Background Events - June 1940
Evacuation
of
Dunkirk ends, Italy at war, Action at sea in
the Mediterranean, France falls
1940
Saturday,
1
June
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
departed Sheerness late on
31 May escorted by patrol sloops MALLARD and
SHEARWATER and operated off Dunkirk near Bray.
Destroyer
IVANHOE
was badly damaged at 0805 by German bombing at
Dunkirk. Destroyer HAVANT and minesweeper
SPEEDWELL
took off her wounded and part of the crew, and Tug
PERSIA (165grt) towed IVANHOE back
to
England.
Twenty six ratings were
killed. She repaired at
Chatham
completing on 24 August.
Destroyer
KEITH was damaged by the near miss of
an air bomb at
Dunkirk.
Later, before leaving Dunkirk, she was bombed again
by
German aircraft at 0915 and sunk. Lt (E) W. H.
Kenward, Acting Gunner (T) C.
J. Brown, Surgeon Lt R. H.A. Turner, MRCS, LRCP Rtd,
thirty three ratings
were lost, and Captain E. L. Berthon and Lt Cdr R.
S.Miller RNR, wounded. The survivors,
seven officers and one hundred and twenty three
ratings were picked up by tugs
ST ABBS, VINCIA, SERVIA and Dutch steamer HILDA.
Minesweeper SALAMANDER
rescued seven ratings.
Tug
ST ABBS was lost later on the 1st
with the survivors still on board and one hundred
navy and army personnel
were lost in the tug.
Destroyer
HAVANT was badly damaged at 0905 in
German bombing off
Dunkirk.
She was taken in tow, but
sank five miles from West Buoy. Lt (E) E. S.Stribley
MBE Rtd and seven
ratings were lost. Minesweeper SALTASH scuttled her
after taking off the
crew.
Destroyer
BASILISK was immobilised by near
misses from German bombing at 0800. She was then
badly damaged by German
bombing at
Dunkirk
at 1258. Gunner (T) E. G.
Francis Rtd and eight ratings were lost. Six
officers and seventy one ratings
were picked up by small French trawler LE JOLIE
MASCOTTE. Destroyer WHITEHALL picked up two officers
and
fifty two ratings, while other survivors got away in
the motor boat and a whaler.
The surviving officers were Cdr M.Richmond, Lt Cdr
W. G. Boaks, Lt (E) C. W.
Treweeks, Probationary Lt J. M.Sowry RNVR, S/Lt P.
B. de B. Jeayes, S/Lt W.
H.Ellis, S/Lt W. B. G. Galbraith, Temporary Surgeon
A. W. Lt McHaffie MB,
CHB RNVR, Probationary Midshipman
I. McEvoy
RNR. BASILISK was
later scuttled by destroyer
WHITEHALL,
which was damaged herself
by near misses.
Destroyer
WHITEHALL departed Dover at 2308/1st for Plymouth.
The destroyer was repaired
and reboilered at
Plymouth,
not returning to service
until 26 August.
Minesweeper
SKIPJACK of the 6th Minesweeping
Flotilla was sunk by five direct hits from German
bombing at Dunkirk. She had two hundred and
seventy five men on
board her at this time, most of whom were below
decks and lost. Probationary Temporary S/Lt
Cowley RNVR, was
lost.
French
destroyer FOUDROYANT, which departed Dover
at 0800/1st, was sunk in
German air bombing off
Dunkirk.
One hundred and fifty
survivors were picked up by French trawler
BERNADETTE (302grt), and patrol
trawler GAVA (256grt) and motor yacht NAIAD ERRANT
also rescued a number of
survivors. A total of one hundred and thirty seven
crew and eighty three
soldiers were rescued.
Minesweeper
HEBE
was damaged by the near miss of German air bombs at
Dunkirk, but was not put out of
action. She departed
Dover
at 0925/3rd for Portsmouth.
Minesweeper
HALCYON
was machine gunned by a German aircraft at Dunkirk.
Lt N. V. B. Thurston was
mortally wounded.
Gunboat
MOSQUITO was badly damaged at 1030
by German bombing off
Dunkirk,
and was scuttled by gunboat
LOCUST on the 3rd. Lt A. H. Manwaring and a number
of ratings were lost; Lt
D. H.P. Gardiner and S/Lt E. S.Flint RNR, were
wounded.
Patrol
sloop
KINGFISHER was damaged by the near miss of German
air bombs at Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WORCESTER
was badly damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk. S/Lt
N. L.Humphreys,
Warrant Engineer T. Smillie, and a number of ratings
were lost, and Acting
Gunner E. F. Wheeler wounded. Returning
to
Dover, she was damaged in a collision with steamer MAID OF
ORLEANS (2386grt) which was badly damaged.
WORCESTER
departed Dover at 1404/3rd for Tilbury, and
was repaired at
London,
returning to service on 11
July.
Destroyer
HARVESTER
was damaged by near misses of air bombs and forced
to return to
Sheerness. At 1409/3rd, she departed Dover for
Chatham for repairs to her furnace.
ggg
Destroyers
VENOMOUS,
VIMY, VIVACIOUS and minesweeper SALAMANDER were
damaged were
damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk. Destroyers
VENOMOUS, VIMY,
VIVACIOUS were all repaired at Portsmouth completing
on the 13th,
within a week, on the 11th, respectively.
Destroyer
VENOMOUS
also damaged her stern at 0040/1st when she collided
with the
harbour wall.
Destroyer
VIVACIOUS
was temporarily repaired at Chatham in time for port
blocking
operations on 2/3 June at
Dunkirk.
Minesweeper
SALAMANDER
departed
Dover
on the 2nd for Sheerness.
Destroyer
SHIKARI
was damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk.
Destroyer
SHIKARI
departed
Dover
at 1140 with destroyer
CODRINGTON. The destroyer was taken to Plymouth for
repairs completed on the
18th.
Motor
torpedo
boat
MTB.100 was damaged by the near miss of air bombs
at
Dunkirk.
Auxiliary
minesweeper
BRIGHTON QUEEN (Temporary Lt A. Stubbs RNR) of the
7th Minesweeping
Flotilla was sunk by German shore guns at Dunkirk.
The
minesweeper's
survivors were rescued by minesweeper SALTASH.
French
auxiliary
minesweepers DENIS PAPIN (309grt), LA MOUSSAILLON
(38grt), VENUS
(264grt) were sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk.
Destroyers
ICARUS,
VANQUISHER, WINDSOR evacuated three thousand troops
from Dunkirk on this date.
Minesweeper
SPEEDWELL
grounded west of La Panne and embarked troops until
towed off by
minesweeper ALBURY.
Destroyers
WHITSHED,
repaired of her damage from the Boulogne evacuation,
ESK, MALCOLM,
CODRINGTON, SABRE, WINCHELSEA were also at Dunkirk
to lift troops.
Off
the
Bray, destroyer SABRE embarked 451 troops and
minesweeper NIGER embarked 310 troops.
British
steamer
SCOTIA (3454grt) was sunk at 1300
by German bombing off
Dunkirk
in 51‑07N, 02‑10E.
Thirty
two
crew members and two to three hundred troops were
lost on the steamer SCOTIA.
Her
survivors
were picked up by destroyer ESK and drifters FISHER
BOY, FIDGET, JAKETA.
British
troopship
ORFORD (20,043grt) was badly damaged by German
bombing at Marseilles.
The
troopship
was set afire and beached.
Four
crew
died on the troopship and ten were missing.
Belgian
tug
ELBE (150grt) was sunk by German
bombing at
Dunkirk.
Anti-submarine
trawler
ARGYLLSHIRE (540grt, S/Lt J. S.Weddle RNR, SO ) of
the 11th
Anti-Submarine Striking Force and minesweeping
trawlers LORD MELCHETT
(347grt) and STELLA RIGEL (358grt)were on patrol
together near Dunkirk.
Anti-submarine
trawlers
ARGYLLSHIRE and STELLA DORADO (550grt, Skipper W.
H.Burgess RNR) which was a unit of the
10th Anti-Submarine Striking Force were sunk by
German motor torpedo boat S
34 near
Dunkirk
in the North Sea at 0245 and 0430,
respectively.
S/Lt
Weddle
and four other survivors from trawler ARGLLSHIRE
were picked up by
trawler MALABAR.
Patrol
sloop
WIDGEON near
South
Falls reported she was attacked by
a German motor torpedo boat, but no damage was done.
Yacht
AMULREE
(89grt) was sunk at 0200 in a collision with
destroyer VIMY in the Dover Strait.
Destroyer
VIMY
was out of action.
The
destroyer
departed
Dover
at 0610/2nd for Cardiff for repairs.
Hospital
ship
ST DAVID, at anchor off Dover, was damaged at
0845/1st by
the spontaneous explosion of a mine.
Yacht
GRIVE
(687grt, Captain the Hon. L.J. O. Lambart DSO Rtd)
was sunk in German
bombing at Dunkirk Roads at 2355.
Captain
Lambart,
Temporary Lt (E) T. Graham RNR, S/Lt H.B. M.Marr
RNVR, Lt
M.R. Branwell, which was a Fleet Air Arm
passenger,were lost in the yacht.
S/Lt J. K. B. Miles RNVR, was wounded in the yacht.
Drifter
FAIR
BREEZE (92grt) was sunk after a collision with a
wreck in Dunkirk harbour.
Drifter
LORD
CAVAN (96grt, SO Cdr A. J. Cubison Rtd, mine
Recovery Flotilla) was sunk
by German shore guns at
Dunkirk.
Her
entire
crew were rescued by a destroyer.
Tugs
ST
ABBS (550grt), with destroyer KEITH survivors
aboard, ST FAGAN (550grt)
were sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk.
Lt
T.
E. Brooker Rtd and eighteen ratings were lost on tug
ST ABBS in addition
to eighty six passengers. Thirty crew and
passengers, including Captain E.
L.Berthon were rescued. Lt Cdr G. H.Warren MBE,
Boatswain D. G. Brown, who
was wounded, six ratings of ST FAGAN were rescued by
tug TANGA. The rest of
the crew of twenty five were lost.
British
sail
barges DUCHESS (72grt) and LADY ROSEBERRY (109grt)
were lost three miles
east of
Dunkirk
when the tug they were
alongside was blown up on a mine.
The
entire
crew of the barge DUCHESS was rescued. One crewman
was lost on the
LADY ROSEBERRY.
British
sailing
barges
LARK (67grt) and ROYALTY (101grt) were beached and
abandoned at
Dunkirk
and Malo les Bains,
respectively.
Three
crew
and six soldiers were rescued from barge ROYALTY.
British
sailing
barge
DORIS (83grt) were sunk on mines three miles east of
Dunkirk.
British
sailing
barges BARBARA JEAN (144grt) and ETHEL EVERAND
(190grt) were blown up
and abandoned at
Dunkirk.
Sailing barge AIDIE was
blown up and abandoned between Dunkirk and La Panne.
Sailing barge
ETHEL EVERAND was blown up and abandoned at La
Panne.
Three
crew
were saved from barge BARBARA JEAN, the entire crew
was saved from
AIDIE, the entire crew was saved from ETHEL EVERAND.
In
the
tow of two tugs, British fishing vessel RENOWN
(9grt) was sunk on a mine
near Sandettie Light Vessel.
Four
crew
were lost on the fishing vessel.
British
steamer
PRAGUE
(4220grt) was damaged at
0927 by German bombing 13 miles 115° from North
Foreland.
Steamer
PRAGUE was assisted by destroyer SHIKARI, sloop SHEARWATER,
auxiliary minesweeper QUEEN OF THANET. The steamer
was towed in and beached
on Sandwich Flats.
Steamer
PRAGUE was refloated and anchored in the
Downs
on the 6th to await tugs to
take her to
London.
On
1
June, 64,429 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
______
Destroyer
TARTAR
(D.6) departed
Liverpool for
Scapa Flow
where she arrived at
1700/2nd.
______
Destroyer
FORESTER
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1600. She soon departed with destroyer MAORI
for
Aberdeen to escort two troopships to Lerwick and then
return to
Scapa Flow.
At
0510
on 2 May, destroyer MAORI dropped depth charges on a
contact in 59-10N,
1-10W of Lerwick. Destroyer FORESTER proceeded on to
Lerwick with the convoy.
At
1150,
destroyer FORESTER was ordered to rejoin MAORI to
hunt the submarine.
Both
destroyers
arrived at
Scapa Flow after this operation at 0400/3rd.
______
Destroyer
AMAZON
arrived in the
Clyde at 2130 after being relieved by destroyer WREN
in the destroyer ESKIMO escort.
______
Sloop
FLEETWOOD,
which had only arrived at 0425, departed Scapa Flow
for Rosyth at 1400 after
destroyer ESKIMO escort duty.
______
British
oiler
BRITISH GOVERNOR arrived at
Scapa Flow
at 0415 from Harstad.
______
British
steamers
CYPRIAN PRINCE,
RUTLAND,
GUNVOR MAERSK, escorted by
anti-submarine trawlers INDIAN STAR and ANGLE,
arrived at Scapa Flow from the Narvik area.
______
Submarine
NARWHAL
arrived at Immingham and departed the same day for
minelaying mission
FD.16 on the 3rd off Jaederens.
______
Submarine
TRUANT
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
______
Submarines
TRITON,
TRIDENT, SALMON, SNAPPER, SEALION, SUNFISH departed
patrol areas to
return to base.
______
Submarines
TRIAD,
SEAWOLF, STURGEON were still at sea.
Polish
submarine
ORZEL (already lost) was ordered to relieve
submarine TRIDENT's
billet.
______
Submarine
L.26
departed Harwich for Sheerness arriving later the
same day.
Submarine
L.26
was docked the next day.
______
British
troopships
ORMONDE and ORAMA departed Scapa Flow at 2100 for
Harstad escorted
by destroyer FOXHOUND. When this group met the
troopships departing the Clyde on 31 May off Cape
Wrath, destroyer FOXHOUND returned
to Scapa
Flow
where she arrived at 1230/2nd.
______
Destroyer
WHIRLWIND
escorting British troopship ROYAL SCOTSMAN (3244grt)
departed
Harstad at 0400 for
Scapa Flow where they arrived at 2350/3rd.
______
British
repair
ship VINDICTIVE departed
Scapa Flow
at 2116 for the Harstad
area.
______
U.48
badly
damaged chartered boom carrier ASTRONOMER (8401grt),
en route from
Rosyth to
Scapa Flow, escorted by anti-submarine trawlers STOKE
CITY
and LEINCESTER CITY, in 58‑01N, 02‑12W.
A mine was suspected.
The
report
of the damage to the boom carrier was received at
0100/2nd. Destroyer
KELVIN was sent from
Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
MASHONA
departed
Scapa Flow at 0215/2nd to assist destroyer KELVIN.
Anti-submarine
trawlers
PETER HENDRICKS and PAUL RYKENS were ordered to the
area and tug ST
MELLONS departed
Scapa Flow to assist, but returned on the 2nd when the ship was
lost.
Destroyer
KELVIN
reported a second explosion on the boom carrier
ASTRONOMER at 0345 and
ASTRONOMER sank soon thereafter.
Anti-submarine
trawler
LEINCESTER
CITY (422grt) reported a submarine
contact in the vicinity at about the time of the
second explosion on
ASTRONOMER.
Four
crew
were lost on the boom carrier. Trawler LEINCESTER
CITY picked up fifty five
survivors and trawler STOKE
CITY
rescued fifty four
survivors. The survivors were taken to Aberdeen,
arriving on the 2nd.
Anti-submarine
trawler
STOKE
CITY dropped depth charges on a contact without
result.
At
0640,
an aircraft bombed a submarine contact in 57-25N,
0-56W, twenty five miles
south of ASTRONOMER's position. Destroyers MASHONA
and KELVIN set off to
search, but were unsuccessful.
At
1100/2nd,
destroyers ENCOUNTER and ATHERSTONE departed Rosyth.
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
proceeded to
Scapa Flow where she later arrived at 2200/2nd.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
was to join the search for the submarine contact
near ASTRONOMER.
At
1800/2nd,
destroyer ATHERSTONE, still en route to Scapa Flow,
reported a line of mines
near where boom carrier ASTRONOMER sank.
Boom
defense
vessel BARBICAN, escorted by anti-submarine trawler
ELM, proceeded to
the area. They recovered the mooring buoys, covered
by destroyers MASHONA and
ENCOUNTER, took them to
Scapa Flow arriving on the 3rd.
Destroyer
KELVIN
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 0315/3rd.
Destroyers
MASHONA
and ENCOUNTER arrived at
Scapa Flow
at 1127/3rd.
______
British
trawler
SLASHER (195grt) was sunk by German bombing seventy
miles northeast,
one half mile east of the Spurn Light Vessel in
54-35N, 1-16E.
One
crewman
was killed on the British trawler.
______
Convoy
OA.159
departed Southend escorted by corvette CLARKIA.
______
Convoy
OB.159
departed
Liverpool escorted by sloop
SANDWICH
from 1 to 4 June. The sloop
was detached to convoy HX.45.
______
Convoy MT.79 departed Methil, escorted by sloop
LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FS.185 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloop
LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 3rd.
______
Armed
merchant
cruisers
CARINTHIA and ASTURIAS departed
Gibraltar
to return to England. Armed merchant cruiser
DERBYSHIRE on patrol off the Spanish ports was
ordered to leave her patrol
area and return to the
Clyde.
Armed
merchant
cruiser PATROCLUS was ordered to depart Casablanca
and patrol in the Teneriffe
area.
______
U.37
sank
Greek steamer IOANNA (950grt) 120 miles off Cape
Finisterre.
The
entire
crew was landed at
Vigo
by Spanish steamer CABO RAZO
(2879grt).
Sunday,
2
June
British
Force
K was formed for the final operations off Dunkirk.
The
destroyers
were sent to
Dunkirk
to embark troops in pairs.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
embarked 493 troops on her first trip and destroyer
ICARUS embarked
677 troops. Destroyer ICARUS was returned on the
return part.
At
0400,
destroyer ICARUS was in a collision with a trawler
or a drifter at Dunkirk. The destroyer was damaged,
but was not taken out of service.
Destroyer
CODRINGTON
embarked 878 troops and destroyer SABRE embarked 756
troops.
Destroyer
SHIKARI
embarked 470 troops. Destroyer ESK was to have
accompanied her, but
was unable to sail due to having been in continuous
duty since 27 May.
The
next
pair was destroyers WINCHELSEA and WHITSHED.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
on her second trip embarked 624 troops.
French
destroyers
EPERVIER and LEOPARD operated on the patrol line,
but withdrew
when German bombing began at 1035.
Between
X
and Y buoy, off Bray, anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA
fought off three different
air attacks. She was slightly damaged by near
misses.
The
cruiser
was ordered to Sheerness at 1442.
Destroyer
MALCOLM
at 1651 damaged her bow and propellers in a
collision at Dunkirk.
Destroyers
VENOMOUS,
WINDSOR, WINCHELSEA, among others lifted troops from
Dunkirk on the 2nd.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
was damaged in a collision with Tug JAVA (128grt) at
Dover as she was setting out at
1435/2nd.
The
destroyer
was able to continue.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
departed
Dover
at 1300/4th for Portsmouth. The destroyer was
repaired
of her collision damage at Portsmouth completing on
the 12th.
Anti-submarine
trawler
SPURS (399grt) of the 10th Anti-Submarine Group was
badly damaged in
German bombing off
Dunkirk.
Trawler
SPURS
was assisted and escorted back to Dover to destroyer
VANQUISHER.
Early
on
the 3rd, these destroyers arrived at Dover -
CODRINGTON with 44 troops,
ESK with 500 troops, SABRE with 500 troops, SHIKARI
with 700 troops,
VANQUISHER with 37 troops, VENOMOUS with 1500
troops, WHITSHED with 82
troops, WINCHELSEA with 152 troops, WINDSOR with
1022 troops, EXPRESS was not
able to embark troops and arrived at Dover. Gunboat
LOCUST arrived with 800.
Anti-submarine
trawlers
AMETHYST and KINGSTON PERIDOT were damaged by German
bombing at Dunkirk and out of action.
Tug
FOSSA
(105grt) was stranded and abandoned at Bruyne Sands
at Dunkirk.
She
was
later salved by German forces for their own use.
Belgian
fishing
vessels ONZE LIEVE VROUW VAN VLAANDEREN (39grt),
GETUIGT VOR CHRISTUS
(39grt), ANNA LEOPOLD (52grt) were lost at Dunkirk.
Fishing
vessel
GETUIGT VOR CHRISTUS was sunk by a German patrol
boat.
Anti-submarine
trawler
BLACKBURN ROVERS (422grt, Skipper W. Martin RNR, of
the 21st Anti-Submarine
Group (SO Cdr R. W. English DSO Rtd on board) was
sunk at 1618 in mining
twenty four miles east by south of North Foreland.
Skipper
W.
Martin
RNR, was wounded in the trawler.
Anti-submarine
trawler
WESTELLA (550grt, Chief Skipper A. Gove RNR) of the
10th Anti-submarine Group,
rescuing the survivors of trawler BLACKBURN ROVERS
was also sunk by a mine at
1639.
Anti-submarine
trawler
SAON rescued thirty six men from the two trawlers.
Hospital
ship
PARIS (1790grt), on passage to
Dunkirk,
was badly damaged at 1915
by German bombing near
Dunkirk
in 51‑11N, 02‑07E.
Two crew were killed.
PARIS
sank on the 3rd.
British
steamer
MONA'S
ISLE was damaged by the near miss of German bombing
at
Dunkirk.
Hospital
ship
WORTHING (2294grt) was damaged by
German bombing at 1442 at
Dunkirk.
Patrol sloop MALLARD from
the cruiser
CALCUTTA
screen stood by, and she was
taken to Newhaven.
On
2
June, 26,256 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
Destroyer
VIVACIOUS
with
MTB.107 and MA/SB 7 took blockships
EDV.
NISSEN (2062grt), WESTCOVE
(2735grt),
HOLLAND
(1251grt) from Dover to Dunkirk late on the 2nd. A
fourth
blockship did not arrive.
At
0300/3
June, the blockships were sunk at Dunkirk, but the
channel was not
completely blocked.
______
Minesweeping
trawler
MILFORD QUEEN (280grt) of the 10th Minesweeping
Group, JAMES LAY
(278grt) of the 11th Minesweeping Group,CAPE
MELVILLE (342grt) and MILFORD
PRINCESS (301grt) of the 12th Minesweeping Group and
unattached CLOTILDE
(289grt), escorted by Sloop WESTON, departed the
Tyne to cut the cables
between Newbiggin and Peterhead to Scandinavia in
Operation QUIDNUNC.
After
the
operation, the ships proceeded to Yarmouth.
______
French
trawler
EMMA (255grt) and Finnish steamer HEBE (686grt)
collided two miles
east, southwest of South Foreland light House.
The
French
trawler sank.
______
British
trawler
GREYNIGHT (96grt) was sunk by German bombing off the
Humber in 54‑40N, 01‑30E.
The
Master
of the trawler was lost.
______
French
steamer
CHELLA (8920grt) was badly damaged by German bombing
at Marseilles.
The
vessel
was moved to the Roads where it was sunk by gunfire
from coastal
batteries.
______
Egyptian
steamer
EL NID (7690grt) and Greek steamer AENOS (3554grt)
were damaged by
German bombing at
Marseilles.
______
Convoy
OA.160
departed Southend escorted by corvette ARABIS from 2
to 5 June. The
corvette was detached to convoy SL.33.
______
Convoy
OB.160
departed
Liverpool escorted by sloop
SCARBOROUGH
from 2 to 4 June.
______
Convoy
OG.32F
was formed from convoys OA.158GF, which departed
Southend on 30 May
escorted by corvette GLADIOLUS, OB.158GF, which
departed Liverpool on 30 May escorted by sloop
DEPTFORD, of forty one ships.
Sloop
DEPTFORD
escorted the convoy from 2 to 5 June.
Destroyer
DOUGLAS
joined the convoy on the 6th. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on the 7th.
______
Convoy FN.186 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The
convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 4th.
______
Convoy MT.80 departed Methil, escorted by sloop
HASTINGS.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FS.186 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloop
HASTINGS.
The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 4th.
______
U.101
sank
British steamer POLYKARP (3577grt) in 49‑19N,
05‑35W.
The
crew
from the British steamer was rescued by French
steamer ESPIGUETTE
(1109grt) and was landed at
Penzance.
Sloops
ABERDEEN, ENCHANTRESS,
ROCHESTER
were hunting for the
submarine.
______
Aircraft
carriers
ARK
ROYAL and GLORIOUS arrived
off Harstad to provide air cover for the evacuation
of the Narvik area.
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS was carrying a reduced aircraft complement
in order to
embark the surviving Gladiators of the 263 Squadron.
______
Aircraft
carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS departed the
Clyde at 0600 for Devonport escorted by destroyers
WARWICK, WESTCOTT, WITCH, AMAZON.
Destroyer
WESTCOTT
arrived at Devonport at 0700/3rd.
After
the
aircraft carrier was safely delivered, the rest of
the destroyers went on
to
Portsmouth, arriving at 1710 to escort the Battleship
NELSON.
After
outfitting
and some modifications from 3 to 21 June, at
Plymouth, the aircraft carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS went to the
West Indies for working up in the
Caribbean.
Aircraft
carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS, escorted by destroyer IMOGEN, departed
Plymouth on the 21st and was damaged
by weather en route. She returned to England on 23
July when she arrived
at Greenock.
______
British
oiler
ALDERSDALE, escorted by anti-submarine trawler ELM,
arrived at Scapa Flow from Glasgow.
______
Submarine
SUNFISH
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
______
Convoy
AB
2, consisting of British steamers LYCAON (7350grt,
Commodore Creighton),
BELLEROPHON (9019grt), DORSET COAST (646grt) and
escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers NOTTS COUNTY (541grt) and NORWICH CITY
(541grt), departed Reykavik
for the Clyde.
Steamer
SICILIAN
PRINCE was delayed and did not sail with the convoy.
The
convoy
arrived in the
Clyde on the 6th.
______
British
steamer
CONCH (8376grt) arrived at Andenes from Scapa Flow
escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers JUNIPER (530grt) and WHITETHORN (530grt) of
the 19th Anti-submarine
Striking Force.
Trawler
WHITETHORN
returned to
Scapa Flow.
______
Dutch
light
cruiser
SUMATRA departed Milford Haven carrying
HRH
Princess Juliana and her
daughters to
Canada.
The
cruiser
was joined on the 7th by Dutch light cruiser
HEEMSKERCK and both
arrived at
Halifax
on the 11th.
______
French
liner
PASTEUR (30,447grt) had departed Brest on 30 May for
St Nazaire.
She departed on 31 May, carrying French gold,
arrived back at Brest on the 1st. The liner
departed
Brest
on the 2nd for Halifax, escorted by destroyer
GERFAUT until 3 June. The destroyer arrived back at
Brest on the 5th. The liner safely
arrived at
Halifax
on the 8th.
______
Convoy
HX.47
departed
Halifax
at 0900 escorted by Canadian
destroyer
SAGUENAY and patrol vessel
ACADIA,
which were detached on the
3rd.
The
ocean
escort for the convoy was Armed merchant cruiser
ESPERANCE BAY which took over the convoy
at 2130/2nd. The armed merchant cruiser was detached
on the 15th.
On
14
June, sloops FOWEY and
SANDWICH joined the convoy and escorted it to
Liverpool,
arriving on the 17th.
Monday,
3
June
Destroyers
ESK
embarked 611 troops at Dunkirk, WHITSHED embarked
444, VENOMOUS embarked
1200, VANQUISHER embarked 414, MALCOLM embarked 736,
SABRE embarked 592,
SHIKARI embarked 383, minesweepers KELLET embarked
30, ALBURY embarked 400,
HALCYON embarked 501, LEDA embarked 500, patrol
sloop GUILLEMOT embarked 460,
gunboat LOCUST embarked 196.
Destroyer
ESK
was damaged by the near miss of a German air bomb at
Dunkirk.
The
destroyer
departed
Dover
at 1300/4th for repairs at Portsmouth completing in
eight days.
Destroyer
SABRE
ran aground leaving
Dunkirk
and lost her asdic dome.
After
the
operation, destroyer SABRE departed Dover at
1300/4th for repairs at Portsmouth.
Destroyers
MALCOLM,
VENOMOUS, VANQUISHER departed Dover at 1300/4th for
repairs at Portsmouth.
Gunboat
LOCUST
departed
Dover
at 1621/4th for Sheerness.
Minesweeper
KELLET
ran aground at the western breakwater and was too
damaged to embark
more than thirty troops.
British
steamer
ROYAL DIAFFODIL (2060grt) was damaged by German
bombing at 0131 off Dunkirk in 51‑13N, 02‑00E.
Steamer
ROYAL
DIAFFODIL was further damaged at 0600 in a
collision.
British
steamer
BEN MY CHREE was damaged in a collision at 0600 as she
was setting out for
Dunkirk.
Patrol
sloop
KINGFISHER was damaged in a collision with a French
fishing vessel at
0014/4th.
Sloop
KINGFISHER
had embarked 200 troops at Dunkirk. The troops were
transferred
to a trawler off
Dunkirk.
Sloop
KINGFISHER
also collided with British steamer KING GEORGE V
(801grt) at Margate.
Patrol
sloop
KINGFISHER was repaired at
Lowestoft
completing on 8 July.
French
Amirals
Jean Abrial, Charles Platon, Marcel LeClerc and
General Marie B. A.
Fagalde departed
Dunkirk
on French motor torpedo
boats VTB.25 and VTB.26 early on the 4th.
French
trawler
MARECHAL FOCH (103grt) was sunk in a collision with
minesweeper LEDA
off
Dunkirk at 0429/4th.
Minesweeper
LEDA
sustained damage to her stem. Minesweeper ALBURY
stood by to assist.
French
motor
torpedo boat VTB.25 damaged her propellers rescuing
MARECHAL FOCH's
survivors and was towed to Dover by destroyer
MALCOLM.
The
minesweeper
was involved in another collision at 0454 one mile
from North
Goodwin Buoy with a skoot.
The
minesweeper
was repaired at Sheerness from 6 to 12 June.
S/Lt
W.
B. L.Tower on loan from destroyer SOMALI, under
repair, on yacht ROSAURA
was lost on the 3rd.
Destroyer
SHIKARI,motor
torpedo boat
MTB.107,
anti-submarine motor
boat MA/SB 10 left the
Downs with blockships GOURKO (1975grt), MOYLE
(1791grt), PACIFICO (687grt) to complete the
Dunkirk
channel blocking in
Operation CK.
En
route,
blockship GOURKO was sunk in a collision with a
French personnel ship
off
Dunkirk and
MTB.107
picked up seven crew and
MA/SB 10 picked ten.
Blockship
PACIFICO
(Lt Cdr G. H.F. Owles in charge of the operation)
was sunk in place
at 0340/4 June and the port of Dunkirk was blocked.
Destroyer
SHIKARI
was the last allied ship to leave Dunkirk.
Destroyer
SHIKARI
arrived at
Dover
later on the 4th, but
departed at 1140/4th for
Portsmouth.
At
0615/4th,
French auxiliary minesweeper EMIL DESCHAMPS (348grt)
was sunk on a
mine five miles east, northeast of Foreness, three
miles 336°from Elbow Buoy
in 51-24N, 1-1-29E, with five hundred French troops
from Dunkirk on board.
The
survivors
were picked up by minesweeper ALBURY and French
auxiliary
minesweepers SAINTE ELISABETH (39grt) and MARIE ANNE
(51grt).
During
the
night of 3/4 June, the last day of DYNAMO, 26,175
troops were evacuated.
______
At
the
completion of DYNAMO, of ninety four destroyers in
Home Waters, only
forty three were in service.
A
certain amount of restructuring was under taken in
the Destroyer Flotillas.
On
27
May as a result of DYNAMO operations and transfers
to the Mediterranean
Fleet, the 5th and 7th Destroyer Flotillas were
merged into the 5th Destroyer
Flotilla.
The
15th
Destroyer Flotilla was disbanded and with various
units completing
repairs and unattached destroyers were formed into
the 21st and 22nd
Destroyer Flotillas.
______
Destroyers
WANDERER,
VESPER, VEGA, repairs completed, arrived at Dover at
2230 for operations.
______
Drifter
OCEAN LASSIE (96grt) was sunk on a
mine 2¾ cables 55° from Outer Ridge Buoy, Harwich.
Six crew were lost and
three rescued.
______
French
patrol
boat PURFINA (603grt) was sunk on a mine in LeHavre
Roads.
______
Greek
steamer
PERRAKIS L.CAMBANIS (3584grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dieppe.
Steamer
PERRAKIS
L.CAMBANIS was later salved by German forces and
renamed HERTA ENGELINE
FRITZEN for German service.
______
The
British
Home Fleet units at Scapa Flow available on this
date were
battleships VALIANT and RODNEY, battlecruisers
RENOWN and REPULSE, heavy
cruiser SUSSEX, light cruiser NEWCASTLE, destroyers
TARTAR, MASHONA, BEDOUIN,
ASHANTI, MAORI, ZULU, FORESTER, FOXHOUND, KELVIN,
INGLEFIELD, ELECTRA,
ENCOUNTER, ESCORT.
The
other
units were either repairing or detached for duty
elsewhere:a number of
ships were operating in the Harstad area and
destroyers FORTUNE, FORESIGHT,
FURY of the 8th Flotilla had been detached on 28 May
to reinforce the Nore
Command and operate under the command of the 18th
Cruiser Squadron.
______
Light
cruiser
NEWCASTLE
arrived at Scapa Flow from Rosyth at 2035.
______
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
embarked troops at Ballangen and took them to
Andfjord for
evacuation to
England.
______
Destroyers
BEDOUIN
and
ASHANTI
departed Scapa Flow at 1800 for Rosyth.
The
destroyers
with steamers ST MAGNUS and ALSTER arrived at Rosyth
during the
forenoon of 4 June.
______
British
steamers
DROMORE
CASTLE and JACINTH and French
steamer ALBERT LE BOURGNE, escorted by
anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSA and
ST KEENAN arrived at
Scapa Flow from the Narvik area.
______
British
troopship
ROYAL SCOTSMAN (3244grt) escorted by destroyer
WHIRLWIND arrived at
Scapa
Flow
at 2350 from Harstad.
______
British
trawler
MARGARET (260grt) departed Narvik in the tow of
British trawler BEN ROSSAL (260grt) and escorted
by minesweeping trawlers NEWHAVEN (193grt) and
STRATHDERRY (193grt).
The
trawlers,
less MARGARET scuttled in bad weather, arrived
safely at Thorshavn
on the 9th.
______
British
steamers
MARINA (5088grt), BLACKHEATH (4637grt), OLIGARCH
(6897grt), HARMATTAN
(4558grt), escorted by destroyer CAMPBELL, arrived
at Harstad at 1730.
______
Anti-submarine
trawler
CAPE
PORTLAND
departed Scapa Flow towing anti-submarine
trawler GUAVA to
Belfast
for repairs.
______
Submarine
NARWHAL
completed minefield FD.16 at 1937 off the Jaederens
in 58‑46N,
05-25E.
German
minesweeper
M.11 was sunk on the 5th on this minefield.
German
steamer
PALIME (2863grt) was damaged on this minefield on
the 5th. The
steamer was run aground a total loss at Jaederens.
On
28
September, German steamer CLARA L.M. RUSS (1600grt)
was damaged on this
minefield.
______
Submarine
SPEARFISH
departed
Blyth on patrol.
______
Submarines
SALMON,
SEALION, SNAPPER arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
______
Submarine
tender
WARRIOR II (1266grt) departed Portsmouth escorting
submarines H.34,
H.49, H.50, H.44 to Harwich.
______
Submarine
tender
WHITE
BEAR (1822grt) departed
Portsmouth
escorting submarines H.28,
H.31, O 13 for
Blyth and
Dundee.
______
Convoy FN.187 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WALPOLE. Dutch
warships NAUTILUS and JAN VAN BRAKEL were in the
convoy. When the convoy was
delayed by fog, sloop BLACK SWAN relieved destroyer
WALPOLE on the 4th. The
convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 5th.
______
Convoy MT.81 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The
convoy arrived in the
Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FS.187 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 5th.
______
U.37
sank
Finnish steamer SNABB (2317grt) three hundred miles
off Cape Finisterre.
One
crew
was killed on the steamer. Greek steamer KYRIAKOULA
(4340grt) picked up
the crew and landed them at Queenstown.
______
Light
cruiser
LIVERPOOL departed Aden and arrived at Alexandria on
the 10th for duty with
the Mediterranean Fleet.
Tuesday,
4
June
The French 10th Submarine Flotilla at
Dundee
with depot ship JULES VERNE
and submarines CASABIANCA, SFAX, SYBILLE, ANTIOPE,
AMAZONE, THETIS, CIRCE,
CALYPSO, which had been recalled to Brest for
transfer to the Mediterranean, departed Dundee
escorted by destroyers
BEDOUIN and
ASHANTI
as far as the Butt of Lewis.
______
U.8,
which
departed
Wilhelmshaven
on patrol on 19 May, was
attacked by aircraft in 58-06N, 1-45W. The
submarine's commanding officer was
severely wounded.
Destroyer
ESCORT
departed
Scapa Flow at 0600 to investigate this contact off
Moray
Firth.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
was dispatched at 0915.
Destroyers
TARTAR
and MASHONA departed
Scapa Flow at 1300 to join.
Destroyer
FORESTER
departed
Scapa Flow at 1415 and destroyer ELECTRA departed
Scapa
Flow at 1635.
However,
no
further contacts were made.
______
Battleship
VALIANT
with destroyers ZULU, MAORI, FOXHOUND departed Scapa
Flow for firings west of the
Orkneys. The battleship returned to
Scapa Flow
at 1345 and the destroyers
joined heavy cruiser SUSSEX.
______
Heavy
cruiser
SUSSEX
departed Scapa Flow for firings est of the
Orkneys. She was joined by destroyers ZULU, MAORI,
FOXHOUND. All three
arrived back at
Scapa Flow at 1815.
______
Battleship
RESOLUTION
departed
Scapa Flow at 1312 for
Gibraltar
escorted by destroyers
WOLVERINE, WITHERINGTON, VISCOUNT.
The
destroyers
escorted the battleship to 13W and then returned to
Scapa Flow, arriving at 1501/6th.
Destroyer
VELOX
departed
Gibraltar on the 5th with convoy HG.33F and joined battleship
RESOLUTION on the 8th.
On
7
June, destroyer ACTIVE departed
Gibraltar
and met the battleship and
destroyer VELOX.
The
ships
arrived at
Gibraltar on the 10th.
______
Anti-submarine
trawlers
LE TIGER and ELM departed
Scapa Flow
escorting oilers ATHELSULTAN
and BRITISH GOVERNOR to the
Clyde and
Birkenhead,
respectively.
______
Hospital
ship
ABA arrived at
Scapa Flow
from the Narvik area.
______
Destroyer
KEPPEL
departed
Gibraltar to act as additional escort for aircraft carrier
ARGUS, which departed
Toulon
on the 4th and Hyeres on the 5th for Gibraltar.
On
departing
Hyeres,
the aircraft carrier flew
off her Swordfish of 767 Squadron to Polyvestre for
operations. On 17 June,
eighteen Swordfish departed Polyvestre for Bone in
Algeria. On 20 June, twelve
Swordfish flew,via Medjez el Bab in Tunisia for
refuelling, to Malta, arriving on the 22nd. The
remaining Swordfish proceeded to
Gibraltar
for duty in aircraft carrier
ARK ROYAL.
The
aircraft
carrier arrived at
Gibraltar on the 7th, escorted by destroyers STURDY and
KEPPEL.
______
Light
cruiser
FIJI,
which was completed on
17 May 1940, departed the
Clyde
for working up in the Caribbean.
Cruiser
FIJI
arrived at Bermuda on the 10th. On completion
of her working up, she arrived back at Greenock on
23 July.
______
For
operation
JUNO, German forces under Admiral Marschall departed Kiel
to operate off Harstad with battleships SCHARNHORST
and GNEISENAU, heavy
cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER, destroyers LODY,
STEINBRINCK, SCHOEMANN, GALSTER.
This force was screened through the
Kattegat
by German torpedo boats
JAGUAR and FALKE, barrage breaker SPERRBRECHER 4
(steamer OAKLAND: 6757grt), tender HAI, some R
boats. The torpedo
boats remained with the force through the Skagerrak.
______
A
Convoy, consisting of British steamers ARBROATH
(553grt), NGAKOA (507grt),
YEWMOUNT (869grt), Norwegian steamer MARITA
(1931grt) arrived off Vestfjord,
escorted by destroyer VETERAN. The convoy was
ordered to Tromso, arriving on
the 5th, destroyer VETERAN was ordered to Harstad.
______
For
the
Narvik evacuation, Operation ALPHABET, aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL with
destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA which were relieved by
DIANA and ACHERON and
aircraft carrier GLORIOUS with destroyer HIGHLANDER
operated to seaward to
support the evacuation.
Destroyers
HAVELOCK, BEAGLE, CAMPBELL, DELIGHT,
ECHO,
FIREDRAKE, FAME, ARROW, WALKER, VANOC,
VETERAN operated in an around the Harstad area for
the protection of the
anchorage and to ferry troops to the troopships.
One
hundred
and eighty miles from the Norwegian coast, fifteen
British troopships
went to one of two designated rendezvous. There they
were met by
anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY
and given instructions.
British
Group
I for the evacuation of Narvik was troopships
MONARCH OF BERMUDA
(22,424grt), BATORY (14,287grt), SOBIESKI
(11,030grt), FRANCONIA (20,175grt), LANCASTRIA
(16,243grt), GEORGIC (27,759grt).
Destroyers
WREN
and VOLUNTEER, which had been involved in escorting
these troopships to
Harstad, had been detached and arrived in the Clyde
on the 5th.
The
troopships
arrived in turn at Andfjord over the next three
nights covered by
aircraft from aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL.
On
4
June 4700 troops were embarked, on the 5th 4900 were
embarked, on the 6th
5100 troops were embarked on Group I troopships.
As
the
troopships completed embarkation, they were escorted
by destroyer ARROW
and sloop STORK to the ocean rendezvous where they
were met by repair ship VINDICTIVE.
When the last ship of Group I arrived at the ocean
rendezvous, repair ship
VINDICTIVE gave them ocean escort to the Clyde.
En
route
they were joined on the 8th by destroyers VISCOUNT,
WITHERINGTON,
WOLVERINE, ANTELOPE, ATHERSTONE which came out from
Scapa Flow. The destroyers raised steam
to join the convoy at 1800/7th. This was cancelled
and status reverted to one
hour's notice until 2300/7th when they departed
Scapa Flow.
______
Submarines
TRIDENT
and TRITON arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
______
Submarine
CLYDE
departed the Rosyth for
patrol off Stadlandet to relived submarine SEVERN on
patrol off Stadlandet.
______
Submarine
PORPOISE
was docked at Rosyth for repairs to her
anti-submarine installation.
______
Minesweeper
SPEEDWELL
was damaged in a collision off Dover.
The
minesweeper
was repaired at Devonport from 7 June to 20 June.
______
Convoy FN.188 departed Southend, escorted by sloops
LONDONDERRY
and EGRET. The convoy
arrived at the
Tyne on the 6th.
______
German
motor
torpedo boats attacked Patrol sloops of the 1st
Anti-submarine Flotilla
near West Hinder early on the 4th.
______
Italian
submarine
MICCA departed
La Spezia
to lay mines off Alexandria's approaches on the
first
night of the war between Italy and England.
All
submarine
minelaying by the Italian Navy during the war netted
most
insignificant results.
Wednesday,
5
June
Battleship
RODNEY
with destroyers ZULU, MAORI, FOXHOUND departed Scapa
Flow for firings at 0645. The
ships arrived back at 1800.
______
Destroyers
ESCORT,
FORESTER, ENCOUNTER arrived at Scapa Flow from
anti-submarine patrol
at 1645.
______
Special
services
ship CAPE HOWE, disguised as RFA PRUNELLA, reported
sighting at 1630
two unidentified warships northwest of Norway in
64-45N, 00-24W making for
Iceland on course 265 at 20 knots.
Admiral
Forbes
ordered the Home Fleet to intercept. Battlecruisers
RENOWN and
REPULSE, heavy cruiser SUSSEX, light cruiser
NEWCASTLE, destroyers MAORI, FORESTER,
FOXHOUND, ZULU, KELVIN departed
Scapa Flow
at 2130 to intercept.
Destroyers
MASHONA,
ASHANTI,
BEDOUIN, ELECTRA were
recalled to
Scapa Flow.
Destroyers
MASHONA
and ELECTRA arrived at
Scapa Flow
at 2030 from anti-submarine
operations in
Moray Firth.
Destroyers
BEDOUIN
and
ASHANTI
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1920 from escorting the
French submarines.
Destroyer
TARTAR
(D.6) arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1600 after anti-submarine patrol and
repairs.
A
rumour was received on the 7th that a large German
force had landed at Seidisfjord.
Vice Admiral Battlecruisers and the Northern Patrol
were ordered to
investigate.
Light
cruiser
NEWCASTLE
arrived off Iceland on the 7th.
Battlecruiser
RENOWN
and REPULSE with four destroyers were to have
covered the first group
evacuating Narvik with a close screen of five
destroyers.
After
the
sortie towards Iceland, only battleships RODNEY
(Flagship Forbes) and VALIANT with destroyers
TARTAR, MASHONA, BEDOUIN, ASHANTI were available for
operations.
Destroyer
ELECTRA
was ordered at 1400/7th to search for a suspicious
steamer identified
as British steamer BLAIRESK (3300grt), which had
been boarded by armed
boarding vessel KINGSTON JACINTH in 59-48N, 4-38W.
The
steamer
was visually sighted by battleship RODNEY's aircraft
and escorted to Noup
Head.
Destroyer
ELECTRA
contacted the ship and found her to be CAPE HOWE.
She proceeded to Kirkwall and anchored off Kirkwall
in thick fog at 1420/8th.
The
destroyer
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 2117/8th from
Kirkwall.
Admiral
Forbes
was not aware of CAPE HOWE's deployment.
______
Convoy
"Greek,"
consisting of British steamers HERON (2374grt),
MARINA
(5088grt), BALTEAKO (1328grt) and French steamers
ENSEIGNE MAURICE PRECHAC
(4578grt), VULCAIN (4362grt), PAUL EMILE JAVARY
(2471grt) and escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers ST ELSTAN (564grt) and WASTWATER (560grt),
departed Harstad.
Steamer
VULCAIN
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 2220/7th. Steamer PAUL EMILE JAVARY also
arrived on the 7th. The convoy arrived safely at
Scapa
Flow at 1740/10th with the two trawlers
and steamers HERON, BALTEAKO, MARINA, DALLINGTON
COURT, ENSEIGN MAURICE PRECHAC.
______
During
the
night of 5/6 June, destroyers GALLANT and WALPOLE,
on patrol off Lowestoft, engaged German motor
torpedo boats laying mines.
______
Destroyer
WANDERER,
armed yacht GULZAR, some small motor craft departed
Dover at 1800 for operation MH.
This
operation
was to embark stragglers near Boulogne.
No
allied
troops were location.
The
operation
was repeated the next night by the same ships and
only one British
officer was picked up.
______
Destroyer
CODRINGTON,
after DYNAMO operations, was under repair at Dover
from 5 to 8 June.
On
completion
of repairs, the destroyer sailed for Portsmouth.
______
Minesweepers
NIGER,
SUTTON, PANGBOURNE, FITZROY,
DUNDALK departed Dover at 1130 for the Humber.
Minesweeper
SPEEDWALL
departed
Dover
at 1240 for Devonport.
The
10th
Mine Sweeping Flotilla departed Dover at 1315 for
Portsmouth for reorganisation.
______
Minesweeper
HALCYON
was damaged by German bombing.
The
minesweeper
was under repair at Devonport from 8 to 14 June.
______
Light
cruiser
EMERALD departed
Halifax
with British troopship
EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (19,665grt), which was carrying
troops for the Iceland garrison.
After
safely
delivering the troopship, light cruiser EMERALD
proceeded to the Clyde on the 16th and the
troopship returned to
Halifax.
Light
cruiser
EMERALD arrived in the
Clyde on the 18th.
______
Submarine
TRIBUNE
arrived Rosyth after patrol.
______
Submarine
TETRARCH
departed Rosyth on patrol.
______
Submarine
NARWHAL
arrived
Blyth after patrol.
______
Submarine
SWORDFISH
departed
Blyth on patrol.
The
next
day, submarine SWORDFISH was attack by friendly
aircraft in the North Sea. No damage was done to the
submarine.
______
German
forces
attacked
Dunkirk
after the lull that
permitted the allies to evacuate many of their
troops.
French
large
destroyers EPERVIER and LEOPARD and sloop SAVORGNAN
DE BRAZZA supplied support
to the ground forces around Dunkirk.
French
battleship
PARIS
was employed off Le Havre and was damaged by German
bombing on the 11th.
Battleship
PARIS was taken to
Brest,
then on to Plymouth arriving on the 19th.
______
British
steamer
CAPABLE (216grt) was sunk on a mine 2.8 miles 131°
from Horsesand
Fort, Spithead.
The
entire
crew of five men and two Territorial guards were all
lost on the
steamer.
______
British
sludge
vessel SWEEP II (145grt) was sunk on a mine 1. 4
miles 138° from Landguard
Point near Felixstone.
Two
crew
were lost on the vessel.
______
U.48
sank
British steamer STANCOR (798grt) in 58‑48N, 08‑45W.
The
entire
crew from the British steamer was rescued. One
lifeboat landed at
Stornoway on the 7th.
______
German
minesweeper
M.11 struck a mine and was sunk off Jaederens.
German steamer
PALIME (2863grt) struck a mine near Jaederens and
was run aground a total
loss.
______
Convoy
OA.162
departed Southend escorted by sloop ENCHANTRESS from
5 to 7 June.
______
Convoy
OB.162
departed
Liverpool escorted by anti-submarine trawler ARSENAL from 5 to
6 June.
______
Convoy
OG.32
was formed from convoys OA.161G, which departed
Southend on the 3rd
escorted by sloop
ABERDEEN,
OB.161G, escorted by sloop
FOLKESTONE from 3 to 5 June, with thirty nine ships.
Sloop
FOLKESTONE
escorted the convoy from 5 to 6 June, being detached
to convoy
HG.32.
On
4
June, sloop FOLKESTONE had collided with British
coastal steamer RIVER
HUMBER (351grt) seven miles 218° from the Skerries.
The coaster sank.
Following
this
convoy duty, the sloop arrived at Cardiff on the
10th for repairs,
completed on the 29th.
Sloop
ABERDEEN escorted the convoy from 3 to 9 June until
being detached to convoy HG.33.
Destroyers
DOUGLAS
and VIDETTE joined on the
10th. Destroyer VIDETTE was detached prior to
arriving at Gibraltar. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on the 11th, escorted by
destroyer DOUGLAS.
______
Convoy FN.189 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIMIERA and
sloop
HASTINGS. Submarine L.23 was in the convoy for passage.
Off the
Tyne,
destroyer VIMIERA escorted
submarine L.23 to
Dundee. The convoy arrived at the
Tyne
on the 7th with sloop HASTINGS.
______
Convoy MT.82 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The
convoy arrived in the
Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FS.188 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 7th.
______
Convoy
HG.33F
with forty one ships departed Gibraltar. The convoy
was escorted by
destroyer DOUGLAS from 5 to 6 June.
Destroyer
VELOX
escorted the convoy from 5 to 8 June when she was
detached to escort
battleship RESOLUTION approaching
Gibraltar.
Sloop
DEPTFORD
escorted the convoy from 5 to 14 June.
Corvette
PERIWINKLE
from convoy OG.33F escorted the convoy from 12 to 14
June. The
convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 14th.
______
Convoy
HX.48
departed
Halifax
at 0900 escorted by Canadian
destroyer
SAGUENAY and auxiliary patrol vessel
ACADIA.
Auxiliary
patrol
vessel
ACADIA was detached at 2145/5th. The destroyer was detached on the 6th
The
ocean
escort for the convoy was Armed merchant cruiser
RANPURA, which was
detached on the 16th.
On
16
June, destroyer VOLUNTEER joined the convoy and on
the 17th, corvette
GLADIOLUS. The destroyer was detached on the 19th.
The corvette escorted the
convoy to
Liverpool arriving on the 20th.
______
Italian
submarines
FAA d'BRUNO, MOROSINI, PROVANA, DANDOLO, MARCELLO
departed Naples for operations off Oran at the
outset of the war.
Italian
submarines
FINZI and CAPPELLINI departed Cagliari for
operations in the Atlantic.
6
June, Thursday
U.46
torpedoed
armed merchant cruiser
CARINTHIA
(Captain J. F. B. Barrett
Rtd) at 1312 west of Ireland in 53‑13N, 10‑40W.
Temporary
Lt
(E) R. Yeates
RNR, Temporary S/Lt (E) J. D. Linklater
RNR,
were lost on the cruiser.
Destroyers
VOLUNTEER,
which departed the
Clyde at 0115 for
Scapa
Flow, WREN, from the Clyde, escort vessel GLEANER,
tugs
BRIGAND and MARAUDER were sent to assist her.
Destroyer BERKELEY, just
completed, was sent from the Western Approaches.
The
destroyers
reached the armed merchant cruiser CARINTHIA at
0400/7th.
Tug
MARAUDER
took
CARINTHIA in tow, but the armed merchant cruiser sank at
1900/7th.
Destroyer
VOLUNTEER
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 2150/8th.
Destroyer
WREN
arrived in the
Clyde at 1830/8th.
______
Battleship
NELSON,
escorted by destroyers WARWICK, AMAZON, WITCH
departed Portsmouth at 1700 for the Clyde, arriving
at 1115/8th.
______
After receiving orders at 1645, battleship VALIANT and destroyers
MASHONA, TARTAR (D.6),
BEDOUIN,
ASHANTI departed Scapa Flow at 2130 to escort
convoys
evacuating Harstad.
______
Destroyers
WOLVERINE,
WITHERINGTON, VISCOUNT arrived off Scapa Flow at
0800. They anchored off
Cantick Head in thick fog.
Destroyers
WOLVERINE
and VISCOUNT entered harbour at 1500 during a
temporary fog
clearance.
Destroyer
WITHERINGTON
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1900.
______
Destroyer
VERITY
was damaged in a collision with mine tender
NIGHTINGALE at Portsmouth.
The
destroyer
was repaired to complete on the 15th.
______
Escort
destroyer
BERKELEY was completed. She was sent on this day to
assist damaged
armed merchant cruiser
CARINTHIA and later torpedoed steamer EROS. Two days
later, she departed Cammell Laird yard at
Birkenhead
and arrived at Milford Haven
for working up on the 9th.
Following
working
up, destroyer BERKELEY was attached to the Home
Fleet.
______
Submarine
SEVERN
reported a U-boat sixty
miles west, northwest of Aandalsnes.
______
Submarine
STURGEON
departed
Blyth on patrol.
______
Norwegian
submarine
B.3 departed Harstad for the Tromso area. En route,
a battery
explosion crippled the submarine. Unable to make the
passage to England, B.3 was scuttled on 9/10
June in Gavlfjord near Tromso.
______
French
minelayer
POLLUX arrived at Dover at 1345/6th for minelaying
operation MI.
On6/7
June,
French minelayer POLLUX escorted by French torpedo
boat MELPOMENE and
destroyer VEGA laid mines in the Channel to
Cherbourg in 51-20-24N, 02-02E.
On
13/14
June, French minelayer POLLUX and auxiliary
minelayers INGENIEUR CACHIN
(1310grt) and ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE (1256grt)
escorted by torpedo boat
BRANLEBAS and auxiliary sloop ASIE extended this
minefield.
______
Convoy FN.190 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The
convoy arrived at the
Tyne on the 8th.
______
Convoy MT.83 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The
convoy arrived at the
Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FN.189 departed the
Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 8th.
______
Late
on
the 6th and into early 7 June, German Admiral
Marschall reaching the
latitude of Harstad refuelled his heavy cruiser
ADMIRAL HIPPER and destroyers
from German tanker DITHMARSCHEN (10,816grt).
______
German
armed
merchant cruiser WIDDER refuelled from German
steamer KONIGSBERG (6466grt) at 26N, 46W.
WIDDER
had
already fuelled twice from German tanker NORDMARK
(10,845grt) in the North Atlantic since sailing on 6
May.
______
German
armed
merchant cruiser
THOR departed
Kiel
to raid in the Central and South Atlantic, via the
Denmark Strait. She was escorted through
the Skagerrak by torpedo boats JAGUAR and
FALKE and arrived at Sorgulenfjord near Skudesnes
where she remained until 11
June.
______
British
steamer
HARCALO (5081grt), formerly in convoy HG.32F, was
sunk on a mine in
51‑19N, 01‑32E, near Goodwin Knoll Buoy.
Three
crew
were lost on the British steamer.
The
steamer
was beached three cables northwest of Gull Buoy. Tug
LADY BRASSEY
investigated the steamer, but found her beyond
salvage.
______
Anti-submarine
trawler
KINGSTON OLIVINE (378grt) at 0715 made an attack on
a submarine
contact off Dungeness. The contact was later found
to be a wreck.
______
Anti-submarine
trawler
KINGSTON ANDALUSITE (415grt) at 1925 attacked a
submarine contact two
miles 177° from Port War Signal Station. The contact
was later found to be a
wreck.
______
British
trawler
LAPWING (217grt) was sunk on a British defensive
minefield in 54‑00N,
01‑10E.
The
entire
crew was rescued.
______
Destroyer
VORTIGERN,
after escort duty with convoy HG.32, arrived at
Gibraltar and was taken in hand for
refitting.
______
Italian
submarines
BARBARIGO and NANI departed Naples for patrol off
Algiers.
Italian
submarines
SALPA, GUILIANA, BAGNOLINI, TARANTINI departed
Taranto for patrol south of Crete.
Italian
submarines
SETTIMO and UEBI SCEBI departed Taranto for patrol
to the south of
the
Otranto
Strait and off Cerigo,
respectively.
______
Convoy
BC
of steamers ASKA, KARANJA, KENYA, RAJULA, ROHNA,
TALAMBA
departed 6 June from
Bombay
and arriving 19 June at Durban, escorted by heavy
cruiser KENT.
On
20
June, steamers ASKA, KARANJA, KENYA departed Durban
escorted by heavy cruiser CORNWALL. They arrived at
Capetown on
the 23rd.
Liners
REINA
DEL PACIFICO and ORION departed
Durban
on the 22nd, escorted by
light cruiser DRAGON, arrived at Capetown the next
day.
Heavy
cruiser
CORNWALL
departed Capetown on the
24th with steamers ASKA,
KARANJA,
KENYA. They arrived at Takoradi 1
July. They departed Takoradi on 2 July with CORNWALL
and arrived at Freetown 5 July.
Escorted
by
heavy cruiser AUSTRALIA, the convoy of REINA DEL
PACIFICO, ORION, STRATHEDEN
departed on the 24th and arrived at Freetown on 3
July.
Convoy
BC.of
troopships REINA
DEL PACIFICO, ORION,
STRATHEDEN,
KENYA, KARANJA, ASKA departed Freetown 6 July,
escorted by CORNWALL. The convoy was joined on 11
July by heavy cruiser AUSTRALIA and on 15 July by
destroyers
HAVELOCK,
ST
LAURENT, WALKER, WESTCOTT.
The
heavy
cruisers arrived at
Liverpool late on 16 July and the convoy and the
destroyers arrived at 0700 on 17 July.
Friday,
7
June
Destroyer
VEGA
departed
Chatham
and called at Dover before proceeding to Le Havre
with the XD.H (Cdr R. W.
Stirling-Hamilton)
Dieppe
demolition party.
Off
Le Havre, the XD.H party was transferred to a French
trawler because the port was closed.
The
party
travelled overland to Dieppe.
On
her
return to
Dover,
destroyer VEGA was ordered
to
Portsmouth to pick up the CP (Dieppe)
blockships.
______
French
large
destroyer GERFAUT departed Brest escorting steamers
KONINGIN
EMMA and PRINCESS BEATRIX to Plymouth, arriving on
the 8th. On return,
the destroyer departed on the 8th escorting steamers
GENERAL METZINGER and MEKNES, joined by torpedo boat
L'IMPETUEUSE. They arrived at Brest on the 9th.
______
Destroyer
FEARLESS
departed Middlesborough at 1030 for Rosyth en route
to Scapa Flow.
At
1300,
destroyer FEARLESS reported the breakdown of both
feed pumps. The
destroyer returned to Middlesborough for repairs.
At
1900
0n 10 June, the destroyer departed for Sullom Voe.
______
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
departed
Scapa Flow at 2100/7th to search for a German seaplane
down in the sea 43° from Wick.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
was later recalled. Attempting to enter harbour at
0300/8th, the
destroyer went ashore on Cantick Head.
The
destroyer
was later refloated with only slight damage. She
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1245/8th.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
departed
Scapa Flow at 0300/14th escorting British steamer FOSS
BECK (4876grt) and tanker BRITISH LADY (6098grt) to
Rosyth, arriving on the
14th.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
departed Rosyth on the 16th in convoy MT.89,
escorted by escort
ship WOOLSTON and sloop FLAMINGO, arrived on the
17th in the Tyne.
The
destroyer
departed the
Tyne on the 17th in convoy FS.97 with escort ship WOOLSTON
and sloop FLEETWOOD.
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
arrived at
Chatham
where she was under repair
and refit until 20 July.
______
Anti-submarine
trawlers
LE TIGRE (516grt) and ELM (530grt) arrived at Scapa
Flow escorting British oiler INVERSHANNON (9154grt)
and steamers KIRKWOOD and ST CLAIR (1637grt).
______
British
steamer REDCAR arrived at Scapa Flow from Harstad.
______
French
tanker
SALOME (13,291grt) was lost at Dunkirk to unknown
causes. She was
later salved by German forces and renamed BREISGAU.
______
Convoy MT.84 departed Methil, escorted by sloops
LOWESTOFT
and HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at the Tyne later
that day.
______
Convoy FS.190 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloops
LOWESTOFT
and HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 9th.
______
U.48
sank
British steamer FRANCIS MASSEY (4212grt) and damaged
British steamer
EROS (5888grt) 14 to 15 miles 52° of Tory Island in
55‑33N, 08‑26W.
Destroyer
VOLUNTEER
and tug BANDIT was detached from the armed merchant
cruiser CARINTHIA mission.
The
only
survivour from steamer FRANCIS MASSEY was the Master
of the vessel,
rescued by destroyer VOLUNTEER. The destroyer was
guided to the raft by
aircraft. After picking up steamer FRANCIS MASSEY's
survivour, destroyer
VOLUNTEER proceeded to assist steamer EROS.
Destroyer
BERKELEY
took steamer EROS in tow. Anti-submarine trawler
PAYNTER (472grt)
took the survivors off EROS, which was later beached
at 2230 on Tory Island, assisted by tug BANDIT.
After
this
operation, destroyer VOLUNTEER arrived at Scapa Flow
at 2145/8th and secured
alongside depot ship WOOLWICH.
Destroyer
BERKELEY
was sent off on other duties.
______
Aircraft
carrier
ARGUS and her attendant destroyer STURDY, escorted
by destroyer
KEPPEL arrived from the Gulf of Lyons at Gibraltar
en route to the United Kingdom.
______
Submarine
SEVERN
arrived at Rosyth after
patrol.
______
Early
on
the 7th, Troopship Group I units leaving Harstad
after evacuating allied
troops were sighted by one of Admiral Marschall's
scouting planes. However,
Marschall, at first, gave them no attention thinking
them to be empty
troopships returning to England.
Later
on
the 7th, German aircraft sighted and reported units
of Troopship Group II
at the entrance to Andfjord escorted by
anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY (Flagship Vivian,
Rear
Admiral 1st AntiAirCraft Squadron) and destroyers
WALKER and FIREDRAKE.
Group
II
was composed of troopships ORONSAY (20,043grt),
ORMONDE (14,982grt),
ARANDORA
STAR (15,501grt), DUCHESS OF
YORK
(20,021grt), ROYAL ULSTERMAN
(3244grt),
ULSTER
PRINCE (3791grt), ULSTER
MONARCH (3791grt).
Troopship
DUCHESS
OF YORK was not in the group leaving
the Clyde on 31 May. On 1 June, she
departed
Liverpool and joined the group en route.
Troopship
ORAMA
(19,840grt) had arrived at the ocean rendezvous for
the evacuation, but
was short of fuel and fresh water. Since sufficient
accomodation was already
at hand, ORAMA was sent home with hospital ship
ATLANTIS.
Armed
boarding
vessel VANDYCK remained at sea at the ocean
rendezvous in case she
was required while the troopships embarked the
troops.
Group
II
troopships arrived at Andfjord in turn and embarked
5200 troops on the 7th
and 4600 troops on the 8th.
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS and destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA departed
the Narvik area at
0300/8th.
Group
II
leaving the ocean rendezvous was escorted at sea by
aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL with destroyers ACHERON, DIANA, HIGHLANDER,
light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON
(Lord Cork's Flagship), anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY, destroyers FIREDRAKE,
HAVELOCK,
FAME, BEAGLE, CAMPBELL, DELIGHT,
ECHO.
A
convoy of slow auxiliaries departed Harstad late on
the 7th. This group
consisted of British BLACKHEATH (4637grt), OLIGARCH
(6897grt), HARMATTAN
(4558grt), CROMARTY FIRTH (538grt), THESEUS
(6527grt), ACRITY (403grt),
COXWOLD (1124grt), CONCH (8376grt) escorted by
anti-submarine trawlers ST
CATHAN (565grt) and LOCH MONTEITH (531grt) of the
18th Anti-submarine
Striking Force. The convoy was joined by destroyer
ARROW, sloop STORK,
trawlers STRATHDEVON (212grt), STRATHDERRY (193grt),
ELDORADO (180grt),
SHANDWICK (166grt), NEWHAVEN (182grt) after they had
completed assisting
Group II during embarkation.
Destroyers
VETERAN
and VANOC escorted the convoy away from the coast
and then were
detached to join the escort for aircraft carrier
GLORIOUS, but the aircraft
carrier was lost before they could join the escort.
Destroyer
VETERAN,
short of fuel, was ordered to Sullom Voe at
1115/9th. Destroyers
VETERAN and VANOC arrived at Sullom Voe at 2350/9th.
This
convoy
was under German air attack from 2345/9th to 0100 by
six aircraft in
67-55N, 2-10E. There was no damage.
Destroyer
CAMPBELL
was ordered at 1900/8th to join the convoy but could
not locate it
until 1730/10th. Then, she was too low on fuel and
had to proceed independently,
later accompanied by destroyer MASHONA, to Sullom
Voe, arriving at 0745/12th.
Destroyer
WALKER
did successfully locate and join the convoy.
Destroyers
FIREDRAKE,
FAME, BEAGLE,
WALKER
all sustained minor damage from
near misses of air bombing on the 12th.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
arrived in the
Clyde on the 13th and was out of service one week.
Destroyer
FAME
arrived in the Clyde on the 12th and was out of
service on week.
Destroyer
BEAGLE
arrived at
Greenock on the 12th was out of service four days.
Destroyer
WALKER
arrived at
Scapa Flow on the 14th with the starboard dynamo out of
action. She departed
Scapa Flow on the 15th for the
Clyde.
She arrived at Glasgow for repairs completed on the
28th.
At
0500/14th,
the convoy with heavy cruiser SUSSEX, light cruiser
NEWCASTLE, destroyers ARROW and
WALKER, sloop STORK safely arrived at Scapa Flow.
A
convoy departed Tromso at 1700/7th with British
tankers OIL PIONEER (5666grt) and
YEWMOUNT (859grt) and ammunition ships ARBROATH
(553grt) and NGAKOA (507grt)
escorted by anti-submarine trawler JUNIPER (530grt).
Destroyers
CAMPBELL
and
WALKER
and anti-submarine whalers
ELLESMERE and THIRLMERE were to rendezvous with the
Tromso units.
The
whalers
met YEWMOUNT, ARBROATH, NGAKOA later on the 7th.
On
the
10th, destroyer CAMPBELL reported she was a serious
fuel loss and was
returning to Sullom Voe.
On
the
12th, whalers ELLESMERE and THIRLMERE were relieved
by destroyer
VISCOUNT.
The
whalers
took ammunition ship NGAKAO with engine troubles
into Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
VISCOUNT
arrived at
Scapa Flow at 0400/14th with the Narvik store ships.
Anti-submarine
trawler
NORTHERN
GEM departed Lodigen escorting Norwegian steamer
RANEN
(463grt), which was being used as HMS RAVEN (Cdr Sir
Geoffrey Congreve).
British
trawlers departing Norway at this time were LILAC,
SYCAMORE, HAWTHORN, WILLOW
of Minesweeping Group 1, ULLSWATER of the 10th
Anti-Submarine Striking Force,
NORTHERN SPRAY, NORTHERN DAWN, NORTHERN WAVE of the
12th Anti-Submarine
Striking Force, KING
SOL of the 18th Anti-Submarine Striking Force,
MAN
O' WAR of the 21st
Anti-Submarine Group, PRESTON NORTH END and LINCOLN
CITY of the 30th Anti-Submarine
Group.
Anti-submarine
whalers
ELLESMERE and THIRLMERE of the 10th Anti-submarine
Striking Force
transferred 435 men and twenty six women to heavy
cruiser DEVONSHIRE at Tromso.
Heavy
cruiser
DEVONSHIRE departed Tromso with the
King of Norway, his government, allied legations.
She was accompanied by
Norwegian submarine B 1, fishery protection vessels
NORDKAPP and FRIDTJOF
NANSEN, armed auxiliaries SYRIAN (298grt), THOROOD
(422grt), NORDHAV II
(425grt), HVAL V (248grt), BORTIND (328grt) and
captured German trawler
HONNINGSVAAG (487 tons: ex German MALANGEN captured
on 13 April).
Heavy
cruiser
DEVONSHIRE arrived in the Clyde on the 10th.
Destroyer
VETERAN
departed Thorshavn at 0600/16th with submarine B 1,
fishery
protection vessel FRIDTJOF NANSEN, five minor
warships through Pentland Firth for Rosyth.
Destroyer
KELVIN
was ordered at 2349/16th by Rear Admiral,
destroyers, to join
destroyer VETERAN and the Norwegian ships.
The
Norwegian
ships escorted by destroyers KELVIN and VETERAN and
two trawlers
arrived at Rosyth on the 18th.
Both
destroyers
proceeded to Commander in Chief, Nore, on completion
of the escort
duty.
______
French
light
cruiser EMILE BERTIN departed Halifax to return to
Brest for another gold evacuation
mission.
______
French
submarine
ARCHIMEDE, which had come from Brest, via
Casablanca, arrived at Gibraltar escorted by sloop
ELAN. The
submarine sailed later that day escorted by sloop
ANNAMITE and arrived at
Toulon on the 11th.
Submarines
ARCHIMEDE
and BEVEZIERS departed Brest on the 1st in convoy 47
BF,
escorted by sloop ELAN. The convoy arrived at
Casablanca on the 5th.
______
New
Zealand light cruiser LEANDER
departed
Port Sudan
to patrol off that port. On
8 June, she joined sloop GRIMSBY escorting Italian
liner UMBRIA (9349grt) to Port Sudan.