Background
Events - June-November 1941
Invasion of
Russia, Malta Convoys, Japan prepares for war
1941
Saturday,
1 November
Heavy cruiser BERWICK with
destroyers PUNJABI and
ESCAPADE departed Scapa
Flow at 0430 for Rosyth,
arriving at 1600 that day.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA,
escorted by destroyer
VALOROUS and torpedo school ship LAIRDS ISLE, departed
the Tyne to complete refit at Rosyth, where they arrived later that day.
_____
Light cruisers EDINBURGH
and SHEFFIELD departed Scapa Flow for
Hvalfjord, where they arrived on the 3rd.
_____
Aircraft carrier ARGUS and
aircraft transport
ATHENE departed the Clyde ferrying aircraft to
Gibraltar, escorted by LAFOREY, HIGHLANDER, HAVELOCK,
and HARVESTER.
On the 2nd, a Swordfish of
ARGUS' 818 Squadron
ditched and its pilot, Lt A. S. Campbell, and crew were
picked up by
destroyer LAFOREY.
_____
Convoy ON.32 departed
Liverpool, escorted by New Zealand trawler MOA, en route
to the Pacific. The convoy
was joined on the 2nd by destroyers DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON,
and SKTA and corvettes ABELIA and ANEMONE. On the
6th, the 2 November reinforcements were detached when
joined by destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST CROIX and corvettes AGASSIZ, ALBERNIE, ALYSSE, AMHERST,
and BITTERSWEET. Destroyer RESTIGOUCHE was
detached on the 13th and the rest of the escort, less
trawler MOA, on the
14th. The convoy arrived at Halifax on the 16th.
_____
Destroyer BEAUFORT
departed Liverpool at 1100 for the Clyde, carrying out speed trials en route.
The destroyer arrived at
2240 that day.
_____
The British Admiralty
directed that destroyers
ARROW, ANTELOPE, ACTIVE, ANTHONY, and ACHATES should
join Western Approaches
when former Force H destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESTER,
FORESIGHT, and FURY become
available to the Home Fleet.
_____
Destroyer CHELSEA was
damaged in a collision with
British trawler CANNING (148grt) at Liverpool.
The destroyer sustained
only minor damage and spent
no time out of service.
_____
U.68 sank British steamer
BRADFORD CITY (4953grt) at 22-59S, 9-49E.
The entire crew were
rescued when they rowed
ashore.
South African
anti-submarine trawlers BLOMVLEI and MOOIVLEI
stood by the steamer.
_____
U.552 and U.567 made
unsuccessful attacks on convoy
HX.156, both claiming damaging steamers.
_____
British steamer KINGSLAND
(3669grt) was damaged by
German bombing in the North
Sea.
_____
Swedish steamer BRAHEHOLM
(5676grt) was damaged by
British bombing off the Dutch coast.
One crewman was killed.
_____
Swedish steamer SIGRID
(1093grt) was sunk on a mine
near Kiel.
Ten crewmen were lost on
the steamer.
_____
Rear Admiral Philip Vian
assumed command of Cruiser
Squadron 15 with his flag on light cruiser NAIAD.
The Mediterranean Fleet
cruisers at that time were
Cruiser Squadron 7
(Rawlings) with AJAX, NEPTUNE, and Australian light
cruiser HOBART
Cruiser Squadron 15 (Vian)
with NAIAD, GALATEA,
EURYALUS, and later by DIDO on 31 December.
The cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE of Cruiser Squadron 7 were transferred
to Malta as Force B and arrived there on the 29th.
_____
Force K of light cruisers
AURORA and PENELOPE and
destroyers LANCE and LIVELY departed Malta and were at
sea during the night of 1/2 November.
No contact was made and
the ships returned to Malta on the 2nd.
_____
Submarine UTMOST sank
Italian steamer MARIGOLA
(5996grt) 2.3 miles 165° from Kuriat
Island.
_____
U.75 was attacked by
British aircraft in 33-44N,
24-48E. The submarine received light damage.
_____
Wellington bombers
attacked Italian steamer CAPO
ARMA (3195grt), escorted by torpedo boat PROCIONE, en
route to Benghasi from
Brindisi. The steamer was damaged by the bombing, but
was able to reach
Benghasi on the 1st.
_____
A Swordfish of 830
Squadron failed to return from
an operation in which six Swordfish unsuccessfully
searched for a convoy. Sub
Lt W. E. Cotton, Sub Lt D. H. Stokes RNVR, and Leading
Airman E. A. Robson
were picked up by an Italian ship after seven days
adrift.
_____
Convoy OS.9G, escorted by
Dutch destroyer ISAAC
SWEERS, sloops FOWEY and LEITH, and corvette STONECROP,
joined off Gibraltar by destroyer WILD SWAN, arrived at
Gibraltar.
_____
Convoy SL.91G departed
Gibraltar to join SL.91, escorted by corvette CARNATION
and
with destroyers SIKH and VIDETTE, corvette AZALEA, and
anti-submarine
trawlers STELLA CARINA and LADY HOGARTH. Destroyer
VIDETTE and the trawlers
were detached on the 6th and the rest on the 8th.
On the 2nd, sloop FOWEY
and corvette STONECROP
departed Gibraltar to overtake the convoy and proceed to
England.
Sloop LEITH with
corvettes HELIOTROPE and CAMPION departed Gibraltar on
the 3rd escorting Dutch steamer TYSA to join
convoy SL.91G. Destroyer WILD SWAN was local escort for
this movement.
Destroyer DUNCAN and
French sloop COMMANDANT DUBOC
sailed on the 4th to join the convoy. The destroyer was
en route to Chatham for refit.
When German raiders were
reported as moving into
the Atlantic, destroyers DUNCAN and SIKH returned to
Gibraltar to escort
Force H. Battleship RODNEY, at sea with destroyers ZULU,
GURKHA, LIGHTNING,
and ISAAC SWEERS to meet aircraft carrier ARGUS, was
ordered to join
destroyers HIGHLANDER, HAVELOCK, and HARVESTER in
55-40N, 17-45W. Oiler
DINGLEDALE, escorted by corvettes JONQUIL and COREOPSIS
and submarine CLYDE, departed Gibraltar on the 7th
to patrol in position 34N, 30W.
Sloop COMMANDANT DUBOC had
been detached from the
convoy with defects and arrived at Gibraltar on the
7th.
On the 8th, destroyer
DUNCAN departed Gibraltar to proceed to refitting at
Chatham.
On the 8th, the joined
convoys SL.91 and SL.91G
split into SL.91GF and SL.91GS. SL.91GF arrived at
Liverpool on the 18th and SL.91GS on the 19th.
_____
Lt A. C. Wilkinson with
Leading Airman A.G. Gilbert
and Leading Airman N. C. Moulden of light cruiser
NEWCASTLE were killed when their Walrus of 700 Squadron
crashed three and a half miles west of Bermuda on a dive bombing exercise.
_____
Soviet cruiser VOROSHILOV
was mined and badly
damaged off Fidonissi Island in the Black Sea.
The cruiser was repaired
at Poti, completing in
February 1942.
Sunday,
2 November
Battleship DUKE OF YORK
departed Rosyth at 0800 with heavy cruiser BERWICK
and destroyers PUNJABI and ESCAPADE for Scapa Flow,
carrying out practices en route.
Destroyer TARTAR, en route
from Sheerness to Scapa Flow, joined this force off May Island.
Heavy cruiser BERWICK
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 2nd.
Destroyer IMPULSIVE
departed Scapa Flow at 0700 pm 3 November to relieve
destroyer PUNJABI
on the screen of battleship DUKE OF YORK which was
carrying out trials to the west of the
Orkneys.
Destroyer PUNJABI arrived
at Scapa Flow at 1010/3rd.
The battleship and her
destroyers arrived at Scapa Flow later on the 3rd.
_____
Destroyer SOUTHWOLD
departed Scapa Flow at 1200 for the Clyde on completion of a reduced working up program.
The destroyer was to carry
out boiler cleaning at Greenock before proceeding with convoy WS.12 Z for service in the
Mediterranean.
The destroyer arrived at
0730/3rd and began boiler
cleaning.
_____
Submarine P.35 departed
Scapa Flow to patrol off Norway.
_____
British steamer BRYNMILL
9743grt) was sunk by
German bombing four miles 210° from 59A Buoy, East
Dudgeon.
The entire crew were
rescued.
_____
British steamer MARIE DAWN
(2157grt) was badly
damaged by German bombing twenty miles from Spurn Point.
The steamer sank on the
3rd four miles 210° from
59A Buoy, Humber. The entire crew were rescued.
_____
British fishing trawler
CALIPH (226grt) was sunk by
German bombing eleven miles south of Old Head of
Kinsale.
One crewman died of
wounds.
_____
British hopper barge
FOREMOST 45 (824grt) was sunk
by a mine in 51-21-10N, 51-21-06W.
One crewman was lost on
the barge.
_____
U.208 sank British steamer
LARPOOL (3872grt) 250
miles east, southeast of Cape
Race.
Twenty two crewmen were
missing and four died of
wounds.
_____
British tanker AGILITY
(522grt) and British steamer
THYRA III (828grt) were damaged by German bombing in
Great
Yarmouth Roads.
The tanker arrived at
Great Yarmouth on the 3rd.
The steamer was towed to
Great Yarmouth arriving on
the 3rd.
_____
Swedish steamer INGEREN
(6123grt) was damaged by
British bombing west of Borkum.
The steamer arrived at
Emden for repairs.
_____
Battleship RODNEY,
escorted by destroyers GURKHA,
ZULU, LIGHTNING, and ISAAC SWEERS, departed Gibraltar to
meet aircraft
carrier ARGUS and aircraft transport ATHENE, escorted by
destroyers LAFOREY,
HIGHLANDER, HAVELOCK, and HARVESTER.
At 42N, 20W, the two
groups met.
Battleship RODNEY with
destroyers HIGHLANDER, HAVELOCK, and HARVESTER proceeded
to Scapa Flow to return to the Home Fleet.
Aircraft carrier ARGUS,
transport ATHENE, and
destroyers LAFOREY, ZULU, GURKHA, LIGHTNING, and ISAAC
SWEERS proceeded to Gibraltar, arriving on the 8th.
_____
Minelaying cruiser ABDIEL
and destroyers carried
troops to Famagusta to relieve the troops garrisoned
there in
Operation GLENCOE. About 250 troops were embarked in
each destroyer and three
hundred troops and seventy tons of stores were embarked
in ABDIEL. The
operations called for 11,000 Indian and 3400 British
troops to be transport
from Alexandria to Famagusta and 15,000 British troops
to be transported from Famagusta to Palestine.
Forces were divided into
three groups for the
Operation.
Group A was minelaying
cruiser ABDIEL (Rear Admiral
Destroyers embarked) and destroyers JAGUAR and HASTY
departing Alexandria at 1500 for Famagusta.
GroupB was destroyers
JERVIS, KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, and KINGSTON departing
Alexandria at 1700.
Group C was destroyers
NAPIER, NIZAM, KIPLING, and
JACKAL departing Alexandria at 1900.
En route destroyer KIPLING
broke down in 31-46N,
30-22E at 2300/2nd. Her troops were transferred to
destroyer JACKAL which
took the destroyer in tow for Alexandria. Destroyer
DECOY from Alexandria took over the tow at daylight on
the 3rd.
Destroyer JUPITER departed Alexandria and took destroyer
KIPLING's place.
Groups A,B, and C arrived
at Famagusta at 0730, 1230, and 1630, respectively. Rear
Admiral Destroyers disembarked at Famagusta. The
destroyers disembarked the troops and
embarked equilavent contingents of troops. The ships
departed for Haifa.
The ships of Group A andB
arrived at Haifa during the night of 3/4 November. Group
C arrived
at 1400. All ships disembarked their troops, embarked
Indian troops, and
sailed for Cyprus at 0730, 1230, and
1630, respectively.
The groups arrived at
Famagusta during the night of 4/5 November and sailed
again
at four hour intervals. They arrived at Haifa at 0400,
0830, and 1200, respectively. They
departed again with Indian troops at 0700, noon, and
1630, respectively, on the 5th for Famagusta.
The Groups arrived at
Famagusta on the 5th and sailed again with further
contingents, arriving at Haifa
at 0300, 0800, and 1200/6th. They departed Famagusta
after embarking more troops and refuelling.
The destroyers departed
Famagusta during the night of 6/7 November and arrived
at Haifa on the 7th. They sailed again during the day
with
the final contingent for Famagusta. Rear Admiral Destroyers reembarked on cruiser minelayer ABDIEL.
Destroyer KINGSTON
remained at Haifa with defects and her troops were
spread among the
other ships of GroupB.
The ships arrived at Haifa
at 0300, 0500, and noon on the 8th, respectively. At
1400/8th, the entire
force departed for Haifa with minelaying cruiser ABDIEL
and destroyers
JERVIS, KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, KINGSTON, JAGUAR, HASTY,
NAPIER, NIZAM, JACKAL, and
JUPITER. The ships carried out an anti-submarine sweep
as they returned to Alexandria, where they all arrived
on the 9th.
_____
Minesweeper BAGSHOT
sighted a submarine periscope
22 miles 282° from Ras el Tin. Destroyer DECOY and a
motor anti-submarine
boat were sent from Alexandria to assist. Anti-submarine whalers THORGRIM and
KOS 19 were sent from patrol.
_____
Polish submarine SOKOL
damaged Italian steamer
BALILLA (2469grt) in 38-22N, 12-20E, northwest of
Trapani with torpedoes and gunfire.
Subarine UTMOST sank the
damaged BALILLA later in
the day with gunfire.
_____
Submarine THRASHER
unsuccessfully attacked a
minelayer off Benghazi.
_____
French sloop D'IBERVILLE
was escorting an
unnumbered convoy of steamers ships CAP PADARAN
(8009grt), BANGKOK (8056grt), COMPIEGNE
(9986grt), CAP TOURAINE (8009grt), and COMMANDANT DORISE
(5529grt) intercepted by six South African minesweeping
whalers, supported by
cruisers DEVONSHIRE and COLOMBO and armed merchant
cruisers CARTHAGE and
CARNARVON CASTLE south of the Cape of Good Hope in
Operation BELLRINGER.
The ships, which departed
Madagascar on 25 October, carried 900 tons of graphite
and
30,000 tons of rice were taken by the British.
Sloop D'IBERVILLE withdrew
unmolested.
Steamer CAP PADARAN was
immobilised by her crew. She was taken
in tow by cruiser armed merchant cruiser CARTHAGE,
escorted by minesweeping whaler STELLENBERG and
taken to Port
Elizabeth.
Steamer BANGKOK was set on
fire by her crew and abandoned, with
light cruiser COLOMBO and whaler NIGEL taking off the
crew.
The other three steamers
were brought into South
African ports. CAP TOURAINE was escorted by heavy
cruiser DEVONSHIRE and minesweeping whaler STEENBERG to
Port Elizabeth. COMMANDANT DORISE was escorted by armed
merchant
cruiser CARNARVON CASTLE and minesweeping whaler GUN 9 to
East London. COMPIEGNE was
escorted by light cruiser COLOMBO and minesweeping
whaler NIGEL to East London.
The other two South
African minesweeping whalers
involved were SOUTHERN BARRIER and TERJE.
_____
Turkish auxiliary ship
KAYNAKDERE (also identified
as KARALTEPE, 145grt) was sunk bySoviet submarine SHCH
214 off Cape
Midia.
The crew of eight were all
rescued.
Monday,
3 November
Battleship KING GEORGE V,
aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS, heavy cruisers KENT,
BERWICK, and SUFFOLK, and destroyers SOMALI, ASHANTI, MATABELE, PUNJABI,
OFFA, and ORIBI departed Scapa Flow at 1730 for Iceland.
Battleship KING GEORGE V,
heavy cruisers BERWICK, KENT, and SUFFOLK, and
destroyers SOMALI, MATABELE, and PUNJABI
arrived at Hvalfjord at 0730/5th. Aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS and destroyers ASHANTI, OFFA, and ORIBI
arrived independently at
Hvalfjord after exercises.
At 1730/4th, destroyers
TARTAR and ESKIMO departed Scapa Flow for Hvalfjord to
join the Commander in Chief.
The destroyers arrived at
1000/6th.
_____
Destroyer ESCAPADE
departed Scapa Flow at 1700 to boiler clean at Rosyth.
_____
Convoy ON.33 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 4th by
destroyers
BEAGLE and ROXBOROUGH, sloop COMMANDANT DETROYAT,
corvettes HEATHER, LOBELIA,
and NARCISSUS, and anti-submarine trawlers ARAB, LADY
MADELEINE, NORWICH CITY, and STELLA CARINA. Destroyer
ROXBOROUGH was
detached on the 8th and destroyer BEAGLE and the
trawlers, less LADY
MADELEINE, on the 9th. Destroyer ST LAURENT and
corvettes SNOWBERRY and TRAIL
joined on the 10th. On the 11th, the sloop, the
corvettes, and trawler LADY
MADELEINE were detached when corvettes CHILIWACK,
COLLINGWOOD, and PRIMROSE
joined. Destroyer ST LAURENT was detached on the 13th.
Corvette POLYANTHUS
joined on the 16th and was detached the next day.
Corvette COLLINGWOOD was
detached on the 17th, TRAIL on the 18th, CHILLIWACK on
the 19th, and SNOWBERRY on the 21st. Corvette
PRIMROSE was detached on the 22nd when the convoy was
dispersed.
_____
British patrol vessel
OUZEL (76grt, T/LtG. W.
Wilkinson RNR) was sunk on a mine one half mile east of
Mablethorpe.
Wilkinson and the entire
crew of the vessel were
lost.
_____
Submarine TRIDENT sank
German auxiliary patrol
vessel UJ.1213 (whaler RAU IV, 354grt) in Honningsvaag
in 70-58N, 26-58E.
German steamer ALTKIRCH
(4713grt) was missed in the
same attack.
_____
Convoy QP.2 departed
Archangel with steamers ATLANTIC (5414grt), Panamanian CAPIRA (5565grt), GEMSTONE (4986grt), Soviet
IJORA (2815grt), Panamanian NORTH KING (4934grt),
BLAIRLEVIS (4155grt),
Soviet CHEYNYSHEVSKI (3588grt), HARMONIC (4558grt),
LORCA (4875grt), RIVER
AFTON (4579grt), and VILLE D' ANVERS (7462grt).
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK,
which departed Archangel at 2214 on the 2nd,escorted the
convoy from 3 to
11 November. The cruiser proceeded to Scapa Flow.
Destroyers ECLIPSE and
ICARUS, which departed
Archangel at 2214 on the 2nd, escorted the convoy from 3
to 16 November, when
they were detached to Kirkwall, arriving at 0800/17th
and Scapa Flow at 1130
that day.
Minesweepers BRAMBLE,
LEDA, and SEAGULL were local
escorts from Archangel and escorted the convoy from 3 to
5 November.
Trawlers CELIA and
WINDERMERE departed Hvalfjord at
2315/9th and joined the convoy on the 11th to relieve
destroyers ECLIPSE and
ICARUS. The trawlers escorted the convoy to 13 November.
The destroyers proceeded
to Seidisfjord to refuel
and rejoined on the 13th.
The convoy arrived on the
17th. The destroyers
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 17th.
_____
U.569 sank British steamer
ROSE SCHIAFFINO
(3349grt) near Newfoundland from convoy SC.52.
_____
U.202 sank British
steamers FLYNDERBORG (2022grt)
and GRETAVALE (4586grt) in 51-21N, 51-45W from convoy
SC.52. The submarine
claimed sinking two other steamers.
Three crewmen were lost on
the steamer FLYNDERBORG.
On steamer GRETAVALE, one
crewman died, thirty six
crewmen were missing, and five crewmen were rescued. All
five of the gunners
were missing.
_____
U.203 sank British steamer
EMPIRE GEMSBUCK
(5626grt) in 52-18N, 53-05W and British steamer EVEROJA
(4830grt) 80 miles
77° from Belle Isle from convoy SC.52.
The entire crew of steamer
EMPIRE GEMSBUCK were
rescued.
The entire crew of steamer
EVEROJA were rescued.
_____
In an attack on a German
convoy in the Channel,
MGB's claimed torpedoing and badly damaging a MOEWE
class torpedo boat (note
says MOEWE or GREIF) and sinking a 5000 ton ship.
_____
German minelayer KAISER
laid mines in the Baltic.
_____
German steamer ANNELIESE
(726grt) was lost on a
mine off Dievenow.
_____
Submarine PROTEUS damaged
Italian tanker TAMPICO
(4958grt) in the Gulf of Athens three miles south of
Mandili Island in
37-53N, 24-30E.
The submarine was
counterattacked by Italian
torpedo boats MONZAMBANO and CASTELFIDARDO.
_____
Submarine URGE
unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
north of Kuriat.
_____
Submarine UTMOST arrived
at Malta after a special operation in the Gulf of Hammammet and patrol off Kuriat.
_____
Polish submarine SOKOL
arrived at Malta after patrol off Naples.
_____
Aircraft carrier
INDOMITABLE was damaged in
grounding off Kingston, Jamaica.
Corvette CLARKIA,
escorting the aircraft carrier,
also ran aground.
The carrier arrived at
Norfolk on the 12th. Aircraft carrier INDOMITABLE
departed
on 12 December.
_____
Convoy HX.158 departed
Halifax escorted by destroyer ANNAPOLIS and corvettes
ALGOMA, CHAMBLY, ORILLIA, and PICTOU. The escorts were
detached when
relieved on the 5th by American destroyers BUCK, COLE,
LUDLOW, MCCORMICK, and SWANSON. Destroyer COLE was
detached the next day. The American group was relieved
on the 13th by
destroyers BEAGLE and ROXBOROUGH, sloop COMMANDANT
DETROYAT, corvettes
HEATHER, LOBLIA, and NARCISSUS, and anti-submarine
trawlers ARAB, KIRKELLA,
LADY MADELEINE, NORWICH CITY, and STELLA
CARINA. The trawlers, less KIRKELLA,
were detached later that day. The escorts, less
KIRKELLA, were detached on
the 17th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the
18th.
Tuesday,
4 November
Light cruiser KENYA and
destroyers BEDOUIN and INTREPID departed
Seidisfjord at 2055 to cover the trawler patrol line
west of the
Iceland-Faroes minefield.
Convoy PQ.3, which these
ships were to have
escorted, were ordered to remain at Hvalfjord until
further notice.
_____
Minelaying cruisers
MANXMAN and WELSHMAN departed
Loch Alsh at 2300 for Scapa
Flow, where they arrived
at 0800/5th.
_____
Destroyer WHEATLAND
departed the Clyde at 1245 for Scapa
Flow to carry out working
up practices.
The destroyer arrived at
0815/5th.
_____
Destroyer MONTROSE
departed Scapa Flow at 2030 for Rosyth.
The destroyer arrived at
0700/5th.
_____
Free French submarine
MINERVE arrived at Dundee after patrol off Norway.
_____
British sailing vessel
BRITISHER (95grt) was sunk
on a mine just north of West Mouse Buoy, off Maplin.
Both crewmen were lost.
_____
Dutch motor vessel MADJOE
(249grt) was sunk on a
mine in 51-34-38N, 3-50-30W.
The crew of four, two
gunners, and the pilot were
all lost on the vessel.
_____
Italian submarine DANDOLO
damaged French tanker TARN (4220grt) in 36N, 2E, off Algiers.
_____
Soviet destroyer SMETLIVY
was mined off Hango.
_____
Greek destroyer
KONDOURIOTIS departed Alexandria for docking at Suez.
_____
An Italian convoy of
steamers BOSFORO (3567grt) and
German SAVONA (2120grt), escorted by torpedo boat PEGASO
departed Brindisi for Benghazi on the 4th.
The Benghazi convoy was
sighted by British aircraft on the 8th
as it left the Adriatic. The convoy was heavily attacked
by Malta based aircraft.
Steamer SAVONA was damaged
in the attack and returned to Brindisi.
Steamer BOSFORO and
torpedo boat PEGASO put into
Navarino.
The ships later departed
and arrived at Benghazi on the 12th.
_____
Submarine TRUSTY arrived
at Malta after off patrol off Cephalonia.
_____
Convoy SC.53 departed
Sydney, CB escorted by
corvettes BATTLEFORD, DUNVEGAN, and SOREL. Corvettes
DUNVEGAN and SOREL were
detached on the 6th when relieved by destroyer BURNHAM
and corvettes ALGOMA,
ARVIDA, CHAMBLY, DAUPHIN, and MATAPEDIA. American
destroyer DALE
was with the convoy on 10 to 12 November. Corvettes
ALGOMA and BATTLEFORD
were detached on the 11th. Destroyer BURNHAM and the
remaining corvettes were
detached on the 20th when relieved by destroyers
CALDWELL, VANOC, and
VOLUNTEER and corvettes HIBISCUS, PERIWINKLE, and
SWEETBRIAR. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 24th.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES arrived at Auckland.
Wednesday,
5 November
Battleship KING GEORGE V,
aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS, heavy cruisers KENT and
BERWICK, and destroyers SOMALI, PUNJABI, ASHANTI, MATABELE, ORIBI,
and OFFA departed Hvalfjord at
1800.
Light cruisers EDINBURGH
(CS.18), heavy cruiser SUFFOLK, and light cruiser
SHEFFIELD departed Hvalfjord at 1800 on patrol.
American heavy cruisers
WICHITA and TUSCALOOSA departed Hvalfjord on patrol in
response to a
rumour that German heavy cruiser ADMIRAL SCHEER was
breaking out of Norwegian
waters.
American battleships IDAHO
and MISSISSIPPI and destroyers GWIN, MEREDITH, and
MONSSEN of
Destroyer Division 22 departed Hvalfjord on patrol.
When intelligence
indicated the German ship had
returned to harbour, the allied warships ordered to
return to Hvalfjord just
before midnight.
The Commander in Chief,
Home Fleet, arrived back at
Hvalfjord on the 6th.
Light cruiser EDINBURGH,
heavy cruiser SUFFOLK, and light cruiser SHEFFIELD
arrived at Hvalfjord on the 6th.
American heavy cruisers
WICHITA and TUSCALOOSA arrived at Hvalfjord on the 6th.
American battleships IDAHO
and MISSISSIPPI and destroyers MEREDITH, GRAYSON, and
MONSSON
arrived at Hvalfjord on the 7th.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA,
after refitting, departed
Rosyth and arrived at Scapa
Flow later that day.
_____
Destroyer CHIDDINGFOLD
departed Scapa Flow at 1000 with Vice Admiral Sir Bruce
Fraser, Third
Sea Lord, and Sir Stanley Goodall, Direction of Naval
Construction, for
passage to Scrabster.
The destroyer arrived back
at 1330.
_____
Destroyer MONTROSE
embarked Vice Admiral, Second in
Command Home Fleet and his staff and departed Rosyth for
Scapa Flow at 1600.
The destroyer arrived at
Scapa Flow at 0800 the next day and disembarked her
passengers alongside battleship DUKE OF YORK.
Vice Admiral, Second in
Command Home Fleet, hoisted
his flag in battleship DUKE OF YORK at 0900/6th.
_____
Destroyers ONSLOW,
IMPULSIVE, and ANTELOPE departed
Scapa Flow at 1730 for Londonderry.
The destroyers arrived at
Londonderry on the 6th for refuelling. Following
refuelling,
the destroyers departed at 1700 to meet battleship
RODNEY in 55-40N, 17-45W
and relieve escorting destroyers HIGHLANDER, HAVELOCK,
and HARVESTER.
The battleship was met in
55N, 12W at 1200/7th and
the H class destroyers were relieved. The RODNEY force
then proceeded to Loch
Ewe to fuel.
The British force arrived
at Loch Ewe at 0815/8th.
Following refuelling, the ships departed at 1600 to
carry out patrol on the Iceland - Faroes passage.
_____
British steamer GLENCREE
(481grt) was damaged
fifteen miles southwest of Bishops Light by German
bombing and gunfire.
_____
German motor steamer KURT
SANDKAMP (250grt) was
sunk by British bombing in the Ems.
_____
Italian steamer ANNA
ZIPPITELLI (1019grt) was sunk
by British bombing in 31-49N, 18-25W, west of Benghazi.
_____
Italian steamer TORCELLO
(3336grt) was sunk by
Russian submarine SHCH 214 in the Black Sea.
_____
Australian sloop YARRA
joined the Suez Escort
Force, relieving sloop FALMOUTH,
which returned to the East Indies Station.
_____
British
steamers
CITY OF LINCOLN and DUNEDIN STAR departed Gibraltar for
Capetown and Panama, respectively.
_____
Japanese steamer KEHI MARU
(4523grt) was sunk on a
mine in the Sea of Japan in 40-40N, 131E.
Of eighty crewmen and four
hundred and thirty
passengers, twenty were lost and one hundred and eleven
were missing.
Thursday,
6 November
Destroyer MONTROSE
departed Scapa Flow with Rear Admiral Destroyers Home
Fleet for
passage to Scrabster.
The destroyer arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 1330.
_____
Light cruiser KENYA and
destroyers BEDOUIN and INTREPID were ordered
to return to Seidisfjord from Iceland - Faroes patrol.
After refuelling, the ships would
proceed to cover minelaying operation SN.83B, sailing on
the 8th. However, in
heavy weather, the destroyers were forced to return to
Seidisfjord.
_____
Light cruiser TRINIDAD departed the Clyde for
Scapa Flow,
arriving on the 7th.
_____
Destroyer BEAUFORT
departed the Clyde at 1630 for Scapa
Flow.
The destroyer arrived at
2100/7th for working up
practices.
_____
Submarine SEALION arrived
at Murmansk from
Scapa Flow.
_____
15th Cruiser Squadron was
at sea from Alexandria for gunnery exercises.
_____
Anti-submarine whaler KOS 19 sighted a periscope thirty two miles west of
Alexandria at 2220/5th.
The whaler was joined by
anti-submarine whaler
FALK, corvette SNAPDRAGON, and anti-submarine boat MA/SB
2.
Destroyer ENCOUNTER was
also sent from Alexandria to assist.
Destroyers DECOY and
HOTSPUR joined at daylight on
the 6th.
The destroyers were
recalled to harbour at 1800 and
no success was obtained.
Oil patches were sighted
in this area on the 7th
and destroyers KIPLING and HOTSPUR were sent to hunt in
the area.
The search continued
during the night of 7/8
November. Destroyer ENCOUNTER joined the destroyers at
daylight and the three
destroyers were then involved in screening light cruiser
NEPTUNE during a
practice bombardment at Aboukir.
The destroyers returned to
Alexandria on the 9th.
_____
Armed boarding vessel
ARPHA fractured her propeller
shaft while laying beacons at AnchorageG (Ginsah) in the
Suez
Gulf.
The vessel was beached at
Towila. Indian sloop SUTLEJ was sent to assist her. On the 9th, the vessel was refloated and
towed by tug CONFEDERATE, screened by sloop
SUTLEJ, to Gimsah.
Vessel ARPHA, in tow of
tug CONFEDERATE and
escorted by sloop SUTLEJ, arrived at Suez on the 14th.
_____
Light cruiser MAURITIUS
arrived at Singapore with convoy WS.11X from Colombo.
_____
American light cruiser
OMAHA and destroyer SOMERS
captured German blockade runner ODENWALD (5098grt),
which had departed
Yokohama on 21 August carrying Japanese rubber to
Germany, off Recife in the
South Atlantic.
_____
Convoy SL.92 departed
Freetown escorted bydestroyers VANSITTART and VELOX to
11
November and corvettes BURDOCK and MARGUERITE to 11
November and corvette
STARWORT to 12 November. On the 11th, sloop EGRET to 29
November and escort
vessels BANFF and FISHGUARD to 1 December joined the
convoy.
On the 12th, heavy cruiser
DORSETSHIRE and light
cruiser DUNEDIN joined the convoy to 13 November.
Destroyers BADSWORTH,
CROOME, FORESIGHT, and FURY
joined on the 24th to 25 November and destroyer FORESTER
joined on the 25th
for that day only.
Corvette MONTBRETIA and
anti-submarine trawler MAN O.WAR escorted the convoy on
the 30th only.
Anti-submarine trawler ARAB escorted the convoy on 1
December only.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 1 December.
Friday,
7 November
Heavy cruiser BERWICK
departed Hvalfjord on Denmark Strait patrol.
_____
Destroyer ECHO departed
London at 0800 for Sheerness on completion of a long
refit.
The destroyer arrived at
1400 to embark ammunition
and fuel.
Destroyer ECHO departed
Sheerness at 1330/8th for Scapa Flow, arriving at
0830/10th. En route, destroyer ECHO assisted damaged tug
BUCCANEER.
_____
Convoy ON.34 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers CALDWELL, VANOC, and
VOLUNTEER and corvettes ACANTHUS, GENTIAN, HIBISCUS,
HONEYSUCKLE, MYOSOTIS,
and SWEETBRIAR. Corvettes CHICOUTIM and SHERBROOKE
joined on the 8th and SHERBROOKE was detached later that
day. Corvettes HIBISCUS, PERIWINKLE,
and SWEETBRIAR were detached on the 10th. The remainder
of the escort was
detached on the 12th when joined by American destroyers
BENSON, EDISON,
HILARY P. JONES, NIBLACK, and TARBELL. The convoy was
dispersed on the 21st
and the escort detached.
_____
Destroyer MONTROSE
departed Scapa Flow for Loch Alsh to act under Rear
Admiral
Minelaying.
The destroyer arrived at
1700.
_____
Destroyer NORMAN departed
Scapa Flow at 1345 for Wick to embark Crown Prince Olaf
of Norway and his staff for passage to Scapa Flow.
The destroyer arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 1700.
_____
Sloop LOWESTOFT departed
Scapa Flow at 1500 to join convoy WN 2 for onward
passage to
Rosyth.
Sloop LOWESTOFT had
completed working up practices and was being assigned to
Commander in Chief,
Rosyth.
_____
Minesweeper ALBURY damaged
by a near miss of German
bombing off the east coast of Scotland.
The damage required five
weeks to repair.
_____
Submarine TRIDENT made an
unsuccessful attack on
minesweeper MRS 3 (steamer BALI (1428grt) in 71-6N, 26-57E.
_____
Convoy OS.11 departed
Liverpool.
The convoy was joined by
destroyer CLARE, sloops ABERDEEN, ENCHANTRESS, IBIS, and
STORK on the 8th. The destroyer was detached
on the 25th, sloops ABERDEEN,
ENCHANTRESS, and IBIS on the 26th, and STORK on the
16th. Also joining
on the 8th were corvettes COLTSFOOT and ORCHIS, and
escort vessel WALNEY.
Corvette COLTSFOOT was detached on the 12th, escort
vessel WALNEY on the
25th, and corvette ORCHIS arrived with the convoy on the
28th.
On the 10th, escort vessel
HARTLAND joined the
convoy and was detached on the 25th.
On the 24th, destroyer
BRILLIANT, corvettes
BERGAMOT, CROCUS, and NIGELLA, and anti-submarine whaler
SOUTHERN PRIDE
joined the convoy and arrived with the convoy at
Freetown on the 28th.
_____
German steamer FRAUENBURG
(2111grt) was sunk on a
mine off Windau.
_____
U.74 sank British steamer
NOTTINGHAM (8532grt) in 53-24N, 31-51W.
The entire crew of the
steamer were lost.
_____
Italian convoy BETA
departed Naples for Tripoli on the 7th with
troopships German DUISBERG (7389grt), SAN MARCO
(3113grt), MARIA (6339grt), and SAGITTA
(5153grt) and tanker MINATITLAN (7599grt) from Naples
and RINA CORRADO
(5180grt) and tanker CONTE DI MISURATA (5014grt) from
Messina, escorted by
destroyers MAESTRALE, EURO, FULMINE, GRECALE, ORIANI,
and LIBECCIO. The
convoy was covered by heavy cruisers TRENTO and TRIESTE and destroyers
GRANATIERE, FUCLIERE, BERSAGLIERE,
and ALPINO which departed Messina
on the 8th.
X MAESTRALE (S. O. )
X LIBECCIOX EURO
convoy
X ORIANIX FULMINE
X GRECALE
On the 8th, light cruisers
AURORA and PENELOPE and
destroyers LANCE and LIVELY departed Malta to attack
this convoy.
At 0100/9th, the convoy
was attacked by Force K.
The entire convoy and
destroyer FULMINE were sunk.
Destroyers EURO and GRECALE were damaged by the British
ships.
Destroyer GRECALE was
taken in tow by destroyer
ORIANI.
Destroyers MAESTRALE,
EURO, ORIANI, ALPINO,
FUCLIERE, and BERSAGLIERE rescued 704 survivors from the
convoy.
Destroyer LIBECCIO,
rescuing survivors, was
torpedoed at 0640 by Submarine UPHOLDER in 36-50N,
18-10E. The destroyer was
taken in tow by destroyer EURO, but was sunk when she
experienced an internal
collapse.
Submarine UPHOLDER at 1107
on the 9th,
unsuccessfully attacked the heavy cruisers TRENTO and TRIESTE in 37-12N, 18-33E.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER
departed Malta for patrol off Cephalonia.
_____
In operations from escort
aircraft carrier
AUDACITY, supporting convoy OG.76, the Martlet piloted
by Sub Lt (A) N. H.
Patterson while landing in heavy seas went over the
side.
Patterson was picked up by
an escort ship.
Saturday,
8 November
Destroyer HURWORTH
departed Scapa Flow at 0230 for Loch Ewe carrying sixty
bags of mail
for battleship RODNEY and the destroyers on her screen.
The destroyer arrived at
0850 and sailed again at
1050 for Scapa Flow, carry out gunnery firing practices
off the
Orkneys on the return passage.
_____
Rear Admiral Minelaying
departed Loch Alsh at 0800
to carry out minelaying operation SN.83B.
_____
German steamer FLOTTBEK
(1930grt) was sunk on a
mine laid by Russian submarine K.1 on 27 October in
Mageroy Sund.
_____
Norwegian steamer VICTO
(3655grt) was sunk by
German bombing 1.8 miles 330° from 18B Buoy, Scarborough
in 54-20N, 0-17W.
Two crewmen were killed on the steamer.
_____
British fishing trawler
CRADOCK (204grt) was sunk
by German bombing fourteen miles north, northeast of St
Abb's Head. The
entire crew were rescued.
_____
British drifter MONARDA
(109grt) foundered in the
Thames Estuary.
_____
British steamer GASLIGHT
(1696grt) was damaged by
German bombing two cables southeast of S.1 Buoy off
Sutherland. The steamer
was towed to Sutherland arriving on the 9th.
_____
Italian submarine DANDOLO
sank Spanish steamer
CASTILLO OROPESA (6600grt) near Melilla. The entire crew
were rescued.
_____
Lt Cdr J. M. Wintour Rtd
of 802 Squadron in
aircraft carrier AUDACITY was lost when his plane was
shot down engaged
German aircraft attacking convoy OG.76.
Destroyer WANDERER of the
escort recovered
Wintour's body.
The Kondor that shot down
Wintour's Martlett was
shot down by Sub Lt D. A. Hutchison.
_____
Corvette SPIRAEA departed
Gibraltar to meet and escort Norwegian tanker THORSHAVET
to Gibraltar.
On the 15th, corvette
AZALEA departed to join the
arriving ships. All three arrived on the 17th.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER
unsuccessfully attacked a
submarine in 36-19N, 16-22E.
_____
Convoy HX.159 departed
Halifax, escorted by destroyer ANNAPOLIS and corvettes
KAMLOOPS and SASKATOON. The escort was relieved on the
10th by American
destroyers BADGER, COLE, DECATUR, LIVERMORE, and
PLUNKETT. On the 18th,
destroyer SABRE, corvettes ALISMA and SUNFLOWER, and
American Coast Guard
cutter CAMPBELL joined the convoy. The American
destroyers were detached on
the 19th and destroyer ROCKINGHAM and corvette KINGCUP
joined. The Coast
Guardcutter and corvette SUNFLOWER were detached on the
22nd. Anti-submarine
trawlers LADY ELSA, LE TIGRE, and WELLARD escorted the
convoy in Home Waters.
The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 23rd.
Sunday,
9 November
British minefield SN.83B
was laid by minelayers
MENETHEUS and PORT QUEBEC, escorted by destroyers
BRIGHTON, NEWARK, CHARLESTOWN, and
MONTROSE.
The operation was covered
by light cruiser KENYA.
After the operation, light
cruiser KENYA was ordered to return to Seidisfjord to
refuel and
then join convoy PQ.3 north of Iceland. The cruiser
arrived at Seidisfjord at 1200/12th.
Destroyer MONTROSE arrived
at Scapa Flow at 0800/12th after being detached at the
Minches.
The Minelaying Force
arrived at Loch Alsh at
0700/9th.
_____
Convoy ON.35 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 10th by
destroyers
KEPPEL, ROCKINGHAM, and VENOMOUS, corvettes ALISMA,
SHERBROOKE, and SUNFLOWER, and anti-submarine trawlers
BUTTERMERE,
LADY ELSA, THIRLMERE and WELLARD. Destroyers KEPPEL and
VENOMOUS were
detached on the 12th. The rest of the escort was
detached when relieved by
American destroyers DALLAS, EBERLE, ELLIS, ERICSSON, and
UPSHUR on the 15th.
The convoy dispersed on the 27th and the destroyers were
detached.
_____
Convoy PQ.3 departed
Hvalfjord with steamers
BRIARWOOD (4019grt), CAPE RACE
(3807grt), Panamanian EL CAPITAN (5255grt), TREK IEVE
(5244grt), CAPE CORSO
(3807grt), Panamanian COCLE (5630grt), SAN AMBROSIO
(7410grt), and WANSTEAD (5486grt),
escorted by trawlers HAMLET and MACBETH.
Trawler HAMLET was
detached on the 14th and
returned with steamer BRIARWOOD, which had been damaged
by ice. Trawler
MACBETH was detached on the 15th.
Destroyers BEDOUIN and
INTREPID and later light
cruiser KENYA departed Seidisfjord on the 13th and
joined the
convoy on the 14th in 70-30N, 5-00W.
On the 19th, Soviet
Gerneral Gromov and the Russian
Mission was transferred from light cruiser KENYA to
destroyer BEDOUIN for onward passage to Archangel.
The convoy was met by
minesweepers BRAMBLE,
SEAGULL, and SPEEDY on the 20th. The convoy arrived at
Murmansk at 1100/21st and light cruiser KENYA remained
there. The convoy continued to Archangel with local
escort only arriving on the 22nd.
Destroyers BEDOUIN and INTREPID and minesweeper BRAMBLE
arrived at Murmansk on the 22nd. Minesweepers SEAGULL
and SPEEDY
arrived at Murmansk from Archangel on the
24th.
_____
Tug BUCCANEER with a
battle practice target in tow
was badly damaged by German bombing off Montrose.
Destroyer ECHO, en route
from Sheerness to Scapa Flow, was ordered to proceed to
assist the tug. When
the tug drifted ashore, the destroyer was ordered to
continue to Scapa Flow.
The tug was later salved.
_____
British drifter BOY ANDREW
(97grt, Skipper G. F. Ball RNR) was sunk in a collision
in the Firth of Forth.
Ball was lost in the
drifter.
_____
Tug LETTIE (89grt) was
lost off St Abb's Head.
_____
Submarine
OLYMPUS
unsuccessfully attacked Italian store ship MAURO CROCE
(1049grt) in the Gulf of Genoa .
_____
Submarine PORPOISE arrived
at Malta from
Gibraltar with
naval stores and kerosene.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21
departed Gibraltar for patrol in the Mediterranean.
Monday,
10 November
Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
departed
Scapa Flow at 1600
to join the Commander in Chief's force at Hvalfjord.
The cruiser arrived on the
12th.
_____
Destroyer ESCAPADE
departed Rosyth at 0800 for Scapa Flow on completion of
boiler cleaning.
The destroyer arrived at
0030/11th, sustaining
weather damage en route.
_____
Destroyer PYTCHLEY
departed the Tyne at 0900 for Methil to land trial parties before proceeding to Scapa.
Due to bad weather, the
destroyer was ordered to Leith, where she arrived at 1500.
_____
Destroyer MAORI departed
Scapa Flow at 1600 for the Clyde on completion of a short working up program.
The destroyer arrived at
1215/11th.
_____
Submarine SEAWOLF arrived
at Murmansk from
Scapa Flow.
_____
Lt E. A. Holloway was
killed when his Martlett of
888 Squadron crashed on approach three miles north of
Bishops Waltham, Hants.
_____
Swedish steamer VOLLRATH
THAM (5787grt) was sunk on
a mine one and half miles from Hubert Gat.
The crew was rescued and
taken to a German port.
_____
Examination vessel
LONGSCAR was damaged by German
bombing near misses off Middlesbrough in 54-41-30N,
1-09-45W.
_____
Battleship MALAYA,
aircraft carriers ARK ROYAL and
ARGUS, light cruiser HERMIONE, and destroyers LAFOREY,
LEGION, LIGHTNING,
GURKHA, SIKH, ZULU, and ISAAC SWEERS for Operation
PERPETUAL.
On the 12th, the carriers
flew aircraft off to
Malta.
On the 13th, U.205
attacked a destroyer and aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL unsuccessfully.
On the 13th, aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL was
torpedoed by U.81 in 36-03N, 4-45W.
Destroyer WILD SWAN, tugs
ST DAY and
THAMES, and motor
launches ML.121, ML.130, ML.132, ML.135, ML.170, ML.172,
and ML.176 departed Gibraltar to assist.
Tugs THAMES and ST DAY arrived and
took the carrier in tow.
The aircraft carrier sank
at 0613 on the 14th. Only
one rating Able Seaman E. Mitchell was lost in the
aircraft carrier.
Battleship MALAYA, aircraft carrier ARGUS, and light cruiser HERMIONE arrived at
Gibraltar on the 13th.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
MARSDALE arrived at Gibraltar after Western Patrol.
_____
Battleship BARHAM, light
cruiser GALATEA, and
destroyers KANDAHAR, KINGSTON, KIMBERLEY, and JUPITER
departed Alexandria to exercise.
_____
Light cruiser EURYALUS
arrived at Suez from the United Kingdom to join the
Mediterranean Fleet.
The light cruiser arrived
at Alexandria on the 11th.
_____
Submarine PROTEUS sank
German steamer ITHAKA (1773grt)
off Milos.
_____
Greek submarine GLAUKOS
damaged German steamer
NORBURG (2392grt) off Candia.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER arrived
at Malta after parol.
_____
Allied convoy WS.12X
departed Halifax with the
British troops delivered in convoy CT 5/7th in US
transports MOUNT VERNON,
LEONARD WOOD, JOSEPH T. DICKMAN, ORIZABA, WEST POINT,
and WAKEFIELD escorted
by American aircraft carrier RANGER (Flag Rear Admiral
Arthur Cook; Harrill),
heavy cruisers QUINCY (Battle) and VINCENNES (Riefkohl),
and Destroyer
Squadron 8 with destroyers WAINWRIGHT and MOFFETT,
Destroyer Division 17 with
destroyers MCDOUGAL and WINSLOW, and Destroyer Division
16 with destroyers
MAYRANT, RHIND, ROWAN, and TRIPPE.
Oiler CIMARRON joined on
the 19th at Trinidad.
Aircraft carrier RANGER
was detached at 17S, 20W
and returned to Trinidad escorted by destroyers TRIPPE
and RHIND. Battle on cruiser QUINCY relieved Cook on
aircraft
carrier RANGER as force commander.
The convoy arrived at
Capetown on 9 December. The
original destination was Basra,
but the convoy was ordered to Singapore, via Bombay.
The US escorts were
detached at Capetown.
The convoy sailed on 13
December escorted by heavy
cruiser DORSETSHIRE. The US destroyers were employed for
a local anti-submarine
screen to 14 December and arrived back at Capetown on 15
December.
On 16 December, heavy
cruisers QUINCEY and VINCENNES and destroyers MACDOUGLA,
MAYRANT, WINSLOW, ROWAN,
WAINWRIGHT, and MOFFET departed Capetown for the
Caribbean.
On 21 December, light
cruiser CERES met the convoy
and took liner ORIZABA to Mombasa.
The convoy arrived at
Bombay on 27 December.
Liner MOUNT
VERNON was detached to meet light cruiser
COLOMBO on 23 December,
but the rendezvous was not kept.
The liner proceeded to Mombasa
to join convoy DM.1.
_____
Convoy SC.54 departed
Sydney, CB, escorted by corvettes BATTLEFORD,
DRUMHELLER,
DUNVEGAN, SOREL, and SUMMERSIDE, and minesweeper
NIPIGON. These
corvettes were relieved on the 12th by destroyers
COLUMBIA and
SKEENA and corvettes
ACONIT, BRANDON, CAMROSE, MIMOSA, SHEDIAC, and
WETASKIWIN.
Destroyers COLUMBIA and SKEENA and
corvettes ACONIT, MIMOSA, SHEDIAC, and WETASKIWIN were
detached on the 22nd
when relieved by destroyers BROKE and WOLVERINE and
corvettes BEGONIA,
EGLANTINE, LARKSPUR, and MONTBRETIA. Corvette BRANDON
was detached on the 25th. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 26th.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES departed Auckland with a US liner for Sydney.
Tuesday,
11 November
Battleship RODNEY and
destroyers ONSLOW, IMPULSIVE,
and ANTELOPE on patrol off the Faroes - Iceland passage
were ordered to Hvalfjord at 0144.
The ships arrived at
Hvalfjord on the 12th.
_____
Heavy cruiser KENT
departed Hvalfjord for exercises and then patrol
in the Faroes - Iceland passage.
_____
Minesweeper SHARPSHOOTER
departed Cardiff for
Scapa Flow at
0012.
The minesweeper arrived at
0730/13th.
_____
Minesweeper BLYTH was damaged by German bombing off
Dartmouth.
The damage required
sixteen days to repair.
_____
T/Sub Lt (A)G. Black,
RNZVR, was died of injuries
after his Swordfish flew into high ground at Durham.
_____
A/Leading Airman S. H.
Tyson of 1 SFTS Netheravon
was killed when his Battle
crashed at Shrewton LG.
_____
U.561 sank Panamanian
steamer MERIDIAN (5592grt), straggling behind convoy
SC.53, in the North Atlantic.
_____
U.580 was sunk in a
collision with German target
vessel ANGELBURG (3053grt) during night excercises off
Memel.
Twelve crewmen were lost
in the submarine. Thirty
two crewmen were rescued.
_____
Battleship VALIANT, light
cruiser HOBART, and four
destroyers were at sea from Alexandria on exercises.
The 7th Destroyer Flotilla
was also at sea
exercising.
_____
Convoy ST.8 departed
Freetown, escorted by sloop BRIDGEWATER, corvettes
CLOVER, HOLLYHOCK, and WALLFLOWER, and
anti-submarine trawlers KELT and SARABANDE. The convoy
arrived at Takoradi on
the 16th.
_____
Australian light cruiser
SYDNEY departed Fremantle
to escort British troopship ZEALANDIA (6683grt), which
had departed Sydney escorted by light cruiser ADELAIDE
for Singapore.
Light cruiser DURBAN
relieved light cruiser SYDNEY on the 17th.
The Australian light
cruiser was to return to
Fremantle, arriving on the 20th.
Wednesday,
12 November
Heavy cruiser KENT arrived
at Hvalfjord from Denmark Strait patrol.
_____
Destroyer HURWORTH
departed Scapa Flow at 0930 for Scrabster with His Royal
Highness
Crown Prince Olaf of Norway.
The destroyer arrived back
at 1200 and embarked her
motor boat. Destroyer HURWORTH departed Scapa Flow for
the
Clyde to boiler
clean prior to proceeding to the Mediterranean.
_____
Destroyer PYTCHLEY
departed Leith for Scapa Flow at 1645.
The destroyer arrived at
0900/13th to carry out
working up practices.
_____
Submarine SEALION departed
Murmansk for patrol off Svaerholthavet.
_____
Convoy WS.12Z departed
Liverpool and the
Clyde and
rendezvoused off Oversay on the 13th with steamers
ADRASTUS, EMPIRE STAR, SUSSEX, MATAROA, DUCHESS OF
BEDFORD, EMPRESS OF ASIA, NARKUNDA, EMPRESS OF JAPAN,
AORANGI, ARUNDEL
CASTLE, ORDUNA, MONARCH OF BERMUDA,
CAPETOWN
CASTLE, DEUCALION, ABBEKERK, and RIMUTAKA.
The convoy was escorted by
destroyers WHITEHALL, WITCH, BADSWORTH, VANQUISHER, and
EXMOOR from 13 to 16 November.
Destroyer MAORI was with
the convoy from 13 to 17
November. The destroyer arrived at Gibraltar on the
20th for duty in the 19th Destroyer Flotilla.
Battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN
and destroyers FURY,
FORESTER, and FORESIGHT departed the Clyde on the 12th to join the convoy. They were route via Milford Haven and
south of Ireland.
On the 13th, the warships arrived at Milford
Haven and departed later that day to join the convoy.
Destroyers FURY,
FORESIGHT, and FORESTER escorted
the convoy from 16 to 19 November.
On the 19th, destroyers
FORESIGHT, FORESTER, and
FURY parted company with the convoy in 34-05N, 25-50W to
refuel from oiler
DINGLEDALE. The destroyers then proceeded to search for
an enemy merchant
ship report.
The oiler arrived back at
Gibraltar on the 25th, escorted by corvettes JONQUIL and
COREOPSIS.
Destroyer FORESTER later
proceeded to Ponta Delgada to complete fuelling. She
departed on the 22nd and
rejoined destroyers FORESIGHT and FURY.
Battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN
and destroyers DULVERTON
and SOUTHWOLD escorted the convoy from 16 to 24
November.
Destroyers VIMY and VELOX
escorted the convoy from
21 to 24 November.
Corvette CLOVER escorted
the convoy from 22 to 24
November.
The convoy arrived at
Freetown on the 24th.
On the 24th, the convoy
departed Freetown with SUSSEX, ADRASTUS, EMPIRE STAR,
DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, EMPRESS OF ASIA, MATAROA, NARKUNDA,
EMPRESS OF JAPAN, ARUNDEL CASTLE, MONARCH OF BERMUDA, AORANGI,
CAPETOWN CASTLE, ORDUNA, DEUCALION, RIMUTAKA, and ABBEKERK.
The convoy was escorted by
destroyers SOUTHWOLD and
DULVERTON from 28 November to 14 December.
Battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN
escorted the convoy from
28 November to 18 December.
Sloop MILFORD and
corvettes VERBENA and HOLLYHOCK escorted the
convoy from 28 November to 15 December.
Corvettes ASTER and
MARGUERITE escorted the convoy
from 15 December to 18 December, when the convoy arrived
at Durban.
The convoy departed Durban
on 24 December with NIEUW AMSTERDAM, EMPRESS OF
JAPAN, ORDUNA, DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, NARKUNDA, EMPIRE
STAR, DEUCALION, ADRASTUS, ARONDA, INDRAPOERA, EASTERN
PRINCE, CAPETOWN
CASTLE, SUSSEX, AORANGI, and ABBEKERK, escorted by
battleship ROYAL
SOVEREIGN.
The convoy off Mombasa on
31 December was split into three units.
Convoy WS.12 ZA of ORDUNA,
ARONDA, EASTERN PRINCE,
and NIEUW AMSTERDAM was detached at 1-26S, 48-44E,
escorted by light cruiser COLOMBO.
Convoy WS.12 ZA arrived at
Aden on 4 January.
Convoy WS.12 ZB was
steamers CAPETOWN
CASTLE, EMPRESS OF JAPAN, DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, INDRAPOERA, DEUCALION,
ADRASTUS, and EMPIRE STAR,
plus US liner ORIZABA which had been brought out from
Mombasa by light cruiser COLOMBO. The convoy was
detached at 1-26S, 48-44E and
escorted by heavy cruiser CORNWALL.
Convoy WS.12 ZB arrived at
Bombay on 6 January.
Convoy DM.1 of liners
NARKUNDA, AORANGI, SUSSEX, and US MOUNT VERNON
was detached at 1-26S, 48-44S
and escorted by light cruiser EMERALD.
The convoy proceeded to
Addu Atoll. The convoy was
then escorted by heavy cruiser EXETER, light cruisers
EMERALD and DURBAN, and sloop JUMNA from 9 January.
Dutch light cruiser DE
RUYTER escorted the convoy
on 10 January only. Destroyers JUPITER, ENCOUNTER, and
VAMPIRE escorted the
convoy from 10 to 13 January. Cruisers DE RUYTER and
TROMP escorted the
convoy on 11 and 12 January.
The convoy arrived at
Singapore on 13 January.
_____
British cable ship
FRANCOLIN (ex-FARADAY, 322grt,
T/A/Skipper Lt J. Dinwoodie RNR) was
sunk by German bombing two miles N 25° E from
Haisborough Light House.
_____
British steamer trawler
BEN SCREEL (195grt) was damaged by German bombing
fourteen miles northeast by north of St Abb's Head.
_____
British steamer MAURITA
(199grt) was sunk on a mine
at Hilbre Swash, in the Dee Estuary.
_____
Soviet light cruiser
CHERVONAYA UKRANIA was sunk by
bombing at Sevastapool.
_____
Soviet destroyer
SOVERSHENNY, under repairs at
Sevastapool, was damaged further by German bombing.
_____
Soviet steamer KRASNY
PROFINTERN (4648grt) was
damaged by German bombing in the Black Sea.
_____
Destroyers FARNDALE and
HEYTHROP arrived at Aden to join the Mediterranean
Fleet. They were sailed
for Suez.
The destroyers had
accompanied light cruiser
EURYALUS for most of the passage.
_____
Greek destroyer AETOS
departed Alexandria to transit the Suez Canal, en route
to refitting in India.
_____
Greek submarine GLAUKOS
sank a caique north of Crete with gunfire.
On the 14th, the submarine
sank a second caique
north of Crete with gunfire.
_____
Submarine PORPOISE
departed Malta for Alexandria.
_____
During a sweep during the
night of 11/12 November,
seven Swordfish of 830 Swordfish took off to attack a
convoy of two merchant
ships and escorts reported west of Pantelleria.
Swordfish piloted by Lt P. E.
O'Brien, Sub Lt (A) M. Thorpe, and T/A/Sub Lt (A) R. S.
Vercoe RNVR, were
forced to return to Malta with engine problems. The
other four Swordfish
were lost when the aircraft ran out of fuel.
Lt Cdr J.G. Hunt, Lt G. M.
T. Osborn DSC, and
Sergeant M. Parke; T/A/Sub Lt (A) S. W. L. Campbell
RNVR, and Leading Airman
J. R. Fallon; T/Sub Lt (A) R. W. Taylor RNVR, and
P/T/A/Sub Lt (A) F. L.
Robinson RNVR,were rescued and made prisoners of war. Lt
(A) A. F. Wigram
RNVR, and Leading Airman K. D. Griffiths were not found.
_____
Convoy SL.91GF departed
Gibraltar escorted by
sloops FOWEY and BLACK SWAN to 18 November, ocean
boarding vessel MARON to 15
November, and corvettes CAMPION and HELIOTROPE to 16
Novemberand CARNATION
and STONECROP to 18 November.
_____
Convoy SL.91 GS departed
Gibraltar escorted by destroyer WRESTLER to 16 November,
sloops FLEETWOOD, LEITH, SANDWICH, and
SCARBOROUGH to 19
November, and corvettes ANCHUSA, CALENDULA, MIGNONETTE
to 19 November.
Corvettes ACANTHUS,
GENTIAN, and HONEYSUCKLE to 19
November, and MYOSOTIS to 15 November joined on the
13th. Anti-submarine
whaler SOUTHERN STAR joined on the 17th to 18 November.
_____
Submarine
OLYMPUS arrived at
Gibraltar from patrol in the Mediterranean.
Thursday,
13 November
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD
departed Hvalfjord for Faroes - Iceland patrol.
_____
Destroyer ECHO departed
Scapa Flow at 0830
for Hvalfjord to join the Commander in Chief, Home
Fleet.
The destroyer carried mail
for the fleet. The
destroyer arrived at 0940/15th.
_____
Destroyer
BRIGHTON departed
Loch Alsh at 1900 to carry out docking and repairs at
Scapa Flow.
The destroyer arrived at
0830/14th.
_____
Convoy ON.36 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers BROKE, CHELSEA, and
WOLVERINE, corvettes BEGONIA, EGLANTINE, and
LARKSPUR. Destroyer CHELSEA was detached on the 16th
when destroyer BROADWAY
joined. Destroyer BROADWAY was detached later that day.
On the 18th, the
escorts were relieved by destroyer ROCKINGHAM and
corvettes ARROWHEAD,
BUCTOUCHE, COBALT, MOOSE JAW, NASTURTIUM, PICTOU, and
WINDFLOWER. Destroyer
ROCKINGHAM was detached on the 20th. The remainder of
the escorts were
detached on the 25th when the convoy was dispersed.
_____
Convoy SC.54 departed St
Johns escorted by destroyer BURNHAM and corvettes
ALGOMA, CHAMBLY, MATAPEDIA, and NAPANEE.
_____
Canadian troop convoy TC
15 departed Halifax with
liners ANDES (25,689grt), CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS
(16,287grt),
DUCHESS OF ATHOLL (20,119grt), DURBAN
CASTLE (17,388grt), ORCADES (23,456grt), ORONSAY (20,043grt), REINA
DEL PACIFICO (17,702grt),
SOBIESKI (11,030grt), and WARWICK CASTLE (20,107grt).
The convoy was escorted by
US battleship NEW MEXICO, light cruisers PHILADELPHIA
and SAVANNAH, and destroyers MORRIS, SIMS, HUGHES,
MUSTIN,
RUSSELL, WALKE, and O'BRIEN on the 13th.
On the 18th, destroyers
HIGHLANDER (S. O. ),
HARVESTER, HAVELOCK, HESPERUS, WESTCOTT, and BLANKNEY,
which had been
escorting convoy CT 6, joined the convoy and escorted it
to arrival on the
21st.
_____
Dutch steamer JOMA
(372grt) was sunk by a mine in Falmouth Harbour.
Three gunners were lost on
the steamer.
_____
U.126 sank British steamer
PERU (6961grt) at 1-30N, 13-20W.
The entire crew were
rescued by British whaling
tanker UNIWALECO (9755grt) and taken to Freetown.
_____
Soviet destroyer SUROVY
was lost in a mining off
Hango.
_____
Operation APPROACH,
carrying stores to Tobruk,
began when destroyers KIPLING, JACKAL, and ENCOUNTER
departed Alexandria on the first serial. Polish General
Sikorski took
passage in destroyer KIPLING to inspect Polish troops at
Tobruk.
The ships returned to
Alexandria on the 14th.
_____
Destroyer ERIDGE and sloop
FLAMINGO passed through
the Suez Canal northbound.
Sloop FLAMINGO departed
Port Said for Alexandria, arriving on the 14th.
Destroyer ERIDGE was held
at Port Said to take part in an anti-submarine sweep the
next
day.
_____
Greek auxiliary ship
AGHIOS NICOLAOS was sunk on a
mine between Dikili and Mitylene.
The Master and crew of
three were all lost.
_____
Anti-submarine trawlers ST
NECTAN and LADY SHIRLEY
departed Gibraltar escorting tanker COWRIE westwards and
then joined
tanker WINAMAC for Gibraltar, arriving on the 21st.
_____
Submarine REGENT arrived
at Malta from Alexandria with passengers, stores, and
kerosene.
On the 12th, her starboard
engine broke down
completely and she arrived at Malta with only her port
engine operating.
_____
Australian troop convoy US
13 departed Fremantle
with liners QUEEN ELIZABETH (83,673grt) and QUEEN MARY
(81,235grt).
The convoy was dispersed
on the 20th. The liners
then travelled independently.
Friday,
14 November
Light cruiser EDINBURGH
and heavy cruiser SUFFOLK departed Hvalfjord for Denmark
Strait patrol.
_____
Destroyer ESCAPADE
departed Scapa Flow at 2015 for Hvalfjord to join the
force under the
Commander in Chief, Home Fleet.
The destroyer embarked
mail for the fleet before
sailing.
Destroyer ESCAPADE arrived
at Hvalfjord at
1000/16th.
_____
Submarine P.35 departed
patrol off Norway for
Dundee.
_____
Minesweeper FITZROY
departed the Faroes to boiler
clean at Aberdeen.
_____
U.561 sank Panamanian
steamer CRUSADER (2939grt),
straggling behind convoy SC.53, in the North Atlantic.
_____
T/A/Sub Lt (A) P. R.
Cassels RNVR, was killed when
his Hurricane of 759/760 Squadron crashed in Dawlish
Bay.
_____
Soviet destroyer GORDY was
sunk on a mine off
Naissaari in the Baltic.
_____
Minelaying cruiser ABDIEL
and destroyers HERO,
HOTSPUR, and NIZAM departed Alexandria for Tobruk in the
second series of Operation
APPROACH.
The ships arrived back at
Alexandria on the 15th. General Sikorski returned to
Alexandria on cruiser ABDIEL.
_____
Destroyer ERIDGE departed
Port Said and joined destroyers NAPIER, KANDAHAR, and
HASTY in an anti-submarine sweep.
After an unsuccessful
search, the destroyers
returned to Alexandria on the 16th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
CARLISLE, destroyer AVONVALE, and Australian sloops
PARRAMATTA and YARRA
passed through the Suez Canal and sailed for Alexandria.
Destroyer AVONVALE was
recalled to escort landing
ship GLENGYLE the following day.
Destroyer HEYTHROP passed
through the Suez Canal on the 15th and on arrival at
Port Said departed with destroyer AVONVALE escorting
landing
ship GLENGYLE to Alexandria.
Destroyer HEYTHROP arrived
from Gibraltar, via the Cape.
The anti-aircraft ships
and the sloops arrived at Alexandria on the 15th.
The landing ship and
destroyers AVONVALE and
HEYTHROP arrived at Alexandria on the 16th.
Destroyer HEYTHROP joined
the 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla for duty in the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Submarines TORBAY and TALISMAN, which had departed
Alexandria on the 10th,
landed commandoes on the North
African coast to strike at Rommel's Headquarters near
Apollonia.
The submarines arrived
back at Alexandria on the 23rd.
_____
British steamer EMPIRE
PELICAN (6463grt), en route
to Malta, was sunk by Italian bombing ten miles
southwest
of Galita Island.
One crewman was lost.
Thirty five crewmen and nine
gunners were made prisoners of war.
_____
Ocean boarding vessel
MARSDALE departed Gibraltar on Western Patrol.
