Background
Events - September 1939-March 1940
Battle
of
Atlantic starts, 'Phoney War' on land,
Battle of River Plate
1940
Tuesday,
16 January
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed Rosyth
on patrol duties, and arrived in the Clyde on the 23rd.
_____
Light cruiser NEWCASTLE
departed Scapa Flow on patrol and
arrived back on the 18th.
_____
Light cruiser
DIOMEDE
departed Scapa Flow on patrol.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser DERBYSHIRE arrived at the Clyde from Northern
Patrol.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser CALIFORNIA departed the Clyde on Northern
Patrol.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CURLEW (above,
prewar before conversion - NP/Ingo Bauernfiend)
departed Scapa Flow for the Humber, and on passage
arrived at Rosyth on the 16th.
_____
Destroyers
IVANHOE and INTREPID were to conduct minelaying operation
IE-3 in the North Sea, but it was
cancelled due to bad weather.
_____
Destroyers KIMBERLEY and
KELVIN
collided at sea SE of Barra in 56-45N, 7-15W between the
Clyde and Scapa Flow. KIMBERLEY was not
damaged, but KELVIN was taken to the Clyde for repairs,
escorted by destroyer BEDOUIN. Repairs to KELVIN were
completed on 2
February. KIMBERLEY arrived at Scapa Flow on the 16th.
_____
Destroyer
EXMOUTH and cable ship ROYAL SCOT arrived at
Rosyth after an unsuccessful attempt in bad weather to
repair the Danish
cable.
_____
Destroyers SIKH
and MOHAWK departed the Clyde escorting base
ship MASHOBRA to Scapa Flow. They arrived at Scapa Flow on
the 18th,
and the destroyers went on to Rosyth arriving later that
day.
_____
Submarine
SUNFISH departed Harwich on patrol.
_____
Submarine H.34
departed Rosyth to exercise in the Firth of Forth, and off
Inchkeith,
rendezvoused with sloop FLAMINGO.
_____
Salvage ship TEDWORTH,
escorted by escort vessel/minesweeper JASON departed the
Clyde for Liverpool.
_____
Tanker INVERDARGLE
(9456grt) was sunk on a
mine laid by U.33 in 51‑61N, 03‑43W on 5 November,
with the
loss of all 44 crew.
_____
Italian steamer PREMUDA
(4427grt) collided with a Lightship and was run aground on
Goodwin Sands to prevent her
sinking.
_____
Convoy HG.15
departed Gibraltar with 37 ships on the 16th, escorts:
|
|
joined
|
detached
|
|
16th
|
Destroyer
WITHERINGTON, French TARTU, VAUQUELIN, sloop
WELLINGTON
|
|
|
19th
|
|
WITHERINGTON
detached to convoy OG.15
|
|
23rd
|
|
Convoy
split,
WELLINGTON
escorted HG.15B
|
|
25th
|
|
TARTU, VAUQUELIN
|
|
convoy
arrived on the 25th
|
_____
French light cruiser
DUGUAY TROUIN and destroyer RAILLEUSE departed Casablanca
with French
steamer DE LA SALLE for Lorient, and French
steamer BRAZZA departed Casablanca at the same
time, escorted by destroyer BASQUE for Bordeaux. The
destroyers
were relieved on the 17th by large destroyer JAGUAR, which
had departed Brest on the 15th,
and destroyer BOUCLIER from Lorient.
_____
Convoy SL.17
departed Freetown escorted by
armed merchant cruiser CARNARVON CASTLE and destroyer
DAINTY. The armed merchant cruiser was with the convoy
until the 31st, but
the destroyer was detached in the local approaches. On 2
February, sloop ROCHESTER and destroyers
VISCOUNT and WALKER joined the convoy and escorted it
until its UK arrival on 4
February.
_____
At 0700, steamer
HIGHLAND PRINCESS (14,133grt) coming out of La Cruz,
Canary Islands, was
attacked by French submarine PASCAL which mistook her for
a German blockade
runner. No damage was done.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES
departed the Falkland Islands for patrol in
the Rio de Janiero area.
Wednesday,
17
January
Submarine
TRIBUNE fired six torpedoes at 0250 at a submarine in
57-50N, 11-00E at the
mouth of the Kattegat, and fired two more at 0253, but
there
was no German submarine in the area.
_____
Light cruiser
DUNEDIN arrived at
Scapa Flow after Northern
Patrol.
_____
Armed merchant
cruisers ANDANIA arrived in the Clyde from Northern
Patrol and CALIFORNIA departed the Clyde for Northern
Patrol.
_____
Destroyer KANDAHAR arrived
at Scapa Flow.
_____
Submarine SNAPPER
departed Blyth on patrol.
_____
Destroyers
MAORI, TARTAR, INGLEFIELD and FORESIGHT were sent to
patrol off the Norwegian
coast to intercept German ore ships.
_____
Convoy OA.74
departed Southend escorted by destroyers WHITEHALL and
WIVERN from
the 17th. WIVERN was detached on the 19th and WHITEHALL on
the 20th,
both to convoy HGF.16.
_____
Convoy OB.74
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WANDERER and
MACKAY which later transferred to HXF.16. Steamer CAIRNROSS
(not CAIRNCROSS as originally reported, 5494grt) from
the convoy was lost on a mine seven miles, 276° from the
Bar Light Vessel off
Mersey Light laid by U.30 on the 9th. The entire
crew was rescued, all
48 of them by MACKAY according to Uboat.net.
_____
Convoy FN.73
departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and
sloop GRIMSBY. In a gale, the
convoy had to turn back just off the harbour entrance, but
finally arrived in
the Tyne on the 20th.
_____
Convoy FS.75
departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS and
sloop LONDONDERRY, and arrived at Southend on the 19th.
_____
Captain K A
Beattie DSC (Rtd), appointed to command sloop AUCKLAND on
the 8th,
died on the 17th. Cdr J G Hewitt was appointed in command
from the 20th.
_____
Italian steamer
ERNANI (6619grt) collided with Lightship BRAKE
in the Thames Estuary. BRAKE sank and ERNANI was badly
damaged.
_____
U.25 sank
Norwegian steamer ENID (1140grt)
six to seven miles 10° of Muckle Flugga and badly damaged
steamer POLZELLA (4751grt) off Muckle Flugga.
POLZELLA sank next day without a trace, and there were no
survivors. The
entire crew of ENID was rescued by
Danish steamer KINA (9823grt) and British fishing vessel
GRANADA. Destroyers
FORTUNE, FIREDRAKE and anti-submarine trawlers of the 10th
Anti-Submarine
Force were sent to hunt for the U-boat, and FIREDRAKE
scuttled the wreck of ENID.
_____
German steamer GRATIA
(2068grt) was stranded and
lost at Aussenems.
_____
German steamer SANTOS
(5943grt)
departed Rio de Janiero for Hamburg where she safely
arrived on 16 March.
_____
French large
destroyer JAGUAR collided with British destroyer KEPPEL at
0435, 100 miles SW
of Vigo. KEPPEL had been escorting convoy HG.15F until
1900/16th when she
turned the convoy over to sloop ENCHANTRESS. She was badly
damaged and
escorted to Gibraltar by French destroyer LA RAILLEUSE and
the
British VORTIGERN, screened by French light cruiser DUGUAY
TROUIN. KEPPEL
arrived at Gibraltar on the 20th, departed on 10 February
and
was repaired in the dockyard at Malta from 14
February until 5 April. She arrived back at Gibraltar on
19 April.
JAGUAR was repaired at Brest.
_____
Repair ship
RESOURCE departed Malta for the South Atlantic, escorted
by
Australian destroyer STUART as far as Gibraltar, reaching
there
on the 21st. RESOURCE sailed from Gibraltar, while French
destroyer LA RAILLEUSE left Casablanca on the 23rd and
light cruiser
NEPTUNE
left Freetown on the 25th, to
join her. The British ships arrived at Freetown on the
29th,
while RAILLEUSE reached Dakar on the 27th.
She left on 1 February and arrived back at Casablanca on
the 5th.
Thursday,
18
January
Battleship
WARSPITE
and battlecruiser HOOD
with destroyers FURY, FAME, FORESTER,
FOXHOUND, FEARLESS, FORESIGHT, FIREDRAKE, FORTUNE of the
8th Destroyer
Flotilla departed Scapa Flow. FORESTER and
FIREDRAKE attacked submarine contacts on the 20th, east of
the Faroes in
62-27N, 2-01W, and FORESIGHT attacked a contact NE of the
Faroes in 62-54N,
3-10W on the 20th. The force returned to Scapa Flow on the
24th.
_____
Convoy FN.74
departed the southern terminus escorted by destroyer
GREYHOUND and sloop AUCKLAND, with GREYHOUND
being relieved by sloop STORK, which had been delayed at
the start. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 19th.
There was no FN.75.
_____
Convoy SA.26 of
two steamers departed Southampton, escorted by
sloop ROSEMARY, and arrived at Brest on the 19th.
_____
Destroyers
AFRIDI and BEDOUIN departed Rosyth to provide
anti-aircraft protection for
the merchant ships at Methil.
_____
Heavy cruisers DEVONSHIRE
and
BERWICK,
after undergoing alterations, departed Rosyth for Northern
Patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK's
Walrus of 712
Squadron crashed on landing at Cadder, near Bishopbriggs,
Glasgow. Lt (A) E F
Pope and Leading Airman J Baxter were killed.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser WORCESTERSHIRE arrived in the Clyde from Northern
Patrol, while CARINTHIA arrived in the Clyde from Portland
for duty with
the Patrol.
_____
Polish submarine
ORZEL departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
Destroyer IMOGEN
arrived at Rosyth from convoy ON.8.
_____
Destroyers
INGLEFIELD and FORESIGHT arrived at Sullom Voe to refuel
prior to joining
convoy HN.8.
_____
Destroyer
KIPLING arrived at the Clyde from Portland.
_____
Destroyers MAORI
and TARTAR were sent to hunt for a submarine reported in
63-30N, 7-30E.
_____
Destroyer
VERITY, escorting a convoy, attacked a submarine contact
south of Scilly Island in 49-02N,
6-14W.
_____
Sloops FOXGLOVE
and ROSEMARY were escorting a convoy bound for Brest when
a tanker going
in the opposite direction advised them of a submarine
contact. FOXGLOVE
attacked a contact north of Alderney in 50-06N,
2-14W.
_____
Destroyers
BROKE, WALKER, DIANA were sent to investigate a
report of a U-boat on the surface west of Lizard Head in
49-58N, 5-30W. DIANA
dropped depth charges on a submarine contact.
_____
Convoy OB.73GF
had departed Liverpool on the 15th, and OA.73GF from
Southend
on the 16th escorted by destroyer BROKE from the 16th to
18th. On the 18th,
the two convoys merged as OG.15F, totalling 26 ships.
Escort was provided by
sloop ABERDEEN and destroyer
DOUGLAS from the 18th to the 23rd, when the convoy arrived
at Gibraltar.
_____
Convoy BC.23S of
steamers BALTRADER, BARON KINNAIRD, BRITISH COAST, DUNKWA
(Commodore) and
FABIAN departed Bristol Channel escorted by destroyer
MONTROSE, which
attacked a submarine contact west of Hartland Point in
50-55-45N, 5-18-30W.
The convoy arrived safely in the Loire on the 20th.
_____
French torpedo
boat BRESTOIS attacked a submarine contact off Boulogne in
50-35N,
2-32W.
_____
U.9 sank Swedish
steamer FLANDRIA (1179grt) in 54‑00N,
03‑40E, 100 miles off Ymuiden. Seventeen crew were lost
and four
survivors rescued by Norwegian steamer BALZAC (963grt).
_____
U.25 sank
Swedish steamer PAJALA (6873grt)
ten miles 72° from North Rona. The crew of 35
was picked up by armed boarding vessel NORTHERN DUKE, at
the time escorting
her to Kirkwall for inspection. NORTHERN DUKE attacked
the submarine, and destroyers ASHANTI and KIMBERLEY were
dispatched
to assist her.
_____
U.44 sank Danish
steamer CANADIAN REEFER (1831grt)
25 miles NE of Cape Villano, but her crew was picked up by
Spanish trawler
JOSE IGNACIO DE C. (300grt).
_____
U.55 sank
Swedish steamer FOXEN (1304grt) in
58‑52N, 00‑22W. Eight crew were lost and the sole survivor
was
picked up by Norwegian steamer LEKA (1599grt) on the 24
January according to
Uboat.Net.
_____
German steamer AUGUST
THYSSEN (2342grt) was sunk on
a mine off Aland Island in the Baltic,
part of a Swedish field, according to Seekrieg.
_____
Heavy cruisers
DORSETSHIRE
and
SHROPSHIRE arrived at Port Stanley from Rio de
Janiero to escort heavy cruiser
EXETER
to England.
Friday,
19 January
The Northern
Patrol sighted 56 eastbound ships from the 19th to 31st,
and 30 were sent
into Kirkwall for inspection. Warships arriving back
from Patrol were armed merchant cruisers CALIFORNIA and
CHITRAL in
the Clyde and light cruiser
SHEFFIELD
at Scapa Flow after being
relieved by light cruiser
MANCHESTER.
Light cruiser
DUNEDIN departed Scapa
Flow on Patrol, but
was recalled on the 25th and arrived back on the 26th.
Also arriving at Scapa
were heavy cruisers
BERWICK
and
DEVONSHIRE
from Rosyth and
light cruiser
DELHI.
_____
During the night
of the 18th/19th, operation ST.3 was carried out off the
Dutch coast with
destroyers GRENVILLE, GRENADE, GRIFFIN and escort
vessel WHITLEY. Two Dutch, one Norwegian and one Swedish
ship were sent in
for inspection. Returning to Harwich, GRENVILLE
(Captain G E Creasy, D.1) was sunk by mine at 1250 off
Kentish Knock in 51‑39N,
2‑17E. Seventy six ratings were lost, and the survivors
picked up by
accompanying GRENADE and GRIFFIN.
_____
Operation ST.4
was carried out by destroyers GREYHOUND, GLOWWORM, GRAFTON
and the Polish
BLYSKAWICA during the night of the 19th/20th. One
Norwegian and one Swedish
ship were sent in for inspection. In the four ST
operations, destroyers
GRENVILLE (ST.1 and ST.3), GREYHOUND (ST.1 and ST.4),
GLOWWORM (ST.1 and
ST.4), GRAFTON (ST.2 and ST.4), GRIFFIN (ST.2 and ST.3),
GRENADE (ST.3) and BLYSKAWICA (ST.2 and ST.4) had taken
part in the sweeps.
Anti-submarine trawlers STELLA LEONIS, WILLIAM WESNEY,
RIVER CLYDE,
ARKWRIGHT, STELLA RIGEL, CAPE MELVILLE, PYROPE,
EDWARDIAN and MILFORD PRINCESS were also involved.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruisers
CALCUTTA and
CAIRO
departed
Sheerness on escort duties, and arrived in the Humber on
the 20th.
_____
Destroyer
EXMOUTH departed Invergordon escorting tanker HORN SHELL
(8272grt) as far as Cape Wrath, and then
returned to Aberdeen on the 20th to
escort steamer CYPRIAN PRINCE (1988grt) to Scapa Flow.
_____
Minelayer
PRINCESS VICTORIA departed Rosyth escorted by
anti-aircraft cruiser CURLEW,
destroyer ESCAPADE and escort ship WHITLEY with an MT
convoy for the Humber.
_____
Destroyer
BEDOUIN departed Rosyth.
_____
Destroyer ASHANTI departed
Loch
Ewe with salvage ships ANCHORITE and DISPERSER for Scapa
Flow.
_____
Destroyer
COSSACK arrived at Rosyth from Leith after repairs.
_____
Submarine
THISTLE departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
Destroyer
VETERAN attacked a submarine contact off Owers Light in
50‑28N, 00‑45W.
_____
French
anti-submarine trawlers LA ORIENTAISE (590grt) and LA
NANTAISE (590grt),
sweeping to the northeast of Barfleur Light, attacked a
submarine contact off
Pointe de Barfleur in 49‑45N, 0‑03W. On 20 January, LA
ORIENTAISE
and sloop YSER were sweeping in the area.
_____
Convoy HN.8 of
two British, 28 Norwegian, three Swedish and five Finnish
ships departed
Bergen and was joined at sea by destroyers ICARUS, IMOGEN,
ISIS, INGLEFIELD,
KASHMIR, KHARTOUM and KIMBERLEY. Light cruisers
GLASGOW
and
EDINBURGH
departed Rosyth on the 17th in support. On the 18th,
EDINBURGH dropped depth
charges on a submarine contact ESE of Sumburgh
Head in 60-21N, 1-09E. On the 19th, KHARTOUM and KASHMIR
were detached
to hunt for a submarine in Moray Firth and attacked a
contact. On the 20th, the two destroyers again attacked a
contact in Moray Firth in 58-03.5N,
02-07.5W. Nine steamers were detached to ports on the west
coast, and arrived
at Methil early on the 22nd escorted by KASHMIR, ICARUS,
ISIS and IMPULSIVE;
the last two destroyers reinforcing the convoy on the 19th
after the
submarine contact.
_____
Convoy FS.76
departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops BITTERN and
FLEETWOOD,
and arrived at Southend on the 20th.
_____
U.9 sank Swedish
steamer PATRIA (1188grt) in 54‑16N,
03‑30E. Nineteen crew were lost and the survivors rescued
by Swedish
steamer FRIGG (1248grt).
_____
U.59 sank French
steamer QUIBERON (1296grt) off
Great Yarmouth.
_____
Steamer MILE END
(859grt) was sunk in a
collision with trawler FARADAY (322grt) in 51‑45N,
02‑40E in
the North Sea. Sloop STORK picked up the survivors.
Saturday,
20
January
Light cruiser
DELHI departed Scapa
Flow for Portsmouth where she
arrived on the 22nd. When she left Scapa,
the 7th Cruiser Squadron ceased to exist.
_____
Light cruiser MANCHESTER
stopped
Norwegian steamer LISA and sent her to Kirkwall for
inspection.
_____
Destroyer ASHANTI arrived
at
Rosyth from Loch Ewe, via Scapa Flow.
_____
Destroyers FAME and FURY
arrived at Sullom Voe to refuel.
_____
Destroyer KIMBERLEY sailed
for the Clyde after
unsuccessfully searching for the submarine that sank
Swedish steamer PAJALA.
_____
Destroyers SIKH,
MOHAWK, IMPERIAL and IMOGEN departed Rosyth for a sweep in
the North Sea. On the 21st,
IMPERIAL was in a minor collision, but was able to
continue, and then on the
22nd attacked a submarine contact off Buchan Ness in
57.31N, 01‑16W.
She was ordered to remain at the location until relieved
by destroyers
ENCOUNTER and ESCAPADE from Rosyth. Repairs to IMPERIAL
were completed on the
26th.
_____
Submarine
TRIBUNE arrived at Rosyth from patrol with engine trouble,
and was docked
from 21 January to 22 March. Submarines TRIDENT, SEAL,
TRITON departed Rosyth
for patrol on this date, but TRIDENT and SEAL arrived back
next day.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser SALOPIAN, en route from Devonport to the Clyde,
was in a
collision with Finnish steamer SAIMAA (2001grt) in the
Firth of Clyde, and
was grounded in the Clyde on the 21st.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers KINGSTON CYANITE (433grt), KINGSTON CORAL
(433grt) and KINGSTON
CRYSTAL (433grt) were en route from Belfast to Portland.
Off Lizard
Head in 49-57N, 4-50W and 49-58N, 4-58W, they attacked a
submarine contact.
_____
Convoy OA.76
departed Southend escorted by destroyers VERITY and
VETERAN until the 23rd
when the convoy dispersed.
_____
Convoy OB.76
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer WARWICK and sloop
DEPTFORD until the 23rd.
_____
Convoy FN.76
departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS and
sloop LONDONDERRY, and arrived in
the Tyne on the 22nd.
_____
Convoy FS.77
departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops FLAMINGO, WESTON and
minelayer PLOVER, and arrived at Southend on the 21st.
_____
Liner LLANDAFF CASTLE
(10,786grt)
departed London and was
involved in a collision with an unknown vessel off Beachy
Head. She returned
to port but was able to continue her voyage to North
Africa after a week's
repair.
_____
U.34 laid mines
off Falmouth during the
night of the 19th/20th, which sank one merchant ship -
tanker CARONI RIVER (7087grt) on the 20th in
50‑06N, 05‑01W, but without the loss of any member of
crew, all
of whom were saved.
_____
U.44 sank Greek
steamer EKATONTARCHOS DRACOULIS
(5329grt) in 40‑20N, 10‑07W, with the loss of six crew.
The
survivors were picked up by Italian steamer NINOPADRE
(4171grt).
_____
Estonian steamer
NAUTIC (2050grt) was lost NW of
Bergen in 63‑43N, 00‑43E to unknown cause.
_____
Convoy HXF.17
departed Halifax escorted by
Canadian destroyers FRASER and RESTIGOUCHE, which detached
on the 21st. Ocean escort was
armed merchant cruiser ASCANIA, which stayed until the
29th. The convoy was
escorted by destroyer VERITY from convoy OA.79 and
VOLUNTEER from OB.79 from
29 January to 1 February, when it arrived at Dover.
_____
Destroyers
HEREWARD and HUNTER departed Bermuda for Halifax.
_____
French heavy
cruiser TOURVILLE and destroyers AIGLE and VAUBAN departed
Toulon on the 20th to
take a shipment of gold to Beirut, where they
arrived on the 25th. The gold was sent on to Ankara to
support
Turkish military preparations. The French ships arrived
back at Toulon on the 30th,
sailed again and reached Malta on 3 February.
after a patrol.
_____
Convoy SLF.17
departed Freetown escorted by
destroyers HASTY and HERO in the local approaches, and
armed merchant cruiser
JERVIS BAY until the 31st.
On 2 February, destroyer WREN joined and escorted the
convoy until its UK arrival on the
4th.
Sunday,
21 January
Destroyer EXMOUTH
(Captain Richard S Benson
DSO, D.12) departed Aberdeen on the 20th
leading steamer CYPRIAN PRINCE (1988grt). At 0441/21st,
she was sunk by U.22
in Moray Firth off Tarbett Ness with all hands, Captain
Benson, Lt J Lovejoy,
Lt C C Hawkins DSC, Lt I W M Gill, Lt C H Crombie, Lt J R
Olive, Lt J G F W
Roberts, Surgeon Lt G A M Maxwell-Smith, Paymaster Lt L
Sutherland, Gunner A
H Budden, A/Gunner H.G Barter, Warrant Engineer C J
Morton, P/Midshipman P L
Watson RNR, P/T/Paymaster Sub Lt D D Bowen RNVR,
Sub Lt B Gore-Booth (ret, emgy) and one hundred and
seventy three ratings
were lost. When CYPRIAN PRINCE arrived at Scapa Flow
without her
escort, destroyer SIKH and anti-submarine trawlers KING
SOL (486grt), LOCH
MONTEITH (531grt), ST ELSTAN (564grt) and ST CATHAN
(565grt) of the 18th
Anti-Submarine Group were sent to search for her
survivors.
_____
Heavy cruiser
BERWICK
and light cruisers
SHEFFIELD
and
NEWCASTLE
departed Scapa Flow on Northern
Patrol duties. A British aircraft bombed a submarine
contact north of Cape Wrath in 59-38N,
5-00W in the path of BERWICK, which relieved heavy cruiser
SUFFOLK.
_____
Light cruiser
GLASGOW
attacked a submarine contact east of Copinsay in 58-54.5N,
1-23W.
Light cruiser
EDINBURGH,
in company
with GLASGOW, attacked a contact three hours
later east of Duncansby Head in 58-33N, 1-51W.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser CARINTHIA departed the Clyde for Northern
Patrol, while AMC FORFAR arrived
back.
_____
Destroyers KIMBERLEY
arrived in the Clyde, as did
destroyer DIANA from the south.
_____
Destroyer
VETERAN attacked a submarine contact off Portland Bill in
50-16N, 2-40W, and
sister-ship VERITY a contact off Start Point in 50-01N,
3-30W.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler LEICESTER CITY (422grt)
attacked a submarine contact east of Douglas Head, Isle of
Man, in 54-08N,
4-03W.
_____
Convoy OA.77
departed Southend escorted by destroyers VANESSA and WREN
from the 21st to
22nd, and destroyer ACASTA from the 21st to 24th, when the
convoy dispersed.
_____
Convoy OB.77
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VERSATILE and
VANQUISHER until the 24th.
_____
Convoys OA.75G,
which departed Southend on the 19th, and OB.75G merged on
the 21st to form
OG.15 of 49 ships. Destroyers WHIRLWIND and WITHERINGTON
of OB.75G and KEITH
were with OG.15 from the 21st to 22nd, and French
destroyer CHACAL and patrol
vessel CAPITAINE ARMAND from the 22nd to 27th. Two
Destroyers from Gibraltar escorted the
convoy on the 27th, when it arrived at Gibraltar.
_____
Convoy FN.77
departed Southend, escorted by sloops FLEETWOOD and
BITTERN, but was forced
to anchor shortly after departure due to fog, and arrived
in the Tyne on the 23rd.
_____
Convoy FS.78
departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops AUCKLAND and STORK,
and
it too was forced to anchor shortly after departure due to
fog, arriving at
Southend on the 22nd.
_____
U.31 extended
the minefield at Loch Ewe, but no shipping was sunk or
damaged.
_____
Steamer FERRYHILL
(1086grt) was sunk on a
mine one and a half miles north of St Marys Light off
Blyth laid by U.61
(U.22 according to Seekrieg) on 2 December. Eleven crew
were lost.
_____
Steamer PROTESILAUS
(9577grt) was badly
damaged by a mine in 51‑31N, 04‑04W laid by U.28 on 13
November.
The steamer was run aground off Mumbles Light House in
Swansea Bay, a total loss,
but later refloated and towed towards Scapa Flow by tugs
EMPIRE
HENCHMAN and ABEILLE 21. En route, she sprung a leak and
was sunk by gunfire
4.9 miles 295° from Skerryvore on 13
September 1940.
_____
U.57 sank
Norwegian steamer MIRANDA
(1328grt) in 58‑14N, 02‑05W. Fourteen crew were lost and
three
survivors picked up.
_____
U.22 sank Danish
steamer TEKLA (1469grt) at 0500 in
58‑18N, 02‑25W. Destroyer EXMOUTH's fate was not then
known and
orders were dispatched for her to assist. Nine crew were
lost on TEKLA and
nine survivors rescued by Norwegian steamer IRIS (1177grt)
and destroyer
SIKH.
_____
Swedish steamer ANDALUSIA (1357grt)
departed Bordeaux on the 16th for
Goteborg, and was lost
with all hands on the 21st in the North Sea to unknown
cause (torpedoed by U.55 according to Seekrieg and to
Rohwer's "Axis
Submarine Successes").
_____
After the loss
of steamers MIRANDA, TEKLA, ANDALUSIA, destroyers
ESCAPADE, ENCOUNTER, ECHO, ECLIPSE and
IMPERIAL searched the area.
_____
Destroyer VERITY
attacked a submarine contact off Portland Bill.
_____
Convoy BC.22 of
steamers BARON BARNEGIE, BATNA, COXWOLD and DAVID
LIVINGSTONE (Commodore)
departed the Loire escorted by destroyer MONTROSE, and
safely arrived off Barry on the 21st.
_____
Convoy HG.16F
departed Gibraltar with fifteen ships, escorted by
destroyers ACTIVE and WHITEHALL. WHITEHALL was
with the convoy from the 21st to 27th, ACTIVE from 21st to
28th, while sloop
ABERDEEN joined from 22nd to 27th and destroyer VANOC from
27th to 28th, on
which day it arrived.
_____
Destroyer
DOUGLAS was with convoy OG.15F off the west coast of
Portugal when she
sighted U.44 in the path of the convoy. She reported the
submarine to convoy
escort sloop ABERDEEN and advised she
was attacking. U.44 was driven off with minor damage 150
miles west of Oporto in 41-09N,
11-55W, but was able to continue patrol.
_____
Sloop BRIDGEWATER on
passage from
Lobito to Freetown attacked a
submarine contact 170 miles south of Cape Palmas in 1-41N,
7-14W.
_____
A Gladiator of
769 Squadron went into the sea from aircraft carrier
ARGUS, but Lt
G R Callingham was unhurt.
_____
Italian liner ORAZIO
(11,669grt) caught fire and
sank 40 miles SW of Toulon, and her survivors were rescued
by Italian liners
COLOMBO (11,760grt), CELLINA (6086grt), CONTE BIANCAMANO
(23,255grt), French
destroyer KERSAINT, auxiliary patrol vessel VILLE
D'AJACCIO (2444grt), tug SIX
FOURS, refrigerator ship AUSTRAL, troop ships GOUVERNEUR
GENERAL CAMBON
(3509grt), GOUVERNEUR GENERAL GREVY (4565grt), and
steamers DJEBEL DIRA
(2835grt) and DJEBEL NADOR (3168grt).
_____
Japanese liner
ASAMA MARU (16,975grt) departed San Francisco on the 6th
with
51 German seamen from the crew of German liner COLUMBUS.
Light cruiser
LIVERPOOL
departed Hong Kong on the 16th to
intercept the ship as it arrived off the Japanese coast.
On the 21st, LIVERPOOL stopped her 35
miles off Nojima Zaki near Yokosuka and removed 21
German technicians. After strong protests from Japan and
Germany, nine were
finally released and arrived at Yokohama on 29 February
on Australian armed merchant cruiser KANIMBLA. In some
sources, the cruiser
involved is incorrectly identified as
GLOUCESTER
which was
refitting at Colombo.
_____
Destroyer WOLSEY
completed conversion to a fast escort vessel at Malta and
was
commissioned with the crew from repairing destroyer
GARLAND. She departed Malta on the 21st,
and Gibraltar on the 29th as an escort for convoy
HG.17F, arrving at Dover on 5 February.
WOLSEY carried on and arrived at Rosyth for duty with
Convoy C.
_____
Heavy cruiser EXETER,
emergency
repairs completed, departed Port Stanley escorted by
heavy cruisers
DORSETSHIRE
and
SHROPSHIRE.
Aircraft
carrier
ARK
ROYAL,
battlecruiser RENOWN
and destroyers DAINTY and DIAMOND
departed Freetown on the 24th to
rendezvous with her on the 29th in mid-South Atlantic some
200 miles
east of Pernambuco in 17‑00S, 25‑06W and relieved the
heavy
cruisers. SHROPSHIRE then proceeded to Capetown for
refitting, completed on 16 March. DAINTY and DIAMOND
returned to Freetown on
the 29th for refuelling and left again that day to rejoin
the carrier force
at sea. On 3 February, ARK ROYAL, RENOWN, EXETER, DAINTY
and
DIAMOND entered Freetown for refuelling,
and departed on the 6th.
Monday,
22 January
Destroyers MAORI
and TARTAR arrived at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
ICARUS and IMPULSIVE arrived at Loch Ewe for refuelling.
_____
Destroyers
JACKAL, JAGUAR and JAVELIN departed the Humber for
submarine
hunting duties, arrived at Rosyth on the 23rd, but were
ordered not to be
used for convoy work.
_____
Destroyer
ECLIPSE escorted cable ship ROYAL SCOT from Leith.
_____
Destroyers SIKH
and MOHAWK departed Rosyth to hunt for a submarine
reported in the North Sea.
_____
On patrol in the
North
Sea, submarine TRITON suffered damage to one of her valves
and
put into Lister for repairs which were soon accomplished.
_____
Destroyer
MONTROSE departed Quiberon Bay with convoy
BC.22 at 0700/21st, and on the 22nd, was ordered to check
a U-boat contact
off Caldy Island in 51‑33N,
04‑42W. She was joined by destroyer VANQUISHER, which
attacked a
submarine contact. MONTROSE then searched Carmarthen Bay
and the approaches
to Bristol Channel before relieving VANQUISHER at
dawn on the 23rd at the location of her attacks. MONTROSE
proceeded to
51-12N, 5-45W to search for a submarine reported by
anti-submarine trawler
BEDFORDSHIRE (443grt), and joined by VANQUISHER, searched
the entrance of the
Bristol
Channel near the Breaksea Light Vessel. MONTROSE returned
to Milford
Haven to refuel on the 24th, departing that afternoon to
rejoin VANQUISHER
searching in Barnstaple Bay, where the
latter made an attack in 51-04.5N, 4-25.25W. They then
patrolled between Bull
Point and Helwick Sands the night of the 24th/25th, before
MONTROSE proceeded
to Milford Haven on the morning of the 25th.
_____
Convoy FN.78
departed Southend, escorted by sloops FLAMINGO and WESTON,
and arrived in the
Tyne on the 23rd.
_____
French sloop AMIENS
attacked a
submarine contact off Calais in 51-03.5N,
2-02W.
_____
U.57 laid a
minefield in Cromarty Firth during the night of the
21st/22nd, one
which one merchant ship was lost.
_____
U.25 sank Norwegian
steamer SONGA (2589grt) 220 miles
west of the Scilly Islands, but the entire crew was
rescued.
_____
U.51 sank
Swedish steamer GOTHIA (1640grt),
45 miles W by N of St Kilda in 57‑46N, 09‑50W, with the
loss of
twelve crew.
_____
U.61 sank Norwegian
steamer SYDVOLD (2434grt) in 58‑40N,
00‑30W. Five crew were lost, and 19 survivors rescued by
Norwegian
steamer RONA (1376grt).
_____
Norwegian
steamer SEGOVIA (1387grt) departed
England for Norway on the 22nd and
was not heard from again. Seekrieg and Uboat.Net states
she was sunk by U.55,
a claim provisionally confirmed by Rohwer's "Axis
Submarine
Successes". There were no survivors.
_____
Steamer KIRKPOOL
(4842grt) ran aground and
was a total loss on the south coast of England.
_____
In the South Atlantic,
German supply
ship ALTMARK (10,850grt) began her return to Germany and
passed
through the Faroes-Iceland Channel undetected on 11
February.
_____
Convoy HX.17
departed Halifax at 0800
escorted by Canadian destroyers FRASER and RESTIGOUCHE,
and was joined by
light cruiser
EMERALD,
also from Halifax, as ocean
escort the same day. The destroyers turned over the convoy
to her at noon on the 23rd. EMERALD then detached on 3
February and proceeded to England to refit -
escort duty in the North Atlantic had damaged the
main engines and strained and buckled her decks. She
arrived at Portsmouth on 4 February
and was refitting at Southampton from 15
February to 30 April. Destroyers VANESSA, VANSITTART,
KEITH and WARWICK
joined HX.17 on 7 February as escort until its arrival at
Liverpool later that day.
_____
A minor fire
started by a welding torch broke out on Italian battleship
LITTORIO, under
construction at the Ansaldo Yards at Genoa.
_____
Light cruiser
GALATEA
departed Malta on patrol, and
arrived back on the 30th.
_____
Light cruiser
DAUNTLESS departed
Singapore on patrol
duties, and arrived at Penang on the 27th.
_____
Destroyers HARDY
and HOSTILE departed Freetown on the 13th
with convoy SLF.16, and then Gibraltar on the 22nd.
HARDY reached Plymouth on the 25th for
docking and repair, but was able to proceed in a few days
and arrived at Greenock on 14 February
for duty with the Home Fleet. HOSTILE reached Dover on the
25th,
before going on to Sheerness and then Chatham were she
docked
for repairs and refit lasting until 26 February when she
also left to join
the Home Fleet.
_____
Destroyers HERO
and HASTY departed Freetown on the 22nd and
arrived at Gibraltar on the 29th.
_____
Submarine OLYMPUS arrived
at Colombo after
patrolling the Seychelles area and in the
Mozambique
Channel.
Tuesday,
23 January
Light cruiser NEWCASTLE
departed Scapa Flow on Northern
Patrol, but arrived back on the 29th with defects.
_____
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
arrived in the Clyde.
_____
Destroyers JUNO and JERVIS
departed the Humber with minelayer PRINCESS VICTORIA for
operation LB, and returned on the 24th after the minelay.
_____
Destroyers ZULU
and COSSACK departed Rosyth, with ZULU proceeding to Leith
for repairs and
refit, and COSSACK to carry out exercises on the 24th.
However, she had to
return because of an influenza outbreak among the crew.
_____
Destroyers
JACKAL, JAGUAR, JAVELIN and ASHANTI departed Rosyth
to hunt for a submarine reported off Kinnaird Head.
_____
Destroyers ECHO and ECLIPSE
attacked a submarine contact ENE of May Island
in 56-14N, 2-23W. Later in the day, ECHO attacked a
contact ENE of Montrose in 56-46N, 2-12W.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler BEDFORDSHIRE (443grt), escorting cable ship MARIE
LOUISE MACKAY as
she was repairing cables west of Lundy Island, dropped
depth charges on a
submarine contact in 51-11-29N, 5-46-33W. Destroyers
ICARUS and IMPULSIVE
joined her, but the attack was unsuccessful.
_____
Convoy FN.79
departed Southend, escorted by sloops AUCKLAND and STORK,
and
arrived in the Tyne on the 24th.
_____
U.18 sank
Norwegian steamer VARILD (1085grt)
with all hands NE of Kinnaird Head.
_____
U.19 sank
British steamer BALTANGLIA
(1523grt) and the Norwegian PLUTO
(1598grt) NE of the Tyne in 55‑35N,
01‑27W. All the crew of both steamers were picked up by
British fishing
vessels.
_____
Finnish steamer ONTO
(1333grt) was lost on a mine 2.7
miles 251° from Smith Knoll Light Vessel off Cross Sands
in 52-51N, 2-11E
which had been laid by U.56 on the 8th. The entire crew
were rescued by sloop
AUCKLAND.
_____
German trawler MULHAUSEN
(327grt) was lost by mining
off Pillau.
_____
Battleship
VALIANT,
light cruiser
ENTERPRISE,
and destroyers
HUNTER and HEREWARD departed Bermuda and arrived at
Halifax on the 26th.
_____
The CAVALRY
convoy departed Marseilles escorted by
Australian destroyers VOYAGER and VAMPIRE. Off Malta, they
were
relieved by Australian sister ship VENDETTA which escorted
the convoy to Haifa.
Wednesday,
24
January
Battleship
WARSPITE
and battlecruiser HOOD
with destroyers FURY, FAME, FORESIGHT,
FOXHOUND, FEARLESS, FORESTER, FIREDRAKE, FORTUNE arrived
in the Clyde from patrol.
_____
New submarine
TETRARCH arrived in the Clyde for trials.
_____
Submarine URSULA
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
Submarine H.34,
Polish submarine WILK and two
destroyers exercised in the Firth of Forth.
_____
Escort
vessel/destroyer VEGA, her repairs completed, departed the
Tay for Methil.
_____
Destroyer
JAVELIN arrived at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER departed the scene of their
submarine search off
Rattray Head at dusk for Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
ICARUS and IMPULSIVE arrived at Portsmouth.
_____
Minelayer
PRINCESS VICTORIA, which left the Humber early on the 24th
escorted by
destroyers JERVIS and JUNO, laid 240 mines
in a defensive minefield, designated LB, about 50 miles NE
of Spurn Point.
_____
Minesweeper
SKIPJACK was in a collision with steamer RUTLAND (1437grt)
and
sustained minor damage.
_____
Convoy ON.9 of
three British, five Norwegian, one Swedish and four
Finnish ships departed
Methil escorted by destroyers INGLEFIELD, ISIS, KASHMIR,
TARTAR and
submarine SEAL. TARTAR was relieved by destroyer KHARTOUM
which was in turn
relieved by destroyer IMOGEN. On the 25th, light cruisers
EDINBURGH
and
GLASGOW
departed Rosyth to join the convoy as near cover. ON.9
arrived safely
on the 27th at Bergen.
_____
Convoy FN.79 A
departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN and sloop
PELICAN, and
arrived in the Tyne on the 25th.
_____
Convoy FS.79
departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer WHITLEY and sloop
LONDONDERRY, and arrived at
Southend on the 25th.
_____
Convoy FS.80
departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops FLEETWOOD and
BITTERN,
and arrived at Southend on the 26th.
_____
Destroyers
JACKAL, JAGUAR and ASHANTI sweeping off
Tod Head in 56‑47N, 02‑10.8W attacked a submarine contact.
Anti-submarine trawler FIFESHIRE (540grt) relieved them
and they continued on
patrol. ASHANTI then headed for
Cowes for repair and refit, while JACKAL
and JAGUAR returned to the location at 0300/25th,
continuing their patrol at
1800.
_____
French destroyer
BOULONNAISE attacked a submarine contact east of Pointe de
Barfleur in
49-45N, 00-38W, and was joined by anti-submarine trawlers
LA NANTAISE and LA
ORIENTAISE, both of which attacked contact in the vicinity
in 49-51N, 00-28W.
_____
U.23 sank
Norwegian steamer BISP (1000grt)
in the North Sea with all hands.
_____
U.44 sank French
steamer ALSACIEN (3819grt) from
French convoy 56 KS in 39‑01N, 09‑54W with the loss of
four crew.
_____
Convoy HG.16 of
42 ships departed Gibraltar on the 24th,
escorts:
|
|
joined
|
detached
|
|
24th
|
Anti-submarine
trawler LEYLAND (452grt) as local escort, French
large destroyers PANTHÈRE, TIGRE
|
LEYLAND
|
|
31st
|
Destroyer
WOLVERINE, and sister ship WALPOLE from OG.16
|
PANTHÈRE, TIGRE, arrived Brest on 1st
|
|
3rd
|
|
WOLVERINE, WALPOLE
|
|
convoy
arrived on the 3rd February
|
_____
Finnish steamer AURA
(4763grt) went
ashore near Start Point on the 31st, but was refloated and
taken to Plymouth that day.
_____
Sloop FOLKESTONE
departed Port Said for Malta, en route to England.
_____
Aircraft carrier
ARK
ROYAL,
battlecruiser RENOWN,
and destroyers DAINTY and DIAMOND departed Freetown, and
rendezvoused on the 29th with the EXETER
force in 17‑00S,
26‑06W, where they relieved the heavy cruisers as escorts.
_____
French
battleship PROVENCE, heavy cruisers
COLBERT, DUQUESNE, and destroyers VAUTOUR and ALBATROS
departed Toulon and passed Oran on the 25th.
The destroyer detached on the 27th, reached Casablanca on
the 28th,
left there on the 31st and arrived back at Oran on 1
February.
The heavy ships arrived at Dakar on the 30th.
_____
Convoy SL.18
departed Freetown escorted by
armed merchant cruiser BULOLO from 24 January to 9
February, and a day
earlier, on the 8th, merged with SLF.18. Destroyer WINDSOR
relieved the armed
merchant cruiser on the 9th February and took the convoy
on to Liverpool, arriving on
the 12th.
_____
Yugoslav
destroyer LJUBJANA, entering Sebenico in a gale, ran
aground and was badly
damaged. She was salved but was still under repair when
Yugoslavia fell to the
Germans in April 1941.
_____
Finnish steamer NOTUNG
(1133grt) was sunk by Soviet
bombers between Abo and Aland Island.
Thursday,
25
January
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
and armed
merchant cruisers SCOTSTOUN and FORFAR arrived in the
Clyde after Northern
Patrol.
_____
Light cruiser
DIOMEDE
departed Scapa Flow for Plymouth where she
arrived on the 30th, and later sailed to join the 8th
Cruiser Squadron in the
North
America and West Indies Station.
_____
Destroyer JAVELIN
departed Rosyth to relieve destroyer JACKAL on
anti-submarine duties.
_____
Destroyers
ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER arrived at Rosyth from submarine
hunting, and after
refuelling, left again on the 25th with cable ship ROYAL
SCOT.
_____
Destroyers ECHO and ECLIPSE
departed Aberdeen escorting
steamer RUTLAND (1437grt) to Scapa Flow.
_____
T/Sub Lt G .
Williamson RNVR, ferrying a Swordfish of 819 Squadron from
Silloth to Ford,
was killed when his aircraft crashed south of
Huddersfield.
_____
Destroyer ESCORT
and sloop FLAMINGO departed the Tyne escorting
convoy FS.81.
_____
Convoy OA.79
departed Southend escorted by destroyers ANTELOPE from the
25th to 26th and
VERITY from 26th to 28th, when the convoy was dispersed.
Submarine H.33 was
in the convoy on passage to Portsmouth.
_____
Convoy OB.79
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WINCHELSEA and
VOLUNTEER until the 28th, when they detached to convoy
HXF.17.
_____
Convoy SA.27 of
two steamers departed Southampton, escorted by
sloops FOXGLOVE and ROSEMARY, and arrived at Brest on the
27th,
less steamer DIDO, which ran aground off Ouessant on the
27th. She was
brought into Brest on the 30th.
_____
Convoy FS.81
departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer ESCORT and sloop
FLAMINGO, and arrived at Southend on the 27th.
_____
Drifter RIANT
(95grt) was lost in heavy
weather off Gighm on the south coast of Jura Sound.
_____
German
destroyers WILHELM
HEIDKAMP,
KARL GALSTER, ANTON
SCHMITT, PAUL JACOBI, RICHARD
BEITZEN and HERMANN
SCHOEMANN
conducted a shipping sweep in
the Skagerrak during the night of 25/26 January. The
raid was abandoned because of heavy weather.
_____
U.14 sank
Norwegian steamer BIARRITZ
(1752grt) in 52‑39N,
04‑15E with the loss of 25 crew. The survivors were picked
up by
Norwegian steamer BORGHOLM (1561grt) 36 miles NW of
Ijmuiden.
_____
U.19 sank
Latvian steamer EVERENE (4434grt)
five miles off Longstone Light and Norwegian steamer GUDVIEG
(1300grt) four and a half miles E by S of Longstone
Light. Sloop PELICAN, escort ships VIVIEN, WOOLSTON, VEGA,
and anti-submarine
trawlers of the 19th A/S Group were ordered into the area
to investigate.
WOOLSTON and VEGA made unsuccessful attacks east of Farne
Island at 0633/26th in
55-37N, 1-30W . One crewman was lost from EVERENE and ten
from the GUDVIEG.
EVERENE's survivors and eight crew from GUDVEIG were
rescued by fishing
vessels DOLE and EVESHAM (239grt). (However according to
Uboat.net, four of
GUDVEIG's men were rescued by Norwegian steamer VIM.)
PELICAN and VIVIEN
proceeded to 20F buoy to turn back all northbound shipping
from the Tyne. The search for
the submarine continued until 2200/26th when WOOLSTON and
sloop GRIMSBY set off for the
Tyne to escort
convoy FS.83. VEGA returned to Rosyth on the 26th to
escort submarines WILK and H.34.
_____
Destroyer
VANQUISHER investigated a submarine contact SW of Nash
Point in 51‑18N,
03‑39W, where she was joined by destroyer WAKEFUL at
0330/26th and
later by destroyer KEITH. The destroyers swept westward
and returned to the
attack location at daylight. VANQUISHER then proceeded to
Liverpool. At 1330/28th,
WAKEFUL and KEITH, still on patrol, attacked a submarine
contact in
51-21-30N, 3-40-50W. This was later determined to be the
wreck of steamer
STANHOLME (2473grt) sunk by a mine on 25 December. At
2215, the destroyers
attacked a contact SW of Milford Haven in 51-32.5N, 5-24W,
then at 0020/27th,
proceeded on patrol.
_____
French destroyer
FOUGUEUX attacked a submarine contact 70 miles west of
Oporto in 41-10N,
10-10W.
_____
French destroyer
BASQUE and sloop ANNAMITE made attacks on a submarine
contact northwest of
Ferrol in 44-10N, 9-10W.
_____
U.44 sank French
steamer TOURNY (2769grt), a
straggler from convoy 56 KS, in 38‑09N, 09‑55W. Eight crew
were
lost, and survivors were picked up by Spanish steamer
CASTILLO MONFORTE
(1986grt).
_____
Light cruiser
NEPTUNE
departed Freetown to join repair
ship RESOURCE en route from Gibraltar. Both ships
arrived at Freetown on the 29th.
Friday,
26 January
Light cruiser
DUNEDIN arrived at
Scapa Flow after Northern
Patrol.
_____
Light cruiser
CURACOA completed her
conversion to anti-aircraft cruiser at Chatham, and
departed Portland for working up
on the 30th.
_____
Light cruiser
ARETHUSA departed
Portsmouth for Scapa Flow, and arrived on
the 29th for duty with 2nd Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet.
_____
Submarine TRUANT
departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
Destroyers
JACKAL, ECHO and ECLIPSE arrived at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyer SIKH
arrived at Scapa Flow and after refuelling departed with
destroyer TARTAR to relieve the escort of convoy HN.9.
_____
Destroyers
JERVIS, JUNO, JUPITER and IMPERIAL were on a sweep
off the SW of Norway.
_____
Destroyers
JAVELIN and JAGUAR on a submarine hunt, were ordered into
Invergordon for
shelter from the gale.
_____
Destroyer
GREYHOUND and Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA attacked a
submarine contact off
Great Yarmouth, 52-34N, 2-16E.
_____
Destroyer
WANDERER attacked a submarine contact off Chicken Rock,
Isle of Man in 53-56N,
4-51W.
_____
Steamer
DURHAM CASTLE (8240grt),
under tow by tug WATERMEYER en route to Scapa Flow from
Rosyth on
the 25th as a block ship, was sunk on a mine laid by U.57
off Cromarty on the
22nd.
_____
Convoy OA.78GF,
was escorted by destroyers BROKE from the 23rd to 24th and
AMAZON from the
23rd to 25th. Meanwhile OB.78GF with 23 ships departed
Liverpool on the 24th
escorted by destroyers WHITEHALL and VANOC. The
two merged as OG.16F on the 26th and on the same day
WHITEHALL and VANOC
detached to join HG.16F. Sloop SANDWICH joined the OG
escort on the 26th and left on the 31st, while destroyers
VELOX and WISHART
joined on 1 February off Gibraltar, and arrived
later that day.
_____
Convoy BC.24 six
steamers, including BARON GRAHAM and MARSLEW (Commodore)
departed Bristol Channel escorted by
destroyer MONTROSE, and arrived safely in the Loire.
_____
Convoy AXS 10 of
one steamer escorted by destroyer VETERAN arrived at Brest
from Fowey on
the 26th.
_____
Convoy FN.80
departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WHITLEY and sloop
LONDONDERRY, and arrived in
the Tyne on the 27th.
_____
Convoy FS.82
departed the Tyne, escorted destroyers WOOLSTON and VEGA
and sloop GRIMSBY, and arrived at
Southend on the 28th.
_____
Estonian steamer
KESSU (295grt) was seized in the Baltic
by German naval forces and taken to Memel.
_____
Heavy cruiser CORNWALL
departed
Capetown on escort duties and arrived back on the 30th.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES
arrived at Montevideo.
Saturday,
27
January
Battleship
RODNEY,
battlecruiser REPULSE,
and the 8th Destroyer Flotilla less FORESTER
under repair, departed the Clyde to exercise
west of the Shetlands. They returned on the 31st.
_____
Light cruiser MANCHESTER
arrived at Scapa Flow to boiler
clean.
_____
Light cruiser
DUNEDIN departed Scapa
Flow and arrived at Portsmouth on the 29th.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser SCOTSTOUN arrived in the Clyde.
_____
Destroyer MAORI
departed Rosyth escorting submarine TRITON to Scapa Flow.
After delivering
her on the 28th, MAORI proceeded to search for a boat from
the Norwegian
steamer HOSANGER before proceeding to the Clyde, where she
arrived on the 29th.
_____
Destroyers
JAVELIN and JAGUAR departed Invergordon to rendezvous with
tanker ATHELKNIGHT
(8940grt) for Rosyth.
_____
Convoy HM.9 A of
19 Norwegian, nine Swedish, four Finnish, four Estonian
and one Latvian ships
departed Bergen escorted by
destroyers INGLEFIELD, ISIS, IMOGEN, KASHMIR and submarine
SEAL. Light cruisers
GLASGOW
and
EDINBURGH
departed Scapa Flow on the 26th to
cover the convoy. Twelve ships in the convoy detached for
ports on the west
coast escorted by destroyers INGLEFIELD and MOHAWK before
the remaining ships
and escorts arrived at Methil on the 31st. ISIS then
sailed for Falmouth for
docking.
_____
Sloop AUCKLAND departed
Rosyth
for a refit at Dundee.
_____
Convoy FN.81
departed Southend, escorted by sloops FLEETWOOD and
BITTERN. Sloop EGRET
joined en route and anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA, which
had
departed the Humber, was on passage near the convoy, which
arrived in the Tyne on the 28th. Convoy FN.82 was
cancelled.
_____
Minesweeper
SKIPJACK was in a collision with Finnish steamer KARIN
THORDEN (1789grt) and
sustained damage to her stern.
_____
U.20 sank four steamers
- Norwegian FARO
(844grt) 15
miles SE of Copinsay, Orkneys, Danish FREDENSBURG
(2094grt) in 58-10N, 1-40W, and Danish
ENGLAND (2319grt) and
Norwegian HOSANGER (1591grt) in 58‑25N,
01‑53W. FARO went ashore at Taracliffe Bay a total loss on
the 28th, with seven crew lost and eight saved.
FREDENSBURG lost her
entire crew of 20 men. ENGLAND lost 20 men with one
survivor and HOSAGNER
lost 17, with her only survivor being rescued by armed
boarding vessel
NORTHERN REWARD and later transferred to destroyer MAORI.
_____
Mine bumper
ILSENSTEIN was to proceed to Troon to be converted into a
blockship.
_____
Finnish steamer CLIO
(996grt) was seized in the
Baltic by German warships, and taken to Pillau.
_____
Destroyer HEREWARD
was damaged by heavy weather, and repaired at Halifax
until 28
February, when she left for England.
_____
American light
cruiser TRENTON (CL.11), at sea with American destroyers
DICKERSON (DD.157)
and HERBERT (DD.160) en route from Madeira to Lisbon, made
plain language
reports to French destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL, which was
escorting merchant
ships south towards North Africa, of apparent preparations
for a breakout by
German steamers ARUCAS (3369grt), LA PLATA (8056grt),
WANGONI (7848grt) from
Vigo.
_____
French light
cruiser JEANNE DE VIENNE departed Malta after a visit
by French Admiral Sud.
Sunday,
28 January
Destroyer
WHITSHED arrived at Plymouth on the 26th
after escorting convoy SL.16 to Dover. She and
destroyers ACASTA and ARDENT then left Plymouth on the
27th to
escort battleship
REVENGE,
which was carrying £10,000,000 sterling of gold,
art treasures, and some passengers, from there to Halifax.
Just after midnight on the 28th,
the destroyers met REVENGE off Plymouth and escorted
her to 14W where they detached and were ordered to meet
light cruiser AJAX arriving from
the South Atlantic.
_____
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed the Clyde on Northern
Patrol to relieve heavy cruiser DEVONSHIRE,
and arrived
back at Greenock on 29 February
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA departed the
Humber, and arrived
back at Immingham on the 31st.
_____
Light cruiser
COLOMBO departed
Devonport for Belfast where she
arrived on the 29th, and then proceeded to the
Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Destroyers ESCAPADE
and ENCOUNTER with cable ship ROYAL SCOT returned to
Rosyth after once again being frustrated by bad weather.
_____
Destroyer JACKAL
departed Rosyth to relieve destroyer JAGUAR, which then
sailed for Scapa Flow to relieve destroyer
JAVELIN. JAGUAR arrived at Scapa on the 29th
_____
Destroyers KEITH
and WAKEFUL, patrolling at the mouth to Bristol Channel,
attacked a
submarine contact south of Milford Haven in 51-27.5N,
5-09.5W.
_____
Convoy OA.81
departed Southend escorted by sloop ROCHESTER and
destroyer
WREN from the 28th to 30th, when the convoy dispersed.
_____
Convoy OB.81
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VISCOUNT and
WALKER until the 31st, when they detached to SL.17.
_____
Convoy FS.83
departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN and sloop
PELICAN, and was attacked by German bombers off Cromer and
later in the day
off Whitby. There was no damage from either
attack on the 29th, but on the 30th steamer VOREDA (7216grt)
was hit in 52‑59N, 01‑59E by He111's
of German X Air Corps. The whole crew was saved by VIVIEN,
VOREDA went ashore
on Winkerton Shoal, and the wreck was sunk on 5 February.
The convoy arrived
at Southend on the 30th.
Note: German X
Air Corps flew He111's of KG26, Ju88's of KG30, and two
reconnaissance
squadrons flying He59's or Do17's.
_____
Steamer ESTON
(1487grt) in convoy FN.81 was
sunk off Blyth on a mine laid by U.22 on 20 December.
There were no survivors.
_____
U.34 sank Greek
steamer ELENI STATHATOU (5625grt)
200 miles west of the Scillies with the loss of twelve
crew.
_____
U.44 sank Greek
steamer FLORA NOMICOS (1783grt)
west of Figuerra la Foz.
_____
Convoy HXF.18
departed Halifax at 0800
escorted by Canadian destroyers SAGUENAY and SKEENA until
the 29th
and with ocean escort provided by armed merchant cruiser
ALAUNIA, which left
on 6 February. The convoy was joined in Home Waters by
destroyer ANTELOPE
from convoy OA.84 and sloop DEPTFORD from OB.84, and
arrived at Liverpool on the 8th.
_____
Convoy SLF.18 departed
Freetown escorted by
armed merchant cruiser DUNVEGAN CASTLE, joined convoy
SL.18 at sea on 8 February and arrived at Liverpool on the
12th.
_____
Light cruiser
LIVERPOOL
arrived at Hong Kong for repairs.
Monday,
29 January
Light cruisers
AURORA,
ARETHUSA and
NEWCASTLE
arrived at Scapa Flow.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser LETITIA and heavy cruiser
SUFFOLK
departed the Clyde on Northern
Patrol, the latter to relieve sister ship BERWICK.
_____
Destroyer ILEX,
repairs completed, departed Liverpool for Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers KANDAHAR and
KASHMIR departed Rosyth
for the Clyde.
_____
Destroyer MAORI
took off the crew of steamer BADJESTAN
(5573grt) which had gone ashore off Clachaig Point, Arran,
and arrived in
the Clyde on the 29th.
_____
Convoy HN.9B of
three British, eight Norwegian, ten Swedish, four Finnish
and four Estonian
ships, delayed a day because of bad weather, departed
Bergen escorted by
destroyers JERVIS, JUNO and JUPITER.
Destroyer IMPERIAL departed Rosyth on the 27th to join the
escort. There was
no west coast section and the convoy, less ships separated
in a storm,
arrived safely at Methil on 2 February.
_____
Convoy OA.82
departed Southend escorted by destroyers VANESSA and
WINDSOR from the 29th to
30th.
_____
Convoy OB.82
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers MACKAY until the
30th and WARWICK to 1 February.
_____
Convoy FS.83A
departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops BITTERN and
FLEETWOOD and was attacked by German bombers on the 30th.
One rating on
minesweeper NIGER was killed by a
near miss and steamer HIGH
WAVE (1178grt) sunk
one mile NNE of Kentish Knock. Eighteen survivors were
picked up by Dutch
trawler RIAN (232grt), and the convoy arrived at Southend
on the 31st.
_____
Dutch steamer NORA
(298grt) hit a mine one miles
east of the Deal Coast Guard Station, and went ashore at
Deal.
_____
Steamer STANBURN
(2981grt) was bombed and
sunk by He111's of German X Air Corps, 10 miles SE by E,
one half mile south
of Flamborough Head. Twenty five crew were lost and three
saved.
_____
Latvian steamer
TAUTMILA (3724grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of
German KG26 five
miles NW of Smiths Knoll Light Vessel.
_____
Steamer IMPERIAL
MONARCH (5831grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of
German KG26, 10 miles
62° from Scurdyness.
_____
Steamer GRIPFAST
(1109grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of German X
Air Corps, 10 miles
SE by E, one quarter mile south of Flamborough Head.
_____
U.51 sank
Norwegian steamer EIKA (1503grt) in
50N, 10-35W. Fourteen crew were lost and two rescued by
U.51.
_____
Convoy HG.17F
departed Gibraltar with 25 ships on the 29th, escorts:
|
|
joined
|
detached
|
|
29th
|
Destroyer
WOLSEY, sloop LOWESTOFT
|
|
|
31st
|
Sloop
SANDWICH
|
|
|
4th
|
Destroyers
BROKE, WINCHELSEA from convoy OG.17F
|
|
|
5th
|
|
SANDWICH
|
|
6th
|
|
BROKE
|
|
7th
|
|
WOLSEY,
LOWESTOFT, WINCHELSEA
|
|
convoy
arrived
at Liverpool on 7 February
|
_____
Light cruiser
DURBAN
departed Singapore.
_____
Cruiser
HAWKINS
relieved New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES
as flagship of the South America Station. ACHILLES
departed Montevideo for the Falklands where she
arrived on 1 February, leaving there on the 2nd to return
to New Zealand. Arriving at Auckland on 23 February,
she was refitting and repairing until early June, and
carried out trials in Hauraki Bay on 14 June.
_____
Destroyers DECOY
and DEFENDER departed Gibraltar on escort
duties returning on 7 February. Both then sailed on the
8th for Freetown, arriving on
the 15th and 18th respectively.
_____
Monitor TERROR
departed Singapore on the 29th,
proceeded via Penang, Colombo, Bombay and Aden, and
arrived at
Alexandria on 11 March and
Malta on 4 April. She
was to have gone on to Devonport to arrive in mid-April,
but was retained in
the Mediterranean.
Tuesday,
30 January
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CURACOA departed
Chatham to work up at Portland after
conversion to an anti-aircraft ship.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser CILICIA departed the Clyde for Northern
Patrol.
_____
Submarine
SEAWOLF departed Lowestoft on patrol.
_____
Convoy MT.1
departed Methil with destroyer ECHO and escort
vessel VEGA.
_____
Convoy MT.2
departed Methil with destroyers ENCOUNTER and ESCAPADE,
but the convoy
returned to Methil.
_____
Destroyer
INGLEFIELD arrived in the Clyde after escorting
the west coast portion of HN.9A. Destroyer MOHAWK returned
to Scapa Flow.
_____
Escort
vessel/destroyer WESTMINSTER arrived at
Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
JAVELIN and SIKH arrived at Scapa Flow, but SIKH left
the same day to assist anti-submarine trawler SCOTTISH
(558grt) which was
being bombed.
_____
Convoy BC.23S of
steamers BALTRAFFIC, BARON KINNAIRD, DUNKWA (Commodore)
and FABIAN departed
the Loire escorted by destroyer MONTROSE, and
arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 31st.
_____
In an Admiralty
release - as of 30 January 1940, twenty four
German merchant ships had been captured for 103,037 tons
and twenty three
ships intercepted scuttled themselves for 139,236 tons.
When compared to
German releases (see 8 February) and post war studies, all
three basically
agree. The largest discrepancy rests on the fact that a
scuttled ship was not
always scuttled by the German crew but by the capturing
warship for any
number of reasons (no prize crew, poor state of ship,
etc). German wartime
sources regarded a scuttled ship as one that was not
capable of further use
regardless of who scuttled it, while British sources would
count a ship
captured even if they later scuttled it.
_____
Sloop FOWEY was
escorting convoy segment OA.80G to join convoy OG.16, and
tanker VACLITE and
steamer BEAVERBRAE (9956grt) were straggling. U.55, on her
first war patrol,
torpedoed and sank VACLITE
(5026grt) at 0150, 100 miles west of Ushant in 49‑20N,
07‑04W and
Italian steamer POLLENZO (6470grt) rescued the 28 man
crew; BEAVERBRAE
quickly caught up with the convoy. Then at 1105, U.55 sank
Greek steamer KERAMIAI (5085grt) in 48‑37N,
07‑46W and her 35 survivors were rescued by FOWEY and
tanker BRITISH
UNITY (8367grt). Destroyers WHITSHED, ACASTA and ARDENT
were escorting light
cruiser
AJAX
to Plymouth, received the
Greek steamer's distress signals, and while ACASTA
remained with AJAX, WHITSHED and
ARDENT detached to assist the convoy. One of the convoy
escorts, French large
destroyer VALMY, aircraft of RAF 228 Squadron and WHITSHED
attacked the
submarine, but without damaging her. U.55
was then damaged by depth charges dropped by FOWEY, and
she was scuttled SW
of the Scillies in 48‑37N, 07‑46W. WHITSHED and FOWEY
picked up
the survivors - three officers and thirty eight ratings -
all the crew,
except the commanding officer Kptlt. Werner Heidel, who
went down with his
command.
_____
Destroyer WREN
attacked a submarine contact SW of the Scillies in 49-30N,
6-52W.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser WOLFE at Portland dragged her
anchor and collided with steamer WESTERN COAST (1390grt),
which was not damaged.
_____
Steamer GIRALDA
(2178grt) carrying coal for the
Northern Patrol trawlers, was bombed and sunk by He111's
of German X Air
Corps three miles east of Grimness, S. Ronaldsay, Orkneys
with the loss of
all twenty three crew.
_____
Steamer BANCREST
(4450grt) was bombed by
He111's of the German X Air Corps in 58‑53N, 01‑52W, and
went
ashore at Wick with the loss of one crewman. Destroyer
JAVELIN rescued the
survivors.
_____
Steamer ROYAL
CROWN (4364grt) was bombed and damaged by HE111's of
German KG26, 15 miles
south of Smiths Knoll Light Vessel.
_____
Steamer JERSEY
QUEEN (910grt) was damaged by German bombing in 53‑06N,
01‑30E.
_____
U.15, setting out on patrol from Wilhelmshaven on the 30th,
was sunk in an accidental collision with German torpedo
boat ILTIS in the North Sea in 54-21N,
4-50E. The entire crew of 25 men was lost, and ILTIS was
under repair at
Wesermunde until May.
_____
German tanker
THALIA (1122grt) was in Cadiz Bay to refuel U.44
in Operation MORO. U.44 did not appear, but U.25 arrived
at 2200/30th, taking
four hours to refuel.
_____
French heavy
cruiser TOURVILLE and destroyers VAUBAN and AIGLE departed
Beirut for patrol and
arrived at Malta on 3 February.
_____
Destroyers
HUNTER and the Canadian ST LAURENT, FRASER, OTTAWA and
RESTIGOUCHE departed
Halifax escorting Canadian convoy TC.3 of troopships
EMPRESS OF BRITAIN
(42,348grt, carrying 1588 troops), MONARCH OF BERMUDA
(22,424grt, 1334),
EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (19,665grt, 1577), AQUITANIA
(45,647grt, 2733) and
Polish CHROBRY (11,442grt, civilian labourers). Ocean
escort was battleship
VALIANT,
and light cruiser
ENTERPRISE
which returned
to Halifax on 4 February. HUNTER arrived at Plymouth on 8
February
and went on to Falmouth for docking and
refit until 9 March prior to joining the Home Fleet.
_____
Australian heavy
cruiser CANBERRA departed
Fremantle for Eastern Australian waters where she carried
out patrols until
April.
Wednesday,
31
January
Battleship
RODNEY,
battlecruiser REPULSE
and their escorts arrived back in the Clyde after
exercises.
_____
Light cruisers
GLASGOW
and
EDINBURGH
departed Rosyth.
_____
Destroyer DARING
arrived in the Clyde.
_____
Armed merchant
cruiser ASCANIA arrived at the Clyde.
_____
Destroyer SIKH
arrived at Scapa Flow.
_____
Destroyers
ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER arrived at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyer MOHAWK
departed Sullom Voe for Scapa Flow.
_____
Submarine
STURGEON arrived at Blyth after patrol.
_____
Submarine
TRIDENT departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
Destroyer WAKEFUL
attacked a submarine contact off Bull Point in 51-20N,
4-09W.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO
departed
Immingham on patrol.
_____
Light cruiser
DELHI left Portsmouth
for the Mediterranean, arrived at Gibraltar on 3 February,
departed next day and reached Malta on the 8th.
_____
Convoy OA.80G
departed Southend on the 27th with destroyer WHITSHED and
sloop FOWEY, and
OB.80G left Liverpool on the 28th with destroyers WALPOLE
and
WITHERINGTON. They merged as convoy OG.16 on the 31st with
37 ships, escorts:
|
|
joined
|
detached
|
|
31st
|
Destroyers
WALPOLE, WITHERINGTON (both continued),
WHITSHED, French destroyer VALMY and
patrol ship
VIKING
|
WALPOLE to convoy
HG.16
|
|
4th
|
Destroyer
WISHART
|
|
|
5th
|
|
VALMY,
VIKING
|
|
convoy
arrived
at Gibraltar on 5th
|
_____
Convoy FN.83
departed Southend, escorted by sloops FLAMINGO and WESTON,
accompanied by
minelayer PRINCESS VICTORIA, and arrived in the Tyne on 1
February.
The sloops then escorted the minelayer to Rosyth.
_____
Norwegian
steamer START (1168grt) departed Sunderland for
Oslo on the 29th,
and was sunk on the 31st, northeast of Kinnaird Head with
all hands.
_____
U.21 sank Danish
steamer VIDAR (1353grt) in 58‑39N,
02‑00E with the loss of 16 crew. Eighteen were
rescued, and the wreck sank on 1
February.
_____
Light cruiser
AJAX,
escorted by
destroyers WHITSHED, ARDENT and ACASTA arrived at
Plymouth.
_____
Convoy HX.18
departed Halifax at 0800
escorted by Canadian destroyers SAGUENAY and SKEENA, which
detached
on 1 February. Ocean escort was battleship
ROYAL
SOVEREIGN which
left on the
8th. Escort consisted of destroyer WINCHELSEA and sloop
ROCHESTER from convoy
OB.89 from the 13th to 16th, when the convoy arrived in
Liverpool.
_____
Light cruiser
GLOUCESTER
departed Colombo after refitting,
called at Mogadishu on 8 February
and was at Mombasa from the 9th to 11th.
January,
miscellaneous
At the end of
January, the following destroyers were under repair -
ACHERON at Portsmouth,
AFRIDI at Hartlepool, ANTHONY at Portsmouth, ARDENT at
Plymouth, ASHANTI at
Cowes, BEDOUIN at Wallsend, BOADICEA at Dover, BULLDOG at
Malta, DELIGHT at
Portsmouth, DUNCAN at Cromarty damaged, ELECTRA at
Falmouth, ESCORT at
Falmouth, ESKIMO at Southampton, GARLAND at Malta, GRENADE
at Tilbury
damaged, HARDY at Plymouth with defects, HAVOCK at
Chatham, HEREWARD at
Halifax, HOSTILE at Plymouth with defects, HOTSPUR at
Chatham, HYPERION at
Portsmouth, ISIS at Falmouth, JERSEY at Hull, KELLY at
Tyne, KELVIN at Clyde,
KIMBERLEY at Clyde, KIPLING at Tyne, MALCOLM at Cardiff,
MAORI at Clyde with
defects, MASHONA at Chatham refitting, PUNJABI at Clyde,
SOMALI at
Middlesbrough, VALOROUS at Rosyth, WALLACE at Rosyth,
WHITEHALL at Plymouth,
WITCH at Plymouth damaged, WITHERINGTON at Liverpool,
Polish GROM at Chatham.
