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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, 15 January The British Prime Minister visited battleship KING GEORGE V at The Prime Minister was brought from Scrabster on destroyer NAPIER,
arriving at 1240. Minesweepers SHARPSHOOTER and SPEEDY carried some staff
members to the battleship. After a luncheon, the battleship, carrying Lord Halifax, the new
British ambassador to the This operation was codenamed PARCEL. The Prime Minister returned to Scrabster on destroyer NAPIER,
departing at 1600/16th. _____ Destroyer COTTESMORE departed The destroyer rendezvoused with the steamer at 0100/16th. Destroyer COTTESMORE arrived back at _____ Destroyers LEGION and On the 16th, the destroyers transferred to armed merchant cruiser
SALOPIAN and escorted her from the patrol position to _____ Convoy FS.388 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer GARTH and sloop
FLEETWOOD, and arrived at Southend on the 17th. _____ Convoy FS.389 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers VIVIEN and WALLACE,
and arrived at Southend on the 17th. _____ Sludge vessel MANCUNIUM (1286grt) was sunk on a mine two miles
northeast of Bar Light Vessel, All crew saved. _____ British steamer The steamer was beached in _____ British steamer KARRI (354grt) was damaged by a mine two miles north
of Bar Light Vessel, One crewman was lost. The steamer was beached on the 16th at Tranmere. The steamer was taken
to _____ British trawler STALKER (197grt) was damaged by German bombing in
Hawke Roads, The trawler anchored in _____ Submarine TETRARCH departed _____ Norwegian oil refinery tanker PELAGOS (12,083grt) and whalers Norwegian whalers The rest of the tankers and whalers, less the three whalers which
escaped to the _____ From the 15th to the 17th of January, German tanker NORDMARK embarked
food stores from captured British refrigerator ship DUQUESNA (8651grt) at
sea. The German tanker then took the British ship in tow. _____ Italian submarine TORELLI sank Greek steamer Seventeen crew on steamer _____ Convoy HX.103 departed Convoy BHX.103 departed The battleship was detached on the 26th. On the 27th, destroyer
VANQUISHER and corvettes GENTIAN and VERBENA joined the convoy and were
detached later that day. On the 28th, destroyers VISCOUNT, _____ Submarine REGENT sank Italian steamer CITTA DI MESSINA (2472grt),
which departed Tripoli on the 11th for Benghazi, escorted by torpedo boat
CENTAURO, in 32-59N, 14-11E off Benghazi. Thursday, 16 January Aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS was damaged by German bombing in dock. Australian light cruiser PERTH, refitting at Malta, was damaged by a
near miss which caused underwater damage aft, including her propeller shafts.
Destroyer DECOY, which had completed repairs this day from her
November 1940 bombing, was struck by bombs. British steamer ESSEX (11,063grt) was damaged by German bombing at Steamer ESSEX was damaged further by German bombing on 9 March. Light cruiser _____ Battleship BARHAM, aircraft carrier EAGLE, light cruiser Aircraft carrier EAGLE was out of action, her speed reduced to sixteen
knots, due to problems with leaking stern glands. _____ Heavy cruiser _____ Submarine URSULA departed _____ Submarine PARTHIAN departed _____ Convoy US008/1 departed Colombo for Suez with Norwegian steamer
CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS (16,287grt), British steamers _____ Minelaying cruiser ADVENTURE, entering The damaged cruiser was assisted by tugs. The cruiser was under repair at _____ Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA departed The ship returned to _____ Convoy FN.385 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 18th. _____ Minesweeping trawler DESIREE (213grt, P/Skipper E. L. Fiske There were no casualties on the trawler. _____ U.106 sank British steamer ZEALANDIC (10,578grt) in 58-28N, 20-43W. The entire crew and all passengers were lost. Among the passengers was
Lt F. J. Wood en route to duty in CEREBUS II, Lt G. W. Holden, two Australian
ratings. Destroyer LEGION was detached from the escort of armed merchant
cruiser SALOPIAN to assist, but no contact was made. The destroyer arrived at _____ Italian submarine TORELLI sank Greek steamer NICOLAOS FILINIS
(3111grt) in 53N, 24W. Three crew were lost. _____ U.96 sank British steamer OROPESA (14,118grt) in 56-28N, 12W. Ninety nine crew, one gunner, six passengers were lost. Included in
the passengers lost were T/Sub Lt (E) S. Milliken _____ Greek steamer MEANDROS (4581grt) was badly damaged by German bombing
in 55-15N, 11-40W. All crew were rescued. The steamer was taken in tow, but lost touch with H. M. ship during
night. The wreck was subsequently sunk by a Royal Navy ship. _____ Dutch tanker ONOBA (6256grt) was sunk by German bombing in 55-55N,
12-24W. The entire crew was rescued. _____ British steamer GLADONIA (360grt) was damaged by German bombing off
Sunk Light Vessel. _____ British steamer ROMSEY (509grt) was damaged on a mine in 51-41N,
5-09W. The steamer was beached in _____ British steamer SKJOLD (1345grt) was damaged by German bombing north
of _____ British steamer LLANWERN (4966grt) was damaged by German bombing at
Avonmouth. _____ French light cruiser LAMOTTE PICQUET escorted by sloops AMIRAL CHARNER
and DUMONT D'URVILLE and old sloops TAHURE and Friday, 17 January Light cruiser NAIAD arrived at _____ Corvette RHODODENDRON was damaged by mining in The corvette was repaired in three months at _____ Convoy FN.386 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 19th. _____ Convoy FS.390 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer _____ U.96 sank British steamer ALMEDA All crew, gunners, passengers were lost. The passengers included 142
Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy officers and ratings and thirty five other ratings
en route to Piarco, Destroyer Destroyers BEAGLE and BRILLIANT, after escorting convoy WS.5B,
refuelled at Destroyers SOMALI, MATABELE, BEDOUIN, TARTAR, completing their escort
of battleship KING GEORGE V, were ordered to carry out an anti-submarine
search along the latitude of 58 N, north of Rockall. If no results were
obtained, the destroyers were then ordered to return to On the 18th, destroyer BEAGLE was detached to escort steamer JAMAICA
PLANTER clear of the danger zone to the Minches. The destroyer then arrived
at At 0700/20th, an unsuccessful attack was made on a submarine contact
in 59-40N, 17-52W by the SOMALI group. At 0802 on the 21st, destroyer TARTAR attacked a submarine contact. Destroyer BRILLIANT arrived at Destroyer SOMALI developed hull defects on the 22nd. This, all the
destroyers low on fuel, caused the 6th Destroyer Flotilla destroyers to
proceed to Loch Alsh, arriving at 1830/22nd. The destroyers were able to depart Loch Alsh at 1815/23rd to return to
_____ Destroyers LANCASTER departed Destroyer Destroyer LANCASTER, after being held up by bad weather, arrived at _____ Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA departed _____ British tanker ATHELDUKE (8966grt) was damaged on a mine in 51-21N,
3-20W. The tanker was beached in _____ Norwegian steamer THOROY (2671grt) was damaged by German bombing at
Avonmouth. _____ Panamanian tanker NORVIK (9555grt) was damaged by German bombing at _____ Norwegian steamer NOVASLI (3204grt) was damaged by German bombing in
the drydock at _____ Operation BLUNT was to have taken place. This was a raid on Kaso by
naval forces and Commando troops from The operation was postponed for twenty four hours. Heavy cruiser Minesweeper On the 18th, the operation was cancelled. Heavy cruiser _____ Destroyers GREYHOUND, JANUS, DEFENDER departed _____ Convoy AS.11 arrived at _____ Corvettes HYACINTH and SALVIA departed _____ Monitor TERROR and gunboat APHIS departed Light cruiser ORION, anti-aircraft cruiser BONAVENTURE, destroyers
JERVIS, NUBIAN, HERO departed Bad weather postponed the operation for twenty four hours. Monitor TERROR and gunboats GNAT and LADYBIRD bombarded positions at
Marsa el Shal near Tobruk during the night of 20/21 January. _____ Convoy HG.51 departed On the 30th, destroyer VOLUNTEER and corvettes BLUEBELL and CANDYTUFT
joined the escort. Sloops EGRET and _____ French submarine ATALANTE arrived at _____ Convoy BN.13 departed _____ A French force led by light cruiser LAMOTTE PICQUET attacked a force
of Siamese warships in Indo Chinese waters. Without loss to themselves, the French damaged Siamese coastal defense
ships Defense ship DONBURI was badly damaged and stranded. When the ship was
towed off, she sank. Defense ship Saturday, 18 January Destroyer CASTLETON, under repair at _____ Destroyers KELLY, KIPLING, _____ Convoy OB.275 departed _____ Convoy FS.391 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers VALOROUSD and
VORTIGERN, and arrived at Southend on the 20th. _____ Armed merchant cruiser ASTURIAS captured Vichy French steamer MENDOZA
(8199grt) sixty miles east of The steamer was taken to _____ British tanker BRITISH UNION (6987grt) was sunk by German raider
KORMORAN at 26-34N, 30-58W. Thirty six crew were taken prisoner. Eight crew were rescued and one
died. _____ Norwegian tanker SANDEFJORD (8038grt) was captured in the _____ Greek steamer CHELATROS (3489grt) was damaged by German bombing at _____ German steamer GODFRIED BUEREN (4664grt) was sunk on a mine in the _____ Light cruiser The DCT was found beyond repair. Light cruiser _____ Sub Lt A. S. Griffith was killed when his Fulmar of 806 Squadron from
aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS was shot down off A second Fulmar of the Squadron was also shot down on this date, but
the crew was rescued. _____ Italian steamer LELIO (1384grt) was sunk on a mine at _____ Convoy BS.12 D.departed Port Sudan, escorted by destroyer Sunday, 19 January Light cruiser GALATEA, repairing since 17 October at |
