HALCYON-Class Minesweeper ordered from JS White at Cowes, IoW on
5th February 1935 with sister ship to
be named
HMS NIGER (i)
as part of the 1st Group of this
Class. Her reciprocating propulsion
machinery was supplied by the
shipbuilder.
The ship was laid down on 14th
August 1935 and launched on 24th March
1936
as the 11th RN warship to carry this
name which had
been introduced for a Scots 48 Gun
Ship taken as Prize in 1544.
Build was
completed
on 18th
July
1936.
After a successful
WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign
in February 1942 this ship was adopted
by the civil community of Bilston,
Staffordshire.
B
a t t l
e H o n o u r s
ARMADA
1588 - LAGOS 1759 - BURMA 1852 -
DUNKIRK 1940 - ARCTIC 1941-42 - NORMANDY
1944
H
e r a l d i
c D a t a
Badge:
On a Field Red, a Salamander rampant,
Gold
M
o t t o
Per
ignes et undas:
'Through fire and
water'
M
a n n i n g
D i v i s i o n
Devonport.
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 3 9
September
Deployed with HM Minesweepers HALCYON,
HARRIER, LEDA,
NIGER, HUSSAR,
GOSSAMER, SKIPJACK, SPEEDWELL and
SPHINX based at Dover. as 5th
Minesweeping
Flotilla mine clearance in Nore
Command..
October
Minesweeping based at Dover in
continuation..
November
Transferred to Grimsby with ships of
Flotilla to ensure clear passage of
East Coast convoy routes.
4th
Sustained slight structural damage in
collision with HMS SPEEDWELL
10th
During operation near Humber LV
detonated mine in sweep which exploded
causing damage, but
no casualties.
December
Resumed Flotilla duties in North Sea on completion of repair.
1 9 4 0
January
Transferred with ships of Flotilla to
Rosyth for minesweeping off Scottish
east coast.
February
Deployed with Flotilla in northern
North Sea.
to
March
April
Transferred with HMS HALCYON to 4th
Minesweeping Flotilla with HMS NIGER.
Deployed at Great Yarmouth for mine
clearance of convoy routes in North
Sea.
May
North Sea deployment with Flotilla in continuation.
17th
Diverted from mine sweeping in North
Sea and took passage to Dunkirk with
HMS NIGER for
support of the evacuation of troops
from
Dunkirk (Operation DYNAMO).
18th
Joined HM Fleet Minesweepers
SHARPSHOOTER, GOSSAMER, SKIPJACK and
LEDA off
Dunkirk
19th
Embarked 324 troops and took passage
to Dover
30th
Disembarked troops in Dover and
returned to Dunkirk.
31st
Embarked 390 troops for passage and
landed passengers in Dover.
June
1st
Return passage to Dunkirk and embarked
479 troops.
Came under air attacks whilst on
return passage and sustained damage to
propulsion machinery.
Arrived at Dover after assistance from
tugs and disembarked troops.
2nd
Passage to Sheerness for repair.
4th
Under repair by HM Dockyard Sheerness.
July
Under repair
August
On completion of repair and trials
resumed minesweeping duties with 4th
Flotilla based at
Harwich.
September
Harwich deployed for mine clearance in
North Sea in continuation
to
November
December
6th
Sustained weather damage during North
Sea deployment.
1 9 4 1
January
Nominated for completion of repair and
refit.
Passage to Humber
10th
Taken in hand for repair and refit by
commercial shipyard in Grimsby.
February
Under repair.
March
10th
On completion of shipyard work resumed
duties with Flotilla.
April
North Sea Flotilla duties in
continuation
to
June
July
12th
Nominated for special duties with HM
Fleet Minesweepers NIGER, HALCYON and
HARRIER.
18th
Deployed for Atlantic convoy defence
during passage to Seidisfjord, Iceland.
16th
Deployed with HMS HALCYON and HALCYON
to assist in saving
ss ATLANTIC CITY which had been hit by
torpedo in NW Approaches during
passage to Freetown with Convoy OS1.
Carried out anti-submarine operations.
30th
Deployed in Iceland with same ships as
part of Local Escort Force for defence
of ships on entry or departure from
Seidisfjord.
August
Iceland deployment in continuation.
Nominated for service in North Russia
after German invasion.
10th
Sailed from Hvalfjord to provide
anti-submarine protection with HMS
HALCYON
and HMS HARRIER for ships of first
convoy to North Russia.
(Operation DERVISH)
(Note: Other ships deployed for escort
were:
HM Destroyers ELECTRA, ACTIVE and
IMPULSIVE till 29th. with Home
Fleet ships providing Distant Cover
between 24th and 30th August.
For full details of all Russian convoy
passages with names of the escorts and
mercantiles see CONVOYS TO RUSSIA by
RA Ruegg, THE RUSSIAN CONVOYS
by B Schoefield, CONVOY ! by P Kemp
and ARCTIC CONVOYS by R Woodman.).
31st
Detached from DERVISH convoy on
arrival at Archangel.
September
Deployed for minesweeping, convoy
defence and patrol in North Russia,
to
December
1 9 4 2
January
North Russia deployment in
continuation.
February
Nominated for return to UK
12th
Deployed with HM Cruiser NIGERIA, HM
Fleet Minesweepers HARRIER, HAZARD
and two Soviet destroyers to provided
Eastern Local Escort for inward Convoy
PQ11 from
Loch Ewe during final stage of passage
to
Murmansk.
Detached from QP11 on arrival.
March
1st
Deployed with HMS HAZARD, HM Corvettes
OXLIP and SWEETBRIAR as Ocean
Escort for outward Convoy QP8 during
passage from Murmansk to Iceland.
11th
Detached from QP8on arrival at
Akureyri.
(Note: The passage was subject to
extreme weather and was temporarily
dispersed
but able to reform. HM Cruiser NIGERIA
deployed to provide Distant Cover
did not find convoy which was not
located by enemy ships or aircraft.
See references.)
Passage from Iceland to Humber
17th
Taken in hand for repair at Grimsby
April
Under repair
May
16th
Shipyard work completed
Passage to Rosyth
(Note: Possibility of brief return to
local operational service in North Sea is to be confirmed.)
June
Nominated for further service in North
Russia. See above Note.
Awaiting further repair at Rosyth
(Note: It is possible this included
“Articisation”.)
6th
Taken in hand by HM Dockyard.
11th
On completion deployed for Work-up
prior to foreign service.
Passage to Iceland to join escort for
Convoy PQ17 to Archangel
17th
Joined escort for Russian Convoy PQ17
at Reykjavik with HMS HALCYON, HMS
BRITOMART.
(Note: Ocean Escort for PQ17 included
HM Auxiliary AA Ships POZARICA
and PALOMARES, HM Destroyers FURY,
KEPPEL, LEAMINGTON
LEDBURY, OFFA and WILTON, four
Corvettes and four Trawlers.
Cover was provided by ships of Home
Fleet )
July
4th
Convoy ordered to scatter by Admiralty
in view of presumed threat of attack
by German battleships TIRPITZ,
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU.
(Note: For details of this ill-judged
and disastrous decision see the above
references and THE CONVOY IS TO
SCATTER by J Broome.)
5th
Deployed with HMS PALOMARES, HMS
POZARICA, HMS BRITOMART,
HMS HALCYON, HM Corvette LOTUS and
three trawlers in search for dispersed
ships and survivors from ships lost
after dispersal.
7th
Rescued survivors from tanker ss
ALDERSDALE.
Arrived at Matochkin Strait, Novaya
Zemla with convoy of re-assembled
mercantiles.
10th
Took passage from Matochkin Strait and
came under air attacks during which
two mercantiles were sunk.
For details see FLEET MINESWEEPERS AT
WAR by J Williams and above
references.
11th
Arrived at Archangel escorting some of
ships from PQ17 formed into convoy
and survivors rescued from sea or
small boats.
Resumed minesweeping duties in Barents
Sea.
(Note: HMS BRAMBLE, HMS LEDA and HMS
HAZARD met these ships
during passage to Archangel.).
July
North Russia deployment in
continuation
to
(Note: Ships carried out night patrols
to prevent enemy air minelaying
activities and
August
deal with mines dropped.)
September
13th
Deployed with HMS BRITOMART, HMS
HALCYON and HMS HAZARD as Eastern
Local Escort for outward Convoy QP14
during initial stage of passage from
Archangel
Returned to Kola Inlet on release from
QP14.
18th
Deployed with HMS BRITOMART, HMS
HALCYON and HMS HAZARD to provide
Eastern Local Escort for inward Convoy
PQ18 during final stage of passage
from
Iceland.
(Note: This convoy was the last of the
PQ Series and had a much larger escort
including an escort aircraft carrier
to provide air cover. See references.)
21st
Detached from PQ18 on arrival at Kola
Inlet and resumed local duties.
October
Deployment in North Russia in
continuation.
November
Nominated for return to UK
17th
Deployed with Ocean Escort for outward
Convoy QP15 during passage from
Archangel to Loch Ewe.
(Note: Other ships in Ocean Escort
included HM AA Ship ULSTER QUEEN, four
corvettes and four Home Fleet
destroyers. See references.)
30th
Detached from QP15 after passage with
no loss of mercantiles.
Air attacks were possibly absent
because of adverse weather conditions
but
Some U-boat attacks failed.
December
Passage to Aberdeen for refit in
commercial shipyard.
7th
Taken in hand for refit
1 9 4 3
January
Under refit
to
February
March
Nominated for service in Home waters
with 1st Minesweeping Flotilla.
1st
Carried out post refit trials on
completion of shipyard work.
Worked-up for operational service.
April
Deployed with Flotilla for
minesweeping in Home waters
(Note: Main priority was for clearance
of mines in coastal waters
in Irish Sea and SW Approaches.
As ships of this Class were fitted
with Sonar (ASDIC) equipment
they could also be used for convoy
escort if needed.)
May
7th
Taken in hand for repair at Milford
Haven.
13th
On completion of repair resumed
minesweeping duties with Flotilla
June
Flotillas deployment in Home waters in
continuation.
to
September
October
Nominated for refit
13th
Taken in hand for refit at commercial
shipyard in Tyne
November
Under refit
to
December
1 9 4 4
January
Under refit
to
February
March
13th
Resumed Flotilla service in Home
waters on completion of post refit
trials
(Operation NEPTUNE).
Carried out Flotilla minesweeping
exercises
April
Nominated for support of planned
allied landings in
Normandy with Flotilla.
Passage to Rosyth for repair.
4th
Taken in hand by HM Dockyard Rosyth.
11th
On completion of dockyard work took
passage to rejoin Flotilla.
(Note: Other ships in Flotilla were HM
Minesweepers HARRIER,
GLEANER, HALCYON, HUSSAR, JASON,
BRITOMART,
SEAGULL and SPEEDWELL.)
May
Nominated with Flotilla for mine
clearance of approach Channels to the
beach head anchorage areas.
(Note: Three Motor Launches and four
Isle- Class Danlayers were
attached to Flotilla for this
specialised operation
Took part in preparatory exercises
with ships of Force S (Exercise
FABIUS).
Carried out night sweeping exercises
with Flotilla.
For details of naval activities before
and during landings see LANDINGS
IN NORMANDY JUNE 1944 and OPERATION
NEPTUNE by K Edwards.
June
Deployed at Portsmouth for briefing
and preparations for minesweeping
of Channel 9 in advance of Assault
convoys.
4th
Operation delayed by 24 hours.
5th
Sailed from Solent to commence Channel
clearance.
No mines cleared or exploded.
6th
On completion deployed for mine
sweeping of anchorages.
8th
Deployed for widening approach
Channels and defence patrols off
Eastern Task Force landing areas.
Carried out Channel convoy escort as
required.
July
Channel minesweeping and convoy
defence in continuation,
(Note: Under threat of attack by
E-Boats and midget submarines.)
August
Channel deployment in continuation off
Arromanches with HM
Minesweepers HARRIER, JASON, HUSSAR,
GLEANER and
BRITOMART.
12th
Transferred to Le Havre area for mine
sweeping operation in anchorage
selected for bombardment of enemy
positions by HM Battleship
WARSPITE, HM Monitors EREBUS and
ROBERTS.
13th
Under shore fire during minesweeping
operations.
16th
Permission to remain in area instead
of taking passage back to Arromanches
approved in order to complete
clearance.
17th
During final clearance came under
rocket attacks by RAF TYPHOON
aircraft in which ship was hit and
stern structure demolished.
18th
Passage to Portsmouth under tow.
(Note: HMS HUSSAR and HMS BRITOMART
was also hit and sank.
HMS JASON and two trawlers were also
hit.)
(For details see OUT SWEEPS by Lund
and Ludlam, FRIEND OR FOE
by P Kemp and Naval Staff History.
This disaster was directly due to
failure of Flag Officer British
Assault Area to ensure that approval
of extended minesweeping
operation had been advised to all
concerned with air operations.)
September
Paid off and deployed at Portsmouth
for survey.
Withdrawn from operational service.
October
Passage under tow to Hartlepool.
to
Reduced to Reserve.
December
1 9 4 5
January
Laid-up at Hartlepool in continuation
February
Reduced to Reserve Category B
March
Laid-up at Hartlepool.
to
August
P o
s t W a r N o
t e s
HMS
SALAMANDER remained in Reserve at Hartlepool
and was
further reduced to Category C in
December 1945. The
ship was placed on the Disposal List
and sold to BISCO on 15th December
1946
for demolition by Hughes Bolcow.
She
arrived in tow at the Breaker’s yard
in Blyth on 7th May 1947.
Addendum
Link
to
www.halcyon-class.co.uk
by
Bill Burn