyer MATABELE finished escorting steamer ST CLAIR (1637grt) from Lerwick to Aberdeen, arriving at 0945/14th, MATABELE left on the 14th and called at Scapa Flow. Destroyers MASHONA, PUNJABI, FIREDRAKE left Loch Ewe, also on the 14th, arrived at Scapa Flow later the same day, and then with MATABELE, sailed from Scapa Flow on the 15th to join Forbes at sea.

 

Destroyer FORESTER departed Scapa Flow on the 16th and also joined Forbes, FAME was boiler cleaning until the 22nd, and TARTAR repairing defects until the 23rd, both at Scapa Flow.

 

The sortie took the Fleet north of Iceland, 150 miles into the Arctic Circle, to block a reported sortie into the Atlantic by pocket battleship DEUTSCHLAND and to support the Northern Patrol. The destroyers refuelled from the capital ships on the 17th.

 

Battlecruiser REPULSE (right - NavyPhotos) with destroyers JERVIS, JERSEY, COSSACK and MAORI departed Rosyth on the 18th, with COSSACK and MAORI arriving back on the 19th and REPULSE, JERVIS and JERSEY joining Forbes at sea on the 20th. The two destroyers were detached for refuelling at Sullom Voe on the 21st and afterwards carried out an anti-submarine patrol off Muckle Flugga. They then left the patrol area to search off the Norwegian coast for American steamer CITY OF FLINT.

 

JERVIS and JERSEY arrived at Rosyth on the 25th without making contact.

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Five cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four AMCs between the Faroes and Iceland, and four AMCs in the Denmark Strait. The armed merchant cruisers were ASTURIAS, AURANIA, CALIFORNIA, CHITRAL, RAWALPINDI, SALOPIAN, SCOTSTOUN and TRANSYLVANIA. Following this patrol, ASTURIAS proceeded to Halifax for escort duty and SALOPIAN to Plymouth en route for the South Atlantic.

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Convoy HN.0 of five Polish, one French and one Greek steamer had departed Bergen on the 14th, and was met in the North Sea on the 15th by light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON, which left Rosyth on the 13th, and destroyers JERVIS, JERSEY, JACKAL, JANUS. Early on the 16th, SOUTHAMPTON, JERSEY, JACKAL and JANUS detached and destroyer MOHAWK joined. JERVIS and MOHAWK then escorted the convoy into Methil arriving on the 16th with SOUTHAMPTON reaching Rosyth the same day.

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Light cruiser EDINBURGH was escorted by destroyer WHITLEY from the 15th to 23rd.

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Light cruiser SHEFFIELD arrived at Loch Ewe.

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Destroyer BROKE and sloop FLEETWOOD were U-boat hunting off Blyth and on the 16th, attacked a contact.

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Destroyers COSSACK and MAORI attacked a submarine contact 6 miles 83° from Coquet Island.

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Destroyer MOHAWK attacked a submarine contact 4 miles 340° from Flamborough Head.

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Sloop STORK attacked a submarine contact 6.5 miles 15° from Scarborough Rock.

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Patrol sloops KINGFISHER and PC.74 were submarine hunting off Liverpool, and were relieved on the 16th by escort vessel/minesweeper GLEANER.

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Convoy OA.20G departed Southend escorted by destroyers KELLY and KINGSTON from the 15th to 17th, and by destroyers AMAZON and ANTELOPE from the 17th to 18th. Convoy OB.20G also left Liverpool escorted by destroyers WHIRLWIND and WALPOLE, the two convoys merging on the 17th as OG.3.

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Convoy AXS.1 of one steamer departed Fowey, escorted by destroyer WAKEFUL and arrived at Brest on the 17th.

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U.37 sank French steamer VERMONT (5186grt) 360 miles SW of Fastnet in 48‑01N, 17‑22W, with the loss of two crew, the 43 survivors being rescued by destroyer INGLEFIELD. Because of the submarine activity in the area of arriving convoy KJ.2, French destroyers L’INDOMPTABLE and LE MALIN conducted a sweep, and were joined by destroyers CYCLONE and MISTRAL sailing from Brest to assist. On the 17th, CYCLONE attacked a submarine contact. On the same day, destroyer VENOMOUS left Plymouth with the survivors of VERMONT for passage to Havre.

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Battleship RAMILLIES departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyers GRAFTON and GALLANT for duty with the 1st Battle Squadron at Alexandria.

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Convoy SL.5 departed Freetown escorted by destroyers HASTY and HOSTILE, and joined by French cruiser PRIMAGUET, destroyers MAILLÉ BRÉZÉ and VAUQUELIN, which left Dakar on the 19th and arrived at Casablanca on the 25th. Destroyers TIGRE, TARTU and CHEVALIER PAUL departed Toulon, also on the 19th, and reached Casablanca on the 22nd ready to relieve the French destroyers already with SL.5. They left on the 25th and joined that day. British destroyer GRENADE sailed from Gibraltar on the 24th, also to join the convoy. PRIMAGUET, escorted by CHEVALIER PAUL detached and reached Lorient on the 28th, while TIGRE and TARTU after being relieved by British destroyers, reached Brest on the 30th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 3 November.

 

 

Monday, 16 October

 

German aircraft attacked anchored ships in the Firth of Forth. Light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON was hit by a 1000 pounder that passed through three decks and came out of the bottom without exploding, but injuring three crew, one rating dying of wounds. Light cruiser EDINBURGH was slightly damaged by splinters from the near miss of three 500 pound bombs with eight crew wounded and Gunner G J Mitchell and one rating dying of wounds. SOUTHAMPTON's damage required only three days to repair while EDINBURGH remained in service. Destroyer MOHAWK, just arriving in the Firth from convoy duty, was bombed one and a half miles from May Island and sustained much topside damage. Commanding officer Cdr R F Jolly was fatally wounded (and awarded the Albert Medal), the ship's first officer Lt E J O'Shea and ten ratings killed and 33 crew, including her navigator, Lt A L Harper, wounded. MOHAWK berthed at Rosyth for temporary repairs and then repaired at Newcastle from 22 October to 9 December. Battlecruiser REPULSE was still at Rosyth on the 16th boiler cleaning, but German bombing restrictions forbidding bombing that endangered civilian lives were still in effect.

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Four light cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four AMCs between the Faroes and Iceland, and three AMCs in the Denmark Strait.

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Destroyer AFRIDI attacked a submarine contact in the Firth of Forth off Inchkeith Light, and was joined by destroyers WOOLSTON, VALOROUS and sloop HASTINGS.

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Destroyers INGLEFIELD and IVANHOE attacked a submarine contact in the Western Approaches in 51‑00N, 18‑00W.

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Destroyers INTREPID and ICARUS attacked a submarine contact in 49‑42N, 9‑59E.

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Destroyer MOHAWK and sloop STORK attacked a submarine contact ESE of Scarborough.

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Destroyer COSSACK attacked a submarine contact north of Blyth.

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Destroyer BEAGLE attacked a submarine contact in 51‑20N, 01‑40E.

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Destroyer BROKE and sloop FLEETWOOD attacked a submarine contact off Blyth.

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Minesweeper/escort ship GLEANER attacked a submarine contact 17 miles 184° from Great Ormes Head.

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Convoy OG.3, totalling 33 merchant ships, was formed from OA.20G which departed Southend on the 15th escorted by destroyers KELLY and KINGSTON, relieved by destroyers AMAZON and ANTELOPE, and OB.20G which departed Liverpool on the 16th escorted by destroyers WHIRLWIND and WALPOLE.

 

AMAZON was damaged in a collision on the 18th and the other destroyers remained with the convoy until the 19th. French destroyers FOUGUEUX and L'ADROIT, which departed Brest on the 17th, joined the convoy on the 19th which arrived at Gibraltar on the 23rd.

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Convoy BC.11 of steamers ADJUTANT, BALTARA, BARON CARNEGIE, BARON KINNAIRD, BLACKHEATH, BOTHNIA, COXWOLD, HARMATTAN, JADE, KINGSBOROUGH, LOCHEE, LOTTIE R, MARSLEW, NIGERIAN (Commodore) and SODALITY departed Bristol Channel, escorted by destroyers EXMOUTH, ESK, WESSEX, and arrived safely in the Loire on the 18th.

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Convoy SA.13 of two steamers departed Southampton, escorted by destroyers ACHATES and VENOMOUS, and arrived on the 17th.

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Convoy FN.22 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 18th. There was no convoy FN.22, nor convoys FS.22 and FS.23.

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U.23 laid mines off Cromarty near Invergordon.

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French destroyer CYCLONE with destroyer MISTRAL on escort duty in support of convoy KJ.2, attacked a U-boat in the Bay of Biscay, but without success

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Light cruiser DAUNTLESS departed Suez for Colombo.

 

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Convoy Green 5 departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyer DUCHESS and sloop FOWEY until the 17th, when convoying in the Mediterranean was abandoned and the escorts withdrawn. DUCHESS arrived at Malta on the 20th.

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French destroyers MILAN and ÉPERVIER departed Marseilles with three troopships for Beirut.

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French light cruiser DUGUAY TROUIN encountered German steamer HALLE (5889grt) which had departed Bolama, Portuguese Guinea on the 12th and Bissao on the 14th for Las Palmas. HALLE scuttled herself to avoid capture SW of Dakar. Large destroyers LE FANTASQUE and LE TERRIBLE, operating from Dakar, had been searching for her from the 15th to 17th.

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German steamer UHENFELS (7603grt) departed Lourenco Marques on the 13th, shadowed from off the port by sloop EGRET which had to give up because of shortage of fuel. Light cruisers LIVERPOOL and DURBAN, also in the area were unable to find her, but because of the naval activity, UHENFELS returned to Lourenco Marques.

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German steamer TIJUCA (5918grt) arrived off Kopervik, Norway, encountered Norwegian submarine B.3 but continued on, reaching Hamburg on the 25th.

 

 

Tuesday, 17 October

 

Light cruiser SHEFFIELD departed Loch Ewe for Northern Patrol in the Denmark Strait, arriving back on the 22nd after capturing German steamer GLORIA.

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Four light cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four AMCs between the Faroes and Iceland, and three AMCs in the Denmark Strait. The armed merchant cruisers were ASTURIAS, AURANIA, CALIFORNIA, CHITRAL, RAWALPINDI, SCOTSTOUN, and TRANSYLVANIA.

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Convoy OA.21 of 21 ships departed Southend escorted by destroyers VANSITTART and WIVERN, which remained with the convoy until it dispersed on the 22nd.

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Convoy OB.21 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WINCHELSEA and WITHERINGTON.

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Convoy BC.10S of steamers BARON GRAHAM, BEAVERDALE, BELLOROPHON (Commodore), CITY OF DERBY DORSET COAST, EILDON, ERATO, FLORISTAN, GLAMIS, GLYCAON, MERLAND, PEMBROKE COAST, TASSO and VOLO departed the Loire, escorted by destroyers MONTROSE and VIVACIOUS, and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 19th.

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Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA departed Grimsby and arrived back on the 18th.

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Destroyer BEAGLE attacked a submarine contact in 51‑07.5N, 01‑23.5E.

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French large destroyer LÉOPARD, which had been covering minelaying in the Pas de Calais area, returned to Brest on the 17th. Large destroyer JAGUAR sailed from Dunkirk on 1 November and with large destroyer PANTHÈRE, which had been at Cherbourg under repair, also arrived at Brest, but on the 2nd.

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U.19 laid mines off Inner Dowsing near Yarmouth during the night of the 16th/17th, on which three merchant ships were sunk.

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Three German aircraft bombed Scapa Flow, one of which was shot down by destroyer ESKIMO. Two near misses damaged old battleship IRON DUKE which took a heavy list and bomb blast damaged her electrical installations. She was towed into shallow water, settled onto the sea bed and ESKIMO provided electric power. Destroyers SOMALI and ASHANTI were also at Scapa Flow at the time of the raid, and later in the day, four more aircraft attacked, near-missing ASHANTI, but causing no damage.

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Destroyer JUNO fired on German aircraft shadowing her SW of Farne Island. British aircraft came to her assistance and shot down a Dornier flying boat.

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German destroyers HERMANN KÜNNE, FRIEDRICH ECKHOLDT, DIETHER VON ROEDER, KARL GALSTER and HANS LÜDEMAN, escorted by destroyer WILHELM HEIDKAMP sailed from Wilhelmshaven to lay mines in the North Sea off the Humber on the night of the 17th/18th. Seven merchant ships grossing 25,852 tons were sunk in the field.

 

On the 22nd, steamer WHITEMANTLE (1692grt) five to six miles east of Withernsea Light with the loss of 14 crew.

 

On the 23rd, Swedish steamer ALBANIA (1241grt) four miles north of Humber Light Vessel; two crew were lost and the survivors picked up by steamer CHANNEL FISHER (700grt).

 

On the 29th, Norwegian steamer VARANGMALM (3551grt) in 53‑50N, 00‑17E; one crew was lost and the survivors rescued by trawler CONIDA (413grt).

 

On the 30th, Finnish steamer JUNO (1241grt) in 53‑45N, 00‑17E with six crew lost.

 

On 3 November, Danish steamer CANADA (11,108grt) was mined in 53‑40N, 00‑17E and sank next day, two miles east of Holmpton; her survivors were rescued by Norwegian steamer RINGHORN (1298grt).

 

On 4 November, Norwegian steamer SIG (1342grt) was sunk in 53‑43N, 00‑17E, with the loss of three crew; her 16 survivors being picked up by fishing boat ELLEN M.

 

On 31 December, steamer BOX HILL (5677grt) from dispersed convoy HX.12, in 53‑32N, 00‑24E; twenty crew were lost, with five survivors rescued by destroyer IVANHOE and seven by another ship.

 

In addition to the losses by mines, two steamers were lost and one badly damaged when they collided with the sunken wreck of CANADA.

 

Steamer FIREGLOW (1261grt) hit the wreck on 12 November and was abandoned, but later refloated.

 

Steamer DRYBURGH (1289grt) departed Leith on 12 November and arriving off Withernsea on the 14th November, sank after colliding with the wreck; her crew was rescued by two destroyers.

 

On 15 November, Greek steamer GEORGIOS (2216grt) sank after hitting CANADA.

 

This was the first minelaying operation by German Commodore Bonte's destroyers between the Thames and the Tyne. By February 1940, 1800 mines had been laid, and destroyer JERSEY torpedoed and badly damaged during one of the minelaying operations. All the German destroyers, except LEBERECHT MAAS, GEORG THIELE, PAUL JACOBI, THEODOR RIEDEL and HERMANN SCHOEMANN were employed in at least one operation.

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German destroyers PAUL JACOBI, THEODOR RIEDEL, HERMANN SCHOEMANN and torpedo boats LEOPARD, ILTIS, WOLF conducted an anti shipping patrol in the Skagerrak from the 17th to 19th.

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U.37, U.46, U.48 attacked convoy HG.3 off Cape Trafalgar while it was protected by aircraft. Steamer YORKSHIRE (10,184grt) was the convoy commodore ship with Rear Admiral D M T Bedford Rtd as commodore on board and she carried military families which had been embarked from steamer NEVASA (9213grt) at Gibraltar. U.46 attacked YORKSHIRE in 44‑54N, 12‑40W without success, but she was then sunk by U.37 in 44‑52N, 14‑31W with the loss of 58 lives, including 25 crew. Steamer CITY OF MANDALAY (7028grt) was also sunk by U.46, in 44‑57N, 13‑36W, with seven crew lost and 17 survivors being picked up by Norwegian whaler SKUDD IV. In 44-54N, 12-40W. Destroyers WAKEFUL, ELECTRA and ESCORT were ordered to attack a submarine reported near the convoy. The last steamer was CLAN CHISHOLM (7256grt), sunk by U.48, 150 miles 300° from Cape Finisterre in 45N, 15W with the loss of four crew. Survivors from all three ships, including Rear Admiral Bedford, were picked up by American steamer INDEPENDENCE HALL (5050grt) and taken to Bordeaux. ELECTRA and ESCORT had departed Dover on the 13th and joined the convoy on the 18th from OA.19. In addition, destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA left Dover on the 20th and joined.

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Convoy HX.5 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by heavy cruiser YORK and Canadian destroyers FRASER and ST LAURENT. RCAF flying boats accompanied the convoy until 1800/17th. ST LAURENT was detached at 0830/18th, FRASER at 1630/19th, and YORK at 1000/19th, arriving back at Halifax the same day. Light cruiser EMERALD departed Halifax on the 17th as ocean escort, and she arrived at Portsmouth on the 29th. YORK left Halifax again on the 22nd to support the convoy and search for German battleship DEUTSCHLAND. Destroyers GRAFTON, GALLANT, WESSEX escorted the convoy on the 28th and 29th, when it arrived at Liverpool.

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Convoying in the Mediterranean was discontinued: (1) destroyer DUCHESS and sloop FOWEY, awaiting convoy Green 5, were sent from Gibraltar to Malta, arriving on the 20th, (2) destroyer DIANA and sloop DEPTFORD, en route to Port Said from Blue 5, were sent to relieve destroyers GRENVILLE and GIPSY on contraband patrol, (3) destroyer DUNCAN from Blue 4 was sent to escort battleship RAMILLIES, relieving destroyers GRAFTON and GALLANT, (4) destroyers DAINTY and DEFENDER departed Malta on the 18th to escort RAMILLIES, which reached Alexandria on the 20th, (5) French destroyers CASSARD and KERSAINT returned to Bizerte, and (6) destroyers DECOY and DELIGHT were at Malta. After refitting, DELIGHT reached Gibraltar on the 31st for escort duty, and DECOY, her refit completed on 3 November, left Malta to escort steamer NEVASA to Marseilles.

 

 

Wednesday, 18 October

 

Destroyer AMAZON, which departed Plymouth on escort duty on the 17th, was damaged in collision with steamer ARACATACA (5378grt) at 1448 in convoy OG.3 in 47-38N, 08-08W. AMAZON had closed to pass information and the steamer altered course without warning. She was under repair at Portsmouth from 20 October to 28 November.

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Destroyer BOREAS was attacked north of the Goodwin Sands by a German seaplane, but no damage was done.

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Light cruiser CALEDON departed Kirkwall, and arrived at Sullom Voe on the 20th.

 

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Destroyer AFRIDI attacked a submarine contact 3.2 miles 61° off St Abb's Head. Destroyer WHITEHALL was ordered to stand by the location where AFRIDI had buoyed the "sunken submarine."

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Steamer IMPERIAL STAR<