Background
Events - April-May 1940
Invasion of
Norway, Battles of Narvik, Blitzkrieg on Western
Europe, Dunkirk evacuation starts
1940
Wednesday,
1
May
Norwegian
hospital
ship DRONNING MAUD (1488grt) was badly damaged by German
bombing at
Gratangen.
There
were twenty
casualties on the Norwegian ship.
Hospital
ship
DRONNING MAUD was a total loss and was not salved.
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
at 0727 laid a minefield, designated FD.6, off
Frederikstavn in
57-30N, 10-43E.
On
3 May, German auxiliary minesweeper M. 1102 (trawler
H.A. W. MULLER, 460grt)
was slightly damaged on this minefield.
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
at 1825 attacked a German convoy,carrying the 2nd
Gebirgsjager
Division, nine miles east of Skagen near Hertha, in
57-39N, 11-02. 5E.
Submarine
NARWHAL
fired six torpedoes at a convoy of four merchant ships,
German
steamers BUENAS AIRES (6097grt), BAHIA CASTILLO
(8579grt), KRETA (2359grt),
WIEGAND (5869grt).
German
steamer
BUENAS AIRES (6097grt) was sunk and German steamer BAHIA
CASTILLO
(8579grt) was badly damaged losing her rudder and
screws.
Sixty
men
and two hundred and forty horses were lost and sixty
four men wounded on
the steamer BUENAS AIRES. Ten men and twenty six horses
were lost and twenty
three men wounded on the steamer BAHIA CASTILLO.
Steamer
BAHIA
CASTILLO was towed to Frederickshavn and was later
broken up.
_____
French
submarines
CASABIANCA and SFAX arrived at Dundee from patrol.
_____
French
minelaying
submarine RUBIS (Lieutenant de Vaisseau G. Cabanier)
arrived at
Harwich for minelaying operations off the Norwegian
coast.
_____
Destroyers
VETERAN,
VISCOUNT, VANSITTART departed Scapa Flow at 0500 with
French convoy
FS.3, consisting of British steamers MARGOT (4545grt)
and SEPIA (6214grt),
British tanker BRITISH LORD (6098grt), British base ship
MASHOBRA (8324grt),
French steamers ALBERTE LE BORGNE (3921grt), ENSEIGNE
MAURICE PRECHAC
(4578grt), SAINTE CLARE (3824grt), VULCAIN (4362grt).
These
ships
had been escorted to
Scapa Flow by Escort ships JASON and GLEANER and
anti-submarine trawlers. On arrival at
Scapa
Flow on 28 April, the escorts returned
to the Clyde.
Off
Scapa
Flow,
these ships were joined by destroyers ISIS, IMOGEN, ILEX
with British
steamers BELLEROPHON (9019grt) and LYCAON (7350grt)
which had departed the Clyde on 30 April.
When
the two groups rendezvoused, destroyers VETERAN and
VISCOUNT took base ship
MASHOBRA to the
Clyde arriving on the 2nd. The convoy and its escorts arrived safely at
Harstad on the 6th.
French
steamer
PAUL EMILE JAVARY (2471grt) of the convoy was damaged in
a collision
on 28 April with British steamer PIZARRO (1367grt)
sixteen miles east,
northeast of Stornoway. She was able to leave Scapa Flow
on the 3rd and arrived at
Harstad on the 9th.
_____
Destroyers
ESK,
EXPRESS, INTREPID with mines for the Narvik area were
ordered to return
to Immingham.
The
destroyers departed
Scapa Flow at 0540 and arrived at Immingham at 2030.
_____
French
destroyer
FOUDROYANT arrived at
Greenock
escorting French troopship
VILLE D'ALGER (10,172grt). She departed that day and
arrived at Scapa Flow the next day.
_____
French
convoy
FP.3 with French troopships VILLE D'ALGER (10,172grt),
COLOMBIE
(13,391grt), CHENONCEAUX (14,825grt), MEXIQUE
(12,220grt) and British
troopship MONARCH OF BERMUDA (22,424grt) departed the
Clyde at 0700/1st carrying the
last contingent of the 1st Chasseurs Light Division, the
French Legion Demi
Brigade, the Polish Brigade.
These
troopships
were escorted by destroyers ATHERSTONE, WARWICK, French
destroyers
EPERVIER and FOUDROYANT, Patrol vessels JASON and
GLEANER of the 3rd
Anti-submarine Striking Force.
Destroyer
WHIRLWIND
departed the
Clyde at 1300 and joined the convoy.
British
troopships
EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, REINA DEL PACIFICO, LANCASTRIA,
DUCHESS OF ATHOLL and Polish troopships BATORY and
SOBIESKI proceeded in
company in the convoy for
Scapa Flow. The escort vessels JASON and GLEANER escorted
this section into
Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
was detached for refuelling at Scapa Flow.
Troopship
VILLE
D'ALGER took the place of French liner GENERAL METZINGER
(9312grt)
which was damaged in
St George's Channel
while en route to Greenock. British steamer MONARCH OF
BERMUDA replaced French liner PROVIDENCE (11996grt).
Destroyer
ECHO
departed Rosyth at 0900/1st
and passed May
Island
at 0900. She arrived at Scapa Flow at 0700/2nd escorting
British tanker BRITISH GOVERNOR (6840grt) from Aberdeen.
Destroyer
ECHO
departed Scapa Flow at 1300/2nd to escort convoy
FP.3, but was recalled at 1351 to Scapa Flow.
At Scapa Flow, the destroyer went
alongside troopship ULSTER PRINCE and embarked the
Norwegian Naval Commander in Chief Admiral Deisan, three
staff officers,
three Swedish officers for passage to Tromso. She then
proceeded to join the
convoy.
Destroyers
AMAZON
and BRAZEN departed
Scapa Flow at 0340/2nd to join the convoy.
Destroyer
ECHO
joined the convoy escort on
the 4th.
Troopships
VILLE
D'ALGER and MONARCH OF BERMUDA arrived at Harstad on the
5th and the
rest of the convoy safely arrived at Tromso on the 5th.
On
the 7th, escorted by destroyers BRAZEN and ECHO and
French destroyer
EPERVIER, troopships CHENONCEAUX and COLOMBIE
disembarked at Harstad and
MEXIQUE disembarked at Salangen and Balangen.
_____
Battleship
RESOLUTION
and light cruisers EFFINGHAM (Commander in Chief Norway
aboard)
and AURORA bombarded German positions in Ofotfjord in the
Ankenes area.
_____
Anti-aircraft
ship
CURLEW arrived at
Scapa Flow.
_____
Destroyers
WOLVERINE
and BRAZEN arrived at
Scapa Flow
at 0525 with details on
board from the Namsos area.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler
NORTHERN PRIDE ran aground at Tjelsundet.
The
trawler was assisted by destroyer WALKER.
_____
Destroyer
JUNO
from Scapa Flow arrived at Sullom Voe at
1800 to refuel.
_____
Destroyer
WANDERER
searched for a German submarine reported by air at 1515
in 61‑20N,
00‑18E. She searched from 1744 to 2103 and then
proceeded to Sullom Voe
to refuel.
Destroyer
WANDERER
arrived at daylight at 0635/2nd. She embarked troops in
destroyer
WALKER.
_____
Destroyer
KIMBERLEY departed Sullom Voe at 0915 after refuelling.
_____
British
operation
BRICK 2, the evacuation of southern Norway which began
on 30 April,
continued.
At
Romdalsfjord, anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA and sloop
AUCKLAND were heavily attacked by
German bombers and both ships, almost out of ammunition,
were withdrawn at
1600 from the Fjord.
That
night, a British force under Vice Admiral G. Layton, CB
DSO, which departed Scapa Flow at 1700 on 30 April,
entered
the Romdalsfjord to embark troops with Light cruisers
MANCHESTER (CS 18) and BIRMINGHAM, destroyers
INGLEFIELD,
DIANA, DELIGHT. They joined anti-aircraft cruiser
CALCUTTA and sloop AUCKLAND already in the area.
As
cruisers MANCHESTER
and BIRMINGHAM were too large the use the
pier, destroyers INGLEFIELD, DIANA, DELIGHT ferried the
troops out into the
harbour for embarkation on the cruisers.
Destroyer
SOMALI
embarked the PRIMROSE detachment at Aalesund.
Destroyer
DIANA
embarked Norwegian General Ruge and took him, along with
his staff, to
Tromso arriving at 1100/3rd.
Layton
with light cruisers BIRMINGHAM and MANCHESTER and
destroyers INGLEFIELD
and DELIGHT returned to
Scapa Flow at 0015/3rd sustaining no casualties in the
evacuation.
Destroyer
SOMALI
arrived
Scapa Flow at 1630/2nd.
Anti-aircraft
ship
CALCUTTA and destroyer MASHONA arrived at
Scapa
Flow at 0730/3rd. CALCUTTA had forty one officers and
seven hundred and fifteen men evacuated from Aandalsnes.
MASHONA carried one
officer and nine men, all wounded, the crew of trawler
CAPE CHELYUSKIN.
Sloop
AUCKLAND arrived at
Scapa
Flow at 1015/3rd.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS, escorted by destroyers ACHERON, ANTELOPE,
BEAGLE, arrived
off Norway with new aircraft after having been withdrawn
for refuelling and
aircraft on 27 April.
A
Skua from aircraft carrier GLORIOUS 803 Squadron was
shot down in error by
British ships off Namsos. S/Lt G. W. Brokensha and Petty
Officer S. E.
Andrews were picked up by destroyer NUBIAN.
_____
Destroyers
HYPERION
and BEAGLE were detached from the aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL's
screen for refuelling at Sullom Voe.
_____
Destroyers
WITHERINGTON
and WOLVERINE departed
Scapa Flow
at 2107 with Polish
troopship CHROBRY (11,442grt) and British troopship
ORION (23,456grt) to
Rosyth, arriving at 1130/2nd.
_____
In
Operation KLAXON 1 and 2, Namsos was to have been
evacuated over two days,
but when word of a battalion of French troops having
gotten away, the entire
operation was set to take place on the 1st.
The
British evacuating force arrived off the coast and found
it fog covered.
Late
on the 1st, destroyer MAORI reached Kya Light off
Namsenfjord and Vice
Admiral J. Cunningham sent destroyers KELLY, GRENADE,
GRIFFIN, French BISON to join her.
As
the destroyers went up Namsenfjord in dense fog early on
the 2nd, destroyer
MAORI was damaged by near misses of air bombs and
sustained twenty three
casualties (five dying of wounds). Cdr G. N. Brewer, Lt
Cdr (E) T. T.
Brandreth and Acting Gunner (T) S. C. White were among
the wounded.
The
evacuation attempt was aborted at that time due to the
German's knowledge of
their intentions and operation was rescheduled for the
night of 2/3 May.
Destroyer
MAORI
withdrew with her casualties.
Destroyer
MAORI
was able to participate in evacuation the next night.
Destroyer
MAORI
departed
Scapa Flow at 0001/6th. Off Sumburgh Head, she met destroyer
ECLIPSE, which departed Lerwick at 0420 with one
operable engine, escorted
her to the Clyde.
Destroyer
ECLIPSE
arrived at
Greenock at 1800/7th.
Destroyer
MAORI
went on to
Bootle, near
Liverpool, where her repairs were completed on the 20th.
_____
S/Lt
H.G. Aitchison was killed when his Hornet Moth aircraft
crashed at Golspie.
_____
Convoy
BC.36
of steamers
ATLANTIC
COAST, BARON NAIRN (Commodore),
CAMEO, CITY OF
LANCASTER,
DORSET COAST, MARSLEW departed Bristol Channel escorted
by destroyer
MONTROSE. The convoy arrived at
Loire on the 3rd.
_____
Convoy
SA.39
of one steamer arrived at St Malo from Southampton.
_____
Convoy FN.159 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and
armed patrol yacht
BREDA.
The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 3rd.
_____
Convoy MT.62 departed Methil, escorted by sloops EGRET and WESTON.
The convoy arrived in the
Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.159 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyers VALOROUS and WALLACE.
The convoy arrived at Southend on the 3rd.
_____
Convoy FS.160 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALENTINE and sloop
WESTON. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 3rd.
_____
Destroyer
BOREAS
arrived at
Dover
from Chatham after refitting.
_____
Convoy
OG.28F
was formed from convoys OA.138GF, which departed
Southend on 28 April
escorted by sloop SCARBOROUGH, OB.138GF, which departed
Liverpool on 28
April, escorted by destroyer VERSATILE, with forty five
ships.
Sloop
SCARBOROUGH
escorted the convoy on the
1st and was then detached to convoy HG.28 F.
Sloop
FOLKESTONE
and anti-submarine whaler WILLIAM SCORESBY escorted the
convoy
from 1 to 6 May. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on the
6th.
_____
French
anti-submarine
trawlers LA CANCALAISE (former British SAINT AMANDUS,
400grt),
LA NANTAISE (former British SAINT ARCADIUS, 399grt), LA
L'LORIENTAISE (former
British SAINT ANDRONICUS, 398grt) departed Dover for
Dunkirk.
Trawler
L'LORIENTAISE,
damaged on 26 April, was under the tow of French tug
BARFLEUR
(TUMULTE in some sources).
Near
Dyck Light Vessel shoal, trawler LA CANCALAISE struck a
mine and sank.
Twelve
plus
crew were lost on the French trawler.
_____
Convoy
OA.139
departed Southend escorted by sloop ENCHANTRESS.
_____
Battleships
MALAYA
and ROYAL SOVEREIGN, French battleships LORRAINE,
BRETAGNE,
PROVENCE,from Mer el Kebir, French cruisers TOURVILLE,
DUQUESNE, DUGUAY
TROUIN escorted by destroyers DEFENDER and DECOY,
Australian destroyers
STUART and VAMPIRE, six French destroyers, one French
torpedo boat passed
Malta en route to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet.
Destroyers
VELOX
and WATCHMAN, escorting the battleships, entered Malta,
arrived back at Gibraltar on the 4th.
Battleships
MALAYA
and ROYAL SOVEREIGN,
Australian destroyers STUART and VAMPIRE, French
battleships PROVENCE, LORRAINE, BRETAGNE, destroyers
TIGRE, LYNX, FORBIN arrived at Alexandria at 1820/3rd.
Destroyer
FORBIN
was a replacement for originally designated destroyer
PANTHERE which
was under repair at
Toulon.
_____
Convoy
SL.
30 departed
Freetown
escorted by armed merchant
cruiser CARNARVON
CASTLE until 15 May. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 18th.
_____
Australian
troop
convoy US.3 departed Wellington with troopships
AQUITANIA (45,647grt), EMPRESS OF
BRITAIN (42,348grt), EMPRESS OF JAPAN (26,032grt),
escorted by Australian
heavy cruiser
AUSTRALIA
and New Zealand light cruiser LEANDER.
Light
cruiser
LEANDER had arrived at Wellington on 24 April in
preparation
for this convoy duty.
Australian
light
cruiser SYDNEY, en route to join this convoy on the 1st,
was ordered to
Colombo, via
Sunda
Strait and Singapore. The cruiser arrived at Singapore
on the 5th. After
refuelling, the cruiser departed Singapore later the
same day and
arrived at Colombo
on the 8th. She departed Colombo on the 12th to meet
convoy
US.3 in the area of the Coco Islands, but was recalled
to Colombo to sail for the Mediterranean.
Troopship
ANDES
(25,689grt) joined en route,
escorted by Australian heavy cruiser CANBERRA, all
arrived safely off Sydney on the 5th under the escort
of Australian heavy cruisers AUSTRALIA and CANBERRA and
New Zealand light cruiser LEANDER.
At
Sydney, the convoy was joined by troopships MAURETANIA
(35,738grt) and QUEEN MARY (80,774grt), escorted by
Australian light cruiser PERTH, the next day off
Melbourne by troopship
EMPRESS OF CANADA (21,517grt).
Light
cruiser
PERTH
was detached when the convoy
formed for ocean passage.
Convoy
US.3
was at Fremantle from 10 to 12 May when the convoy put
back out to sea. New Zealand light cruiser LEANDER was
detached on the 16th and proceeded on other duties. The
light cruiser LEANDER
arrived at Colombo
on the 19th.
_____
Light
cruiser
DAUNTLESS was refitting at
Hong Kong
from this date to 4 June.
Thursday,
2 May
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
COVENTRY
departed Sheerness for
trials at Rosyth after refit.
The
trials were completed on the 7th. Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY arrived at Sullom Voe on the
8th.
_____
Destroyer
WOLFHOUND
completed her conversion to fast escort ship. She
proceeded to Portland for working up which was cut
short by the invasion of France and the Low Countries.
On 14 May, she departed Portland for Sheerness.
_____
At
0926, submarine TRIDENT fired two torpedoes at German
steamer CLARE HUGO
STINNES I (5294grt) off Skorpa Island.
Submarine
TRIDENT
fired seventy rounds from her deck gun at the German
steamer which
ran herself aground in Bjoernefjord to prevent sinking.
Submarine
TRIDENT
fired three torpedoes at the grounded German steamer,
but all three
torpedoes exploded on the rocks.
The
German steamer was later salved. On 26 July, CLARE HUGO
STINNES I was docked
at Bergen for repairs. The ship was ultimately lost on
27 September 1944 on a mine.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE
departed Dundee for patrol off Fro Havet.
_____
Submarine
TAKU
departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
French
destroyers
BRESTOIS and BOULONNAIS arrived at Scapa Flow at 1245
with steamers
AMIENOIS and SAUMUR.
Both
destroyers departed at 2130 escorting French steamers
AMIENOIS, SAUMUR, CAP BLANC to Greenock, arriving at
1800/4th.
_____
Destroyer
HEREWARD
arrived at Sullom Voe for refuelling at 1240/2nd.
_____
Polish
destroyer
BLYSKAWICA was damaged by German shore guns near Narvik.
She
retired to Skelfjord for repairs.
_____
Late
on the 2nd at Mosjoen, destroyer JANUS landed 100
Chasseur Alpins and two
anti-aircraft guns embarked at Namsos. The landing was
completed at 2350.
This
operation was attempted on the 1st, but was delayed due
to heavy fog.
The
destroyer was then ordered to meet two Norwegian pulp
ships from Salsbruket
and one Norwegian pulp ship from Lansless fifty miles
off the coast and
escort them.
Destroyer
JANUS
was unable to locate any of these merchant ships and
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0730/5th.
_____
Destroyer
WANDERER
arrived at Sullom Voe at 0635 to refuel.
_____
Destroyer
WESTCOTT
arrived at
Scapa Flow from Sullom Voe at 0800 with 350 troops on
board.
_____
Destroyer
HYPERION
arrived at Sullom Voe for refuelling at 2215.
_____
Destroyer
ICARUS
departed
Scapa Flow at 1200 to meet Danish steamer GUNVOR MAERSK en route
to Scapa
Flow.
Both
ships arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1800.
_____
Destroyer
JAGUAR
departed Rosyth with British A. S. I. S. steamer
CROMARTY FIRTH
(538grt) for Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
JAGUAR
was returning to the Home Fleet after repairs.
_____
Late
on the 2nd, the British evacuated Namsos in Operation
KLAXON.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CARLISLE, which had joined the
evacuation force west of Namsos earlier in the day,
stood off the town of Namsos while the evacuation took
place.
The
two surviving trawlers at Namsos, ARAB and ANGLE,
ferried troops to the
French armed merchant cruiser EL MANSOUR and heavy
cruiser YORK in the harbour, while French
armed merchant cruisers EL D'JEZAIR and EL KANTARA
berthed at the pier.
Destroyers
AFRIDI,
NUBIAN, KELLY and French destroyers BISON and FOUDROYANT
operated in
the Fjord.
Heavy
cruiser
DEVONSHIRE, French light cruiser
MONTCALM, Destroyers GRENADE, GRIFFIN, HASTY, IMPERIAL
remained at
sea off Namsenfjord.
Early
on
the 3rd, British trawlers ST GORAN (565grt) of the 15th
Anti-submarine
Striking Force and ASTON VILLA (546grt) and GAUL
(550grt) of the 16th
Anti-submarine Striking Force, which had been badly
damaged by German bombing
near Namsos on 30 April, were scuttled before the allied
ships left.
The
British and French ships were able to lift 1850 British
troops, 2345 French
troops, some Norwegian troops, thirty German prisoners
from Namsos.
Destroyer
AFRIDI
stayed behind to pick up a late arriving detachment when
the other
ships left for the relative safety of the open sea.
The
evacuation was completed at 0445/3rd.
Destroyer
AFRIDI
caught up with the allied force as the Germans launched
heavy air
attacks on the force. Air attacks concentrated on heavy
cruiser DEVONSHIRE and light cruiser MONTCALM.
French
destroyer
BISON was hit by a German bomb which exploded her fore
magazine and
blew off the fore part of the ship at 1010 in these
attacks in 65‑42N,
07‑17E. Her survivors were taken off by destroyer
GRENADE which went
alongside and destroyers IMPERIAL and AFRIDI which
picked up men from the
water. AFRIDI had rescued sixty nine BISON survivors.
C.
V. Bouan, L. V. Merlin, one hundred ratings were lost in
destroyer BISON.
Also killed on destroyer BISON was British Cdr R. R.
Graham DSO, which was an
observer.
Destroyer
AFRIDI
scuttled destroyer BISON.
Destroyer
AFRIDI
rejoined the Main Force after picking up BISON's
survivors, but then
was hit herself at 1400 in further German bombing in
66‑14N, 5‑45E.
Destroyer
AFRIDI
foundered forty six minutes after being hit.
Destroyers
GRIFFIN and IMPERIAL picked up her survivors.
Warrant
Telegraphist
R. Mellor and forty eight of AFRIDI's ratings were lost
with the
ship along with three of IMPERIAL's ratings, about 30 of
BISON's crew,
thirteen military rearguard personnel evacuated from
Namsos. Three AFRIDI
ratings died of wounds and thirty one ratings were
wounded.
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON and destroyer HYPERION, HEREWARD, BEAGLE
departed Scapa Flow on the 3rd to support the
British force.
Destroyers
FURY,
FORESIGHT, ANTELOPE, ACHERON also departed Scapa Flow at
2330/3rd to support the evacuation
force's return. The British and French ships arrived at
Scapa Flow, without further damage,
late on 4 and early on the 5th.
Destroyers
IMPERIAL,
GRIFFIN,
GRENADE arrived at Sullom
Voe at 1700/4th to discharge wounded French and British
sailors from
destroyers BISON and AFRIDI and the military rearguard
from Namsos to French
hospital ship SPHINX.
The
destroyers departed Sullom Voe at 2130/4th and arrived
Scapa Flow at 0730/5th. Passengers
embarked from
Norway
were accommodated in
battleship RODNEY.
Heavy
cruiser
YORK and destroyer NUBIAN arrived at
Scapa
Flow at 2030/4th.
Destroyers
KELLY
and HASTY and troopship EL MANSOUR arrived at Scapa Flow
at 2130/4th.
Heavy
cruiser
DEVONSHIRE, French light cruiser
MONTCALM, light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON, French troopships
EL D'JEZAIR and EL
KANTARA, destroyers ACHERON, ANTELOPE, MAORI, FURY,
FORESIGHT, HEREWARD
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0400/5th.
Wounded
arriving
at Scapa Flow were embarked in British hospital ship
ISLE
OF JERSEY.
Most
of the French troops, including some of the BISON
survivors, were embarked on
French passenger ship PRESIDENT DOUMER (11,898grt),
DJENNE (8790grt), FLANDRE
(8503grt), PROVIDENCE
(11,996grt) which left the Clyde on the 9th escorted by
French large destroyers TARTU,
MILAN, CHEVALIER PAUL and four
British torpedo boats to return to Brest, arriving on
the 11th.
The
rest of the French troops, including the seriously
wounded, were embarked on
French hospital ship SPHINX which departed Scapa Flow on
the 25th escorted by
minesweeper HEBE. She arrived at Brest on the 27th.
_____
Minelaying
operation
BS 1 was conducted in the
North Sea
by minelayers TEVIOTBANK and
PRINCESS VICTORIA escorted by patrol sloops WIDGEON,
PINTAIL, PUFFIN,
SHEARWATER.
_____
Light
cruisers
GALATEA and ARETHUSA departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth.
Light
cruisers
GALATEA and ARETHUSA were transferred on the 3rd to the
Nore Command
to be based at Sheerness. They departed Rosyth for
Sheerness on the 7th.
_____
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN was on North Goodwins patrol.
_____
Destroyer
KEITH
covered the passage of the B. E. F. Boulogne leave
boats.
_____
Destroyer
BOADICEA
departed
Dover
at 0600 for Chatham.
_____
Convoy FN.160 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer
WINCHESTER
and sloop LONDONDERRY. The convoy arrived in the Tyne on
the 4th.
_____
During
the
night of 1/2 May, French large destroyers INDOMPTABLE
and MALIN were
anchored in the
Downs to land British liaison officers.
The
destroyers arrived at
Brest
on the 4th.
_____
Light
cruisers
ORION and NEPTUNE arrived at Malta from Gibraltar.
Light
cruiser
ORION, with Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham taking passage
on her and
Vice Admiral, destroyers aboard, departed on the 3rd and
arrived at Alexandria on the 4th.
On
arrival at Alexandria,
Admiral Cunningham hoisted
his flag on battleship
MALAYA.
Light
cruiser
NEPTUNE departed Malta in the evening of 3 May,
arrived at Alexandria
on the 5th.
Friday,
3 May
Large
French
destroyers CHEVALIER PAUL, MILAN, TARTU (Cdr J.
H.Ruck-Keene,
British liaison officer embarked) and destroyers SIKH
and TARTAR departed Scapa Flow for a raid into the
Skagerrak to intercept two German
merchant ships escorted by two torpedo boats in 58‑45N,
04‑48E at
2200/3rd.
The
sortie was without contact and the ships returned
undamaged at 0930/4th.
_____
Aircraft
carriers
ARK ROYAL and GLORIOUS, battleship VALIANT, heavy
cruiser BERWICK,
destroyers FURY, ENCOUNTER, ESCORT, FEARLESS, ACHERON,
ANTELOPE, FORTUNE,
KIMBERLEY arrived at 1030 at Scapa Flow after operations
off Norway.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS departed
Scapa Flow at 1600 for the
Clyde
escorted by destroyers
IVANHOE, ICARUS, IMPULSIVE.
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS and the destroyers arrived at Greenock at
1630/4th.
_____
Destroyer
BEAGLE
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 0630.
_____
Destroyer
JACKAL
arrived at Sullom Voe at 0800 to refuel and to change
her asdic
oscillator.
Destroyer
JACKAL
sailed at 1115/3rd.
_____
Destroyers
HYPERION
and HEREWARD arrived at
Scapa Flow
at 1330 from Sullom Voe.
_____
Polish
destroyer
BURZA proceeded from Harstad to Skaalanfjord where she
towed
landing craft with French Alpins to Gratangen.
Completing this duty, she
returned to Harstad.
_____
Convoy
HK.1
departed Scapa Flow at 2100 escorted by destroyers WESTCOTT and
FOUDROYANT and sloop FLEETWOOD. Destroyer VOLUNTEER,
whaler ULLSWATER
(560grt), trawler
WILLOW
(574grt) joined during the
night.
The
convoy was composed of tankers BROOMDALE (8334grt) and
BRITISH GOVERNOR
(6840grt) and steamers NARVA (1575grt), A. S. I. S.
CROMARTY FIRTH (538grt),
EMILE JAVARY (2471grt), cable ship LASSO (930grt).
Convoy
HK.1
arrived at Harstad at 2200/9th.
_____
British
steamers
BLACKHEATH (4637grt), DELIUS (6065grt), DALLINGTON COURT
(6889grt), HARMATTAN
(4558grt), DROMORE
CASTLE (5242grt), J. HOLt
(3815grt), CISCAR (1809grt), THISTLEFORD (4764grt)
departed Scapa Flow at 1100 escorted by
destroyer BEAGLE and patrol vessels GLEANER and JASON.
Two
hours later, destroyer WALKER departed Scapa Flow with
stragglers GUNVOR
MAERSK (1977grt) and RONAN (1489grt).
Destroyers
WALKER and BEAGLE escorted the
Bristol
Channel contingent on from the Clyde.
The
destroyers after the escort went to
Liverpool
for boiler clean, arriving
on the 6th.
_____
British
troopships
ROYAL SCOTSMAN and ULSTER PRINCE departed Scapa Flow for
the Clyde to embark troops and stores
for Bodo and Mosjoen, respectively.
_____
Destroyer
BASILISK
and sloop STORK were sent to intercept unknown ships
reported fifty
miles south of Vestfjord.
_____
Old
Norwegian torpedo boats DRISTIG and DJERV were scuttled
at Kvamsoy in
Sognefjord.
_____
British
Home
Fleet destroyers HAVOCK, HEREWARD, HOSTILE, JANUS,
KANDAHAR, HYPERION, KELLY, KIMBERLEY were ordered to
escort duty
on the east coast.
The
force was later directed to the
Humber.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers
NORTHERN PRIDE of 12th Anti-submarine Striking Force,
ARGYLLSHIRE of
11th Anti-submarine Striking Force, STELLA CAPELLA and
CAPE ARGONA of the 12th Anti-submarine
Group arrived at
Scapa Flow from Romdalsfjord.
These
trawlers
departed for
Aberdeen
at 2015/4th.
_____
Convoy
OA.141
departed Southend escorted by destroyer VESPER from 3 to
5 May and
destroyer VENETIA on the 5th.
_____
Convoy
OB.141
departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyer VANQUISHER from 3 to 6 May.
_____
Convoy
BC.35
of seven steamers, including steamers BARON KINNAIRD and
DAVID
LIVINGSTONE (Commodore) departed
Loire escorted by destroyer MONTROSE.
The
destroyer MONTROSE was detached for anti-submarine
operations on the 4th. The
convoy arrived in
Bristol Channel
on the 5th.
_____
Convoy FN.161 departed Southend, escorted by sloops
GRIMSBY
and HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 5th.
_____
Convoy MT.63 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
VIMIERA. The convoy arrived later in the day.
_____
Convoy FS.161 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and VIMIERA. The
convoy arrived at Southend on the 5th.
_____
Minesweeper
SPEEDWELL
completed boiler cleaning at Dover.
_____
French
sloop
ADMIRAL MOUCHEZ arrived at Dover to escort French
submarines
PASTEUR and ORPHEE to
Cherbourg.
The
French ships departed
Dover
at 1700.
_____
French
submarine
MARSOUIN departed Casablanca, escorted by armed trawler
HERON. The submarine arrived at Bizerte on the 8th.
_____
German
armed
merchant cruiser ATLANTIS sank British steamer SCIENTIST
(6199grt) in
the South
Atlantic at 19‑55S, 04‑20E.
One
crewman from steamer SCIENTIST was killed and another
later died on the
German merchant cruiser wounds.
Fifteen
crew
were transferred to steamer DURMITOR on 26 October and
they were later
interned in Italian Somaliland.
Twenty
seven
crew and one passenger were transferred to the steamer
TIRRANNA on the
2nd. One crewman and the passenger were lost when the
steamer was sunk
returning to France.
_____
Australian
troop
convoy US.2 arrived at Colombo en route to Egypt. On the
5th, the convoy put
to sea escorted by battleship RAMILLIES, French heavy
cruiser SUFFREN, Heavy
cruiser KENT.
Convoy
US.2
was met off
Aden
on the 12th by Australian
light cruiser HOBART and destroyers DECOY and DEFENDER,
which departed Aden on the 10th, in the Red Sea by light
cruiser LIVERPOOL and sloop SHOREHAM on the
13th.
On
17 May, convoy US.2 arrived at Suez escorted by
battleship
RAMILLIES, French heavy cruiser SUFFREN, light cruiser
LIVERPOOL, Destroyers DECOY and
DEFENDER. Battleship RAMILLIES went to Alexandria and
went into drydock for
refit.
Heavy
cruiser
SUFFREN and destroyers DECOY and DEFENDER joined the
Mediterranean
Fleet for operations.
Light
cruiser
LIVERPOOL patrolled in the Red Sea for two more weeks
before
joining the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Repair
ship
RESOURCE departed Malta escorted by Australian
destroyers VOYAGER, VENDETTA, WATERHEN.
On
the 5th, repair ship RESOURCE was turned over to
Australian destroyers STUART
and VAMPIRE which escorted her on to Alexandria.
Saturday,
4 May
French
destroyers
FOUGUEUX, FRONDEUR, L'ADRIOT carried out a sweep within
twenty
miles of the Belgian and Dutch coast, as far north as
Egmond.
No
contact was made.
_____
Battleship
RESOLUTION
and light cruiser AURORA bombarded German positions in
Beisfjord.
_____
Light
cruiser
GLASGOW and destroyers JACKAL and JAVELIN arrived at
Greenock at 1600 from Tromso.
_____
Destroyers
HERO
and FOXHOUND departed
Greenock at 1300 with British tanker ATHELEMPRESS
(8941grt) for Scapa Flow where they arrived at 0800/6th.
_____
Polish
destroyer
GROM and destroyer FAULKNOR were on patrol off Narvik
bombarding
German positions when GROM was struck at 0828 on her
torpedo tubes by a
German bomb.
Destroyer
GROM
(Cdr A. Hulewicz ORP) was sunk in the explosion and her
survivors were
picked up by light cruiser ENTERPRISE, which lowered
boats to
rescue survivors at 0835, destroyers FAULKNOR and
BEDOUIN. Light cruiser
AURORA picked up four survivors.
Polish
Lt
(JG) A. Krakowski and fifty seven ratings were killed.
The survivors were
transferred from destroyers FAULKNOR and BEDOUIN to
Battleship RESOLUTION,
then to Polish destroyer BURZA.
The
Polish survivors were embarked on a hospital ship for
the passage back to England. They departed Harstad on
the 10th for the Clyde.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
ARK ROYAL (Vice Admiral Aircraft Carriers) departed
Scapa Flow at 1620 after refuelling and
reprovisioning with anti-aircraft cruiser CURLEW,
destroyers INGLEFIELD
(D.3), SIKH, MASHONA, TARTAR, JAGUAR, ENCOUNTER.
Aircraft
carrier
ARK ROYAL arrived off
Northern Norway
for operations on the 7th
and operated aircraft daily in support of allied
operations. She refuelled at
Tromso on the 19th.
_____
Destroyers
DELIGHT,
FEARLESS,
KIMBERLEY,
FORTUNE departed Scapa Flow at 0600 with troopships
LANCASTRIA (16,243grt), BATORY (14,287grt), SOBIESKI
(11,030grt), ULSTER
MONARCH (3791grt) for the
Clyde, where they arrived at 1230/5th.
_____
Sloop
AUCKLAND departed
Scapa
Flow at 1700 for Rosyth where she
arrived at 0700/5th.
_____
Submarine
SEAL
arrived off
Goteborg
and Vinga in the Kattegat to lay mines in 57-33. 5N,
11-35. 5E. Shortly after completing the minelay at 0859,
SEAL struck a mine
herself and was badly damaged.
In
this damaged state, SEAL was captured early on the 5th
by two German Arado
seaplanes of the German Navy and was towed to
Frederikshavn by German trawler
UJ 128 (trawler FRANKEN, 435grt) of the 12th
Anti-submarine Flotilla.
Lt
Cdr R. P. Lonsdale, Lt T. B. J. D. Butler, Lt T. A.
Beet, Lt (E) R. H.S.
Clark, S/Lt A. R. L. Henderson, S/Lt R. W. H.Boulnois,
forty eight ratings
from submarine SEAL were taken prisoner.
One
rating was lost with the submarine and another rating
died while prisoner of
war.
Preliminary
repairs
were made to SEAL at Frederikshavn by 9 May and on the
10th, she left
under tow for
Kiel
where she arrived on the
11th.
Submarine
SEAL
was commissioned as German U.B on 30 November
1940.
Four
ships were lost on SEAL's FD.7 minefield.
On
4 May, Swedish fishing boat AIMY (200grt) was lost on
this minefield.
The
entire crew of four of the fishing boat AIMY was lost.
On
the 6th, German steamer VOGESEN (4241grt) was sunk on
the minefield.
On
28 May, Swedish steamer TORSTEN (1206grt) was sunk on
this minefield four
miles south of Vinga.
Sixteen
crew
were rescued from the Swedish steamer.
On
5 June, Danish steamer SKANDIA (1248grt) was lost in the
minefield.
_____
At
0451, submarine
SEVERN off
Stavanger
in 57-50N, 6-40E intercepted
Swedish steamer MONARK (1786grt) which had been seized
by German forces at Bergen on 9 April.
The
Swedish steamer had departed Stavanger on the 3rd.
After
removing
the prize crew, which were crew from sunken light
cruiser KONIGSBERG, SEVERN torpedoed and sank MONARK.
The
Norwegian crew was landed twenty five miles from
Stavanger. The German prize crew was
taken prisoner and returned to England.
_____
French
destroyer
VERDUN,
with Rear Admiral Moreau
aboard, departed the
Clyde to return to
Brest.
_____
Submarine
TRIDENT
departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
British
steamer
ROYAL ULSTERMAN (3244grt), escorted by destroyer MOHAWK
departed Scapa Flow at 2150/1st. The steamer
landed 290 officers and men forty five miles north of
Mosjoen. The landing
was completed at 0645/4th.
Destroyer
GRAFTON
took stores, mail, et cetera from the steamer for
Narvik.
This
was the first of five landings for Operations SCISSORS.
There were four more
troop landings (the last the night of 13/14 May) at
Mosjoen, Mo, Bodo.
Destroyer
MOHAWK
and steamer ROYAL ULSTERMAN arrived at Scapa Flow at
0900/6th.
_____
Tugs
BANDIT and BUCCANEER departed
Scapa Flow
at 1740 for Skelfjord with
salvage eqiupment on board.
_____
British
steamers
LOMBARDY (3379grt), MACGREGOR LAIRD (4015grt), EMPIRE ABILITY
(7603grt) escorted by destroyers HAVANT and ACASTA
departed Narvik at
0600/4th. The convoy departed Vaagsfjord during the
forenoon of 4 May and was
joined by anti-submarine whaler BUTTERMERE (560grt).
On
the 7th at 2030, destroyers ANTELOPE and ACHERON
departed Scapa Flow to join. Destroyer ACASTA
was detached to
Scapa Flow and whaler BUTTERMERE to
Aberdeen.
Both arrived at Scapa Flow on the 9th.
Destroyer
HAVANT
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1500/7th to refuel.
Steamers
LOMBARDY
and MACGREGOR LAIRD were
taken on to Newport.
Destroyer
ANTELOPE
took steamer EMPIRE ABILITY to the Smalls and was
relieved by
corvette CLARKIA. Destroyer ANTELOPE then returned to
the Clyde.
_____
British
tanker
INVERADER arrived at Invergordon at 1430 escorted by
destroyers
CODRINGTON and ESCAPADE.
Destroyer
ESCAPADE
went on to Rosyth to boiler clean.
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
remained at Invergordon to escort the tanker back to
Scapa Flow when loaded.
_____
British
tanker
SAN TIBURCIO (5995grt), which departed
Scapa
Flow earlier in the day escorted
by anti-submarine trawler LEICESTER CITY (422grt), at
1910 was sunk
on a mine laid by U.9 on 9 February four miles 330° from
Tarbett Ness in Moray Firth.
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
(D.1) and a tug were sent to assist the tanker.
The
tanker broke in
two forty five
minutes after the explosion.
The
entire crew were rescued by anti-submarine trawler
LEICESTER CITY (422grt) and destroyer
CODRINGTON and motor anti-submarine boats searched for
the submarine thought
responsible.
When
it was determined a submarine was not responsible,
destroyer CODRINGTON
returned to Invergordon.
_____
Convoy
OA.142
departed Southend. No escort vessels were listed.
_____
Convoy
OB.142
departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyer WALPOLE from 4 to 7 May. The
convoy was dispersed on the 8th.
_____
Convoy FN.162 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers WALLACE and
VALOROUS. The convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 6th.
_____
Convoy FS.162 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer WHITLEY and sloop EGRET.
The convoy arrived at Southend on the 6th.
_____
Convoy
HG.29F
of forty seven ships departed Gibraltar. The convoy was
escorted by
French sloop CHEVREUIL and auxiliary patrol vessel
MERCEDITA from 4 to 10
May. The French ships arrived at Lorient on the 11th.
Destroyer
VIMY
escorted the convoy from 10 to 13 May.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
and corvette PERIWINKLE from convoy OG.29F escorted the
convoy from
10 to 13 May. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool
on the 13th.
_____
Convoy
HX.40
departed
Halifax
at 0900 escorted by Canadian
destroyers SAGUENAY and
SKEENA, which ere detached on the 5th.
The
ocean escort was armed merchant cruiser ESPERANCE BAY.
The
Canadian destroyers arrived back at Halifax at 1345/5th.
The
armed merchant cruiser was detached on the 11th.
Sloop
ENCHANTRESS
and corvette ARABIS escorted the convoy from 16 to 18
May. The
convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 19th.
_____
Destroyer
BULLDOG
departed Devonport at 1600 for the Clyde where she
arrived at
1600/5th to join the Home Fleet.
_____
Destroyers
ICARUS,
IVANHOE, IMPULSIVE after escorting aircraft carrier
GLORIOUS departed
Greenock at 2100 for Scapa Flow, arriving at 1900/5th.
_____
Destroyer
DIANA
departed Skelfjord for
Scapa Flow with tanker ALDERSDALE (8402grt).
The
ships parted company at
Cape Wrath. The destroyer arrived at
Scapa
Flow and the tanker arrived at
the Clyde at 1500/9th.
_____
Norwegian
steamers
BLAAFJELD I (1146grt), PAN (1309grt), SEKSTANT (1626grt)
were sunk
by German bombing near Namsos.
The
entire crews of steamers BLAAFJELD I and SEKSTANT were
rescued.
_____
Norwegian
steamer
AAFJORD (335grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Breiviken.
_____
Destroyer
GARLAND in dock at
Malta
was transferred to the
Polish Navy to offset the loss of Polish destroyer
WICHER in September 1939.
The original offer of the transfer was made to the
Polish Navy on 6 February.
On
the 16th, GARLAND (Cdr A. Doroszkowski) departed Malta
for Alexandria to join the Mediterranean
Fleet. The destroyer arrived at Alexandria on the 18th.
Sunday,
5 May
Heavy
cruiser
BERWICK departed
Scapa Flow at 1630 for the
Clyde.
_____
Damaged
Heavy
cruiser SUFFOLK, troopships EL KANTARA (5079grt), EL
D'JEZAIR
(5818grt), EL MANSOUR (5818grt), DJENNE (8790grt),
PRESIDENT DOUMER
(11,898grt), DUCHESS OF ATHOLL (20,119grt), REINA DEL
PACIFICO (17,707grt),
escorted by destroyers KELLY (D.5), TARTU, GRIFFIN,
GRENADE, IMPERIAL,
CHEVALIER PAUL, MILAN departed Scapa Flow at 1800 for
the Clyde, arriving on
the 6th.
_____
Destroyer
FAULKNOR
operating in Rombaksfjord near Straumein Point struck a
submerged
wreck.
Destroyer
FAULKNOR
sustained damage to her anti-submarine dome and the
directing gear.
She left with a convoy on the 7th to return to England
for repairs.
_____
Destroyers
VETERAN,
VISCOUNT, FIREDRAKE departed the Clyde at 0900 with
British
troopships ULSTER
PRINCE (3791grt) for Mosjoen
and ROYAL SCOTSMAN (3244grt) for Bodo.
Destroyers
NUBIAN
and JUNO departed
Scapa Flow
at 0400 on 6 June to relieve
destroyers VISCOUNT at 1030.
Destroyer
VISCOUNT
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1400/6th.
The
Mosjoen and Bodo groups parted company at 1540/8th.
Destroyers
JUNO
and VETERAN with ULSTER PRINCE proceeded to Mosjoen
and destroyers NUBIAN and FIREDRAKE with ROYAL SCOTSMAN
proceeded to Bodo.
_____
British
tanker
WAR NIZAM, escorted by anti-submarine trawlers
WHITETHORN and LE TIGER
departed Scapa Flow for Sullom Voe.
_____
British
motor
torpedo boats
MTB.22,
MTB.24,
MTB.25 arrived at Dover from Portsmouth.
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
arrived in the
Humber after patrol.
_____
Submarine
TRITON
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
After
a
German cruiser was reported sighted off Nordeney and a
large merchant ship
in Nordeney
Harbour, all the Nore motor torpedo
boats and patrol sloops were brought to one half hour's
notice.
Submarine
patrols
off the Dutch coast were reinforced.
_____
British
auxiliary
minelayer
HAMPTON
laid mines in minefield DML
9 in 51-01N, 2-16E escorted by destroyers KEITH, BOREAS,
BRILLIANT, VERITY.
An
extension of minefield DML 9 was cancelled on the 10th.
_____
Convoy
OG.28
was formed from convoys OA.140G, which departed Southend
on the 2nd
escorted by destroyer
WHITEHALL,
OB.140G, which departed Liverpool on the 2nd escorted by
sloop
ROCHESTER, with forty four ships.
Sloop
ROCHESTER and destroyer
WHITEHALL
escorted the convoy from 5
May and then were detached to convoy HG.28.
French
destroyer
JAGUAR escorted the convoy from 5 to 10 May and French
patrol
vessel MINERVE joined near
Gibraltar. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar
on the 10th.
_____
Convoy FN.163 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VALENTINE and
sloop
WESTON. The convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 7th.
_____
Convoy MT.64 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WOLSEY, sloop
WESTON, armed patrol yacht
BREDA.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.163 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer WOLSEY, sloop WESTON,
armed patrol yacht
BREDA.
Early on the 6th, destroyer WOLSEY was detached to proceed
independently to Devonport. The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 7th.
_____
Destroyers
KEPPEL
and VORTIGERN departed
Gibraltar
to meet arriving battleship
WARSPITE, escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS and WRESTLER.
Destroyer VELOX later
departed the joined destroyers KEPPEL and VORTIGERN.
Destroyers
DOUGLAS
and WRESTLER were relieved in the vicinty of Alboran
Island and arrived at Gibraltar on the 6th.
On
the 11th, destroyers KEPPEL, VELOX, VORTIGERN arrived at
Gibraltar from Malta after this escort duty.
_____
River
gunboat
COCKCHAFER lost a propeller after a fracture of her port
propeller
shaft.
The
gunboat was towed to
Basra
by Indian sloop HINDUSTAN.
Monday,
6 May
Light
cruiser
ENTERPRISE
was near missed by German
bombing at Narvik.
The
ship sustained splinter damage. Cdr M. F. L. Henstock
was wounded.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON departed
Scapa Flow at 2240 for Rosyth.
_____
Anti-aircraft
ship
CALCUTTA departed
Scapa
Flow at 1941 for the Narvik area.
_____
Destroyers
WOLVERINE
and WITHERINGTON arrived at Scapa Flow at 1430 with
British boom
defense vessel
META
(1578grt) from Leith.
_____
Convoy
NS.2
departed the
Clyde at 0230 for Narvik. It was composed of base
ship MASHOBRA and British steamers BALZAC (5372grt),
CALUMET
(7268grt), COXWOLD (1124grt)
escorted by destroyers JAVELIN and JACKAL and French
destroyers BRESTOIS and
BOULONNAIS.
On
the 7th at 0230, steamers BALZAC and COXWOLD ran aground
south of Neist Light
in Little
Minch.
Steamer
BALZAC
was escorted by destroyer BRESTOIS to Stornoway,
arriving at 1330.
Destroyer BRESTOIS continued on to
Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
BRESTOIS
made an attack on a submarine contact at 0130/8th in
58-43N, 03-50W.
Later considered non sub.
Steamer
COXWOLD
was taken by BOULONNAIS and BRESTOIS to Scapa Flow,
arriving 0630/8th after
being delayed by fog in
Pentland Firth.
Destroyers
WITHERINGTON
and WOLVERINE departed Scapa Flow at 0500/7th with
steamer META (1578grt) to rendezvous with
the convoy at 1500/7th.
On
joining, destroyer WITHERINGTON was sent to Stornoway to
provide
anti-submarine protection for steamer BALZAC. She was
later relieved by
anti-submarine trawler ST CATHAN (565grt).
Destroyer
WITHERINGTON
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1300/9th.
The
fuel stores on COXWOLD were embarked on British steamer
ULSTER MONARCH
(3791grt) which departed
Scapa Flow at 2130/10th unescorted for Narvik.
On
the convoy's arrival in the Narvik area, destroyers
JAVELIN and JACKAL were
ordered to return to
Scapa Flow immediately.
Destroyers
JAVELIN
and JACKAL departed Tjelandet at 0700/11th.
_____
Destroyer
ESCAPADE
departed Rosyth at 0900 for Invergordon to escort
British tanker
INVERADER to Scapa Flow.
The
ships departed Invergordon at 2030/7th and arrived at
Scapa Flow at 0700/8th.
Destroyer
ESCAPADE
went on to
Liverpool for repairs. She arrived at 0740/9th.
_____
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
(D.1) departed Invergordon with British tanker WAR
BHARATA for Scapa Flow arriving at 1700.
_____
Destroyers
ESK,
EXPRESS, INTREPID arrived
Scapa Flow
with mines for operation DZ,
a minelay in Norwegian waters.
However,
this
operation was later cancelled.
_____
Destroyers
HERO
and FOXHOUND departed
Scapa Flow at 1230 for boiler cleaning at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
IVANHOE,
ICARUS, IMPULSIVE departed
Scapa Flow
at 2130 for Immingham to
boiler clean and embark mines.
_____
At
1400, submarine SEALION attacked escorted German
transports MOLTKEFELS
(7863grt) and NEIDENFELS (7838grt) 19 miles 240° from
Vaderobod Light in 58‑30N,
10‑30E.
The
submarine fired six torpedoes and claimed three hits,
but no damage was done.
_____
Submarine
TRIAD
of the 2nd Flotilla, SEAWOLF, SHARK, SNAPPER of the 3rd
Submarine
Flotilla, STURGEON of the 6th Submarine Flotilla and
French submarines
AMAZONE, ANTIOPE, CALYPSO, CIRCE, DORIS ORPHEE, SYBILLE,
THETIS of the 10th
Submarine Flotilla began patrols in the southern North
Sea and blockade of Texel in anticipation of the
German invasion of the
Low Countries.
Submarine
TRIAD
departed Rosyth on patrol on the 6th, SEAWOLF departed
Harwich on the
6th, SHARK departed Harwich on the 7th, STURGEON was
already at sea having
departed Blyth on 30 April and continued patrol until
returning on the 11th,
SNAPPER was also already at sea having departing Harwich
on 28 April and
continued patrol until arriving back at Blyth on the
11th.
Submarine
ANTIOPE
was already at sea having departed Harwich on 28 April
and arrived
back on the 8th, CALYPSO, which had departed Harwich on
29 April to relieve
AMAZON off Texel, arrived back for refuelling on the
11th, CIRCE arrived at
Harwich with defects from patrol on the 6th and set off
again on the 12th,
DORIS and AMAZONE departed Harwich on patrol on the 6th
ORPHEE departed
Harwich on patrol on the 3rd, LA SIBYLLE already at sea
having departed
Harwich on 27 April completed her patrol on the 8th when
she arrived back at
Harwich, THETIS arrived at Harwich from patrol on the
7th and departed again
on patrol on the 10th.
Reassignments
on
patrol areas were made on 10/11 May. French submarines
THETIS and ANTIOPE
were moved to patrol areas off
Lowestoft
and Yarmouth. French submarine AMAZONE
was moved to forty miles west off
Texel and French submarine
DORIS
was ordered to a parallel
patrol line fifty miles west of Rotterdam. However,
submarine DORIS had already been lost by
that time.
_____
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN and minesweeper SKIPJACK began boiler cleaning at
Dover.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN returned to service on the 9th.
_____
Convoy FN.164 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
VIMIERA. The convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 8th.
_____
Convoy FS.164 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer
WINCHESTER
and sloop LONDONDERRY. The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 8th.
_____
German
armed
merchant cruiser WIDDER departed Kiel to operate in the
Central Atlantic, via the Denmark Strait.
At
1525 armed merchant cruiser WIDDER was attacked by
submarine SNAPPER, which
fired two torpedoes in the
North Sea in 55-35N, 07-16E. The German ship was not
damaged and her escorts of S.boats drove submarine
SNAPPER off.
_____
British
steamer
BRIGHTON (5359grt) was sunk on a mine
in 51‑03N, 02‑09E.
The
entire crew was saved.
_____
Minesweeping
trawler
LOCH NAVER (278grt, Skipper G. R. Burwood RNR) of
Minesweeping Group 22
was lost off Hartlepool in a collision with an unknown vessel.
The
survivors of the trawler were rescued by British yacht
BREDA (1431grt).
_____
German
steamer
BRAGE (5954grt) was sunk on a mine near Kiel Light Ship.
_____
French
netlayer
GLADIATEUR arrived at Beirut to prepare the port for
wartime operations.
Tuesday,
7 May
Near
Narvik in 68-30N, 14-15E, light cruiser AURORA was
damaged at 1641 by a
German bomb which landed forward of B-turret.
A
and B turrets were put out of action, but AURORA,
required for operations
around Narvik, was not withdrawn from the area for
repairs until 25 May when
she was relieved by light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON.
Four
Marines were killed and four Marines were wounded by the
bomb.
Light
cruiser
AURORA arrived at
Portsmouth
on the 29th and was under
repair until 28 June.
Polish
destroyer
BLYSKAWICA was damaged by splinters from near misses in
the same
attack. Destroyer FAULKNOR was near missed but not
damaged.
_____
Destroyers
FAULKNOR
(D.8), AMAZON, IMOGEN, WHIRLWIND departed Bjervik at
1930 with
liners MONARCH OF BERMUDA 22,424grt), EMPRESS OF
AUSTRALIA (19,665grt), VILLE
D'ALGER (10,172grt) for Scapa Flow arriving at 1400/9th,
less destroyer
WHIRLWIND.
Destroyer
FAULKNOR
departed
Scapa Flow at 0001/10th
Grimsby
for repair at Grimsby of damage sustained on the
5th. She arrived at
Grimsby
at 1645. Repairs were
completed on 13 June.
Destroyer
IMOGEN
had been ordered to return to England for overdue
repairs.
Destroyer
IMOGEN
departed
Scapa Flow at 0745/15th for
Chatham
for damage repairs. She
arrived at 1500/16th and the repairs were completed on
12 June.
_____
Polish
troopship
CHROBRY (11,442grt) departed Leith at 2200 for Narvik
escorted
by destroyers
KANDAHAR
and HOSTILE.
The
destroyers were soon relieved by destroyers SOMALI (D.6)
and ESCORT which
departed Scapa Flow at 1230/8th.
Destroyers
KANDAHAR and HOSTILE returned to Rosyth at high speed.
Troopship
CHROBRY
and destroyers SOMALI and ESCORT arrived at Harstad at
1100/11th.
_____
British
troopship
ROYAL ULSTERMAN (3244grt) escorted by destroyer MATABELE
departed Scapa Flow at 1330 for Leith.
_____
Destroyers
GALLANT
and BULLDOG departed
Greenock at 0800 to escort British troopship ALMANZORA
(15,551grt) to
Scapa Flow, arriving at 1100/8th.
_____
Minesweeper
SHARPSHOOTER
arrived at
Scapa Flow from Scrabser with Vice Admiral Orkneys and
Shetlands embarked.
_____
Norwegian
destroyer
DRAUG departed
Scapa Flow at 1800 for
Portsmouth.
_____
French
destroyer
MISTRAL arrived in the
Clyde with French tanker
TARN
(4500grt).
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
departed the
Humber on minelaying mission FD.10.
_____
British
paddle
minesweeper QUEEN OF THANET sighted a periscope in
56‑07N, 02‑28W
in the Firth of Forth.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
COVENTRY,
which was departing Rosyth,
was recalled. Destroyer VALENTINE and sloop WESTON
attacked a contact 12
miles 072° from
May
Island that day.
The
next day, VALENTINE and WESTON were relieved by
anti-submarine trawlers
BRIMNESS (413grt) and THORNWICK BAY (437grt).
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PRINCESS VICTORIA escorted by patrol sloops WIDGEON,
PUFFIN,
PINTAIL, SHEARWATER laid minefield BS 2 extending
minefield LB.
Sloops
WIDGEON
and PUFFIN were released from the escort after the
minelay to escort
Danish trawlers found to
Yarmouth.
The destination was changed
en route and they arrived in the
Humber.
After
the
minelay, preparing for operation BS 3, minelayer
PRINCESS VICTORIA burnt
out her main switchboard and was delayed.
_____
Convoy FN.165 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WHITLEY and
sloop
EGRET. The convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 9th.
_____
Convoy MT.65 departed Methil, escorted by sloops
GRIMSBY
and HASTINGS. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that
day.
_____
Convoy FS.165 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloops
GRIMSBY
and HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 9th.
_____
Norwegian
steamer
FOLDEN (316grt) was sunk by German bombing off
Helgeland.
_____
Belgian
fishing
vessel
SAINT PIERRE
(15grt) was sunk by a mine
off Kwinte Bank.
_____
Convoy
HG.29
with forty five ships departed Gibraltar.
The
ocean escort was Sloops SANDWICH from 7 to 17 May and
BIDEFORD from 7 to 10
May.
In
Home Waters, the convoy was escorted by British corvette
CLARKIA from 15 to
17 May. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool
on the 17th.
_____
French
submarines
MEDUSE and AMPHITRITE departed Oran for Brest. They
passed Gibraltar on the 8th and joined convoy
23 RS, escorted by sloop L'IMPETEUSE.
On
arrival at Brest,
both submarines began
refitting.
