Background
Events - April-May 1940
Invasion of
Norway, Battles of Narvik, Blitzkrieg on Western
Europe, Dunkirk evacuation starts
1940
Wednesday,
8 May
At
1736 Submarine TAKU (Lt Cdr V. J. Van Der Byl) attacked
German steamers
PALIME (2863grt) and PELIKAN (3264grt) escorted by
torpedo boats MOEWE and
KONDOR in the North Sea, sixty miles off Tyboroen in
56-45N, 06-12E.
The
steamers were undamaged and later arrived at Stavanger
on the 9th, but torpedo boat
MOEWE was severely damaged in the stern.
Torpedo
boat
MOEWE was towed by torpedo boat KONDOR to Wilhelmshaven
and was repairing until
April 1941.
After
the
ten hour counterattack, TAKU was forced to return to
Rosyth arriving on
the 15th.
_____
Destroyers
HYPERION,
HEREWARD, JANUS departed Scapa Flow
at 0500 with light cruiser BIRMINGHAM for Rosyth.
_____
Destroyers
KELLY
(D.5) and KIMBERLEY
departed Greenock at 0845 with all dispatch
for Rosyth to join a force of eight destroyers on duty
on the East Coast.
_____
To
forestall anticipated German landings on Iceland, armed
merchant cruiser CALIFORNIA and armed boarding vessels
KINGSTON PERIDOT (356grt), KINGSTON JACINTH (356grt),
NORTHERN DUKE (655grt)
operated off the Icelandic coast.
Armed
boarding
vessels KINGSTON ONYX
(357grt) and KINGSTON
TURQUOISE (356grt) joined armed merchant cruiser
CALIFORNIA on the 13th off Iceland and armed boarding
vessel DISCOVERY
II (1062grt) arrived off the east coast of Iceland on
the 22nd.
In
Operation FORK, heavy cruiser BERWICK and light cruiser
GLASGOW with
destroyers FORTUNE and FEARLESS departed Greenock at
0430 for Reykavik where
they arrived on the 10th to land a detachment of Royal
Marines.
The
troops landing was completed at 0700/10th and the FORK
ships departed
Reykavik at 1900/10th.
The
cruisers searched for eastern fjord for German activity
and took on board all
German nationals for transport to England.
The
destroyers were detached at 1500/11th and arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1010/12th.
Cruisers
BERWICK
and GLASGOW arrived at Liverpool
on the 12th.
Heavy
cruiser
BERWICK was refitting at Liverpool
until the beginning of
August.
Cruiser
GLASGOW
was refitting from 14 May to 1 July 1940.
Light
cruiser
GLASGOW departed Liverpool on 7 July.
_____
Heavy
cruiser
DEVONSHIRE departed Scapa Flow at 1400 to return to
Northern Norway.
Destroyers
WESTCOTT
and VOLUNTEER met the heavy cruiser at 2045/10th. They
arrived at
Tromso at 2255.
Destroyer
WESTCOTT
refuelled from the heavy cruiser at Tromso that night.
The
destroyers were involved in anti-submarine duties around
Tromso from 10 to 14
May. On 14 May, the destroyers were detachedto Vice
Admiral Air to escort the
aircraft carriers operating off northern Norway.
_____
Destroyer
ISIS
struck wreckage in Balangen Fjord and was badly damaged.
Her propellers
were wrecked and her tiller flat was damaged. She was
towed to Skelfjord by
destroyer ILEX.
Destroyer
ISIS
departed Skelfjord under tow for England on the 10th.
_____
At
2200, destroyer SOMALI met a Norwegian fishing vessel,
en route to the Faroes
with twelve Norwegian Air Force officers. The boat was
given a boat's compass
and directed to the Shetlands.
_____
A
Swordfish aircraft of 810 Squadron from aircraftcarrier
ARK ROYAL crashed
into the sea on landing. S/Lt W. G. Adams, S/Lt H.E.
H.Pain, Leading Airman
H.G. Edwards were picked up by destroyer MAORI.
Adams died of injuries incurred in the crash on 5 October 1940. Edwards was injured, but not seriously.
_____
French
Amiral
Jean Abrial was lent six Destroyers of Convoy C for the
defense of Belgium. This force was designated
"FA" and was dispatched in four sections.
At
1600/10th, destroyers VALENTINE and WINCHESTER departed
Dover for operations under
Abrial's command.
Destroyer
VALENTINE
had arrived at Dover
on the 9th after escorting
convoy FS.66.
On
11 May at 0600, destroyers VIMIERA and WESTMINSTER
departed Dover.
Destroyers
WHITLEY
and WOLSEY arrived at Dover from the north on the 12th.
Destroyer WHITLEY departed Dover for FA operations at
0445/13th, followed by WOLSEY on the 15th at 1600.
However,
heavy
losses cut short the life of this unit. On 19 May at
1815
"FA" was disbanded with VALENTINE and WHITLEY lost,
WESTMINSTER and WINCHESTER badly damaged. Only WOLSEY
and VIMIERA remained fit for further operations and were
ordered to the Dover
Command.
_____
French
destroyers
carried out a twenty four hour sweep within twenty miles
of the
Belgian and Dutch coast as far north as Egmond.
No
contact was made.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON was docked at Rosyth for repairs from 8 to
20 May.
_____
Swedish
steamers
ALBERT (1745grt) and TYRA BRATT (1301grt) were seized by
German
forces at Stavanger.
Steamer
TYRA
BRATT was detained at Haugesand and her crew was
returned to Gotenburg.
The steamer was renamed NOGAT for German service.
_____
Convoy
OA.141
departed Southend escorted by destroyer VIVACIOUS.
_____
Convoy
OB.141
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer VERSATILE from 8 to 10 May. The
convoy was dispersed on the 12th.
_____
Convoy FN.166 departed Southend, escorted by armed patrol yacht
BREDA.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 10th.
_____
Convoy FS.166 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALENTINE and sloop
WESTON. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 10th.
_____
French
large
destroyers ALBATROS and VAUTOUR departed Brest escorting
liner PASTEUR to
St Nazaire, where the liner arrived that day.
The
destroyers returned to Brest,
arriving 1340/10th after
spending six hours in Quiberon Bay.
_____
Convoy
HX.41
departed Halifax
at 0900 escorted by Canadian
destroyers RESTIGOUCHE and ST LAURENT, which were
detached on the
9th.
The
destroyers turned the convoy over to ocean escort, armed
merchant cruiser
RANPURA and French submarine AJAX at 1800/8th.
The
armed merchant cruiser and submarine were detached on
the 20th.
Destroyer
MACKAY
and sloop ABERDEEN
joined on the 19th and
corvette CLARKIA on the 20th. The escort was detached on
the 23rd when the
convoy arrived at Liverpool.
_____
French
destroyers
INDOMPTABLE and MALIN passed Gibraltar en route from
Brest for Oran, where they arrived on the
9th.
Thursday,
9 May
French
submarine
DORIS was sunk by U.9 thirty miles west of Terschelling Bank in 53‑40N,
04‑00E.
British
Lt
R. E. Westmacott, an observer on submarine DORIS, two
British communications
ratings were lost with the French crew on submarine
DORIS.
_____
There
were
two SCISSORS landings during the night of 9/10 May.
Landings
on
8/9 May were cancelled due to fog.
Destroyers
JUNO
and VETERAN arrived at
Mosjoen escorting British troopship ULSTER PRINCE
(3791grt) with 290
officers and men.
After
the
landings, at 1403/10th, destroyer JUNO was ordered to
leave ULSTER PRINCE and proceed to Scapa Flow at high
speed.
Destroyer
VETERAN
and troopship ULSTER PRINCE returning to the Clyde
called at Sullom Voe to
refuel on the 11th. They arrived at Greenock
at 0330/13th.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
conducted a reconnaissance of Ranenfjord on report of
enemy
activity.
Destroyer
NUBIAN
and British troopship ROYAL SCOTSMAN (3244grt) arrived
at Bodo at
2000/9th with 290 men.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
rejoined destroyer NUBIAN and troopship ROYAL SCOTSMAN
at 2100/9th.
Early
on
the 10th ferried the troops ashore in a SCISSORS
operation.
Destroyers
FIREDRAKE
and NUBIAN then departed Bodo at 0200/10th with the
troopship.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 2210/11th.
Destroyer
NUBIAN
and the troopship arrived safely at Scapa Flow at
0030/12th.
_____
Eight
Skuas
of 806 Squadron and six Blenheims of 254 Squadron
departed Hatston to
attack Bergen, where German training ship BREMSE was reported.
German
minesweeper
M. 134 was sunk with three dead by British bombing at
Bergen, but was later salved and
restored to service as patrol boat JUNGINGEN.
One
Blenheim of 254 Squadron was lost when it was struck by
flak. Observer Lt (A)
R. B. Nuthall and the two Coastal Command crew were lost
in the Blenheim.
Two
Skuas were able to fly directly back to Hatston.
However, the other six had
to land at Sumburgh for fuelling. One Skua, flown by
Petty Officer Airman A.
Jopling, crashed arriving back at Sumburgh, but there
were no injuries. A
second Skua, flown by Probationary S/Lt (A) S. G. Orr
RNVR, was damaged by
shrapnel, but after repair at Sumburgh, returned to
Hatston.
_____
A
Skua of 803 Squadron force landed near Grondalen in
Haugfjell. Midshipman C.
Treen and Naval Airman A. E. T. Goble were later picked
up by destroyer
BEDOUIN.
_____
In
operations from aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, a Swordfish
from 810 Squadron
crashed on take off. Lt A. W. Stewart, Midshipman G. T.
Shaddick, Leading
Airman H.W. V. Burt were picked up by a destroyer.
_____
British
Midshipman
P. L. Atkinson was killed when his Walrus of 765
Squadron crashed
in the Solent.
_____
Destroyers
EXPRESS,
ESK, INTREPID departed Scapa Flow
at 0500 to lay mines for
ZMC, minelaying in the North Sea off Helgoland,
then proceed to Immingham.
_____
German
minelayers
ROLAND, COBRA, PREUSSEN, KAISER laid minefield 16 west
of Jutland
escorted by German destroyers BEITZEN, SCHOEMANN,
HEINEMANN, torpedo boat
GREIF, Schnellboote S.30, S.31, S.32, S.33 of the 2nd
Flotilla.
Light
cruiser
BIRMINGHAM
(Captain I. G. Glennie
aboard in command of the sweep) and destroyers HYPERION,
HEREWARD, HAVOCK,
JANUS departed Rosyth at 0900 to attempt to intercept
this German force reported
off the Isle of Sylt in 56‑39N, 03‑37E in the North Sea.
Outside
Rosyth,
destroyers KELLY (D.5), KIMBERLEY, KANDAHAR, HOSTILE
rendezvoused with
the BIRMINGHAM force. However, KIMBERLEY,
just arriving from Greenock and short on fuel, was later
detached for refuelling at Rosyth. After refuelling,
KIMBERLEY went to Sheerness and
arrived at 2120/10th.
Destroyers
FORESIGHT,
FURY, BULLDOG, GALLANT departed Scapa Flow at 0630 to
operate with
battlecruiser REPULSE and light cruisers SHEFFIELD and
MANCHESTER for gunnery trials east of Pentland Firth.
The light cruisers departed
Scapa
Flow
at 0900, but returned at 1020.
The
force returned to Scapa Flow and the destroyers, joined by destroyer MOHAWK,
were sent at 1200 to operate in coordination with the
Rosyth units. These
destroyers were to proceed to 57-21N, 2-33E to intercept
six German motor
torpedo boats and sink them before joining light cruiser
BIRMINGHAM.
When
destroyer KANDAHAR
made a submarine contact,
KELLY and KANDAHAR
were detached to hunt down
the contact. Destroyer BULLDOG, which lost touch with
her group, later joined
them.
At
2230, destroyer KELLY was torpedoed and badly damaged by
German S.31 in 56‑48N,
05‑09E in the North Sea. Twenty seven ratings were killed and
Commissioned Engineer E. W. Cole was wounded. KELLY was
taken in tow by
destroyer BULLDOG.
At
0010/10th, German S.33 in heavy fog collided with
destroyers BULLDOG and
KELLY, glancing off both ships and doing no further
damage to them, but badly
damaging herself. She was able to return to
Wilhelmshaven.
At
0700/10th, destroyer KELLY in tow of destroyer BULLDOG
was in 56-56N, 4-05E
and proceeding at five knots. Destroyers KANDAHAR, FURY,
GALLANT were
escorting the two destroyers.
At
daylight on the 10th, destroyer KELLY's wounded were
transferred to destroyer KANDAHAR.
Light
cruisers
SHEFFIELD and MANCHESTER
departed Scapa Flow at 0330/10th to provide a
screen for damaged destroyer KELLY. The cruisers joined
KELLY at 1400.
At
0926/10th, light cruiser BIRMINGHAM
and destroyers HYPERION,
HEREWARD, HAVOCK, HOSTILE, FORESIGHT, KIMBERLEY came
under the Command of
Commander in Chief, Nore. They were ordered to proceed
towards Terschelling.
They later arrived at Harwich on the 10th.
Coastal
Command
Hudsons of 233 Squadron provided cover for the KELLY
through the
withdrawal.
Destroyer
KANDAHAR departed the KELLY screen at 0410/11th and
arrived at Rosyth to refuel and land the wounded at
0400/11th. She departed
at 1820 that day and rejoined KELLY.
On
11 May, Commander Cruiser Squadron 18 requested a tug
for destroyer KELLY as
destroyer FURY could not tow the destroyer faster than
three knots and
Aircraft had reported two German submarines in the area.
Light
cruisers
SHEFFIELD and MANCHESTER
departed the screen at
1609/11th and arrived at Rosyth that evening.
At
0500/12th, tugs WATERMEYER (621grt) and BRAHMAN (230grt)
joined relieving
BULLDOG of the tow at 0645.
Destroyers
KELLY
in tow of tugs WATERMEYER and BRAHMAN, KANDAHAR, FURY,
BULLDOG, GALLANT
arrived in the Tyne at 1730/13th.
Destroyer
KELLY
had been in tow for ninety one hours.
Destroyer
KELLY
was repairing in the Tyne at Hebburn until 18
December
1940.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
COVENTRY
(Rear Admiral 1st Anti-air
Craft Squadron) after refuelling departed Sullom Voe on
the 9th for Bogen
where she arrived on the 14th.
On
her arrival, anti-aircraft cruisers CAIRO and CALCUTTA
departed Skelfjord for
Rosyth for refuelling and ammunition.
_____
Destroyer
GRENADE
departed Greenock at 1700 for Liverpool
for boiler cleaning.
_____
Convoy
OG.29F
was formed from convoys OA.143GF, which departed
Southend on the 6th,
escorted by corvette ARABIS from 6 to 8 May, OB.143GF,
which departed
Liverpool on the 6th, escorted by destroyer VIMY and
sloop DEPTFORD from 6 to
9 May, fromwith fifty six ships.
Corvette
ARABIS's
role was the first use of the new Flower corvettes in an
OG.convoy.
Destroyer
VIMY
was detached to convoy HG.29 F.
Sloop
DEPTFORD
escorted the convoy from 10 to 14 May.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
and corvette PERIWINKLE escorted the convoy on the 9th
and then were
detached to convoy HG.29 F. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on the 14th.
_____
Convoy
BC.37
of steamers BARON CARNEGIE, GLENLEA, ILVINGTON COURT,
KUFRA (Commodore), LOTTIE
R, RONAN departed Bristol Channel
escorted by destroyer
VESPER. The convoy arrived at Loire on the 11th.
_____
Convoy
SA.40
of two steamers arrived at St Malo from Southampton.
_____
Convoy FN.167 departed Southend, escorted by sloop LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 11th.
_____
Convoy MT.66 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
VIMIERA. The convoy included two Danish steamers under
armed guard. The convoy
arrived the next morning.
_____
Convoy FS.167 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The convoy was
recalled when it was thought there were mines being laid
in the channel.
_____
French
large
destroyers TARTU
and CHEVALIER PAUL departed Greenock escorting steamers
DJENNE,
FLANDRE, PRESIDENT DOUMER, PROVIDENCE. The convoy
arrived at Brest on the 11th.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
EAGLE departed Singapore after completing repairs and
refit. EAGLE called at Colombo
on 14 to 17 May.
The
aircraft carrier arrived at Aden on the 22nd and
continued on
that evening, accompanied by light cruisers GLOUCESTER,
LIVERPOOL, SYDNEY. On 23 May, light
cruiser HOBART relieved light cruiser LIVERPOOL and on
the 24th, both HOBART and GLOUCESTER were detached.
Aircraft
carrier
EAGLE departed Port Said
on the 27th for duty with
the Mediterranean Fleet and arrived at Alexandria,
escorted by destroyers
HEREWARD and HERO.
_____
Convoy
SL.
31 departed Freetown
escorted by armed mechant
cruiser DUNNOTTAR
CASTLE until 23 May.
On
23 May, destroyer WINCHELSEA, sloop DEPTFORD, corvette
PERIWINKLE joined the
convoy and escorted it to arrival on the 28th.
_____
German
tanker
CORRIENTES (4565grt), used for refuelling German
submarines, at Las Palmas
was sunk by French divers.
Friday,
10 May
On
this date, of the surviving ten German destroyers, seven
were repairing
defects and damages in Germany.
Late
on the 7th, destroyer JACOBI departed Trondheim and
arrived at Wilhelmshaven on the 9th for repairs and
refitting.
Destroyer
RIEDEL
at Trondheim
with serious defects did not
leave until 8 June to return to Wilhelmshaven.
Finally,
only
destroyer SCHOEMANN was operational and capable of duty.
_____
In
operation WILDENTE, German troops from Trondheim were
embarked on the
Norwegian coastal steamer NORDNORGE (991grt), manned by
personnel from
destroyers JACOBI and RIEDEL.
These
troops
were landed at Ranfjord on the 10th and their presence
facilitated the
capture of Mosjoen by German troops.
The
only British warships in a position to intercept were
the anti-aircraft
cruiser CALCUTTA,
escorting convoy NS.2 fifty
miles to seaward, destroyer ZULU at Skelfjord.
By
the time, destroyer ZULU arrived at 2050, the 300 German
troops had been completely
disembarked at Hemnes. However, ZULU was able to sink
NORDNORGE (991grt) at
Hemnesberget in Ranfjord with all the supplies for the
German troops aboard.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
soon arrived and
participated in the British bombardment of the village.
Hemnes was set afire
and the petrol stores were blown up.
Destroyer
ZULU
embarked the survivors of No. 3 Platoon of No. 1
Independent Company
which had been holding the village before the German
landing.
_____
The
British Harstad Force at this time was composed of
Battleship RESOLUTION,
light cruisers AURORA (damaged), EFFINGHAM, ENTERPRISE,
anti-aircraft cruisers CAIRO, COVENTRY, CURLEW, various
destroyers.
_____
In
a German air raid on Skelfjord, light cruiser PENELOPE
was damaged by splinters
from near misses and destroyer VANSITTART was hit by a
small bomb putting her
after guns out of action.
The
light cruiser had Paymaster Cdr W. A. Sharp and four
ratings killed in the
attack. Destroyer VANSITTART lost S/Lt C. C. Butt and
Midshipman A. B. Meria RNR and Lt Cdr W. Evershed and
S/Lt D. C. S. Currey were wounded.
At
2237/10th, light cruiser PENELOPE departed Skelfjord
towed by tug BANDIT
(840grt).
Also,
departing
was Destroyer ISIS, which had damaged propellers, under
the tow of
tug BUCCANEER (840grt). British steamer LOCHEE (964grt)
and tanker BRITISH
VALOUR (6952grt) proceeded in this convoy.
Destroyers
CAMPBELL
and WITCH and anti-submarine trawler ST LOMAN (565grt)
provided
protection for the convoy. The convoy was taken under
German air attack on
the 10th and anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY joined the
convoy for
support. Following this duty, anti-aircraft COVENTRY
arrived in the Lofotens on
the 11th.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
was also with the convoy on
the 10th after she had dealt with the German steamer
NORD NORGE at Ranfjord.
After
arriving
in Vestfjord at 1100/11th, destroyer ESCORT was detached
to join the
convoy.
Destroyer
ZULU
joined the convoy on the 11th from Hemnes.
At
0600/14th, light cruiser PENELOPE, destroyer ISIS, tugs
BUCCANEER and BANDIT,
destroyers ZULU, ESCORT, WITCH, tanker BRITISH VALOUR,
steamer LOCHEE,
anti-submarine trawler ST LOMAN were in 62-45N, 4-40W.
Destroyer
ACASTA
departed Scapa Flow at 1222/14th to relieve destroyer ZULU.
Destroyer
CAMPBELL
was detached to refuel at Sullom Voe and arrived at
0600. She
departed to join at 1030/14th.
Destroyer
WITCH
refuelled at Scapa Flow arriving at 0430/15th. She departed to rejoin
the convoy at 0730/15th.
The
ships all safely arrived at the Clyde late on the 16th.
At
2100/16th, light cruiser PENELOPE under tow of tug
BANDIT with destroyers
ACASTA and ESCORT arrived at Greenock.
At
2369/16th, destroyers CAMPBELL, WITCH, ISIS under tow of
tug BUCCANEER arrived
at Greenock.
At
1300/18th, destroyer ISIS departed the Clyde under the
tow of tug
BUCCANEER and escorted by destroyer WITCH. They safely
arrived at Falmouth on the 20th.
Destroyer
WITCH
was detached to Plymouth
to boiler and repair
arriving at 1810/21st.
Destroyer
ISIS
was under repair until 13 June when she was taken to
Plymouth repairing until 12
September.
_____
French
steamers
COLOMBIE (13,931grt), MEXIQUE (12,220grt), CHENONCEAUX
(14,825grt),
ST FIRMIN (4528grt), British steamers BELLEROPHON
(9019grt), LYCAON
(7350grt), tanker BRITISH LORD (6098grt) escorted by
destroyers EPERVIER,
ELECTRA, ILEX departed Narvik during the forenoon for
the Clyde.
On
arrival in North Channel, destroyer ILEX took tanker BRITISH LORD to Liverpool.
At
0700/17th, the British steamers and French steamer ST
FIRMIN with destroyer
ELECTRA arrived at Greenock.
The
French destroyer and the French steamers proceeded ahead
of the convoy from
70N, 10E and proceeded to return to France.
_____
French
destroyers
BRESTOIS and BOULONNAIS and destroyer WITHERINGTON
departed Scapa
Flow at 0600 escorting British steamers MONARCH OF
BERMUDA (22,424grt) and
EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (19,665grt), French steamer VILLE
D'ALGER (10,172grt),
French tanker LOT to the Clyde, where they arrived at
1330/11th.
_____
Destroyers
HASTY
and HAVANT departed Scapa Flow at 2330 for Aberdeen
to escort British steamers
LOCHNAGAR (1619grt), HORSA (979grt), MACCLESFIELD
(1018grt).
The
rendezvous was made off Aberdeen
at 0500/11th. All the ships
arrived safely at Lerwick at 0025/12th.
Destroyer
HAVANT
was diverted to the Clyde, where she arrived at 2230/12th.
Destroyer
HASTY
was to wait to escort cable ship MONARCH to Scapa Flow.
At
0815/13th, destroyer HASTY and the cable ship arrived at
Scapa Flow from Lerwick.
_____
Polish
troopship
CHROBRY (11,442grt) with destroyers SOMALI and ESCORT
arrived at
Harstad.
_____
Destroyers
HOSTILE
and FORESIGHT arrived at the Humber to refuel at 2140.
_____
Destroyer
VISCOUNT
departed Scapa Flow at 2330/10th for aircraft carrier escort. She
arrived in the Clyde at 1530/11th.
_____
Polish
destroyers
BLYSKAWICA and BURZA and destroyer GRAFTON departed
Vestfjord at
2159 for Scapa Flow arriving at 1820/12th.
Destroyer
BLYSKAWICA's
steering gear was out of order. She was towed by tug
MENDON
alongside depot ship WOOLWICH.
Destroyer
BLYSKAWICA
boiler cleaned from depot ship WOOLWICH before departing
Scapa Flow at 1500/16th for Harwich.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler
PRESTON NORTHEND, escorting oiler ATHOL EMPRESS to Cape
Wrath, attacked a submarine
contact in 58-48N, 03-48W.
_____
French
submarine
RUBIS, which departed Harwich on the 3rd, laid mines on
the 10th in
minefield FD.14 south of Egersund in 58‑21N, 06‑01E.
Norwegian
trawler
VANSO (54grt) on the 26th was lost on this minefield.
Norwegian
steamer
ALMORA (2433grt) was damaged on 7 July.
Norwegian
steamer
KEM (1706grt) was sunk on the minefield on 24 July, but
was later raised and repaired.
Norwegian
steamer
ARGO (412grt) was sunk on 28 July.
Submarine
RUBIS
arrived at Dundee on the 14th.
_____
Convoy FN.168 departed Southend. The convoy arrived at the Tyne
on the 12th.
_____
Convoy FN.167 had departed the Tyne,
escorted by destroyer
VIVIEN on the 9th, but was forced to return due to
suspected mining. The
destroyer was replaced by sloop EGRET. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the
12th.
_____
Convoy TM.66 arrived at Rosyth, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
VIMIERA.
_____
Destroyers
DECOY
and DEFENDER departed Aden and joined Australian troop
convoy US.2 as it entered the Red Sea
on the 12th.
_____
German
armed
merchant cruiser ATLANTIS laid mines off Cape Algulhas,
near Capetown, South Africa.
This
minefield was discovered by South African minesweeping
trawler ARISTEA
(261grt) before any damage was done.
_____
Battleship
WARSPITE
passed Gibraltar on the 5th, escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS and
VORTIGERN, which were relieved by destroyers VELOX,
VORTIGERN, KEPPEL. On the
7th, she departed Malta
escorted by Australian
destroyers VENDETTA, VOYAGER, WATERHEN.
On
the 10th, battleship WARSPITE arrived at Alexandria. Her
destroyer escort was
detached for patrol as she entered harbour and arrived
later in the day.
Admiral
Sir
Andrew Cunningham rehoisted his flag on WARSPITE on the
11th.
With
the arrival of WARSPITE and subsequent heavy
reinforcements, French
battleships PROVENCE
and BRETAGNE, under the command of Contre
Amiral Bouxin, which had arrived on the 3rd, returned to
Mer el Kebir in the
third week of May.
_____
German
forces
invaded Holland, Belgium,
Luxembourg, France.
_____
Destroyers
ESK,
EXPRESS, INTREPID of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla were at
sea laying
minefield ZMC off Heligoland.
On
their return to Humber, they were ordered to join minelayer PRINCESS VICTORIA which was
being escorted by patrol sloops PUFFIN, SHELDRAKE,
WIDGEON en route to lay
mines off Egmond near Ijmuiden.
The
destroyers relieved the patrol sloops and the minefield,
under operation CBX,
was successfully laid at 2107 in a 6.06 mile line 280°
from 52‑33N, 6‑28E.
The
minelayer and destroyers were back in the Humber at
0930/11th.
On
12 May, destroyers ESK, EXPRESS, INTREPID laid another
minefield, designated
BS 3, off the Dutch coast.
During
the
night of 14/15 May, destroyers ESK, EXPRESS, INTREPID
and minelayer
PRINCESS VICTORIA laid minefield BS 4 off the Dutch
coast.
_____
Light
cruisers
ARETHUSA and GALATEA departed the Nore to support naval
operations
off Holland. Destroyers KEITH and BOREAS departed Dover
at 0840 to provide escort
for the cruisers.
Light
cruiser
BIRMINGHAM
and most of the destroyers
which departed Rosyth and Scapa Flow on the 9th were still at sea and operated off
Terschelling.
These
ships
came under the command of the Commander in Chief Nore at
0926/10th.
Destroyers
of
this force, including MOHAWK, bombarded the Dutch coast
to prevent German
gliders from landing on the flat beaches.
Destroyer
MOHAWK
was near missed in German bombing in the North Sea off
the Dutch coast and
later required repair from the damage when her rudder
failed.
The
destroyers of the 1st, 5th, 7th Destroyer Flotillas to
join the Nore Command.
The destroyers of the 2nd, 4th, 8th Destroyer Flotillas
were to be released
when relieved.
_____
Destroyers
WHITSHED
and VERITY were recalled from patrol to embark
demolition parties
for the Dutch ports.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
departed Dover
with the demolition party
XD.A (commanded by Cdr M. G. Goodenough) of 158 naval
ratings and sappers for
the locks at Ijmuiden
and the oil reserves at Amsterdam.
In
numerous air attacks at Ijmuiden,
destroyer WHITSHED was
damaged by near misses and set afire. Four ratings were
killed and one
officer and seven ratings were wounded. She departed
Ijmuiden that night for Dover, arriving at 0530/11th.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
was repaired alongside depot ship SANDHURST in twenty
four hours.
In
Operation XD, departing Dover at 1200/10th were
destroyers VERITY carrying
demolition party XD.C (Cdr P. G. L. Cazalet) for the
port of Flushing, WILD
SWAN with XD.B (Cdr J. A. C. Hill) for the Hook of
Holland, BRILLIANT with XD
D.(Cdr A. C. Stanford) for Antwerp.
Destroyers
VERITY
and BRILLIANT arrived at Flushing
at 1620. Destroyer BRILLIANT
proceeded on to Antwerp.
Destroyer
VERITY
departed Flushing at 0545 arrived back at Dover
at 1110/11th. Destroyers
WILD SWAN and BRILLIANT remained at their ports to
support the evacuations.
During
the
afternoon of 11 May, destroyer WILD SWAN bombarded a
wooded area to the
east of Hook
Of Holland.
Destroyers
WILD
SWAN and BRILLIANT arrived back at Dover at 2130/12th.
Destroyer
HYPERION
at sea was ordered to land a party for the demolition of
the port of Rotterdam.
Near
Hook
of Holland, the commercial seaport of Rotterdam,
was a Dutch airfield at
Waalhaven that the Germans were striving to overrun at
the start of the
campaign.
Dutch
destroyer
VAN GALEN, returning from the East Indies, had arrived
in the Downs on the 5th from Lisbon. She continued on
the 6th
for Rotterdam arriving on the 8th for a refit at Den
Helder. The Dutch destroyer was
sunk by German bombing as she arrived to bombard the
airfield.
Destroyers
HYPERION
and HAVOCK of the BIRMINGHAM force from Harwich and WILD
SWAN and WIVERN from Dover
were ordered on the 11th to Rotterdam to assist in
resisting the
Germans and neutralizing the airfield at Waalhaven.
However,they were
redeployed off Hook of Holland in view of VAN GALEN's fate and German air supremacy
in the area.
_____
In
addition to the destroyers detached from the Home Fleet,
already mentioned,
for operations in the southern North Sea, fast escort
ship VIVIEN of Convoy C
was detached from the Rosyth Command, destroyers VIMY,
VERSATILE, WESSEX,
WALPOLE, WINDSOR, VESPER, VIVACIOUS, VENETIA came from
various Western
Approaches Flotillas to come under the command of the
Commander in Chief Nore
by 10 May.
Destroyer
VENETIA
had arrived as an escort for
an outbound convoy, but she was retained for operations
in the North Sea. The destroyer departed Dover at
0400/11th for Harwich.
Destroyer
VIMY
of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla departed Liverpool on the
7th. Destroyer
VERSATILE of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla departed
Liverpool on the 8th. Destroyers
WINDSOR of the 18th Destroyer Flotilla and VESPER of the
17th Destroyer
Flotilla departed Plymouth
on the 8th. Destroyers WESSEX of the 17th Destroyer
Flotilla and WALPOLE of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla
departed Plymouth on the 9th.
Destroyers
VIVACIOUS
and VENETIA were already at Sheerness on the 10th.
Destroyers
VIMY
and WINDSOR arrived at Dover at 1925/11th.
Destroyers
VERSATILE,
VESPER, WALPOLE, WESSEX,
WOLSEY arrived at Dover on the 12th.
Within
a
few days, destroyers CODRINGTON, GALLANT, GRIFFIN,
WOLFHOUND, MOHAWK,
VALOROUS, VEGA, VANESSA, VERITY also came under his
command.
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
(Captain G. E. Creasy, D.1) departed Scapa Flow at
0910/10th and arrived at
0750/11th at Dover
to join the Nore Command.
Following
refuelling,
she departed at 1420/11th for Ijmuiden to evacuate Dutch
Princess
Juliana and her family to England on the 12th.
Destroyer
GRIFFIN departed Rosyth and arrived at Dover
at 1136/11th to join the
Nore Command.
Following
refuelling,
destroyer GRIFFIN
departed Dover at 1420/11th for operations
off the Dutch coast.
Destroyer
GALLANT
departed Scapa Flow for Dover
on the 9th.
Destroyer
WOLFHOUND
departed Portland
after working up on the 14th
and arrived at Sheerness on the 15th.
Destroyer
VANESSA
was refitting at Plymouth
and did not participate.
_____
Destroyer
MALCOLM
was on North Goodwins patrol.
_____
French
steamer
COTE D'AZUR (3047grt) departed Dunkirk, escorted by
destroyuers
FOUGUEUX, FRONDEUR, INCOMPRISE, BRANLEBAS. The escort
was joined by
destroyers BOUCLIER and MELPOMENE. The steamer arrived
at Flushing 11 May.
_____
Patrol
sloop
PINTAIL escorting Submarine TIGRIS passed Dover
westbound.
_____
Submarine
SEVERN
arrived at Dundee after patrol.
_____
Submarines
L.23,
L.26, H.28, H.44, H.49, H.50 were ordered to depart the
Downs to patrol off the Dutch
coast.
Submarines
L.23
and L.26 departed on the 10th escorted by armed yacht
WARRIOR II
(266grt) for patrol.
On
11 May, H.28, H.44, H.49, H.50 departed the Downs
escorted by sloop FOXGLOVE
for patrol.
_____
Dutch
steamer
BOSCHDIJK (6872grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Rotterdam.
_____
French
tug
CALAISIEN (202grt) was sunk by German bombing in Calais
Harbour.
_____
British
steamer
HENRY WOODALL (625grt) was sunk by mining three miles
east of
Withernsea.
Six
crew and one gunner were lost with the steamer. The
survivors were picked up
by Estonian steamer VIIU (1908grt), which was sunk
herself the next day.
_____
German
steamer
CAMPINAS
(4541grt) was sunk in mining
at Drogden.
_____
Boarding
parties
of the Dutch sloop VAN KINSBERGEN captured German
steamers ESTE
(7915grt), VANCOUVER (8269 tons, HENRY HORN(3164 tons ),
PATRICIA ( 3979 tons
), FRISIA ( 561 tons ), KARIBIA ( 428 tons ), ALEMANIA (
1380 tons ) at
Curacao.
11 May,
Saturday
British
troops
guarding Mosjoen (brought there on the 2nd by destroyer
JANUS) were
cut off German troops.
The
troops embarked on a Norwegian coastal steamer and
headed down Vefsenfjord to
Sandessjoen where destroyers JAVELIN and JACKAL, which
departed Tjelsndet at
0700/11th for Scapa Flow, met them.
The
army commander Colonel Gubbins and 100 troops were
embarked on JACKAL while
the rest of the troops remained on the steamer which was
escorted to Bodo by
destroyers JACKAL and JAVELIN.
Destroyer
JACKAL
bombarded the German headquarters at Sund, above Hemnes.
The
troops with provisions and ammunition were landed at
Bodo at 1000/12th.
Destroyers
JACKAL
and JAVELIN arrived at Scapa Flow
at 1750/13th.
After
this
duty, destroyers JACKAL and JAVELIN arrived at Rosyth on
the 15th en
route to the Humber.
_____
Destroyer
JUNO
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1130.
_____
Destroyer
BEDOUIN
was ordered at 2004 to sail from Narvik at her best
possible speed.
She later departed Narvik for Scapa Flow
where she arrived at 1130/13th.
Destroyer
BEDOUIN
departed Scapa Flow at 1030/14th for boiler cleaning and repairs in the Clyde
where she arrived at
0930/15th.
_____
Convoy
NS.2
with base ship MASHOBRA and steamer CALUMET (7268grt)
was escorted by
light cruiser ENTERPRISE,
anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO, destroyer HESPERUS, sloop
FLEETWOOD.
British
steamer
META
(1578grt) joined the convoy
en route escorted by destroyers WOLVERINE and
WITHERINGTON.
Destroyer
WITHERINGTON
was detached en route and arrived at Liverpool at
2130/11th. The convoy,
another of the SCISSORS landings, safely arrived at
Narvik during the morning
of 11 May.
Steamer
META and destroyer WOLVERINE arrived independently
due to the steamer's slow speed.
Light
cruiser
ENTERPRISE,
anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO, destroyer HESPERUS, sloop
FLEETWOOD with storeship MARGOT (4545grt), which carried
four field guns and
a light anti-aircraft battery, departed Narvik at 1130
to land 320 troops at
Mo during the night of 11/12 May.
Light
cruiser
ENTERPRISE
landed troops and supported
others ashore.
At
Mo on the 12th, destroyer HESPERUS, escorting store ship
MARGOT (4545grt),
was damaged by two near misses of air bombs.
Destroyer
HESPERUS
left Narvik with a convoy, consisting of steamers MARGOT
(4545grt),
SEPIA (6214grt), ULSTER MONARCH (3791grt), CHARLBURY
(4836grt), French
steamers CHATEAU PAVIE (2047grt) and BRESTOIS (3094grt),
Norwegian SADO
(925grt), on the 15th for Dundee escorted by destroyers BASILISK, WOLVERINE,
HESPERUS and minesweeper HEBE.
Sloop
FLEETWOOD
gave anti-aircraft support until the convoy was seventy
miles clear
of the coast.
Destroyer
VANOC
after escorting submarine depot ship MAIDSTONE departed
the Clyde at 0500/21st to join the
convoy.
On
21 May, HESPERUS was relieved by destroyer VANOC and
arrived on the 22nd for
repairs at Dundee completed in late June.
Destroyer
HESPERUS
arrived at Plymouth
on 1 July for operations.
The convoy arrived in the Clyde at 1800/22nd with destroyers BASILISK, VANOC,
WOLVERINE and steamers MARGOT, SEPIA,
ULSTER MONARCH, BRESTOIS,
CHARLBURY, CHATEAU PAVIE.
_____
Six
Skuas of 806 Squadron departed Hatston escorted by three
Blenheims of 254
Squadron to attack fuel tanks near Bergen. No aircraft
were lost.
The
raid was repeated the next day by six Skuas of 806
Squadron, again escorted
by three Blenheims of 254 Squadron. They were to attack
an enemy transport,
escorted by torpedo boats. The target was located in
65-05N, 5-20E, but no
damage was done. No aircraft were lost.
_____
Heavy
cruiser
YORK and light cruisers MANCHESTER
and SHEFFIELD at Rosyth were placed at the
disposal of the Commander in Chief Nore for operations
in the southern North Sea should German cruisers
appear to support the German invasion.
_____
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 2210 from Bodo.
_____
Destroyers
WALKER and BEAGLE departed Liverpool
at 0900 after boiler
cleaning. They arrived in the Clyde at 1730.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers
DANEMAN, WELLARD, BLACKFLY departed Scapa Flow for
Grimsby.
_____
Steam
drifters
STRATHDEVON, STHRATHDERRY, ELDORADO, NEWHAVEN, SANDWICK
under the
command of Lt Cdr R. D. Fell arrived at Scapa Flow for
onward passage to Norway.
On
arrival in Norway,
the drifters were found to
be too large for the purpose intended. They were laid up
and Lt Cdr Fell
requisitioned ten Norwegian "puffers. "
_____
Submarine
SWORDFISH
departed Blyth on patrol.
_____
Submarine
STURGEON
arrived at Blyth after patrol.
_____
Polish
submarine
ORZEL arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
On
11 May, light cruisers ARETHUSA, GALATEA, BIRMINGHAM and
destroyers CODRINGTON,
BRILLIANT, VIMY, VALOROUS, GRIFFIN, HEREWARD, HYPERION,
HAVOCK,
MOHAWK, VENETIA, VIVACIOUS, WINDSOR, VERITY, VENOMOUS,
WIVERN,
WILD SWAN were actively working off the Dutch coast.
Destroyer
VENOMOUS
departed Dover
for Dunkirk with the Dutch military
missions for Belgium
and France.
These
missions
had been brought from Ijmuiden on light cruiser GALATEA
of
the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.
At
Ijmuiden, light cruiser ARETHUSA and destroyer BOREAS
met Dutch steamer IRIS (909grt), carrying gold from
Ijmuiden,
destroyer KEITH met
incomplete Dutch cruiser HEEMSKERCK and Dutch steamer
TITUS (1712grt),
carrying Dutch gold from Ijmuiden.
Patrol
yacht
WARRIOR II later on the 11th relieved destroyer KEITH of
escorting the
Dutch cruiser.
They
arrived in the Thames that evening and the next morning, IRIS went into Southend and
ARETHUSA and BOREAS to Sheerness.
Light
cruiser
BIRMINGHAM
and destroyers MOHAWK and
JANUS arrived in the Humber.
Destroyers
HYPERION
and WILD SWAN remained in the Hook of Holland overnight.
Destroyer
HAVOCK
departed Hook of Hollland at 1330/11th and patrolled
outside between
the Hook and Ijmuiden
to deal with landings at
Scheveningen from German aircraft.
_____
Destroyer
WIVERN
departed Dover
at 0415/11th with a British
miliary mission, which included Major General Heywood
and the British
Military Mission which had missed passage on destroyer
WILD SWAN, for Hook of Holland.
The
passage was covered by destroyers HYPERION and HAVOCK.
After
her
arrival, she was diverted to Flushing
where the mission was
landed. The destroyer arrived at Flushing
at 1200 and departed after
disembarkation at 1600.
Destroyer
WIVERN
then returned to Dover.
After refuelling, she
joined destroyer MALCOLM off the North Goodwins.
_____
Destroyers
VALENTINE
and WINCHESTER joined by French destroyers SIROCCO and
CYCLONE
departed Dunkirk with French steamer COTE D'ARGENT
(3047grt) at 1030 and
arrived at Flushing at 1323.
The
Destroyers remained underway until dusk to give
protection to the Breskens - Flushing ferry.
Destroyers
WESTMINSTER and VIMIERA departed Dunkirk
with destroyers FOUGUEUX,
FRONDEUR, INCOMPRISE and sloop DLIGENTE at 1300 with
French storeships PAVON
(4128grt) and NEWHAVEN (1888grt). Off Wandelar Light
Vessel, the destroyers
were detached to patrol off Nieuport. Destroyers
VALENTINE and WINCHESTER supported the store ships
that evening.
On
the evening of 12 May, destroyers VALENTINE and
WINCHESTER departed Flushing to replenish at Dunkirk.
Destroyers WESTMINSTER and VIMIERA proceeded from
their Nieuport patrol to relieve them off Flushing.
_____
Destroyers
MOHAWK
and VERSATILE, after departing the Humber on the 11th,
embarked
British diplomatic personnel at Hook of Holland.
_____
Dutch
liners
VEENDAM (15,450grt) and STATENDAM (28,291grt) were sunk
by German
bombing at Rotterdam.
_____
Dutch
steamer
STELLA (2818grt) was sunk by German bombing at Flushing
Roads.
_____
Dutch
steamer
PRINS WILLEM VAN ORANJE (1304grt) was badly damaged by
German bombing
in 51‑26N, 03‑36E.
_____
U.
9 sank Estonian steamer VIIU (1908grt), which was
carrying the survivors of British
steamer HENRY WOODALL, off Westhinder Buoy and British
steamer TRINGA
(1930grt) in 51‑21N, 02‑25E.
There
were
five survivors from the steamer VIIU. They were picked
up by
anti-submarine trawler ARCTIC HUNTER ten miles east of
Noss Head.
Sixteen
crew
and the pilot were lost on the steamer TRINGA. Destroyer
MALCOLM rescued
six survivors.
_____
Finnish
steamer
SALLY (2533grt) was sunk on a mine in the Fairway north
of Helsingor.
_____
Departing
Dover
at 2345/11th, destroyers VERITY and VENOMOUS arrived at
Hook of Holland
at 0515/12th on Operation HARPOON with a 200 man guard
for the protection of
the demolition party brought there by destroyer WILD
SWAN.
Also
arriving on the 12th at Hook of Holland
were minesweeping trawlers
ARCTIC HUNTER (356grt) and ST MELANTE (358grt).
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
laid minefield FD.10 off Haugesand in 62‑58N, 06‑48E.
On
29 May, German auxiliary patrol boat Vp 1109 (trawler
ANTARES, 291grt) was
lost on this minefield.
_____
At
2359, French submarine AMAZONE fired two torpedoes at
Submarine SHARK in
52-55N, 4-28E.
The
French submarine had mistaken submarine SHARK for
German. Both torpedoes
missed.
_____
Convoy
OA.146
departed Southend. No escorts were listed.
_____
Convoy
OB.146
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer VANQUISHER from 11 to 13 May
_____
Convoy
BC.36
of steamers ATLANTIC
COAST, BARON NAIRN (Commodore),
CAMEO, CITY OF LANCASTER,
DORSET COAST departed Loire with no escort. The convoy
arrived safely in Bristol Channel
on the 13th.
_____
Convoy FS.168 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop FLAMINGO. The convoy arrived
at Southend on the 13th.
_____
Destroyers
ACTIVE
and WISHART arrived at Gibraltar,
escorting troopship ORONSAY
from Cherbourg with troops for the Gibraltar
garrison.
_____
After
the
invasion of Holland,
French troops on French
light cruiser PRIMAUGUET landed at Aruba to safeguard the oil facilities.
Light
cruiser
CARADOC and Canadian destroyer FRASER departed Kingston
at 1230/11th with two
companies of infantry and British steamer JAMAICA
PLANTER (4098grt) with
motor transport to be landed at Willemstad. Light
cruiser DESPATCH was
already off Willemstad
on patrol.
No
landing took place at the request of the Dutch Governor.
Sunday,
12 May
At
0500/12th, destroyers MOHAWK and JANUS were ordered to
patrol Brown Ridge.
_____
Destroyer
VERSATILE
grounded at Sheerness at 0940/12th. Destroyer WALPOLE
pulled her
off and was later relieved by a tug.
Destroyer
VERSATILE
proceeded to Sheerness and was repaired in one day.
_____
At
1830, destroyers HYPERION and WILD SWAN departed the
Hook of Holland to patrol off the coast.
Destroyer HAVOCK had arrived there shortly before.
Destroyer
HAVOCK
then departed to bombard German troops reported near
Hook of Holland. None were found and after
dusk, destroyer HAVOCK returned to Harwich.
In
Operation J, with Destroyers HYPERION and WINDSOR in
company, destroyer
CODRINGTON arrived at Ijmuiden
at about 2100/12th.
Destroyer CODRINGTON embarked Dutch Princess Juliana and
her family and
evacuated them to Harwich.
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
was escorted back to Harwich by destroyers VIVACIOUS and
VENETIA. They arrived at 0800/13th.
Destroyer
HEREWARD
arrived at Holland
at 2400.
Destroyers
HYPERION
and WINDSOR departed Ijmuiden at 0100/13th escorting
British steamer DOTTEREL (1385grt) carrying British
refugees.
_____
Destroyer
KIMBERLEY arrived at Flushing
during the forenoon of 12
May. She embarked the military mission at Flushing and
then proceeded to Ijmuiden.
Destroyer
KIMBERLEY departed Ijmuiden
that evening.
_____
British
motor
torpedo boats MTB.22, MTB.24,
MTB.25 arrived at Ijmuiden at 2130/12th. The boats
operated from Ijmiuden on reconnaisance duties until 14
May.
_____
Destroyers
KEITH
and BOREAS arrived at Dover after escort duty with the
2nd Cruiser Squadron.
Light
cruisers
ARETHUSA and GALATEA arrived at Sheerness.
_____
Destroyer
WHITSHED
departed Dover
for Dunkirk with ammunition for the FA
force destroyers.
_____
Destroyer
MALCOLM
departed North Goodwins patrol for Hook of Holland to
relieve destroyer WILD
SWAN as Senior Naval Officer.
_____
Destroyer
VENOMOUS,
returning from Hook of Holland,
relieved destroyer WIVERN
on North Goodwins patrol.
Destroyer
WIVERN
returned to Dover.
_____
Destroyer
WHITLEY
departed Sheerness on the 11th to meet Dutch steamer
PERSEUS
(1307grt) at Ijmuiden.
She arrived at 0015/12th
also to embark the Dutch Crown Princess, her family, 100
British refugees.
At
Ijmuiden, she was not able to locate the PERSEUS or the
Dutch Royal Family. Destroyer WHITLEY departed
Ijmuiden
at 0330/12th and returned to
Sheerness.
Destroyers
VIMY
and WINDSOR departed Dover
at 0500 to meet destroyers
VIVACIOUS and VENETIA from Harwich off Maas Light Vessel to operate off the Dutch coast.
_____
Destroyers
KEITH,
BOREAS, WIVERN, WOLSEY departed Dover at 2000 for Hook
of Holland with British steamers CANTERBURY (2910grt)
and MAID OF
ORLEANS (2386grt) with a composite battalion of guards
for the port.
_____
British
steamer
ROEK (1041grt) was sunk on a mine in 51‑54N, 04‑21E in
the Nieuwe Waterweg west of Rotterdam.
Twenty
crew
and thirty one refugees were rescued.
_____
Dutch
steamer
VAN RENSSELAER (4241grt) with 150 refugees on board was
badly damaged
on a mine near the south pier at Ijmuiden. She was
beached to prevent
sinking.
Forty
two
survivors were landed at Ramsgate from Dutch steamer
JOHAN DE WITT
(10,474grt) on the 14th.
_____
British
steamer
ST DENIS (2435grt) was sunk by a mine in the river
between Hook and Rotterdam partially blocking the
channel.
_____
Dutch
steamer
PRINSES JULIANA (2908grt), carrying troops from Flushing
to Ijmiuden, was sunk by
German bombing off Hook of Holland.
Destroyers
WILD SWAN and
HAVOCK rescued her survivors
_____
Destroyers
MASHONA
and JAGUAR arrived at Scapa Flow
at 2100 from Narvik.
_____
Destroyers
ACHERON
and ANTELOPE arrived at Greenock
at 0700.
Destroyer
ACHERON
commenced repairs to minor defects and boiler cleaning.
_____
Lt
(A) A. S. Downes and Lt R. W. Little in a Swordfish of
815 Squadron,
operating from Bircham Newton, shot down in a raid on
Wallhaven aerodrome.
Both were returned unhurt on the 14th.
_____
Convoy
OA.147
departed Southend escorted by destroyer WESSEX and
corvette ARABIS. The
corvette was later detached to convoy HX.40.
_____
Convoy
OB.147
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer SALADIN from 12 to 14 May.
_____
Convoy FN.169 departed Southend, escorted by sloop WESTON. The convoy
arrived at the Tyne on the 14th.
_____
Convoy MT.67 departed Methil, escorted by escort ship VASCAMA and
subsequently by sloop GRIMSBY.
Sloop GRIMSBY was then relieved by sloop AUCKLAND and
GRIMSBY returned to Rosyth.
The convoy arrived later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.169 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop AUCKLAND.
. The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 14th.
_____
French
Legionnaires
were embarked on British assault landing craft landing
craft at
Ballangen for the assault on Bjervik in Herjangsfjord.
The remainder of the
1500 troops involved were embarked on the Light cruisers
EFFINGHAM and
AURORA.
Four
tanks and two mechanized landing craft landing craft to
take the tanks ashore
were carried on battleship RESOLUTION. A fifth tank in a
more modern LC went
under its own power.
This
landing craft had arrived at Harstad on 27 April on
British steamer EMPIRE
ABILITY (7603grt).
In
addition, repair ship VINDICTIVE, net layer PROTECTOR,
destroyers HAVELOCK
(Captain E. B. K. Stevens, D.9), which carried a French
mortar battery on her
forecastle, SOMALI, FAME, BASILISK, WREN accompanied the force.
Aircraft
carrier
ARK ROYAL provided air support for this operation.
This
force departed Ballangen late on the 12th and the troops
were landed on the
13th and Bjervik was captured.
The
naval ships were dispersed at 0600/13th. Light cruiser
EFFINGHAM proceeded to
Harstad.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
FURIOUS escorted by destroyers IMPERIAL and VISCOUNT
departed the Clyde at 1100 for flying on of
aircraft.
Two
hours later, Aircraft carrier GLORIOUS escorted by
destroyers DELIGHT and
DIANA departed the Clyde, but both groups were recalled at 1415 to the Clyde.
_____
Submarine
TRIBUNE departed
the Clyde on patrol escorted by
anti-submarine trawler NORWICH CITY (541grt).
_____
Submarines
SPEARFISH
departed Blyth and PORPOISE and TETRARCH departed Rosyth on
patrol. PORPOISE conducted minelaying operation FD.11 on
the 16th.
_____
Swedish
steamer
BOTHNIA (1488grt) was damaged by German bombing in the
Kattegat.
_____
Swedish
steamer
INDUS (729grt) was seized by
German forces at Bergen.
On
28 May, she was renamed METZ
for German service.
_____
Swedish
steamer
EROS (2151grt) after the crew left the ship was seized
by German
forces at Bergen.
On
28 May, she was renamed ILLKIRCH for German service.
_____
German
trawler
KATHE JURGENSEN (346grt) was sunk on a mine near Lubeck.
_____
Convoy
OG.29
was formed from convoys OA.145G, which departed Southend
on the 10th
escorted by destroyers WHITEHALL
and WINCHELSEA, OB.145G,
which departed Liverpool on the 10th, of fifty ships. The convoy was escorted
by destroyer WHITEHALL
and WINCHELSEA from 12 May.
Destroyer WHITEHALL
was detached on the 12th and
destroyer WINCHELSEA on the 13th. The convoy was
escorted by French sloop LA
CURIEUSE and patrol vessel JUTLAND from 13 to 18 May.
Anti-submarine
trawler
SNAKEFLY escorted the convoy near Gibraltar. The convoy
arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th.
_____
Convoy
HG.30F
departed Gibraltar with forty two ships. The convoy was escorted by
French destroyer JAGUAR and auxiliary patrol vessel
MINERVE from 12 to 18
May. The destroyer arrived at Brest
on the 18th and the patrol
vessel at Lorient
on the 19th.
Sloops
ENCHANTRESS
and LEITH from convoy OGF 30 escorted the convoy from 18 to 21 May. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 21st.
_____
Sloop
FOLKESTONE,
formerly with convoy OG.28F, departed Gibraltar for
Liverpool.
_____
Spanish
cruisers
CANARIAS, ALMIRANTE CERVERA, NAVARRA and destroyers
ALMIRANTE
ANTEQUERA, CISCAR, ULLOA, GRAVINA passed Gibraltar en
route from Cadiz for
Malaga.
_____
Convoy
HX.42
departed Halifax
at 0900 escorted by Canadian
destroyers RESTIGOUCHE and SKEENA, which were detached on the 13th.
The
destroyers turned over the convoy to ocean escort Armed
merchant cruiser LACONIA at 1814/13th. The armed
merchant cruiser was detached on the 24th.
On
24 May, sloop ROCHESTER
and corvette GLADIOLUS
joined the convoy. The sloop ROCHESTER was detached on
the 27th.
The corvette remained with the convoy until its arrival
at Liverpool on the 28th.
_____
Canadian
troop
convoy TC.4A departed Halifax at 1400 escorted by
Canadian
destroyers ST LAURENT
and SAGUENAY. The convoy was composed of
troopships ANTONIA (13,867grt) and DUCHESS OF BEDFORD
(20,123grt) which
carried 932 and 1559 troops, respectively.
Battleship
REVENGE
was the ocean escort.
Battleship
REVENGE
accidently collided with and sank Canadian Gate Vessel
No. 1 (trawler
YPRES, 440grt, Lt A. H.Cassivi RCNR) at Halifax as
REVENGE was setting out to
escort Canadian troop convoy TC 4 A.
Three
ratings
were slightly injured in the vessel; no lives wee lost
from the
eighteen man crew.
Monday,
13 May
Convoy
NS.3
escorted by destroyers FIREDRAKE and FOXHOUND departed
Scapa Flow at
0800 with tankers OLEANDER (7048grt) and OIL PIONEER
(5666grt), collier
CARMINSTER, French patrol boat BELFORT.
The
Clyde section had departed the day
before at 0200/12th escorted by destroyers WALKER and
BEAGLE with steamers
CYPRIAN PRINCE (1988grt), RUTLAND
(1437grt), DROMORE CASTLE (5242grt), GUNVOR MAERSK
(1977grt), PEMBROKE
COAST (625grt), HEILO (989grt),
COWRIE (8197grt).
Tanker
ATHELSULTAN
(8882grt) joined the convoy in North Channel.
Norwegian
steamer
MARINA (9898grt) departed Stornoway with cargo that had
been on
British steamer BALZAC (5372grt), which had run aground
on the 7th, joined in
the Minches.
Steamer
COWRIE
and tanker ATHELSULTAN were detached to Scapa Flow.
The
Rosyth section departed Leith at 0800/12th escorted by destroyers HERO and
FOXHOUND. This convoy included British steamer
REDCAR
(1475grt)However, this
section was delayed due to REDCAR's slow speed.
Destroyer
FOXHOUND
was detached to arrive at Hoxa Gate at 0700/13th to
escort the Scapa Flow section.
When
the two sections rendezvoused, destroyer FOXHOUND was
detached to Greenock and arrived in the Clyde at
1100/14th. The convoy was
split for the passage into fast and slow sections at
1100/14th.
The
fast convoy escorted by FIREDRAKE and WALKER consisted
of British tankers
OLEANDER and OIL PIONEER and steamers PEMBROKE COAST, CYPRIAN
PRINCE, DROMORE CASTLE, Norwegian MARINA, Danish GUNVOR
MAERSKE.
The
slow convoy was escorted by destroyer BEAGLE and two
minesweeping trawlers
and was composed of RUTLAND,
REDCAR, SARITA (5824grt), Norwegian
steamers HEILO, GRO (3825grt), INGERFIRE (3835grt).
In
Pentland
Firth,
destroyer HERO escorting the steamer REDCAR joined
Norwegian steamers GRO, INGERFIRE, SPICA (500grt)
from Kirkwall to join the convoy.
This
section was delayed by steamer REDCAR's
slow speed, but
rendezvoused with the convoy at 1900/13th. Destroyer
HERO was detached in 63N
on the 14th and proceeded to Plymouth.
Destroyers
WALKER
and FIREDRAKE with steamers MARINA, DROMORE CASTLE,
PEMBROKE CASTLE,
GUNVOR MAERSK arrived at Harstad at 0700/17th. The rest
of the convoy
remained at sea to await orders.
_____
Convoy
NP.3
departed Scapa Flow for Narvik with Polish troopships BATORY (14,287grt)
and SOBIESKI (11,030grt) and escorted by destroyers
DELIGHT and ANTELOPE and
French destroyer MILAN.
The convoy arrived at
2000/17th escorted by destroyers ANTELOPE, DELIGHT,
MILAN.
At
2300/13th, British steamer ROYAL ULSTERMAN (3244grt),
escorted by destroyer
MATABELE, arrived at Bodo and landed 290 troops in a
SCISSORS landing.
These
ships had departed the
Firth of Forth at 1900/10th.
_____
Late
on the 13th, battleship RESOLUTION, light cruiser
EFFINGHAM, repair ship
VINDICTIVE, destroyers HAVELOCK,
SOMALI, FAME, BASILISK, WREN, assisted by
aircraft from aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, bombarded
Narvik. This operation
was named OB.
_____
Following
a
reconnaisance, when the weather was too bad to land on
the ARK ROYAL, a
Skua of 800 Squadron forced landed south of Harstad in
the sea. Petty Officer
L. E. Burston and Naval Airman G. W. Halifax were picked
up by destroyer
BRAZEN.
A
second Skua of this operation force landed at Sandsoy,
north of Harstad. Lt
J. A. Rooper and Petty Officer W. Crawford were not
injured.
_____
A
Swordfish of 810 Squadron from ARK ROYAL landed on a
forzen lake near Reisenvann.
S/Lt A. N. Dixon, Midshipman H.B. Dangerfield, Naval
Airman V. Labross were
unhurt. The plane was later taken to Harstad and
returned to the UK in French steamer ALBERT
LEBOUGNE. A second Swordfsish with Lt N. R.
Corbet-Milward, Captain K. L. Ford,
RM, Leading Airman J. Black force landed at Skaanland.
_____
A
Swordfish of 820 Squadron force landed during a bombing
raid of Silvik.
Captain A. C. Newson, RM, Lt Cdr G. B. Hodgkinson and
Leading Airman R.
H.McColl were unhurt. A second Swordfish with Lt H.de G.
Hunter and Leading
Airman D. Smith force landed two miles south of Harstad.
_____
Destroyers
JUNO,
JAGUAR, GRAFTON and Polish
destroyer BURZA departed Scapa Flow at 1030 for Harwich.
Destroyer
JUNO
was detached en route to run
the D. G. range at Inchkeith.
_____
Destroyer
GRENADE
departed Liverpool at 1145 after boiler cleaning for Harwich.
_____
At
2036 a periscope was sighted by a shore battery at Holm
and at 2045 a report
of a crossing on the indicator loops outside the eastern
entrance to Scapa Flow.
Destroyers
JACKAL
and JAVELIN departed Scapa Flow at 2315 to patrol on the line Roseness to
Grimness.
Destroyers
NUBIAN,
AMAZON, ACASTA searched inside Scapa Flow near Water
Sound and Kirk
Sound.
Destroyers
JACKAL
and JAVELIN attacked several contacts later determined
to be the wreck
of tanker DAGHESTAN sunk on 25 March.
At
0800/14th, all destroyers were ordered to return to
harbour, leaving
destroyer AMAZON patrolling to seaward.
_____
Swedish
steamer
EDDA (1652grt) was seized by German forces at Stavanger.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE,
on patrol in the North Sea near Raudoy Island in 62-46N,
03-57W, at 1345
sighted German armed merchant cruiser WIDDER. Submarine
CLYDE fired sixty rounds from her
deck gun, but did not hit WIDDER. Merchant cruiser
WIDDER returned fire and
kept submarine CLYDE out of range until she could escape into a rain squall.
Armed
merchant
cruiser WIDDER arrived at Trondheim to avoid further
contact.
_____
Minewsweeping
trawlers
SATA and RUNSWICK
BAY departed Scapa Flow for the Harstad area. En
route, they assisted in the escort of a "Narvik convoy".
_____
Destroyer
MALCOLM
(Captain T. E. Halsey, D.16) departed Dover at 2330/12th
arrived at
Hook of Holland at 0537/13th to relieve destroyer WILD
SWAN as senior naval
officer and take charge of the evacuation of that port.
_____
In
Operation HARPOON, British steamers CANTERBURY (2910grt)
and MAID OF
ORLEANS (2386grt) escorted by destroyers KEITH, WOLSEY,
WIVERN, BOREAS
arrived at Hook of Holland early on the 13th.
The
steamers carried a composite battalion of Guards to
support the Royal Marines
in the port.
After
unloading,
the force returned to Dover arriving on the 13th.
_____
Destroyers
VALENTINE
and WINCHESTER
departed Dunkirk at 0330/13th for Nieuport.
Destroyer
WINCHESTER was detached six hours later to complete
replenishing ammunition brought to Dunkirk
by destroyer WHITLEY, which
had departed Dover
at 0400 and arrived at Dunkirk at 0700.
At
1430, destroyer WINCHESTER
departed Dunkirk to relieve destroyer WESTMINSTER as SNO
off Flushing.
_____
Dutch
steamer
PERSEUS (1307grt), carrying bullion, departed Ijmuiden
at 0400 escorted by
destroyer VIMY.
_____
Destroyer
HEREWARD,
escorted by destroyer VESPER, evacuated Queen Wilhelmena
of Holland from Hook of Holland at noon and took her to
Harwich,
arriving at 1700.
_____
Six
destroyers began the evacuation of Hook of Holland
at 1800/13th.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
evacuated the Dutch government, British, Belgian,
Norwegian legation staffs,
400 refugees from Hook of Holland
during the evening.
Destroyer
VERSATILE
followed destroyer MOHAWK's turn at the pier.
Destroyer
VERSATILE,
while alongside the pier, was damaged by one bomb hit at
2140 from
German bombing off Hook of Holland.
Her
engine room was put out of action and the destroyer
could neither steer or
steam. Acting Gunner (T) G. L. Turner, Midshipman C. S.
T. Shiach RNR, five ratings were killed
and thirteen wounded on the destroyer. Destroyer
VERSATILE was towed away
from the jetty by destroyer MALCOLM and escorted by
destroyer HYPERION.
Destroyer VERSATILE was taken in tow by destroyer JANUS
outside the harbour.
Destroyer
JANUS
was later relieved by a rescue tug and a motor torpedo
boat.
Destroyer
VERSATILE
with one engine working arrived at Sheerness at
1900/14th and was
repaired at Chatham
completing on 20 June.
The
last party of refugees was embarked on destroyer MALCOLM
at 2240/13th. These
were transferred to destroyer JANUS outside the harbour
and destroyer MALCOLM
returned to the Hook arriving at 0120/14th.
Destroyers
WINDSOR,
VIVIEN, MOHAWK arrived early the next morning from Hook
of Holland at Southend.
_____
Destroyer
WALPOLE
evacuated from Ijmuiden
the Dutch industrial
diamonds, brought from Amsterdam
to prevent their falling
into German hands.
Also,
at
Ijmuiden that evening were destroyers VIVIEN which
arrived back at Southend on the 14th and destroyer
KIMBERLEY.
_____
Destroyer
WHITSHED
arrived back at Dover
from Dunkirk at 0245.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
departed again at 0430/14th with more ammunition for the
FA ships at Dunkirk and minesweeping gear for the minesweepers working
off the Dutch coast from Zeebrugge.
_____
Destroyer
WHITLEY,
which had arrived during the evening of 12 May, departed
Dover for Dunkirk at 0445 with ammunition and
to operate with Force FA.
_____
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN arrived at Dover
at 0700 from Hook of Holland with a broken propeller
blade on her starboard propeller.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN departed Dover
at 1607/14th for Blackwall
for repairs completed on the 17th.
_____
The
6th Mine Sweeping Flotilla was sweeping mines off the
Dutch coast.
After
the
operation, minesweeper HARRIER proceeded to Dover for
boiler cleaning.
The
rest of the Flotilla proceeded to Harwich arriving at
1930.
_____
Dutch
steamer
PHRONTIS (6181grt) departed Ijmuiden on the 13th with
800
prisoners of war. She met her escort of two French
destroyers, but they
immediately went off on other duty.
Steamer
PHRONTIS
proceeded unescorted to the Downs arriving on the 14th.
She
then proceeded to Dover
where the prisoners were
landed.
_____
Late
on the 13th, Dutch submarines O.23 and O.24 departed
Rotterdam.
Submarine
O.24
had just begun her trials and had never dived, but both
submarines
safely arrived at Dover.
They arrived at Portsmouth on the 16th.
_____
Convoy FN.170 departed Southend, escorted by sloop EGRET. The convoy
arrived at the Tyne on the 15th.
_____
British
steamer CITY OF BRUSSELS (629grt) was
seized by German forces at Brussels.
_____
Danish
steamer
GORM (2156grt) was sunk on a mine 1. 3 miles 20° from
the South Mole
Light at Zeebrugge.
_____
Dutch
steamer
BUSSUM (3636grt) was damaged by German bombing north of
the West
Hinder Light Vessel. She was abandoned and French
torpedo boat BOUCLIER
rescued the survivors. BUSSUM was taken in tow by
minesweeper HARRIER, later
relieved by tug LADY BRASSEY.
_____
Norwegian
steamer
HIRD (4950grt) was badly damaged at Dunkirk by German
bombing. She did
not depart Dunkirk
until 28 May and was
constantly bombed in that period, but did not receive
any more significant
damage.
_____
Minesweeper
FERMOY
departed Gibraltar for Malta
to rejoin the Mediterranean
Fleet.
_____
French
destroyer
VOLTA passed Gibraltar en route from Brest
to Oran, where she arrived on the
14th.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper VILLE DU BIZERTE (32grt) was sunk on a mine
near Cape Guardia in the Bizerte area.
_____
Following
repairs
at Hong Kong, submarine GRAMPUS departed Hong
Kong on 13 April, Singapore on 19 April, Colombo on 25
April, Aden on the 3rd, arriving at Suez on the 7th.
Submarine
GRAMPUS then departed Alexandria
on the 9th and arrived at Malta on the 13th for duty
with
the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
During
the
night of 13/14 May, French submarine ACHILLE during an
attack approach on
two German transports near Lindesnes was near missed by five bombs dropped from a
German aircraft.
_____
On
13 to 16 May, U.38 refuelled from German tanker EGERLAND
(9798grt).
Tuesday,
14 May
Aircraft
carriers
FURIOUS and GLORIOUS departed the Clyde at 2130 escorted
by
destroyers DIANA, VETERAN, VISCOUNT, WITHERINGTON for
operations off Norway.
Destroyer
AMAZON
was recalled from an anti-submarine force at 1155/14th.
She departed Scapa Flow at 2200 to relieve
WITHERINGTON.
_____
Light
cruiser
AURORA, anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY, destroyers FAME
and WREN bombarded Narvik.
_____
Destroyer
SOMALI
(D.6) and French destroyer FOUDROYANT departed Harstad
with ammunition
for allied troops at Mo.
The ammunition was
delivered.
The
destroyers operated in area of Bodo, Ranenfjord, Mo,
Hemnes during the day.
Destroyer FOUDROYANT bombarded German targets at Hemnes
and Sund.
The
ships returned towards Harstad early the next day.
_____
Polish
troopship
CHROBRY (11,442grt) departed Tjelsundet for Bodo with
Destroyer
WOLVERINE and sloop STORK escorting and screened by
anti-aircraft cruiser
CURLEW.
In
low level bombing attacks, troopship CHROBRY was hit by
two or three bombs at
2350/14th in 67‑40N, 13‑50E in Vestfjord and was badly
damaged.
The troopship was set afire by the bombing and
abandoned.
Eleven
crew
were lost on the Polish troopship. Temporary Lt Cdr J.
D. Arrowsmith RNR, of VICTORY was lost on the
troopship.
Destroyer
WOLVERINE
and sloop STORK took off the 1000 survivors and Aircraft
from
aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL scuttled the wreck midday on
the 15th.
The
survivors were returned to Harstad.
_____
In
air combat off Skaanland near Tranoy, two Skuas of 803
Squadron from aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL were lost.
Lt
W. P. Lucy DSO, Lt M. C. E. Hanson DSC, in one aircraft
were shot down and
lost. Lt T. E. Gray and Leading Airman A. G. Clayton ran
out of fuel and
force landed the other aircraft, but were rescued by
destroyer ENCOUNTER.
_____
Destroyer
FEARLESS
departed Scapa Flow at 1800 for Middlesbrough
for refitting.
Destroyer
FEARLESS
arrived at 0700/15th.
_____
Destroyer
HASTY
departed Scapa Flow at 1500 for Plymouth
en route to Mediterranean
Fleet duty.
_____
Destroyers
JACKAL
and JAVELIN departed Scapa Flow for Harwich.
_____
Destroyer
NUBIAN
departed Scapa Flow at 2130 with 1200 extra high explosive shells.
Destroyer
NUBIAN
arrived at Plymouth
en route to duty with the
Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Destroyer
KANDAHAR departed the Tyne
at 1450 for Plymouth en route to duty in the
Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Destroyer
GALLANT
departed the Tyne at 1330 for Harwich for duty with the Commander in
Chief, Nore.
_____
Destroyer
GRENADE
departed Liverpool on the 13th and arrived at Dover
on the 14th.
As
destroyer GRENADE was entered the port at 0930, she
collided with
Anti-submarine trawler CAYTON WYKE (373grt), which had
just left Dover.
Destroyer
GRENADE
was not watertight above the water line and required
docking which
was done at Harwich. Boiler cleaning was also
accomplished during this
docking period, completing on the 25th.
_____
Destroyers
INGLEFIELD
and SIKH were detached from Vice Admiral Aircraft
Carrier's screen
for Plymouth.
Destroyer
INGLEFIELD
arrived at Plymouth
for refitting at 1530/17th.
Following
the
refitting, destroyer INGLEFIELD arrived back at Scapa
Flow at 2215 on 8 June.
Destroyer
SIKH
for boiler cleaning. She was diverted en route to Scapa
Flow, where she arrived at 1400/16th.
_____
French
light
cruiser MONTCALM and destroyers BRESTOIS and BOULONNAIS
departed the Clyde to return to Brest, arriving on the
15th.
_____
Destroyers
serving
with the Home Fleet to reassigned to duties with the
Nore Command the
Mediterranean Fleet.
To
the Nore Command,
1st
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers CODRINGTON (D.1),
GRAFTON, GRENADE, GRIFFIN, GREYHOUND, BURZA.
(Destroyer BLYSKAWICA on completion of repairs from
depot ship WOOLWICH to
join).
7th
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers JACKAL, JAVELIN, JAGUAR.
(Destroyers JERVIS, JERSEY, JUPITER on completion of
repairs and refittings).
To
the Mediterranean Fleet,
2nd
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers HYPERION, HOSTILE,
HEREWARD, HAVOCK.
(Destroyers HASTY and HERO temporarily attached).
3rd
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers ILEX and IMPERIAL.
4th
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers NUBIAN and MOHAWK.
5th
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers KANDAHAR, KHARTOUM,
KINGSTON, KIMBERLEY.
7th
Destroyer Flotilla, Destroyers JANUS and JUNO.
_____
French
torpedo
boat L'INCOMPRISE was bombed and damaged while
supporting the defense
of Bergen op Zoom, Holland.
Despite
the
efforts of troops ashore and of L'INCOMPRISE, French
submarine chasers
CH.6, CH.9, CH.41, Bergen op Zoom fell to German forces.
As
the fighting progressed in Zuid Beveland towards
Walcheren, French destroyers FOUGUEUX
and FRONDEUR arrived on the 16th to support troops
ashore. They were joined
by destroyers WOLSEY and VIMIERA. The French destroyers
bombarded the Germans
advancing on South Beveland. The Destroyers do not appear to have opened fire.
French
destroyers
CYCLONE and SIROCCO departed Dover on the 16th with
Prince
Bernhard and arrived on the 17th. During the forenoon of
17 May, the French
destroyers bombarded German troops. Destroyers WOLSEY
and VIMIERA provided
anti-aircraft protection.
Finally,
allied
troops were withdrawn to Walcheren
and some three hundred more
arrived from Zuid Beveland. French Vice Amiral Charles
Platon was placed in
charge of the evacuation and before Walcheren fell on
the 18th, 1800 allied
troops were evacuated by French torpedo boats BOUCLIER,
BRANLEBAS, FLORE,
CORDELIERE, MELPOMENE.
_____
Destroyer
VESPER
arrived at Ijmuiden
at 0700/14th with messages.
_____
At
1330/14th, destroyer HAVOCK entered Ijmuiden and soon
departed with some
refugees after disembarking an officer on a special
mission.
At
2200/14th, destroyer HAVOCK again entered Ijmuiden.
_____
Early
on
the 14th, destroyer VALENTINE embarked ammunition
brought to Dunkirk by destroyer WHITSHED.
Destroyers
WINCHESTER and WHITSHED departed Dunkirk
to join destroyer KEITH for
Operation ORDNANCE, evacuation of the Hook of Holland.
Destroyers
WHITLEY
and WESTMINSTER
from Flushing were also ordered to
ORDNANCE.
At
1115, destroyer WESTMINSTER
departed Flushing for the Hook of Holland. Destroyers
WHITLEY and
VIMIERA were actively engaging German aircraft while
patrolling off Flushing.
Destroyer
VALENTINE
arrived back at Flushing from Dunkirk
at 2030 to take over duties
as SNO.
In
Operation ORDNANCE, destroyers KEITH (Captain D. J. R.
Simson, D.17), BOREAS
(Lt Cdr M. W. Tomkinson), BRILLIANT (Lt Cdr F. C.
Brodrick), VERITY (Lt Cdr
A. R. M. Black), WIVERN (Cdr W. C. Bushell), WOLSEY (Lt
Cdr C. H.Campbell)
departed Dover
at 0947 to evacuate troops
at Hook
of Holland. They rendezvoused at sea off the Maas Light Vessel with destroyers
WHITLEY (Lt Cdr G. N. Rolfe), WHITSHED (Cdr E. R.
Conder), WINCHESTER
(Lt Cdr S. E. Crewe-Read)
which came up from Dunkirk.
The
destroyers joined Destroyers MALCOLM (Captain T. E.
Halsey, D.16, Senior
Naval Officer), VESPER (Lt Cdr W. F. E. Hussey),
WESTMINSTER (Lt Cdr A. A. C. Ouvry)
which were already at Hook of Holland
and the evacuation took
place as planned.
Four
Blenheims and twelve Hurricanes operated in support.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
was the first embarked and she departed at 1230/14th.
Destroyer
VESPER
was damaged by near misses of German air bombing.
Destroyer VESPER was
repaired at Dover,
completing repairs on 3
June.
Destroyer
MALCOLM
sustained some damage from near misses of German bombs.
Destroyer
WHITSHED,
which departed Dover
at 0430/14th, evacuated 300
of the Guards Battalion, the Heywood Mission, consular
officials left Hook of Holland arrived at Dover at
1900/14th.
Destroyers
BOREAS
ran into destroyer BRILLIANT's stern off the Hook of
Holland.
The
destroyers were escorted by destroyer WINCHESTER as far
as the West Hinder
Buoy. They reached the Downs that evening and anchored for the night.
Destroyers
BOREAS
and BRILLIANT were repaired at Blackwall, completed on
17 June and 19
June, respectively.
After
escorting
the damaged BOREAS and BRILLIANT, destroyer WINCHESTER
proceeded to Flushing.
Destroyers
MALCOLM,
VESPER, WESTMINSTER
arrived at Dover at 2357/14th with the first
load of evacuatees, the Marines landing party, the XD
Hook of Holland
demolition party, civilians, 150,000 pounds sterling in
diamonds on board
destroyer MALCOLM.
At
2230, the remaining 350 Guards were embarked at Hook of
Holland on destroyer VESPER.
To
block the Hook of Holland, torpedoes were to be fired at the North Breakwater
to silt up the harbour.
Destroyers
KEITH,
WIVERN, VERITY, WOLSEY were detached for this duty.
Destroyer
WIVERN
was damaged by the near miss of two air bombs with
Midshipman K. T.
Briggs RNR, Probationary Temporary S/Lt R. S. Brown RNVR, twenty
five ratings killed and thirty two wounded, including Lt
S. E. Pritchard.
Destroyer
WIVERN
fired one torpedo due to damage. The other three
destroyers fired a
total of ten torpedoes.
Destroyer
WIVERN
returned to Dover
arriving at 2330/14th.
Destroyer
WIVERN
departed Dover
at 1519/16th for Portsmouth for repairs completed on 20
June.
Early
on
the 15th, destroyers WESTMINSTER
and VIMIERA (Lt Cdr R. B. N.
Hicks) arrived at Dover.
Destroyer VENOMOUS (Cdr J.
E. H.McBeath), which had picked up some of the XD
AIjmuiden demolition party
and fifty civilians at sea from a tug and a motor
launch, arrived at Dover at 1825.
The
evacuation was declared completed.
_____
Destroyers
KEITH,
VERITY, WOLSEY were withdrawn from the Hook of Holland
at 1730/14th for Dover. At 1825, the destroyers
were ordered to embark Dutch troops at Scheveringen and
the Hook of Holland.
British
steamers
CANTERBURY,
MONA'S ISLE, MAID OF ORLEANS, KING
GEORGE V and destroyers were sent to Ijmuiden and Texel.
At
2200/14th, the Dutch ceased resistance and the final
treaty was signed at
0930/15th. The plans to evacuate Dutch troops from Hook
of Holland, Ijmuiden, Schweningen, Texel were abandoned.
The
steamers were released for other duties.
_____
Destroyer
WESSEX
arrived at Dover at 1616 with Vice Admiral
Sir Gerald C. Dickens, KCVO, CB, CMB (ret), the naval
attache at the Hague, two Dutch engineers.
_____
Belgian
steamer
VILLE DE BRUGES (13,869grt) was badly damaged by German
bombing in
the River Scheldt, ten miles from Antwerp.
Two
crew were killed and one later died of wounds.
The
steamer beached, caught fire, was abandoned a total
loss.
_____
Dutch
light
cruisers SUMATRA and JACOB VAN HEEMSKERCK departed Holland
for England rather than be scuttled or
fall into German hands.
Light
cruiser
JACOB VAN HEEMSKERCK, fitting out at Amsterdam, was
towed away on the 10th.
She arrived in the Downs on the 11th.
Light
cruiser
SUMATRA arrived in the Humber on the 11th.
Dutch
destroyer
ISAAC SWEERS, also incomplete, was also towed from
Flushing on the 10th by Dutch tug
ZWARTSEE to England.
The destroyer and tug
arrived at the Downs on the 11th in the company of submarines O.21, O.22, tug SCHELDT.
Submarine
O.21
departed Flushing on the 10th escorted by Dutch tug SCHELDE. They
arrived in the Downs on the 11th.
Submarine
O.22
departed Flushing on the 10th in tow for Dover.
The submarine arrived in
the Downs on the 11th.
Light
cruiser
JACOB VAN HEEMSKERCK and destroyer ISAAC SWEERS were
sent on to Spithead, arriving on the 12th. The
light cruiser was able to accompany light cruiser
SUMATRA in June on a voyage to Halifax, but returned to
complete
construction 17 February 1941.
Dutch
submarines
O.9, O.10, O.13, O.21, O.22, O.23, O.24 were able to
escape to England. Submarines O.23 and O.24
departed Rotterdam
late on the 13th.
Submarine
O.13
arrived at Dover
on the 12th escorted by
Dutch minesweeper JAN VAN GELDER.
Dutch
submarines
O.13, O.21, O.22 and minesweeper JAN VAN GELDER arrived
at Portsmouth on the 12th.
Dutch
submarines
O.9, O.10, O.24 arrived in the Downs on the 13th
escorted by
minelayer WILLEM VAN DER ZAAN.
Dutch
submarine
O.23 arrived unescorted in the Downs on the 13th.
Submarines
O.9,
O.10, O.23, O24 arrived at Portsmouth, via Dover, on the
16th.
In
addition O.14 and O.15, which were in the Dutch Indies
on escort duties, were
taken under the control of Commander in Chief, American
and West Indies
Command.
However,
not
all naval craft were gotten away. Light cruisers DE
ZEVERN PROVICIEN and
EENDRACHT, building at Wilton-Fijenoord and Rotterdam,
respectively, were captured
on the building slips.
Incomplete
destroyers
GERALD CALLENBERG at Rotterdam and TJERK HIDDES at
Nieuwe
Waterweg were scuttled.
Submarines
O.8,
O.11, O.12, under repair at Den Helder, O.25, on the
slip at Schiedam, were scuttled.
Submarine
O.8
was salved as German UD 1 and commissioned on 21
November 1940; O.12 was
salved as UD.2 and commissioned on 14 January 1943;
O.25, which had only been
launched on the 1st 1940, was commissioned as UD.3 on 8
June 1941; O.26 was
launched on 23 November 1940 and commissioned as UD.4 on
28 January 1941; and
O.27 was launched on 26 September 1941 and commissioned
as UD.5 on 1 November
1941.
None
of these submarines were deployed in war patrols.
Also,
a
number of other small ships were scuttled because they
were blocked in
ports by ships that had been sunk by mines or bombers or
to block channels.
Dutch
steamer
JAN PIETERSZOON (1140grt) was sunk as a blockship at
Ijmiuden.
Dutch
tug
NOORDZEE (260grt) was sunk by a mine at Flushing.
_____
Swedish
steamer
FRAMNAS (721grt) was seized by German forces at
Stavanger and renamed BORGEN for
German service.
_____
On
Operation ALABASTER, British troopships LANCASTRIA
(16,243grt) and FRANCONIA (20,175grt) departed the Clyde
at 1900 with troops to
relieve the Marine garrison taken to Iceland the week
before. The
troopships were escorted by destroyers FOXHOUND and
HAVANT.
Destroyer
FOXHOUND
departed Reykavik at 1200/19th and landed troops at
Akreyri during
the morning of 20 May.
After
safely
delivering the troops, the British force arrived back in
the Clyde on the 25th at 0540.
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER departed the Humber
in convoy FN.172. They were
first escorted by destroyers VIMY and WINDSOR. The
minelayers arrived at
Rosyth on the 17th, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
VALOROUS.
The
minelayers departed Rosyth on the 17th escorted by
destroyer SABRE and armed
patrol yacht BREDA.
They arrived at Scapa Flow on the 18th.
On
18 May, destroyer SABRE obtained a submarine contact in
58‑41N, 03‑54W.
She was joined by destroyer MASHONA early on the 19th
from Scapa Flow.
The
minelayers were to have gone to Narvik, but they were
held at Scapa Flow.
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER departed Scapa Flow
at 1430/29th, escorted by
destroyer ATHERSTONE, arrived at Rosyth at 1230/30th.
_____
Submarine
SALMON
arrived at Harwich after refitting at Chatham.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE
sighted an enemy transport
ship west of Stadlandet. However, the contact was lost
in low visibility
before the submarine could attack.
_____
French
submarine
CASABIANCA sighted a German convoy off Lister, but it
was too
distant to attack.
_____
On
14 May, armed merchant cruisers PATROCLUS, AUSTURIAS,
CARINTHIA, DERBYSHIRE, CHESHIRE were ordered to assume
patrol off Vigo
and Lisbon in readiness to intercept
Italian merchant ships if Italy entered the war.
Four
armed merchant cruisers, CANTON,
CORFU, MALOJA, MONTCLARE, were
ordered on the 21st to replace the armed merchant
cruisers on this detail.
Armed merchant cruiser ASTURIAS' assignment was
unaffected. The patrol was
maintained by Commmander in Chief Western Approaches
after this duty.
This
patrol was cancelled on the 31st.
_____
Convoy FN.171 departed Southend, unescorted due to lack of escort
vessels. The convoy was met en route by armed patrol
yacht BREDA
from convoy FS.170. The
convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 16th.
_____
Convoy FS.170 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop GRIMSBY
and armed patrol yacht BREDA. The yacht was detached en
route to convoy FN.171. The convoy arrived at Southend
on the 16th.
_____
In
the South
Atlantic, German raider ORION refuelled from German tanker WINNETOU
(5113grt), which had departed Las
Palmas on 9 April.
German
tanker
WINNETOU went on to refuel armed merchant cruiser ORION
again on 20
June before setting off for Japan.