September Serving with Home Fleet and
deployed on anti-submarine patrol duty in the SW
Approaches.
The deployment of aircraft carriers to carry out this role had been
introduced
as an offensive measure and assumed that the ASDIC equipment available
in the
escorts was far more effective than was in fact the case.
17th During
patrol with a screen of two Home Fleet destroyers a wireless signal was received
from
ss KAFIRISTAN indicating that she was under fire from a German submarine.
Whilst
carrying out a search for this merchant ship or any survivors, she came under attack
by
U29, hit by three torpedoes and sank quickly.
518
lives were lost including many Reservists and Pensioners. Some survivors were
rescued
by HM Destroyer ECHO. (Casualty
List -
note
on casualties)
As a
consequence of this loss and an unsuccessful U-boat torpedo attack on HM
Aircraft
Carrier ARK ROYAL on 14th September the policy of using aircraft
carriers
for A/S search and destroy patrols was abandoned.
(For
details of this loss and the failure of German torpedoes see ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY by Corelli Barnett).