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Note: all vessels and aircraft are British unless otherwise identified or implied - click for abbreviations |
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Background Events - June-November 1941 Invasion of Russia, Malta Convoys, Japan prepares for war
1941
Monday, 15 September Battleship PRINCE OF Destroyer LAFOREY relieved destroyer CASTLETON at
the start. Destroyer CASTLETON returned to Destroyer LIGHTNING departed Battleship PRINCE OF Destroyer ESKIMO returning to _____ Heavy cruiser The cruiser was escorted part of the way by
destroyers WINDSOR and The cruiser arrived later on the 15th. _____ Destroyer ESCAPADE with tanker ALDERSDALE arrived
at Hvalfjord from the eastwards. _____ Destroyer BROCKLESBY and Dutch destroyer ISAAC
SWEERS collided in the There was minor damage to both ships and both remained
operational. _____ Submarine _____ Lt J. D. M. Briscoe and P/T/Sub Lt (A) J. D.
Pomfret RNVR, were killed when their
Hurricanes of 801 Squadron collided at Kingswill. _____ British steamer BIRTLEY (2873grt) was badly damaged
on a mine in 53-06N, 1-16-30E. Three crew were lost on the steamer. The steamer sank on the 16th in 53-03N, 1-18E. _____ British steamer DARU (3854grt) was sunk by German
bombing in 51-56-30N, 5-58W. There were no casualties on the steamer. _____ Tug FLYING KITE (260grt) was sunk by a mine off the
Five crew of a crew of eight were lost. Tug ATLANTIC COCK (182grt) was damaged on a mine in
near the The tug was beached and refloated on 11 October for
docking. _____ Belgian tanker PONTFIELD (8290grt) was mined in
52-03N, 1-20-30E. The tanker broke in two and the forepart sank. The
aft part was towed to Salt End and later the _____ Norwegian tanker VINGA (7321grt) was damaged by
German bombing in 58-08N, 13-17W. The tanker was towed to _____ U.94 sank British steamer NEWBURY (5102grt) in
54-39N, 28-04W. The entire crew of forty five crew and gunners were lost from
the steamer. U.94 sank Greek steamer PEGASUS (5762grt) from
convoy ON.14 in 54-40N, 29-50W. Sixteen crew were lost on the Greek steamer. U.94 sank British steamer EMPIRE ELAND (5613grt) in
54N, 28W. _____ German motor ship HANSEAT (224grt) was lost in a
stranding near _____ Polish submarine SOKOL arrived at _____ Destroyers NAPIER, NIZAM, and HAVOCK departed Light cruisers All ships returned to _____ Light cruiser GALATEA departed The cruiser arrived at _____ Corvette PRIMULA arrived at _____ P/T/Sub Lt (A) L. K. Harper RNVR, in a Martlett of 805 Squadron from GREBE,
was killed when taking off at night, the aircraft went into a spin at the
southwest side of Sidi Barrani North. _____ Battleship RODNEY, after refitting in the _____ On the 18th, the light cruiser turned the liner
over to Australian light cruisers Tuesday, 16 September Heavy cruiser _____ An Albacore of 827 Squadron from aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS crashed landed in the sea thirteen miles off Brough Head, Orkneys.
P/T/A/Sub Lt (A) M. A. Lambert RNVR,
and P/T/A/Sub Lt (A) J. H. C. Ashworth RNVR, were drowned. The pilot Midshipman W. G. R.
Beer was saved by heavy cruiser _____ Destroyers Convoy SC.42 was not joined as its position was
uncertain, but the force was ordered to join convoy ON.16 in the same area. On the 17th, destroyers LAMERTON and BADSWORTH were
ordered to join the escort of convoy ON.16 for twenty four hours. Rest of the destroyers were detached on the 17th
and arrived at Scapa Flow at 0130/18th, less destroyer VIVACIOUS, which had
been detached to sink a floating mine en route and arrived at 0400. Destroyers LAMERTON and BADSWORTH arrived at _____ Destroyer ESCAPADE departed Vestmannaeyjar at 2100
escorting the 4th Motor Launch Flotilla to Stornoway. The Motor Launches were detached at the _____ _____ Swedish steamer YARRAWONGA (4900grt) was sunk by
British bombing at The steamer was salved and taken to Gothenburg for
repairs. _____ German light cruisers _____ Light cruiser NAIAD departed The cruiser arrived at _____ Destroyers HERO and The destroyers returned to _____ Italian submarine SMERALDO was lost to an unknown
cause in the _____ Destroyer HIGHLANDER arrived at _____ Ocean boarding vessel MARON arrived at _____ Anti-submarine trawlers LADY HOGARTH and ARCTIC
RANGER departed _____ Lt (A) CB Lamb and T/A/Sub Lt (A) J. E. Robertson
RNVR, were interned after they crashed
landed their Swordfish of 830 Squadron near Despite the crash, they had successfully delivered
an agent to the area. _____ Dutch submarine O.24 arrived at _____ Submarines URSULA, UNBEATEN, UPHOLDER, and UPRIGHT
departed Submarine TRIUMPH departed _____ Convoy HX.150 departed On the 17th in 46N, 55W, this convoy became the
first trans Atlantic convoy to be assisted by the US N. when Captain M. L.
Deyo relieved the Canadian escorts with his force of destroyers ERICSSON, EBERLE,
UPSHUR, ELLIS, and DALLAS. Corvettes ALGOMA and BRANDON were detached on the
18th. On the 20th, destroyer EBERLE rescued the crew of British steamer
NIGARISTAN which has an engine room fire. The American group was relieved on
the 25th by destroyers BLANKNEY, CHURCHILL, and WITCH and corvettes
ARROWHEAD, CAMELLIA, CELANDINE, and HONEYSUCKLE. Destroyer BADSWORTH joined
on the 26th for the day only. Destroyer BLANKNEY was detached on the 27th.
The destroyers and corvettes CAMELLIA and CELANDINE were detached on the
28th. Corvette ARROWHEAD was detached on the 29th. The convoy arrived at Wednesday, 17 September Aircraft carrier ARGUS and destroyer ECLIPSE
departed Off The aircraft carrier continued unescorted to the _____ Destroyer LANCASTER departed the The destroyer arrived at _____ Submarine _____ Convoy WS.11X, which departed The convoy consisted by supply ship BRECONSHIRE and
steamers ULSTER MONARCH, QUEEN EMMA, PRINCESS BEATRIX, ROYAL SCOTSMAN, The convoy was escorted by battleship PRINCE OF
WALES, light cruisers EURYALUS and KENYA, and destroyers LAFOREY, LIGHTNING,
andORIBI, which departed the Clyde on the 16th, WHITEHALL, WITCH, BLANKNEY,
PIORUN, GARLAND, and ISAAC SWEERS from 17 September to Gibraltar. Destroyers Destroyers FORESIGHT, FORESTER, FURY, and LEGION,
escorting aircraft carrier FURIOUS, and ZULU, GURKHA, and LANCE departed
Gibraltar on the 18th to join the convoy on the 19th in 42N, 22-30W. Light
cruiser Troopships ULSTER MONARCH, QUEEN EMMA, PRINCESS
BEATRIX, and ROYAL SCOTSMAN, and During the night of 20/21 September, troopship
PRINCESS BEATRIX and storeship _____ Convoy ON.17 departed _____ Destroyer MENDIP was escorting convoy FS 605 when
it was attacked by German bombers. _____ German motor torpedo boats S.50, S.51, and S.52 of
the 4th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla attacked a Convoy off Cromer. British steamer TEDDINGTON (4762grt) was badly
damaged in 54-03N, 1-35E. The steamer was taken in tow, but went ashore on
the 18th two and three quarters miles east, southeast of Cromer Pier. The
entire crew were rescued. British steamer TETELA (5389grt) was damaged by a
German motor torpedo boat in 53-04N, 1-35E. The steamer was taken in tow and beached at Haile
Sand Flat. The steamer was refloated on the 18th and berthed at _____ In Destroyer KLAS HORN was repaired from components of
destroyers KLAS UGGLA and Destroyer _____ German steamer JOHANN WESSELS (4601grt) was lost on
a mine on the Norwegian coast. _____ German fishing vessel _____ Convoy HG.73 departed Destroyer WILD SWAN departed Destroyers DUNCAN and FARNDALE were detached on the
20th. Destroyers VIMY and WILD SWAN on the 22nd. The catapult ship was sunk
on the 27th. Destroyer HIGHLANDER departed Destroyer WOLVERINE joined the convoy on the 28th.
The corvettes were detached on the 30th. The convoy arrived at _____ From 17 to Light cruisers Light cruisers Minelaying cruiser ABDIEL and destroyers JERVIS,
JAGUAR, and HASTY departed The minelaying cruiser and destroyers arrived back
at _____ Light cruiser GALATEA arrived at _____ Dutch steamer WESTERNLAND departed Steamer WESTERNLAND arrived at Thursday, 18 September Destroyer ANTELOPE arrived at _____ Destroyer ECLIPSE departed _____ Destroyer INGLEFIELD departed The destroyer arrived in the _____ Destroyer BEDOUIN departed The destroyer arrived at 0800/19th with the
Governor. At 1800 that day, the destroyer departed Thorshavn to return to _____ Destroyers MATABELE and PUNJABI departed At 2145, destroyers Destroyers Destroyers MATABELE and PUNJABI arrived back at _____ Minelaying cruiser MANXMAN departed _____ British aircraft sighted Italian convoy of
troopships NEPTUNIA (19,475grt), OCEANIA (19,507grt), and VULCANIA
(24,469grt), escorted by destroyers DA RECCO, DA NOLI, PESSAGNO, USODIMARE,
and GIOBERTI which departed Taranto on the 16th for Tripoli. Submarines UPHOLDER, UPRIGHT, and UNBEATEN
stationed northeast of Submarine UPHOLDER attacked this convoy off
Misurata and sank troopship NEPTUNIA and damaged troopship Submarine UPHOLDER returned four hours later and
sank the damaged Troopship VULCANIA escaped and continued on to Off The Submarines arrived back at _____ Submarine TRIUMPH damaged Italian steamer ARDOR
(8960grt, shown in reports as tanker LIRI) off _____ Minelaying cruiser LATONA and destroyers NAPIER and
NIZAM departed While berthing alongside the wreck of Italian
steamer SERENITAS (5171grt) at Tobruk, destroyer NIZAM was damaged forward
when a cross wind blow the destroyer into the wreck. The ships arrived back on the 19th. Destroyer NIZAM
was out of action for fourteen days to repair. In Serial 3 on the same date, A lighters A.2, A.9,
and A.11 proceeded to Tobruk. Serial 4 was also conducted on this date with
schooners KHEYR EL _____ Australian destroyer VENDETTA and British steamer
FOUADIEH (1853grt) departed _____ Aircraft carrier FURIOUS departed Destroyer FURY arrived back at _____ Convoy SC.45 departed Friday, 19 September Convoy ON.18 departed _____ British steamer BRADGLEN (4741grt) was sunk by mining
two miles 230° from B.3 Buoy off Barrow Deep. Seven crew were missing and one crewman died in the
hospital. _____ British fishing vessel GLEN ALVA (6grt) was sunk on
a mine off Jenkin Buoy, Southend. Both crew on the vessel were lost. _____ British steamer PRESTATYN ROSE (1151grt) was
damaged by German bombing in 51-52-25N, 1-35-45E, three miles northeast of
Sunk Buoy, Harwich. The steamer arrived at Harwich on the 19th in tow
and beached. Steamer PRESTATYN ROSE was refloated on the 28th and sailed to
the _____ U.74 sank Canadian corvette Seventeen Canadian and one British ratings were
lost on the corvette. Forty survivors from the corvette were rescued by
Canadian corvettes MAYFLOWER and AGASSIZ. On the 20th, U.74 sank British One crewman and two gunners were lost on the U.552 on the 20th sank British tanker T. J.
WILLIAMS (8212grt) in 61-36N, 35-07W, Panamanian steamer PINK Seventeen crew, including two gunners, were lost on
the British tanker. Eleven crew were lost on the Panamanian steamer.
The entire crew of the Norwegian steamer were lost. _____ German fishing vessel BUNTE KUH (262grt) was lost
on a mine in the _____ During the night of 19/20 September, Italian
submarine SCIRE launched explosive boats into Oil depot ship FIONA SHELL (2444grt) and oiler
DENBYDALE (8145grt) were sunk and steamer One crewman was lost on ship FIONA SHELL. Ship _____ Light cruisers Destroyers _____ Submarine _____ Polish submarine SOKOL departed _____ Convoy ST.3 departed Saturday, 20 September Monitor EREBUS departed Destroyer VIVACIOUS departed Destroyer WINDSOR departed Harwich at 1130 to meet
monitor EREBUS and destroyer VIVACIOUS off Monitor EREBUS and destroyer VIVACIOUS arrived at
Sheerness at 1845/22nd. _____ Norwegian destroyer DRAUG departed the _____ Minelaying cruiser MANXMAN departed _____ Anti-aircraft ship The ship arrived at _____ British ferry PORTSDOWN (342grt) was sunk on a mine
in 50-46-07N, 6-25W. Eight crew and fifteen passengers were lost on the
steamer. _____ British trawler MARCONI (322grt) was lost in a
collision off Harwich. _____ U.124 sank British steamers BALTALLINN (1303grt)
and EMPIRE MOAT (2922grt) from convoy OG.74 in 48-07N, 22-07W. The submarine
claimed damaging another steamer in the convoy. Seventeen crew and one gunner were missing on
steamer BALTALLINN. Twenty survivors were rescued by steamer The crew of thirty of steamer EMPIRE MOAT were
picked up by steamer On the 21st, U.201 sank British steamer RUNA
(1575grt) in 46-20N, 22-23W and British steamers LISSA (1511grt) and Twelve crew and two gunners were lost on steamer
RUNA. Convoy rescue ship |
