Background
Events - January-May 1941
Battle of
Cape Matapan, Battles for Greece & Crete,
Capture of U.110, Enigma codes, Loss of 'Hood',
sinking of 'Bismarck'
1941
Saturday,
15 March
Minesweeper BRITOMART (Lt
Cdr J. M. S. Cox DSC) was
damaged by German bombing in Rye Harbour. Cox and Lt P A Block
RNR were killed on board. She was escorted to
Portsmouth by minesweeper SHARPSHOOTER and repaired
there
from 16 March to 29 May.
_____
Monitor MARSHALL SOULT was
damaged by German
bombing while berthed in Portsmouth
Harbour, but remained in service.
_____
Convoy HX.112 was escorted
by destroyers WALKER,
VANOC, VOLUNTEER, SARDONYX, and SCIMITAR and corvettes
BLUEBELL and
HYDRANGEA.
_____
German battlecruisers
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU
sank British ships from dispersed convoy OB.294, which
had departed Liverpool on the 5th and dispersed on the
9th.
Tanker BRITISH STRENGTH
(7139grt) was sunk in 42N,
43W by SCHARNHORST.
Two crew were killed on
the tanker. The rest were
taken prisoner.
Tanker SIMNIA (6197grt) in
40-28N, 43-30W was sunk
by GNEISENAU.
Three crew were killed.
The rest were taken
prisoner.
Tanker SAN CASIMIRO
(8046grt) in 39-58N, 43-19W was captured
by GNEISENAU and scuttled on the 20th at position
45-12N, 19-42W.
The Master and the gunners
were taken prisoner. The
rest of the crew remained on the tanker. On 20 March,
when sighted by British
aircraft and battlecruiser RENOWN, the tanker was
scuttled by the German
prize crew. in 45-12N, 19-42W.
Steamer ROYAL CROWN
(4388grt) in 42N, 43W by
GNEISENAU. The entire crew were rescued.
Steamer MYSON (4564grt) in
42N, 43W by GNEISENAU.
The entire crew were rescued.
Steamer RIO DORADO
(4507grt) in 42N, 43W by GNEISENAU. The entire
crew was lost.
Tanker ATHELFOAM (6554grt)
in 42-00N, 43-25W by
SCHARNHORST. One crewman and one gunner were lost, the
rest taken prisoner.
Norwegian tanker POLYKARP
(6405grt) was captured by
GNEISENAU in 45-40N, 23-26W on the 15th, and reached the
German-occupied
Gironde on the 24th.
Norwegian tanker BIANCA
(5688grt) was captured by
GNEISENAU on the 15th.
The entire crew was
rescued. On 20 March, the
tanker was intercepted by battlecruiser RENOWN in
44-16N, 19-21W. The tanker
was scuttled by the German prise crew.
The attacks continued on
the 16th on further ships
of the dispersed convoy OB.294 and two ships of
dispersed convoy OB.292 which
had departed Liverpool on 27 February and dispersed 6
March.
Steamer SARDINIAN PRINCE
(3491grt) in 44N, 43W by
SCHARNHORST.
The entire crew were taken
prisoner.
Dutch steamer MANGKAI
(8298grt) in 44N, 43W by
SCHARNHORST. Some of the crew were taken prisoner.
Steamer SILVERFIR
(4347grt) in 42N, 43W by
SCHARNHORST. One crewman was lost. Rest were taken
prisoner of war.
Steamer EMPIRE INDUSTRY
(3721grt) of OB.272 in 42N,
43W by GNEISENAU. The entire crew as taken prisoner.
Norwegian steamer GRANLI
(1577grt) of OB.292 was
sunk by GNEISENAU 300 miles east of Newfoundland. The
entire crew was rescued.
Steamer DEMETERTON
(5251grt) in 45-58N, 44-00W by
SCHARNHORST. The entire crew was taken
prisoner.
Independent steamer
CHILEAN REEFER (1739grt)
46-13N, 44-45W by GNEISENAU. Seven
crew and two gunners were lost from the steamer. Three
crew were taken
prisoner. The rest were rescued by British ships.
Steamer CHILEAN REEFER was
able to send off an SOS which was picked up by
Battleship RODNEY.
Battleship RODNEY turned convoy HX.114 over to
battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN,
which was in the area in transit, and made for the
position of the SOS.
Submarine THUNDERBOLT,
which departed Halifax on the 10th, and armed merchant
cruiser LACONIA of convoy HX.115 and SC.25 were sent to
investigate.
Submarine
SEVERN, which
departed Halifax on the 11th for Freetown, was also in
the area.
After unsuccessful
searching, submarine SEVERN proceeded on her voyage to
Freetown.
Battleship RODNEY,
escorting convoy HX.114, sighted
battleship GNEISENAU which made off at high speed and no
action ensued.
Battleship NELSON, light
cruiser NIGERIA, and destroyers BOADICEA, ESCAPADE, and
ACTIVE
were dispatched to the south of Iceland to attempt to
intercept the German battlecruisers
as they attempted to return home.
On 16 March, destroyer
BOADICEA lost a rating
overboard.
Light cruiser NIGERIA
located armed merchant cruiser ALAUNIA, en route
to Reykjavik on the 16th.
Destroyers BOADICEA,
ESCAPADE, and ACTIVE were sent
to Reykjavik at 0900/17th to refuel after destroyers
COSSACK,
MAORI, and ZULU rejoined the NELSON group. Destroyer
BOADICEA, ESCAPADE, and
ACTIVE rejoined at 1447 on the 18th.
The NELSON group were
joined on the 21st by
battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH, heavy cruiser LONDON, and
destroyers INGLEFIELD, ELECTRA, ARROW, ECHO, ECLIPSE,
and ESKIMO which departed Scapa Flow at 0515/19th.
Battlecruiser HOOD departed Rosyth
on the 18th and joined this force off Dunnett Head at
0630.
Heavy cruiser LONDON was
detached after radio direction finding tests.
Light cruisers NIGERIA of
the 10th and EDINBURGH of the 18th Cruiser Squadrons
operated to the
south of the Battleships.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and destroyers SOMALI,
BEDOUIN, MATABELE, and MASHONA departed Scapa Flow for
Greenock at
1100/20th for escort duty with convoy WS.7.
Destroyer ARROW was
detached to Londonderry to refuel on the 21st.
Submarine L 27 departed
Portsmouth to attempt to intercept the German ships.
Dutch
submarine O.24 and Submarine OBERON departed Rothesay to
patrol off Wolf
Rock.
Destroyers COSSACK, MAORI,
and ZULU were detached
from the Commander in Chief's force in 59W, 20W to
refuel in Reykjavik.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and destroyers SOMALI,
BEDOUIN, MATABELE, and MASHONA arrived in the Clyde at 0751 on the 22nd.
Light cruiser NIGERIA
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1938 on the 22nd.
Battleship NELSON and
destroyers ACTIVE, BOADICEA,
and ESCAPADE arrived at Scapa
Flow at 0031 on the 23rd.
Battlecruiser HOOD,
battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH, and
destroyers INGLEFIELD, ELECTRA, ESKIMO, and ECHO arrived
at Scapa Flow at 0658 on the 23rd.
On 19 March, ocean
boarding vessels HILARY and
CORINTHIAN on Western Patrol were ordered to attempt to
intercept the
captured whale factory ships as they proceeded to French
ports.
_____
Tug WARRIOR (249grt),
towing Norwegian tanker
FERNCOURT (9918grt), was damaged on a mine at the
entrance to River Cart in
the Clyde.
The tug beached at
Renfrew. The was later refloated
and taken to Glasgow for repair.
_____
Belgian steamer EMINENT
(500grt) was sunk on a mine
in 52-32N, 5-37W.
The entire crew was
rescued.
_____
Convoy GA.5 (there was no
GA.3 or GA.4) of five
British and three Greek ships departed Pireaus for
Alexandria and Port Said escorted by destroyers DECOY
and WRYNECK.
Steamer CINGALESE PRINCE
departed this convoy on
the 16th and joined anti-submarine whaler SOUTHERN MAID
for Tobruk to embark
motor transport. The convoy arrived at Alexandria on the
17th.
_____
British Force A arrived at
Suda
Bay
to refuel at dawn on the 15th.
Destroyers MOHAWK and
NUBIAN rejoined Force A.
Force A departed Suda
Bay
later that day.
During the night of 15/16
March, Force A covered
convoys GA.5, ASN 20, and AS.19 passing through Kithera
Straits.
_____
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
arrived at Simonstown.
_____
Tug CHABOOL, manned by Lt
J. L. Mumford RNR and crewed by seven ratings from light
cruiser GLASGOW, departed Aden for Berbera. She was
never found and all hands
lost.
_____
Convoy ZK.1 departed
Brisbane with two coastal steamers escorted by armed
merchant cruiser MANOORA. The convoy arrived at Port
Moresby and Rabaul.
In April and July to
September, three more convoys
were run.
Sunday,
16 March
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
arrived at Scapa Flow after convoy escort duties with
convoy HX.112.
_____
Destroyer ANTHONY while
under repair at Glasgow was damaged by the near miss of
a German bomb.
The destroyer spent no
further time out of service.
_____
Convoy OB.298 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers CHELSEA, MANSFILED,
VANITY, VERITY, VETERAN, and WOLSEY, and corvette
ARBUTUS. Destroyer VANITY
was detached on the 28th. On 18 March, destroyers
HAVELOCK, HESPERUS, and HURRICANE joined. The escort was
detached on the 20th when the convoy was dispersed.
_____
Anti-submarine trawler
LADY LILIAN (581grt, T/Lt W.
K. Rous RNVR) was sunk by German bombing 150 miles west
by south of Bloody
Foreland.
_____
Anti-submarine trawler
ANGLE (531grt, P/T/Lt R.
Wolfenden RNR) was damaged by German bombing 150 miles
west by
south of Bloody Foreland.
The trawler arrived
Belfast in tow on the 22nd.
_____
Corvette AUBRETIA, en
route from Greenock to Londonderry, was damaged in
a collision with British trawler
GOOSANDER (238grt).
The corvette was repaired
at Dundee from 21 March and completing on 7 April.
_____
U.110, in three attacks on
convoy HX.112, damaged
British tanker ERODONA (6207grt) in 61-20N, 17W.
Thirty two crew and four
gunners were lost.
The ship was abandoned. It
was towed to Edisvik
near Reykjavik on the 30th. The after end of the tanker
was lost.
The ship left Reykjavik in tow in 1942 for Blyth.
_____
U.106 sank Dutch steamer
ALMKERK (6810grt) at
13-40N, 20-30W.
The crew was rescued.
_____
U.99 attacked convoy
HX.112, escorted by destroyers
WALKER, VANOC, VOLUNTEER, SARDONYX, and SCIMITAR, and
corvettes BLUEBELL and
HYDRANGEA.
Norwegian tankers FERM
(6593grt) and BEDUIN
(8136grt) were sunk by 60-42N, 13-10W.
The entire crew from
tanker FERM were rescued by
corvette BLUEBELL.
Four crew from tanker
BEDUIN was lost.
On 19 March, the forward
position of the tanker was
sunk by gunfire from a trawler in 61-02N, 11-53W. The
stern portion was sunk
on the 20th in 61-07N, 10-50W.
British tanker FRANCHE
COMTE (9314grt) was damaged
in 61-15N, 12-30W. Corvette BLUEBELL stood by the
damaged tanker.
The tanker arrived at
Rothesay
Bay
on the 21st.
British tanker VENETIA (5728grt) was sunk in 61-00N, 12-36W.
The entire crew of tanker
VENETIA were rescued by corvette BLUEBELL.
Canadian steamer J. B.
WHITE (7375grt) was sunk in
60-57N, 12-27W.
One crewman was lost and
one crewman was missing on
the Canadian steamer.
Submarine U.99 sank
Swedish steamer KORSHAMN
(6673grt) from convoy HX.112 on the 17th in 61-09N,
12-20W.
Twenty six crew were lost
on the Swedish steamer.
_____
Norwegian steamer ELNA E.
(1174grt) was sunk on a
mine eighteen miles southwest of Lundy
Island.
One crewman was lost on
the steamer.
_____
Submarine PARTHIAN
torpedoed Italian steamer
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (3141grt) near Palmi in 35-57N,
15-40E.
The submarine claimed
hitting a second ship, but
did not.
_____
Force A was unsuccessfully
attacked by two Italian
torpedo planes at dusk west of Elaphonisos, thirty miles
west of Crete.
The Italian bombers
reported hitting two large
units, probably battleships.
No ship was hit.
_____
Anti-aircraft cruiser
BONAVENTURE was detached from
the 3rd Cruiser Squadron to arrive at Alexandria at
0600/18th.
_____
Aircraft carrier
FORMIDABLE departed Alexandria for exercises on 16 and
17 March escorted by destroyers
JUNO, JAGUAR, and HASTY.
Destroyer ILEX joined the
aircraft carrier from
Force A.
The British ships returned
to Alexandria on the 17th.
_____
Australian destroyer
VOYAGER departed Alexandria escorting British troopship
ULSTER PRINCE (3791grt) and armed boarding vessel
ROSAURA
to Tobruk.
_____
In air operations in the
Atlantic, Sub Lt (A) D. M. Ferguson RNVR, and Sub Lt (A) J. K. M. Watt of 818
Squadron from ARK ROYAL were lost when their Swordfish
failed to return from
patrol.
_____
Light cruisers GLASGOW and
CALEDON, destroyers KANDAHAR and KINGSTON, armed
boarding vessels CHAKDINA and CHANTALA,
Indian patrol boats NETRAVATI and PARVATI, motor launch
ML.109, and two
transports landed troops brought from Aden at Berbera in
Operation APPEARANCE.
_____
Corvette ASPHODEL arrived
at Gibraltar with two steamers formerly of convoy SL.67.
_____
Corvette DELPHINIUM
departed Gibraltar for Freetown en route to Simonstown
and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Monday,
17 March
Minelayers SOUTHERN
PRINCE, MENESTHEUS, AGAMEMNON,
and PORT QUEBEC of the 1st Minelaying Squadron, escorted
by
destroyers ST MARYS, LANCASTER, CASTLETON, and CHARLESTOWN departed Loch Alsh to lay minefield SN.69.
Light cruisers AURORA and
GALATEA departed Scapa Flow on the 17th to cover.
Battleship NELSON, light
cruiser NIGERIA, and destroyers BOADICEA, ACTIVE,
ESCAPADE,
COSSACK, ZULU, and MAORI operating south of Iceland
supported the operation.
The mines were laid on the
19th.
The ships arrived back on
the 20th.
_____
Destroyers NESTOR,
WHADDON, and ERIDGE departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth at
2100 to escort battlecruiser HOOD to
Scapa Flow.
The four ships departed
Rosyth at 1700/18th for Pentland Firth, where the
battlecruiser joined the battle fleet
at sea and the destroyers were detached to Scapa Flow,
arriving on the 19th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Scapa Flow at 1100 to meet convoy WN.99 in the
Pentland Firth providing cover until convoy EN.68 A was
met.
At 0500/18th, the ship
transferred to convoy EN.68
A and remained with it until its arrival in Pentland
Firth.
Ship CURACOA arrived at
Scapa Flow 1745/18th.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOTBANK,
escorted by sloop KITTIWAKE
and French torpedo boat LA MELPOMENE, laid minefield
BS.51 off the East coast
of England.
_____
Anti-submarine yacht
MOLLUSC (597grt, T/Lt N P
Doyle RNR) was sunk by German bombing 2½ miles 115° from
Blyth Port War Signal Station. There
were no casualties.
_____
Convoy OG.56 departed
Liverpool escorted by sloop ENCHANTRESS, corvettes ERICA
and
SNAPDRAGON, and anti-submarine trawler ST KENAN.
On 18 March, the convoy
was joined by destroyers
BROKE, DOUGLAS, SALADIN, SALISBURY, and VIVIEN and corvette CLARKIA.
Destroyers BROKE, DOUGLAS, SALADIN, SALISBURY, and
VIVIEN were detached on the 21st. on the
22nd, corvette CLARKIA and trawler ST KENAN were
detached.
Submarine
OLYMPUS joined the
convoy on the 26th. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on 2
April, escorted by sloop ENCHANTRESS,
corvettes ERICA and SNAPDRAGON, and submarine OLYMPUS.
_____
U.99 was sunk by HX.112
escort Destroyer WALKER
northwest of the Hebrides in 61-16N, 12-56W.
The commanding officer,
two other officer, and
thirty seven ratings were picked up by destroyer WALKER.
One officer and two
ratings from the submarine drowned.
_____
U.100 was sunk by HX.112
escort Destroyer VANOC
northwest of the Hebrides in 61N, 12W.
One officer and five
ratings were rescued. Thirty
eight crew, including Kptlt. Joachim Schepke, were lost
in the submarine.
_____
During the night of 17/18
March, destroyer
CATTISTOCK in convoy FN.33 off Lowestoft
unsuccessfully attacked German motor torpedo boats.
Destroyers VESPER and
COTTESMORE were also in the
escort.
_____
U.106 made attacks on
convoy SL.68.
British steamer ANDALUSIAN
(3082grt) was sunk at
14-33N, 21-06W.
The entire crew of the
steamer were rescued.
Dutch steamer TAPANOELI
(7031grt) was sunk at
15-56N, 20-49W.
The entire crew was
rescued.
The submarine attacked two
other steamers in the
convoy without success.
_____
British steamer CORMEAD
(2848grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 52-20N, 2-00E.
_____
British pilot cutter
PIONEER (281grt) was damaged
by German bombing at B 3 Buoy, Thames Estuary.
_____
Norwegian steamer EINAR
JARL (1858grt) was sunk on
a mine in 56-17N, 2-18W.
One crewman was lost on
the steamer.
_____
Light cruisers PERTH,
AJAX, and ORION departed Alexandria carrying troops as
convoy AG.6 A to Piraeus.
The cruisers arrived at
Piraeus on the 18th.
_____
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
was recalled from the Aegean to Alexandria, arriving on the
18th.
_____
Destroyer GRIFFIN departed
Alexandria for Haifa for escort duty in convoy MW.6.
_____
Convoy BN.20 departed
Aden, escorted by sloop AUCKLAND. Destroyer KINGSTON
joined on the 18th. Both escorts were detached on
the 21st. The convoy arrived at Suez on the 25th.
_____
Convoy BM.5 departed
Bombay with steamers NEURALIA (9182grt) and DEVONSHIRE
(11,275grt), escorted by armed merchant cruiser
HECTOR from 17 to 20 March. Light cruiser EMERALD joined
on 20 march and was
detached on the 23rd. Light cruiser DURBAN joined on the
22nd.
Steamers JALAKRISHNA
(4991grt) and JAPAPADMA (3035
(tons) departed Bombay on the 16th and proceeded
independently with
lorries, petrol, ordnance, and other stores for the
personnel in convoy BM.5.
The convoy arrived at Singapore on the 25th.
_____
Convoy HX.115 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser CALIFORNIA,
destroyer ST CROIX, and corvette ORILLIA.
The destroyer and the corvette were detached the next
day. Battleship KING
GEORGE V and submarine THUNDERBOLt joined the escort on
the 20th and were
detached on the 28th. The armed merchant cruiser was
detached on the 28th.
Destroyers READING, SABRE, and VENOMOUS, sloop
WELLINGTON, and corvettes ALISMA, DIANELLA, and KINGCUP
joined on the 29th. The escort was detached when the
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 3 April.
_____
American Task Group 9.2
with light cruisers BROOKLYN and SAVANNAH and destroyers
CASE, CUMMINGS, SHAW, and TUCKER
arrived at Auckland for a three day goodwill visit.
The American ships sailed
on the 20th and arrived
at Tahiti on the 25th. They departed Tahition the 27th
and
returned to Pearl Harbour.
Tuesday,
18 March
German battlecruisers
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU
refueled at sea three hundred miles northwest of the
Azores from tankers ERMLAND and UCKERMARK.
Some four hundred
prisoners were transferred to the
supply ships.
_____
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed
Scapa Flow for Reykjavik.
The cruiser refueled in
Iceland and patrolled in the Denmark Strait with two
armed merchant cruisers.
The cruiser returned to
refuel at Reykjavik on 27 to 29 March.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed Scapa Flow on escort duties.
The cruiser arrived back
at 1610/22nd.
_____
Battlecruiser HOOD,
refitting at Rosyth since 13
January, departed Rosyth for Scapa
Flow.
_____
U.105 sank British steamer
MEDJERDA (4380grt) from
convoy SL.68 at 17N, 21W.
_____
The German 1st Motor
Torpedo Boat Flotilla with
S.26, S.29, S.39, S.55, S.101, and S.102 sortie against
British shipping on
the British east coast.
British steamer DAPHNE II
(1970grt) was badly
damaged by S.102 in 59 Buoy, off the Humber.
The ship was taken in tow
and beached south of
Bull. The ship broke in two and sank.
_____
Italian submarine EMO
attacked British steamer CLAN
MACIVER (4500grt) in 58N, 24W.
_____
German steamer BREMEN (51,
731grt) was lost due to an explosion at Bremen.
_____
German steamer WIDAR
(5972grt) was sunk by an
aerial torpedo off Borkum.
_____
Battleships BARHAM and
VALIANT and destroyers
JERVIS, JANUS, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, GREYHOUND, and HAVOCK
arrived at Alexandria at 0530.
Light cruisers BONAVENTURE
and GLOUCESTER arrived soon afterwards.
_____
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
embarked General Blamey, Commanding the Australian
Corps, and 1087 troops.
The cruiser departed
Alexandria, escorted by destroyer HASTY, for Piraeus.
_____
Convoy AG.7 of Armed
boarding vessels CHAKLA and
FIONA, supply ship BRECONSHIRE, three Greek, and one
other ship departed Alexandria, escorted by light
cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers VOYAGER and WRYNECK.
Troopship ULSTER PRINCE
embarked Army personnel at Tobruk and
joined the convoy on the 19th. The convoy arrived at
Piraeus late on the 20th.
_____
Convoy AN.21 of seven
British, four Greek, and two
other ships departed Alexandria escorted by destroyers DECOY and WATERHEN and corvette HYACINTH.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY joined the convoy from Suda Bay.
On the 21st, British
tanker MARIE MAERSK (8271grt),
formerly of AG.5 and joined from Suda
Bay,
was damaged by German bombing off Crete.
Six crew were killed,
eight missing, and four were
taken prisoner of war.
Australian destroyer
WATERHEN put a party aboard
the ship and got the fire under control.
The tanker was brought
into Suda
Bay
under her own power by a Royal Navy navigating party,
escorted by
anti-submarine trawler AMBER. The convoy arrived at
Piraeus on the 22nd.
_____
Convoy AS.20 of one
British, one Greek, and four
other ships departed Piraeus
escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA, destroyer
VENDETTA, sloop GRIMSBY, and one Greek destroyer.
Destroyer VENDETTA
attacked a submarine contact at
1715/18th in 37-29N, 24-05E. The convoy arrived at
Alexandria on the 21st and Port Said on the 22nd.
_____
Armed boarding vessel
ROSAURA (1552grt) was sunk on
a mine 146° from Mersa Tobruk. Fourteen crew, including
P/T/Surgeon Lt J. F.
Roberts RNVR, five military guards and 59 prisoners of
war were lost.
_____
Swordfish of 830 Squadron
attacked Tripoli
Harbour.
A Swordfish was shot down
and its crew of A/Sub Lt
(A) D. Grant and Leading Airman W. E. J. Thomson were
made prisoners of war.
They were repatriated in November 1942.
_____
Three Albacore aircraft
from 826 Squadron from
aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE operating ashore torpedoed
Italian steamer LABOR
(510grt) and destroyed two lighters at Buerat el Hsur.
The steamer was able
to arrive at Tripoli on the 19th.
One Albacore and its crew
of Sub Lt J. J. C. Coe
and A/Sub Lt C. P. Bailey were lost.
_____
Convoy BS.20 departed
Suez, escorted by sloop CLIVE. The sloop was detached
the next day. On the 21st, sloop AUCKLAND joined, on the
22nd, light cruiser CAPETOWN; both
were detached on the 25th when sloop PARRAMATTA joined.
The convoy was dispersed on the 26th.
_____
Italian torpedo boat
ALDEBARAN was sunk by British
bombing at Valona.
_____
Light cruiser DAUNTLESS
arrived at Singapore.
_____
Light cruiser DIOMEDE
damaged her port propeller
while passing through the Panama
Canal.
Wednesday,
19 March
Destroyer LIDDESDALE
departed Scapa Flow at 1500 to meet British steamer
AMSTERDAM off Aberdeen at 2230 and escort her to
Lerwick.
The ships departed Lerwick
at 2000/20th. The
destroyer lost touch with the steamer in bad weather
during the night and
returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at 0830/21st.
_____
Light cruiser KENYA,
relieved Force H escorting convoy SL.67.
The light cruiser arrived
at Greenock on the 31st.
_____
Convoy OB.299 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyer MONTGOMERY. On 20
March,
destroyers CHESTERFIELD, VANITY, and WANDERER, sloop
WESTON, and corvettes
NASTURTIUM, PERIWINKLE, and PRIMROSE joined. The escort
was detached when the
convoy dispersed on the 24th.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) W.
Darbyshire RNVR, and Leading
Airman J. W. J. Howes were killed when their Roc of 760
Squadron crashed near
North Cadbury in air firing practice exercises.
_____
British steamer BENVORLICH
(5193grt) was sunk by
German bombing from convoy OB.298 in 54-48N, 13-10W.
Four crew and one gunner
was lost on the steamer.
The survivors were rescued by convoy rescue ship
ZAMALEK.
_____
U.106 made attacks on
convoy SL.68.
Dutch steamer MANDALIKA
(7750grt) was sunk at
18-16N, 21-26W.
Three crew were killed on
the steamer.
The submarine attacked
another steamer on the 19th
without success.
Battleship MALAYA,
escorting convoy SL.68 with
armed merchant cruiser CANTON and corvettes CALENDULA,
MARGUERITE, and
CROCUS, was torpedoed in the bows by U.106 at 2323 on
the 20th at 20-02N,
25-50W.
The submarine thought she
had torpedoed a merchant
ship.
Destroyers FORESIGHT and
FORTUNE were ordered to
join the damaged battleship. Destroyers FEARLESS and
WRESTLER of the group
intending to join ARK ROYAL and RENOWN were ordered to
return to Gibraltar. On the 21st, destroyers FEARLESS
and FORTUNE
departed Gibraltar to join, but soon they and destroyers
FORESIGHT
and FORTUNE were ordered to return to Gibraltar.
Battleship MALAYA was escorted towards Trinidad
by corvette CROCUS, which was detached on the
23rd. The battleship arrived at Trinidad on the
29th.
The battleship arrived on
6 April in New York for repairs.
British steamer CLAN
MACNAB (6076grt) was lost in
convoy SL.68 when she collided with Norwegian motor
tanker STRIX (Correction thanks to John Staaland)
_____
British steamer NAILSEA
MEADOW (4962grt) was
damaged by German bombing at Victoria Dock, London.
Two crew were lost.
The ship was struck by a
bomb in the afterpeak
tank.
_____
British steamer TOTTENHAM
(4762grt) was damaged on
a mine in the Southend Anchorage.
The ship was damaged by a
near mine explosion. The
ship was towed to Gravesend on the 20th.
_____
Norwegian steamer LEO
(1367grt) was sunk by German
bombing 75 miles NW of the Butt of Lewis. The entire
crew was rescued by
destroyer ECHO.
_____
Dutch tanker MAMURA
(8245grt) was damaged by German
bombing in 54-42N, 13-20W.
The tanker was able to
continue to Halifax.
_____
British steamer JUNO
(642grt) was damaged by German air attack in
Surrey Commercial Dock.
The steamer was considered
a constructive total
loss.
_____
During the night of 19/20
March, British steamers
TELESFORA DE LARRINGA (5780grt) and LINDENHALL (5248grt)
were damaged in
Victoria Dock, London.
One crewman was killed on
the TELESFORA DE
LARRINGA.
Steamer LINDENHALL caught
fire and sank. She was
drydocked at Millwall on 23 April.
_____
German tanker NORDMARK
replenished German raider
KORMORAN at 2-52N, 30-58W.
_____
British operation MC.9
began on the 19th.
British steamers CITY OF
MANCHESTER (8917grt), CLAN FERGUSON (7347grt),
andPERTHSHIRE (10,496grt) departed Haifa escorted by
destroyers HOTSPUR and
GRIFFIN and steamer CITY OF LINCOLN (8039grt) departed
Alexandria escorted
by destroyer GREYHOUND as convoy MW.6. The convoy was
designated Force C.
T/A/Sub Lt (A) R. C. Kay
and Leading Airman D. R.
Stockman were killed when their Fulmar of 805 Squadron
from Maleme was shot
down over Suda Bay
on the 19th.
On 20 March, battleships
WARSPITE, BARHAM, and
VALIANT, aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE, and destroyers
JERVIS, JANUS, JUNO, JAGUAR, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, ILEX, HERO,
and HAVOCK
departed Alexandria as Force A.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
BONAVENTURE joined the convoy
escort on the 20th.
Anti-aircraft cruisers
COVENTRY, CALCUTTA, and CARLISLE and
destroyer HAVOCK joined Force C on the 21st. The convoy
was covered by heavy
cruiser YORK, light cruisers ORION, PERTH, GLOUCESTER,
and AJAX and destroyers STUART, HEREWARD, and HASTY,
HEREWARD after refueling at Suda Bay.
This group, designated Force B, rendezvoused with Force
A at 1600/21st.
The destroyers of Force B
joined Force A.
Exercising following her
refitting, destroyer
DEFENDER was damaged by splinters from a near miss of an
air bomb off Dellimiara Point, Malta, on the 21st.
Force B rejoined Force A
at 0740/22nd.
The fleet parted company
with the convoy at
2000/22nd to stay out of the range of German bombers.
A Fulmar of 809 Squadron
ditched near the Fleet. Lt
A. J. E. Howey and Leading Airman L. J. Stevens were
rescued by destroyer
JERVIS.
Anti-aircraft cruisers
COVENTRY and
CARLISLE left the
convoy at 2030 and proceeded to Alexandria.
Destroyer DEFENDER
departed Malta at 1945 to join Force B.
Force B and destroyers
MOHAWK and NUBIAN covered
Force C from the northward during the night of 22/23
March.
Convoy MW.6 arrived at
Malta on the 23rd.
Force B rejoined Force A
during the morning of 23
March and destroyer DEFENDER joined shortly thereafter.
Force C and the convoy
were attacked by German
bombers at Malta on the 23rd.
British steamers
PERTHSHIRE (10,496grt) and CITY OF LINCOLN (8039grt)
were damaged.
Light cruiser BONAVENTURE
was damaged on her port
bow by splinters from near misses. One rating was killed
and seven were
wounded. Destroyer GRIFFIN was damaged by a near miss
which holed her forward
fuel oil tanks with no casualties.
Force B and destroyers
ILEX and HASTY parted
company with Force A to cover Force C.
The cruisers and
destroyers of Force C departed Malta at 1930.
At 1930, destroyer
HEREWARD departed Force B to
join ConvoyAN 22 on the 24th.
Force C and Force B merged
at 0730/24th and
proceeded to the Aegean.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
CALCUTTA and destroyers ILEX
and HASTY arrived at Port Said on the 24th.
Force B covered convoy
AN.22 from west of the
Kithera Channel.
Force A arrived back at
Alexandria at 2230/24th.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
BONAVENTURE and destroyers
GREYHOUND, GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK from Force C
proceeded to Alexandria, arriving on the 25th. The
cruiser carried a
replacement propeller shaft and bracket bearing for
cruiser CARLISLE.
Heavy cruiser YORK and
light cruiser GLOUCESTER arrived at Suda Bay
during 25 March.
Light cruisers ORION,
PERTH, and AJAX and destroyer ILEX remained in the
Aegean to cover convoy AN.22 and AS.22 on the 25th.
_____
Greek destroyer AETOS
reported being unsuccessfully
attacked by Italian torpedo bombers north of Candia.
_____
Submarines UTMOST and
URSULA departed Malta to patrol the east Tunisian coast.
_____
Submarine TRUANT fired
torpedoes at a barge at
Buerat el Sun. The torpedoes missed and passed
underneath Italian tanker
LABOR (510grt) without doing damage.
_____
Destroyers FEARLESS,
FORESIGHT, FORTUNE, and
WRESTLER departed Gibraltar to meet aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL and
battlecruiser RENOWN which had been relieved in convoy
SL.67 by light cruiser
KENYA.
_____
Submarine OTUS arrived at
Gibraltar after departing Portsmouth on the 8th.
The submarine had been
refitting at Portsmouth in February completing on the
1st.
Thursday,
20 March
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1515 after damage repair from
her April 1940
bombing.
One turbine was still
defective. Full power trial
was completed on the 26th.
_____
Convoy OB.300 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers ACHATES and BOREAS,
corvettes
HEATHER, HEPATICA, and PICOTEE, and anti-submarine
trawlers ARAB, AYRSHIRE,
and LADY MADELEINE. The escort, less the destroyers, was
detached on the
25th. The destroyers were detached on the 26th when the
convoy was dispersed.
_____
Auxiliary anti-aircraft
ship HELVELLYN (642grt,
T/Lt P. D. Baker RNVR) was sunk by German bombing in the
London Docks.
_____
Submarine STURGEON
unsuccessfully attacked a
steamer off Obrestad.
The claim she sank
Norwegian tanker DRAFN (8205grt)
under German control off Stadlandet is incorrect.
_____
Destroyers INTREPID,
ICARUS, and IMPULSIVE laid
minefield GU in the English
Channel.
_____
British requisitioned
motor fishing vessel DOX (35grt) was by German bombing
at Plymouth.
_____
British requisitioned
motor fishing vessel GLOAMING
(21grt) was sunk by mining in the vicinity of Burcom
Shoal off the Humber.
_____
Naval drifter SOIZIC
(72grt) was lost in enemy
action.
_____
Tug SIR BEVOIS (338grt)
was sunk by German bombing
at Plymouth. Nine were
lost from a crew of fourteen.
_____
Polish steamer CIESZYN
(1386grt) was sunk by German
bombing three miles 55° from Manacle Point. The entire
crew was rescued.
_____
British fishing vessel
JOAN MARGARET (25grt) was
lost on a mine in the vicinity of Cleeness Lightfloat,
River Humber. Five crew were killed.
_____
British trawler BIANCA
(174grt) was sunk in the Irish Sea when she picked up a
German aerial torpedo or bomb
in her nets. Five crew were lost.
_____
Hulk MACKAY BENNETT was
sunk by German bombing at Plymouth. It was
refloated on 26 July and docked on 28 July.
_____
Tug ELAN II was sunk by
German bombing at Plymouth, and refloated about 1
October 1941.
_____
Tug CHARLIGHT (40grt) was
damaged by German bombing
off Le Bas Wharf, Milwall.
_____
British steamer MARI II
(1395grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Plymouth.
The ship was sunk. She was
refloated on 27 June and
repaired at Plymouth.
_____
Greek submarine TRITON
made unsuccessful attacks on
a steamer and a torpedo boat off Valona.
This was possibly German
steamer BRUMMER and
torpedo boat ALTAIR.
_____
British tanker SAN
CASIMIRO (8046grt) and Norwegian tanker BIANCA
(5688grt), captured by German battlecruiser GNEISENAU on
the 15th, were
sighted by Aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL aircraft.
The tankers were scuttled
by the German prise crews
when approached by Battlecruiser RENOWN.
_____
Convoy BN.22 departed
Bombay, escorted by armed merchant cruiser ANTENOR. The
escort was detached on the 26th. On 31 March, sloops
AUCKLAND and
INDUS joined.
Sloop FLAMINGO joined on 1 April and light cruiser
CAPETOWN and destroyer KINGSTON on 2 April. Light
cruiser CAPETOWN and destroyer KINGSTON were detached on
3 April, sloops FLAMINGO and INDUS on 4 April, and sloop AUCKLAND
on 7 April when the convoy arrived at Suez.
_____
Convoy SC.26 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser
WORCESTERSHIRE, submarine PORPOISE, and escort ship
COBALT. The escort ship
was detached later on the 20th, the submarine on the
29th, and the armed
merchant cruiser on 3 April. On 3 April, destroyers
VETERAN and WOLVERINE
joined the convoy. On 4 April, destroyers CHELSEA,
VERITY, and VIVIEN and
corvette CONVOLULUS joined. This group, which joined on
4 April, was detached
on 5 April and destroyer HAVELOCK
and sloop SCARBOROUGH joined on 5 April. The escort was
detached when
the convoy arrived at Liverpool on 8 April.
_____
American heavy cruisers
CHICAGO and PORTLAND and destroyers
CLARK, CONYNGHAM, REID, CASSIN, and DOWNES arrived at
Sydney, Australia on a
three day goodwill visit. They departed on the 23rd and
arrived at Brisbane on the 25th. Departing on the 28th,
they arrived
at Suva, Fiji, on 1 April. The American force departed
Suva on the 3rd and arrived back at Pearl Harbour on 10 April.
Friday,
21 March
Aircraft carrier ARGUS,
light cruiser SHEFFIELD, depot ship MAIDSTONE, and
troopship HIGHLAND MONARCH escorted by
destroyers NAPIER and NIZAM, departed the Clyde for Gibraltar.
The ships arrived at
Gibraltar on the 29th.
_____
Armed merchant cruiser
DERBYSHIRE departed the Clyde carrying troops to Reykjavik.
At 0700/22nd, destroyers TARTAR and GURKHA
departed Scapa Flow to meet her 19 miles 270° from Cape
Wrath at 1500 and escort her to 17W. The
destroyers then detached and carried
out an anti-submarine search before returning to Scapa
Flow.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Scapa Flow at 1200 to meet convoy WN.1 in the
Pentland Firth and cover it until dark. The ship then
covered
convoy EN.89.
At noon on the 22nd, ship CURACOA then transferred to convoy WN.2. On the
23rd, the ship then covered convoy EN.90.
On the 24th, ship CURACOA
parted company with
convoy EN.90 in Pentland
Firth and returned to Scapa Flow arriving at 1130.
_____
Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL
in the Bay of Biscay in 48-44N, 18-29W lost an aircraft
in an
operational accident.
A Swordfish of the 818
Squadron with A/Sub Lt (A)
P. E. Opdall, P/T/Sub Lt (A) C. R. Hearn RNVR, and
Leading Airman B. C. Biggs
crashed on taking off. The depth charges carried by the
aircraft exploded
under the ship, but did not cause damage requiring
immediate repair.
The crew of the aircraft
were lost.
_____
Minesweeping trawler ASAMA
(303grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Plymouth.
The trawler was beached at
Torpoint.
_____
British steamer LONDON II
(1260grt) was sunk by
German bombing in 51-23N, 4-30W.
Four crew were lost on the
steamer. The steamer was
abandoned on fire and sank six miles off Mumbles Head.
_____
British steamer MILLISLE
(617grt) was sunk by
German bombing two miles east of Helwick L. B. , Bristol
Channel.
Nine crew and one gunner
were lost on the steamer.
_____
British steamer HALO
(2365grt) was damaged on a
mine off Beckton Pier.
Four crew were lost on the
steamer.
The steamer sank off
Beckton No. 1 Pier. The ship
was refloated and placed ashore at Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich.
_____
U.105 made attacks on
convoy SL.68.
British steamer CLAN
OGILVY (5802grt) was sunk at
20-04N, 25-45W.
Twenty five crew were
killed and thirty six were
missing from steamer CLAN OGILVY. Survivors from the
steamer were picked up
by Spanish steamer CABO VILLANO (4282grt) and British
steamer KING EDGAR
(4536grt).
British steamer BENWYVIS
(5920grt) was sunk at 20N,
26W.
Thirty three crew and one
gunner were lost from
steamer BENWYVIS. A cadet, sole survivor of 34 men in a
boat, was picked up
by French steamer VILLE DE ROUEN (5083grt) and landed at
Madagascar after being in the lifeboat for twenty eight
days.
British steamer JHELUM (4038grt) was sunk by 21N, 25W.
Eight crew were killed.
The rest were interned at Senegal.
_____
Convoy AS.21 of three
Greek ships departed Piraeus escorted by corvette SALVIA
and Greek destroyer
VASILEVS GEORGIOS I and one Greek destroyers. The convoy
was attacked in the Aegean southeast of Gavdo Island by German
aircraft.
Greek steamer EMBIRICOS
NICOLAOS (3798grt) was sunk
by German bombing from this convoy in 34-30N, 24-45E.
Two crew were lost.
Norwegian tanker SOLHEIM
(8070grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing from this convoy in 34-30N,
24-10E.
One crewman was missing
from the tanker.
The tanker was abandoned
on the 23rd and sank
sometime during the night of 23/24 March.
The survivors from both
ships were picked up by the
second Greek destroyer which took them back to Piraeus.
The convoy arrived at Alexandria late on the 24th.
_____
Convoy ASF.21 of British
BRECONSHIRE, CHAKLA, and two other
British ships, three Greek, and two other steamers
departed Piraeus late on the 21st escorted by destroyers
VOYAGER
and WRYNECK. The convoy arrived at Alexandria on the
23rd.
_____
Destroyer KINGSTON
departed Port Sudan escorting steamer RATNAGIRI with 300
French troops
for Mersa Taclai, arriving on the 22nd.
_____
Convoy HX.116 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser AUSONIA.
Battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN was with the convoy from 23
to 31 March. The armed
merchant cruiser was detached on 4 April. On 4 April,
destroyers AMBUSCADE,
BULLDOG, and VANQUISHER and corvettes CAMPANULA,
FREESIA, HEARTSEASE, and
PIMPERNEL, and anti-submarine trawler ST APOLLO joined.
Destroyer WINCHELSEA
joined on 5 April and destroyer WHITEHALL and corvette
ORCHIS joined on 6 April. Corvette
ORCHIS was detached on 7 April. The escort was detached
when the convoy
arrived at Liverpool on 9 April.
Saturday,
22 March
German battlecruisers
GNEISENAU and SCHARNHORST
were met at sea by torpedo boats ILTIS and JAGUAR on the
22nd. They arrived in Brest after sinking 22 ships
of 115,662grt in the North
and Central Atlantic.
_____
Destroyer BELMONT, which
departed Liverpool on the 21st, was damaged in a
collision with an
unknown steamer fifteen miles northwest of Chicken Rock,
the Isle of Man.
The destroyer was repaired
at Liverpool completing on 24 July.
_____
During the night of 22/23
March, destroyers
INTREPID, ICARUS, and IMPULSIVE, escorted by destroyers
FERNIE, TYNEDALE, and
CLEVELAND, laid minefield GN in the English Channel.
_____
British tanker AGNITA
(3552grt) was sunk by German
raider KORMORAN at 2-30N, 25-00W.
The entire crew was taken
prisoner.
_____
British steamer ST FINTAN
(495grt) was sunk by
German bombing seven miles north, northwest of Smalls.
The crew of nine were all
lost.
_____
Norwegian steamer INGER
(1418grt) was damaged by
German bombing ten miles south of Smalls.
The steamer arrived at
Plymouth on the 23rd.
_____
British steamer DASHWOOD
(2154grt) was damaged by
German bombing in Barrow Deep.
_____
Destroyers KELLY, KIPLING,
KASHMIR, and JACKAL, en route from
Londonderry to Gibraltar, to
escort damaged battleship MALAYA, were ordered to the area of
Brest in an attempt to
intercept the German
battlecruisers.
No contact was made and
the destroyers returned to Plymouth.
_____
Convoy AN.22 of eight
British and one Greek ship
departed Alexandria escorted by destroyer VENDETTA and
sloop GRIMSBY.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY and destroyer HEREWARD joined the escort on the
24th. The convoy arrived at Piraeus on the 25th.
_____
Destroyers FEARLESS,
FORESTER, VELOX, and WRESTLER
departed Gibraltar to escort aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL
and
battlecruiser RENOWN to Gibraltar, where they arrived on
the 24th.
_____
Italian battleship VENETO
was transferred from Spezia to Naples.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL arrived
at Malta to embark mines for an operation northwest of
Sicily.
The submarine departed
Malta that evening on the operation.
_____
Tug CHABOOL (58grt)
departed Aden on the 15th for Berbera, but never
arrived.
The tug was presumed to be
sunk.
Sunday,
23 March
Battleship NELSON, light
cruiser NIGERIA, and destroyers BOADICEA, ACTIVE, and
ESCAPADE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0100.
Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH
and destroyers
INGLEFIELD, ECHO, ELECTRA, and ESKIMO arrived at Scapa
Flow at 0700.
Destroyers ARROW and
ECLIPSE, which called at Lough
Foyle to refuel, arrived at Scapa
Flow later at 1145 and
1900, respectively.
_____
Light cruiser DIDO arrived
at Scapa Flow after repairs and stiffening.
_____
Convoy OB.301 departed
Liverpool, escorted by
destroyers BURWELL, SARDONYX, SCIMITAR, and WATCHMAN,
sloop FLEETWOOD,
corvettes ARABIS and MALLOW, and anti-submarine trawler
NORTHERN WAVE. The corvettes were detached on the 26th.
The
escort was detached when the convoy dispersed on the
27th.
_____
Destroyer ECHO departed
Scapa Flow at 1700
for Rosyth to clean boilers.
The destroyer arrived at
0800/24th.
_____
Destroyers LIDDESDALE,
AVON VALE, and QUANTOCK
departed Scapa Flow at 2030 for Rosyth to meet
battleship PRINCE OF
WALES during her passage to the Pentland Firth for
trials and exercises.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOTBANK,
escorted by patrol sloop
KITTIWAKE and French torpedo boat LA MELPOMENE, laid
minefield BS.52 off the
east coast of England.
_____
Light cruiser KENYA joined
convoy HG.56 for support.
_____
Destroyer RICHMOND, which
departed Londonderry on the 23rd for Liverpool, was
grounded off Benbena Head at Holyhead.
The destroyer received
temporary repairs at
Holyhead to 28 March. She was then taken to Southampton
for repairs completed 28 May.
_____
Destroyer LEWES was
damaged by the near miss of
German bombing.
The destroyer spent no
time out of service.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) P. Mittell
RNVR, was killed when his
Gladiator of 759 Squadron crashed east of Camelford
while returning from
gunnery practices.
_____
U.110 damaged Norwegian
steamer SIREMALM (2468grt)
in 60-35N, 28-25W.
_____
U.97 sank British tanker
CHAMA (8077grt) in 49-35N,
19-13W.
The entire crew of the
tanker were lost.
_____
British trawler ELMIRA
(197grt) was sunk by German bombing in 59-55N,
3-40W.
Ten crew were lost on the
trawler. There was one
survivor.
_____
Italian steamers CARNIA
(5451grt), ANNA CAPANO
(1216grt), VESTA (3351grt), and MONSTELLA (5211grt)
departed Bari for Durazzo on the 22nd escorted by
torpedo boat
CASTELFIDARO.
Greek submarine TRITON
damaged steamer CARNIA in
40-58N, 18-27E, thirty miles northeast of Brindisi in
40-58N, 18-27E.
The submarine
unsuccessfully attacked ANNA CAPANO.
_____
A Fulmar of 806 Squadron
from aircraft carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS, flying into Maleme, crashed on landing. Sub
Lt B. Sinclair and
Naval Airman J. T. Beach were uninjured.
_____
British trawler SAMURAI
(221grt) was damaged by
German bombing thirty miles north, northwest of St
Kilda.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER captured Vichy French steamer
CHARLES L. D. (5267grt) between Mauritius and
Madagascar.
The steamer was taken to
Mauritius.
_____
Italian sloop ERITREA and
armed merchant cruiser RAMB II arrived at Kobe.
_____
Convoy SL.69 departed
Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser ARAWA to 14
April, light cruiser MAURITIUS to 5 April, corvettes
CLEMATIS and CYCLAMEN to 29
March, and French sloop COMMANDANT DOMINE to 14 April.
Battlecruiser REPULSE was
with the convoy on 27 to
30 March. Armed merchant cruiser BULOLO was with the
convoy on 28 and 29
March.
Battlecruiser REPULSE was
joined by aircraft
carrier FURIOUS and destroyers DUNCAN and FOXHOUND on
the 27th.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH,
which departed Gibraltar on 2 April, escorted the convoy
from 5 to 14
April.
On 14 April, destroyers
ROXBOROUGH and SHERWOOD,
sloop WESTON, and corvettes CLARKIA and GLADIOLUS joined
the convoy. On 15
April, destroyers SALADIN and SALISBURY joined. The
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 16 April.
Monday,
24 March
The Commander in Chief
Home Fleet transferred his
flag from battleship NELSON to battleship QUEEN
ELIZABETH.
_____
Battleship RODNEY departed
convoy HX.114 and
proceeded to Hvalfjord for refueling.
Destroyers COSSACK, ZULU,
and MAORI of the 4th Destroyer
Flotilla escorted the battleship to Hvalfjord, arriving
at 1645/24th.
_____
Minelayer ABDIEL, escorted
by destroyers KIPLING
and KASHMIR, laid minefield GV in the English Channel.
_____
Convoy OB.302 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers READING, SABRE, and
VENOMOUS, sloop WELLINGTON, corvettes ALISMA, DIANELLA,
and KINGCUP, and
anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSA, MAN O.WAR, and
NORTHERN DAWN. The convoy dispersed on
the 29th.
_____
Convoy WS.7 departed the
Clyde with steamers
DUCHESS OF YORK (20,021grt), VICEROY OF INDIA
(19,627grt), ANDES
(25,689grt), GEORGIC (27, 759grt), STIRLING CASTLE (25,
550grt), DENBIGHSHIRE
(9100grt), JOHN VAN OLDENBARNEVELDT (19,429grt), DEMPO
(17,024grt), DUCHESS
OF ATHOLL (20,119grt), ORION (23,371grt), STRATHALLAN
(23,722grt), OTRANTO
(20,026grt), EMPRESS OF CANADA (21,517grt), STRATHEDEN
(23, 722grt), PASTEUR
(29,253grt), WARWICK CASTLE (20,107grt), STRATHNAVER
(22,283grt), STRATHMORE
(23,428grt), STRATHAIRD (22,281grt), GLENORCHY
(10,000grt), and ORCADES (23,456grt).
Steamers STRATHAIRD
collided with STIRLING
CASTLE and returned to the Clyde.
Steamer GEORGIC was
detached to Halifax. The convoy was escorted by
destroyers WINCHELSEA,
VICEROY, ROCKINGHAM, and LEOPARD on 25 and 26 March.
Destroyers LEGION and
PIORUN escorted the convoy
from 24 to 26 March.
Destroyer BROADWATER
escorted the convoy from 24 to
27 March.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and destroyers SOMALI,
BEDOUIN, MATABELE, and MASHONA escorted the convoy from
24 March. The
destroyers were detached on the 28th and the light
cruiser on the 29th.
Destroyer ST CLAIR
escorted the convoy from 25 to
27 March.
Battleship REVENGE
escorted the convoy from 24 to
28 March. When detached, she took liner GEORGIC to
Halifax.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
CAIRO was with the convoy for anti-aircraft protection
on 25 and 26 March.
Battleship NELSON and
destroyers ARROW, ECLIPSE,
and ESKIMO departed Scapa
Flow at 1202 on the 24th
to join the convoy south of Oversay Light at noon on the
25th and escort it to Freetown.
Battleship NELSON escorted
the convoy from 25 March
to 4 April.
The destroyers were
detached at the limit of their
endurance on the 27th in 54N, 21W. The destroyers
carried out an
anti-submarine sweep north and south of Rockall
returning to Scapa Flow. Destroyers ARROW and ECLIPSE
refueled at Londonderry on the 29th en route to Scapa
Flow. The destroyers departed Londonderry at 1100/30th
and arrived at Scapa Flow at 0400/31st.
Destroyers SOMALI,
BEDOUIN, MATABELE, MASHONA, and
ESKIMO arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1430/31st.
On 1 April, destroyers
DUNCAN and FOXHOUND joined
the convoy and destroyers WISHART and VIDETTE joined the
convoy on 2 April.
The convoy arrived at Freetown
on 4 April with the four destroyers. The convoy departed
Freetown on 7 April escorted by battleship NELSON and
destroyers FOXHOUND, DUNCAN, VIDETTE, and WISHART.
Destroyers FOXHOUND and
DUNCAN were detached on 8 April. Destroyers VIDETTE and
WISHART were detached on 9 April. Battleship NELSON
remained with the convoy until
15 April when she was relieved by light cruiser
NEWCASTLE.
Steamers DUCHESS OF YORK,
STRATHMORE, STRATHEDEN, ORION, DUCHESS OF ATHOLL,
ANDES, STRATHALLAN, EMPRESS OF CANADA, ORCADES, PASTEUR,
and DEMPO of the convoy arrived at Capetown on 16 April.
The Durban section of steamers VICEROY OF INDIA, WARWICK
CASTLE, STIRLING
CASTLE, JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEDVELDT, DENBIGHSHIRE, STRATHNAVER, OTRANTO,
OTRONTES, and GLENORCHY continued escorted by light
cruiser
NEWCASTLE and they arrived
on 19 April.
Light cruiser NEWCASTLE
proceeded to Simonstown.
Steamer DEMPO proceeded to
Durban from Capetown independently arriving on 20 April.
On 20 April, the other
Capetown ships sailed
escorted by heavy cruiser HAWKINS. The Durban ships
sailed on 23 April escorted by armed
merchant cruiser CARTHAGE. The two groups rendezvoused
on 24 April and the
armed merchant cruiser was detached.
Light cruiser GLASGOW and
COLOMBO departed Mombasa and relieved heavy cruiser
HAWKINS on 28 April in
4-00S, 42-06E.
At 5N, 50E, steamers
DUCHESS OF YORK, WARWICK
CASTLE, STRATHMORE, and JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELDT was detached with light
cruiser COLOMBO
as WS.7X. They arrived at Bombay on 5 May.
Convoy WS.7 was dispersed
on 3 May and the ships
arrived independently at Suez
on 6 May.
_____
Destroyer MANSFIELD
suffered a complete engine room
failure.
The destroyer was towed by
destroyer SALISBURY to port.
The destroyer returned to
service in ten days.
_____
Anti-submarine yacht WILNA
(461grt, T/Lt L. W.
Cleverly RNR) was abandoned after damage from German
bombing at
Portsmouth, 2400 yards 57° from the Nab.
There were no casualties.
_____
Italian submarine VENIERO
sank British steamer
AGNETE MAERSK (2104grt), from dispersed convoy OG.56 in
49N, 22-55W.
The entire crew was lost
from the steamer.
_____
U.97 sank Norwegian
steamer HORDA (4301grt) in 49N,
23W.
_____
U.106 made an attack on a
steamer.
For some time it was
assumed to have been the
Brazilian steamer SANTA
CLARA
(2512grt). This ship made an SOS on the
14th from 30-48N, 68-42W after an explosion. U. S. Coast
Guard ship BIBB
found some wreckage of the ship, but no survivors. This
was not in the area
of U.106's attack.
_____
U.551 was sunk by
anti-submarine trawler VISENDA,
operating with the Northern Patrol, south of Iceland in
62-37N, 16-47W.
There were no survivors
from the crew of forty five
from the submarine.
_____
Italian steamer NURAGHE
(633grt) was lost through
lost in a marine accident off Capo Pali, Valona.
_____
Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL
and battlecruiser RENOWN
departed Gibraltar, escorted by destroyers FORESIGHT,
FORTUNE, and
FORESTER, to intercept German battlecruisers SCHARNHORST
and GNEISENAU should
they attempt to leave Brest.
Destroyers FORTUNE and
FORESIGHT were detached on
the 25th and destroyer FORESTER was detached on the
26th.
The aircraft carrier and
battlecruiser were joined
on the 31st, by destroyers NAPIER, NIZAM, and FORTUNE,
which departed Gibraltar on the 29th, and Force H
arrived back at Gibraltar on 1 April.
_____
Convoy HG.57 departed
Gibraltar escorted by sloop ROCHESTER, destroyer
WRESTLER, corvettes LA MALOUINE and
VERBENA, and Dutch submarine O.23.
Destroyer WRESTLER was
detached on the 27th to join
destroyer VELOX to escort light cruiser SHEFFIELD,
destroyers NAPIER and
NIZAM, aircraft carrier ARGUS, submarine depot ship
MAIDSTONE, and troopship
HIGHLAND MONARCH en route to Gibraltar.
Captured French ships
CHANTILLY, OCTANE, and CANTAL were in this convoy. Also
in
the convoy was troopship EMPIRE TROOPER, which was
ordered to return to Gibraltar because she was carrying
too many passengers.
The submarine was detached
on 3 April.
Light cruiser NIGERIA
joined the convoy on 3 April and continued with it
until 9 April.
On 4 April, corvette LA
MALOUINE was detached.
On 6 April, destroyers
BROKE, DOUGLAS, ROXBOROUGH, and SALISBURY, corvette ABELIA, and anti-submarine trawlers ST ELSTAN, ST KENAN, ST
ZENO, and VIZALMA joined the escort. These ships were
all detached on 9
April. The convoy arrived at Liverpool
on 11 April escorted by sloop ROCHESTER and VERBENA.
_____
Armed boarding vessel ST
DAY was in a collision with Spanish steamer GAYARRE
(3276grt) in the Straits of Gibraltar.
The boarding vessel
returned to Gibraltar.
_____
Submarine URSULA
unsuccessfully attacked a convoy
off Cape Bon.
_____
Convoy BN.21 departed
Aden, escorted by sloop FLAMINGO. Light cruiser
CAPETOWN joined on the 25th. Both escorts were detached
on the 27th and the
convoy arrived at Suez on the 31st.
_____
Convoy BS.21 departed
Suez, escorted by light cruiser CALEDON. The light
cruiser was detached when light cruiser
CAPETOWN and sloop FLAMINGO joined on the 29th. Light
cruiser CAPETOWN was detached
on the 30th and sloop SHOREHAM joined. Sloop HINDUSTAN
joined on the 31st. The convoy was dispersed on 1
April.
_____
Sloop SHOREHAM intercepted
German steamer ODER (8516grt) which had departed Massawa on the 23rd.
The steamer scuttled
herself in the Red Sea.
Italian steamer INDIA
(6366grt), which departed Massawa at the same
time, arrived at Assab.
Tuesday,
25 March
Battleship PRINCE OF
WALES, escorted by destroyers QUANTOCK, LIDDESDALE, and
AVON VALE arrived at Scapa
Flow to work up.
_____
Light cruisers GALATEA and
AURORA departed Scapa Flow at 0859 to cover the laying
of minefield SN.4.
_____
Destroyer MENDIP departed
Scapa Flow for Rosyth on completion of working up
exercises.
_____
Dutch light cruiser
HEEMSKERK departed Scapa Flow after working up for
Greenock.
_____
Armed merchant cruiser
CIRCASSIA departed the Clyde carrying troops to Iceland,
escorted by destroyer ANTHONY.
The destroyer arrived at
Loch Alsh at 1830/25th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Scapa Flow at 1100 and met convoy WN.3 in
Pentland Firth. The convoy was escorted to Buchan Ness
where the
ship transferred to convoy EN.91 at 2130.
The ship transferred to
convoy WN.4 in Pentland Firth at 1030 and provided cover
until dark. Ship
CURACOA arrived back at Scapa
Flow at 1200/27th.
_____
British steamer ROSSMORE
(627grt) was sunk by
German bombing twelve miles northeast of Godrevy
Island.
Six crew were lost on the
steamer.
_____
British steamer BEAVERBRAE
(9956grt) was sunk by
German bombing 60-12N, 09-00W.
The entire crew of eighty
six men were rescued by
destroyers TARTAR and GURKHA.
Returning to Scapa Flow,
destroyer GURKHA was involved in a collision with
an unknown wooden drifter in Pentland
Firth.
The drifter sank with no
survivors. The destroyer's
bow was badly damaged.
Destroyers TARTAR and
GURKHA arrived at Scapa Flow at 0945/26th.
Destroyer GURKHA departed
Scapa Flow for repairs at Rosyth at 1530/29th.
_____
British fishing vessel
ALASKAN (21grt) was sunk by
a mine in 54-49N, 1-07W.
The crew of five were
rescued.
_____
British steamer BRITANNIA
(8799grt) was sunk by
German raider THOR in 7-24N, 24-03W.
122 crew and 127
passengers of 203 crew and 281 passengers
were missing on the steamer. Spanish steamer BACHI
(3091grt) rescued fifty
one survivors, Spanish steamer CABO DE HORNOS
(12,599grt) rescued seventy
seven survivors, and British RARANGA (7956grt) rescued
sixty seven survivors.
Thirty three survivors reached Brazil in a lifeboat
after twenty three days.
The steamer departed
Liverpool on the 11th, carrying a large draft of
officers
and ratings en route to the Mediterranean Fleet.
Surgeon Lt I. Mc N. A.
Drysdale, MB ChB, en route
to Fleet Air Arm base PHOENIX, T/Sub Lt J. R. Bebbington
RNVR, en route to
heavy cruiser YORK, Gunner T. G. Cartwright, en route to
heavy
cruiser SHROPSHIRE in the Indian Ocean, T/Electrician Lt
K. McI. Dwyer RNVR,
en route to destroyer depot ship WOOLWICH, T/Lt D. W.
Gibbon RNR, en route to submarine depot ship MEDWAY,
T/Lt P.
H. C. Hardy RNVR, of EXCELLENT, P/T/Sub Lt K. G. Harman,
en route to ST
ANGELO, died of wounds on 7 April, P/T/Sub Lt (E) K. J.
Kemp RNVR, en route
to light cruiser GLOUCESTER, P/T/Lt F. M. Lyons RNR, en
route to supply ship BRECONSHIRE, T/Lt W. R.
Sobey RNVR, en route to base ship NILE, T/Lt (Sp) A. H.
Stableford RNVR, of
EXCELLENT, P/T/Lt D. S. Wilkinson RNVR, en route to base
ship NILE, Lt Cdr R.
R. Wood, en route to Fleet Air Arm base GREBE,
P/T/Surgeon Lt H. Marks RNVR,
en route to light cruiser LIVERPOOL, T/A/Sub Lt (A) S.
R. S. N. Gosling RNVR,
en route to Fleet Air Arm base GREBE, Lt Cdr M. E.
Welby, en route to base
ship NILE, Lt S. L. J. Bailey, RCNVR, en route to Fleet
Air Arm base GREBE, A/Gunner
(T) C. F. Hallas, en route to destroyer GRIFFIN, and
T/A/Gunner G. E. D.
Marriott, en route to base ship CANOPUS, were lost.
Boatswain D. G. Brown, en
route to battleship
BARHAM, Paymaster Sub Lt H. D. Burge RNVR, en route to
battleship WARSPITE,
Lt (E) A. Davidson (ret), of DRAKE, Paymaster Lt J. P.
Joisce RNVR, of base
ship ST VINCENT, Boatswain E. O. Keill, en route to
repair ship RESOURCE, Sub
Lt J. R. Hume RNVR, en route to light cruiser
GLOUCESTER, Sub Lt (A) J. H.
Leach RNVR, en route to Fleet Air Arm base GREBE, Lt A.
H. Rowlandson, of
VICTORY, A/Sub Lt A. D. T. Sangster, en route to
battleship WARSPITE, Lt R.
J. Tadhunter, en route to sloop BRIDGEWATER in the South
Atlantic, Cdr S. H.
Spurgeon, of VICTORY, Lt E. H. Thatcher RNVR, en route
to battleship BARHAM,
A/Gunner T. Alfred, en route to base ship NILE, Sub Lt
(A) T. H. Blank RNVR,
en route to Fleet Air Arm base GREBE, A/Sub Lt I. S.
McIntosh, en route to
submarine depot ship MEDWAY, P/Sub Lt A. L. Soan RNVR,
en route to base ship
ST ANGELO, P/Sub Lt (Sp) F. L. West RNVR, en route to
Fleet Air Arm base
GREBE, Gunner (T) E. G. Westgarth, en route to
battleship VALIANT, and
Warrant Shipfitter W. F. M. Davies, en route to
battleship VALIANT were
rescued and interned at Tenerife. These personnel, and
others totaling forty
nine men, were released at the end of July 1941.
McIntosh and West received
MBE's for their conduct
in the loss of the ship. Rowlandson, Spurgeon, and
Tadhunter received
commendations.
_____
Swedish steamer TROLLEHOLM
(5047grt) was sunk by
German raider THOR in the South Atlantic.
The crew was saved and
interned.
_____
Dutch steamer ESCAUT
(347grt) was damaged by German
bombing twenty four miles southwest of Hartland Point.
The steamer was abandoned
and drove ashore near
Bude. She was refloated and taken to Appledore on 7
September.
_____
British steamer CANADOLITE
(11,309grt) was captured
by German raider KORMORAN in 3-20N, 23-48W.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL laid
mines off Palermo.
Italian tanker VERDE
(2423grt) and steamer HELENA
(479grt) from the same convoy were sunk in this
minefield on the 26th.
Italian steamer TICINO (1470grt) was sunk in 38-06N, 12-31E north of
Trapani in a torpedo
attack by RORQUAL also on the 26th.
Italian torpedo boat
CHINOTTO was sunk on this
minefield off Palermo on the 28th.
_____
Convoy AG.8 of supply ship
BRECONSHIRE and British
steamer CAMERONIA (16,297grt) departed Alexandria
escorted by destroyers JUNO, JAGUAR, and DEFENDER.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
CARLISLE accompanied this convoy. The convoy arrived at
Piraeus on the 27th.
_____
Convoy AS.22 departed
Piraeus with seven British ships and two Greek ships
escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY, destroyers
DECOY and WATERHEN, and corvette HYACINTH.
Destroyers DECOY and
WATERHEN were detached from
the escort on the 27th. The convoy arrived at Alexandria
on the 28th.
_____
Submarine ROVER departed
Alexandria to patrol off Burat el Sun, Tripoli.
_____
British troopship
WAIMARAMA (11,092grt) ran aground
en route from Port
Said to Alexandria.
Tugs ST ISSEY and
ROYSTERER were able to refloat
the steamer. However, two to three months repair were
require before the
steamer was operational again.
_____
British gunboat APHIS and
anti-submarine whaler
SOUTHERN SEA departed Alexandria for the Inshore
Squadron escorting cable ship
RECORDER to Tobruk.
_____
Late on the 25th, Italian
destroyers CRISPI and
SELLA brought explosive motor boats from Leros to Suda
Bay
for an attack on Heavy cruiser YORK which arrived at
Suda
Bay
after duty covering convoy MW.6.
_____
Norwegian steamer HAV
(5062grt) departed Piraeus on the 25th and arrived at
Alexandria on the 28th.
On the voyage, the steamer
was damaged by German
bombing.
Wednesday,
26 March
Destroyer NESTOR departed
Scapa Flow and destroyer ANTHONY departed Loch Alsh to
meet
armed merchant cruiser CIRCASSIA at 1500 nineteen miles
west of Cape Wrath and escorted her to Reykjavik.
At 1920/28th, the
destroyers departed Reykjavik to join convoy HX.115 and
act as an anti-submarine
force until its arrival off the North Minch.
_____
Destroyer MENDIP departed
Scapa Flow at 1100 to meet steamer AMSTERDAM off the
entrance to Aberdeen.
Owing to bad weather, the
escort was cancelled and
destroyer MENDIP returned to Scapa
Flow, arriving at
0900/27th.
_____
German heavy cruiser
ADMIRAL SCHEER broke through
the Denmark Strait during the night of 26/27 March.
The cruiser evaded light
cruisers FIJI and NIGERIA on patrol there and arrived in
the area of Bergen on the 30th.
Heavy cruiser SCHEER
anchored at Grimstadfjord on
the 30th and spent the day there before continuing on to
Germany.
On 28 March, Battlecruiser
HOOD and destroyers
TARTAR, ELECTRA, and ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow at
0600 to relieve Force H on the HG/OG convoy
route. Light cruisers FIJI and NIGERIA joined this force
at sea before dark on the 28th.
The destroyers were to proceed to the limit of their
endurance, then proceed
to Londonderry for refueling.
Destroyers ELECTRA,
ESCAPADE, and TARTAR arrived at
Londonderry to refuel on 2 April. At 1830, they sailed
to
rejoin the battlecruiser. The destroyers rejoined at
0800 on 4 April in
52-30N, 22W to escort the battlecruiser to Scapa Flow,
where they arrived at 0800 on 6 April.
On 29 March, Battleship
KING GEORGE V was
approaching Bailey Bank on her return to Scapa Flow
after leaving convoy HX.115. She rendezvoused with
destroyers COSSACK, MAORI, and ZULU, which departed
Reykjavik at 2100/28th, in 61N, 25W at 0730/29th.
Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH
and destroyers
INGLEFIELD and ACTIVE were brought to one hour's notice
to steam at Scapa Flow at 0100.
Light cruisers GALATEA,
ARETHUSA, AURORA, and DIDO
departed Scapa Flow at 0358 for position 64-00N, 1-00W
east of
Iceland-Faroes minefield.
At noon on the 30th, battleship KING GEORGE V and light cruisers DIDO and
AURORA were ordered to return to Scapa Flow.
Battleship KING GEORGE V
and destroyers COSSACK,
MAORI, and ZULU arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1500/31st.
Light cruisers GALATEA and
ARETHUSA patrolled the
northern part of the trawler line in the Iceland Faroes
Passage from 31
March. They returned to Scapa
Flow on 4 April.
_____
Heavy cruiser EXETER
arrived at Scapa Flow to work up prior to proceeding
overseas.
_____
The 1st Minelaying
Squadron of minelayers SOUTHERN
PRINCE, AGAMEMNON, MENESTHEUS, and PORT QUEBEC, escorted
by destroyers CHARLESTOWN, LANCASTER, ST MARYS, and
CHARLESTOWN departed Loch Alsh to lay minefield SN.4.
Light cruisers GALATEA and
AURORA departed Scapa Flow on the 25th to cover the
operation.
En route to the minelay,
minelayer force was
attacked by German bombing. Minelayer MENESTHEUS was hit
by two bombs and
damaged further by a near miss. She was repaired in the
Clyde.
The minefield was laid.
Returning from the
minelay, escorting destroyer
CASTLETON was in a collision with minelayer AGAMEMNON.
The destroyer was repaired
in the Clyde from 2 April to 1 June.
The ships all arrived back
on the 27th. Light
cruisers GALATEA and AURORA arrived at Scapa Float at
0649.
_____
Canadian armed yacht OTTER
(Lt D. S. Mossman, RCNR)
was sunk by an accidental fire off Halifax Lighthouse.
Lt A. M. Walker, RCNVR,
Chief Skipper A. F. Parker,
and seventeen ratings were lost on the yacht. Submarine
TALISMAN picked up
four survivors. Eighteen more survivors were picked up
by Polish steamer
WISLA (3106grt).
_____
Cable ship FARADAY
(5533grt) was badly damaged by
German bombing three miles 38° from St Anne's Head.
Eight crew were lost on
the ship.
The ship sank on the 27th
in West
Dale Bay. Nearly all her cargo
of cable was salved.
_____
British steamer SOMALI
(6809grt) was badly damaged
by German bombing off Blyth.
One crewman was lost on
the steamer.
The steamer sank on the
27th one mile east of Snoop
Head, Sutherland.
_____
British steamer EMPIRE
MERMAID (6381grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing in 58-36N, 10-00W.
Twenty crew and two
displaced seamen were lost on
the steamer. Destroyer ACHATES rescued nineteen
survivors.
The steamer sank on the
28th in 57-33N, 12-43W.
_____
Norwegian steamer NOLL
(1151grt) was damaged by
German bombing eight miles west of Lundy
Island.
The steamer was beached at
Lundy
Island. Refloated and taken to Swansea
arriving on the 29th, escorted by a tug.
_____
British trawler MILLIMUMUL
(287grt) was sunk on a
mine in 33-34N, 151-56E near Newcastle, New
South Wales.
Seven crew were missing.
_____
Faroes fishing vessel
BEINISVOR (85grt) was sunk by
German bombing in 61-40N, 4-37W.
The crew was landed at
Thorshavn.
_____
Finnish steamer CAROLINA
THORDEN (3645grt) was
badly damaged by German bombing at entrance to Thorshavn
Bay.
One passenger was missing.
Eight passengers were
taken aboard Swedish steamer VENEZUELA (6991grt) which
was later sunk with no survivors.
The steamer was grounded
in 60-11N, 7-00W. She was
later refloated, towed to Kirkwall, and later the Tyne. She was ultimately used as a blockship at
Scapa Flow.
_____
British trawler KINGSWAY
(211grt) was damaged by
German bombing ten miles east of Bell Rock.
_____
British steamer THE LADY
BELLE (331grt) was damaged
by German bombing ten miles south of Grassholm
Island.
_____
British steamer BRIER ROSE
(503grt) was lost to
unknown cause in the Irish
Sea.
_____
Heavy cruiser YORK was
badly damaged by Italian explosive boats at
0515 in Suda Bay.
Both engine rooms and
boiler rooms were flooded.
The cruiser was grounded in four and a half fathoms.
Two ratings in B boiler
room were killed and one
officer and four ratings were injured.
At the time of the attack,
other ships in Suda Bay
were Light cruiser GLOUCESTER, anti-aircraft ship
CALCUTTA, destroyer HASTY,
tankers CHERRYLEAF (5934grt), DESMOULEA (8120grt), MARIE
MAERSK (8271grt),
PERICLES (8324grt), and DOUMANA, and several small Greek
cargo ships.
Norwegian tanker PERICLES,
alongside YORK, was also damaged in the attack.
Six Italian crew were
picked up in the harbour.
Destroyers ILEX and HASTY
hunted off Suda
Bay
for the submarine.
Most of the oil was salved
from PERICLES. However,
returning to Alexandria, the tanker broke in two as a
result of the damage
in heavy weather on 14 April. Both halves were sunk by
gunfire thirty miles
northwest of Alexandria.
_____
British steamer
BALUCHISTAN (6992grt) was damaged by German bombing in
the Eastern Mediterranean.
_____
British steamer ADIGE (1006grt), formerly Italian, was damaged by bombing at
Malta.
The steamer was beached in
Malzara Creek and later
repaired.
_____
Italian battleship VENETO
departed Naples with destroyers GRANATIERE, FUCILIERE,
BERSAGLIERE, and ALPINO of the 13th Destroyer Division.
Italian heavy cruisers
ZARA, FIUME, and POLA of the 1st Cruiser Division departed
Taranto escorted by
destroyers GIOBERTI, ALFIERI, ORIANI,
and CARDUCCI of the 9th Destroyer Division.
Italian light cruisers
ABRUZZI and GARIBALDI of the
8th Cruiser Division departed Brindisi escorted by
destroyers DA RECCO and PESSAGNO of
the 16th Destroyer Division.
_____
Convoy AG.9 of one
British, three Greek, and two
other ships departed Alexandria for Piraeus escorted by Greek
destroyer VASILEVS GEORGIOS I,
Australian destroyers VOYAGER, VAMPIRE, and WRYNECK.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
CALCUTTA joined the convoy on the 28th.
Light cruisers ORION,
PERTH, AJAX, and GLOUCESTER refueled in turn at Piraeus
on the 26th.
The cruisers and departed
Piraeus to support convoys AG.8 and AG.9 on the 27th.
Convoy AG.9 was ordered on
the 27th to reverse
course for twelve hours to take it clear of the Italian
units. The convoy
arrived at Piraeus on the 29th.
_____
British oiler CAIRNDALE
departed Gibraltar escorted
by corvettes FLEUR DE LYS and COREOPSIS for operation
PEDESTAL, the refueling
British ships in 32-30N, 32-30W.
Ocean boarding vessel
REGISTAN accompanied this
group en route to her Western Patrol station.
Submarine PANDORA departed
Gibraltar on the 29th to join the oiler and act as an
anti
raider escort.
Operation PEDESTAL was
cancelled on 11 April and
oiler CAIRNDALE and submarine PANDORA returned to
Gibraltar, arriving on 17 April.
_____
Destroyer VELOX departed
Gibraltar to join
destroyer WRESTLER to escort light cruiser SHEFFIELD,
destroyers NAPIER and
NIZAM, aircraft carrier ARGUS, submarine depot ship
MAIDSTONE, and troopship
HIGHLAND MONARCH to Gibraltar.
_____
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
arrived at Capetown.
_____
Minelayer KUNG WO laid
mines lines of a minefield
off Singapore.
Thursday,
27 March
Light cruisers NIGERIA and
FIJI departed
Scapa Flow at 1644
for Iceland Faroes passage duty.
The cruisers were diverted
on the 28th to join
battlecruiser HOOD.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
POZARICA arrived at Scapa Flow to operate under the
orders of Rear Admiral
Destroyers, Home Fleet.
_____
Submarine TRIBUNE departed
Halifax escorting convoy HX.117.
The submarine returned to
Halifax after this duty on 15 April with engine defects.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) O. F.
Wheatley RNVR, and P/T/Sub Lt
(A) R. B. Hodgetts RNVR, of 807 Squadron from aircraft
carrier FURIOUS were
taken prisoners by the French when they landed at Dakar
after a reconnaissance flight.
_____
Sub Lt P. J. Hoad, in a
Whitley of RAF 78 Squadron
from Dishforth, was killed when his aircraft was shot
down over the River
Schelde.
_____
British A/Leading Airman
G. J. B. Kendall was
killed when his Battle of 1 SFTS Netheravon crashed in
fog at Shrewton RLG.
Petty Officer H. J. Craig was also killed in the crash.
_____
British depot ship ALECTO
of the 7th Submarine
Flotilla was damaged by the direct hit of a German bomb
at the entrance to
the English Channel.
_____
U.98 sank British steamer
KORANTON (6695grt) in
59N, 27W.
_____
British tanker CANADOLITE
(11,309grt) was taken in
prize by a German raider in 5N, 33W.
_____
British steamer MEG
MERRILIES (642grt) was badly damaged by German
bombing one mile south of St Govan's Light Vessel.
There were no casualties
on the steamer.
The ship was taken in tow.
After the tow parted on
the 27th, the vessel was abandoned and sank.
_____
British trawler KINCLAVEN
(178grt) was sunk to an
unknown cause off the Faroes.
_____
British salvage vessel
PALMSTONE (430grt) was
damaged by German bombing two miles southeast of St
Govan's Light Vessel.
The vessel was beached at
Milford Haven. She was
later towed off and docked at Pembroke.
_____
British trawler FORT
DEE
(212grt) was damaged by German bombing in 61-31N, 5-04W.
_____
Dutch steamer ALIOTH
(5483grt) was damaged by
mining in 53-36N, 0-24E.
The steamer returned to
Hull.
_____
Dutch steamer OUD
BEIJERLAND (396grt) was damaged
by German bombing three miles south of St Govan.
The steamer arrived
Milford Dock on the 31st.
_____
Convoy OG.57 departed
Liverpool escorted by
destroyers CALDWELL, VALOROUS, VOLUNTEER, WALKER,
WOLSEY, and WOOLSTON, sloop
ABERDEEN, corvettes BLUEBELL, HYDRANGEA, and TULIP, and
anti-submarine
trawler LADY HOGARTH.
All, except sloop ABERDEEN
and trawler LADY HOGARTH, were detached on 1
April.
Dutch submarine O.23
joined the convoy on 3 April.
On 11 April, the convoy
arrived at Gibraltar with sloop ABERDEEN, trawler LADY
HOGARTH, and submarine O.23.
_____
Italian battleship VENETO
with her destroyers crossed the Straits of Messina
and was joined by heavy cruisers TRIESTE, TRENTO, and
BOLZANO of the 3rd Cruiser Division escorted by
destroyers
CORAZZIERE, CARABINIERE, and ASCARI of the 12th
Destroyer Division.
At 1000, the 1st Cruiser
Division and escorts
joined the VENETO force.
At 1100, the 8th Cruiser
Division and escorts
joined the VENETO force.
The VENETO force, under
the overall command of Admiral
Iachino, was to sail in company until about 2000 which
would bring them to the
longitude of Crete. The 1st and 8th Cruiser Divisions,
designated
Force Z under Admiral Cattaneo, would go into the Aegean to the longitude of the eastern most end of
Crete arriving about 0800/28th. Then Force Z would return to the
VENETO arriving bout 1500
about ninety miles southwest of
Navarino.
Battleship VENETO and the
3rd Cruiser Division were to go to a point
twenty miles west of Gavdos and if no contact was made
by 0800/28th to turn
back on the course.
At 1220, Italian heavy
cruiser TRIESTE sighted a British Sunderland seaplane
which
sighted and reported Sansonetti's 3rd Cruiser Division.
The 1st and 8th Cruiser
Divisions proceeded towards
the Aegean at 1900 and the battleship VENETO and the 3rd
Cruiser Division set off towards
Gavdos. However, at 2200, the Supermarina ordered the
1st and 8th Cruiser
Divisions to rejoin the VENETO
force and go no further.
The British Mediterranean
Fleet departed Alexandria in response to the Sutherland
sighted of the
Italian 3rd Cruiser Division. Cunningham departed
Alexandria at 1900 with battleships WARSPITE, VALIANT,
and
BARHAM, aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE, destroyers JERVIS,
JANUS, MOHAWK,
NUBIAN, GREYHOUND, and GRIFFIN
of the 14th Destroyer Flotilla and destroyers STUART,
HAVOCK, and HOTSPUR of
the 10th Destroyer Flotilla.
Pridham Wipple was at sea
in the Aegean covering
convoys AG.8 with light cruisers GLOUCESTER, AJAX,
ORION, and PERTH and destroyers HEREWARD and VENDETTA.
The force
was joined by destroyers ILEX and HASTY of the 2nd
Destroyer Flotilla at
0630/28th.
The cruisers and destroyer
VENDETTA were ordered to
patrol Kithera Channel.
Destroyers JUNO, JAGUAR,
and DEFENDER departed Piraeus as Force D.to patrol the
Kithera Straits from dawn
on the 28th.
On 29 March, the Kithera
Straits patrol was ceased.
Destroyers JUNO and JAGUAR joined the Battle Force.
Destroyer
DEFENDER was detached to Suda Bay
for escort duties.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
BONAVENTURE had very little
ammunition, but she did possess radar. The cruiser and
destroyers DECOY and WATERHEN
departed Alexandria on the 28th to join the Battle
Force.
Anti-aircraft ship
CARLISLE was at Suda Bay.
Submarines ROVER and
TRIUMPH were on patrol in the Aegean.
_____
Convoy HX.117 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser RAJPUTANA,
destroyers ST CROIX, corvette COLLINGWOOD and submarine
TRIBUNE. The
destroyer and the corvette were detached on the 29th.
The submarine was
detached on 6 April. Destroyer NIAGARA joined on
9 April and was detached later that day. On 10 April,
destroyers ACHATES,
BOADICEA, COLUMBIA, MONTGOMERY, ST CLAIR, ST FRANCIS,
WANDERER and
corvettes MARIGOLD and TRILLIUM. Destroyers ACHATES,
BOADICEA, and ST FRANCIS
were detached on 14 April. The remainder of the escort
was detached when the
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 15 April.
Friday,
28 March
Destroyer BOADICEA
departed Scapa Flow at 0800 for Greenock to join the Western Approaches.
The destroyer arrived at
0700/29th.
_____
Destroyer LIDDESDALE
departed Scapa Flow at 1800 to meet steamer AMSTERDAM at
0200 off Aberdeen.
The steamer was escorted
to Lerwick, where they
arrived at 1330/29th. The destroyer stood by to escort
the steamer on its
return to Aberdeen.
The two ships departed at
2200 for Aberdeen. The ships parted company off Aberdeen
at 1000/30th and destroyer LIDDESDALE arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 1600.
_____
Convoy OB.303 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers AMBUSCADE, BULLDOG,
OURAGAN, VANQUISHER, and VETERAN, corvettes AMARANTHUS,
CAMPANULA, FREESIA,
HEARTSEASE, and PIMPERNEL, and anti-submarine trawlers
NOTTS
COUNTY and ST APOLLO. Corvettes PIMPERNEL was detached later that day and
destroyer OURAGAN on the 30th. Destroyer RESTIGOUCHE
joined the escort on 1
April for the day. Destroyers AMBUSCADE and VANQUISHER
were detached on 2
April. The escort was detached on 3 April when the
convoy was dispersed.
_____
British flying boat depot
ship MANELA departed Greenock at 0919, escorted by Canadian destroyer RESTIGOUCHE, for Sullom Voe.
Dutch cruiser HEEMSKERK
departed Greenock at 1000 and joined the escort.
Destroyer AVON VALE
departed Scapa Flow at 0900/30th to join depot ship
MANELA fifteen
miles west of Cape Wrath at 1400. The destroyer provided
escort to Sullom
Voe.
Destroyer AVON VALE had
completed her working up
and was transferred to the Western Approaches.
Destroyers ECHO and ACTIVE
departed Scapa Flow at 2100/31st for
Sullom Voe, where they arrived at 0700 on 1 April.
The destroyers departed at
1600 with depot ship
MANELA, Dutch cruiser HEEMSKERK, and Canadian destroyer
RESTIGOUCHE for
Hvalfjord.
On arrival at Hvalfjord at
0800 on 5 April, the
Destroyers came under the direction of Flag Officer
Iceland to escort cruisers in and out of Hvalfjord.
Destroyer RESTIGOUCHE
returned to Greenock after the escort duty.
_____
Destroyers INTREPID,
ICARUS, and IMPULSIVE,
escorted by destroyers KELLY, KASHMIR, KELVIN,
and JACKAL, laid minefield GX in the English Channel.
_____
Submarine CACHALOT, which
departed the Clyde on the 21st, laid mines off
Bayonne in minefield FD
32.
_____
Norwegian submarine B.1
was damaged in a collision
with anti-submarine trawler LADY ELSA (518grt) near
Campbeltown.
_____
To man escort ships
transferred from the United States, battleship
RESOLUTION at Portsmouth was ordered to provide 15
officers and 34 ratings
and battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH at Scapa Flow 27
officers and 26 ratings.
In addition, battleship
MALAYA, under repair at New York, provided officers and ratings to man these ships.
_____
British steamer OLIVINE
(929grt) was lost to
unknown cause in the Irish
Sea or Bristol Channel.
_____
British trawler KESTREL
(75grt) was near missed by
German bombing north of North Lundy Light.
The vessel was beached on
Lundy
Island on the 29th. Heavy weather pounded the ship and she became a total
loss.
_____
British steamer
STAFFORDSHIRE (10,683grt) was
damaged by German bombing in 59-30N, 10-18W.
Fourteen crew and fourteen
passengers were lost.
The steamer was beached at
Loch Ewe on the 29th. On
23 April, the steamer sailed for the Tyne.
_____
Dutch steamer ANTWERPEN
(364grt) was sunk by German
bombing in 51-16N, 4-21W.
Three of the crew were
lost.
_____
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
experienced engine room problems prior to the
battle, but they were corrected before Pridham Wipple
engaged Iachino.
Australian destroyer
VENDETTA had an engine room
breakdown and was ordered to Alexandria.
Three Albacores and two
Swordfish of 829 Squadron
were launched from aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE for an
afternoon strike on the
Italian force.
Lt Cdr J. Dalyell-Stead,
Lt R. H. Cooke DSC, and
Petty Officer Airman G. L. Blenkhorn of 829 Squadron
were lost during an
afternoon strike on the Italian battleship VITTORIO
VENETO.
The battleship was hit,
but was able to proceed.
An Albacore of 829
Squadron ditched southeast of Antikithera Island after the torpedo attack. Destroyer
JUNO rescued Sub Lt G. P.
C. Williams, Sub Lt G. L.
Davis, and Leading Airman Booth.
Aircraft carrier
FORMIDABLE launched six Albacores
of 826 Squadron and two Swordfish of 829 Squadron. Two
Swordfish of the 815
Squadron joined from Maleme. The aircraft torpedoed that
evening heavy
cruiser POLA.
The heavy cruiser was left
dead in the water.
Returning to Maleme, one
of the Swordfish of 815
Squadron force landed in Suda Bay
and its crew of Lt M. A. Torrens-Spence and Sub Lt P.
Winter were rescued.
Battleship VENETO and
heavy cruisers TRIESTE, TRENTO, and BOLZANO proceeded to
Taranto.
Heavy cruisers ZARA and
FIUME with destroyers GIOBERTI, ALFIERI, ORIANI, and CARDUCCI were ordered
to assist heavy cruiser POLA.
Shadowing the Italian
Fleet, a Swordfish of 826
Squadron from FORMIDABLE failed to find Maleme on its
return and forced
landed in Suda Bay.
Its crew of Sub Lt D. W. Phillips, Sub Lt G. Dormand,
and Leading Airman A.
Japp were picked up by trawler MOONSTONE.
The POLA group is detected
by British radar. The
group is attacked and all three heavy cruisers and
destroyers ALFIERI and
CARDUCCI are sunk by British gunfire. Destroyer ORIANI
is damaged. Only
destroyer GIOBERTI escaped damage.
Three thousand men,
including Admiral Cattaneo,
were lost.
Seven
Greek destroyers
(QUEEN OLGA, HYDRA, PSARA, KONDOURIOTIS, AETOS, IERAX, LEON, and PANTHER_____*two of
these destroyers did not
participate as they arrived in Alexandria on the 23rd on
escort duties) proceeded through
the Corinth Canal to await orders to join Cunningham. The order was never sent the they
spent the battle cruising between Cephalania and Zante.
Due to an error in
deciphering, the Greek message
stating they were awaiting "orders" was read as awaiting
"oilers. "
Fifty five officers and
850 men are rescued by
destroyers and the Greek destroyers.
Italian hospital ship
GRADISCA rescued 13 officers
and 147 men later.
_____
Convoy AN.23 of six Greek
and seven British
departed Alexandria escorted by destroyer HERO and
corvette SALVIA.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY joined convoy AN.23.
Destroyer DECOY joined the
convoy on the 29th. The
convoy arrived at Piraeus on 1 April.
_____
A convoy of steamers ADANA
(4205grt), SAMOS (2576grt), RUHR (5954grt),
GALILEA (8040grt), and HERAKLEA
(1927grt) departed Naples escorted by destroyers
FOLGORE, DARDO, and STRALE
for Tripoli.
Submarine UTMOST off
Kerkenah sank German steamer
HERAKLEA and damaged German steamer RUHR twenty two
miles south east of Kuriat.
Steamer RUHR returned to Trapani with
destroyer DARDO and assisted by torpedo boats
CIRCE, SAGITTARIO, and ALCIONE and two MAS boats while
the rest of the convoy proceeded to Tripoli, arriving on
the 30th, with steamer GALILEA, which
was straggling.
Submarine UPRIGHT
torpedoed and severely damaged
steamer GALILEA on the 31st in 33-38N, 12-40E. The
convoy departed Tripoli to
return on 2 April with steamers ANKARA (4768grt),
KYBFELS (7764grt), MARBURG
(7564grt), and REICHENFELS (7744grt), and GALILEA
(8040grt), escorted by
destroyers VIVALDI, DA NOLI, and MALOCELLO.
The convoy arrived at
Naples on 4 April.
_____
Rear Admiral G. W.
Hallifax, GMC?? (ret), Director
of the Seaward Defense Force, was killed in an air crash
at Capetown.
Saturday,
29 March
Minelayer ABDIEL, escorted
by destroyers KELLY, KASHMIR, KELVIN, and JACKAL, laid mines in minefield GY in the
English Channel.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Scapa Flow at 1130 to meet convoy WN.5 in the
Pentland Firth. She provided cover to this convoy until
meeting
convoy EN.93 off Buchan Ness at 2300, continuing with it
until Pentland Firth.
Ship CURACOA arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1430/30th.
_____
British barge EMMA (81grt)
was lost and steamer
GRENAA (1262grt) was damaged on mines at Rotherhithe.
There were no casualties
on the barge.
The stern was blown off
the barge. She was grounded
and considered not repairable.
On steamer GRENAA, four
crew were killed and three
crew missing from a nineteen man crew.
Steamer GRENAA was
temporarily repaired on the
beach at North Woolwich. She was later drydocked.
_____
British tanker OILTRADER
(5550grt) was sunk by
German bombing 52-34N, 2-01E.
The entire crew was
rescued.
_____
German tanker NORDMARK
replenished U.105 and U.106
at sea.
_____
U.48 made attacks on
convoy HX.115.
British steamer GERMANIC
(5352grt) was sunk in
61-18N, 22-05W.
Five crew were lost on the
steamer.
Belgian steamer LIMBOURG
(2483grt) was sunk in
61-18N, 22-05W.
There were only two
survivors from the Belgian
steamer.
British tanker ATHELPRINCE
(8782grt) was attacked,
but not damaged.
British steamer EASTLEA
(4267grt) was sunk in the North Atlantic.
British steamer HYLTON
(5197grt) was sunk in
60-20N, 18-10W.
The entire crew were
rescued.
_____
U.46 sank Swedish steamer
LIGURIA (1751grt) from convoy OB.302 in 60N, 29W.
The steamer had sailed in
convoy OG.56, but became
a straggler. The steamer later joined convoy OB.302.
Eighteen crew were missing
and one died of wounds.
Ten survivors from the steamer were rescued and arrived
at Liverpool.
_____
Yugoslavian steamer DUBAC
(2880grt) was seized by
Italian authorities on the steamer's arrival at Genoa.
_____
British trawler KIMBERLEY
(190grt) was sunk by German bombing near 62D Boy,
twenty two miles southeast of Flamborough Head.
The entire crew of the
trawler were rescued.
_____
British trawler EXETER
(165grt) was sunk by German bombing five miles
southwest of Ballycotton.
The entire crew of the
trawler were lost.
_____
British trawler HORACE E.
NUTTEN (209grt) was lost
to a cause unknown in Moray
Firth.
_____
Norwegian steamer VENI
(2982grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 59-11N, 10-11W.
The steamer was repaired
at Grangemouth.
_____
Italian battleship VENETO,
damaged by a British torpedo plane, arrived at Taranto.
_____
Lt C. W. R. Peever and Sub
Lt A. C. Wallace RNVR,
of 803 Squadron shot down a German Ju.88 near aircraft
carrier FORMIDABLE.
Wallace's Fulmar was
damaged in the encounter and
landed in the sea. Wallace and Leading Airman F. P.
Dooley were picked up by
destroyer HASTY.
_____
Light cruiser AJAX and
Australian light cruiser PERTH were detached from the
Fleet to cover LUSTRE
convoys in the Aegean.
_____
Anti-aircraft cruiser
BONAVENTURE and destroyers
DECOY and WATERHEN joined the Battle Force.
Cruiser BONAVENTURE was
detached to convoy GA.8 to
arrive at daylight on the 30th.
Destroyer DECOY joined
convoy AN.23.
Destroyer WATERHEN
returned to Alexandria.
_____
Destroyers STUART,
GRIFFIN, and HEREWARD were detached to Piraeus and
departed later that day with convoy GA.8 of
supply ship BRECONSHIRE and British steamers CAMERONIA
(16,287grt). The
convoy arrived at Alexandria on the 31st.
_____
Destroyers DEFENDER and
HASTY were sent to Suda Bay
to escort damaged MARIE MAERSK (8271grt) and British
steamer DUMANA (8427grt)
to Piraeus.
_____
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD,
aircraft carrier ARGUS,
submarine depot ship MAIDSTONE, troopship HIGHLAND
MONARCH, and destroyers
NAPIER, NIZAM, WRESTLER, and VELOX arrived at Gibraltar.
_____
Convoy SL.70 departed
Freetown escorted by light cruiser DRAGON to 31 March,
corvette CALENDULA to 4 April, and anti-submarine
trawlers KELT and PICT to 4
April. Armed merchant cruiser BULOLO relieved cruiser
DRAGON on the 31st and
continued to 19 April.
Light cruiser BIRMINGHAM
joined on 5 April and escorted to 20 April. Ocean
boarding vessel MARSDALE joined on the 19th to 23 April.
Destroyers BEAGLE to 23
April, HARVESTER for day
only, ST FRANCIS to 23 April, and WINCHELSEA for day
only, corvettes HEATHER,
HEPATICA, ORCHIS, and WINDFLOWER for the day only joined
on 20 April. The
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 23 April.
_____
Light cruiser DANAE
arrived at Penang.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER departed Mauritius.
_____
American heavy cruiser
VINCENNES arrived Simonstown from Pernambuco, having
departed on the 17th. The cruiser departed the next day
for New York with a large gold bullion shipment. The
cruiser
arrived in New
York on 16
April.
Sunday,
30 March
Destroyer ECHO arrived at
Scapa Flow from Rosyth on completion of boiler cleaning.
_____
Convoy OB.304 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers CHELSEA, HAVELOCK,
HESPERUS, HURRICANE, and VIVIEN sloop SCARBOROUGH, and
corvettes ARBUTUS and CONVOLVULUS. Destroyers
VERITY and WOLVERINE joined on 1 April. On 3 April,
destroyers HAVELOCK, HESPERUS, HURRICANE, VERITY, and
VIVIEN were
detached. The remainder of the escort was detached on 4
April when the convoy
dispersed.
_____
After repairs of her
collision of 23 December
1940, anti-aircraft ship ALYNBANK
departed Rosyth escorting convoy EN.93 A.
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK arrived at Scapa Flow at 0730 on 1 April.
_____
Battlecruiser HOOD and
light cruisers NIGERIA and FIJI were patrolling the UK
to Gibraltar convoy
route.
_____
U.69 sank British steamer
COULTARN (3759grt) from
convoy OB.302 in 60-18N, 29-28W.
Three crew were lost on
the steamer.
_____
U.124 sank British steamer
UMONA (3767grt) ninety
miles southwest of Freetown.
Eighty three crew, two
gunners, and fifteen passengers
were lost on the steamer.
_____
British trawler NISUS
(210grt) was lost to an
unknown cause in Faroese waters.
_____
The British Mediterranean
Fleet arrived at Alexandria after the Battle of Matapan.
Battleships WARSPITE,
BARHAM, and VALIANT, aircraft
carrier FORMIDABLE, light cruisers ORION and GLOUCESTER,
and destroyers JERVIS, JUNO, JANUS, JAGUAR, NUBIAN,
MOHAWK, GREYHOUND, ILEX,
HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK arrived at Alexandria at 1730/30th.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL sank
German steamer LAURA CORRADO
(3645grt) in 38-45N, 12-20E forty miles north of
Trapani.
_____
A French convoy of six
steamers, escorted by
destroyer SIMOUN, departed Casablanca for Oran.
In Operation RATION, light
cruiser SHEFFIELD and
destroyers FAULKNOR, FURY, FEARLESS, and FORESTER
departed Gibraltar to
intercept French convoy K.42 which was comprised of
French steamer BANGKOK
(8056grt), thought to be carrying 3000 tons of rubber,
AZROU, CAP VARELLA, and SAN DIEGO, escorted by destroyer
SIMOUN. The convoy
had departed Casablanca on the 28th for Oran.
Destroyer FEARLESS was
unable to board the steamer
when the French ships took cover under the French
coastal battery at Nemours.
Returning to Gibraltar,
light cruiser SHEFFIELD was damaged by a near miss from
French bombing.
The damage from this
incident and the mining of 17
March required five days repair.
Destroyer FORESTER was
damaged by the bombing.
The destroyer was repaired
in four weeks at Gibraltar.
_____
Destroyer HIGHLANDER
arrived at Gibraltar for duty with Force H and later in
the South Atlantic.
_____
Submarine depot ship
MAIDSTONE assumed responsibity for the 8th Submarine
Flotilla at Gibraltar, replacing PIGMY, which was paid
off on 1 April.
_____
Convoy SC.27 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser SALOPIAN and
destroyers BUXTON and ST
CROIX. The destroyers
were detached the next day and the armed merchant
cruiser on 12 April. On 13
April, destroyers KEPPEL and VENOMOUS, corvettes
DIANELLA, KINGCUP, and
SUNFLOWER, and anti-submarine yacht PHILANTE joined.
Destroyer LINCOLN joined
on 15 April. On 17 April, destroyer KEPPEL and corvette
KINGCUP were
detached. The remainder of the escort was detached when
the convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 18 April.
_____
Minesweepers ABERDARE and
HARROW departed Bombay for Alexandria
and duty with the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Italian steamer PIAVE
(7565grt) departed Massawa
and proceeded to Assab.
Monday,
31 March
Light cruisers DIDO and
AURORA arrived at Scapa Flow from patrol in the
Faroes-Iceland Channel.
_____
Battleship KING GEORGE V,
escorted by destroyers
COSSACK, MAORI, and ZULU, arrived at Scapa Flow at 1416
from escorting convoy HX.115.
_____
Destroyers INTREPID,
ICARUS, and IMPULSIVE,
escorted by destroyers KELLY, KASHMIR, KELVIN,
and JACKAL, laid minefield GZ in the English Channel.
_____
Minesweeping trawler LORD
SELBORNE (247grt,
T/Skipper F. Watkinson RNR) was sunk by mining three
miles 102° from Spurn
Head Port War Signal Station.
Watkinson, T/Lt J. G.
Browne RNR, and fifteen ratings were lost in the
trawler.
_____
U.46 sank Swedish tanker
CASTOR (8714grt) in
57-59N, 32-08W.
Fifteen crew from the
tanker were lost.
_____
British steam drifter
HELPMATE (76grt) was lost to
an unknown cause off Newlyn, Cornwall.
_____
British trawler ONTARIO
(208grt) was sunk by German bombing in 60-15N,
11-00W.
The entire crew of the
trawler were rescued.
_____
British trawler RATTRAY
(182grt) was damaged by
German bombing two miles southeast by east of Hook
Point.
_____
Yugoslavian steamer UNA
(1397grt) was seized by Italian authorities on the
steamer's arrival at Genoa.
_____
Light cruiser BONAVENTURE
(Captain H. J. Egerton)
was escorting convoy GA.8 since 30 March with
anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers HEREWARD, GRIFFIN,
and STUART. The convoy was covered by light
cruisers AJAX and PERTH.
Italian submarine DAGABUR
made an attack on light
cruiser BONAVENTURE at 2027 on the 30th.
Italian submarine AMBRA
attacked this convoy at
0244 on the 31st and sank light cruiser BONAVENTURE in
33-20N, 26-35E and
missed Australian destroyer STUART.
Cdr E. F. Disbrowe, Lt Cdr
C. W. Hope, Lt D. A. C.
Brock, Cdr (E) D. H. Tollenache, Lt (E) R. C. H. D'Oyly,
Lt (E) C. W. Russ,
Surgeon Lt Cdr J. W. Oliver, MRCS, LRCP, Surgeon Lt (D)
F. P. Ewens, Lt E. G.
Ott RNR, Paymaster Cdr W. S. A. Stapley, Paymaster Lt E.
S. Ellis RNR, Gunner L. H. Wilson, Warrant Shipwright J.
J.
Grose, Warrant Engineer J. S. Kanavan, Warrant Engineer
R. W. Ley,
T/A/Warrant Electrician W. Widdowson, Captain J. O. G.
Hayter, RM, T/Sub Lt
E. R. Gould RNVR, T/Sub Lt D. H. Robb, RCNVR, T/Sub Lt
A. Norman RNVR,
T/Electrician Sub Lt A. A. J. Leach RNVR, T/Paymaster
Sub Lt G. Williams
RNVR, A/Paymaster Sub Lt D. A. Eden, RCNVR, and 115
ratings were lost on the
cruiser.
Destroyer STUART made
anti-submarine attacks.
Destroyers HEREWARD and
STUART rescued the 310
survivors from the cruiser. Destroyer HEREWARD arrived
at Alexandria with the survivors at 1300.
Destroyers STUART and
GRIFFIN arrived with the convoy at Alexandria at 1600.
_____
Destroyer GREYHOUND
departed Alexandria and joined destroyer GRIFFIN of the
GA.8 escort and proceeded to Port Said.
These destroyers were to
be based at Suez to counter the threat of attack by the
Italian
destroyers at Massawa.
Gunboats APHIS and GNAT
were stationed at Suez on this same duty.
_____
Italian submarine PIER
CAPPONI was sunk by
submarine RORQUAL south of Stromboli in 38-42N, 15-12E.
_____
A Swordfish of 815
Squadron from Maleme ditched off
Kithera
Island. Lt (A) E. D. J. R. L. Whatley and P/Midshipman (A) F. T. C.
Wallington RNVR, were rescued.
_____
Italian destroyers LEON,
PANTERA, and TIGRE departed Massawa to bombard the port
of Suez.
LEON ran aground near
Massawa on 1 April and PANTERA
and TIGRE scuttled her with gunfire. The two destroyers
then
returned to Massawa.
_____
Italian steamer FELLA
(6072grt) was scuttled at
Punta Arenas.
_____
Italian tankers JOLE
FASSIO (5169grt) and TROTTIERA
(6205grt) were scuttled at Puerto Cabello. JOLE
FASSIO was later salved by the US as ALCIBIADES.
_____
Convoy HX.118 departed
Halifax escorted by armed merchant cruiser WOLFE. On 3
April, battleship RAMILLIES and submarine SURCOUF were
with the convoy. The
submarine was detached on 9 April and the battleship on
10 April. On 13
April, destroyers CALDWELL, RAMSEY, RIPLEY, VOLUNTEER,
and WALKER and corvettes KINGCUP and TULIP joined the
escort.
The corvettes were with the convoy for that day only.
The armed merchant
cruiser and destroyer RAMSEY were detached on 14 April.
The escort was
detached with the convoy arrived at Liverpool on 18
April.
March,
miscellaneous
Through February and
March, light cruiser DIOMEDE
and armed merchant cruiser PRINCE HENRY were stationed
off Callao, Peru to keep watch on four
German merchant ships holed
up in the port. DIOMEDE was called
away on the 16th.
_____
8th Submarine Flotilla was
formed at Gibraltar with submarines CLYDE, SEVERN, OSIRIS and the Dutch
O.23 and O.24.
