Ex USS HUNT (Type A - BELMONT-Class) built by Newport News Shipbuilding. This ship was laid down on 20th August 1918 and launched on 14th February
1920.
Commissioned on 8th June 1920 for service in the US Navy she
was held in Reserve in 1939. The ship transferred to the RN under USA/UK Lend
Lease Agreement on 8th October 1940 and commissioned at Halifax, NS Canada for RN use. Like other Ex US
Navy destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940, her name was common to a
town in the USA and to several villages in the UK. It had not previously been
used for any RN ship.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
ATLANTIC 1941-43 - NORTH SEA 1944
H e r a l d i c D a t a
None is recorded in the Official
List of Royal Navy Heraldic Crests.
D e t a i l s o f W
a r S e r v i c e
(for more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and type name in Site Search)
1 9 4 0
October
8th Commissioned at
Halifax as HMS BROADWAY.
Took passage to
Devonport with call at St Johns Newfoundland.
29th Arrived at Devonport.
Taken in hand for
refit and modification by HM Dockyard Devonport to suit use as
a convoy escort.
(Note: The work
included removal of mainmast and shortening of foremast.
The after funnels
were also shortened and the 3in and 4in guns mounted aft were replaced
by a 12pdr
British HA gun in X position.
Two of the
torpedo tube mountings aft were also removed and US Navy type Depth
Charges replaced
by RN pattern.
November Nominated for service in
11th Escort Group after working-up for operational service..
19th On completion of post
refit trials took passage to Scapa Flow for work-up with ships of Home
Fleet.
December
7th Sustained damage
during work-up and withdrawn for repair.
Passage to Hull
for repair in commercial shipyard.
1 9 4 1
January
7th Passage to Scapa
Flow to complete work-up.
February Taken in hand for further
defect repair at Clyde shipyard.
March Additional repair
required and taken in hand in Liverpool.
Passage to
Devonport to complete repair work.
April On completion of
repair took passage to Tobermory to complete work-up.
28th Arrived at Liverpool to commence operational service in Western Approaches.
Passage to
Iceland to join Group.
May Deployed with Group,
based in Iceland for escort of convoys during mid-Atlantic passage.
7th Deployed with HM
Destroyer BULLDOG and HM Corvette AUBRETIA to join Convoy
OB318 in place of
7th Escort Group during mid Atlantic passage.
(Note: Sailed
from Iceland as escort for four
mercantiles and HM Armed Merchant Cruiser
RANPURA to join
convoy,
7th Escort Group
remained with convoy for additional period.
8th Convoy under attack
by U94 .
Anti-submarine
operations carried out by HM Sloop ROCHESTER, HM Destroyers
AMAZON and
BULLDOG after loss of two ships in convoy.
9th Convoy under attack
by U110 and U201 during which two more mercantiles were sunk.
After detection
of submarine by HMS AUBRETIA ships of both Escort Groups carried out
three depth
charge attacks on U110 the last of which caused significant damage forcing the
submarine to
surface,
Crew of U110
abandoned submarine after surface gunfire attacks and ramming attempt.
(Note: Submarine
boarded by party from HMS BULLDOG which were able to recover the
ENIGMA Coding
machine with associated documentation.
For details see
U-BOATS DESTROYED by P Kemp, HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR
by C Blair,
U-BOAT WAR IN THE ATLANTIC (HMSO) and BREAKING THE
ENIGMA by D
Kahn.)
U110 was taken in
tow by HMS BULLDOG but foundered on 11th May.
32 of U-Boat crew
survived.
Sustained major
damage after hitting U110 bow plane
Ship’s hull was
ruptured causing major flooding in forward compartments.
June Under repair at
Dundee in commercial shipyard.
July On completion of
post repair trials deployed in Hone waters.
Nominated for
escort of military convoy.
August
2nd Joined escort for
military convoy WS10 in Clyde for Local Escort in NW Approaches
with HM Cruiser
CAIRO, HM Destroyers WHITEHALL, WINCHELSEA, WITCH,
GURKHA, LANCE,
LEGION, Dutch destroyer ISAAC SWEEPS, Polish destroyer
ORP PIORUN and HM Armed Merchant Cruiser WORCESTERSHIRE.
6th Detached from WS6A
with HM Destroyers GURKHA, LANCE, LEGION, Dutch
ISAAC SWEERS and
returned to Clyde.
Took passage to
Newfoundland to join 17th Escort Group for convoy escort.
Deployed with HM
Corvette POLYANTHUS and two Canadian Corvettes at St Johns.
September Part of escort for Convoy
HX1M6 with ships of Group.
October Transferred to 4th
Canadian Escort Group as Senior Officer's Ship.
November Escorted Convoys ON28 and
ONS38 with ships of Group during passage in the western
Atlantic.
Nominated for
return to UK for refit and completion of modifications.
December Under refit at Sheerness.
(Note:
Completion of modifications included:
Removal of Beam
4in guns and replacement by 20mm Oerlikon guns.
Removal of
remaining torpedo tube mounting and replacement by a British triple
mounting on
centre-line.
Installation of
surface warning radar Type 271.
(For details of
development and use of radar see RADAR AT SEA by D Howe)
Installation of
HEDGEHOG Anti-submarine Mortar mounting forward.
(For details see
SEEK AND STRIKE by W Hackmann.)
New design Bridge
structure provided.
1 9 4 2
January Under refit
to
March
April Resumed convoy
defence service on completion of Post refit trials and took passage to rejoin
the Canadian
Escort Group.
May Deployed for Atlantic
convoy defence with Group based in St Johns.
Part of escort
for Convoy ONS100
(Note: For
details of dates of sailing and departure see ALLIED CONVOY SYSTEM IN
WW2 by A Hague.)
June Western Atlantic
convoy escort with Group in continuation.
July Under refit at
Boston, Mass,
August Part of escort for Convoy
SC97 with HM Destroyer BURNHAM and four RCN Corvettes.
Under attack by
group of nine U-Boats during which two ships were sunk.
(See HITLER’S U-
BOAT WAR and U-BOAT WAR IN THE ATLANTIC (HMSO).)
September Passage to UK for
installation of Direction Finding Outfit FH3.
(For details see
SEEK and STRIKE)
Under refit at
Liverpool.
October
Resumed duties with Canadian Escort Group at St Johns.
Part of escort
with Group for Convoy ON139.
November Western Atlantic convoy
defence in continuation.
December Under refit at Belfast.
1 9 4 3
January On completion resumed
duties with Group.
Part of escort
for Convoys ONS160 and HX225.
February Transferred for escort of
convoys to western Mediterranean.
Part of escort
for military convoy KMS11 to Algiers and the return Convoy MKS12 to Clyde.
March Resumed North Atlantic
convoy defence with Group
to
April
May Part of escort for
Convoy HX237 with ships of Group
(Note: Air cover
during transit was provided by HM Escort Carrier BITER.)
14th Shared credit for
sinking of U89 with HM Frigate LAGAN in defence of HX23.
(Note: There
were no survivors. See U-BOATS DESTROYED.).
June Future deployment
under consideration due to increasing defect load.
Withdrawn from
operational service after escort of two Atlantic convoys.
(Note: New
construction escorts were becoming available.)
July Selected for use as
an Air Target Ship.
Taken in hand for
conversion at Belfast.
August Under conversion.
to (Note: Radar,
Anti-submarine Mortar, Torpedo Tubes, HF D/F Outfit removed.
December This ensured room for
handling aircraft torpedoes used during training.
Allocated for
service in North Sea off Scottish East coast. Worked up for new deployment.
1 9 4 4
Deployed for
aircrew training at North Sea Station.
1 9 4 5
January Air Target Ship duty in
continuation
to
April
May After VE Day detached
for special duty with Home Fleet.
16th Present at Tromso
with Hone Fleet ships during liberation of area.
(Note: U-Boat
surrenders also took place and arrangements made for transfer submarines to
allied custody
(Operation DEADLIGHT).)
June Resumed Air Target
duties.
to Withdrawn from
service.
July
August
9th Paid Off and
de-stored prior to reduction to Reserve.
P
o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS
BROADWAY was kept in un-maintained Reserve until placed on the Disposal List in
1947. The ship was sold to BISCO on 18th February 1947 for demolition by Metal
Industries. but was not towed to the breaker's yard in Charlestown near Rosyth
until March 1948.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of HMS
BROADWAY
by Don Kindell
These convoy lists have not been cross-checked
with the text above
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Date convoy sailed
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Joined convoy as escort
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Convoy No.
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Left convoy
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Date convoy arrived
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10/12/40
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10/12/40
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FS 0358
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11/12/40
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12/12/40
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10/02/41
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04/03/41
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SL 065
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08/03/41
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08/03/41
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20/04/41
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29/04/41
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HX 122
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04/05/41
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08/05/41
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02/05/41
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07/05/41
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OB 318
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10/05/41
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10/05/41
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30/04/41
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11/05/41
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HX 124
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unknown
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20/05/41
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21/08/41
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24/08/41
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HX 146
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02/09/41
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06/09/41
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01/09/41
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07/09/41
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ON 012
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10/09/41
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14/09/41
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24/09/41
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27/09/41
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SC 046
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05/10/41
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10/10/41
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04/10/41
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10/10/41
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ON 023
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18/10/41
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19/10/41
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29/10/41
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01/11/41
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SC 052
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03/11/41
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05/11/41
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22/10/41
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04/11/41
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ON 029
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05/11/41
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05/11/41
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10/11/41
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15/11/41
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ON 035
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15/11/41
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27/11/41
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13/11/41
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16/11/41
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ON 036
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16/11/41
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25/11/41
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28/04/42
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29/04/42
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ON 090
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09/05/42
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15/05/42
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14/05/42
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17/05/42
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SC 084
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27/05/42
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29/05/42
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12/06/42
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13/06/42
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ON 103
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21/06/42
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26/06/42
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16/06/42
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27/06/42
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ON 104
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02/07/42
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02/07/42
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02/08/42
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05/08/42
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HX 201
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05/08/42
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14/08/42
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06/08/42
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10/08/42
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ON 119
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15/08/42
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20/08/42
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22/08/42
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26/08/42
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SC 097
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05/09/42
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07/09/42
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16/10/42
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22/10/42
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ON 139
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27/10/42
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01/11/42
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01/11/42
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08/11/42
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SC 108
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14/11/42
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19/11/42
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26/11/42
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27/11/42
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ON 149
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06/12/42
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12/12/42
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12/12/42
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21/12/42
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SC 113
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31/12/42
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02/01/43
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14/03/43
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24/03/43
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KMS 011G
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24/03/43
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28/03/43
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18/04/43
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19/04/43
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ON 179
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29/04/43
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06/05/43
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01/05/43
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07/05/43
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HX 237
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16/05/43
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17/05/43
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24/05/43
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25/05/43
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ON 186
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02/06/43
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07/06/43
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07/06/43
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12/06/43
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HX 243
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20/06/43
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21/06/43
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(Note on Convoys)
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