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
Thursday,
1 May
Heavy cruiser LONDON
arrived at Scapa Flow after escorting convoy SL.71.
_____
Destroyers BEDOUIN and
ANTELOPE departed Scapa Flow at 2345 to investigate a
submarine contact
reported in Preswick Bay.
No contact was made and
the destroyers arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 0800/2nd.
_____
Destroyer MAORI departed
Scapa Flow at 1900 to join the Plymouth Command.
Destroyer SIKH departed at
2200/11th.
The 4th Destroyer Flotilla
ships were replaced in
the Home Fleet by the destroyers of the 20th Destroyer
Flotilla.
_____
Destroyer IMPULSIVE,
escorting steamer AMSTERDAM, departed Aberdeen for
Lerwick at 0200 and arrived at 1520.
At 0035/3rd, the destroyer
and steamer departed
Lerwick for the return to Aberdeen.
At 0500, steamer ARCHANGEL from Kirkwall join
company off Duncansby Head. Off Aberdeen, the destroyer
parted company and returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at
1830.
_____
Australian destroyer
NESTOR departed Greenock at 1330 to rejoin the 7th Destroyer Flotilla operating with the Home
Fleet, and arrived
at Scapa Flow at 0900/2nd.
_____
P/T/Midshipman (A) J. A.
David RNVR, was killed
when his Albacore of 767 Squadron from Arbroath crashed
near Glen Cova.
_____
Minesweeping trawler JEAN
FREDERIC (329grt) with a
Dutch crew, and escorting a convoy, was sunk by German
bombing off Start Point. T/Sub Lt R. G. Madders RNVR was
lost.
_____
Balloon
barrage vessel SATURNUS (200grt)
with a Dutch crew was declared a constructive total loss
after damage.
_____
U.552 sank British steamer
NERISSA (5583grt) in
57-57N, 10-08W.
Eighty three crew and one
hundred and twenty four
passengers were lost on the steamer. Twenty three crew
and fifty one
passengers were rescued.
Among the passengers lost
were Lt Cdr R. A. F.
Nicholl-Cadell Rtd, Paymaster Cdr F. R. W. Nixon RCN,
sub Lt B. Harvey RCN, and Sub Lt E. G. Robbins RCN, en
route to Canada.
_____
U.103 sank British steamer
SAMSO (1494grt) at
8-35N, 16-17W. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
_____
British steamer SEA FISHER
(2950grt) was damaged on a mine in 55-34N,
1-28W.
The steamer was beached by
tugs. She was refloated
and arrived at Middlesborough on the 5th.
_____
Destroyer FAULKNOR with
Dutch submarine O.21
departed Gibraltar for exercises.
_____
Former Italian steamer
POLINICE (1373grt) under
Control was sunk by German bombing at Malta.
The steamer was later
salved.
_____
Anti-submarine trawler
LOCH OSKAIG (534grt)
captured French steamer CAP CANTIN
(3317grt).
At 0430/2nd, Battlecruiser
RENOWN and destroyers
FAULKNOR, FORESIGHT, FURY, FORESTER, and FORTUNE
departed Gibraltar to ensure the French would not
attempt to
recapture the steamer.
Destroyer FORESIGHT took
over escort of the steamer
and the anti-submarine trawler returned to patrol.
_____
Destroyers JAGUAR and JUNO
attacked a submarine contact in 32-59N, 27-52E.
A premature explosion of a
depth charge on
destroyer JUNO killed Gunner (T) S. C. Parker, which
died of
wounds on the 2nd, and four ratings and eleven men were
wounded.
The ship sustained minor
damage only.
_____
Submarine TRUANT arrived
at Malta from patrol. Owing to the danger from night
minelaying, she was sailed at 2000 for Gibraltar.
_____
Sub Lt R. D. B. Hopkins,
on loan to the RAF in a
Beaufighter of 525 Squadron, was taken prisoner by the
French after the
aircraft crashed between Speval and Gibraltar.
_____
Italian light cruisers
EUGENIO DI SAVOIA, DUCA
D'AOSTA, and ATTENDOLO and destroyers PIGAFETTA, ZENO,
DA MOSTO, DA VERAZZANO,
DA RECCO, and PESSAGNO laid mines north of Tripoli.
_____
German steamer LARRISA
(1819grt) was sunk on a mine
in the Gulf of Volos.
_____
Italian steamer SERDICA
(1533grt) was sunk by
British bombing at Benghazi.
_____
When a direction finding
bearing indicated an
Italian submarine in 35-00N, 15-30W, Corvettes FLEUR DE
LYS, SPIRAE, and
COREOPSIS departed Gibraltar to search.
On the 4th, the corvettes
attacked a firm contact
110 miles 280° Cape Spartel.
Corvettes JONQUIL,
GERANIUM, and AZALEA were
ordered to join in the search.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
CAVINA captured Italian
tanker SANGRO (6466grt), which departed Teneriffe on 21
April for France, on
the 1st in 44-36N, 30-20W. The vessel turned the tanker
over to Ocean
boarding vessel CAMITO for the voyage to Gibraltar.
Corvettes HEATHER and
ORCHIS were ordered to meet
and escort the two ships to Gibraltar.
U.97 sank ocean boarding
vessel CAMITO (6833grt,
A/Cdr A. A. Barnet RNR) and the tanker on the 6th in
50-42N, 21-20W.
A/Sub Lt (E) R. H. Barclay
RNVR, Lt D. M. Brown RNR, T/Sub Lt C. B. Fisher RNVR,
A/Sub Lt (E) R. H.
Lewis RNVR, T/Sub Lt G. V. Townley RNR, T/Sub Lt (E) E.
Williams RNR, and twenty two ratings were lost on the
ocean
boarding vessel.
CAMITO's prise crew on
SANGRO and all but four of
SANGRO's crew were lost.
Only two of CAMITO's
ship's company were lost. The
rest were picked up by corvette ORCHIS.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
CORINTHIAN captured French
three masted schooner MARTIN PECHEUR (350grt).
The ship sank as a result
of a fire on the 10th in
37-07N, 8-34W. The prise crew made their way to
Gibraltar in one of the ship's boats.
Friday,
2 May
Ex-US Coast Guard
cutter/escort ship LULWORTH (Lt
Cdr C. Gwinner (emcgy), built in the US, was
commissioned at New York with crew from battleship
RESOLUTION under repair.
_____
Convoy OB.318 departed
Liverpool by destroyers CAMPBELTOWN and NEWMARKET, sloop
ROCHESTER, corvettes MARYGOLD, NASTURTIUM, and PRIMROSE,
and
anti-submarine trawler ANGLE. Destroyer WESTCOTT and
corvettes AURICULA and
DIANTHUS joined on the 3rd. The destroyers, which joined
on the 2nd, and the
trawler were detached on the 7th. On the 7th, destroyers
AMAZON, BROADWAY,
and BULLDOG, corvettes AUBRETIA, HOLLYHOCK, and NIGELLA,
armed merchant
cruiser RANPURA, and anti-submarine trawlers DANEMAN and
ST APOLLO joined the
escort. On the 8th, destroyer WESTCOTT, sloop ROCHESTER,
and corvettes AURICULA, DIANTHUS, MARIGOLD,
NASTURUTIUM, and PRIMROSE were detached; the corvettes
to join HX.123. The
remainder of the escort was detached on the 10th when
the convoy was
dispersed.
_____
Minesweeping trawler
ALBERIC (286grt, T/Lt R M
Johnson RNVR) was sunk in an accidental collision with
destroyer ST ALBANS in
Pentland Firth.
T/Sub Lt C. S. Whitehead
RNVR, and twelve ratings
were lost on the trawler.
The destroyer proceeded to
Southampton at 0400/9th for repairs to her bows,
completing on
4 June.
_____
Armed yacht NYULA (48grt,
T/Lt W. H. F. Kelly RNVR)
was sunk in a collision off the Tyne.
_____
U.201 sank British tanker
CAPULET (8190grt), which
had been torpedoed and abandoned on 28 April, in 60N,
16W.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) S. W.
Everett RNVR, was killed when
his Swordfish of 828 Squadron from Hatston crashed into
the sea.
_____
German auxiliary
anti-submarine trawler Vp 808
(trawler REICHSPRASIDENT VOR HINDENBURG: 321grt) was
sunk by British bombing
northwest of Borkum.
_____
When Alexandria
Harbour was closed due to mining, but was reopened at 1730.
_____
Destroyers KANDAHAR,
JUNO,
JAGUAR, IMPERIAL, and HASTY sailed after Alexandria
Harbour reopened to relieve destroyers STUART, VOYAGER, VAMPIRE, VENDETTA,
and WATERHEN escorting the Battle Fleet.
The Australian destroyers
arrived at Alexandria that evening.
_____
Destroyers DECOY and
DEFENDER departed Port Said
late on the 2nd to embark troops at Mersa Matruh and
transport them to
Tobruk.
_____
Destroyer
JERSEY (Lt Cdr A.
F. Burnell-Nugent) entering Grand Harbour, Malta, was
sunk on a mine.
Lt (E) M. G. Gardner and
Surgeon Lt D. Lorimer
RNVR, and thirty three ratings were killed. Two officers
and forty six
ratings were wounded.
Because there were no
minesweepers available, light
cruiser GLOUCESTER and destroyers KIPLING and KASHMIR were sent to Gibraltar.
Destroyers KELLY, JACKAL,
and KELVIN had already
entered the harbour and remained with repairing
destroyer JANUS.
On the 3rd, light cruiser
GLOUCESTER exploded a mine in her paravane at 0224. She
was
attacked by Italian bombers and hit on the stern by a
bomb which did not
explode at 1325. Neither incident caused significant
damage to the cruiser
which was docked briefly to correct the damage on her
arrival at Gibraltar.
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
and destroyers KIPLING and KASHMIR arrived at Gibraltar on the
4th.
_____
Gunboat LADYBIRD bombarded
Derna.
_____
British steamer PARRACOMBE
(4702grt), carrying
crated twenty one Hurricanes and other stores brought
from England in convoy
OG.59 for Malta, was sunk 9½ miles 62°
Cape Bon on a mine. This movement had been designated
Operation TEMPLE.
Eighteen crew were
interned in Bizerte.
_____
Greek steamer VIRGINIA
(2041grt) arrived at Tobruk
with supplies.
After unloading, the
steamer departed during the
night of 2/3 May, escorted by anti-submarine trawler
WOLBOROUGH.
Despite air attacks in
Tobruk
Harbour on the 2nd and at sea on the 3rd, the steamer was not damaged.
_____
Destroyer FOXHOUND arrived
at Gibraltar from Freetown.
_____
Destroyer VIDETTE arrived
at Gibraltar from Freetown escorting British steamer
NYHOLT.
Saturday,
3 May
Light cruisers GALATEA and
ARETHUSA departed Scapa Flow to relieve heavy cruiser
EXETER and light cruiser NIGERIA on Iceland Faroes
Channel patrol.
Heavy cruiser EXETER
proceeded to Hvalfjord.
Light cruiser NIGERIA
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 5th.
_____
Battlecruiser HOOD and
destroyers ECHO, ACTIVE, ANTHONY, and ACHATES were
ordered to
return to Scapa Flow.
The ships called at
Reykjavik to refuel destroyers. Destroyer ECHO was
detached and arrived at Hvalfjord at 2350.
The HOOD group departed
Iceland at 1800/4th and arrived back at Scapa Flow at
1300/6th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Methil at 0715
to cover convoy EC.14 from May Island.
In Pentland
Firth on the 4th, the
ship was detached from the duty and returned to Scapa
Flow arriving at 0700.
_____
In a German bombing raid
on Portsmouth during the night of 3/4 May, light cruiser
SIRIUS
under construction was damaged by a bomb which went
through her.
_____
Minelayer ADVENTURE, under
repair,was damaged by
splinters from German bombing at Liverpool during
the night of 3/4 May.
The cruiser's repair was
unaffected.
_____
Minelayer TEVIOTBANK,
escorted by patrol sloops
SHELDRAKE and KITTIWAKE, laid minefield BS.55 off the
east coast of England.
Paddle minesweepers
SNAEFELL and THAMES QUEEN
accompanied the minelay.
_____
Light cruiser DELHI
arrived at New York to refit.
Refit was completed on 12
January 1942.
_____
German tanker NORDMARK
replenished U.105 and U.107
at sea.
_____
U.103 sank British steamer
WRAY
CASTLE (4253grt) in 6-48N, 13-55W. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
_____
U.95 sank Norwegian
steamer TARANGER (4873grt) in
61-07N, 25-20W. Two crew were lost.
_____
In German bombing on
Liverpool.
British steamer CORBET
(468grt) was sunk on a mine
two cables 248° from Herculaneum Dock entrance,
Liverpool.
Eight crew were lost. One
was rescued from the
steamer.
British sailing barge
BARNACLE (138grt), tug BONITA
(65grt) in Waterloo Dock, motor barge EMILY BURTON
(58grt), sailing barge
PIKE (168grt), sailing barge LING (164grt), steam barge
WALTON (82grt) at
Huskisson Branch No. 3 Dock, sailing barge SILVERDALE
(176grt) at Canada
Dock, motor vessel IVY P. (79grt) at Langton Branch
Dock, flats GROSENOR,
ROVER, BRILL (106grt), DACE (143grt), LUCE (143grt) at
Canada Dock, MUS
(81grt), RAY (91grt), ROACH (108grt), launch SURVEYOR
No. 3
(7grt), barges LONGENDALE (177grt), ELLESPORT (55grt),
ORRELL at Alexandra
Dock No. 3, and PIKE, and Norwegian steamer BRA-KAR
(3778grt)were sunk by
German bombing at Liverpool.
There were no casualties
on tug BONITA.
Steamer MALAKAND (7649grt)
carried ammunition. A partially
deflated barrage balloon fell on deck and caught fire.
The ship was abandoned
at 0030/4th and blew up about 0730. One crewman from
steamer MALAKAND was
killed ashore.
Steamer ELSTREE GRANGE
(6598grt), steamer DOMINO
(1453grt) at Canada Dock, steamer EUROPA (10,224grt),
and barge ELLESPORT
were lost when steamer MALAKAND exploded. Steamer TACOMA
STAR (7924grt) was sunk, but was later salved.
There were no casualties
on steamer DOMINO. One
crewman was lost on the steamer TACOMA STAR.
Flat LUCE was lost when
she caught fire from the
explosion of steamer BRA-KAR and sailing barge OYSTER.
British steamers AUSTRALIA
STAR (12,614grt) and CANTAL (3178grt)were damaged by
German bombing at Liverpool. One crewman was lost on the
steamer CANTAL.
During the night of 3/4
May, British steamer
BARONESE (8663grt), British steamer LOBOS (6479grt), Tug
WAPITI (208grt),
British steamer MAHOUT (7921grt), British tanker SAN
FABIAN (13,031grt) at Stanlow, Liverpool, steamer
SILVERSANDAL (6770grt), British steamer BUSIRIS
(943grt), British sailing
barge LIMPET (164grt), British sailing barge OYSTER
(133grt), British sailing
barge GLITTO (166grt), and British sailing barge CLAM
(159grt), Greek steamer
KADIN (3582grt), and Dutch steamer SALLAND (6447grt)
were damaged at
Liverpool by German bombing.
Damage to steamer MAHOUT
caused by explosion of
steamer MALAKAND.
Tanker SAN FABIAN was
repaired at Mobile.
Steamer SILVERSANDAL was
set afire by the MALAKAND
explosion. One crewman was killed on the steamer. One
crewman was killed on
Norwegian steamer SALLAND.
_____
British steamer ROYSTON
(2722grt) was badly damaged
by German bombing 270° from 62C Buoy, Humber.
The steamer was taken in
tow and sank on the 5th in
53-37N, 00-39E.
_____
Norwegian steamer SITONA
(1143grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing in 53-12N, 1-11E. The entire
crew was rescued.
The steamer sank on the
4th.
_____
Norwegian steamer TRAJAN
(1347grt) was sunk by
German bombing in 53-10N, 1-13E. The entire crew was
rescued.
_____
Light vessel SIRIUS
(176grt) was sunk on a mine at
Albert Dock, Liverpool.
_____
Battleships BARHAM and
VALIANT, aircraft carrier
FORMIDABLE, and destroyers ILEX, KANDAHAR,
JUNO,
JAGUAR, GREYHOUND, HASTY, and IMPERIAL arrived at
Alexandria.
_____
Anti-aircraft cruiser
PHOEBE and destroyers HERO,
HOTSPUR, ISIS, HAVOCK, and KIMBERLEY departed Port Said
and arrived at Alexandria on the 3rd.
_____
Destroyers DECOY and
DEFENDER shelled Tobruk during
the night of 3/4 May.
The destroyers then
returned to Alexandria.
_____
British steamer ARAYBANK
(7258grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing at Suda Bay.
The steamer was bombed
again on the 16th and became
a total loss.
_____
Italian torpedo boat
CANOPO was sunk by British
bombing at Tripoli.
Italian steamer BIRMANIA
(5305grt) was set afire
and exploded.
Italian steamer CITTA D'
BARI (3339grt) was lost from the explosion of steamer
BIRMANIA.
_____
Italian coastal steamer
GUISSEPPE ORLAND (838grt)
was lost on a mine at Tripoli.
_____
Italian coastal steamer
TUGNIN F. (425grt) was sunk
by Submarine TRIUMPH gunfire eleven miles northwest of
Mersa Brega.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
HILARY intercepted Italian
tanker RECCO (5595grt), which had departed Teneriffe on
21 April, in 44-37N,
24-27W.
The tanker scuttled
herself to avoid capture.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER arrived at Colombo.
Sunday,
4 May
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed
Scapa Flow for
docking at Rosyth to replace a damaged propeller.
The cruiser departed
Rosyth after repairs on the
11th. Departing, the cruiser was involved in a collision
with Dutch skoot SPARTA, but no damage was done to the
cruiser.
_____
Destroyers INTREPID and
IMPULSIVE departed Scapa Flow at 0715 for Loch Alsh to
escort minelaying operation
SN.9A.
The destroyers arrived at
1640.
_____
Destroyer PUNJABI departed
Rosyth at 2350 escorting
armed merchant cruiser MORETON BAY
to Cape Wrath.
After this escort, the
destroyer arrived at Scapa Flow at 2030/5th.
_____
Minesweeping trawler BEN
GAIRN (234grt, T/Lt R. H. Masurier RNVR) was sunk
by a parachute mine Waveney Dock, Lowestoft.
There were no casualties
on the trawler.
_____
Destroyer SOUTHDOWN, which
departed Sheerness on
the 3rd was damaged in the North
Sea by the near miss of German
bombing.
The destroyer's hull was
leaking and her steering
motors were temporarily out of action.
_____
Minesweeper SELKIRK was
damaged by the near miss of
a German bomb off Roughs Buoy.
The ship was towed to port
and was under repair in
the Thames from 15 May to 31 July.
Patrol yacht FRANC TIREUR
was also damaged by a
near miss.
_____
U.38 sank Swedish steamer
JAPAN (5230grt) from dispersed convoy OB.310 at 249
miles northwest of Freetown. The entire crew was taken
prisoner.
_____
British steamer TREGOR
(222grt) was sunk by German
bombing six miles off Trevose Head. The crew of six were
rescued.
_____
Belgian steamer MARIE
FLORE (545grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 50-41N, 5-05W.
The steamer was beached at
Padstow on the 5th.
_____
PNEUMATIC ELEVATOR No. 11
(295grt) was sunk at Liverpool as a result of the
explosion of steamer MALAKAND
(7649grt).
Tug BISON (274grt),
British steamer TALTHYBIUS
(10,254grt), British steamer BARON INCHCAPE (7005grt),
Tug HORNBY (201grt),
Tug ENID BLANCHE (99grt), British hopper barge No. 33
(718grt), barge AID
(209grt), flat JOHN (67grt), and British steamer
ROXBURGH
CASTLE (7801grt) were damaged by German bombing at
Liverpool.
Steamer BARON INCHCAPE
settled onto the seabed. She
was bombed again on the 6th.
Steamer TALTHYBIUS was
bombed again on the 8th.
Steamer
ROXBURGH
CASTLE was repaired at Birkenhead.
During the night of 4/5
May, British sailing barge
BONGO (46grt) was damaged by German bombing at
Liverpool.
_____
Australian sloop YARRA
arrived to Basra to quell rebellion.
A few days later, the
sloop engaged Iraqi gunboats
and captured them along with some Axis merchantships.
_____
Minesweeper FERMOY was
sunk in dock at Malta by German bombing.
_____
Hospital ship KARAPARA
(7117grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Tobruk.
The hospital ship arrived
at Alexandria on the 6th and continued on to Port Said.
_____
Submarine TAKU made an
unsuccessful attack on a
coastal steamer in the Messina Strait.
_____
Italian torpedo boat
GIUSEPPE LA FARINA, which had
departed Tripoli on the 3rd for Trapani with tanker
LUISIANO (2552grt), was sunk by a mine
off Kerkenah.
_____
An Italian convoy with
troopship VICTORIA (13,098grt), ANDREA GRITTI (6338grt),
SEBASTIANO
VENIER (6311grt), MARCO FOSCARINI (6342grt), BARBARIGO
(5293grt), CALITEA
(4013grt), and ANKARA (4768grt) departed Naples escorted
by destroyers VIVALDI, DA NOLI and
MALOCELLO and torpedo boats PEGASO, ORIONE, and
CASSIOPEA.
The convoy was covered by
light cruisers EUGENIO DI
SAVOIA, DUCA D' AOSTA, and ATTENDOLO and destroyers
PIGAFETTA, ZENO, DE RECCO, DA MOSTA, and
VERAZZANO.
En route to Tripoli,
destroyers PIGAFETTA and ZENO attacked a
submarine contact.
The convoy arrived without
loss on the 5th.
On the convoy return, the
distant force covered a
German convoy to Italy of steamers MARBURG (7564grt),
KYBFELS (7764grt),
REICHENFELS (7744grt), MARCO POLO (12,272grt), and
RIALTO (6099grt) escorted
by destroyers EURO and FULMINE and torpedo boats
PROCIONE, ORSA, CENTAURO,
CIGNO, and PERSEO from Tripoli on the 5th.
The convoy arrived at
Palermo on the 7th.
_____
Light cruisers FIJI from
convoy SL.72 and NAIAD from convoy WS.8A
arrived at Gibraltar and embarked ammunition for the
passage to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Monday,
5 May
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS
and seaplane tender
PEGASUS were damaged by German bombing at Belfast.
Neither ship was
significantly damaged. The
aircraft carrier was struck by one small bomb, a
parachute mine lifted FURIOUS's
stern bodily, and a near miss slightly damaged the port
funnel duct. The
seaplane tender required seven days repair.
The next day, aircraft
carrier FURIOUS departed Belfast for Liverpool.
Destroyer VOLUNTEER, under
repair and in drydock,
was also damaged by German bombing.
Corvette LA MALOUINE at
anchor in Musgrave Channel
was damaged by a near miss.
The corvette was repaired
at Belfast in three months.
Corvettes BRYONY and
BUTTERCUP were also damaged.
_____
Minelayers AGAMEMNON,
MENESTHEUS, and PORT QUEBEC of the 1st Minelaying
Squadron departed
Loch Alsh to lay minefield SN.9A escorted by destroyers
INTREPID, IMPULSIVE,
ST MARYS, and BRIGHTON.
Light cruiser KENYA was
with the force from the Butt of Lewis.
Light cruisers EDINBURGH,
MANCHESTER, and BIRMINGHAM of the 18th Cruiser Squadron
departed Scapa Flow on the 5th to cover the minelay
which was
accomplished on the 6th.
After the minelaying, the
cruisers of the 18th Cruiser
Squadron joined destroyers SOMALI, NESTOR, BEDOUIN, and
ESKIMO, which had
departed Scapa Flow at 0815/5th and refuelled at
Skaalefjord, for
operation EB. The destroyers departed Skaalefjord at
0730/6th and joined the
cruisers at sea in 62-50N, 5-20W.
_____
Light cruiser NIGERIA
arrived at Scapa Flow after Faroes-Iceland patrol.
_____
Destroyers ELECTRA and
ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow to join convoy HX.122 being
shadowed by a German
submarine.
En route, the destroyers
were involved in a search
for a submarine contact reported by aircraft. The search
was unsuccessful and
the destroyers joined the convoy by dark.
After safely delivering
the convoy, the destroyers
met convoy SC.29 on the 6th.
The destroyers were
detached from convoy SN.29 at dark
on the 7th and arrived back at Scapa Flow at noon on the 8th.
_____
Destroyer TARTAR arrived
at Scapa Flow at 1845 after boiler cleaning at Rosyth.
_____
Destroyer BROCKLESBY with
anti-submarine trawler
HAMLET departed Scapa Flow at 2030 to escort tanker WAR
DIWAN to Skaalefjord.
The ships arrived at
2230/6th. At 2330, destroyer
BROCKLESBY, trawler HAMLET, and tanker WAR PINDARI
departed Skaalefjord.
Fve miles 270° from Gloup
Holm at 2350/7th, the
ships met tanker WAR BHARATA for escort to Scapa Flow.
At 1445/8th, destroyer
BROCKLESBY arrived back at Scapa Flow after this escort
duty.
_____
Corvette BEGONIA picked up
seventeen survivors from
a sunken merchant ship. She transferred these survivors
to destroyer
WOLVERINE.
_____
British boom defence
vessel FIDELIA (147grt) was
sunk by German bombing at Lowestoft.
_____
British steamer ST EUNAN
(436grt) was damaged by
mining five miles southwest of St Ann's Head.
_____
U.38 sank British steamer
QUEEN MAUD (4976grt) in
7-54N, 16-41W. One crewman was lost from the steamer.
_____
British steam barge
TRAFFIC (155grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Huskisson Dock, Liverpool.
The entire crew was
rescued.
British steamer
SILVERSANDAL (6770grt), which had
been slightly damaged by bombing on the 3rd, and British
steamer CLAN
MACINNES (4672grt) were damaged by German bombing at
Liverpool.
_____
British whaler SUMBA (231grt) was damaged by a near miss from German bomb.
The whaler was beached in
Sully
Bay,
Barry Roads. She arrived at Barry for repairs on the
12th.
_____
British steamer FAIR HEAD
(1719grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Belfast. Two crew were lost.
Destroyer NEWARK under
repair at Belfast was damaged in the bombing.
British steamers
SHEPPERTON FERRY (2839grt) and CAPE BRETON (6044grt) and blockship FREDERIKA LENSEN (4283grt) were damaged by
German bombing at Belfast.
Steamer CAPE
BRETON was sunk in dock. She was refloated and repaired.
_____
Destroyer MARKSMAN, under
construction at Greenock was lifted off the blocks and severely damaged by German bombing.
The destroyer suffered
severe damage to her stern.
The construction of the destroyer, renamed MAHRATTA, was
restarted in another
berth on 18 August.
Submarines TRAVELLER and
TROOPER, under
construction, at Greenock were damaged by German bombing
in the Scotts yard.
_____
Convoy OG.61 departed
Liverpool escorted by sloop SCARBOROUGH and
anti-submarine trawler MAN O.WAR.
The trawler was detached
on the 6th and replaced by
anti-submarine trawler WELLARD, which continued with the
convoy until dark.
On the 7th, destroyers
KEPPEL, LINCOLN, and SABRE,
sloop FLEETWOOD, and corvettes ALISMA, DIANELLA, and
KINGCUP joined the
convoy.
Sloop FLEETWOOD and the
corvettes were detached on
the 9th and the destroyers on the 1st.
Dutch submarine O.21
joined the convoy on the 13th
and corvettes AZALEA, GERANIUM, and JONQUIL, which
departed Gibraltar on the 13th, on the 14th.
The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on the 19th, escorted by sloop SCARBOROUGH and
submarine O.21.
_____
Part of Convoy WS.8A
neared Gibraltar after being escorted from England by
battlecruiser REPULSE, anti-aircraft cruiser
NAIAD, and destroyers HAVELOCK,
HESPERUS, and HARVESTER.
This convoy, designated
TIGER, was merchant ships
CLAN LAMONT (7250grt), CLAN CHATTAN (7262grt), CLAN
CAMPBELL (7255grt), NEW ZEALAND STAR (10,740grt), and
EMPIRE SONG (9228grt). Battleship
QUEEN ELIZABETH and destroyers VELOX, FEARLESS,
FORESIGHT, and FORTUNE
departed Gibraltar at 1600/4th to relieve battlecruiser
REPULSE and
the three H.class destroyers which proceeded to
Gibraltar, arriving at 1730/5th.
Battleship RENOWN,
aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL,
light cruisers FIJI and SHEFFIELD, and destroyers
WRESTLER, KASHMIR, and KIPLING met the convoy and the two groups passed
Gibraltar during the night
of 5/6 May.
On the 6th, destroyers
FAULKNOR, FORESTER, FURY,
HARVESTER, HAVELOCK, and HESPERUS departed Gibraltar at
0330 and joined the force. Light cruisers NAIAD
and GLOUCESTER departed at 1320/5th and 0345/6th,
respectively.
Battlecruiser REPULSE was left at Gibraltar due to
her inadequate anti-aircraft protection.
Anti-aircraft cruisers
CARLISLE and COVENTRY, destroyers
DEFENDER, GREYHOUND, and HASTY,
corvette GLOXINIA, and whaler SWONA departed Alexandria
on the 5th with the slow Malta convoy MW 7B consisting
Norwegian tankers HOEGH
HOOD (9351grt) and SVENOR (7616grt).
Whaler SWONA was to
complete fitting LL sweeps at Malta.
Destroyer DEFENDER
departed with convoy MW 7 B, but
had to return to Alexandria on the 6th with condenser
problems.
In Operation MD.4, the
Mediterranean Fleet
battleships WARSPITE, BARHAM, and VALIANT, aircraft
carrier FORMIDABLE, light
cruisers AJAX, ORION, and PERTH, minelayer ABDIEL, and
destroyers JERVIS
(D.14), JUNO, JAGUAR, KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, KINGSTON,
NAPIER
(D.7), NIZAM, IMPERIAL, GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, and HAVOCK
departed Alexandria on
the 6th.
Fast supply ship
BRECONSHIRE also departed Alexandria to refuel
destroyers at Malta.
Light cruisers DIDO and
PHOEBE, anti-aircraft cruiser
CALCUTTA, and destroyers ILEX, ISIS, HERO, and HEREWARD
departed Alexandria
after the Fleet with the fast Malta convoy MW 7 A supply
ships British
SETTLER (6000grt), Norwegian THERMOPYLAE (6655grt),
Danish AMERIKA
(10,218grt), and Norwegian TALABOT (6798grt), and tug ST
ISSEY.
On the 7th, the
Mediterranean Fleet destroyers were
refuelled at sea from supply ship BRECONSHIRE.
During the night of 7/8
May, Light cruiser AJAX and destroyers HAVOCK, HOTSPUR,
and IMPERIAL
bombarded Benghazi.
Italian steamers TENACE
(1142grt) and CAPITANO
CECCHI (2321grt) were sunk at Benghazi in the
bombardment at 3½ miles 299° from Marabutto
Sidi Bu Fachra and 2½ miles 314° from Tre Palme,
respectively.
The British ships rejoined
the Battle Fleet at
1700/8th.
Italian light cruisers
DUCA DEGLI ABRUZZI,
GARIBALDI, BANDE NERE, and CADORNA and five destroyers
departed Palermo on the 8th. They were reported by
British air west
of Trapani on the 8th.
The escorts of both Malta
convoys were detached at dark on the 8th before
the convoys arrived at Malta to join the TIGER convoy
off Pantelleria. Both
convoys safely arrived at Malta on the 9th following
corvette GLOXINIA's
minesweeping of the Channel.
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE
and destroyer HOTSPUR,
HAVOCK, and IMPERIAL proceeded to Malta on the 8th,
arriving the next day.
Pilot Lt Cdr R. C. Tillard
DSC and Observer Lt M.
F. Somerville DSC, in a Fulmar of the 808 Squadron from
aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL was lost on the 8th.
Pilot Lt C. W. R. Peever
and Petty Officer Airman
F. Coston in a Fulmar of 803 Squadron, Lt Observer Lt
(A) G. B. Davie RNVR,
and Petty Officer Airman W. T. Chatfield in aFulmar of
803 Squadron and Pilot
T/Sub Lt (A) K. H. Smith RNVR, Observer P/T/Sub Lt (A)
B. H. Groves RNVR, and
Leading Airman C. F. Norman in an Albacore of 829
Squadron from aircraft
carrier FORMIDABLE were lost on the 8th. A second
Albacore was shot down, but
its crew was rescued. Additionally, an Albacore of 826
Squadron, piloted by
Lt Cdr W. H. G. Saint ran out of fuel and ditched astern
of battleship BARHAM
which rescued the crew.
Battlecruiser RENOWN had a
gun accident on the 8th
which killed six ratings and wounded Sub Lt D. M.
Brightman RNVR, and twenty
five ratings.
Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH
was attacked by one
Italian torpedo plane during the night of 8/9 May and
was near missed. Damage
was claimed in this attack on battlecruiser RENOWN.
British steamer EMPIRE
SONG (9228grt) of the TIGER
convoy was lost in the Narrows off Malta on the 9th on a
mine.
Her crew was picked up by
destroyer FORESIGHT,
which was damaged by debris and concussion damage to her
machinery from the
exploding steamer and sustained several casualties.
Destroyer FORTUNE was
also standing by the steamer and picked up all but
A/Gunner (T) A. E. Carter
which was killed from FORESIGHT's whaler which was also
sunk in the
explosion.
Eighteen crew and
passengers were lost on the
steamer.
Steamer NEW ZEALAND STAR
(10,740grt) was lightly damaged by mining at the
same time as steamer EMPIRE SONG.
Force H.was relieved at
1515/9th in the Narrows
fifty miles south of Malta of the escort of the convoy
by Light cruisers
PHOEBE and DIDO, anti-aircraft cruisers COVENTRY,
CALCUTTA, and CARLISLE, and
destroyers ILEX, ISIS, HERO, HEREWARD, GREYHOUND, and
HASTY.
Force H.destroyers
FAULKNOR, FURY, FORESIGHT,
FORTUNE, FORESTER, and FEARLESS proceeded into Malta to
refuel.
The convoy escort was
still composed of battleship
QUEEN ELIZABETH, light cruisers GLOUCESTER, NAIAD, and
FIJI.
The Malta destroyer force
of destroyers KELLY, JACKAL,
KELVIN, and JANUS had been mined in port since JERSEY's loss on the 2nd. Minesweeping corvette GLOXINIA was able to clear a
channel to allow the destroyers to depart to meet the
TIGER convoy on the
9th.
Depth charges had been
used also to clear a channel
to sea.
Passing the Narrows, the convoy was left to light cruisers DIDO, NAIAD, and PHOEBE,
anti-aircraft cruisers CARLISLE,
CALCUTTA, and COVENTRY, and the destroyers. The rest of
the ships joined
the Mediterranean Fleet Main Body.
Italian air reconnaissance
reported a cruiser and
four destroyers (destroyers FAULKNOR, FURY, FORTUNE,
FORESTER, and FEARLESS
returning to rejoin Force H.after refuelling at Malta;
destroyer FORESIGHT remained at Malta) proceeding at
high speed towards Gibraltar.
Twenty one Italian planes
attacked this force on
the 10th and claimed damaging a cruiser. Destroyer
FORTUNE was badly damaged
by a near miss. Destroyer FURY escorted the damaged
destroyer. On the 11th,
tug ST DAY and four motor launches met destroyer
FORTUNE.
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD and destroyers HARVESTER and
HESPERUS were
detached to escort. They arrived at Gibraltar at 2039
on the 12th.
Destroyer FORTUNE was
repaired to complete in
November, including refitting, at Chatham.
At 1700/10th, the British
Malta destroyers KELLY,
KIPLING, JACKAL, KASHMIR, and KELVIN were detached from
the Battle Fleet to
bombard Benghazi before returning to port.
The bombardment was
accomplished.
Destroyers KELVIN, KELLY,
KASHMIR, and JACKAL were all near missed by German dive bombing after the
bombardment.
Lt (A) P. S. Touchbourne
and Leading Airman C. H.
Thompson of 806 Squadron from FORMIDABLE was killed when
their Fulmar crashed
taking off on the 10th.
On the 11th, anti-aircraft
cruisers DIDO and CALCUTTA and destroyers JANUS and ISIS
were detached from
the Battle Fleet to proceed to Alexandria to refuel.
On the 11th, sub Lt (A) P.
D. J. Sparke and Leading
Airman A. S Rush of 806 Squadron from FORMIDABLE were
killed when their
Fulmar was lost after colliding with a German bomber.
The DIDO group arrived at
Alexandria early on the 12th and departed the same day
to
join convoy ANF.30.
Destroyers KELLY, JACKAL,
KELVIN, KASHMIR, and KIPLING arrived at Malta
during the morning of the 12 May.
The Mediterranean Fleet
arrived at Alexandria at 1300 with battleships WARSPITE,
BARHAM, and VALIANT,
aircraft carrier FORMIDABLE, anti-aircraft cruisers
NAIAD, CARLISLE, and COVENTRY, light cruisers
GLOUCESTER, FIJI, and PERTH, and destroyers JERVIS,
JAGUAR, JUNO, NAPIER, NIZAM, GREYHOUND, GRIFFIN, ILEX,
HERO, HAVOCK, HOTSPUR, HASTY, HEREWARD, IMPERIAL,
KANDAHAR, KINGSTON, and KIMBERLEY.
Force H.of battlecruiser
RENOWN, aircraft carrier
ARK ROYAL,and destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESTER, FURY,
FEARLESS, and HAVELOCK
arrived at Gibraltar at 1800/12th.
_____
Australian destroyers
VOYAGER and WATERHEN departed
Alexandria on a transport mission to Tobruk during the
night
of 5/6 May.
The destroyers arrived at
0030/6th and departed at
0400 the same day to continue to Alexandria.
_____
Destroyer VIDETTE departed
Gibraltar for refitting in the United Kingdom.
_____
Australian sloop
PARRAMATTA arrived at Suez to reinforce the
Mediterranean Fleet. However, she
was ordered to remain there temporarily to provide
anti-aircraft protection
for liners QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES arrived at Suva with a liner from Auckland.
Tuesday,
6 May
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS
arrived at Liverpool. The aircraft carrier had been
refitting at Belfast.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) J. V.
Eckford RNVR, Leading Airman
G. B. Barrett, and Leading Airman D. Henshall were
killed when their Proctor
of 750/752 Squadron crashed off Trinidad.
_____
U.103 sank British steamer
SURAT (5529grt) at 8-23N, 15-13W. Three crew were killed
on the steamer.
_____
U.556 sank Faroes fishing
trawler EMANUEL (166grt)
with artillery in 62-06N, 8-10W. Three crew were killed.
_____
U.105 sank British steamer
OAKDENE (4255grt) in
6-19N, 27-55W.
There were no casualties
on the steamer.
_____
U.103 sank British steamer
DUNKWA (4752grt) at
8-43N, 17-13W.
Three gunners were lost
from the steamer.
_____
British steamer INDUSTRIA
(4861grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Liverpool.
The steamer proceeded to
Greenock where she was drydocked on the 19th.
_____
Greek steamer MOSCHA D.
KYDONIEFS (3874grt) was
damaged by German bombing at Liverpool.
_____
Convoy HG.61 departed
Gibraltar escorted by sloop SANDWICH, corvettes AZALEA, GERANIUM, and JONQUIL, and Dutch submarine O.21.
The convoy was joined on
the 7th by special service
vessel FIDELITY.
The corvettes were
detached on the 12th and the
submarine on the 13th.
Ocean boarding vessel
HILARY joined the convoy with
captured Italian tanker GIANNA M. on the 12th and ocean
boarding vessel
CAVINA joined on the 14th.
On the 16th, the convoy
was joined by destroyers
LEGION, READING, VANQUISHER, and WINCHELSEA, sloop
LONDONDERRY, corvettes CAMPANULA, FREESIA, GENTIAN,
HIBISCUS,
PIMPERNEL, and RHODODENDRON.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 20th.
_____
Submarine CACHALOT arrived
at Gibraltar from Devonport on the 6th.
The submarine departed on
the 8th for Malta arriving on the 15th from England with
supplies.
After unloading, the
submarine departed on the 16th
for Alexandria.
_____
Submarine TRIUMPH attacked
a convoy of German
steamers BROOK (1225grt) and TILLY L. M. RUSS (1600grt)
which departed Tripoli on the 5th for Benghazi escorted
by Italian torpedo boat CLIMENE off
Buerat, but was unsuccessful.
_____
Submarine TAKU sank
Italian steamer CAGLIARI (2322grt) at 1944, three miles
from Fuscaldo, 39-11N,
15-58E.
_____
Submarine TRUANT sank
Italian steamer BENGASI (1716grt) three miles 131° from Cavoli.
_____
Lt N. K. Cambell and Lt
(A) G. D. Nutt of 830
Squadron from ST ANGELO were shot down and made
prisoners of war in a raid on
Tripoli.
Petty Officer Airman W. G.
T. Welsh died of
injuries on the 7th.
_____
Convoy AN.30 of British
steamer LOSSIEBANK
(5627grt),CAPE HORN (5643grt), CITY OF CANTERBURY
(8331grt), and RAWNSLEY (4998grt) departed Haifa
escorted by sloop GRIMSBY and Port Said escorted by
sloop FLAMINGO for Suda
Bay.
Australian destroyers
STUART, VAMPIRE, and WATERHEN
and Sloop AUCKLAND joined the convoy north of Alexandria
on the 7th.
The convoy was delayed by
engine problems in steamer CITY OF CANTERBURY, then in
steamer RAWNSLEY.
On the 7th, destroyer
STUART developed defects and
was sent back to Alexandria being relieved by destroyer
VOYAGER.
British steamer RAWNSLEY
(4998grt) was badly
damaged by German torpedo bombing in 34-59N, 25-46E on
the 8th.
The steamer was taken in
tow by sloop GRIMSBY and escorted by destroyer WATERHEN.
The steamer was towed to
Herapatra
Bay.
Bad weather prevented the steamer from being towed
further on the 10th. The
steamer was anchored at Herapatra Bay
and sloop GRIMSBY returned to Alexandria.
Steamer RAWNSLEY was sunk
by German air attack on
the 12th off Herapatra.
Destroyer STUART attacked
a submarine contact 28.5
miles 278° from Ras el Tin. She was joined in the attack
by anti-submarine
trawler KINGSTON CYANITE and anti-submarine whaler KOS 22.
The convoy arrived at Suda
Bay
on the 9th.
_____
P/T/Sub Lt (A) L. M.
Herbert RNVR, of 814 Squadron
in aircraft carrier HERMES, was killed when he was
struck by a propeller
blade.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER departed Colombo with liners AQUITANIA
(44,786grt), ILE DE FRANCE (43,450grt), and
MAURETANIA (35,739grt) of convoy US.10B.
The convoy was turned over
to Heavy cruiser CANBERRA on the 7th.
The light cruiser then
proceeded to patrol.
_____
Convoy HX.125 A departed
Halifax escorted by battleship REVENGE, armed merchant
cruiser ASCANIA, and corvettes COBALt and WETASKIWIN.
The corvettes were
detached later that day. Escort vessels BANFF, CULVER,
FISHGUARD, and HARTLAND joined the convoy
on the 7th. The battleship was detached on the 13th. On
the 16th, destroyers
CHELSEA, CHURCHILL, MANSFIELD, VERITY, and WOLVERINE and
corvettes BEGONIA,
CONVOLVULUS, and LARKSPUR joined the escort and were
detached on the 18th. On
the 18th, destroyers RAMSEY, RIPLEY, WALKER, and
WATCHMAN, sloop ENCHANTRESS,
corvettes BLUEBELL, CANDYTUFT, HONEYSUCKLE, HYDRANGEA,
TULIP, and WALLFLOWER
, and minesweeper SALAMANDER joined the convoy.
Destroyer CALDWELL joined on
the 19th. Minesweepers BRAMBLE, GOSSAMER, SEAGULL, and
SHARPSHOOTER were with
the convoy on the 19th. Destroyers ESCAPADE
andINGLEFIELD joined the convoy
on the 20th and corvettes TULIP and WALLFLOWER were
detached. Destroyers
ESCAPADE and INGLEFIELD and corvette HONEYSUCKLE were
detached on the 21st.
Convoy HX.125B departed
Halifax, escorted by sloop ABERDEEN.
The escort vessels BANFF,
CULVER, FISHGUARD, and HARTLAND arrived at Greenock on the 22nd. Both convoys arrived at
Liverpool on the 22nd
Wednesday,
7 May
Light cruisers EDINBURGH,
MANCHESTER, and
BIRMINGHAM after covering minelaying Operation SN.9 A
met destroyers SOMALI,
NESTOR, BEDOUIN, and ESKIMO, which had just refuelled at
Skaalefjord, in
62-50N, 5-20W for Operation EB to search for a German
weather vessel.
On the 7th, German weather
ship MUNCHEN (306grt)
was captured off Iceland.
Destroyer SOMALI was able
to recover important
(Enigma code) documents from the ship.
Destroyers NESTOR arrived
at Scapa Flow at 2100/8th. The cruisers and destroyer
SOMALI
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 10th. Destroyers BEDOUIN
and ESKIMO, which
had been detached to search for a submarine sixty miles
west of the
Shetlands, arrived at Scapa Flow at 2145/10th.
The German ship arrived at
Thorshavn on the 9th.
Destroyer FARNDALE departed Scapa
Flow at 1900/13th to
escort the ship. The destroyer arrived at 0945 and
departed at 1515. The
destroyer and the trawler, disguised as Norwegian
trawler FROYEN, arrived at Scapa Flow at 2215/15th.
_____
Destroyer WALPOLE departed
Scapa Flow at 1600 for Aberdeen to meet steamers
AMSTERDAM and ARCHANGEL off the
entrance at 2300 and escort them to Lerwick and Kirkwall, respectively.
At 2050/8th, destroyer
WALPOLE departed Lerwick
escorting steamer AMSTERDAM back to Aberdeen. The
steamer was delivered to Aberdeen on the 9th. The
destroyer returned to Kirkwall, arriving at 1300 to escort steamer
ARCHANGEL to Aberdeen.
They departed at 1800 and arrived off Aberdeen at
0500/10th.
Destroyer WALPOLE arrived
back at Scapa Flow at 0930/10th after this escort duty.
_____
Convoy OB.319 departed
Liverpool, escorted by corvettes ANEMONE and CLARKIA.
Destroyers BURNHAM, ERIDGE, and SALISBURY, catapult ship
ARIGUANI, and minesweeper HUSSAR
joined the escort. Minesweeper NIGER, and anti-submarine
trawlers ST ELSTAN and VIZALMA
joined on the 9th. Destroyers BURNHAM and SALISBURY and
the catapult ship were detached on the 12th.
Destroyers MANSFIELD and WOLVERINE and corvette
CONVOLVULOUS joined on
the 12th. The escort was detached on the 13th when the
convoy was dispersed.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 0600 to escort convoy
WN.23. At 1400, she
transferred to convoy EC.16.
At 0400/8th, the ship
transferred to convoy WN.24
which she escorted to Methil arriving at 0730/9th.
_____
During the night of 7/8
May, destroyer HURRICANE
was sunk by German air attack in shallow water at
Liverpool.
The destroyer was salved
and returned to service in
January 1942.
Destroyer VISCOUNT was
also damaged in this air
raid. The destroyer was taken to Devonport and repair
was completed in
January 1942.
CAM ship MAPLIN was hit by
a bomb at Liverpool.
_____
Minesweeping trawler
SUSARION (260grt, T/Skipper P.
Coull RNR) was sunk by German bombing three miles south
by
east of Humber Light Vessel.
_____
Naval drifter GOWAN HILL
(96grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Greenock.
_____
Italian submarine TAZZOLI
sank Norwegian steamer
FERLANE (4310grt) at 10-02N, 20-17W. The crew were all
rescued.
_____
U.94 attacked convoy
OB.318.
British steamer IXION
(10,263grt) and Norwegian
steamer EASTERN STAR (5658grt) were sunk in 61-29N,
22-40W. The entire
crew on steamer IXION were rescued. Three crew were lost
on the steamer
EASTERN STAR.
Survivors from both ships
were rescued by corvette
MARIGOLD, picking up nineteen, and British steamer
NAILSEA MOOR (4926grt), rescuing
eighty six.
Convoy escorts destroyer
BULLDOG and sloop ROCHESTER dropped depth charges.
_____
British steamer RIL IDA
(53grt) was sunk by German bombing at Victoria
Dock, Hull.
_____
British flat ELLESBASNK
(43grt) was sunk by German
bombing in Stanley Dock at Liverpool.
_____
Tug HORNBY (201grt) was
sunk by German bombing at Liverpool. The tug was salved
and repaired.
_____
British steamer BLUESTONE
(106grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Greenock. The crew were all rescued.
_____
British steam barge
KINEENAN (72grt) was sunk on a
mine at Liverpool.
All five crew were killed
on the barge.
_____
British sailing barge IDA
BURTON (46grt) was sunk by German bombing at Liverpool.
_____
British fishing vessel
WATERLILY (12grt) was sunk
by German bombing in Bessom Creek, West Mersea.
_____
British steamer CLAN
MACINNES (4672grt) was damaged
by German bombing at Liverpool.
_____
Minesweeper STOKE (Cdr C.
J. P. Hill Rtd) was sunk
by German bombing at Tobruk.
Commissioned Engineer G.
L. Rose and Twenty ratings
were lost on the minesweeper.
Gunboat LADYBIRD rescued
the survivors.
Minesweeping whaler SVANA
was damaged by a near
miss in the same attack.
_____
Greek steamer KATINA P.
(1216grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Astakos.
_____
Greek steamer TANAIS
(1545grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Suda Bay.
The steamer sank, but was
salved by the Germans for
their use.
_____
Destroyers VELOX and
WRESTLER departed Gibraltar to meet light cruiser
DUNEDIN and troopships MONARCH OF BERMUDA and EMPRESS OF
JAPAN, coming from Freetown.
The ships arrived at
Gibraltar on the 8th. Light cruiser DUNEDIN was taken in
hand for repairs to boiler tubes.
_____
British tanker barge
SAFIYEH (176grt) was sunk by
Italian bombing three miles from Qurnan.
The barge was refloated
and towed to Abadan for repair.
_____
Italian steamer PASCOLI
(2939grt) was sunk off
Saseno on a mine.
_____
British tanker BRITISH
EMPEROR (3663grt) sunk by
German raider PINGUIN at 8-30N, 56-25E.
Forty five crew were lost
on the tanker, between
the lost of the tanker and the sinking of the German
cruiser the next day.
The tanker was able to
radio an SOS. Aircraft carrier EAGLE and heavy cruiser
HAWKINS
put out from Mombasa. Heavy cruiser CORNWALL also
departed Mombasa and proceeded to the area.
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER, which had departed Colombo on the 6th with an
ANZAC convoy, was ordered to
turn her convoy over to Australian heavy cruiser
CANBERRA and assist in the search.
Light cruisers LIVERPOOL
and GLASGOW and armed merchant cruiser HECTOR also
assisted in the search.
Thursday,
8 May
Vice Admiral W. J.
Whitworth CB, DSO, struck his
flag of Vice Admiral Battle Cruiser Squadron on
battlecruiser HOOD.
Vice Admiral L. E. Holland
CB, formerly Vice
Admiral 18th Cruiser Squadron, was named to replace him
and hoisted his flag
on HOOD on the 12th.
Captain C. M. Blackman
DSO, Captain of the EDINBURGH was named a Commodore
Second Class to temporarily
command the 18th Cruiser Squadron.
_____
Destroyers TARTAR,
PUNJABI, and MASHONA at 1300 and
INGLEFIELD, ECHO, and ANTELOPE at 1630 departed Scapa
Flow to hunt for a reported by British aircraft six
miles 110° from Sule Skerry.
The destroyers INTREPID
and IMPULSIVE, returning from
escort of the 1st Minelaying Squadron in SN.9A, joined
the submarine hunt.
The search was called off
at 0800/9th and the
destroyers arrived at Scapa
Flow at 0840.
_____
Convoy OB.320 departed
Liverpool, escorted by corvettes GLAIOLUS and VERONICA
and
anti-submarine trawlers ST KENAN and ST ZENO. Destroyers
LEAMINGTON and ROXBOROUGH and corvette ABELIA joined on
the
9th. Corvette LARKSPUR joined on the 13th. On the 13th,
destroyers LEAMINGTON and ROXBOROUGH, corvettes ABELIA
and VERONICA, and
the trawlers were detached. The remainder of the escort
was detached on the
14th when the convoy was dispersed.
_____
In a heavy German bombing
raid on the Clyde caused disruption to the building schedule of destroyer PAKENHAM and
monitor ROBERTS.
_____
Anti-submarine yacht VIVA
II (521grt, A/Captain M.
A. Blomfield, OBE Rtd) was sunk by German bombing
thirteen miles west of
Trevose Head.
Blomfield, T/Lt (E) A.
McDougall RNVR, T/Sub Lt H.
J. Nicklin RNVR, Lt G. H. Williams RNR Rtd, and eighteen
ratings were lost.
T/Sub Lt (E) H. C. Pollard
RNVR, and Sub Lt J. A.
Tuffin RNVR, were wounded on the yacht.
Destroyer CLEVELAND
rescued ten survivors from the
yacht.
_____
Minesweeping trawler
SILICIA (250grt, T/A/Lt Cdr F.
A. Matson RNR) was mined 190° from Albert Dock entrance,
Hull.
Seven men were killed and
three were wounded. The
survivors were rescued by ML.211.
_____
Naval drifter THISTLE V
(79grt, P/T/Skipper C.
Sanson RNR) was lost by mining off Lowestoft, in 52-28N,
1-47E.
Sanson, T/Sub Lt T. S.
Wedderburn-Ogilvy RNVR, and
eight ratings were lost on the drifter. There was only
one survivor.
_____
British smack THISTLE
(16grt) was sunk on a mine in
51-45N, 1-09E.
There were no casualties
on the smack.
_____
Naval drifter UBERTY
(93grt, T/Skipper R. H.
Alexander RNR) was sunk by German bombing at Lowestoft.
Alexander and twelve
ratings were lost on the
drifter.
_____
Destroyers WHADDON and
VIVACIOUS, both under repair
in the Tyne, were damaged by German bombing.
_____
Patrol sloop PUFFIN, en
route from Humber to Flamborough, was damaged by the explosion of two practice depth
charges.
The damage was repaired in
two days.
_____
U.97 sank British steamer
RAMILLIES (4553grt) in
48-05N, 32-26W.
Twenty six crew and three
gunners were lost. Eleven
crew and one gunner were rescued.
_____
In German air raids on
Liverpool, British steamer
MARTON (4969grt), British steam barge ROSE (143grt),
British steamer TRENTINO
(3079grt), British steam barge BURMAH (127grt) at Canada
Dock were sunk at
Liverpool.
No crew on steamer MARTON
when bombed. The entire
crew of steamer TRENTINO was rescued.
British steamer ROYAL
DIAFFODIL II (591grt),
Finnish steamer ANNENBERG (2544grt), Belgian steamer
LEOPOLD II (2902grt), Norwegian
steamer STROMBOLI (1376grt), and British crane HERCULES
(652grt)
were damaged by German bombing at Liverpool.
The crane was sunk, but
was salved and repaired.
_____
In German air raids on
Alexandra Dock, Hull, British sailing barges DELITE
(89grt), LADORE
(91grt), barge WHITAKERS No. II (48grt), and lighter
WELCOME HOME (38grt)
were sunk.
There were no casualties
on the four ships.
_____
Tug IRISHMAN (99grt) and
dredger F. W. No. 20
(83grt) blew up off Sword Sands in Langston
Harbour, Portsmouth.
There were five killed on
the tug and three lost on
the dredger.
_____
British ketch WELCOME HOME
(38grt) was sunk by
German bombing at Hull.
_____
Submarine TRUANT, which
was proceeding from Malta to Gibraltar
intercepted French steamer GALLIUM (1775grt), en route
from Bone to Sete, and
escorted her towards Gibraltar.
On the 9th, Norwegian
steamer BAALBECK (2160grt)
reported that the French steamer was proceeding escorted
by a Submarine east
of Majorca.
French destroyer SIMOUN
departed Oran on the 9th to intercept. On the 10th,
French
torpedo boat LA BAYONNAISE and submarines DIANE,
EURYDICE, THETIS, and
ANTIOPE departed Oran.
On the 11th, the steamer
was recaptured by the
French ships. Steamer GALLIUM arrived at Marseilles on
the 14th.
_____
Battlecruiser REPULSE,
aircraft carrier ARGUS, and
troopships EMPRESS OF JAPAN and MONARCH OF BERMUDA
departed Gibraltar for the UK, arriving on the 15th.
_____
Submarine CACHALOT arrived
at Malta with stores from Alexandria.
The submarine departed on
the 16th and arrived back
at Alexandria on the 22nd.
_____
Spanish fishing vessel
LUIS PUEBLA (106grt) was
sunk on a mine during the night of 8/9 May 160 miles
northeast of Gijon.
Nine crew of a crew of
twelve were lost.
_____
German raider PINGUIN was
sunk at 1715 by Heavy
cruiser CORNWALL north of the Seychilles.
Cruiser CORNWALL was
damaged by a hit in her stern.
Lt (E) G. C. Winslade was
the only British fatal
casualty. Three ratings were wounded.
The cruiser rescued three
officers, fifty seven
ratings, and twenty two prisoners, ten from CLAN
BUCHANAN, one from EMPIRE
LIGHT, and eleven from BRITISH EMPEROR.
Eighteen officers, 323
ratings, and 200 prisoners,
including ninety seven from CLAN BUCHANAN, were lost on
the German ship.
German cruiser PINGUIN had
sunk 17 ships, plus 11
whalers captured, for a total of 136,551 tons.
Cruiser CORNWALL proceeded
to Durban for repair completing 10 June.
The survivors from cruiser
PINGUIN departed the
Seychilles on the 17th in steamer KHANDALLA and arrived
at Mombasa on the 20th.
Friday,
9 May
Mine destructor ship
QUEENWORTH (3010grt, Lt Cdr R.
W. Wainewright) was sunk by German bombing eight cables
85° from Outer
Dowsing Light Buoy. No crew were killed in the loss.
_____
Mine destructor ship
CORFIELD was damaged by near
misses of German bombing in the Humber.
_____
Armed merchant cruiser
CIRCASSIA arrived at Greenock on the 9th.
_____
U.110 made attacks on
convoy OB.318.
British steamers ESMOND
(4976grt) and BENGORE HEAD
(2609grt) were sunk in 60-45N, 33-02W. The entire crew
of steamer ESMOND were
rescued by corvette AUBRETIA. One crewman was lost on
steamer BENGORE HEAD by
anti-submarine trawler APOLLO and Norwegian steamer
BORGFRED (2183grt).
British steamer GREGALIA
(5802grt) was sunk in
60-24N, 32-37W. The entire crew of steamer GREGALIA were
rescued by British
steamer AELYBRYN (4986grt).
British steamer EMPIRE
CLOUD (5969grt) was damaged
in 61-00N, 32-30W. Five crew were lost. Survivors were
picked up by Corvette
NIGELLA.
Steamer EMPIRE CLOUD
arrived at Rames
Bay
on the 20th in tow of tug THAMES.
U.110 was captured
southwest of Ireland by convoy escorts destroyers
BULLDOG, BROADWAY,
and AMAZON and corvette AUBRETIA.
The commanding officer,
Kptlt Fritz Julius Kemp and
fourteen other crew were lost in the submarine. Four
officers, and twenty
eight crew were rescued.
Destroyer BROADWAY was
damaged alongside the
submarine when the submarine's hydroplane pierced the
destroyer's engine
room.
Destroyer BROADWAY was
repaired at Dundee in two months.
The submarine sank in tow
of destroyer BULLDOG
during a storm on the 10th.
_____
French steamer CRITON
(4564grt) was seized by Armed
merchant cruiser CILICIA at 10-11N, 20-17W off Freetown.
The steamer was taken to
Freetown, arriving on the 11th.
Steamer CRITON joined
convoy SL.78 on 19 June for
passage to Belfast. The steamer fell out of the convoy
and was
returning to Freetown. She was intercepted on 21 June by
auxiliary
patrol vessel AIR FRANCE IV and armed trawler EDITH
GERMAINE which
ordered her to proceed to Konakri. After the steamer
made a radio report, the
French ships took off the crew and sank the steamer.
Twenty four crew and the
armed guard under the command of A/Sub Lt S. K. Stretten
RNR, were interned at Konakri. Three crew of the
steamer died during internment and a fourth later died
of illness sustained.
_____
Italian submarine TAZZOLI
sank Norwegian tanker
ALFRED OLSEN (8817grt) at 2-59N, 20-26W. The entire crew
were rescued.
_____
U.103 sank British
steamer CITY OF WINCHESTER
(7120grt) at 8-20N, 26-14W.
Ninety one crew were
rescued. Six crew were lost.
_____
British trawler TANKERTON
TOWERS (97grt) was sunk by German bombing off St Goven's Light Vessel. The
crew of eight were rescued.
_____
British steamer OSTREVENT
(1737grt) was damaged by
German bombing east of Helwick Light Vessel.
_____
British sailing barge
WHITAKER'S No. 17 (64grt),
British steamer DAN Y BRYN (5117grt), and steamer
CASTILIAN (3067grt) were
damaged by German bombing at Hull. Two crew and two
gunners were lost on steamer
CASTILIAN.
_____
British steamer FISHPOOL
(4950grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Barrow.
_____
During the night of 9/10
May, British tankers SAN ROBERTO (5890grt) and BRITISH
STATESMAN (6991grt)
were damaged by German bombing twenty two miles east by
north of Spurn Point,
53-44N, 0-38E.
Both tankers were towed to
Immingham.
_____
Convoy AS.30 departed Suda
Bay
escorted by destroyers VAMPIRE, WATERHEN, and VOYAGER
and sloops FLAMINGO and
AUCKLAND.
Minesweeper DERBY and
Greek destroyer SPHENDONI were involved in the
escort.
The convoy arrived at
Alexandria on the 12th escorted by destroyers VAMPIRE
and
VOYAGER and sloop AUCKLAND.
_____
Australian destroyer
VENDETTA evacuated wounded
from Tobruk during the night of 9/10 May to Alexandria.
_____
Convoy SC.31 departed
Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser WOLFE and
corvettes COBALt and COLLINGWOOD. The corvettes were
detached the next day.
Escort vessel LULWORTH joined on the 11th. The armed
merchant cruiser was
detached on the 21st. Destroyers AMAZON and BULLDOG,
corvettes AUBRETIA,
HOLLYHOCK, and NIGELLA, and anti-submarine trawler
DANEMAN joined on the 21st
and were detached on the 24th. On the 24th, destroyers
CAMPBELTOWN, WANDERER,
and WESTCOTT, sloops FLEETWOOD and ROCHESTER, and
corvettes AURICULA, DIANTHUS, MARIGOLD,
NASTURITUM, and PERIWINKLE. Sloop ROCHESTER and corvette
PRIMROSE were detached on the 27th.
All, but destroyer CAMPBELTOWN and corvette PERIWINKLE,
were detached on the
29th. The remaining two escorts were detached when the
convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 30th.
_____
American aircraft carrier
RANGER, heavy cruiser VINCENNES, and destroyers SAMPSON
and EBERLE departed Bermuda on neutrality patrol concluding at
Bermuda on the 23rd.
Saturday,
10 May
Light cruisers GALATEA and
ARETHUSA were relieved
on the Iceland Faroes Passage patrol by light cruisers
NIGERIA and KENYA.
_____
Heavy cruiser LONDON and
destroyers MASHONA and TARTAR departed Scapa Flow at
1100 for the Clyde to provide escort for aircraft carrier FURIOUS.
The three ships arrived at
0740/11th.
_____
Destroyer BLANKNEY
departed Scapa Flow at 0800 and met light cruiser
NEPTUNE off Rattray
Head.
The two ships arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1530. Light cruiser NEPTUNE arrived at
Scapa Flow to work up.
Light cruiser NEPTUNE
departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde after
working up on the 25th. She arrived the next day.
_____
British Cdr L. G. E.
Robinson Rtd of PRESIDENT was
killed in an air raid on London.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Methil at 0730
with convoy EC.17 from May Island to
Pentland Firth.
At 1130/11th, the ship and
destroyer WINDSOR, which
had been sent to Scapa Flow to work up, arrived at Scapa
Flow.
_____
Armed merchant cruiser
AURANIA and submarine
TRIBUNE departed Halifax with convoy HX.126 with a local
escort of Canadian
corvettes CHAMBLY and ORILLA.
The convoy was joined on
the 20th by destroyer
MALCOLM and on the 21st by destroyers BURNHAM and
BURWELL, corvettes ARABIS,
HELIOTROPE, MALLOW, and VERBENA.
Destroyer SCIMITAR joined
on the 22nd and
destroyers KEPPEL and SABRE, corvettes DIANELLA,
GLADIOLUS, and KINGCUP,
anti-submarine trawler LADY ELSA, and catapult ship
SPRINGBANK on the 23rd.
Anti-submarine trawlers
NORTHERN WAVE and NORTHERN GEM escorted the convoy in
Home Waters.
The armed merchant cruiser
was detached on the
21st. Destroyers BURNHAM and MALCOLM on the 22nd,
corvettes ARABIS,
HELIOTROPE, MALLOW, and VERBENA on the 23rd, destroyer
SCIMITAR on the 24th,
destroyers KEPPEL and BURWELL and corvette GLADIOLUS on
the 26th, and
destroyer SABRE on the 27th.
Destroyer VENOMOUS joined
on the 26th. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 28th with destroyer VENOMOUS
and corvette
KINGCUP.
Submarine TRIBUNE arrived
at Holy Loch on the 25th.
_____
U.556 made attacks on
convoy OB.318.
British steamer AELYBRYN
(4986grt) was damaged in
59-23N, 35-25W. One crewman was lost.
The steamer, with her
stern completely gone, was
towed to Reykjavik by tug ZWARTE ZEE and escorted by
corvette
HOLLYHOCK. She arrived in the Tyne on 30 July.
British steamer CHAUCER
(5792grt) was attacked but
not damaged.
At dawn, the convoy
dispersed and U.556 made
further attacks.
British steamer EMPIRE
CARIBOU (4861grt) was sunk
by 59-28N, 35-44W.
Twenty seven crew and two
gunners were lost on the
steamer.
Destroyer MALCOLM rescued
the survivors.
Belgian steamer GAND
(5086grt) was sunk in 57-54N,
37-34W. One crewman was lost on the Belgian steamer.
_____
German bombing on London
sank small Naval auxiliary ships ALTAIS, COMET I,
FAISLANE (5grt), IGLOO, JAKE II, NOMAD III (6grt),
SAFARI, and MISS ENGLAND (4grt).
_____
British steamer TOWER
FIELD (4241grt) was damaged
by German bombing off Outer Dowsing Buoy.
_____
Sludge vessel HENRY WARD
(1438grt) was damaged by
German bombing in Dry Dock, Green and Silley Weir,
London.
_____
Motor launch ML.1011 (Lt
A. H. Blake RNR), on passage from Suda Bay
to Sphakia, was sunk by German bombing.
_____
During the night of 10/11
May, gunboat LADYBIRD
bombarded Gazala.
_____
Convoy SL.74 departed
Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser BULOLO until
29
May. Corvettes AMARANTHUS, ANCHUSA, ASPHODEL, and
CALENDULA escorted the
convoy from 11 May to 19 May.
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
joined the convoy on the
12th to 26 May.
On the 30th, destroyer
READING to 4 June,
VANQUISHER to 2 June, and WINCHELSEA to 2 June, and
corvettes GENTIAN to 4
June, HIBISCUS to 4 June, PIMERNEL to 4 June, and
RHODODENDRON to 4 June
joined.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 4 June.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
HILARY captured Italian
tanker GIANNA M. (5719grt), which had departed Las
Palmas on 27 April, 325 miles north of the Azores, 45N, 24-42W. The ocean boarding vessel escorted the tanker to join
convoy HG.61.
The tanker arrived in
Belfast Lough on the 20th and
was used by the British as EMPIRE CONTROL.
_____
Submarine
SEVERN arrived at Gibraltar
from Freetown.
Sunday,
11 May
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK
relieved heavy cruiser EXETER
on Denmark Straits patrol.
_____
Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, IMPULSIVE, and
ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow at 1800 for Hvalfjord to
act as a special
anti-submarine striking force.
The destroyers arrived at
Hvalfjord on the 13th.
_____
Convoy OB.321 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyer READING and corvettes
CAMPANULA, FREESIA, HIBISCUS, and PIMPERNEL. Destroyers
VANQUISHER and
WINCHELSEA, sloop LONDONDERRY, and corvettes GENTIAN and
RHODODENDRON joined on
the 12th. Destroyer WINCHELSEA, sloop LONDONDERRY,
andcorvettes CAMPANULA, FREESIA, HIBISCUS, and
PIMPERNEL were detached on the 16th. Destroyers MASHONA
and TARTAR were with
the convoy on the 16th only. The remainder of the escort
was detached on the
17th when the convoy was dispersed.
_____
Destroyer CHURCHILL
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1600 escorting steamer BEN MY
CHREE.
After refuelling, the
destroyer departed Scapa Flow at 2000 for Hvalfjord.
_____
Auxiliary petrol base ship
GYPSY (261grt) was sunk
by German bombing at Tower Pier, London.
_____
U.103 sank British
steamer CITY OF SHANGHAI
(5828grt) in 6-40N, 27-50W.
Eight crew were lost on
the steamer. The survivors
were rescued by Dutch steamer STAD ARNEHIM
(3819grt).
_____
British steamer SOMERSET
(8790grt) was sunk by German bombing in 54-54N,
16-20W. The entire crew was rescued.
_____
British steamer CAITHNESS
(4970grt) was damaged by German bombing in 52-03N,
5-24W.
The steamer arrived in
Belfast on the 12th.
_____
Tug DENCADE (58grt) and
fishing vessel SILVER
LINING (40grt) and Belgian trawler HERNIEUWEN IN
CHRISTUS (49grt) were
damaged by German bombing at Brixham.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL, which
departed Port Said on the 5th, laid mines in the Gulf of
Salonika.
_____
Submarine PANDORA made an
unsuccessful attack on a
tanker off Naples.
_____
Convoy ANF.30 departed
Alexandria escorted by destroyers STUART and VENDETTA.
Early on the 12th,
anti-aircraft cruisers DIDO and CALCUTTA and destroyers
JANUS and ISIS joined the convoy.
On the 14th, cruisers DIDO
and CALCUTTA and destroyers STUART, VENDETTA, JANUS, and
ISIS
arrived at Suda Bay
with the convoy.
_____
The 10th MTB.Flotilla (Lt
Cdr E. C. Peake) of MTB.67, MTB.68, MTB.213, MTB.214,
MTB.215, MTB.216, and MTB.217 departed Alexandria for
Suda Bay,
refuelling at Mersa Matruh and Tobruk, en route.
MTB 68 and MTB.215 broke
down at Mersa Matruh and were sent back
to Alexandria.
Two more were defective,
but were able to arrive
with the other three at Tobruk. MTB.67, MTB.213,
MTB.214, MTB.216, and MTB.217 refuelled during the night
of 12/13 May and
sailed for Suda Bay.
_____
A German-Italian convoy
departed Naples with
steamers PREUSSEN (8230grt), WACHTFELS (8467grt),
ERNESTO (7272grt), GIULIA
(5921grt), TEMBIEN (5584grt), and COL DI LANA (5891grt)
escorted by
destroyers AVIERE, GENIERE, GRECALE, CAMICIA NERA, and
DARDO.
Distant cover was given by
light cruisers BANDE
NERE, CARDONA, DUCA DEGLI ABRUZZI, and GARIBALDI and
destroyers ALPINO,
FUCLIERE, SCIROCCO, BERSAGLIERE, MAESTRALE, DA RECCO,
USODIMARE, PESSAGNO,
and PANCALDO.
The convoy arrived at
Tripoli on the 14th.
Monday,
12 May
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS,
heavy cruiser LONDON, dummy battleship ANSON (old
battleship
CENTURION), and destroyers TARTAR, MASHONA, LEGION, and
BRILLIANT departed
the Clyde at 2030.
The aircraft carrier was
en route to Gibraltar.
Destroyers TARTAR and
MASHONA were detached at
daylight on the 15th to act as an anti-submarine
striking force for convoy
OB.321 until noon on the 16th.
The destroyers, less destroyer BRILLIANT, returned to
the Clyde on the 18th.
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS,
heavy cruiser LONDON, dummy battleship ANSON, and
destroyer BRILLIANT
arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th.
_____
Heavy cruiser EXETER
departed Hvalfjord after being relieved in the Denmark
Strait by heavy cruiser SUFFOLK.
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK
departed
Scapa Flow on the
17th to reinforce the patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser BERWICK
departed Spithead escorted by destroyers WIVERN, WILD SWAN, BERKELEY, and BLENCATHRA.
Destroyers WIVERN and WILD
SWAN escorted the
cruiser only until Smalls Light Vessel and then returned
to Portsmouth.
The two HUNTS escorted the
cruiser until dark on
the 13th when they were relieved by destroyer NESTOR off
Dunnet Head.
The heavy cruiser arrived
at Rosyth on the 14th.
_____
Convoy OB.322 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers RAMSEY and WALKER. On
the
13th, destroyer CALDWELL, sloop ENCHANTRESS, corvettes
BLUEBELL, CANDYTUFT,
HONEYSUCKLE, HYDRANGEA, and WALLFLOWER, minesweeper
SALAMANDER, and
anti-submarine trawlers KING SOL,
NORTHERN SUN, and NORTHERN WAVE joined. Corvette ARABIS
joined on the 14th.
Destroyers CALDWELL, RAMSEY, and WALKER, sloop
ENCHANTRESS, corvettes
BLUEBELL, CANDYTUFT, HONEYSUCKLE, HYDRANGEA, and
WALLFLOWER, and trawler KING
SOL were detached on the 18th. Destroyer BURNHAM,
BURWELL, and SCIMITAR and corvettes HELIOTROPE and
MALLOW joined on the 20th.
The escort was detached when the convoy dispersed on the
20th.
_____
Destroyer RIPLEY, which
departed Londonderry on the 10th, was damaged by the
near miss of
German bombing.
The destroyer spent no
time out of service and
returned to Londonderry on the 16th after her duties.
_____
Indian sloop SUTLEJ arrived at Scapa
Flow at 0800 to carry out
working up exercises.
_____
Destroyer BULLDOG arrived
at Scapa Flow at 1800 to refuel.
_____
Destroyer
BRIGHTON arrived
at Scapa Flow from Loch Alsh to carry out underwater
repairs in
dock.
_____
A Walrus aircraft carrying
Rear Admiral, destroyers
Home Fleet, made a forced landing in the sea ten miles
northwest of Dunnet
Head while on passage to Scapa
Flow.
The passengers and crew of
the aircraft were taken
aboard British trawler ST OLA (231grt). The aircraft was
salved by destroyers
BLANKNEY and BROCKLESBY which departed Scapa Flow at
1900.
The destroyers arrived
back with the aircraft at
2330.
_____
British steamer FOWBERRY
TOWER (4484grt) was sunk by German bombing one mile southwest by west of
Humber Light Vessel.
Six crew were lost on the
steamer.
_____
British steamer RICHARD DE
LARRINGA (5358grt) was
sunk by German bombing four cables north of 20R Buoy,
Tyne.
No lives were lost on the
steamer. She was towed
until her back broke at Herd Sands.
_____
Italian torpedo boats
CLIO, ORIONE, and PEGASO
departed Tripoli escorting steamers MADDALENA ODERO
(5479grt) and
NICOLO ODERO (6003grt).
Torpedo boat PEGASO made
an attack on a contact
near the convoy that evening.
Torpedo boat PLEIADI,
escorting steamer BOSFORO,
also made an attack on a submarine contact off Tripoli.
These attacks may have
claimed submarine UNDAUNTED.
Otherwise the submarine may have been lost on a mine off
Tripoli.
Submarine UNDAUNTED (Lt J.
L. Livesay), which
departed Malta on the 1st, was lost to unknown agent off
Tripoli.
Livesay, Lt H. R.
D'Almaine, sub Lt J. W. Anthony,
T/Sub Lt J. C. Bate RNR, and the twenty eight ratings of
the crew were
lost with the submarine.
_____
Gunboat LADYBIRD (Lt Cdr
J. F. Blackburn Rtd) was
sunk at Tobruk by Italian aircraft.
Three ratings were killed
and one rating died of
wounds. Fourteen crew were wounded.
_____
The following changes were
made in the
Mediterranean Fleet command structure.
Vice Admiral Pridham
Wippell CB, CVO, former Vice
Admiral Light Forces became Vice Admiral, 1st Battle
Squadron with his flag
on battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Rear Admiral E. L. S. King
CB MVO, became Rear
Admiral, 15th Cruiser Squadron with his flag in
anti-aircraft cruiser NAIAD.
Rear Admiral H. B.
Rawlings CBE, became Rear Admiral, 7th Cruiser Squadron
with
his flag in light cruiser ORION.
Rear Admiral I. G. Glennie
became Rear Admiral (D) Mediterranean with his flag in
anti-aircraft cruiser DIDO or
depot ship WOOLWICH, if DIDO was required at sea as a
private ship.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL sank
Greek coastal steamer AGHIOS
PARASKIVI (25grt) and another small schooner, both
carrying German troops,
off Lemnos.
_____
Submarine TRUANT arrived
at Gibraltar from Malta.
Tuesday,
13 May
Armed merchant cruiser
SALOPIAN (Captain Sir John
M. Alleyne Bt DSO, DSC Rtd), which had been escorting
convoy SC30, was sunk
by U.98 in 59-04N, 38-15W.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, IMPULSIVE, and
ESCAPADE proceeded early on the 14th to search for the
survivors.
Two hundred and seventy
eight survivors were picked
up by destroyer IMPULSIVE. The destroyer took the
survivors to Hvalfjord. She
departed Hvalfjord at 1500/17th for Scapa Flow. En
route, she was diverted to Greenock where she arrivedat
2030/18th.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, and ESCAPADE
arrived back at Hvalfjord after anti-submarine
operations at 1730/18th.
_____
Destroyers ELECTRA,
ANTHONY, and ANTELOPE departed Scapa Flow at 2215 for
Loch Alsh.
The destroyers arrived the
next day at 0600.
_____
Minesweeper FRANKLIN was
damaged by the near miss of German bombing in
the North Sea.
The minesweeper spent no
time out of service.
_____
U.105 sank British steamer
BENVRACKIE (6434grt) at
00-49N, 20-15W.
Thirteen crew was lost on
the steamer. Also fifteen
survivors from steamer LASSELL were lost. Fifty eight
survivors were rescued
by Hospital ship OXFORDSHIRE.
_____
U.111 sank British steamer
SOMERSBY (5170grt),
which was a straggler from convoy SC.30, in 60-39N,
26-13W. The entire crew
was rescued.
_____
British hopper barge F
(496grt) was sunk on a mine
350 yards south of Dingle Oil Jetty. Five crew of an
eleven man crew were
lost.
_____
British trawler FORT
RONA (203grt) was sunk by German bombing fifteen miles WSW of Bardsey
Island. The entire crew were rescued.
_____
British steamer LOTTINGE
(2468grt) was damaged by
German bombing three miles off the mouth of the Tyne.
The steamer returned to
the Tyne.
_____
Spanish fishing smack
NUEVA ELISA was sunk on a
mine in the Bay of Biscay.
_____
Light cruisers ORION and
AJAX and Australian light cruiser PERTH with destroyers
JUNO, KANDAHAR, and KINGSTON departed Alexandria in
Operation MD.8 to bombard El Fateyah airdrome
near Derna.
The bombardment, scheduled
for the night of 13/14
May was not carried out as a position could not be fixed
accurately.
_____
Gunboat GNAT bombarded the
Gazala airdrome during
the night of 13/14 May.
_____
MTB Depot ship trawler
VULCAN arrived at Suez to join the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Tug CORNFLOWER was sunk by
German bombing at Mersa, Malta.
_____
French steamer BOURBONNAIS
(4484grt), which had departed Dakar without escort for
Tamative on the 12th, was
seized by Armed merchant cruiser BULOLO at 13-07N,
19-22W on the 13th.
A distress signal from the
steamer caused large
destroyers FANTASQUE and TERRIBLE to depart Dakar on the
13th to assist. Light cruisers GEORGES
LEYGUES and GLOIRE departed Dakar on the 14th.
On the 14th, light cruiser
DRAGON relieved the
armed merchant cruiser and both arrived at Freetown on
the 16th.
The French ships returned
to Dakar without contacting the French steamer.
_____
Indian sloop CLIVE and
Armed merchant cruiser KING
GRUFFORD proceeded to Dante, seventy miles south of Cape
Guardafui.
The ships arrived on the
16th and embarked Italian
prisoners of war.
Wednesday,
14 May
Destroyer BULLDOG departed
Scapa Flow at 0100 for Iceland.
_____
Destroyers SOMALI,
BEDOUIN, and ESKIMO departed Scapa Flow at 0500 for
Rosyth to escort aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS.
The destroyers arrived at
1400/14th.
Aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS departed Rosyth on the
15th, escorted by light cruiser AURORA, and destroyers
SOMALI, BEDOUIN, and
ESKIMO for Scapa Flow where she arrived the same day at
2200.
_____
Destroyer BLANKNEY
departed Scapa Flow at 1400 for Aberdeen to meet
steamers AMSTERDAM and ARCHANGEL at 2100
off the harbour entrance.
The destroyer escorted the
steamers northward.
Steamer ARCHANGEL was detached to Kirkwall. Steamer AMSTERDAM was
escorted on to Lerwick.
The destroyer and steamer
AMSTERDAM arrived at Lerwick at 0945/15th and departed
later
at 2000 for Aberdeen.
Destroyer BLANKNEY arrived
back at Scapa Flow on the 16th to escort steamer
ARCHANGEL from Kirkwall to Aberdeen. The two
departed at 1800.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 1045 and escorted convoy
WN.26 from the Pentland Firth southwards.
Early on the 15th, the
ship transferred to convoy
EC.Special 2 and provided cover until arrival in the
Pentland Firth.
Destroyer BROCKLESBY
departed Scapa Flow at 1845/15th to provide additional
escort for
convoy EC.Special 2.
Ship ALYNBANK arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 2000/15th.
Destroyer BROCKLESBY after
escort proceeded to Plymouth for duty.
_____
Examination vessel M. A.
WEST (96grt) was sunk by
German bombing one mile 105° from Great
Yarmouth
Harbour entrance.
There were no casualties
on the drifter.
_____
Harbour
defence patrol vessel MINICOY (5grt, T/Lt E. F. Pegg
RNVR) was sunk on a mine
eleven cables 94° from St Ann's
Head.
Pegg and some ratings were
lost in the vessel.
_____
Norwegian steamer
KARLANDER (1843grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing in 55-38N, 13-38W. The entire
crew was rescued.
The steamer was sunk by an
escort vessel at
1020/14th in 55-36N, 13-24W.
_____
At 2000/14th, battleships
QUEEN ELIZABETH and BARHAM,
anti-aircraft cruisers NAIAD and PHOEBE, and destroyers
JERVIS, JAGUAR,
GREYHOUND, HASTY, NIZAM, DEFENDER, and IMPERIAL.
Cruiser PHOEBE developed
cracks in her hull plating
aft and was forced to return to Alexandria, arriving on
the 16th.
Light cruiser PERTH was
detached from the 7th Cruiser Squadron as a
replacement for cruiser PHOEBE. After refuelling, the
cruiser joined the
QUEEN ELIZABETH group.
This ships constituted
Forces A and D for the
defense of Crete.
_____
Convoy AS.31 departed Suda
Bay with merchant ships
British LOSSIEBANK (5627grt) and Dutch NIEUW ZEELAND
(11,069grt) escorted by
light cruiser DIDO and destroyers STUART, VENDETTA,
JANUS, and ISIS. Light
cruiser DIDO was carrying £7,000,000 sterling of Greek
bullion.
Steamer LOSSIEBANK broke
down and destroyer STUART
was sent ahead with steamer NIEUW ZEELAND.
The convoy was attacked by
air on the 15th, but no
damage was done. British Forces A and D.joined the
convoy for support.
Cruiser DIDO and
anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA were detached from the
convoy at dark on the 15th.
They proceeded to Alexandria to refuel, arriving early
on the 16th.
Three Greek destroyers
departed Alexandria on the 15th. They relieved
destroyers VENDETTA and
ISIS at daylight on the 16th.
Destroyer JANUS had
already been detached and
arrived at Alexandria on the 16th with damaged steamer
CAPE
HORN (5643grt).
Destroyers STUART, ISIS,
and VENDETTA arrived at Alexandria on the 16th.
Convoy AS.31 arrived at
Port Said escorted by the Greek destroyers on the 16th.
_____
Submarine UNBEATEN
attacked two schooners in Khoms
Roads. The submarine claimed sinking one with torpedo
and the other with
gunfire.
Neither ship was lost.
_____
British steamer DALESMAN
(6343grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing in Suda Bay.
The steamer went aground.
She was later salved for
use by the Germans.
_____
British steamer CAPE
HORN (5643grt) was damaged by German bombing at
Port Said.
_____
Gunboat GNAT bombarded a
mobile enemy battery near
the entrance of Tobruk Harbour.
Gunboat APHIS rejoined the
Inshore Squadron after
repairs.
_____
Convoy HG.62 departed
Gibraltar escorted by sloop DEPTFORD, corvette FLEUR DE
LYS,
and Dutch submarine O.24.
The submarine was detached
that day and the
corvette on the 21st.
On the 26th, the convoy
was joined by destroyers LEAMINGTON and SALADIN,
corvettes CLARKIA and GLADIOLUS, and
anti-submarine trawler ST ZENO.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 2 June.
_____
British steamer RABAUL
(6809grt) was sunk by German
raider ATLANTIS at 19-30S, 4-30E.
Nine crew were killed. One
was taken prisoner by
the German ship. Forty six crew were rescued.
_____
New Zealand auxiliary
minesweeping trawler PURIRI (927grt) was
sunk on a mine off Auckland.
Light cruiser ACHILLES
rescued the survivors.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
LEANDER arrived at Colombo.
