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
Tuesday,
15 April
Light cruiser EDINBURGH,
which had been on escort
duties since 25 March, arrived at Scapa Flow after
convoy SL.69 duties.
_____
Destroyer ACHATES departed
Greenock at 0840 for Scapa
Flow. En route at 1400,
the destroyer was diverted to Loch Alsh where she
arrived at 0015/16th.
The destroyer departed
Loch Alsh at 1245/16th and
arrived at Scapa Flow at 2100.
_____
Destroyer TARTAR departed
Scapa Flow at 1945 for Rosyth, escorting depot ship
GREENWICH.
Both ships arrived at
Methil at 1900/16th. The destroyer
stood by to provide Anti-aircraft protection.
Destroyer TARTAR arrived
back at Scapa Flow at 1600/17th.
_____
Destroyer BATH departed
Sheerness at 1146 for Scapa Flow for working up.
During the night, the
destroyer was involved in a
collision with an unknown merchant ship five miles north
of No.20 Buoy and
was diverted to the Tyne for repairs, arriving at
0720/16th.
Repairs were completed at
Hebburn on 19 May.
_____
Italian submarine TAZZOLI
sank British steamer AURILLAC
(4733grt) in 37-09N, 18-42W. One crewman was lost on the
steamer.
Ocean boarding vessel
CAMITO located wreckage, but
did not locate any survivors.
_____
Tug AQUILA (59grt)
sunk by German bombing in Alexandra Dock, Hull.
Convoy OG.59 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyers BEAGLE, COLUMBIA, and ST FRANCIS, sloop
SANDWICH, corvettes HEATHER, HEPATICA, ORCHIS, TRILLIUM, and WINDFLOWER.
Corvettes COLUMBINE and
GARDENIA joined on the
17th.
The destroyers and the
earlier corvettes were detached
on the 20th.
On the 24th, Dutch
submarine O.24 joined the convoy
escort and on the 28th, Anti-submarine trawler ST
WISTAN.
The corvettes were
detached before the convoy
arrived at Gibraltar and arrived the day after the
convoy, and arrived
at Gibraltar on the 28th, escorted by anti-submarine
trawler ST
WISTAN and submarine O.24. Sloop SANDWICH, which
was separated in bad weather, arrived later.
_____
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
and destroyer HASTY departed Alexandria.
These ships bombarded
Italian motor transport at
Capuzzo and Bardia early on the 16th.
_____
Destroyer DECOY departed
Alexandria for Tobruk to carry out a special raiding
operation with gunboat LADYBIRD during the night of
16/17 April.
_____
Gunboat LADYBIRD bombarded
Gazala.
_____
The destroyers JERVIS,
JANUS, MOHAWK, and NUBIAN
departed Malta at 1800 for a shipping sweep off Kerkenah
Bank.
_____
Destroyer GREYHOUND joined
the Inshore Squadron.
During the night of 15/16
April, the destroyer
joined destroyer VENDETTA for a sweep along the
Cyrenaican coast.
_____
British steamers GOALPARA
(5314grt) and QUILOA
(7765grt) was sunk by German bombing in Eleusis
Bay,
Piraeus.
The ships were beached and
the crews from both
ships were rescued.
Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH
departed Gibraltar for Freetown, escorted by destroyers
VELOX, WRESTLER, and FURY.
_____
Convoy HG.59 departed
Gibraltar escorted by sloop ENCHANTRESS, corvettes
GENTIAN,
GERANIUM, and JONQUIL, and Dutch submarine O.24.
Included in this convoy
was French ship PLM 13, which was captured on 18
February.
On the 22nd, corvetes
GENTIAN and JONQUIL were
detached, on the 23rd, corvette GERANIUM and submarine
O.24.
Destroyers KEPPEL and
SABRE, corvette KINGCUP, and
anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSA, NORTHERN DAWN, and
WELLARD joined the
convoy on the 27th, and arrived at Liverpool on 1
May.
_____
French submarines ACTEON,
FRESNEL, and HENRI
POINCARE, which departed Toulon on the 10th and Oran on
the 14th, passed
Gibraltar en route to Casablanca, where they arrived on
the 16th, escorted by
torpedo boat LA BATAILLEUSE.
_____
Italian steamers LUCIANA
(3329grt) and STAMPALIA
(1228grt) were sunk by British air bombing at Valona.
Sub Lt (A) W. C. Sarra and
A/Sub Lt (A) J. Bowker
of 815 Squadron, operating from Paramythia, were shot
down and made prisoners
of war.
Wednesday,
16 April
Light cruiser NAIAD
arrived at Scapa Flow after refitting in the Tyne.
_____
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS,
under repair at Belfast, was damaged by German bombing.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed
Scapa Flow to join steamers AMSTERDAM and ARCHANGEL off Aberdeen at 2130
and escort them to Lerwick and Scapa Flow, respectively.
The destroyer and steamer
AMSTERDAM arrived at Lerwick at 1050/17th. They departed
again at 2000 for Aberdeen.
Destroyer ANTHONY departed
Scapa Flow at 0030/18th to relieve destroyer SOMALI.
Destroyer SOMALI arrived back at Scapa Flow at
1500/18th.
Destroyer ANTHONY parted
company with the steamer
off Aberdeen at 0730 and arrived back at Scapa Flow at
1500.
Destroyer ARROW departed
Scapa Flow at 2000/18th to escort steamer ARCHANGEL to
Aberdeen.
The steamer was detached
off Aberdeen and destroyer ARROW arrived back at Scapa
Flow at 1200/19th.
_____
Convoy OB.311 departed
liverpool, escorted by
anti-submarine NORTHERN SPRAY. The convoy was joined on
the 17th by corvette
MALLOW and on the 18th by corvette VIOLET and
minesweepers NIGER and SPEEDWELL. Destroyers MALCOLM,
SCIMITAR, and
WATCHMAN joined on the 19th. Corvette MALLOW and the
trawler was detached on
the 20th. On the 22nd, destroyer SCIMITAR and the
minesweepers were detached.
The remainder of the escorte was detached on the 25th
when the convoy
dispersed.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Methil and
joined convoy EC.7 off May Island.
the ship arrived at Scapa
Flow at 0500/17th after this duty.
_____
British steamer SWEDRU
(5379grt) was badly damaged
by German bombing in 55-21N, 12-50W.
Seventeen crew and seven
passengers were lost.
The steamer was sunk by HM
ship on the 19th.
_____
British steamers ANGELESEA
ROSE (1151grt) and AMIENS (1548grt) and Norwegian
steamer BOLETTE (1167grt)
were sunk by German bombing in 50-25N, 5-35W.
There were no casualties
on either British steamer.
Eight crew were missing on the Norwegian steamer.
_____
Norwegian steamer FAVORIT
(2826grt) was sunk by
German bombing in 60-06N, 8-31W. The entire crew were
rescued.
_____
British trawler KING
ATHELSTAN (159grt) was damaged
by German bombing three miles off Ballinskelligs.
The trawler was beached
with hull damage. She was
temporarily repaired and was able to proceed under her
own steam.
_____
German tanker NORDMARK
replenished Italian
submarines ARCHIMEDE, GUGLIEMOTTI, and FERRARIS at sea
on 16 and 17 April
_____
A German Afrika Korps
supply convoy of German
steamers ANDANA (4205grt), AEGINA (2447grt), ARTA
(2452grt), and ISERLOHN
(3704grt) and Italian steamer SABAUDIA (1590grt)
departed Naples escorted by
destroyers LAMPO, TARIGO, and BALENO on the 13th.
The British 14th Destroyer
Flotilla sighted this
convoy off Kerkenah at 0158 on the 16th and attacked at
0210.
The entire convoy and all
three destroyers were
sunk in 34-53N, 9-50E.
Destroyer MOHAWK was
torpedoed by Italian destroyer
TARIGO.
Lt Cdr (E) J. R. de M.
Warren, sub Lt P. J. Hartcup, and thirty nine ratings
were lost on destroyer MOHAWK. Cdr Eaton and one hundred
and sixty crew were
rescued. Destroyer NUBIAN picked up survivors from the
water. Destroyer
JERVIS took two men from destroyer MOHAWK's fo'c'sle.
Destroyer was scuttled by
destroyer JANUS with
gunfire.
Italian destroyers VIVALDI
and DA NOLI arrived and
picked up survivors.
When the threat of
continued attack by British
units arose, light cruiser BANDE NERE and other units
(BARBIANO and DI
GUISSANO ??) departed Palermo
to cover rescue operations.
Over the next seven days,
destroyers VIVALDI, DA
NOLI, MALOCELLO, and DARDO, torpedo boats CIGNO, CLIO,
CENTAURO, MISSORI,
PAPA, PERSEO, and PARTENOPE, hospital ships ARNO and
GIUSEPPE ORLANDO, and
rescue aircraft rescued 1248 troops (3000 had been
aboard the ships).
_____
British troopships
GLENGYLE and GLENEARN departed Alexandria at 0300/16th
escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers STUART, WRYNECK, and VOYAGER for a raid by special
troops on Bardia.
Submarine TRIUMPH had
sailed on the 15th to act as
a beacon for the operation.
After dark, Anti-aircraft
cruiser CARLISLE departed this force to join convoy AN.27.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY departed Alexandria on the 16th to join the
force at daylight on the
17th.
This operation was to be
conducted during the night
of 16/17 April, but was cancelled due to bad weather.
During the night of 19/20
April, British commandoes
raided Bardia.
The raid was successful,
but sixty seven men lost
their way and were left behind. The remainder of the
force were embarked and
returned to Alexandria.
_____
Destroyer DECOY and
gunboat LADYBIRD departed
Tobruk at 1630 for a raid by special troops on Marakeb.
The raid was carried out
during the night of 16/17,
but was unsuccessful.
Destroyer DECOY ran
aground, but was gotten off
without serious damage.
Both ships returned to
Alexandria.
_____
Destroyer HERO, operating
in the Piraeus - Suda Bay
area, was ordered to Kotor to embark the Yugoslavian
King and Government and
the British Minister.
However, the sailing was
cancelled since it was
unknown if Kotor was still in allied hands.
Battlecruiser RENOWN and
aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL
arrived at Gibraltar from Bay of Biscay
patrol.
Escorting destroyer
FEARLESS was fired upon from Algeciras, but was not
damaged.
_____
Swedish steamer SIR ERNEST
CASSELL (7739grt) was
sunk by German raider THOR in 32N, 35W. The entire crew
was taken as
prisoners of war.
_____
Armed boarding vessel
CHAKLA was grounded in a
storm at Suda Bay.
She was towed off by netlayer PROTECTOR.
_____
Greek steamer MEMAS
(4359grt) was sunk by German bombing
at Chalkis.
_____
Convoy HX.121 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser CALIFORNIA
and corvettes CHAMBLY, COLLINGWOOD, and ORILLIA. The
corvettes were detached later that day.
Battleship REVENGE joined the convoy on the 19th and was
detached on the
23rd. Destroyers INGLEFIELD, MALCOLM, MAORI, and
WATCHMAN and corvette VIOLET
joined the convoy on the 25th. Destroyers MAORI and
WATCHMAN and corvette
VIOLET were detached later that day. Destroyers
INGLEFIELD and MALCOLM were
detached on the 28th. The armed merchant cruiser was
detached on the 27th.
Destroyers DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, and ROXBOROUGH,
corvettes GLADIOLUS, LOBELIA, and
VERONICA, and anti-submarine trawlers ST ELSTAN, ST
KENAN, ST ZENO, and
VIZALMA joined on the 28th. Corvette ABELIA joined on
the 29th. On the 30th,
destroyers DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, and ROXBOROUGH, corvette
VERONIA, and the
anti-submarine trawlers were detached. Corvette
GLADIOLUS was detached on 1
May and corvette ABELIA on 2 May. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 3 May.
Thursday,
17 April
Destroyer ECLIPSE departed
Scapa Flow at 1700 to refit at Devonport, arriving at
0900/19th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 1200 to join convoy
WN.15 and escort it to
Methil.
They arrived at Methil at
1400/18th.
_____
Heavy cruiser LONDON and
aircraft carrier ARGUS departed the Clyde for Gibraltar.
The aircraft carrier
carried aircraft for Operation
DUNLOP.
Aircraft carrier ARGUS was
joined on the 22nd by
light cruiser SHEFFIELD and destroyers FAULKNOR and
WRESTLER, which had
departed Gibraltar on the 20th.
The heavy cruiser then
joined convoy SL.71 and
arrived back at Scapa Flow on 1 May.
_____
The German 2nd MTB
Flotilla with S.41, S.42, S.43, S.55, and S.104
made a sortie against Convoy FS 464 off Great Yarmouth.
British steamer EFFRA
(1446grt) was sunk by a
German S-boat near Cross Sand Light Vessel in 52-44N,
1-58E. Two crew were
missing.
Dutch steamer NEREUS
(1298grt) was sunk by a German
S-boat two miles south of No. 5 Buoy, Great Yarmouth.
The crew was rescued.
British steamer ETHEL
RADCLIFFE (5673grt) was
damaged by German S-boat near No. 6 Buoy off Great
Yarmouth.
There were no casualties
on the steamer. The
steamer was towed to Yarmouth
by anti-submarine trawler SAPPHIRE (421grt).
The steamer was sunk on 16
May by German bombing.
The German S-boats were
later engaged by British
MGB.60, MGB.59, and MGB.64 which had sailed in Operation
QE at 1915/16th.
British steamer MONTALTO
(623grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Rochester. The entire crew was
rescued.
_____
U.123 sank Swedish steamer
VENEZUELA (6991grt) in 53N, 18W. The entire crew was
lost.
_____
Destroyer KINGSTON, the
last of the three K destroyers from the Red Sea, arrived at Alexandria to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Destroyer GREYHOUND and
Australian destroyer
VOYAGER carried out a sweep westwards from Tolmeita.
Italian barque ROMAGNA (195grt), carrying bombs and fuel for Derna was sunk.
_____
Submarine TRUANT, on a
reconnaissance mission off
the Cyrenaican coast, sank Italian ammunition barque
VANNA (279grt) with
bombs and fuel for Derna with gunfire off Appolonia.
_____
Submarine TRUANT attacked
German steamer SAMOS (2576grt) one mile west of Benghasi.
The attack was
unsuccessful, but the steamer was
sunk on a magnetic mine on the 19th.
_____
Five British A lighters
A.1, A.5, A.6, A.16, and
A.19 of the 1st Tank Landing Craft Flotilla, escorted by
sloop AUCKLAND and anti-submarine whaler SOUTHERN MAID
departed Alexandria on the 17th and arrived at Tobruk on
the 18th.
The A lighters departed
Tobruk that evening for
Suda Bay, led by anti-submarine whaler SKUD V. A.1, A.6,
A.16, and A.19
arrived on the 21st. A.5 was detached to Nauplia
independently.
A sixth lighter A.15 was
delayed at Alexandria with mechanical problems, but
later proceeded
directly to Suda Bay.
_____
Yugoslav destroyer ZAGREB
was scuttled in Cattaro Harbour at the loss of two of her officers, Porucnik bojnog broda (Lt Cdr)
Milan Spasic and Porucnik bojnog broda (Lt Cdr) Sergej
Masera.
German troops captured the
damaged destroyer BEOGRAD and undamaged destroyer DUBROVNIK
at Cattaro.
German troops also
captured the damaged destroyer
LJUBJANA in dock at Sebenico
Harbour. The destroyer had been wrecked in a grounding
at Split on 24 January 1940.
_____
Greek steamer DAMASKINI
(1196grt) was sunk by
German bombing in Oreos Channel, north of Euboea
Island.
_____
Greek steamer PETRAKIS
NOMIKOS (7020grt) was badly damaged
by German bombing at Piraeus.
The steamer was beached
and bombed again on the
23rd.
Steamer PETRAKIS NOMIKOS
was later salved by the
Germans for their use.
_____
Egyptian steamer ZAMZAM
(8299grt) was sunk by
German raider ATLANTIS at 27-41S, 8-08W.
The crew and passengers,
including 138 Americans,
were transferred to German supply ship DRESDEN and
landed at St Jean de Ruz.
_____
Submarine PANDORA arrived
at Gibraltar escorting British oiler CAIRNDALE.
_____
Destroyers KASHMIR and
JACKAL and corvette SPIRAE
arrived at Gibraltar escorting the 3rd Motor Launch
Flotilla of ML.121,
ML.129, ML.130, ML.132, ML.134, ML.135, and ML.168.
These ships had departed
the UK on the 12th.
_____
Convoy SL.72 departed
Freetown escorted by light cruiser DRAGON to 19 April,
destroyers VIDETTE and WISHART for the day only, and
corvettes ASPHODEL and
CALENDULA for the day only.
On the 19th, light cruiser
FIJI relieved light cruiser DRAGON. Light cruiser FIJI
continued with the convoy to 1 May. On the 20th,
armed merchant cruiser DUNNOTTAR CASTLE joine to 11 May.
Destroyers COLUMBIA to 13
May, KEPPEL to 13 May,
LINCOLN to 13 May, and SABRE to 12 May, sloop FLEETWOOD
to 13 May, corvettes
ALISMA to 13 May, DIANELLA to 13 May, and KINGCUP to 13
May, and anti-submarine
trawlers MAN O.WAR to 13 May, ST LOMAN to 13 May, and
WELLARD
to 13 May joined the convoy, and arrived at Liverpool on
13 May.
Friday,
18 April
The flag of CS 10 was
transferred from light
cruiser KENYA to the accommodation ship DUNLUCE
CASTLE at Scapa Flow.
_____
Light cruiser MANCHESTER
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0552 after refitting in the
Tyne.
_____
Convoy OB.312 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyer WANDERER, corvettes DIANTHUS, MARIGOLD,
NASTURTIUM,PERIWINKLE, and
PRIMROSE, minesweepers BRAMBLEHAZARD, and SPEEDY.
Destroyer SCIMITAR,
corvette MALLOW, and anti-submarine trawler NORTHERN
WAVE joined on the 23rd. Destroyers INGLEFIELD and
MAORI joined the convoy. On the 24th, all were detached
except destroyer
SCIMITAR, corvette MALLOW, and anti-submarine trawler
NORTHERN WAVE which were detached on the 25th when the
convoy
dispersed.
_____
Destroyer SIKH departed
the Tyne at 1825 for Scapa
Flow, but was diverted at
2310 to search for a dingy in 58-15N, 00-30W.
The dingy was not found
and destroyer SIKH arrived
at Scapa Flow at 1630/19th.
_____
Destroyers NEWARK and
VOLUNTEER collided north of Rathlin Island in 55-28N, 6-21W.
Both destroyers were
seriously damaged. Five
ratings were lost in VOLUNTEER. The destroyers were both
repaired at Belfast, destroyer NEWARK completing on 9
August and destroyer VOLUNTEER on
20 August.
_____
Destroyer WHITSHED and
French destroyer LA
MELPOMENE were in a collision off Harwich.
There was no damage to
destroyer WHITSHED.
The French destroyer was
under repair at the Humber until 20 May.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOTBANK,
escorted by patrol sloops
GUILLEMOTT and KITTIWAKE, laid mines in minefield BS.54
off the east coast of
England.
Minesweepers SNAEFELL and
THAMES QUEEN accompanied the
ships on the minelay.
_____
Submarine URGE, en route
to the Mediterranean, sank Italian blockade runner
tanker FRANCO
MARTELLI (10,535grt) in 46-31N, 8-46E, two hundred miles
from Belle Isle.
_____
Free French submarine
MINERVE attacked unsuccessfully
a German steamer two miles southwest of Tungenes.
_________
Naval drifter YOUNG ERNIE
(88grt, T/Skipper R.
Milligan RNR) was sunk in a collision in the Tyne.
_____
British tanker SCOTTISH
MUSICIAN (6998grt) was
damaged by German bombing at three miles 205° from St
Ann's Head. One crewman and one gunner were lost.
The tanker arrived at
Newport on 2 May in tow.
_____
Panamanian steamer CSIKOS
(3938grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 55N, 11-46W. Two crew were killed on
the steamer.
The steamer arrived at
Lough Foyle in tow on the
19th.
_____
German fishing vessel
GUIDO MOHRING (289grt) was
sunk by a torpedo near Port Ley.
_____
Mediterranean Fleet
departed Alexandria to send supply ship BRECONSHIRE into
Malta and bring out empty ships in Operation MD.2 and
bombard Tripoli in MD.3. Battleships WARSPITE, VALIANT,
and
BARHAM, aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE, light cruiser
PHOEBE, Anti-aircraft
cruiser CALCUTTA, and destroyers JUNO, JAGUAR, KINGSTON,
KIMBERLEY, GRIFFIN, HAVOCK,
HEREWARD, and ENCOUNTER departed at 0700. Destroyer
DEFENDER fouled the buoy
on departure and joined the Fleet later in the day.
On the 18th, a Fulmar of
803 Squadron was lost when
it crashed during landing. Lt D. C. E. F. Gibson was
rescued wounded, but Sub
Lt P. C. B. Ashbrooke was lost.
The force arrived at Suda
Bay
at 1200/19th. The destroyers were refuelled. Battleship
WARSPITE carried air
compressors, timbers, and equipment to repair the
cruiser YORK.
The fleet sailed at
1530/19th.
Light cruiser PERTH and
destroyer HOTSPUR departed Alexandria at dusk on the
19th escorting supply ship
BRECONSHIRE to join the Fleet southwest of Kithera at
daylight on the 20th.
Cruisers PHOEBE and
CALCUTTA were detached during the morning of 19 April to
join a convoy escorted by sloop FLAMINGO departing
Athens.
After passing the Kithera
Straits, cruisers PHOEBE
and CALCUTTA returned to the Main Fleet and the convoy
safely
proceeded to Alexandria.
Destroyers JERVIS, JANUS,
NUBIAN, and DIAMOND
(completed of refitting) departed Malta at dark on the
19th with British
steamers
CITY OF LINCOLN (8039grt), CLAN FERGUSON (7347grt), CITY
OF MANCHESTER (8917grt), and PERTHSHIRE (10,496grt) in
convoy
ME.7.
Light cruisers ORION,
AJAX, GLOUCESTER and destroyers HERO and HASTY
rendezvoused with
Cunningham on the 20th.
At noon on the 20th, convoy ME.7 was met by the Main Force. Destroyers NUBIAN
and DIAMOND took the convoy on to Alexandria.
Destroyers JERVIS and JANUS joined battleship
WARSPITE.
The Tripoli bombardment
was a substitute for the original plan
of blocking the harbour. At first, old battleship
CENTURION, coming round the
Cape from England, was proposed for this purpose to be
sunk in the
channel. Later battleship BARHAM and light cruiser
CALEDON were proposed. However, all blocking plans were
refused by Cunningham.
At dark on the 20th,
aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE,
light cruisers ORION, PERTH, and AJAX, and destroyers
GRIFFIN, KIMBERLEY,
KINGSTON, and NUBIAN were detached for flying
operations.
Lt J. H. Shears and
P/T/Sub Lt (A) E. J. H. Dixon
RNVR, of 806 Squadron from aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE
were shot down and
lost on the 20th.
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE
and destroyer ENCOUNTER
were detached to Malta.
Early on the 21st, Tripoli
was bombarded by Naval forces, consisting of
battleships WARSPITE, BARHAM, and VALIANT, light cruiser
GLOUCESTER, and destroyers HASTY, HAVOCK, HEREWARD,
HERO,
HOTSPUR, JAGUAR, JANUS, JERVIS, and JUNO.
Submarine TRUANT acted as
beacon ship. Submarine
TRIUMPH was also at sea in the area.
Aircraft carrier
FORMIDABLE aircraft dropped
flares.
Italian torpedo boat
PARTENOPE and six freighters
were damaged in the bombardment.
Battleship VALIANT
detonated a mine. She sustained
slight damage.
On the 21st, light
cruisers ORION, PERTH, GLOUCESTER, and AJAX were
detached at dark to sweep to the northward of
the Battle Fleet.
Destroyers JERVIS, JANUS,
JUNO, and JAGUAR were detached to Malta on the 21st,
arriving on the 22nd.
Light cruisers ORION,
PERTH, GLOUCESTER, and AJAX rejoined the Battle Fleet at
daylight on the 22nd.
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
and gunboat LADYBIRD bombarded Bardia, commencing
at 0700.
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
then proceeded to Alexandria to refuel.
Destroyer KANDAHAR joined
the Fleet at noon on the 22nd and destroyer GRIFFIN was
detached to reinforce convoy ANF.29 after oiling at Suda
Bay.
At 1600, light cruiser
GLOUCESTER was detached to Malta, arriving on the 24th.
Light cruiser PERTH joined anti-aircraft cruiser PHOEBE
in the Aegean.
Convoy ME.7 arrived at
Alexandria at 0700/22nd. The Fleet arrived at Alexandria
at 1030/23rd.
_____
After delivering convoy
AN.27 at Suda
Bay,
Anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers ISIS and
VAMPIRE continued to
Pireaus to escort convoy AS.26.
_____
Convoy service ship FIONA
(2190grt, Cdr A. H. H.
Griffiths, RD RNR) was lost 50 miles 311° from Sidi
Barrani Light to
German dive bombing attack.
Griffiths, Lt J. Dorrance
RNR, T/Lt W. E. Simkin RNR, P/T/Surgeon Lt A. K.
Beardshaw RNVR, and forty
nine ratings were lost on the ship. Lt J. B. Shillitoe
RNR, died of wounds on the 23rd.
_____
British steamer BRITISH
SCIENCE (7138grt) was sunk
by German bombing in 36-06N, 24-00E, north of the
Kithera Channel. The entire
crew was rescued by destroyer HERO which took them to
Suda
Bay.
Greek steamers FOKION
(1158grt) and LEON (968grt) were sunk by German bombing
near Psara, Euboea Island.
_____
Greek steamer CHIOS (1121grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Eretria, near Chalkis.
_____
Greek steamer MOSCHA L.
GOULANDRI (5199grt) was
badly damaged by German bombing off Chalkis.
The steamer was beached at
Chalkis. She was bombed
again on 20 and 23 April and left a total loss.
_____
British steel flat PUNDUAH
sank while in tow of HM
ship at 19-15N, 86-53E.
_____
Destroyer HIGHLANDER
departed Gibraltar for Freetown.
_____
Destroyer NAPIER, en route
from England to the Mediterranean Fleet, was docked at
Capetown
from 18 to 20 April.
_____
An Afrika Korps supply
convoy of steamers ALICANTE
(2140grt), MARITZA (2910grt), SANTA FE (4627grt), and
PROCIDA (5366grt),
escorted by destroyers AVIERE, GENIERE, CAMICIA NERA,
and GRECALE and torpedo
boat PLEIADA departed Naples on the 14th and arrived at
Palermo on the 17th
to avoid contact with British forces. The convoy
departed Palermo at 0800/18th for Tripoli, arriving on
the 20th.
Italian tanker ALBERTO
FASSIO (2289grt) departed Trapani with torpedo boat
CLIMENE and joined an Italian convoy
of NICOLO ODERO (6003grt), MADDALENA ODERO (5479grt),
and ISARCO (5915grt)
which sailed from Palermo at 2300/18th escorted by
torpedo boats LA FARINA,
MOSTO, and CALLIOPE for Tripoli.
Tanker LUISIANO (2552grt) with torpedo boat ORIONE from
Marilibia joined the
convoy. The convoy arrived on the 21st.
Both convoys passed
without event.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER arrived at Bahrein and Basra on the 18th where
she joined light cruiser EMERALD
which also arrived on that day.
Armed merchant cruiser
KANIMBLA, corvette
SNAPDRAGON, and gunboat COCKCHAFER were also at Basra.
On the 12th convoy BM.7
departed Karachi with
steamers LANCASHIRE (9557grt), EL MADINA (3962grt), EGRA
(5108grt), VAERLA
(4651grt), ROHNA (8602grt), RAJULA (8478grt), BAHADUR
(5424grt), JALAVIHAR
(5330grt), RISALDAR (5407grt), and JALADUTA (4966grt),
with one Indian
brigade and one artillery group for Malaya, escorted by
sloop YARRA, for
Basra. Sloop FALMOUTH and Indian sloop LAWRENCE joined
on the 17th off Basra.
On the 19th, the troops
from the convoy were landed
at Shatt el Arab.
The cruisers remained
there until 22 April.
Saturday,
19 April
British intelligence
reported that the German
battleship BISMARCK, two cruisers, and three destroyers
had passed the
Skaw. The Admiralty reported this movement at 0117.
Battlecruiser HOOD, light
cruiser KENYA, and destroyers COSSACK, ZULU, and MAORI
had
departed Scapa Flow at 1700/18th to relieve battleship
KING GEORGE V
on Biscay Patrol. They were diverted to support the
cruiser patrol in the
Iceland Faroes passage.
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK and
light cruisers GALATEA and ARETHUSA departed
Icelandic waters. The heavy cruiser had arrived at
Hvalfjord on the 17th
after convoy HX.119 escort.
Heavy cruisers SUFFOLK and
EXETER, light cruiser EDINBURGH, and destroyers TARTAR,
ACHATES, INGLEFIELD, ECHO, and ANTHONY at Scapa Flow
raised steam and departed Scapa Flow at 0606.
Battleship KING GEORGE V
and light cruiser NIGERIA turned north, but returned to
their patrol area
when it was realised they could not be in position in
time.
Battleship KING GEORGE V
and light cruiser NIGERIA met destroyers ELECTRA,
ESCAPADE, and MASHONA at
0900/20th in 50N, 21W.
Destroyers BEDOUIN, ARROW,
and ESKIMO departed Scapa Flow at 1600/20th to join
battleship KING GEORGE V.
They were to refuel at Londonderry, but they diverted to
hunt a submarine in 58-30N,
5-55W. When it was decided the contact was a whale, they
were sent to assist
armed boarding vessel NORTHERN SKY attacking a submarine
in 58-47N, 7-02W. The search
was discontinued on the 21st and the destroyers arrived
at Scapa Flow at 2100 that evening.
Battleship RODNEY and
destroyer PIORUN, GARLAND, and SALADIN departed the
Clyde.
Battlecruiser REPULSE
departed Gibraltar on the 21st and was ordered to the
Clyde with all dispatch.
On the 21st, battleship
RODNEY and her escorts were
ordered to the Clyde. En route, they were diverted to
Scapa Flow where they arrived on the 23rd at 0115.
Destroyer INGLEFIELD
joined the battlecruiser HOOD
force at sea.
Battlecruiser HOOD and
destroyers COSSACK,
INGLEFIELD, MAORI, and ZULU arrived at Hvalfjord at
0730/21st to remain at
two hours' notice.
Heavy cruisers SUFFOLK and
EXETER and destroyers TARTAR, ACHATES, ECHO, and ANTHONY
were ordered to return and arrived at
Scapa Flow on the 21st. Destroyer ANTHONY escorting
heavy
cruiser EXETER arrived at 1405. Destroyer TARTAR arrived
independently at 1900. Destroyers ECHO and ACHATES
escorting heavy cruiser SUFFOLK arrived at 2000.
Battleship KING GEORGE V
and destroyers ELECTRA,
ESCAPADE, and MASHONA arrived at Scapa Flow at
1600/22nd.
_____
Destroyer BEDOUIN departed
Rosyth at 0940 after
boiler repairs. The destroyer arrived at Scapa Flow at
2000.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 0600 to cover convoy
EC.8 to Pentland Firth.
The ship arrived back at
0900/20th after this duty.
_____
Destroyer WILD SWAN, in
drydock at London, was damaged by the near miss of
German bombing
during the night of 19/20 April.
The destroyer sustained no
additional time out of
service, completing repairs on the 26th.
Destroyer WINCHESTER, also
under repair at London, was damaged by near misses.
_____
Submarine SUNFISH, which
had departed Portsmouth, collided with netlayer MINSTER
(707grt) in convoy
in 51-06N, 01-21E.
The damage was not severe,
but opportunity was
taken to conduct a refit while the ship was in port for
the repair. The
submarine was in dockyard hands at Tyneside from 24
April to 27 September.
_____
Free French submarine
MINERVE sank German auxiliary
minesweeper M.1101 in 58-40N, 4-55E. German tanker
TIGER, being escorted by
the minesweeper, was missed.
_____
Minesweeping trawler
KOPANES (351grt, T/Lt J. M.
Anderson RNVR) was sunk by German bombing near 20.G
Buoy, Coquet Island.
There were no casualties
on the trawler.
_____
Armed merchant cruiser
LACONIA arrived at Greenock.
_____
British dredger FRAVIS
(133grt) was lost on a mine
at Langstone Harbour.
_____
British tanker DESMOULEA
(8120grt) departed Suda Bay,
in tow of armed boarding vessel CHAKLA and escorted by
anti-submarine
trawlers LYDIARD and AMBER.
The tanker and the armed
boarding vessel safely
arrived at Port
Said.
_____
Panamanian ship MARGIT
(3257grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Kalkara
Creek, Malta.
_____
Greek steamer TETI NOMIKOU
(1822grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Chalkis.
_____
Destroyers FEARLESS and
KASHMIR departed Gibraltar to
rendezvous with battlecruiser REPULSE and
escort her to Gibraltar.
_____
Sloop ABERDEEN departed
Gibraltar for Halifax with
twenty six officers and thirty one ratings
for Coast Guard cutters being commissioned.
_____
The Italian 7th Cruiser
Division of light cruisers
EUGENIO DE SAVOIA, DUCA D'AOSTA, MONTECUCCOLI, and
ATTENDOLO and destroyers
PIGAFETTA, ZENO, DA MOSTA, DA VERAZZANO, DA RECCO, and
PESSAGNO laid 321
mines and 492 explosive floats east of Cape Bon in
barrages S.11, S.12, and
S.13 from 19 to 23 April.
The second half of the
minefield with 740 mines
were laid on 23/24 April.
_____
Convoy SC.29 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser RANPURA,
corvettes COBALt and COLLINGWOOD, and submarine
PORPOISE. The corvettes were
detached that day. Submarine PORPOISE was detached on
the 29th. On the 30th,
destroyers BURWELL and SCIMITAR and corvette MALLOW
joined the convoy. On 1
May, destroyers MALCOLM and WATCHMAN, corvette VIOLET,
and anti-submarine
trawler NORTHERN WAVE joined. The armed merchant
cruisers and the
escorts joined on the 30th and 1 May were detached.
Destroyers SALADIN,
SKATE, VETERAN, and WATCHMAN, corvette WALLFLOWER, and
minesweepers HARRIER,
SEAGULL, and SHARPSHOOTER joined the convoy. The escort
was detached when the
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 8 May.
Sunday,
20 April
Battleship RODNEY,
arriving with convoy TC.10,
rammed and sank anti-submarine trawler TOPAZE (608grt,
Chief Skipper G. R.
Gale RNR) in an accidental collision off the Clyde.
Gale, Skipper J. More RNR,
and sixteen ratings were lost on the trawler.
_____
During the night of 20/21
April, destroyers
INTREPID and ICARUS laid minefield HB in the English
Channel.
_____
Armed boarding vessel
NORTHERN SKY attacked a submarine contact in 58-47N,
7-02W.
Destroyer BEDOUIN, ARROW,
and ESKIMO were sent to
investigate a submarine contact reported by aircraft in
58-30N, 5-55W.
However, before arriving,
they were sent to assist
armed boarding vessel NORTHERN SKY.
The search was abandoned
on the 21st when contact
was lost.
_____
U.73 sank British steamer
EMPIRE ENDURANCE
(8570grt) in 53-05N, 23-14W.
Lost on the steamer were
ML.1003 and ML.1037.
Twenty crew and four
passengers were rescued, five
by British tanker BRITISH PRIDE (7106grt). Fifty nine
crew and one passenger
was lost.
_____
British spritsail R. S.
JACKSON (60grt) was sunk by
German bombing at London.
_____
British barges HARRY and
PERCY were sunk by German
bombing at Nash and Miller Moorings, Shadwell, London.
Both barges were raised
and broken up.
On 20 and 21 April, German
tanker replenished
Italian submarine PERLA, supply ship ALSTERUFER, and
armed merchant cruisers
ATLANTIS and KORMORAN at sea.
_____
Convoy AS.26 of fourteen
British and eleven Greek
ships departed Athens early on the 20th escorted by
anti-aircraft
cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers ISIS and VAMPIRE, and
arrived at Alexandria on the 23rd.
_____
Greek destroyer PSARA was
sunk by Italian air
attack off Megara.
_____
Greek destroyer VASILEVS
GEORGIOS I was
unsuccessfully scuttled in the floating drydock at
Salamis.
Intention to sink the
destroyer and drydock in deep
water were cancelled when the dock was damaged in a
bombing raid and could
not be moved from its berth.
_____
Minesweeper STOKE, en
route to Alexandria, was damaged by a near miss of
German bombing.
The damage required two
weeks to repair.
_____
British troopship GLENROY
ran aground in Boghas
Pass when leaving harbour and could not be refloated until 25 April.
_____
Greek steamer ASSIMINA
BAIKA (1344grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Politika, north of Chalkis.
_____
Greek steamer PTEROTI
(176grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Chalkis.
_____
Greek steamer MOSCHANTHI
(311grt) was sunk by
German bombing near Vostizza.
_____
Greek tanker CHRYSSOROI
(379grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Phleva.
Greek steamer ITHAKI (675grt) was sunk by German bombing in
Suda Bay.
_____
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD
and destroyers FAULKNOR, FORTUNE, and WRESTLER
departed Gibraltar to join aircraft carrier ARGUS and
heavy cruiser LONDON. The light cruiser and destroyers
relieved the
heavy cruiser and proceeded with aircraft carier ARGUS
to Gibraltar.
_____
Corvette AMARANTHUS
departed Gibraltar for Freetown.
_____
Convoy HX.122 departed
Halifax, escorted by battleship RAMILLIES, armed
merchant
cruiser ALAUNIA, and corvettes CHAMBLY and ORILLIA. The
corvettes were detached later that day and
the battleship on the 23rd. Destroyers BROADWAY and
BULLDOG, corvettes
AUBRETIA, HOLLYHOCK, NIGELLA, and PICOTEE, and
anti-submarine trawlers
DANEMAN and ST APOLLO. This group, less PICOTEE, was
detached on the 4th. On
the 4th, destroyers CALDWELL, CHESTERFIELD, ELECTRA,
ESCAPADE, RAMSEY, and WALKER, corvettes
CANDYTUFT, HONEYSUCKLE, and HYDRANGEA joined. The escort
was detached when
the convoy arrived at Liverpool on 8 May.
Monday,
21 April
Heavy cruiser KENT, under
repair at Plymouth, was damaged by German bombing.
The cruiser spent no
additional time out of
service.
_____
Destroyer BLANKNEY
departed Scapa Flow at 1455 for Scapa Flow to work up.
The destroyer arrived at
noon on the 22nd.
_____
During the night of 21/22
April, destroyer LEEDS was damaged in a bombing raid on
Plymouth.
The destroyer was under
repair until December 1941.
_____
British tanker BRITISH
RENOWN (6997grt) was damaged
by German bombing three miles southeast of Dartmouth.
The tanker put back to
Dartmouth with her engine room flooded. She was repaired
at Falmouth.
_____
Tug REGENCY (76grt) was
sunk on a mine off Ford's,
Dagenham.
The tug was also towing
three or four barges which
also sank.
One tug crewman and one
lighterman were lost.
The tug and one of the
barges were later raised and
repaired.
_____
British fishing vessel
ALPHA (11grt) was damaged on
a mine in Whittaker Channel, Essex.
_____
British steamer MAIDSTONE
(688grt) was damaged by German bombing at Plymouth.
The steamer was repaired
at Falmouth.
Italian submarine
CAPPELLINI attacked two large liners,
escorted by three destroyers in 54N, 18W without
success.
_____
U.107 sank British steamer
CALCHAS (10,305grt) at
23-50N, 27W.
Thirty crew, one gunner,
and one passenger were
lost. Sixty nine crew, four gunners, and eight
passengers were rescued.
_____
Convoy AN.29 departed
Alexandria and Port Said escorted by destroyers WATERHEN
and VENDETTA and
sloop GRIMSBY. Light cruiser PHOEBE operated in the area
of the
convoy on the 23rd.
Convoy AN.29 arrived at
Suda
Bay
on the 24th with steamers Greek THEMONI (5719grt), Dutch
ZEALAND (1433grt),
British KIRKLAND (1561grt), British RUNO (1858grt), and
British ARAYBANK
(7258grt).
_____
Sloop AUCKLAND arrived at
Suda
Bay
with the five A lighters from Tobruk.
_____
Destroyer GREYHOUND was
near missed by bombing at
Mersa Matruh.
The destroyer returned to
Alexandria, but had no additional time out of service.
_____
Submarine TRUANT attacked
Italian tanker PROMETEO
(1080grt) off Tripoli. The torpedoes missed, but the
tanker in evading
ran aground.
The tanker was later
salvaged.
_____
British steamer BANKURA
(3185grt) was badly damaged
by bombing at Tobruk. The entire crew were rescued.
The steamer was
subsequently damaged in further
attacks and became a total loss.
_____
British steamer URANIA
(1953grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Tobruk.
Greek hospital ship
ESPEROS (1461grt), while
anchored off Missolonghi taking on wounded, was sunk by
German bombing.
_____
Greek hospital ship
ELLENIS (876grt) was damaged by
German bombing near Patras.
The ship was brought to
Patras and disembarked the
wounded.
The steamer was sunk later
in the month.
Hospital ship ELLENIS was
later refloated by the
Germans.
_____
Greek steamer IONNA
(1192grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Patras.
_____
Greek steamer ARCHON
(1364grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Euboea.
_____
Submarine UNDAUNTED
arrived at Malta from
Gibraltar to join
the 1st Submarine Flotilla.
_____
British tanker BRITISH
LORD (6098grt) in convoy
AS.26 was damaged by German bombing in 34-35N, 23-32E.
One crewman was lost.
Australian destroyer
VAMPIRE took off the crew.
The tanker taken in tow by
sloop AUCKLAND.
On the 24th, netlayer
PROTECTOR relieved sloop AUCKLAND for duty with convoy
AG.15. The two ships were
escorted by destroyer VOYAGER.
The tanker and netlayer
arrived at Alexandria on the 25th. The tanker went on to
Port Said arriving on the 29th. She was later towed to
Bombay for repairs.
_____
A German Afrika Korps
convoy departed Naples with transports CASTELLON
(2086grt), ARCTURUS
(2596grt), LEVERKUSEN (7386grt), and GIULIA (5921grt)
escorted by
destroyers STRALE, FOLGORE, TURBINE, and SAETTA.
Distant cover was given
the convoy by light
cruisers BANDE NERE and CARDONA and destroyers SCIROCCO
and MAESTRALE.
On the 23rd, destroyers
JERVIS, JAGUAR, JANUS, and JUNO departed Malta to attack
this convoy.
On the 23rd, the
destroyers sank Italian armed
motor ship EGEO (3311grt), which departed Benghasi
without escort on the 21st
for Tripoli, near the convoy 80 miles 10° from Tripoli,
but the convoy itself escaped damage. The convoy
arrived at Tripoli on the 24th.
_____
Battlecruiser REPULSE and
destroyers FEARLESS and KASHMIR arrived at Gibraltar.
After refuelling, the
battlecruiser departed Gibraltar later that day for
position 41-00N, 16-30W.
Tuesday,
22 April
Light cruiser BIRMINGHAM
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0602 after being away on escort
duties since 8
February.
_____
The flag of CS 10 was
transferred from base ship DUNLUCE CASTLE to light cruiser NIGERIA at
Scapa Flow.
_____
Convoy OB.313 departed
liverpool, escorted by
corvette ALISMA. On the 23rd, destroyers KEPPEL,
LINCOLN, SABRE, and
SHERWOOD, sloop FLEETWOOD, corvettes DIANELLA, KINGCUP,
and SUNFLOWER, and
anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSE,
NORTHERN DAWN, and WELLARD. On the 27th, the escort,
except destroyers
LINCOLN and SHERWOOD and corvettes ALISMA and SUNFLOWER,
were detached. The
remaining escort was detached on the 28th when the
convoy dispersed.
_____
Destroyers WALPOLE and
ST ALBANS departed
Sheerness at 0950 to work up at Scapa Flow.
The destroyers arrived at
1500/23rd.
_____
Destroyers ACHATES and
ANTHONY departed Scapa Flow at 1600 for Loch Alsh,
arriving at 2200.
At 0930/23rd, minelayers
SOUTHERN PRINCE,
MENETHEUS, and PORT QUEBEC, escorted by destroyers
ACHATES, ANTHONY, BRIGHTON, and ST MARYS departed Loch Alsh for minelaying mission SN.71.
The operation was covered
by light cruisers KENYA and EDINBURGH from the Iceland -
Faroes patrol.
Destroyers COSSACK and
ZULU departed Hvalfjord at
0100/25th to carry out an anti-submarine sweep in the
line of advance of the
minelayers.
On completion of the
sweep, destroyers COSSACK and
ZULU relieved destroyers ANTHONY and ACHATES at 1300
which proceeded to Reykjavik.
British minefield SN.71
was laid on the 26th.
The cruisers, after the
minelay, they proceeded to Scapa Flow arriving on the
29th.
Destroyers COSSACK and
ZULU arrived at Scapa Flow at 2130/29th after the duty.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 1500 to join convoy
WN.17 in the Pentland Firth.
Fog delayed the arrival of
the convoy and the ship
arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1830.
Destroyer LEWES was
damaged by bombing at
Devonport.
The destroyer was not
restored to service until
February 1942.
_____
British steam barge
CORONATION OF LEEDS (87grt) was
lost on a mine off Thames Haven.
The crew of three were all
lost.
The afterpart of the barge
was raised on 5 September
1941.
_____
British steamer ANTONIO
(5225grt) was damaged by
German bombing off T.2 Buoy, Tyne.
The steamer arrived at
Shields on the 23rd in tow.
_____
British steamer CROHAM
(391grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Peterhead.
_____
Salvage vessel MISS ELAINE
(364grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Plymouth.
The vessel raised on 14
May and repaired at Southampton.
_____
German steamer OBRA
(551grt) was sunk on a mine off
Greifswald.
_____
Battleship NELSON was
docked for refitting at Durban.
_____
British hospital ship VITA
was badly damaged by German Stuka bombers off
Tobruk.
Australian destroyer
WATERHEN attempted to tow the
ship without success.
The destroyer took off 437
patients, six doctors,
six nurses, and 47 sick berth ratings to Alexandria.
_____
Greek destroyer HYDRA,
which had recently departed Piraeus as escort for an
Alexandria convoy, was sunk by German bombing off the
Island of Aegina.
Greek destroyer LEON was
badly damaged by German bombing at Suda Bay.
_____
Greek torpedo boats
THYELLA was sunk in Vouliagmeni
Bay
and KIOS was sunk by German bombing the Gulf of
Athens.
_____
From 22 to 25 April, Greek
torpedo boats AIGLI,
ALKYONE, ARETHOUSA, and DORIS were sunk in the Gulf of
Athens by German bombing.
_____
Convoy AG.13 with
troopship ULSTER PRINCE and commanding landing ships
GLENGYLE and
GLENEARN departed Alexandria at noon for Suda Bayescorted by Australian destroyers STUART and VOYAGER.
Convoy AG.13 proceeded
directly to the beaches at
Raphtis and Nauplia for Operation DEMON.
_____
Minesweepers ABERDARE,
HARROW, and WIDNES, from the East
Indies Station, arrived at Alexandria for duty with the
Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Greek steamer ATHINAI
(968grt) was sunk by German
bombing in Itea Harbour.
_____
Greek steamer AVLIS
(223grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Raphina.
_____
Greek steamer AGHIOS
MARKOS (4514grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Peristeri (Salamis
Island).
_____
Greek steamer FRINTON
(1361grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Megalo Lefko.
_____
Greek steamer IOANNIS
NOMICOS (637grt) was sunk by
German bombing near Rhion, Gulf
of Corinth.
Greek steamer PANCRATION
(2171grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Milos.
Greek hospital ship
SOKRATIS (1134grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Antikyra, Gulf
of Corinth.
Greek tanker THEDOL 2
(657grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Antikyra, Gulf
of Corinth.
Greek tanker THEODORA
(1054grt) was near missed by
a German bomb at Antikyra, Gulf
of Corinth. This near
miss killed the Master and twelve crew.
The remainder of the crew
attempted to move the
tanker away from burning THEDOL 2. However, THEODORA
also caught fire and was
lost.
_____
Greek steamer THRAKI
(1511grt) was sunk by German
bombing near Sombraina, Gulf
of Corinth.
_____
Greek steamer THASSOS
(1565grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Megara.
_____
Greek steamer TETI
(2747grt) was badly damaged by
German bombing in Greek waters.
The steamer was grounded
to avoid sinking.
_____
Greek steamer MESSARYA
NOMIKOU (985grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Nafpactos.
The steamer was salved by
the Germans for their
use.
_____
Greek steamer SIFNOS
(315grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Suda Bay.
The steamer was salved by
the Germans for their
use.
_____
Greek destroyer VASILISSA
OLGA departed Greece with the King of Greece and the
government. The
destroyer safely arrived at Suda Bay.
_____
Yugoslav torpedo boats
KAJMAKCALAN and DURMITOR
arrived at Suda Bay
after escaping from Yugoslavia, via Navarino
Bay.
Heavy cruiser YORK and
netlayer PROTECTOR, assisting damaged heavy
cruiser YORK, was damaged by near misses of German air
bombs at
Suda Bay.
A lighter A.16
(T/Boatswain E. J. Boisell)
alongside the cruiser was also damaged. The lighter was
scuttled on 2 June.
_____
Convoy ANF.29 departed
Alexandria for Suda
Bay
with Dutch steamer PENNLAND (16,082grt) and British
steamers THURLAND
CASTLE (6372grt) and DELANE (6054grt). The convoy was escorted by
anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY
and destroyers WRYNECK and DIAMOND.
Landing ship GLENROY had
run aground leaving Alexandria in Boghas Pass on the 20th. Her beach party was transferred to steamer
THURLAND
CASTLE.
Destroyer GRIFFIN joined
the convoy at sea.
Convoy ANF.29 arrived at
Suda
Bay
on the 25th.
_____
Two A lighters departed
Alexandria for Suda
Bay
escorted by two Anti-submarine trawlers.
_____
Submarine REGENT departed
Malta on the 17th for Kotor in hopes of effecting a
rescue of the British Minister to Yugoslavian and
British civilians.
Lt D. Lambert was sent
ashore to contact the
British Minister, but taken prisoner. He was later
exchanged on 11 December
for the Italian officer taken on board REGENT when
Lambert had been sent
ashore.
Departing the area,
submarine REGENT was damaged by
a near miss of an air bomb. Lt E. T. Stanley was
seriously wounded.
The commanding officer, Lt
Cdr H. C. Browne, and a
rating were seriously wounded by machine gun fire from
the shore.
The submarine arrived back
at Malta on the 27th.
_____
Yugoslavian steamer
SERAFIN TOPIC (4294grt) was
interned by Algerian authorities at Oran.
The steamer was renamed
COSALLA for Italian use.
_____
French submarines ORPHEE,
MEDUSE, and ANTIOPE
departed Casablanca, escorted by minesweeper LA
BOUDEUSE.
The ships passed Gibraltar
on the 23rd and arrived at Oran on the 24th.
Submarines ORPHEE and
MEDUSE were placed in
caretaker status at Oran.
They relieved submarines DIANE and EURYDICE which
departed Oran, with submarine ANTIOPE on 10 May and
arrived Toulon on 14 May.
_____
Yugoslavian steamer
TOMISLAV (5387grt) was seized
by Italian Marines at Shanghai.
The ship was renamed
VENEZIA GIULA for Italian use
and was later transferred to Japan as TEIAN MARU.
Wednesday,
23 April
Battleship RODNEY arrived
at Scapa Flow after having been detached on escort
duties since
9 March.
_____
Destroyer ESKIMO departed
Scapa Flow to rendezvous with steamers AMSTERDAM and ARCHANGEL and
escort them to Kirkwall and Scapa Flow,
respectively.
The destroyer arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 0745/24th after the escort duty.
_____
Convoy OB.314 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyers DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, and ROXBOROUGH,
corvettes ABELIA, GLADIOLUS, and
VERONICA, minesweeper NIGELLA, and anti-submarine
trawlers NOTTS
COUNTY, ST ELSTAN, ST KENAN, ST ZENO, and VIZALMA. On the 27th, destroyers
AMAZON and CHESTERFIELD
joined the convoy and on the 28th, corvettes
HOLLYHOCK and NIGELLA joined. The escorts, except
destroyers AMAZON and CHESTERFIELD and corvettes
HOLLYHOCK and NIGELLA, were detached
on the 28th. The remainder of the escort was detached on
the 30th when the
convoy dispersed.
_____
Destroyer SALADIN and
Polish destroyers PIORUN and GARLAND departed Scapa Flow at
0600. The destroyer for Londonderry and the Polish
destroyers for Greenock.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 0600 and joined convoy
WN.17 in the Pentland Firth. The ship later transferred
to convoy EC.10 off
Buchan Ness.
Ship ALYNBANK transferred
to convoy WN.18 at
0500/24th.
The convoy with ship
ALYNBANK arrived at Methil at
0800/25th.
_____
German heavy cruiser PRINZ
EUGEN was mined in the
Baltic during preparations for a sortie with battleship
BISMARCK into the
Atlantic.
_____
At Tripoli, corvette
GLOXINIA, minesweeper FAREHAM, and anti-submarine whaler SOUTHERN
SEA were near missed by
German bombing.
Corvette GLOXINIA
sustained damage from the near
misses.
_____
British A lighters arrived
off the Greek coast. A.1
(T/Sub Lt L. D. Peters RNVR) and A.19 (T/Skipper R. S.
Cooper RNR, Lt Cdr P. C. Hutton DSC, (emergency),
Commander
of the 1st TLC Flotilla aboard) were attacked off Megara
by German bombing. A.1 was badly damaged and later
scuttled.
A 6 (T/Sub Lt J. D. Sutton
RNVR) off Raphtis was
bombed and strafed, but escaped serious damage.
Greek battleships KILKIS
and LEMNOS were sunk by German bombing at
Salamis.
_____
British steamer SANTA
CLARA
VALLEY (4665grt) was sunk by German bombing in
Nauplia
Bay.
One crewman, one military personnel, and five muleteers
were lost on the
steamer.
_____
Greek steamer ASSIMI
(722grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Krioneri.
_____
Greek steamer ELVIRA
(372grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Chalkis.
_____
Greek tanker KATERINA
(2398grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Methana.
_____
Greek steamer KERKYRA
(1461grt) was sunk by German
bombing off Punta gun emplacement on Salamis.
_____
Greek steamer KYMA
(223grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Patras.
_____
Greek steamers MACEDONIA
(1839grt) and NICOLAOS NOMICOS (625grt) were sunk
by German bombing at Trisonia - Spilia, seven miles
north of Patras.
Steamer NICOLAOS NOMICOS
was refloated and towed to
Piraeus for drydocking. She was scrapped by the Germans.
_____
Greek steamer NICOLAOU
GEORGIOS (4108grt) was sunk
by German bombing at Nauplia.
_____
Greek hospital ship
POLICOS (875grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Methana.
_____
Greek steamers STATHIS A.
(385grt) and HYDRA
(231grt) were sunk by German bombing at Megara.
Greek steamer ATHINA S.
(273grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Psathopirgos.
The steamer was
subsequently raised.
_____
Greek steamer KRITI
(1028grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Antirion.
The steamer was later
raised and taken to Italy.
_____
Submarine
TORBAY departed Gibraltar for
patrol in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
_____
Submarine UNBEATEN
departed Gibraltar for Malta.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER departed Basra to Colombo.
En route, the cruiser
operated in Raider Hunting Group
V of aircraft carrier EAGLE and heavy cruisers CORNWALL
and HAWKINS.
On the 26th, a Swordfish
from EAGLE of 813 Squadron
ditched during a search operation. A/Sub Lt (A) J. L.
Cullen, P/A/Sub Lt (A)
J. D. Rowland RNVR, and Leading Airman B. K. J. Willis
were picked up by
British steamer MATHURA and taken to Aden.
The New Zealand cruiser
arrived at Colombo on the 29th.
Thursday,
24 April
Destroyers INGLEFIELD and
MAORI departed Hvalfjord
at 0200 and joined convoy HX.120 as an anti-submarine
striking force.
The destroyers were to
diverted to join convoy
OB.312. They remained with this convoy until departing
this convoy at
daybreak on the 25th to join convoy HX.121.
The destroyers parted
company with convoy HX.121 at
longitude 8 at 2130/29th and arrived back at Scapa Flow
at 0945/30th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
POZARICA departed Scapa Flow at 0500 to join convoy
WN.18.
The ship then proceeded to
Chatham for alterations.
_____
British steamer DOLIUS
(5507grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 56-35N, 2-11W.
The steamer was able to
proceed to Leith.
_____
Convoy HG.60 departed
Gibraltar escorted by destroyer FIREDRAKE, sloop
WELLINGTON, corvettes COREOPSIS, FLEUR DE LYS, and
SPIRAEA,
and Dutch submarine O.23.
Destroyer FIREDRAKE was
detached on the 28th, the
corvettes on the 30th, and the submarine on 2 May.
On 7 May, the convoy was
joined by destroyer
BOADICEA, sloop EGRET, corvettes SNOWFLOWER, TRILLIUM,
and WINDFLOWER, and
anti-submarine trawlers ARAB, AYRSHIRE, and LADY
MADELEINE. Destroyer NIAGARA joined on 9 May, and arrived at
Liverpool on 12 May.
_____
Yugoslav submarine
NEBOJSCA arrived at Suda
Bay.
The submarine was found to be unserviceable and was
never used operationally.
_____
British steamer CAVALLO
(2269grt) was badly damaged
by German bombing at Nauplia.
The steamer had been
attacked on the 23rd, but not
hit. However, the crew had abandoned the steamer.
The steamer sank on the
25th.
_____
Armed yacht CALANTHE
(370grt) was sunk by German
bombing off Milos. Four crewman and a gunner were killed
on the
yacht.
_____
Aircraft carrier ARGUS,
light cruiser SHEFFIELD, and destroyers FAULKNOR,
FORTUNE, and WRESTLER
arrived at Gibraltar.
_____
Anti-aircraft cruiser
DIDO, minelaying cruiser
ABDIEL, and destroyers KELLY, KIPLING, KELVIN, and
JERSEY arrived at Gibraltar from the
UK.
_____
Submarine ROVER, alongside
heavy cruiser YORK supplying power to the cruiser, was
badly damaged
by German bombing in Suda Bay. The submarine was
beached.
The cruiser was damaged by
the near misses.
The submarine was towed by
destroyer GRIFFIN and escorted by netlayer PROTECTOR and
minesweeping trawler MUROTO to Alexandria arriving on
the 29th.
The submarine was
temporarily repaired at Port Said completing on 6 July.
The submarine departed Port Said on 10 July.
She was towed to Singapore
for refitting arriving on 31 July.
Submarine ROVER was towed
from Singapore on 29 January 1942 to Batavia by
destroyer EXPRESS. She was towed from Batavia on 14
February by steamer CITY OF PRETORIA (8049grt) to
Trincomalee, arriving on
21 February. The submarine was taken to Bombay for
repairs.
The submarine arrived at
Bombay on 4 March.
_____
Italian torpedo boat
SIMONE SCHIAFFINO was sunk on
an Italian mine off Cape
Bon.
_____
Naval tanker BRAMBLELEAF,
escorted by destroyers
ISIS, HERO, HEREWARD, and HOTSPUR departed Alexandria on
the 24th and arrived at Suda Bay,
arrived very early in the morning on the 26th.
The destroyers joined the
Vice Admiral, Light
Forces on cruiser ORION.
_____
Light cruiser ORION and
destroyers DECOY, HASTY,
and HAVOCK departed Alexandria for Suda
Bay.
Destroyer DEFENDER from
Tobruk joined early on the
25th. The ships arrived at 1800/25th at Suda
Bay.
_____
Light cruiser PERTH joined
light cruiser PHOEBE at Suda Bay
to patrol Kithera Straits to cover convoy AG.13.
_____
Convoy AG.14 of troopships
Dutch COSTA RICA
(8672grt), British CITY OF LINCOLN (8039grt), British
DILWARA (11,080grt),
British SALWEEN (7093grt), Egyptian KHEDIVE ISMAEL
(7290grt), and Dutch
SLAMAT (11,636grt) departed Alexandria escorted by
anti-aircraft cruiser
CARLISLE and destroyers KANDAHAR and KINGSTON.
At 0700/26th, convoy AG.14
arrived in the Aegean.
The convoy did not go into
Suda
Bay.
_____
Convoy AG.15 departed
Alexandria escorted by destroyers KIMBERLEY and VAMPIRE.
Sloop AUCKLAND, after
being relieved of the tow of tanker BRITISH
LORD, refuelled at Suda Bay and joined the
convoy.
Convoy AG.15 arrived at
Suda
Bay
at 1300/26th with troopships Greek IONIA (1936grt),
Greek CORINTHIA
(3701grt), British ITRIA (6854grt), British COMLIEBANK
(5149grt), British
BELRAY (2888grt), and Dutch ELEONORA MAERSK (10,694grt).
The convoy was
escorted by destroyer KIMBERLEY and sloop AUCKLAND.
The escort ships joined
Vice Admiral, Light Forces
on cruiser ORION.
Destroyer VAMPIRE of this
convoy had been detached
en route to aid British steamer SCOTTISH PRINCE
(4917grt), bombed on the
26th. Destroyer VAMPIRE relieved destroyer HASTY which
had been standing by.
Sloop GRIMSBY also later joined.
Destroyer VAMPIRE, sloop
GRIMSBY, and bomb damaged SCOTTISH PRINCE arrived at
0610/27th at Suda Bay.
_____
During the night of 24/25
April in Operation DEMON evacuations
of British troops from Greece began. The ships involved
departed Suda
Bay
on the 24th.
From Raphtis:Anti-aircraft
CALCUTTA, commando ship GLENGYLE, and corvette SALVIA.
Australian light cruiser PERTH
was at Raphtis in a support role and did not embark any
troops.
From Nauplia:light cruiser
PHOEBE, commando ship
GLENEARN (damaged en route on the 24th by German
bombing, but able to
continue), troopship ULSTER PRINCE (grounded at Nauplia.
Corvette HYACINTH and
lighter A 5 attempted to tow her clear without success.
The troopship was
bombed and set afire on the 25th), destroyers STUART and
VOYAGER, and
corvette HYACINTH.
A total of 13,500 troops
were brought off from
Raphtis and Nauplia.
_____
Submarine OTUS was under
repair at Gibraltar from 24 April to 12 July for the
removed of her
main motor armature.
_____
Greek torpedo boat
PERGAMOS was sunk by German
bombing at Salamis.
_____
Greek hospital ship ANDROS (2068grt) was sunk by German bombing off Loutraki,
Gulf of Corinth.
_____
Greek steamer HELLAS (2295grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Piraeus.
_____
Greek steamer KEHREA
(1968grt) was sunk by German
bombing in the anchorage, Bay of Frangolimano.
_____
Greek steamer KYRIAKI
(5528grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Suda Bay.
There were no casualties.
Greek steamer MANNA
(238grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Aedipsos.
_____
Greek steamer PETROS
(634grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Porto Heli.
The steamer was refloated
by the Germans and broken
up at Piraeus.
_____
Greek steamer POPI S.
(2083grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Milos Island.
_____
Greek steamer PYLAROS
(932grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Galaxeidion.
_____
Greek steamer SPETSAI
(379grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Psathopyrgos, Gulf
of Corinth.
_____
Greek
steamer POINT
JUDITH (4810grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Kythnos
Island. The entire crew was rescued.
Date of loss also given as
26 April.
_____
Task Force 3 (Rear Admiral
Jones H. Ingram) with
American light cruisers MEMPHIS (Ingram), CINCINNATI,
OMAHA, and MILWAUKEE
and destroyers SOMERS (Destroyer Squadron 9:Captain T.
A. Symington), JOUETT,
DAVIS, WINSLOW, and MOFFETT sailed from Newport, R. I. ,
to patrol Trinidad,
Cape San Roque, and Cape Verde Island.
Friday,
25 April
Destroyer BROCKLESBY
departed Scapa Flow at 1630 escorting steamers AMSTERDAM
from Kirkwall and ARCHANGEL from
Duncansby Head to Aberdeen.
Following the escort, the
destroyer arrived back at
Scapa Flow at 0720/26th.
_____
Submarine URGE
unsuccessfully attacked shipping in
41-36N, 8-46W.
_____
U.103 sank Norwegian
steamer POLYANA (2267grt) from
dispersed convoy OG.58 at 24N, 27W.
There were no survivors.
_____
Norwegian tanker POLARSOL
(10,022grt) was damaged
by German bombing 180 miles 130° from Myrdals Jokull
Light, Iceland.
The tanker arrived in tow
at Kames
Bay
on the 30th.
_____
Destroyer NUBIAN and sloop
FLAMINGO after repairs
departed Alexandria to join the Vice Admiral, Light
Forces on light
cruiser ORION.
Destroyer NUBIAN arrived
at Suda
Bay
at 0400/26th.
At 1700, Sloop FLAMINGO
arrived in Suda
Bay
on the 26th.
_____
Light cruiser ORION and
destroyers DECOY, HASTY,
HAVOCK, and DEFENDER arrived at Suda
Bay
at 1800.
Destroyers DECOY, HASTY,
and HAVOCK were sent to
Nauphalia to investigate the situation and discover the
fate of troopship ULSTER PRINCE.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER sank
German troopship ANTONIETTE
LAURO (5428grt) 2½ miles 125° from
Kerkenah in 34-57N, 11-44E.
The troopship was badly
damaged and stranded on Kerkenah Bay.
_____
Greek destroyers
KOUDOURIOTIS and SPETSAI from Athens, PANTHER, IERAX,
SPEHNDONI, and AETOS arrived at Alexandria.
Greek submarines GLAUCOS,
KATSONIS, NEREUS,
PAPANICOLIS, and TRITON also escaped to Alexandria.
Submarine GLAUCOS had been
under repair at Salamis.
Greek torpedo boats APHIS
and NIKI also escaped to Alexandria.
_____
During the night of 25/26
April DEMON continued.
From Megara:Anti-aircraft
cruiser COVENTRY, destroyers DIAMOND, GRIFFIN, and
WRYNECK, and troopships THURLAND CASTLE and PENNLAND.
Troopship PENNLAND was
badly damaged en route by
German bombing off Bela Pouli, near San Giorgio Island.
Four crew were lost.
Two hundred and forty seven crew and about a hundred
troops were rescued by
destroyer GRIFFIN which took them to Suda
Bay.
Destroyer GRIFFIN scuttled
the troopship.
Troopship
THURLAND
CASTLE was also bombed, but was not seriously damaged.
Australian destroyers
WATERHEN and VENDETTA from
convoy AN.29 were sent to support the Megara force. Both
these destroyers embarked troops at Megara.
In addition, destroyers
HASTY, HAVOCK, and DECOY
were sent to Megara to carry troops for the lost steamer
PENNLAND.
Lighter A.19 embarked
troops from the beaches and
carried them to the ships. The lighter was later
abandoned and was lost when
she broke down. Hutton returned to Crete in
Anti-aircraft ship COVENTRY.
Destroyer DIAMOND did not
embark troops during this
lift.
Some 5500 troops were
evacuated.
Light cruisers ORION,
PHOEBE, and PERTH and destroyer DEFENDER covered these
operations.
_____
Greek yacht THRAKI was
sunk by German bombing at
Myli.
_____
Greek steamer SOFIA
(1722grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Megara.
_____
Greek steamers ANNA MARIA
(128grt) and MARIOUS
(602grt) were sunk by German bombing at Vostizza.
_____
Greek steamer GEORGE A.
DRACOULIS (1570grt) was
sunk by German bombing at Chalkis.
Date of loss is also given
as 20 April.
_____
Greek steamer THRAKI
(982grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Port Kheli.
_____
Greek steamer DIMITRIOS
NOMIKOS (1171grt) was sunk
by German bombing at Karystos, Euboea.
The steamer was raised by
the Germans and repaired
for their use.
_____
Force H departed Gibraltar
on Operations SALIENT and DUNLOP with
battlecruiser RENOWN, aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, light
cruiser SHEFFIELD, and destroyers FAULKNOR, FEARLESS,
FORESIGHT,
FURY, and FORTUNE. Accompanying was Force S.of light
cruiser DIDO, minelayer
ABDIEL, and destroyers KELLY, KASHMIR, KELVIN,
KIPLING, JERSEY, and JACKAL being sent to Malta.
This movement was the
transfer of ships to the
Mediterranean Fleet in Operation SALIENT and a flyoff of
aircraft from ARK
ROYAL to Malta in Operation DUNLOP. The flyoff was
delayed due to
bad weather until 27 April.
The ships arrived at Malta
on the 28th.
Light cruiser DIDO,
minelayer ABDIEL, and
destroyers JERVIS, JUNO, JAGUAR, and IMPERIAL (which had
just completed
her October 1940 mine damage repair) departed Malta on
the 28th escorting BRECONSHIRE to Alexandria.
Destroyer JANUS remained
at Malta for repairs.
Destroyers KELLY, KASHMIR, KELVIN, KIPLING, JERSEY, and
JACKAL remained at Malta to operate as a striking force
with light cruiser GLOUCESTER.
The DIDO force arrived at
Alexandria on the 30th.
_____
Light cruiser MAURITIUS
arrived at Gibraltar after being relieved by heavy
cruiser LONDON of the escort of convoy SL.71.
The light cruiser had on
board the crew of a
Wellington bomber which had forced landed at sea in
36-19N, 7-06W. The crew
had been rescued by Spanish steamer NORTE (2825grt) and
transferred to the
cruiser.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
MARON captured French fishing
vessel JOSEPH ELISE, which had departed Casablanca for
fishing at 27-16N, 14-29W.
A fifteen man armed guard,
under the command of
A/Sub Lt P. G. Martin RNR, was placed aboard the vessel
which was sent off
towards Gibraltar.
The French crew
overpowered the British guardon the
26th and the vessel arrived back at Casablanca on the
27th. The guard were interned.
_____
Light cruiser DIOMEDE
departed Bermuda to intercept Spanish steamer MARQUES DE COMMILLAS (9922grt), which
had departed New
York on the
24th, carrying the Italian Naval Attache to Washington.
The ship was intercepted
and both arrived at Bermuda on the 30th.
The steamer was released
on 4 May.
_____
British steamer EMPIRE
LIGHT (6828grt) was sunk by
German raider PINGUIN north of the Seychilles.
_____
Convoy HX.123 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser DERBYSHIRE
and
corvettes COBALt and COLLINGWOOD. The corvettes were
detached later that day.
Battleship RAMILLIES joined the convoy on the 30th and
remained until 4 May.
On 6 May, destroyer WOLVERINE and corvette BEGONIA
joined the convoy.
Destroyer VERITY joined on 8 May. Destroyers
CAMPBELTOWN, CHELSEA, MANSFIELD,
NEWMARKET, andWESTCOTT, sloop ROCHESTER, and corvettes
AURICULA, DIANTHUS,
MARIGOLD, NASTURTIUM, and PRIMROSE joined on 9 May. On 9
May, the armed
merchant cruiser, destroyers CHELSEA, MANSFIELD,
NEWMARKET, VERITY, and WOLVERINE and corvette BEGONIA
departed the escort. The remaining escorts were detached
when the convoy
arrived at Liverpool on 12 May.
Saturday,
26 April
Light cruisers GALATEA and
ARETHUSA departed the
Iceland Faroes patrol when relieved by heavy cruiser
EXETER and light cruiser NIGERIA.
_____
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
departed
Scapa Flow with
destroyers ECHO and ACTIVE at 1630 to relieve heavy
cruiser NORFOLK on
Denmark Strait
patrol.
The ships arrived at
Hvalfjord at 0700/28th.
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 30th.
_____
Armed merchant cruisers
CALIFORNIA, ALAUNIA, and DERBYSHIRE arrived at Greenock on the 26th.
_____
Destroyer ANTELOPE
departed Portsmouth at 2130 to join the Home Fleet,
arriving at Scapa Flow at 1300/27th.
_____
Destroyers INTREPID and
IMPULSIVE departed the Humber to join the Home Fleet replacing destroyers COSSACK and ZULU, being
transferred to the Plymouth Command.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Methil at 1700
and provided cover for convoy EC.11 from May Island to
Pentland Firth.
The ship returned to Scapa
Flow after the duty.
_____
Leading Airman A. C.
Holley of 14 EFTS Elmdon was killed
when his Tiger Moth crashed in practice forced landing
at Knowle FLG, Bristol.
_____
Convoy WS.8 A of steamers
HIGHLAND CHIEFTAIN
(14,135grt), EMPRESS OF ASIA
(16,909grt), DOMINION MONARCH (27,155grt), REINA DEL
PACIFICO (17,702grt), EMPRESS OF RUSSIA
(16,810grt), STRATHAIRD (22,281grt), SOBIESKI
(11,030grt), NEW ZEALAND STAR (10,740grt), CLAN CAMPBELL
(7255grt), CLAN LAMONT
(7250grt), CLAN CHATTAN (7262grt), ABEEKERK (7889grt),
ARONDA (4062grt),
EMPIRE SONG (9228grt), and armed merchant cruiser
PRETORIA CASTLE departed
the Clyde.
Steamers CLAN CHATTAN,
CLAN CAMPBELL, CLAN LAMONT,
EMPIRE SONG, and NEW ZEALAND STAR were detached to
Gibraltar on 2 May as the TIGER convoy for the
Mediterranean.
Light cruiser NAIAD and
destroyers HAVELOCK, HESPERUS, and HARVESTER were in the
convoy escort
for the voyage to Gibraltar.
Destroyers BEAGLE and
ERIDGE escorted the convoy
from 26 April to 30 April when they joined convoy SL.71.
Destroyers OTTAWA,
RESTIGOUCHE, SAGUENAY, LEGION, PIORUN, and HURRICANE escorted the convoy from 26 to 29
April.
Battleship RODNEY departed
Scapa Flow on the 26th to escort the convoy. The
battleship
was relieved by battlecruiser REPULSE from Gibraltar.
Battlecruiser REPULSE arrived at Gibraltar with the
three H.class destroyers on 5 May.
Light cruiser NAIAD was
detached from the convoy
and arrived at Gibraltar on 4 May.
On 2 May, light cruiser
MAURITIUS joined the convoy. On 5 May, destroyers DUNCAN
and
WISHART joined the convoy and on 6 May, destroyers
HIGHLANDER and BOREAS
joined the convoy. On 9 May, the convoy arrived at
Freetown with armed merchant cruiser PRETORIA CASTLE, light cruiser MAURITIUS. the
four destroyers.
The convoy departed
Freetown on 14 May. The convoy was joined by liner
IMPERIAL
STAR (10,733grt) which had proceeded independently to
Freetown from the UK.
Liner HIGHLAND CHIEFTAIN
did not depart with the
convoy. She sailed on 15 May escorted by armed merchant
cruiser CILICIA to overtake the convoy.
The convoy from Freetown
was escorted by destroyers HIGHLANDER, WISHART,
DUNCAN, and BOREAS from 14 to 16 May. Light cruiser
MAURITIUS was with the convoy until relieved by heavy
cruiser HAWKINS on 24 May. Armed merchant cruiser
PRETORIA
CASTLE was with the convoy from 24 to 27 May when the convoy arrived at Durban.
Troopship STRATHAIRD was
detached to Capetown
arriving on 24 May and then proceeded to rejoin the
Durban section the next day.
Troopships IMPERIAL STAR,
STRATHAIRD, and EMPRESS OF ASIA arrived at Capetown on
24 May.
Heavy cruiser HAWKINS and
steamers EMPRESS OF
RUSSIA, ARONDA, SOBIESKI, DOMINION MONARCH, STRATHAIRD,
REINA DEL PACIFICO, and ABBEKERK arrived at Durban on 27
May.
Steamers SOBIESKI, ARONDA,
STRATHAIRD, EMPRESS OF
RUSSIA, and ABBEKERK departed Durban on 31 May escorted
by heavy cruiser HAWKINS. The
steamers arrived at Aden
on 10 June and ships proceeded independently to Suez.
_____
Convoy OG.60 departed
liverpool escorted by
destroyers ROCKINGHAM, VANQUISHER, and VISCOUNT, sloops
DEPTFORD and LONDONDERRY, corvettes FRESIA, HIBISCUS,
PIMPERNEL, and
RHODODENDRON, and anti-submarine yacht PHILANTE.
Corvette RHODODENDRON was
detached that day. The
remainder of the escorts, less sloop DEPTFORD, were
detached on the 30th.
The convoy was joined en
route by Dutch submarine
O.23.
Convoy OG.60 arrived at
Gibraltar on 10 May escorted by sloop DEPTFORD and
submarine
O.23.
_____
British steamer MOUNTPARK
(4648grt) was sunk by
German bombing in 56-17N, 12-21W.
Six crew were lost on the
steamer.
_____
U.110 sank British steamer
HENRI MORY (2564grt) 330
miles WNW of Blaskets, near Achill Head.
Twenty six crew and two
gunners were lost with the
ship. Four crew were rescued.
_____
Finnish steamer LAPPONIA
(1172grt) was damaged by
mining off Aalborg.
The steamer sank, but was
later raised and repaired
at Aalborg.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER
destroyed German cargo ship
ARTA, which had been grounded on Kerkenah Bank since
being badly damaged in a
torpedo attack by Captain Mack's destroyers on the 16th.
_____
Light cruiser AJAX
departed Alexandria to join Vice Admiral, Light Forces.
_____
Corvettes HYACINTH and
SALIVA and minesweeping
trawler MUROTO were withdrawn from Piraeus.
En route to Suda
Bay,
they swept the approaches to Nauplia.
_____
British steamer SCOTTISH
PRINCE (4917grt) was
damaged by German bombing in 36-07N, 24-30E.
The steamer was assisted
by Australian destroyer
VAMPIRE and sloop GRIMSBY.
The steamer arrived at
Alexandria on 12 May, badly damaged on her starboard
side.
_____
Operation DEMON continued
during the night of 26/27
April.
Raphina and
Raphtis:commando ship GLENGYLE, steamer
SALWEEN, Anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE, and destroyers NUBIAN, DECOY, and HASTY.
A lighter A.6 ferried
troops from the beaches to
the ships.
Nauplia and Tolon:commando
ship GLENEARN,
troopships SLAMAT and KHEDIVE ISMAEL, Anti-aircraft
cruiser CALCUTTA, and destroyers ISIS, HOTSPUR, GRIFFIN,
DIAMOND, and HAVOCK.
Commando ship GLENEARN was
bombed en route. She was
towed to Kissamo Bay
by destroyer GRIFFIN.
Ship GLENEARN was towed
from Kissamo
Bay
by sloop GRIMSBY and later netlayer PROTECTOR to
Alexandria arriving on 1 May.
To compensate for the loss
of the GLENEARN, light
cruisers ORION and PERTH and destroyer STUART were sent
at 1700 from Suda
Bay
to carry for the commando ship.
Light cruiser PERTH and
destroyer STUART proceeded to Tolon.
Light cruiser ORION
proceeded to Nauplia. At
Nauplia, light cruiser ORION embarked 300 troops lifted
off the beach at
Tolon by destroyer STUART. Midshipman D. F. Swithinbank
was unable to return
to cruiser ORION before sailing. He was later able to
escape and rejoin
British forces. Midshipman (E) J. O. Wigg was wounded
and one rating was
killed and five ratings were missing.
Troopship SLAMAT was late
in getting away from
Nauplia in the morning and delayed the convoy's sailing.
Troopship SLAMAT was hit
by bombs and wrecked in
37-01N, 23-10E. Destroyer DIAMOND was left behind to
rescue survivors.
Destroyers WRYNECK,
VENDETTA, and WATERHEN were
sent out to assist the Nauplia group at this time.
Destroyer WRYNECK, sent to
assist destroyer
DIAMOND, arrived just as troopship SLAMAT capsized.
Both destroyers DIAMOND
(Lt Cdr P. A. Cartwright)
and WRYNECK (Lt Cdr R. H. D. Lane Rtd) were sunk by
German bombing later in
the day. Destroyer GRIFFIN picked up twenty seven
survivors on the 27th.
Warrant Engineer Waldron, which was wounded, and twenty
two other survivors
reached Suda Bay
in a WRYNECK whaler on the 29th. There were no more
survivors from the three
ships. Waldron and forty one ratings from destroyer
WRYNECK and eight
soldiers survived the loss of the three ships. There
were only five survivors
from steamer SLAMAT. Two hundred and sixty three
officers and men were lost
in the two destroyers. The entire crew, Cartwright, Lt
O. Carr, Lt J. W.
Marshall,Sub Lt M. W. Disney-Roebuck, T/Lt (E) H. C. E.
St.
Clair-Miller,A/Gunner (T) J. Shanks,T/Sub Lt C. A. Wood
RNVR, P/T/Surgeon Lt
J. M. Watson, MRCS, LRCP, and one hundred and forty one
ratings, were lost on
destroyer DIAMOND.
Lane, Lt R. L. Davies,
Midshipman P. B. Peck,
P/T/Surgeon Lt G. T. R. Watt, MB, ChB RNVR, sub Lt K. H.
Jackson, T/Lt R. O.
Griffiths RNVR, Gunner J. W. McCracken, and one hundred
and seven ratings
were lost on destroyer WRYNECK.
Destroyers VENDETTA and
WATERHEN relieved
destroyers ISIS and HOTSPUR which were escorting
troopship KHEDIVE ISMAEL.
Destroyers ISIS and HOTSPUR then ran on to Suda
Bay.
Destroyer HAVOCK carried
the Army HQ and also the
Flag Officer Attached Middle East at Nauplia and took
them to Monemvasia. The
destroyer was then to escort merchant ship SANTA BARBARA
from Monemvasia. However, the steamer was sunk by
bombing before the destroyer arrived.
Kalamata:Troopships CITY
OF LONDON, COSTA RICA, and DILWARA, light cruiser
PHOEBE, destroyers HERO, HEREWARD, and DEFENDER, and
sloop FLAMINGO.
Destroyer DEFENDER
embarked the Yugoslav crown
jewels for transport to Alexandria.
Cruiser PHOEBE and
destroyers HERO and HEREWARD returned
empty.
Light cruisers ORION and
PERTH and destroyer STUART arrived at Suda at 1100 with
2000 men.
4300 men were evacuated
from Nauplia. 8300 men were
evacuated from Raphtis and Raphina. 8650 men were
evacuated from Kalamata.
_____
Gunboat LADYBIRD bombarded
Gazala airdrome.
Gunboat APHIS bombarded an
enemy column in the Halfaya Pass.
_____
Greek torpedo boat KYDONIA
was sunk by German
bombing at Morea.
_____
Greek steamer MAIOTIS
(1712grt) was sunk by German
bombing in the Aegean.
The steamer was later
salved and taken to Trieste.
_____
Greek steamer MARIA
STATHATOU (6303grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Mylos.
_____
Greek steamer ZAKYNTHOS
(960grt) was sunk by German
bombing off Monemvasia.
_____
British troopship EMPIRE
TROOPER departed Gibraltar, escorted by corvette
PRIMULA, for Freetown.
_____
Submarine TAKU departed
Gibraltar for patrol in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
_____
Submarine
UNION departed Gibraltar for
Malta, arriving on 4 May.
_____
American aircraft carrier
WASP with heavy cruiser
QUINCY and destroyers LIVERMORE and KEARNEY departed
Hampton Roads on neutrality patrol. This
patrol concluded at Bermuda on 12 May.
This is the first use of
the aircraft carriers on
this patrol.
Sunday,
27 April
Auxiliary fighter catapult
ship PATIA (5355grt, Cdr
D. M. B. Baker RD RNR) was sunk by German bombing near
20.G Buoy, Coquet
Island.
Baker, T/Lt C. S. Nicholls
RNVR, and T/Sub Lt (E)
B. K. Prim RNR, and eighteen ratings were killed on the
ship. A
rating died of wounds on the 28th and T/A/Sub Lt W.
Kirkham RNVR, died of
wounds on the 29th. Lt F. J. Owen RNR, T/Lt E. L. Riley
RNVR, and P/T/Lt B. E. T.
Williams RNR, and thirteen ratings were missing.
T/Lt (E) E. Jones RNR,
T/Paymaster Sub Lt J. McDonald RNR, T/Sub Lt (E) E. H.
Maddock RNR, and T/Surgeon Lt A. Watt RNVR, were
wounded.
_____
Convoy OB.315 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyers BULLDOG, CHELSEA,
MANSFIELD, and VERITY and corvette LARKSPUR. On the
29th,
destroyer BULLDOG was detached and minesweepers SEAGULL
and SHARPSHOOTER
joined. Destroyer VERITY was detached on 1 May and
destroyers CHELSEA and
MANSFIELD on 3 May. The remainder of the escort was
detached on 4 May when
the convoy dispersed.
_____
Destroyers SOMALI and
BEDOUIN departed Scapa Flow at 1745 to search for a
submarine reported by
aircraft in 59-16N, 7-23W.
The destroyers were
recalled at 23330 and arrived
back at Scapa Flow at 0500/29th.
_____
Destroyers TARTAR, ESKIMO,
and BROCKLESBY departed Scapa Flow at 2030 for Rosyth.
Destroyer TARTAR was to
boiler clean at Rosyth.
Destroyers ESKIMO and BROCKLESBY were to escort
minelayer AGAMEMNON from
Rosyth.
The two destroyers and the
minelayer departed
Rosyth at 1940/29th for Loch Alsh.
_____
Destroyer FARNDALE arrived
at Scapa Flow to work up at 1000.
_____
U.552 sank British trawler
COMMANDER HORTON
(227grt) in 62N, 16W.
_____
Sloop ROSEMARY was damaged
in a collision with
British steamer CARRICKMACROSS (754grt) at Milford
Haven.
The sloop was repaired at
Milford Haven from 28
April to 6 June.
U.147 sank Norwegian
steamer RIMFAKSE (1134grt) in
60-10N, 8-54W.
Eight crew were missing
from the steamer. Eight
crew were saved.
_____
U.552 sank British steamer
BEACON GRANGE
(10,160grt) in 62-05N, 16-20W. Two crew were missing
from the steamer.
Corvette GLADIOLUS and Belgian trawler EDOUARD ANSEELE
(351grt) rescued the
survivors.
_____
British steamer CELTE
(943grt) was sunk by German
bombing in 61-20N, 11-00W. The entire crew were rescued.
_____
Submarine USK (Lt G. P.
Darling) was lost on a
minefield near off Cape Bon.
Darling, Lt D. W. Leggatt,
Lt D. A. O'Hare, Lt V.
L. Darbyshire, and the twenty eight ratings of the crew
were lost with the
submarine.
_____
Submarine
TORBAY
unsuccessfully attacked a steamer off Cape
Ferrato.
_____
French steamer SNA.7 was
sunk on a mine off Cape Bon.
_____
To relieve congestion in
Crete, convoy GA.14 departed Suda Bay
with commando ship GLENGYLE, troopships Egyptian KHEDIVE
ISMAEL (7290grt),
British SALWEEN (7063grt), British DILWARA (11,080grt),
British CITY OF LONDON (8956grt), and Dutch COSTA RICA
(8672grt).
Troopship COSTA RICA was
sunk by German bombing north of Crete in 35-54N, 23-49E while this convoy was forming. The entire crew and
all passengers were rescued by light cruiser PHOEBE and
destroyers HERO,
HEREWARD, and DEFENDER.
The convoy was escorted by
anti-aircraft cruisers COVENTRY and CALCUTTA, destroyers
STUART, VENDETTA, WATERHEN, and
VAMPIRE, and sloop FLAMINGO. Destroyer WRYNECK was
supposed to be in this
force, but at this time it was not known she was lost.
Destroyer GRIFFIN was sent
north to attempt to locate destroyers
DIAMOND and WRYNECK and found a liferaft carrying one
officer and forty eight
ratings.
Light cruisers PERTH and
PHOEBE and destroyers DECOY, HASTY, NUBIAN,
HEREWARD, HERO, and DEFENDER covered the convoy, and
arrived at Alexandria on the 29th.
_____
During the night of 27/28
April DEMON continued.
Light cruiser AJAX and
destroyers KINGSTON, KIMBERLEY, and HAVOCK, assisted by
three Greek caiques,
lifted 4200 troops from Raphina and Raphtis.
_____
Greek steamer EVANGHELOS
GEORGIOU (441grt) was sunk
by German bombing at Kithera.
_____
Greek steamer ASTIR
(1350grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Kapsalion.
_____
Greek steamer TASSOS
(333grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Hermione.
_____
Greek steamer FRAGISCOS
(441grt) was sunk by German
bombing in the Greek Archipelago.
_____
Greek steamer HOLLANDIA
(1759grt) anchored at
Hermione with engine trouble on the 23rd. She was sunk
by German bombing at
Hermione, near Nauplia Bay.
_____
Greek steamer DANAPRIS
(2113grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Piraeus.
The steamer was repaired
by the Germans for their
use.
_____
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
departed St Helena.
_____
Light cruiser DAUNTLESS
departed Singapore.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
MARON intercepted five French
steamers, escorted by a patrol vessel at 27-07N, 14-40W.
The Admiralty
directed that the convoy should be allowed to proceed.
The convoy, escorted by
auxiliary patrol vessel
ASPRIANT BRUN, departed Casablanca on the 24th and arrived at
Dakar on 2 May.
_____
Convoy SL.73 departed
Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser ESPERANCE BAY
for the day only and corvettes CLEMATIS, CROCUS,
CYCLAMAN, and MARGUERITE to
6 May.
Destroyer DUNCAN escorted
the convoy from 29 April
to 1 May.
On 3 May, light cruiser
DRAGON joined to 6 May.
Destroyers BOADICEA to 25 May, COLUMBIA to 25 May, and
ST FRANCIS to 21 May and ocean
boarding vessels HILARY and REGISTAN, both to 25 May
joined on 19 May. On 20
May, destroyer ST CLAIR for the day only, sloop EGRET to
25 May, and
corvettes ARROWHEAD, HEPATICA, SNOWBERRY, and SPIKENARD,
all to 25 May,
joined, and arrived at Liverpool on 25 May.
Monday,
28 April
Battlecruiser HOOD and
destroyers ECHO, ACTIVE, ACHATES, and ANTHONY departed
Hvalfjord
to cover convoys HX.122, escorted by armed merchant
cruiser ALAUNIA, and
SC.29, escorted by armed merchant cruiser RANPURA.
_____
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
departed Iceland on patrol.
_____
Convoy OB.316 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyers WOLVERINE and WOOLSTON and corvette BEGONIA.
Destroyer WOOLSTON
was detached on the 29th. On the 30th, destroyers
SALADIN and SKATE and
minesweeper HARRIER joined the convoy. Destroyer
WOLVERINE and the
minesweeper were detached on 3 May. Destroyers SALADIN,
SKATE, and VETERAN
were detached on 4 May. The convoy was dispersed on 5
May and corvette
BEGONIA was detached.
_____
Submarine H.31 and
destroyer VENOMOUS collided
during A/S training exercises at Londonderry.
Destroyer VENOMOUS was
repaired at Londonderry completed on 18 May.
The submarine received
damage to her aft
hydroplanes.
_____
Destroyers INGLEFIELD and
MAORI, which formed a
striking force for convoy HX.121, attacked a submarine
contact in 60-10N,
17W.
They claimed sinking a
submarine.
_____
Destroyers SOMALI and
BEDOUIN were sent from Scapa Flow to investigate a
submarine contact reported by
aircraft in 59-16N, 7-23W.
_____
Armed trawler CAROLINE
(253grt) with a Dutch crew
was sunk on a mine off Milford Haven, 13.6 cables 224°
from Great Castle
Head.
The minesweeper was sunk
with all hands.
_____
Ammunition
storage ship
MONCOUSU (1420grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Plymouth.
_____
U.65, U.96, and U.552
converged on convoy HX.121.
Corvette GLADIOLUS of the
convoy escort sank the
U.65 before she was able to attack. The entire crew of
fifty crew were lost
in the submarine.
Submarine U.552 torpedoed
British tanker CAPULET
(8190grt) in 60-16N, 16-10W. The tanker was abandoned on
fire and was later
sunk by gunfire.
Eight crew and one
passenger were lost on the
tanker.
Submarine U.96 sank
British tanker OILFIELD
(8516grt) in 60-05N, 17W.
Forty five crew and two
gunners were lost on the
tanker.
Submarine U.96 sank
Norwegian tanker CALEDONIA (9892grt) in 60-03N, 16-10W.
Twelve crew were lost on
the tanker.
Submarine U.96 sank
British steamer PORT HARDY (8897grt) in 60-14N, 15-20W.
One crewman was
lost.
_____
British steamer CLAN
BUCHANAN (7266grt) was sunk by
German raider PINGUIN in 5-24N, 62-46E. The entire crew
were picked up. One
hundred and seven crew were lost when PINGUIN was sunk
on 8 May.
_____
British steamer MARIE DAWN
(2157grt) was damaged by
German bombing off Sheringham Buoy.
_____
British steamer EMPIRE
STRAIT (2824grt) was damaged by German bombing off Great Yarmouth.
_____
Salvage work on Heavy
cruiser YORK was suspended.
_____
During the night of 28/29
April, DEMON continues.
Kithera - sloop AUCKLAND,
corvettes HYACINTH and SALVIA embarked 750 RAF
and other personnel.
Monemvasia - light cruiser
AJAX and destroyers HAVOCK, HOTSPUR, ISIS, and GRIFFIN
lifted 4320 troops, including the units delivered
there by destroyer HAVOCK on the 27th.
Kalamata - light cruisers
PERTH and PHOEBE and destroyers NUBIAN, HERO, DEFENDER,
HEREWARD, DECOY, and DEFENDER.
Destroyers KINGSTON,
KIMBERLEY, and KANDAHAR were sent to join the Kalamata
force to pick up
Yugoslav refugees.
On arrival at Kalamata,
the harbour was reported to
be in enemy hands. Destroyer HERO was sent to
investigate and the Main Force
retired.
Destroyers HERO,
KIMBERLEY, KANDAHAR, and KINGSTON did pick up some 450
troops from Kalamata.
_____
Lighter A.15 departed Suda
Bay
to assist damaged A.5 (A/BoatswainH. R. Paxton) off
Monemvasia. The lighter
had been damaged by German bombing and Lt A. B.
Heckstall-Smith RNVR, had
been wounded. The lighter was later sunk.
En route, lighter A.15 was
sunk by German bombing
with all hands aboard lost. The officers lost aboard
were Lt Cdr P. C. Hutton
DSC, (emergency), Commander of the 1st TLC Flotilla, sub
Lt C. H. Whitworth
DSC, T/A/Boatswain C. W. Dennis, and T/A/Boatswain J.
Forster.
_____
Greek torpedo boat KYZIKOS
was sunk by German
bombing at Salamis.
_____
Greek steamer AIKATERINI
(462grt) was sunk by
German bombing off Spetsopoulou.
_____
Greek steamer ELENI
CANAVARIOTI (797grt) was sunk
by German bombing.
The survivors were landed
at Izmir.
_____
During the night of 28/29
and 29/30 April, Malta was heavily bombed.
Destroyer ENCOUNTER in
drydock at Malta was badly damaged in attacks on 29 and
30 April.
On the 29th, a bomb penetrated her forecastle and
exploded inside the ship.
The destroyer was further
damaged by bombing on 16
May.
Destroyer ENCOUNTER was
repaired completing in mid
July and sailed for Gibraltar on 23 July.
Minesweeper FERMOY was
damaged beyond repair in
dock at Malta on 29 and 30 April.
Anti-submarine trawler
CORAL and minesweeping
drifter TRUSTY STAR were also damaged by bombing.
_____
A Swordfish of 810
Squadron ditched off Gibraltar on take off. Sub Lt R. S.
Charlier was picked up
by light cruiser SHEFFIELD, but Leading Airman D. R. B.
Evans was lost.
_____
Force H arrived back at
Gibraltar after operations DUNLOP and SALIENT.
Destroyers FEARLESS, FURY,
and WRESTLER departed Gibraltar to join battleship QUEEN
ELIZABETH and escort her
to Gibraltar.
_____
Submarine URGE departed
Gibraltar for Malta.
_____
Aircraft carrier HERMES
and light cruiser ENTERPRISE were in the Persian Gulf
covering the landings at Basra from convoy BP.1 of
steamers NEVASA, BANDRA,
ESPERANCE. Steamer WESTERNLAND travelled in this convoy
and proceeded on to Suez.
Convoy BP.1 departed
Bombay on the 21st, escorted by armed merchant cruiser
ANTENOR. Sloop LAWRENCE joined on the 25th and sloop
FALMOUTH on the 28th. Sloop LAWRENCE was detached on the
28th when sloop YARRA and
gunboat COCKCHAFER joined. The convoy arrived at Basra
on the 29th.
On the 30th, convoy BP.1A
of troopships DEVONSHIRE and NEURALIA departed Bombay,
escorted by armed merchant cruiser KANIMBLA.
Sloop FALMOUTH joined on 3 May. The convoy arrived at
Basra on 6 May.
Convoy BP.2 departed
Karachi on 6 May with troopships ROHNA, LANCASHIRE, and
VARELA, escorted by armed merchant cruiser
KANIMBLA. The convoy arrived at Basra on 10 May.
Convoy BP.3 departed on 9
May from Bombay, escorted by armed merchant cruiser
ANTENOR, with
troopships TALMA, RAULA, EKMA, and SANTHIA for Basra and
STRATHMORE for Suez and from Karachi, escorted by armed
merchant cruiser KANIMBLA with
EGRA and EL MADINA for Port Sudan. The convoy arrived at Aden on
15 May.
On 10 May, steamers
RISALDAR, BAHADUR, JALAVIHAR,
and JALADUTA departed Bombay,
independently, for Basra.
Convoy BP.4 departed
Bombay on 23 May with troopships NEURALIA, DEVONSHIRE,
and ISLAMI, escorted by armed merchant cruiser
ANTENOR. Sloop SHOREHAM joined on 23 May. The convoy
arrived at Basra on 30 May.
The BP series continued
and ended 1941 with BP.29
sailing on 18 December. Armed merchant cruisers ANTENOR
or KANIMBLA being the
escorts through BP.11. After BP.16 and through BP.40 in
March 1942, the
convoys travelled without escort.
_____
Light cruiser DANAE
departed Penang.
Tuesday,
29 April
In German air raids during
the night of 29/30
April, light cruiser TRINIDAD under construction at
Devonport was hit by a bomb.
There was some damage to
offices and cabins.
_____
Auxiliary patrol vessel
PESSAC (775grt) was damaged by German bombing at
Plymouth.
The ship sank with heavy
bottom damage. The vessel
was repaired in 1942.
_____
Lighter C.293 was sunk by
German bombing at Plymouth.
_____
Minelayer AGAMEMNON
departed Rosyth after repairs
escorted by destroyers ESKIMO and BROCKLESBY for Loch
Alsh.
The destroyers arrived
back at Scapa Flow at 0600 on 1 May after the escort.
_____
Destroyer ARROW departed
Scapa Flow at 1100 for Chatham to refitting and arrived
at 1530/30th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 2000 to meet convoy
WN.20 in the Pentland Firth and provide escort until
meeting convoy EC.13.
The ship meet convoy EC.13
at 0930 on 1 May in Pentland Firth and escorted it to
Methil, arriving at 1030 on 2
May.
_____
U.75 sank British
steamer CITY OF NAGPUR
(10,146grt) in 52-30N, 26W.
Fifteen crew and one
passenger were lost on the
steamer. Survivors were rescued by destroyer HURRICANE.
_____
British steamer KALUA
(722grt) was sunk by German
bombing one half mile north, northeast of T.2 Buoy,
mouth of Tyne. The entire crew were rescued.
British steamer PROWESS
(207grt) was damaged by
mine off Projector Buoy, Humber.
_____
The German 1st MTB
Flotilla of S.26, S.27, S.29, and S.55 sortie
against Convoy EC.13 of fifty seven ships off Cromer.
British steamer AMBROSE
FLEMING (1555grt) was sunk
by S.29 in 53-14N, 1-08E. Ten crew and one gunner was
lost on the steamer.
Destroyers WORCESTER,
EGLINTON, WHITSHED, and
WALLACE engaged the S-boats.
_____
Harbour Launch ML.278 was
sunk on a mine at Portsmouth. The entire crew were lost.
_____
British steamer CORGLEN
(2822grt) and Norwegian
steamer ASKELADDEN (2498grt) were damaged by German
bombing off T.2 Buoy, Tyne.
Both ships were towed back
to port.
_____
Convoy GA.15 departed the
Aegean with troopships DELANE 6054grt),
THURLAND
CASTLE (6372grt), COMLIEBANK (5149grt), CORINTHIA (3701grt), ITRIA
(6854grt), and IONIA
(1936grt) and oiler BRAMBLELEAF. The convoy was
escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE,
destroyers KANDAHAR and KINGSTON, and sloop AUCKLAND.
The convoy was covered by
Vice Admiral, Light
Forces in light cruiser ORION which departed Suda
Bay
and joined the aborted Kalamata force cruisers PERTH and
PHOEBE and the Monemvasia cruiser AJAX north of Crete. Destroyers
DECOY, DEFENDER, NUBIAN, HASTY, and HEREWARD covered the
convoy.
Destroyers HOTSPUR,
HAVOCK, ISIS, KIMBERLEY, and HERO were left behind to
collect stragglers
from the islands.
Rawlings departed
Alexandria with battleships BARHAM and VALIANT, aircraft
carrier FORMIDABLE and destroyers STUART, VENDETTA,
VAMPIRE, WATERHEN,
VOYAGER, and GREYHOUND to support the convoy.
Rawlings met Pridham
Wipple south of Kaso
Strait on the 30th.
Light cruisers PHOEBE and
PERTH and destroyer NUBIAN joined Rawlings and the rest
of the force was sent on to Alexandria, arriving on the
30th.
Rawlings was also joined
by destroyer ILEX from Alexandria and destroyers JUNO
and JAGUAR from Malta about this time.
Rawlings contacted convoy
GA.15 shortly after and
light cruiser PERTH and destroyer NUBIAN were detached
to the convoy
for close support.
Destroyer NUBIAN was
damaged by the near miss of
German bombing.
The destroyer spent no
time out of service, but
required docking on arrival.
After leaving the convoy,
Rawlings then turned
north to support the Melos and Kalamata forces, and
arrived at Alexandria on 1 May. Destroyers DECOY and
DEFENDER continued
on to Port Said with two steamers.
The Mediterranean Fleet
arrived at Alexandria on 3 May.
_____
During the night of 29/30
April, DEMON continued.
Destroyers ISIS,
KIMBERLEY, and HERO embarked on 16 officers and
seventeen
other ranks from Kalamata.
_____
Destroyers HAVOCK and
HOTSPUR moved a battalion of
troops from Suda Bay
to Heraklion.
_____
Convoy service ship CHAKLA
(3081grt) was sunk by
German bombers inside Tobruk Harbour.
Only two ratings were
wounded in the sinking of the
ship.
_____
Greek steamer AETOS
(125grt) was sunk by German
bombing in Greek waters.
_____
Greek steamers ELSI
(1433grt) and KONISTRA (3537grt) were damaged by
German bombing at Suda Bay. Both were
raised and repaired by the Germans for their use.
_____
Corvettes GARDENIA and
COLUMBINE arrived at Gibraltar from the UK after escort
duty with convoy OG.59.
_____
Submarine PANDORA departed
Gibraltar for patrol off Naples.
_____
Convoy SC.30 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser SALOPIAN,
corvettes COBALt and COLLINGWOOD, and submarine
THUNDERBOLT. The corvettes
were detached the next day and the submarine on 10 May.
On 12 May, destroyer
WATCHMAN, corvette VIOLET, and anti-submarine trawlers
ST KENAN, ST ZENO, and
VIZALMA joined the convoy. Corvette ABELIA joined the
convoy on 14 May.
Destroyer WATCHMAN was detached on 15 May. Catapult ship
ARIGUANI, destroyers
ERIDGE, LEAMINGTON, and ROXBOROUGH, and minesweepers
HUSSAR and NIGER joined on 15 May and were detached on
18 May.
Armed merchant cruisers SALOPIAN was detached on 17 May.
Destroyer BURWELL
and corvettes ANEMONE and VERONICA joined on 18 May. The
remainder of the
escort was detached when the convoy arrived at Liverpool
on 20 May.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER departed Colombo to search for German raider
PINGUIN six hundred
miles west of the Maldives.
Wednesday,
30 April
Dutch submarine O.13
arrived at Scapa Flow to act as an anti-submarine
training ship.
_____
Destroyers COSSACK and
ZULU departed Scapa Flow at 1700 for Plymouth to join
the Plymouth Command.
_____
Convoy OB.317 departed
liverpool, escorted by
destroyers BOADICEA, COLUMBIA,
NIAGARA, and ST CLAIR, sloop EGRET, corvettes HEATHER,
HEPATICA, ORCHIS, SNOWBERRY, TRILLIUM, and WINDFLOWER,
and anti-submarine
trawlers AYRSHHIRE, LADY MADELEINE, and ST LOMAN. The
escort was detached on
6 May when the convoy was dispersed.
_____
Destroyer IMPULSIVE
departed Scapa Flow at 1930 for Aberdeen to escort the
steamer AMSTERDAM for Aberdeen to Lerwick.
The two ships departed
Aberdeen at 0200 on 1 May and arrived at 1520 at
Lerwick.
On 3 May at 0035, the two
ships departed Lerwick
and proceeded to Aberdeen. Steamer ARCHANGEL joined at
0500 off Duncansby
Head. The three ships proceeded to Aberdeen. Delivering
the steamers, destroyer IMPULSIVE
returned to Scapa Flow arriving at 1830 on 3 May.
_____
Convoy SA.1 of British
steamers EMPIRE CONDOR,
EMPIRE CURLEW, EMPIRE EGRET, and EMPIRE WIDGEON was
formed at sea and
escorted by destroyers LEGION, OTTAWA, PIORUN, and
RESTIGOUCHE. The convoy arrived in
the Clyde on 3 May.
_____
Sloop ERNE (Lt Cdr HM
Darell-Brown) was seriously
damaged by a bombing near miss, while still in her
builder's yard at
Westgarth.
The sloop was repaired in
the Tyne completing on 21 June 1942.
_____
British BANFF class escort
ships built in the United States were commissioned with
crews from battleship MALAYA, under repair.
Commissioned were escort
ships BANFF (Lt Cdr P. S. Evans), CULVER (Lt Cdr R. T.
Gordon-Duff), FISHGUARD (Lt Cdr H. L. Pryse RNR), and
HARTLAND (Lt Cdr G. P. Billot RNR).
_____
U.107 sank British steamer
LASSELL (7417grt) at
12-55N, 28-56W. Two crew were lost and the rest were
rescued.
Twenty five survivors were
picked up by steamer
BENVRACKIE which was sunk on 13 May. Fifteen of these
survivors were lost in
the second sinking.
_____
Naval minesweeping drifter
TRUSTY STAR (96grt) was sunk by German bombing at Malta.
The drifter was later
salved and recommissioned at Malta.
_____
German raider THOR arrived
in port after sinking eleven ships for
(83,000grt).
The raider was met in
Biscay by destroyers IHN,
HEINEMANN, and STEINBRINCK.
_____
On the 30th, destroyers
NIZAM and NAPIER arrived at
Aden after duty in convoy WS.7.
The destroyers departed
Aden escorting liners QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH
which arrived at Suez on 3 May.
Destroyer NAPIER arrived
at Port Said on 2 May. Destroyer NIZAM arrived at Suez
on 2 May.
The destroyers, which
carried LL gear for
minesweepers, arrived at Alexandria on 4 May for duty with the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
was damaged by German bombing in the Mediterranean.
The bomb passed through
the ship without exploding.
The damage required one
day for temporary repairs.
_____
During the night of 30
April/1 May, destroyers
ISIS, KIMBERLEY, and HERO lifted twenty four officers
and 176
other ranks from Kalamata.
The destroyers joined
light cruiser PHOEBE during
the afternoon of 1 May and proceeded to Alexandria.
Destroyers HOTSPUR and
HAVOCK lifted 700 troops
from Milos and returned to Alexandria.
These ships all arrived at
Port Said on 2 May to refuel, as Alexandria Harbour had been closed earlier that day due to a mine being detonated in the
Channel.
Operation DEMON was
completed. Some 50,672 troops
from evacuated from Greece.
_____
A German supply convoy for
the Afrika Korps
departed Messina and Augusta with German steamers
MARBURG (7564grt),
REICHENFELS (7744grt), KYBFELS (7764grt) and Italian
steamers BIRMANIA
(5305grt) and RIALTO(6099grt) escorted by destroyers
EURO and FULMINE and
torpedo boats CASTORE, ORIONE, and PROCIONE.
Distant cover was given
the convoy by heavy
cruisers TRIESTE and BOLZANO, light cruiser EUGENIO de
SAVOIA, and destroyers
ASCARI, CARABINIERE, and GIOBERTI.
Attacks on this convoy on
1 May by submarines and
aircraft are unsuccessful.
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
and destroyers KELLY,
JACKAL, KELVIN, JERSEY, KIPLING, and KASHMIR departed
Malta on 1 May to
intercept, but could not make contact, and arrived
safely at Tripoli.
At the same time, a return
convoy of German
CASTELLON (2086grt), ARCTURUS (2596grt), LEVERKUSEN
(7386grt), and WACHTFELS
(8467grt) and Italian steamer GIULIA (5921grt) escorted
by destroyers
FOLGORE, SAETTA, STRALE, and TURBINE departed Tripoli
for Naples.
On 1 May, submarine
UPHOLDER successfully attacked
this convoy two miles south of Kerkenah and sank steamer
ARCTURUS and badly
damaging steamer LEVERKUSEN. Nine hours later, the
submarine was able to
return after the destroyer counterattacks and sank
steamer LEVERKUSEN four miles southeast of Kerkenah.
The convoy put into
Trapani to avoid further attacks. The convoy departed
Trapani on 5 May for Naples.
_____
Gunboat APHIS bombarded
Sollum on the 30th.
Gunboat LADYBIRD bombarded
Gazala on the 30th.
_____
At the end of March,
Mexican tankers MINATITLAN (10,000grt), PANUCO
(7800grt), and TACONA
(10,000grt), building at Genoa
for Mexico, were seized by Italian authorities.
_____
Panamanian steamer INES
(190grt) was taken over by
the Germans in Greece.
The steamer was rammed and
cut in two by an
Australian warship in Cretan waters in May.
_____
Battleship QUEEN
ELIZABETH, escorted by destroyers
FEARLESS, FURY, and WRESTLER, arrived at Gibraltar from
Freetown to join Force H
_____
Light cruiser MAURITIUS
departed
Gibraltar to
rendezvous with convoy WS.8 A and escort the convoy to
Freetown.
Battlecruiser REPULSE,
light cruiser NAIAD, and
destroyers HAVELOCK, HESPERUS, and HARVESTER departing
the convoy with
steamers CLAN LAMONT, CLAN CHATTAN, CLAN CAMPBELL,
EMPIRE SONG, and NEW ZEALAND STAR for Gibraltar for the
TIGER operation.
_____
Corvettes GARDENIA and
COLUMBINE departed Gibraltar for Freetown.
_____
Armed boarding vessel LOCH
OSKAIG captured French
steamer CAP CANTIN, which had departed Bayonne on the
25th for Casablanca, in 38-10N, 10W, twenty five miles
from Cape Espichel.
The steamer was sent to
Gibraltar under armed guard and was met by battlecruiser
RENOWN and destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, FURY,
FOESTER, and FORTUNE on 2
May. Battlecruiser RENOWN and the destroyers returned to
Gibraltar that evening. Destroyer FORESIGHT was detached
to
escort the steamer and both ships arrived at Gibraltar
on 3 May.
_____
Convoy HX.124 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser CIRCASSIA
and corvettes COBALt and COLLINGWOOD. The
corvettes were detached later day. Destroyer BROADWAY
and corvettes AUBRETIA,
HOLLYHOCK, and NIGELLA joined on 11 May. Destroyers
AMAZON, BURWELL, MALCOLM,
SCIMITAR, and WATCHMAN, corvettes HELIOTROPE, MALLOW,
and VIOLET, and
anti-submarine trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN WAVE,
NOTTS
COUNTY, and VIZALMA joined on 12 May. Corvettes ANEMONE, CLARKIA, VERBENA,
and VERONICA joined on 14 May. Destroyers BURWELL,
MALCOLM, and SCIMITAR,
corvettes AUBRETIA, HELIOTROPE, HOLLYHOCK, MALLOW,
NIGELLA, VERBENA, and
VERONICA, and the anti-submarine trawlers were detached
on 14 May. The armed
merchant cruiser and destroyer WATCHMAN were detached on
15 May. Destroyers
BURNHAM, ERIDGE, LEAMINGTON,
and SALISBURY, minesweepers HUSSAR and NIGER, and
catapult ship ARIGUANI joined on 15 May.
Destroyer ROXBOROUGH joined on 18 May and SALADIN on 19
May. Destroyer LEAMINGTON and corvette ANEMONE were
detached on 18 May. The
remainder of the escort was detached when the convoy
arrived at Liverpool on 20 May.
_____
Indian patrol ship PARVATI
(1548grt, Lt H M S
Choudri RIN) was sunk on a mine in 13-11N, 42-54E.
One warrant officer and
fifteen ratings were
missing. The commanding officer, a warrant officer, and
twelve ratings were
wounded.
The twenty one survivors
were picked up by a
British warship.
_____
Australian heavy cruiser
AUSTRALIA departed Singapore with the Australian
delegates of the ABDA
conference.
The cruiser arrived at
Sydney on 3 May.
April,
miscellaneous
Greek steamer YPANIS
(1459grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Stylis. She was refloated in 1942 and was
repairing at Piraeus when she was scuttled on 11 October
1944.
_____
The US Central Atlantic
Neutrality Patrol was
extended to 30W.
Carrier Division 3 with
aircraft carriers RANGER,
WASP, which arrived 12 May from Norfolk, and YORKTOWN,
which arrived at
Bermuda from the Pacific on 12 May, heavy cruisers
QUINCEY and VINCENNES, and
the 11th Destroyer Squadron (Captain Morton L. Deyo in
SAMPSON) with SAMPSON,
EBERLE, GWIN, GRAYSON, MEREDITH, MONSSEN, and ERICCSON.
Later escort aircraft
carrier LONG ISLAND was employed.
Heavy cruisers WICHITA and
TUSCALOOSA joined on 15 May.
The heavy cruisers were
relieved on 15 July by
light cruisers PHILADELPHIA, BROOKLYN, SAVANNAH, and
NASHVILLE of Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt's
Cruiser Division 8.
