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Background Events - December 1941-February 1942
Pearl
Harbor attacked, Loss of 'Repulse' & 'Prince
of Wales', Singapore falls, 'Channel Dash' by
German big ships, to February 1942
1941
Monday, 1 December
Destroyer ECLIPSE departed Scapa Flow at 0400 to meet armed merchant cruiser ESPERANCE BAY
and destroyer WHITSHED off May Island at 1130.
On meeting, destroyer ECLIPSE relieved destroyer
WHITSHED and escorted the armed merchant cruiser to the Clyde, arriving at 0100/3rd.
Destroyer ECLIPSE then returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at 2230 that day.
_____
Battleship RAMILLIES and destroyers ESCAPADE and
WHEATLAND departed Scapa
Flow at 0925 for the Clyde. The ships arrived in the Clyde at 1200/2nd.
Rear Admiral S. S. Bonham-Carter CB, CVO, DSO,
hoisted his flag of Battle Squadron 3 in battleship RAMILLIES in the Clyde.
Destroyer WHEATLAND departed to return to Scapa Flow, arriving at 1130/3rd. Destroyer ESCAPADE departed
the Clyde at 1400/3rd and arrived at 0930/4th.
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Light cruiser ARETHUSA departed Scapa Flow to relieve heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND on patrol in the Iceland - Faroes passage.
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Convoy ON.42 departed Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 2nd by destroyers
SABRE and SKATE and corvettes ALISMA, KINGCUP, and SUNFLOWER. The destroyers
were detached on the 6th. The corvettes were detached on the 7th when the
convoy was joined by corvettes KENOGAMI, LETHBRIDGE, MAYFLOWER, NANAIMO, and PRESCOTT.
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All the A class destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer
Flotilla were transferred on this date to the Western Approaches.
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Dutch submarine O.14 departed Scapa Flow for Dundee.
_____
Minesweeper ROSS was damaged by German bombing off the east coast
of Scotland. The damage required ten days to repair.
_____
Fishing trawler ST LEONARD No. 1 (210grt) was sunk
by German bombing in 60-58N, 1-10W. The crew of ten were all rescued.
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Destroyers JERVIS, JACKAL, JAGUAR, and KIPLING
departed Alexandria on 30 November to intercept three Italian
destroyers reported approaching Derna.
No contact was made with the Italian ships, which
were Italian destroyers VIVALDI, DA NOLI, and PESSAGNO, which had departed
Derna en route to Benghazi and Suda Bay.
Destroyer JACKAL was attacked by a torpedo bomber
sixty miles south of Crete near Derna and was badly damaged at 0300/1st.
Light cruisers EURYALUS and NAIAD and destroyers
HERO and HASTY, which were covering the destroyers' sweep, closed to assist,
but were ordered to maintain the Derna interception patrol. The light
cruisers and destroyers arrived back at Alexandria during the night of 2/3 December. There were no
casualties in the destroyer JACKAL. The destroyer arrived at Alexandria, escorted by destroyers JERVIS, JAGUAR, and
KIPLING on the 2nd and was under repair at Alexandria until April. The commanding officer Lt Cdr J. F.
W. Hine of destroyer JAGUAR was accidently killed by a shell burst from
destroyer JERVIS. A rating on destroyer JAGUAR was also killed and another
rating later died of wounds.
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Gunboat APHIS bombarded enemy concentrations and
supply dumps near the Bardia - Tobruk road during the night of 1/2 December.
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Submarine REGENT damaged Italian steamer ENRICO
(2350grt) off Trapani in 37-52N, 11-52E.
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Italian submarine ENRICO TOTI reported sinking a
Submarine off Zante.
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Corvettes AZALEA and COLTSFOOT departed Gibraltar escorting tanker WINAMAC outbound and then to meet
arriving tanker CONSUL, arriving on the 9th.
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Troopship RANGITATA arrived at Gibraltar, escorted by destroyers HURWORTH and EXMOOR.
_____
Destroyers WISHART and LEGION attacked a submarine
target 23 miles 307° from Cape Spartel without result.
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German supply ship PYTHON, which had been
refuelling German submarines U.A and U.68, was scuttled at 27-53S, 3-55W when
she was intercepted by Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE.
No attempt to rescue survivors was attempted due to
the submarines. Corvettes ASTER and MARGUERITE, passing through the area on
the 8th en route to the Cape, were ordered to search for survivors, but none
were located. The four hundred and fourteen survivors, including merchant
cruiser ATLANTIS's survivors, were picked up by submarines U.A, U.68, U.124,
U.129, TAZZOLI, FINZI, CALVI, and TORELLI.
Submarines U.A, U.68, and TAZZOLI arrived at St
Nazaire on the 25th. Submarines U.129 and CALVI arrived on the 27th.
Submarine FINZI on the 28th, and U.124 on the 29th.
Tuesday, 2
December
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK arrived at Hvalfjord from Denmark Strait patrol.
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Heavy cruiser NORFOLK departed Hvalfjord for Denmark Strait patrol.
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Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND departed patrol in the Iceland - Faroes passage upon relief by light cruiser
ARETHUSA. The heavy cruiser arrived at Scapa Flow on the 4th.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed Scapa Flow at 0045 for Rosyth where she arrived at 1200 that
day for boiler cleaning.
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Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA arrived at Scapa Flow at 1500 to carry out working up practices after a
long refit.
_____
Destroyer MARNE departed
Methil at 2000 for the Clyde to conduct torpedo trials. The destroyer arrived
at 0830/4th.
_____
Minesweper SALTASH departed Sheerness for passage
to the Faroes to rejoin the 4th Minesweeper Squadron.
_____
British tanker BRITISH CAPTAIN (6968grt) was sunk
on a mine near 54 C Buoy in 52-13-10N, 1-54-41E. One crewman was missing on
the tanker.
_____
Italian submarine CAPPELLINI sank Steamer MIGUEL DE
LARRINAGA (5231grt) in 35-14N, 29-52W.
Portuguese destroyer VOUGA was despatched from Ponta Delgada to search for survivors.
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U.43 sank American tanker ASTRAL (7542grt) in
35-40N, 24-00W. The entire crew of eight officers and twenty nine men were
lost.
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U.562 sank Steamer GRELHEAD (4274grt) two miles
north of Point
Negri, Morocco. Two crew were rescued.
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U.557 sank Norwegian steamer FJORD (4032grt) off Estepona Point, Spain. Fourteen
crew were lost on the steamer.
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German steamer CORDELIA (1357grt) was sunk of
Konstanza by a Soviet submarine.
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U.205 attacked a destroyer near Alexandria.
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Destroyers NAPIER, GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, and DECOY departed Alexandria to sweep off the Cyrenician coast. The destroyers
returned to Alexandria on the 4th. As destroyer DECOY was proceeding to
her mooring, she collided withPolish steamer WARSZAWA (2487grt). Destroyer
DECOY's bow was seriously damaged. The destroyer departed Alexandria on the 15th for repair at Malta, completed on 10 February.
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Submarine PERSEUS unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
in the Ionian Sea.
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Indian patrol vessel NETRAVATI engaged French sloop
ELORN five miles north of Musha Island. The French sloop was escorting a submarine northbound from Djibouti. The action had no results and ELORN returned to Djibouti.
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Destroyers ARROW and BLANKNEY arrived at Gibraltar from the UK, carrying RAF stores, and destroyer HARVESTER
arrived from escorting convoy OG.77 at the start.
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Submarine CLYDE arrived at Gibraltar after patrol. She departed again that day to
relieve Dutch submarine O.24 on patrol off Oran. The Dutch submarine then proceeded to patrol off Naples.
_____
After British aircraft reported a submarine 13
miles 340° from Cape Spartel, sloop STORK attacked a contact at this location.
The hunt was continued with destroyer BRADFORD and corvette MARIGOLD without
result.
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Battleship PRINCE OF WALES, battlecruiser REPULSE, and destroyers ELECTRA,
EXPRESS, ENCOUNTER, and JUPITER arrived at Singapore. These ships with battleship REVENGE and destroyer
VAMPIRE were the British Eastern Fleet.
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Light cruiser MAURITIUS arrived at Singapore for repairs.
Wednesday, 3
December
Minelaying cruiser MANXMAN departed Loch Alsh at
0930 and arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1700 that
day. Sister ship WELSHMAN departed Scapa Flow for Loch Alsh at 1530 and arrived at 0130/4th for
boiler cleaning.
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Convoy ON.43 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer BROKE. Corvettes CAMELLIA
and HIBISCUS joined on the 4th and destroyers NEWPORT and VERITY and corvette ROSTHERN on the 5th. The
destroyers were detached on the 7th. Corvette BEGONIA joined on the 8th and
corvette ROSTHERN was detached on the 9th. Destroyer HAVELOCK joined on the 10th and was detached later that
day. Corvette BEGONIA was detached on the 11th when American destroyers
BERNADOU, DUPONT, MACLEISH, ROE, and WOOLSEY joined. Corvettes CAMELLIA and
HIBISCUS were detached on the 12th. The American destroyers were detached on
the 15th when the convoy dispersed.
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Landing ship PRINCE CHARLES departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow, where she arrived on the 4th.
_____
Steamer MACLAREN (2330grt) was sunk on a mine in
51-21-21-N, 3-17-17W. Three crew were lost on the steamer.
_____
U.124 sank American steamer SAGADAHOC (6275grt) at
21-20S, 7-50W. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
_____
German fishing trawler FAROER (470grt) was sunk
near Rolusoy by Soviet submarine K.3.
_____
Submarine OLYMPUS departed Malta for Gibraltar with
stores and personnel. The submarine arrived on the 10th.
_____
Convoy HX.163 departed Halifax, escorted by destroyer HAMILTON and corvettes KAMLOOPS and SASKATOON. These ships were relieved on the 5th by American
destroyers BENSON, EDISON, HILARY P. JONES, NIBLACK, and TARBETLL. Destroyer
EDISON was detached on the 13th. On the 15th, the American group was relieved
by corvettes ARABIS, BEGONIA, CAMELLIA, and DAHLIA. Destroyers BROKE and
WATCHMAN joined on the 16th. Destroyer BROKE and corvettes ARABIS, CAMELLIA,
and DAHLIA were detached on the 18th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 19th.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER arrived at Malta from patrol off Colonne.
_____
Light cruisers DANAE and DRAGON and destroyer
STRONGHOLD arrived at Singapore.
Thursday, 4
December
Destroyers ECLIPSE and FURY departed Scapa Flow at 1200 for the Humber to refit at Hull
and Immingham, respectively. The destroyers arrived in the Humberat 1410/5th.
_____
German steamer EDITH FAULBAUM (1318grt) was sunk on
a mine off Warnermunde.
_____
Submarine TRUSTY sank Italian steamer ERIDANO
(3586grt) off Argistoli.
_____
Italian submarine GUGLIEMO MARCONI was declared
lost after failing to return from a patrol in the Atlantic. Some sources suggest the
submarine was sunk in error in November by U.67, but this is not possible.
_____
Destroyers JERVIS, HERO, and HAVOCK departed Alexandria to patrol off Derna. The destroyers returned to Alexandria during the night of 5/6December.
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Gunboat APHIS bombarded Derna - Tobruk road early
on the 4th.
_____
Convoy AT.2 departed Alexandria for Tobruk. The slow section was two store ships
and three landing ship tanks A lighters, escorted by sloops YARRA and
FLAMINGO and two anti-submarine trawlers departing at 1600. The fast section
was armed boarding vessel CHANTALA and steamer CRISTA (2590grt) and
WOLBOROUGH (459grt), escorted by destroyers HEYTHROP and AVONVALE and one
anti-submarine trawler departing a short time after the slow section. The
convoys arrived at Tobruk on the 6th. The sloops proceeded to carry out an
anti-submarine sweep in the area.
_____
Destroyers SIKH, ZULU, HIGHLANDER, and HESPERUS
arrived at Gibraltar from Londonderry.
_____
Submarine P.31 arrived at Malta from patrol off Colonne.
_____
Convoy SC.58 departed Sydney, CB, escorted by corvettes DRUMHELLER, KAMSACK,
SHAWNIGAN, and SUMMERSIDE and minesweeper THUNDER. These escorts were
detached on the 6th when the convoy was joined by destroyer ST LAURENT and corvettes BUCTOUCHE, HEPATICA, MOOSE JAW,
NASTURTIUM, PICTOU, and WINDFLOWER. Corvette WINDFLOWER was lost in a
collision on the 7th and corvette NASTURTIUM was detached. The remaining
escorts were detached on the 15th when relieved by destroyers BROKE and
WATCHMAN and corvettes CAMELLIA and MONTBRETIA. Destroyer BROKE was detached on
the 16th, corvette CAMELLIA on the 18th, destroyer WATCHMAN on the 19th, and
corvette MONTBRETIA on the 20th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 21st.
_____
Convoy ST.10 departed Freetown, escorted by destroyer WILD SWAN, sloop BRIDGEWATER, and corvettes CLOVER, FREESIA, and NIGELLA. The
convoy arrived at Takoradi on the 9th.
_____
Steamer ELLENGA departed Singapore with one naval and one hundred and sixty three
miltary personnel. She called at Penang where she
embarked three RIN and ninety five military personnel. Light cruiser DANAE
escorted the steamer to 81E. Steamer ELLENGA continued unescorted and arrived
at Madras on the 14th.
_____
Destroyer EXPRESS departed Singapore.
_____
Eighteen Japanese transports departed Hainan with 26,640 troops for the Malaya landings.
The transports were escorted by the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla with light cruiser
SENDAI, destroyers MURAKUMO, SHINONOME, SHIRAKUMO, and USUGUMO of the 12th
Destroyer Division, ISONAMI, URANAMI, SHIKINAMI, and AYANAMI of the 19th Destroyer
Division, and AMAGIRI, ASAGIRI, and YUGIRI of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla.
Heavy cruiser CHOKAI (Ozawa) with destroyer SAGIRI
of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla accompanied the convoy.
A covering force of heavy cruisers KUMANO, MIKUMA,
MOGAMI, and SUZUYA and destroyers FUBUKI, HATSUYUKI, and SHIRAYUKI of the
11st Destroyer Division was deployed.
On the 5th, this force was joined by minesweepers
W.1, W.5, and W.6, a submarine chaser division, minelayer HATSUTAKA, and two
transports from Poulo Condore Island.
Also on the 5th, minesweepers W.2, W.3, and W.4
join from Camranh Bay.
Light cruiser KASHII with four transports and
frigate SHIMUSHU with three transports departed Saigon and joined the force on the 6th south of Cape Camao.
_____
Admiral Kondo was in charge of the distant cover
force for the Malayan - Luzon landings. His force departed the Pescadores with
heavy cruisers ATAGO and TAKAO of the 1st Division of the 4th Cruiser
Squadron, battleships HARUNA and KONGO of the 2nd Division of the 3rd
Battleship Squadron, and destroyers ARASHI, HAGIKAZE, MAIKAZE, and NOWAKE of
the 4th Destroyer Division, IKAZUCHI and INAZUMA of the 2nd Group of the 6th
Destroyer Division, and ASASHIO, OSHIO, MICHISHIO, and ARASHIO of the 8th
Destroyer Division.
Friday, 5
December
Destroyer WHEATLAND departed Scapa Flow at 0745 for Scrabster to embark six Army officers
and twenty four other ranks and returned to Scapa Flow at 1300.
_____
Destroyer CHIDDINGFOLD join the Orkneys and
Shetlands command at 1200 on completion of working up practices.
_____
Submarine P.37 departed Scapa Flow for patrol and operation KITBAG.
_____
Submarine SEALION sank Norwegian steamer ISLAND (638grt) in 71-07N, 27-54E off northern Norway.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21 departed Gibraltar for the United Kingdom.
_____
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE with destroyers KINGSTON and KIMBERLEY departed Malta at 1700 for Alexandria. Light cruisers AJAX and NEPTUNE and
destroyer LIVELY departed Malta at 2000 to support the operation.
Destroyers KINGSTON and KIMBERLEY took supply ship BRECONSHIRE on to Alexandria.
Light cruisers AJAX and NEPTUNE and destroyer LIVELY met destroyers
JAGUAR and KANDAHAR, which departed Alexandria on the 6th, on the 7th. These ships all arrived at
Malta on the 8th.
Supply ship BRECONSHIRE, light cruisers HOBART and
GALATEA, antiaircraft ship CARLISLE, and destroyers GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, KIMBERLEY, and KINGSTON arrived at Alexandria on the 8th.
_____
Submarine THORN was in a collision with cable ship
BULLFINCH in Alexandria Harbour. The submarine was under repair at Port Said from 7 to 16 December.
_____
Greek destroyers PANTHER and NIKI departed Alexandria to patrol off Sollum. After the patrol, the destroyers returned
to Mersa Matruh on the 6th. The destroyers arrived back at Alexandria on the 9th.
_____
Convoy TA.1 of steamers CHAKDINA and KIRKLAND departed Tobruk, escorted by destroyers FARNDALE
and ERIDGE, anti-submarine whaler THORGRIM, and an anti-submarine trawler.
Three landing ship tankers A lighters departed
Tobruk for Mersa Matruh.
Armed boarding vessel CHAKDINA (Lt Cdr W. R. Hickey
RNR) was sunk by German bombing in 31-11N, 24-30E in
the Eastern Mediterranean.
Destroyer FARNDALE and anti-submarine whaler
THORGRIM rescued about two hundred survivors. There were about three hundred
British wounded and one hundred prisoners of war on the vessel when it sank.
T/Lt (E) T. Bell RNR, and seventeen ratings of the ship's crew were
killed.
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Submarine TALISMAN unsuccessfully attacked a
submarine in the Kithera Channel.
_____
U.81 attacked a tanker, escorted by a destroyer,
near Tobruk. The submarine claimed hitting both ships.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21 departed Gibraltar for the UK, escorted by destroyer BRADFORD. The destroyer was
later detached and refuelled at Ponta Delgada prior to joining monitors ROBERTS and EREBUS and
corvette FRITILLARY, en route from the UK to Freetown.
_____
Corvette SPIRAEA departed Gibraltar to meet destroyer STANLEY, escorting steamer CLAN
MCINNES, formerly in convoy SL.94, and escort them to Gibraltar, arriving on the 12th.
_____
Convoy BA.10 departed Bombay, escorted by battleship REVENGE. The convoy
arrived at Aden on the 10th.
_____
Troopship RANGITATA departed Gibraltar for Freetown escorted by destroyers HURWORTH, VIDETTE, which
was detached to refuel at Bathurst,
and HIGHLANDER, which was detached at dusk on the 6th. Destroyer VIDETTE
arrived back at Gibraltar on the 18th.
_____
Battlecruiser REPULSE and destroyers VAMPIRE and
TENEDOS departed Singapore for Darwin. The battlecruiser was also escorted by destroyers
JUPITER and ELECTRA at the start. The battlecruiser and the destroyers were
recalled the next day.
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American aircraft carrier LEXINGTON, heavy cruisers ASTORIA, CHICAGO, and PORTLAND, and destroyers PORTER, FLUSSER, DRAYTON, LAMSON,
and MAHAN departed Pearl Harbour to fly off Marine aircraft of VMSB 231 to Midway.
Heavy cruiser INDIANAPOLIS departed Pearl Harbour with this group and was detached for exercises off Johnson Island. The planes were not flown off and the force returned to Pearl Harbour.
_____
Norwegian steamer HALLDOR (1515grt), which was en
route from Bangkok to Hong Kong, was
intercepted by Japanese destroyer URANAMI seventy five miles west of Saigon. The steamer was boarded and her wireless equipment was disabled. The
Norwegian ship was then allowed to continue, but shortly after her arrival at
Hong Kong, she was seized by Japanese forces.
Saturday, 6
December
Heavy cruiser SUFFOLK departed Hvalfjord for patrol in the Denmark Strait.
_____
Light cruiser ARETHUSA departed the Iceland - Faroes passage patrol for Hvalfjord, refuelled,
and departed for Scapa Flow where she arrived on the 8th.
_____
US battleships MISSISSIPPI and IDAHO and five US destroyers arrived at Hvalfjord from patrol in the
Denmark Strait.
_____
Destroyer NEWMARKET collided with Steamer GRENAA (1262grt) at Londonderry. The destroyer remained in service.
_____
Steamer GREENLAND
(1281grt) was sunk on a mine in 52-14-30N, 1-56-30E. Nine crew were missing on the tanker.
_____
U.131 sank Steamer SCOTTISH TRADER (4016grt) south
of Iceland.
_____
Submarine PERSEUS (Lt Cdr E. C. D. Nicolay) was
mined seven miles off Zante. Only one
rating survived and swam to Cephalonia. Nicolay, Lt T. M. G. Codrington RNR, Lt J. Tait RNR, A/Warrant Engineer A. Johnson, Sub Lt A. S.
Robertson, and fifty three ratings were lost.
_____
Light cruiser GALATEA, Australian light cruiser
HOBART, Antiaircraft ship CARLISLE, and destroyers GRIFFIN and HOTSPUR departed Alexandria to meet arriving supply ship BRECONSHIRE. The
ships, supply ship BRECONSHIRE and destroyers KIMBERLEY and KINGSTON arrived at Alexandria on the 8th.
_____
Submarine ULTIMATUM unsuccessfully attacked a
steamer in 37-56N, 15-39E.
_____
U.81 attacked and claimed damaging a steamer near
Tobruk.
_____
Submarine REGENT arrived at Gibraltar from Malta.
_____
Steamer ERINPURA departed Madras with 984 Military and twenty naval personnel for Singapore. At 10N, 92-30E, light cruiser DRAGON joined the
steamer. The steamer was ordered to Port Swettenham, rather than Penang, and arrived at Singapore on the 12th with light cruiser DRAGON.
_____
In preparation for operations, Japanese submarines
I.55 and I.54 were northeast of Kuantan.
Submarine I.53 was north of Anamba.
Submarines I.57, I.58, I.62, I.64, and I.66 were on
a patrol line near Tregganu.
Submarine I.57 was northeast of Redang.
During the night of 6/7 December, submarines I.121 and
I.122 laid mines at the northeast exits from Singapore.
Japanese auxiliary minelayer TATSUMIYA MARU laid a
mine barrage between the islands of Tioman and Anamba.
_____
Takagi departed Palau with heavy cruisers HAGURO,
MYOKO, and NACHI of the 5th Cruiser Division, aircraft cruiser RYUJO of the
4th Carrier Division with attendant destroyer SHIOKAZE, and the 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla with light cruiser JINTSU with destroyers KUROSHIO, OYASHIO,
HAYASHIO, and NATSUSHIO of the 15th Destroyer Division, HATSUKAZE,
AMATSUKAZE, YUKIKAZE, and TOKITSUKAZE of the 16th Destroyer Division for
operations off the Philippines.
Sunday, 7 December
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK departed Denmark Strait
patrol and arrived at Hvalfjord at 1550.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed Rosyth after boiler
cleaning for Invergordon.
Destroyer SOMALI arrived at Invergordon at 1130/8th
and embarked the Right Hon. Anthony Eden, the Russian Ambassador, and a party
of ten other delegates. The destroyer departed at 1130 and arrived at Scapa Flow at 1600. The passengers were transferred to heavy
cruiser KENT.
_____
Sloop PELICAN was damaged by German machine gun
fire from aircraft off the east coast of Scotland.
_____
Convoy ON.44 departed Liverpool escorted by anti-submarine trawlers NORTHERN PRIDE
and NORTHERN SPRAY. The convoy was joined on the 9th by destroyers NEWMARKET and WATCHMAN and corvettes ARABIS, DAHLIA,
MONTBRETIA, and ROSE. Destroyer NEWMARKET and corvette MONTBRETIA were detached on the 10th.
The rest of the escort was detached on the 12th when destroyer RESTIGOUCHE
joined. Destroyer RESTIGOUCHE was detached on the 14th and the convoy
dispersed on the 15th.
_____
Motor vessel SEVERN TRANSPORT (119grt) was sunk on
a mine in 51-27N, 3-04W. The crew of four landed at Barry.
_____
Steamer WELSH PRINCE (5148grt) was sunk by a mine
five cables 110°from 59 Buoy, Spurn Point. The entire crew were rescued.
_____
Canadian corvette WINDFLOWER (Lt J. Price RCNR),
escorting convoy SC.58, was lost in a collision with Dutch steamer ZYPENBERG
(4973grt) in the fog off the Grand
Banks. Price, Sub Lt J. P. C. Peck RCNVR, Sub Lt
W. E. Shields, Mate A. J. K. Collin RCNR, and nineteen ratings were lost on
the corvette. Lt G. G. Fraser RCNVR, and forty three ratings were rescued by
corvettes PICTOU and NASTURTIUM.
_____
Destroyers HARVESTER and HESPERUS attacked U.208 on
the surface in 35-57N, 7-56W. Destroyer HESPERUS reported sighting a man in
the water afterwards. The entire crew of forty five were lost in the
submarine.
_____
Sloop FLAMINGO, returning with sloop YARRA to
Tobruk after the anti-submarine sweep, in 32-16N, 24-21E was damaged by
German bombing. The sloop was taken in tow by sloop YARRA and supported by
light cruiser HOBART, which had been involved in escorting supply ship
BRECONSHIRE from Malta.
Sloop FLAMINGO arrived at Tobruk on the 8th and
sloop YARRA departed for Alexandria. Destroyers AVONVALE and HEYTHROP departed Alexandria to meet the Australian sloop. The ships arrived at
Alexandria on the 9th.
Sloop FLAMINGO departed Tobruk, in the tow of tug
ST MONANCE and escorted by destroyer FARNDALE, on the 17th.
Sloop FLAMINGO was used, unrepaired, as an
antiaircraft defense platform until 5 February 1943.
On that date, sloop FLAMINGO, towed by tug AKBAR,
departed Suez for Aden. From Aden, the sloop was towed by Egyptian steamer STAR OF CAIRO (4579grt) to Bombay arriving on 26 March 1943. The repairs were completed in February 1944.
_____
Armed boarding vessel CHANTALA (Lt Cdr C. E. I.
Gibbs Rtd) was sunk on a mine as she was leaving Tobruk Harbour. One naval rating and two
native crew were killed. A native trimmer died of wounds. Sixteen crew were
wounded.
_____
British trawler MOY was slightly damaged by German
bombing at Tobruk.
_____
Gunboat APHIS bombarded the Derna-Tobruk road late
on the 7th.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN unsuccessfully attacked a
destroyer in Kithera Channel.
_____
Submarine PROTEUS unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
in Kithera Channel.
_____
Submarine TRUANT unsuccessfully attacked German
steamer BELLONA off Suda Bay.
_____
Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbour.
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