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Note: all vessels and aircraft are British or Dominion unless otherwise identified or implied - click for abbreviations |
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Background Events - January-May 1941
1941
Wednesday, 1 January Destroyers DUNCAN, FIREDRAKE, FOXHOUND, JAGUAR, HERO departed On the 1st, the destroyers intercepted French convoy K.5 of four
ships, French steamer CHANTILLY (9986grt), French tankers OCTANE (1950grt)
and SUROIT (554grt), Danish steamer SALLY MAERSK (3252grt), escorted by armed
trawler LA TOULONAISE, in the Gibraltar Straits, coming from Casablanca,
having departed on 30 December, for Oran. Destroyer JAGUAR fired on steamer Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, light cruiser The ARK ROYAL force arrived back at _____ Italian submarine BAGNOLINI attacked armed boarding vessel NORTHERN
PRIDE in 54N, 14W without success. _____ Light cruisers ARETHUSA and AURORA and destroyers BEDOUIN, MASHONA,
MATABELE, TARTAR departed Destroyer ICARUS damaged her mine rails casting off from depot ship The force departed again at 0800/2nd for the operations. During the morning, destroyers BEDOUIN and MASHONA were detached for forty
five minutes to search for a submarine reported by a trawler in 58-57N,
2-12W. The mines were laid and all ships arrived back at 1415/3rd. _____ Light cruisers Light cruiser _____ Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA departed The ship arrived back at _____ Convoy OB.268 departed _____ Convoy FN.373 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIMIERA and
sloop WESTON, and arrived at Methil on the 3rd. _____ Convoy FS.377 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WOLFHOUND and
sloop EGRET, and arrived at Southend on the 3rd. _____ Destroyer MEYNELL arrived at _____ Destroyer WHITSHED arrived at _____ British steamer ATTENDANT (1016grt) was damaged on a mine one cable
east of 9 Buoy, Sheerness. The steamer was beached, was later refloated and towed to _____ Convoy SL.61 departed On the 18th, destroyer VETERAN and corvette DELPHINIUM joined the
convoy. On the 19th, corvette ARBUTUS joined and on the 20th, corvette
CAMELLIA joined. These four were detached on the 21st. On the 22nd, destroyer WOLVERINE joined and on the 23rd,
anti-submarine trawler _____ Convoy _____ Convoy HX.100 departed Convoy BHX.100 departed On the 13th, destroyers VANQUISHER, VISCOUNT, _____ A Fulmar of 803 Squadron from aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE failed to return
from a reconnaisance flight. Petty Officer H A Glover and Petty Officer R F
Hurford were both killed. Thursday, 2 January The 1st Minelaying Squadron, escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS, KEPPEL,
OURAGAN, which had arrived at Loch Alsh on the 1st, departed Loch Alsh to lay
mines in SN 6 and SN 65. Destroyer BEAGLE departed The operation was screened by light cruiser EDINBURGH, which departed Battlecruiser HOOD and destroyers The minefield was laid and the minelayers returned to Loch Alsh on the
5th. The battlecruiser force arrived back at Destroyer OURAGAN arrived at Destroyer BEAGLE and the minelayers arrived at Loch Alsh at 1700/5th.
Destroyer BEAGLE was then sailed for Light cruiser EDINBURGH arrived at 1801 on the 5th at At 2345/5th, destroyers DOUGLAS and KEPPEL arrived at _____ Light cruiser NAIAD departed On relief, light cruiser PHOEBE proceeded to _____ Minelaying cruiser ADVENTURE laid mines in minefield ZME.10 in St
Georges Channel. _____ Light cruiser EMERALD was recommissioned at Devonport after a refit
lasting from October to the end of December. _____ Destroyer SOMALI departed The destroyer arrived at Rosyth at 0630/3rd. _____ British P/T/Midshipman J. E. R. Rainford RNVR, was killed when his
Fulmar of 807 Squadron collided with another Fulmar at Yeovilton. The other
Fulmar safely landed. _____ German tanker NORDMARK (15,000grt) refuelled German raider The tanker also embarked diesel oil from captured Norwegian tanker
STORSTAD (8998grt). _____ U.65 sank British steamer NALGORA (6579grt) in 22-24N, 21-11W. All passengers and crew were rescued. _____ British steamer LOCH DEE (5252grt) was struck by a German delayed
action bomb at The bomb exploded at 0150/3rd. One crewman was killed. _____ The British fleet departed Aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS, escorted by destroyers GREYHOUND, Battleships WARSPITE, BARHAM, VALIANT, light cruiser GLOUCESTER and
heavy cruiser _____ Monitor TERROR and gunboats LADYBIRD and APHIS bombarded Bardia. Destroyer VOYAGER and monitor TERROR were unsuccessfully attacked by
aircraft. _____ Italian steamer _____ Convoy SC.18 departed Friday, 3 January Destroyer LEGION arrived at _____ Destroyer LINCOLN departed The destroyer arrived at _____ Destroyer COSSACK departed _____ Convoy OB.269 departed _____ Convoy FN.374 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 5th. _____ Convoy FS.378 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WOLSEY and sloop _____ Naval drifter _____ British steamer PINEWOOD (2466grt) was sunk on a mine one and a half
miles south of Pier, Southend. Six crew were lost. Eighteen crew were rescued. _____ Finnish steamer LIISA (1460grt) was sunk by British bombing at The steamer was later salved. _____ Finnish steamer YRSA (2803grt) was sunk by British bombing in the The bridge across the _____ The Mediterranean Fleet bombarded Bardia. Destroyers JANUS, Aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS, light cruiser Destroyers VOYAGER and DAINTY joined from Sollum. The Battleships WARSPITE, VALIANT, BARHAM, escorted by destroyers
ILEX, GREYHOUND, Anti-aircraft protection was provided by anti-aircraft ship Monitor TERROR, escorted initially by destroyer DAINTY and Australian
VOYAGER, gunboats LADYBIRD and APHIS bombarded Bardia before and after the
fleet bombardment, as Force W. Gunboat APHIS received slight damage from a near miss of an air bomb. Two crew were killed and three wounded on the gunboat. At 1000, light cruiser Monitor TERROR and the gunboats returned to _____ Submarines TRIUMPH and UPHOLDER departed _____ Convoy BS.12 departed Saturday, 4 January Light cruiser ARETHUSA departed When relieved, light cruiser NAIAD proceeded to the _____ Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA departed The ship arrived back at _____ Destroyers ICARUS and INTREPID departed _____ Destroyer NAPIER and Polish destroyer PIORUN departed _____ Destroyer _____ Convoy FN.375 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers VANITY and _____ Convoy FS.379 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and
WALLACE, and arrived at Southend on the 6th. Convoy FS.380 was cancelled. _____ Battleships WARSPITE, BARHAM, VALIANT, aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS, destroyers
ILEX, JANUS, _____ Italian torpedo boat PEGASO, escorting Italian steamers EZILDA CROCE
(1230grt) and PALLADE (1131grt) from No damage was done, and arrived at _____ In air operations from Aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE, Lt I. Easton and Naval
Airman J. A. Burkey in a Fulmar of 803 Squadron failed to return from a
reconnaissance flight over It was later found that they had been shot down and interned at Both were liberated at the end of 1942. _____ Convoy BN.12A departed _____ Destroyer STRONGHOLD began minelaying around Sunday, 5 January Light cruiser EMERALD was damaged while leaving dockyard at The damage was assessed to require four to seven days to repair. She
was able to depart _____ Convoy OB.270 departed _____ Convoy FN.376 departed Southend, escorted destroyer WOLFHOUND and
sloop EGRET, and arrived at Methil on the 7th. _____ Sloop The sloop was able to arrive at Sheerness on the 5th. The sloop was repairing to 3 October at _____ Destroyer CHURCHILL departed _____ Destroyer SOUTHDOWN departed _____ Destroyers BLENCATHRA and TYNEDALE departed _____ Destroyers COTTESMORE at 1030 and BELMONT at 1400 arrived at Scapa
Flow to work up. _____ Minelaying cruiser ADVENTURE laid mines in minefield ZME.11 in St
Georges Channel. _____ Lt Cdr W. E. Fletcher, commanding officer of barrage balloon vessel
trawler HASLEMERE, drowned attempting to rescued a downed pilot near East
Knock John Buoy in the English Channel. _____ Italian submarine CAPPELLINI sank British steamer SHAKESPEAR (5029grt)
from dispersed convoy OB.262 at 18-05N, 21-10W. Eighteen crew and two gunners were lost on the steamer. The survivors
were towed in their boats to within sight of land. _____ British steamer One crewman was killed. The steamer arrived at Gareloch on the 9th. _____ Dutch steamer ALIOTH (5483grt) was damaged by German bombing near Cork
Light Vessel. The steamer grounded in entrance to the fairway at Harwich. Steamer
ALIOTH was refloated and arrived at _____ German auxiliary patrol vessel Vp.306 (trawler FRITZ HINCKE, 391grt)
was sunk on a mine near Ymuiden. _____ Light cruiser The troopship's troops were disembarked at Aircraft carrier ARGUS, heavy cruiser BERWICK, destroyers FORESTER,
FURY, FOXHOUND, WISHART departed On the 6th, destroyers FORESTER, FURY, FOXHOUND arrived back at _____ Italian coastal steamer VULCANO (273grt) was sunk on a mine at Tobruk.
_____ American heavy cruiser Monday, 6 January Due to suspected raider D/F signals, battlecruiser REPULSE with
destroyers BEDOUIN, ELECTRA, ESCAPADE departed Destroyer MASHONA setting out on this sortie collided with destroyer
SIKH at buoy at The destroyer was unable to proceed and was taken to Destroyer SIKH was docked at Light cruisers |
