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.
