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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
Saturday, 15 February Submarine CACHALOT laid 50 mines off _____ German heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER arrived in The heavy cruiser was sent to _____ Destroyers INTREPID, IMPULSIVE, ICARUS of the 20th
Destroyer Flotilla departed The destroyers arrived at 0900/18th. _____ The 1st Minelaying Squadron of minelayers SOUTHERN
PRINCE, The minelaying was escorted by light cruiser AURORA
and destroyers The minefield was laid on the 17th. The ships returned to harbour on the 18th; light
cruisers EDINBURGH and _____ Convoy WS.5B with nine troopships departed On the 21st, heavy cruiser HAWKINS joined the
convoy. Light cruiser EMERALD and four transports were detached to _____ U.123 sank British steamer ALNMOOR (6573grt), which
was straggling behind convoy SC.21, in 55N, 13W. _____ British steamer STOCK FORCE (983grt) was damaged by
German bombing near Outer Dowsing Float, _____ Convoy OG.53 departed Liverpool escorted by
destroyer LEAMINGTON, SABRE, SCIMITAR, sloops EGRET and FOLKESTONE, corvettes
ANEMONE, DELPHINIUM, DIANELLA, GLADIOLUS, VERBENA, anti-submarine trawlers
NORTHERN Light cruiser ARETHUSA departed Destroyer SCIMITAR was detached on the 19th,
destroyer SABRE on the 20th, destroyer Corvette VERBENA arrived at _____ German tanker NORDMARK replenished German armed
merchant cruiser PINGUIN at sea. _____ Destroyers HEREWARD and DECOY arrived at _____ Destroyer JERVIS, JAGUAR, JANUS, MOHAWK patrolled
in the Kithera Straits during the night of 15/16 February. _____ Monitor TERROR departed Derna for Sunday, 16 February Battlecruiser REPULSE, escorted by destroyers
INGLEFIELD, MAORI, ZULU, departed The destroyers arrived back at _____ Destroyers NAPIER and NIZAM arrived at _____ Destroyer ESCAPADE departed The destroyer arrived at 1000/17th. _____ Convoy OB.287 departed _____ Auxiliary minesweeper SOUTHSEA (825grt, T/A/Lt Cdr
C C M. Pawley _____ Minesweeping trawler ORMONDE (250grt, Skipper W T
Coull _____ British tanker EMPIRE OTTER (4670grt) was sunk on a
British mine 25 miles SW of Hartland Point. The crew were all rescued. _____ British trawler THOMAS DEAS (276grt) was sunk on a
mine four miles 273° from Spurn
Point. All crew were lost. _____ British trawler NANIWA (340grt) was sunk by German
bombing in 52-15N, 12-30W. Five crew were lost. _____ Italian steamer JUVENTUS (4957grt) was sunk by a
Swordfish of 830 Squadron from _____ British troopship _____ Armed boarding vessel FIONA departed Tobruk with
417 prisoners for Monday, 17 February Destroyer ATHERSTONE departed _____ Force H relieved the escorts of convoy WS.6 A. Battleship RODNEY proceeded to escort arriving
convoy HX.108. The convoy was met on the 18th. Destroyers ELECTRA, ECLIPSE, BRILLIANT, formerly
with the battleship, arrived at the Faroes on the 17th and then on to Light cruiser EDINBURGH departed Heavy cruiser Light cruiser PHOEBE remained with convoy WS.6 A as
through escort. _____ Convoy WS.6B departed with steamers YOMA (8139grt)
and ADDA (7816grt) from Destroyers HESPERUS and HURRICANE escorted the
convoy from the 17th to 20th. Destroyers PIORUN, Steamer Armed merchant cruiser Corvettes CLEMATIS and CALENDULA joined the convoy
on 3 March and escorted it to _____ Canadian troop convoy TC.9 of The armed merchant cruiser was detached on the
18th. Light cruiser EDINBURGH, which departed On the 25th, light cruiser AURORA and destroyers Light cruiser AURORA departed the Faroes and
destroyers INGLEFIELD, Light cruiser AURORA took the convoy into the _____ Light cruiser ARETHUSA arrived at _____ German tanker NORDMARK replenished German supply
ship ALSTERTOR (3063grt) at sea. Tanker NORDMARK slipped the tow of captured British
refrigerator ship DUQUESNA. _____ U.101 sank British steamer GAIRSOPPA (5237grt),
which was straggling behind convoy SL.64, three hundred miles southwest of There was only survivor from a crew of 83 crew and
two gunners. _____ U.103 sank Motor tanker EDWY R. BROWN (10,455grt),
which was straggling behind convoy HX.107, in 61N, 18W. _____ U.69 sank British steamer SIAMESE PRINCE (8456grt)
in 59-53N, 12-12W. All crew were lost. French destroyer MISTRAL was sent to search for
this steamer. Destroyers MAORI and ZULU departed Nothing was found of the steamer. _____ British steamer KYLE RONA (307grt) was lost to
unknown cause n the _____ British steamer REN REIN (156grt) was lost on a
mine three and a half miles east of Manacles off Two crew were lost. _____ Light cruisers ORION and Destroyers JERVIS, MOHAWK, JAGUAR proceeded to Heavy cruiser _____ Monitor TERROR arrived at _____ Submarine PARTHIAN departed _____ Convoy BN.16 departed Tuesday, 18 February Destroyers MATABELE, ESKIMO, TARTAR departed All four ships arrived back at _____ Light cruiser ARETHUSA departed _____ Convoy OB.288 departed _____ U.96 sank British steamer BLACK OSPREY (5589grt),
which was straggling behind convoy HX.107, in 61-30N, 18-10W. Twenty five crew were lost. French destroyer MISTRAL was sent to search for
this steamer. The search was unsuccessful and the destroyer refuelled at _____ U.103 sank British steamer SEAFORTH (5459grt) in
58-48N, 18-17W. All crew were lost on the steamer. Destroyers MAORI and ZULU at 2300/18th, the
destroyers were ordered to abandon the steamer SIAMESE PRINCE search and
search for this steamer. At 1040/20th, the destroyers were ordered to return
to _____ Dutch tanker TARIA (10,354grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 55-20N, 15-50W. The tanker arrived at Rothesay Bay 20 February
where the oil was transferred to another vessel. _____ Light cruiser GLASGOW departed _____ _____ Convoy SC.23 departed _____ Convoy SL.66 departed Light cruiser On 10 March, destroyers Wednesday, 19 February Light cruiser DIDO and destroyers NAPIER and
BEDOUIN departed Destroyer SOMALI, completing boiler cleaning at Rosyth,
joined the escort to _____ Destroyer _____ Destroyer ELECTRA departed _____ Destroyer BOADICEA arrived at _____ Destroyer QUANTOCK arrived at _____ Sloop PELICAN was damaged by mining twelve miles
off Harwich. The sloop was towed to Sheerness and was under
repair until _____ Heavy cruiser _____ Submarine TIGRIS sank French steamer JACOBSEN
(523grt) off Bayonne and French steamer GUILVINEC (3181grt) sixty miles west
of St Nazaire in 44-48N, 3-01W. _____ In late February to the first week of March,
Submarine depot ship Submarine French submarine SURCOUF arrived at Submarine THUNDERBO Lt departed Holy Loch on the
19th and arrived at Submarines PORPOISE, TAKU, TRIBUNE departed the Submarine TALISMAN departed Holy Loch on 6 March
and arrived at Depot ship FORTH departed Aultbrea on 2 March. Dutch submarine O.15, already at _____ Sub Lt N. D. M. Parsons and Petty Officer A. Ashby
were killed when their Skua of 801 Squadron, en rute from Donibristle to St
Merryn, crashed in fog at Elidir Fach, near Llanberis. _____ U.69 sank British steamer EMPIRE BLANDA (5693grt),
which was straggling behind convoy HX.107, in the _____ U.103 sank Norwegian steamer BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
(7034grt), which was straggling behind convoy HX.107, in 58-50N, 16-30W. The crew was rescued by Egyptian steamer _____ The German 1st _____ British steamer GRACIA (5642grt) and British tanker
HOUSANTONIC (5559grt) were sunk by German bombers in 59-39N, 7-24W from
convoy OB.287. The entire crew was rescued from GRACIA. Three crew
from tanker HOUSANTONIC were lost. _____ Dutch steamer KARANAN (395grt) was damaged by
German bombing six miles southwest of Lizard. One crewman and two gunners were lost. The steamer was towed to _____ British steamer FULHAM II (1596grt) was damaged by
a mine off Tyne Piers. One crewman was lost. The steamer went ashore at Frenchman's Point. The
steamer was later refloated and proceeded to Jarrow in tow. _____ British tanker ATHELSULTAN (8882grt) was damaged by
German bombing 2¼ miles 120° from The steamer anchored in Methil Roads later that
day. _____ During the night of 19/20 February, British tug
QUEENFORTH (204grt) was damaged by German bombing in King's Dock at The tug was raised in 1942. _____ For Operation MC.8 the following British forces
were deployed. Aircraft carrier EAGLE with a destroyer screen
departed Force A was composed of battleships BARHAM and
VALIANT and destroyers JERVIS, JANUS, JAGUAR, ILEX, HEREWARD, HERO, HASTY,
DAINTY, DECOY, departing Force B was light cruisers ORION, At Cruiser COVENTRY, destroyer HAVOCK, storeship
BRECONSHIRE arrived at Alexandria at 0745/23rd. Steamer CLAN MACAULEY and
destroyer HOTSPUR arrived at Port Said at 1630; destroyer HOTSPUR then
proceeding to Alexandria. Force B arrived at Destroyers MOHAWK and NUBIAN were detached from
ForceB during the night of 21/22 February and joined Force A at daylight on
the 22nd. On their arrival, destroyers DECOY and HEREWARD were detached to Light cruiser On the 22nd, destroyers DAINTY and HASTY were
relieved by destroyers STUART and VAMPIRE. The earlier destroyers proceeded to
duties off Tobruk. An air strike by aircraft carrier EAGLE during the
night of 22/23 February on ForceB arrived at _____ Australian destroyer STUART was damaged by the near
miss of a German bomb off The destroyer spent no time out of service. _____ Convoy AC.1 left Both corvettes had been damaged by the explosion of
mines in their sweeps. The convoy would be met later in the day by destroyers
STUART and VOYAGER, and arrived at Tobruk on the 20th. Monitor TERROR remained at _____ Submarine UPHOLDER made an unsuccessful attack on
an Italian steamer south east of _____ Light cruiser PHOEBE was detached from convoy WS.6A
to refuel at The light cruiser departed that same day and
rejoined the convoy. _____ Convoy HX.110 departed Thursday, 20 February Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH departed Rosyth at 1500,
escorted by light cruiser DIDO and destroyers SOMALI, BEDOUIN, NAPIER. The
battleship arrived at _____ Convoy OB.289 departed _____ Destroyer Both ships arrived at Lerwick on the 21st. At 2145,
both ships departed Lerwick for Following this duty, destroyer _____ Destroyers INTREPID, IMPULSIVE, ICARUS, escorted by
destroyers KELLY, _____ P/T/A/Sub Lt (A) J W Ridler RNVR and Naval Airman E
W E Burton were killed when their Shark aircraft of 755 Squadron crashed near
_____ A/Sub Lt (A) T.V. Worrall of 809 Squadron was
killed when his Fulmar crashed on a practice flight northeast of Lee. _____ British steamer _____ British steamer RIGMOR (1278grt) was sunk by German
bombing in 49-54N, 4-51W. The entire crew was rescued. _____ Minesweeper BRAMBLE was bombed off Harwich. She was
repaired in the _____ Minesweeping trawler MARJORY M HASTIE (244grt, T/Lt
R T. Gilling The trawler was refloated on 14 March and was
brought into the _____ British tanker D. L. HARPER (12,223grt) was damaged
by German bombing in 58-50N, 12-12W. The tanker was able to continue her voyage and
arrived at _____ British trawler The trawler was towed back to port with engines
disabled. _____ British tanker BRITISH SPLENDOR (7138grt) was
damaged by German bombing one and a quarter miles south of Black Head, near
Lizard. _____ British steamer ST ROSARIO (4312grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 58-50N, 11-40W. The steamer was bombed again on the 22nd in 59-40N,
12-40W. The steamer returned to _____ British steamer ROSENBORG (1997grt) was damaged by German
bombing in 58-49N, 11-40W. The steamer returned to the _____ Convoy HG.54 departed Submarine TUNA departed Destroyer FEARLESS was detached on the 23rd for
refuelling and rejoined on the 25th with destroyer FURY. Both destroyers and
the corvettes were detached that night. Six steamers from convoy On 6 March, destroyers BROKE, VANITY, WOLSEY,
SALADIN and corvette ABELIA joined the convoy. The submarine arrived at Holy Loch on 9 March, and
arrived at _____
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