Background
Events - April-May 1940
Invasion of
Norway, Battles of Narvik, Blitzkrieg on Western
Europe, Dunkirk evacuation starts
1940
Wednesday,
22
May
Destroyers
FIREDRAKE
and FAME and French large destroyer MILAN
bombarded Narvik.
FAME and MILAN were hit by shore gunfire, and FAME retired to Skelfjord for repairs, but spent no time
out of service.
_____
Battlecruiser
RENOWN
was on DG trials at Rosyth, escorted by destroyers
HIGHLANDER, ASHANTI, BULLDOG. Fog prevented completion
of trials and she re-entered harbour.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
at Rosyth was ordered to
Portsmouth to serve under
Commander in Chief, Nore, but
on the 24th, was diverted to Harwich.
_____
Destroyers
ARROW
and FORTUNE departed Scapa Flow at 0700 to investigate
two or three
fishing vessels flying Swedish colours in 58‑14N, 0‑54W,
reported
at 1405/21st. They were not found, but there was
evidence of recent fishing. The
destroyers were ordered to patrol during the night on
meridian 1W between 58N
and 59N to search for suspicious vessels including
fishing vessels, motor torpedo
boats and U-boats. At
2130, ARROW sighted a periscope and FORTUNE dropped
depth
charges, but the contact was probably false. They left
the area at 0600/23rd.
_____
The
duty destroyer at Scapa Flow was put to fifteen minute notice from 2100 to
0600 to protect against U boats and motor torpedo boats
entering Scapa
Flow through the eastern
entrance.
_____
The
trawlers of the 11th Anti-Submarine Striking Force and
available trawlers of
the 1st and 19th Anti-Submarine Groups were ordered to
Harwich. This reduced
the forces at Scapa Flow to the point that anti-submarine patrols were not
possible.
_____
Submarine
SALMON
carried out Operation LAMP, the cutting of the cable off
Amsterdam, with trawler BARBADOS (211grt). The operation
was
covered by destroyers CODRINGTON and JAGUAR and
completed on the 24th but was
not successful.
_____
Submarine
STURGEON
departed Blyth on patrol.
_____
French
submarine
CALYPSO departed Lowestoft for Harwich.
_____
Submarines
SNAPPER
and L.26 departed Harwich on patrol.
_____
Submarine
depot
ship MAIDSTONE departed Greenock
for Rosyth. After calling at
Scapa
Flow
she departed on the 24th for Rosyth.
_____
Temporary
S/Lt
(A)F Leach RNVR, flying a Skua of 758 Squadron from
Eastleigh, was badly injured when the
sliding hood of his cockpit came away in the air and
struck him in the face.
_____
French
minelayer
POLLUX departed Dundee for Rosyth.
_____
French
cargo
steamers CAP HADID (1700grt) and VILLE DE MAJUNA (4792grt)
escorted by anti-submarine trawlers LEEDS UNITED and ARSENAL departed the Clyde
for Brest. These ships formed convoy
FR. 3, and were joined by steamers ROSE SCHAIFFINO and
CAP BLANC, which departed Liverpool on the 23rd. The
convoy
arrived at Brest
on the 25th.
_____
U.37
damaged British steamer DUNSTER GRANGE (9494grt) in
49‑20N, 08‑40W.
Destroyers MONTROSE, WAKEFUL, VANQUISHER and sloop
DEPTFORD were searching
for the submarine.
_____
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN was near missed by a German bomb at Boulogne and
suffered casualties.
_____
Destroyers
WHITSHED
and VIMIERA escorted British steamers BIARRITZ (2388grt)
and QUEEN OF THE
CHANNEL (1162grt), carrying an anti-tank company and one
company of the 69th
Anti-Tank Regiment, to Boulogne
departing Dover at 0520/22nd. WHITSHED
embarked refugees and the steamers embarked 800
personnel, who were returned
to Dover. British
steamer CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH (6009grt), carrying tanks,
arrived later on the 22nd at Calais escorted by
destroyers VIMY
and WOLSEY.
British
steamer
MONA'S QUEEN (2756grt) departed Dover at 0948 for
Boulogne escorted by destroyer
VENOMOUS.
Destroyer
VERITY
with steamers MAID OF ORLEANS and CANTERBURY departed
Dover for evacuation duties at Calais and returned that
day.
Destroyers
WILD
SWAN and WOLSEY with British steamers ST HELIER and
SOLIDARITY proceeded to Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
evacuated one hundred wounded. Steamer ST HELIER stayed
with the
destroyers and returned to Dover.
Destroyer
VERITY
departed Dover
the evening of 22 May to act
as a guardship at Boulogne.
The destroyer arrived early
on the 23rd.
Destroyers
VENETIA
and WINDSOR departed Dover escorting British steamer
AUTOCARRIER (22grt) to Calais
where they arrived at 1200.
The destroyers then acted as guardships at Calais.
_____
Demolition
parties
for the French Channel ports were embarked on Destroyers
at Dover. Destroyer WILD SWAN
embarked the Dunkirk
party XD.E (Cdr W. E.
Banks). Destroyer VENOMOUS embarked the Calais party
XD.F (Cdr C. S. B.
Swinley). Destroyer VIMY embarked the Boulogne party XD
G.(Lt Cdr A. E. P.
Welman DSO DSC Rtd.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN departed Dover
at 1026 and arrived at Dunkirk at 1305.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
arrived at Dunkirk
with steamers ISLE OF THANET and WORTHING from New Haven
and moored alongside
destroyer WILD SWAN.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN arrived back at Dover
at 1700 with seventy five
airmen, eight civilians, seventy five soldiers.
_____
Convoy FN.177 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The
convoy arrived at Southend on the 24th.
_____
Convoy MT.71 departed Methil, escorted by sloop HASTINGS.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne, later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.177 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop HASTINGS.
The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 24th.
_____
French
steamer
PORTRIEUX (2257grt) was sunk by German bombing off
Gravelines.
_____
French
steamer
TLEMCEN (4425grt), which was picking up survivors from
PORTRIEUX, collided
with British steamer EFFORD (393grt) three miles
southwest of Dover and EFFORD sank.
French
steamer
TLEMCEN was towed to Dover by tug SIMLA.
_____
British
fishing
smack TEASER (9grt) was sunk by a mine four hundred
yards west of
Tollesbury Pier, East Blackwater.
The
crew of two were rescued.
_____
Belgian
yacht
ALOHA (181grt) was sunk in mining off Ostend.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
EAGLE, light cruiser GLOUCESTER, which departed
Simonstown
on the 14th,and Australian light cruiser SYDNEY, which
departed Colombo on the 18th, arrived at Aden.
They
departed Aden
on the 23rd. On the 26th,
the cruisers arrived at Alexandria
as reinforcements for the
Mediterranean Fleet.
On
the 27th, aircraft carrier EAGLE arrived at Alexandria.
_____
German
steamer
HELENE (2160grt) was sunk on a mine in Hubert Bay near
Borkum.
Thursday,
23
May
Destroyers
FAME
and FIREDRAKE were damaged
by German bombing near Narvik.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
arrived at Harstad for repairs on the 24th, but due to
bombing had
to make her repairs while constantly underway. FIREDRAKE
returned to her
patrol station on the 26th.
_____
French
large
destroyer MILAN
was damaged by the near miss
of two German bombs near Narvik. MILAN was forced to
return to the Clyde, arriving on the 27th at
0625. She departed the Clyde that day with Contre Amiral Derrien aboard and
arrived at Brest
for repair and refitting on
the 29th.
_____
Aircraft
carriers
FURIOUS and GLORIOUS, escorted by destroyers VETERAN,
VISCOUNT,
DIANA, AMAZON, arrived at Scapa Flow at 2134 for refuelling.
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS departed the next day at 1315 escorted by
destroyers WREN,
ARROW, HIGHLANDER to disembark RAF 46 Squadron to a
shore aerodrome in Norway.
_____
Destroyers
HIGHLANDER,
ASHANTI,
BULLDOG escorted Battlecruiser
RENOWN on DGtrials on Inchkeith Range.
The
destroyers then proceeded to Scapa Flow arriving at 1915/23rd.
_____
Destroyers
ACASTA
and ARDENT departed Greenock at 1800 escorting British troopship ULSTER
PRINCE 3791grt).
The
troopship carried an army detachment to the Faroes to
relieve the Marine
Guard brought there by heavy cruiser SUFFOLK in April.
The
troops were safely delivered.
The
destroyers remained at the Faroes to escort a homebound
convoy from Narvik.
_____
Submarine
TRUANT
unsuccessfully attacked captured German steamer ALSTER,
escorted by
anti-submarine whaler ULLSWATER at 1436 at 71.03N,
24-26E. Submarine TRUANT
fired two torpedoes at the steamer, not knowing she had
been captured in
April by British forces.
_____
Prime
Minister
Churchill asked the Canadian Navy for all available
destroyers to
aid in operations in Home Waters.
Canadian
destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE (Cdr H.N. Lay RCN), SKEENA (Lt Cdr J. C.
Hibbard RCN), ST LAURENT (Lt Cdr H.G.DeWolf RCN)
departed Halifax on the 24th and arrived at Plymouth on
the 31st.
Canadian
destroyer
FRASER (Cdr W. B. Creery RCN), on patrol in the
Caribbean, set off from Bermuda on the 26th and arrived
at Plymouth on 3 June.
Canadian
destroyer
ASSINIBOINE, after refitting in April and May at Halifax,
arrived at St Johns for docking at the end of
May to complete at the end of the first week of June.
Destroyer
OTTAWA, which was damaged in a 10 April collision with
Canadian tug BANSURF, was repairing at Halifax
until mid June.
Destroyer
SAGUENAY
was long overdue for
docking, in poor shape, unable to make the Atlantic
crossing.
_____
Light
cruiser
SHEFFIELD was involved in a minor
collision with boom defense vessel MILFORD DUKE
(277grt).
_____
Destroyer
HARVESTER
was completed. Without working up, she proceeded to
Dunkirk for evacuation duties.
_____
French
large
destroyer JAGUAR (Capitaine de fregate M. J. Adam),
after radioing her
time of arrival, arrived off Dunkirk at 0020/23rd. She
was sunk
by German schnellboote S.21 and S.23 near Malo les
Bains.
Thirteen
crew
were lost in the destroyer.
_____
Submarine
TETRARCH
stopped three Danish fishing vessels in 56‑55N, 06‑50E.
One vessel was sunk and the other two were sent into
Leith as prizes.
At
1202, Danish fishing vessel TERIEVEN was stopped in
56-55N, 6-50E. Vessel
TERIEVEN was scuttled.
At
1330, Danish fishing vessel EMMANUEL was stopped in
56-59N, 06-58E.
At
1730, Danish fishing vessel JENS HVAS was stopped in
57-00N, 07-00E.
_____
At
51‑29N, 02‑38E in the North Sea,
U.9 sank German steamer
SIGURDS FAULBAUMS (3256grt), which had been taken in
prize by Belgian forces
at Antwerp on the 10th 1940.
_____
Greek
steamer
GALAXIAS (4393grt) was sunk by German bombing at Dieppe.
The
entire crew was rescued.
_____
DestroyerVIMIERA
(Lt
Cdr R. B. N. Hicks) brought British steamers KOHISTAN
(5884grt) and
BENLAWERS (5943grt) to Calais
with tanks and motor
transport for the troops ashore.
Steamer
KOHISTAN
got away from Calais
the next day with a large
number of troops and wounded and arrived at Dover on the
24th.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
(Lt Cdr P. D. H.R. Pelly) brought the 30th Brigade to
Calais on steamers ARCHANGEL (2448grt) and ROYAL
DAFFODIL
(2060grt) screened on their trip across the channel by
destroyers KEITH and
WHITSHED (Cdr E. R. Conder).
Destroyer
VENETIA
(Lt Cdr B. H.de C. Mellor)
from the Nore joined the Destroyer WINDSOR at Calais.
Destroyer
VERITY
(Lt Cdr A. R. M. Black) arrived at Dover early on the
23rd from Boulogne with General Brownrigg, the
Adjutant General of the B. E.F. and his staff, to
clarify the situation.
Destroyer
VERITY
departed Dover
and arrived at Calais at 2300 bringing the
commander of the Canadian Division, Major General A.
G.L. McNaughton. The
General was to see if it were feasible to keep the B.
E.F. 's line of
communication open through Calais or Dunkirk.
Destroyer
VERITY
returned to Dover
on the 24th with two General
officers and 150 troops.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
escorted two hospital carriers to Calais and remained
there on guard
duties.
Approaching
Dover on their return, destroyer WHITSHED was ordered to Boulogne.
_____
At
Boulogne all day were Destroyers KEITH (Captain D. J. R.
Simson, Captain D.17), VIMY (Lt Cdr C. G.W. Donald),
WILD SWAN (Lt Cdr J.
L.Younghusband) bombarding German targets.
Additionally
off
Boulogne was French Destroyer Flotilla 2 (Capitaine de
Vaisseau Urvoy de Portzamparc on destroyer CYCLONE) with
large destroyers
LEOPARD and CHACAL and destroyers CYCLONE, FOUGUEUX,
BOURRASQUE, ORAGE,
MISTRAL, FRONDEUR, SIROCCO, FOUDROYANT.
French
destroyer
OURAGAN of this Flotilla was repairing at Brest and
destroyers BOULONNAISand
BRESTOIS, after operations off Norway, were en route to
the Mediterranean.
This
Flotilla, based at Brest,
had already lost large
destroyer JAGUAR and destroyer L'ADROIT in the past few
days.
In
late afternoon, destroyers VENETIA, VIMIERA, VENOMOUS arrived from Dover
to reinforce ships off Boulogne.
Destroyer
VIMY
landeda party of 200 seamen and a detachment of Royal
Marines to restore
order in the harbour
of Boulogne.
_____
The
evacuation of Boulogne,
Operation BUNGALOW, began
with Destroyers KEITH and VIMY entering harbour. A bomb
exploded on the quay
next to KEITH which was medium damaged and Captain
Simson was killed by
machine gun fire. After embarking one hundred and eighty
troops, KEITH had to
back out of the harbour stern first with a fire aft.
In
addition to Captain Simson, seven ratings were killed
and twenty eight men were
wounded, including Lt Cdr R. S. Miller RNR.
Destroyer
VIMY,
while embarking troops, sustained medium damage and her
commanding
officer Lt Cdr C. G W. Donald was mortally wounded. The
destroyer was able to
embark one hundred and fifty troops.
In
addition to her commanding officer, Temporary S/Lt D. R.
Webster RNVR was
killed and several men were slightly wounded.
Backing
out
of the harbour, destroyer KEITH was struck by a mortar
shell on her
forecastle.
Destroyers
WHITSHED
and VIMIERA while standing off the harbour were attacked
by German
bombers. Destroyer WHITSHED sustained light damage from
the near miss of an
air bomb.
Gunner
(T)
W. J. Wilson was killed and S/Lt P. L.K Needham and ten
ratings were
wounded on destroyer WHITSHED.
French
destroyer
ORAGE (Capitaine de corvette R. V. M. Viennot de
Vanblanc) was
bombed and set afire four miles west of Boulogne and
destroyer FRONDEUR
(Capitaine de corvette H.L. Alix) was badly damaged by
German bombing off Boulogne. Twenty eight crew were lost
in the destroyer.
Destroyer
ORAGE
was later scuttled.
Destroyers
WHITSHED
and VIMIERA entered Boulogne harbour next. Embarking
troops, both destroyers escaped further damage.
Destroyer
WHITSHED
embarked five hundred and eighty troops and destroyer
VIMIERA
embarked one thousand, nine hundred and fifty five
troops in two trips.
Destroyers
WILD
SWAN, VENOMOUS, VENETIA entered the harbour after WHITSHED and VIMIERA
left.
Destroyers
WILD
SWAN and VENOMOUS ran aground, but were able to get
themselves off. VENETIA was seriously damaged with a
hit on her B-gun platform. Killed were S/Lt M. E.
L.Maunsell and twenty
ratings. The commanding officer Lt Cdr B. H.de C.
Mellor, Lt R. J. R.
Wratislaw, eleven ratings were wounded. VENETIA ran
aground and was brought
out of the harbour stern first, under the command of
S/Lt D. H.Jones RNR.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN embarked four hundred and three troops. Destroyer
VENOMOUS embarked
five hundred troops. Destroyer VENETIA
did not embark any troops.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
(Lt Cdr P. D. H.R. Pelly), off Calais, was ordered to
Boulogne where she picked up six
hundred men, including thirty wounded, at about 2030.
Captain
S.
E. Thomas Rtd of VICTORY was killed by gunfire at
Boulogne.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON departed Rosyth for operations off Narvik.
_____
British
steamer
COXWOLD (1124grt) escorted by anti-submarine trawlers
PRESTON
NORTHEND (419grt) and LINCOLN CITY
(398grt) departed Scapa Flow
for Harstad.
_____
British
steamers
BROOMDALE (8334grt), NARVA (1575grt), META (1578grt),
CALUMET
(7268grt), MARINA (5088grt) and Norwegian steamer CLIO
(556grt) departed
Harstad unescorted.
On
the 26th, destroyers ACASTA and ARDENT departed the
Faroes to join the
convoy.
Destroyer
MASHONA
departed Scapa Flow at 1000/27th to meet the convoy.
All
three destroyers could not locate the convoy until
0240/28th after a search
in low visibility.
On
the 27th, steamers CALUMET and MARINA were detached to
Destroyer MASHONA
which arrived with them in Scapa Flow at 1600/28th.
The
rest of the convoy arrived safely in the Clyde at
1415/29th.
_____
Submarine
TRITON
stopped a Danish fishing vessel in the North Sea.
The
submarine was told to sink the fishing vessel if she
could accomodate the
crew. If not, she was to release the fishing vessel
which she was forced to
do.
Submarine
TRITON
was ordered to release French submarine SFAX on patrol.
_____
Polish
submarine
ORZEL departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
French
submarine
SFAX arrived at Dundee after patrol.
_____
Convoy
AB
2 with British steamers SICILIAN PRINCE (3489grt,
Commodore Rear Admiral
K. E. L.Creighton, MVO Rtd), LYCAON (7350grt),
BELLEROPHON (9019grt), DORSET
COAST (646grt) departed the Clyde for Reykavik escorted
by anti-submarine
trawlers AYRSHIRE (540grt), NOTTS COUNTY (541 tons,
NORWICH CITY (541grt), CAPE COMORIN
(504grt). The convoy was met by armed merchant cruiser
SALOPIAN south of Iceland and the convoy safely
arrived at Reykavik on the 27th.
_____
Convoy FN.178 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WALLACE.
French submarine CALYPSO traveled with the convoy. The
convoy arrived at
Methil on the 25th.
_____
Convoy MT.72 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The
convoy arrived at the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.178 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 25th.
_____
Convoy
HG.31
with twenty two ships departed Gibraltar. The convoy was
escorted by
destroyer KEPPEL from 24 May to 2 June. The convoy was
given ocean escort by
sloop SCARBOROUGH from 23 May to 2 June.
Corvette
ARABIS
escorted the convoy from 31 May to 2 June. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on 2 June.
_____
Battleship
ROYAL
SOVEREIGN, light cruiser CALEDON, destroyers DIAMOND and
VENDETTA departed Alexandria
for Malta.
These
ships
were joined on the 24th by British steamer NEVASA
(9213grt).
On
the 25th, light cruiser CALYPSO joined.
_____
German
steamer
FRANZ HANIEL (2188grt) was sunk on a German defensive
minefield near Kiel.
_____
British
troopships
ORONSAY arrived at Gibraltar
from Malta, escorted by destroyers
DOUGLAS and WISHART. She departed the next day for
Liverpool, escorted by destroyer
DOUGLAS.
Destroyer
DOUGLAS
was detached and joined British steamer WINDSOR CASTLE
on the 26th. The steamer
arrived at Gibraltar on the 28th, escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS and
WISHART. Steamer
WINDSOR CASTLE then departed and proceeded
to Freetown.
_____
French
large
destroyer LION departed Malta
escorting British troopships
OTRANTO and ORFORD to Toulon,
arriving on the 24th.
_____
Convoy
SL.33
departed Freetown
escorted by armed merchant
cruiser BULOLO to 6 June.
On
6 June, sloop LEITH and corvette ARABIS joined the convoy and escorted it to arrival on
9 June.
_____
French
submarine
REDOUTABLE departed Casablanca escorted by armed patrol
vessel PASCAL PAOLI.
The
submarine arrived at Bizerte
on the 27th.
24 May, Friday
Late
on the 23rd, destroyer VIMIERA on her second trip picked
up the last of the Boulogne evacuatees, some 800 French
and Belgian troops. Destroyer WESSEX operated off
Boulogne but did not enter the
harbour.
Some
two hundred troops had to be left behind and were
captured by German forces
on the 24th.
At
0200, destroyers VIMIERA and WESSEX arrived at Dover.
Destroyers
VIMIERA
and WESSEX
were the only two undamaged
destroyers of the Dover Command.
_____
French
large
destroyer CHACAL (Capitaine de fregate J. E. N.
Estienne), after
delivering the demolition party to Calais, arrived off
Boulogne and was sunk off Cape d'
Alprecht by German bombing.
French
destroyer
FOUGUEUX (Capitaine de fregate E. E. Y. Poher) was badly
damaged by
bombing in the same attack.
French
submarine
chasers CH.5 and CH.42 rescued the twenty one survivors
of CHACAL.
The
surviving destroyers of the French 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla were ordered
withdrawn from Boulogne
to Cherbourg.
_____
Vice
Admiral Sir James Somerville KCB, DSO, commanded the
British Calais support
force.
Destroyers
GRAFTON
and GREYHOUND and Polish destroyer BURZA (Cdr Wojciech
Francki), on
patrol off Aldeburgh, were ordered to Dover. They then
set off to Calais to provide fire support for
the British troops ashore.
Light
cruisers
ARETHUSA (Captain Q. D. Graham) and GALATEA (Captain B.
B.
Schofield) departed Portsmouth
to operate in the area in
support roles, but returned when they found they could
not arrive off Calais before dark.
Destroyers
WOLFHOUND
and VIMIERA departed Dover for Calais at 1000.
Off
Calais, destroyer WESSEX
(Lt Cdr W. A. R.
Cartwright), which departed Dover at 0700, was sunk by
German
bombing when she was struck by three bombs between the
funnels.
Five
ratings were killed, one died of wounds, fifteen were
wounded. The survivors
were rescued by destroyer VIMIERA. Minesweeping trawler
JOHN CATTLING
(276grt) picked up one officer and five ratings from a
Carley float.
Polish
destroyer
BURZA was damaged by two bombs exploding in the water
very near her
bows. The concussion also damaged her superstructure and
she could only steam
three to four knots stern first. One rating was killed
in the destroyer.
Destroyer
VERITY
and tug LADY BRASSEY arrived on the scene to assist
BURZA, but she was
able to proceed under her own power.
Destroyer
BURZA
departed Dover
on the 25th towed by two
tugs and escorted by anti-submarine trawler KINGSTON
OLIVINE. She was taken
to Portsmouth for repairs which were completed on 27 July.
Destroyer
VIMIERA
was bombed and damaged off Calais.
Destroyer
VIMIERA
was withdrawn for repairs which were completed in ten
days. Destroyer
VIMIERA arrived at Scapa Flow for escort duties on 9 June.
Minesweeping
trawler
JOHN CATTLING (276grt) was sent to Calais to act as a
W/T link.
_____
Destroyers
WOLSEY
and WINDSOR departed Dover at 0935 with demolition
parties for Le Havre.
The
destroyers were then sent to Calais before returning to
Dover.
_____
Destroyers
WOLFHOUND
and VERITY were ordered at 1339 to bring ammunition to
Calais for the British troops
encircled there.
Destroyer
VERITY,
after assisting Polish destroyer BURZA, also landed a
Royal Marine
Guard to protect the harbour.
_____
Motor
torpedo
boat MTB.25 proceeded to Calais
with primers for the
demolition charges.
_____
After
bombing
southwest of Calais,
a Swordfish of 825 Squadron
was shot down. Lt M. R. North and Leading Airman C. A.
Chichester were
killed.
_____
Destroyers
GALLANT,
JACKAL, JAVELIN, JAGUAR screened the six minesweeping
trawlers,
which had also been used in operation QUIXOTE on the
20th, cutting the
telegraph cables between Lowestoft, Benacre, Aldeburgh
on the East Coast and
Zaandvoort and Domburg in Operation QUENTIN.
_____
Tug
DAPPER (419grt) was sent from Dover at 0830 to assist
British
steamer BHUTAN
(6104grt) which had been
badly damaged in a collision.
_____
Lt
K. P. Gurr and Lt R. Carpmael were killed when their
Swordfish of 812
Squadron was shot down over the Calais-Gravelines road.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS was completed.
Aircraft
carrier
ILLUSTRIOUS departed Liverpool on the 24th.
Destroyers
ESCORT,
VANOC, WITHERINGTON departed the Clyde at 0300 and
rendezvoused
with aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS off the Bar Light
Vessel at 1400 for
acceptance trials.
The
British ships arrived in the Clyde at 2030/25th.
_____
Heavy
cruiser
SUSSEX
departed the Clyde after refitting and arrived
at Scapa
Flow
at 1415/25th.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
BONAVENTURE was completed. She was the first cruiser of
the new DIDO
class to be completed.
_____
Light
cruiser
ENTERPRISE
departed Harstad with the
remaining nineteen tons of Norwegian gold reserves.
Despite
two
German air attacks en route, the cruiser safely arrived
at Scapa Flow at 1740/26th. She then
proceeded at 1600/27th to Greenock where the gold was offloaded.
Cruiser
ENTERPRISE continued on to Plymouth,
arriving on the 29th for
refitting. The cruiser was under refit from 31 May to 22
June.
_____
Destroyers
ANTELOPE
and BRAZEN arrived at Scapa Flow at 0720 and 1900,
respectively,
after having been detached from aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL's screen.
The
aircraft carrier was delayed due to fog.
_____
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
at Lerwick was ordered to investigate a direction
finding reading
in 59-55N, 00-00W. Fog hindered the unsuccessful search.
The
destroyer arrived back at Scapa Flow at 0430/26th.
_____
Six
Tribal destroyers to be joined by destroyer TARTAR (D 6)
were designated to form
a Striking Force at Rosyth.
_____
The
9th Destroyer Flotilla was returned to the Western
Approaches Command.
_____
Destroyers
BRAZEN,
BASILISK, BULLDOG were returned to the Nore Command.
Destroyer
BULLDOG
departed Scapa Flow at 1600 for Harwich to rejoin the Nore Command.
Destroyer
BRAZEN
departed Scapa Flow at 2230 for Rosyth to boiler clean prior to rejoining
the Nore Command.
Destroyers
BASILISK
and MATABELE departed Greenock
at 1130 for Devonport.
Destroyer
BASILISK
repaired brickwork and boiler cleaned at Devonport.
After repairs,
the destroyer proceeded to the Nore Command.
Destroyer
MATABELE
continued on to Falmouth
to repair grounding damage.
_____
Destroyer
WOLVERINE
departed Greenock at 1430 for Plymouth
to make good defects.
_____
Submarine
SHARK
and French submarine SYBILLE arrived Rosyth after
patrol.
_____
Submarine
SPEARFISH
arrived at Blyth after patrol.
_____
French
submarine
AMAZONE docked at Rosyth.
_____
British
steamer
BRIGHTON (2391grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dieppe Quay.
Steamer
BRIGHTON
had been bombed and badly
damaged on the 21st. There was no crew aboard her on the
24th.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweepers LA MATELOT (260grt) was sunk by German
bombing and
ETOILE DE NORD (317grt) was sunk in mining at Dunkirk.
_____
Convoy
OA.154
departed Southend escorted by sloop ABERDEEN.
_____
Convoy
OB.154
departed Liverpool escorted by sloop SANDWICH
from 24 to 27 May. The
convoy dispersed on the 28th.
_____
Convoy FN.179 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WALPOLE. The
convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 26th.
_____
U.37
sank Greek steamer KYMA (3994grt) in 48‑30N, 09‑30W.
Seven
crew
were lost on the Greek steamer. The survivors were
picked up in 49-08N,
06-06W.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CARLISLE, destroyers KANDAHAR, KHARTOUM, KIMBERLEY,
KINGSTON, sloops AUCKLAND and FLAMINGO arrived at Suez
from the Mediterranean as convoy escorts for Red Sea
shipping.
_____
French
sloops
ANNAMITE, SURPRISE, which was escorting steamers
CHANTILLY and COMPIEGNE, GAZELLE, CHAMOIS passed
Gibraltar en route from Brest to Algiers, where they
arrived on the
25th.
_____
Convoy
HX.45
departed Halifax
at 1200 escorted by Canadian
destroyers SAGUENAY, SKEENA, ST
LAURENT, which were detached on the
25th.
Convoy
BHX.45
departed Bermuda on the 23rd escorted locally by sloop PENZANCE
and an ocean escort of armed
merchant cruiser RAJPUTANA. The convoy rendezvoused with
HX.45 on the 29th
and the armed merchant cruiser was detached.
The
ocean escort for the convoy was Armed merchant cruiser
VOLTAIRE which joined
the convoy at 1830/24th. The armed merchant cruiser was
detached on 4 June.
On
5 June, sloop SANDWICH and corvette PERIWINKLE joined the convoy. On 6 June,
the corvette was detached and the sloop was detached on
7 June. Corvette
HIBISCUS joined the convoy on 7 June and escorted it to
its arrival at Liverpool
on 8 June.
_____
Australian
light
cruiser HOBART arrived at Port Sudan.
Saturday,
25
May
Aircraft
carriers
ARK ROYAL (Vice Admiral Aircraft Carriers) and FURIOUS
with
destroyers ANTELOPE, CAMPBELL,
AMAZON, ENCOUNTER, VISCOUNT
departed Scapa Flow at 1545 for the Clyde.
Shortly
after sailing, destroyer VOLUNTEER departed Scapa Flow
at 1615 and relieved
ENCOUNTER which proceeded to Rosyth for boiler cleaning
and
repairs. The
ARK ROYAL group safely arrived in the Clyde at
1600/26th.
_____
Destroyer
FURY
and a second destroyer departed Scapa Flow at 1000 to
investigate
Italian steamers BARBANA C. (6161grt) and ANDREA
(5152grt) anchored in Saviskaill Bay, Westray Firth,
Orkneys.
Anti-submarine trawler HUGH WALPOLE had been ordered to
this location on the
24th, but was unable to make contact due to very thick
fog. The
Italian steamers were escorted by destroyer FURY to
Kirkwall for inspection. FURY arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1915.
_____
Destroyers
BEDOUIN
and FOXHOUND departed the Clyde at 1550 for Scapa
Flow. En
route, they conducted an anti-submarine sweep from North
Channel to Lower Minch, then from North Minch to
Pentland Firth, arriving at Scapa Flow at 1745/26th.
_____
Destroyer
KELVIN
departed the Tyne at 1715 after refit and repairs, and called
at Rosyth for tests on the DG range.
_____
Destroyer
WARWICK
departed Greenock for Liverpool where she arrived at 0130/26th.
_____
Polish
submarine
ORZEL (Lt Cdr J. Grudzinski ORP), which had departed
Rosyth on
patrol on the 23rd, was lost in mining off the southwest
coast of Norway.
_____
French
depot
ship JULES VERNE and submarines SYBILLE, CALYPSO, THETIS
arrived at Dundee.
_____
French
submarine
ACHILLE and minelayer POLLUX departed Rosyth for
Cherbourg.
_____
Submarine
SEVERN
departed Rosyth for patrol
off Stadlandet, but had to return to Dundee to effect
repairs to a leaking
conning tower hatch. She was able to depart later that
same day.
_____
Mobile
Naval
Base Ship MASHOBRA (Temporary Lt Cdr P. Taylor RNR) was
bombed and badly
damaged in German bombing near Harstad, and run aground
to prevent her
from sinking. No men killed, but several, including
Temporary Paymaster Lt W H Reed RNR were wounded.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON was near missed by German bombing at
Harstad, but only sustained splinter damage.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler
CAPE WARWICK
reported making a strong
contact at position 7.5 miles 108° from Auskerry. After
attacks on a stationary
target, she proceeded to join her convoy and
anti-submarine trawler SCALBY WYKE was sent from Kirkwall to remain over it until 1727/26th.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers
JUNIPER, HAZEL, WHITEHORN of the 19th Anti-Submarine
Striking Force
departed Scapa Flow with oilers COWRIE and SYLVAFIELD and collier
KIRKWOOD
for the Clyde. A second collier was to
join them from Stornoway.
_____
Minesweeping
Group 14 of minesweeping trawlers EPINE, THEIR MERIT,
CARDIFF CASTLE, STAR OF ORKNEY departed Scapa Flow for
Yarmouth.
_____
Swedish
steamers
DAHLIA (1078grt), LYGIA (1480grt),and BRITA (1345grt)
were seized by
German forces at Bergen.
DAHLIA was renamed JOHANNES WILLI in German service,
LYGIA renamed MALMEDY, and
BRITA renamed DESIDERIUS SIEDLER.
_____
German
operation
BIENE was successfully completed by the 181st Infantry
Division
against a British communications centre on Alsten Island
near Mosjoen.
_____
At
1032, destroyer GREYHOUND was ordered to patrol between
Dover and Calais and await orders. GREYHOUND and
sister-ship GRAFTON suffered damage to their directors
from near misses of air bombs. Later, GREYHOUND
bombarded the Calais suburb of St Pierre, but a German
three inch battery
east of Sangetti hit her once. Temporary Lt Sir M C H F
J Blennerhassett Bt RNVR and one rating were killed,
and three crew, including Lt Cdr H E F Tweedie, were
wounded. Lt J P Pigot-Moodie died of wounds on 4 August.
Both
destroyers arrived back at Dover before midnight.
_____
Light
cruisers
GALATEA and ARETHUSA arrived at Sheerness.
_____
Early
on
the 25th, destroyer WOLFHOUND, after bombarding German
targets off Calais, arrived at Calais to disembark
ammunition for the British troops. Also aboard was Vice
Admiral Somerville
which had come to Calais
to inform Brigadier
Nicholson that there would be no evacuation from Calais.
_____
Late
on the 25th, destroyers VERITY and WINDSOR escorted the
six minesweepers,
trawlers, yachts clearing the evacuation route to
Calais. Captain Armed Patrol Boats
was also in the area with six drifters. While
at sea, the ships were advised that the evacuation was
cancelled and the
destroyers covered the minesweepers' retirement. The
ships returned to Dover and Harwich by dawn in the
absence of orders.
_____
Destroyer
JACKAL
at 0215 attacked a submarine contact in 52-15N, 2-00E,
and destroyers
GALLANT, JAGUAR, JAVELIN joined in the search for U.9,
but without success. The submarine escaped.
_____
Destroyer
VEGA
(Cdr C I Horton), patrol sloops MALLARD, WIDGEON,
SHELDRAKE,
minesweepers FITZROY, SUTTON, SALTASH departed Sheerness
on the 24th with
blockships FLORENTINO (1822grt, Cdr G.A.
Garnons-Williams in charge of the
operation) and TRANSEA (1499grt) for Zeebrugge in
Operation EF, also known as
Operation LYSTER. Patrol sloop SHEARWATER joined from
convoy escort and
relieved sloop WIDGEON shortly after sailing. Motor
torpedo boats MTB.15 and MTB.16 and minesweeping
trawlers
CLYTHNESS and LORD GREY also took part in this operation.
Patrol
sloop
SHEARWATER attacked a submarine contact in 51-21. 5N,
2-46E.
The
attempt failed the night of 24/25 May when FLORENTINO
accidentally ran
aground out of the channel and TRANSEA, not seeing the
error, scuttled
herself nearby. MTB 15 and MTB.16
took off the crews of the
blockships.
Destroyer
VEGA,
sloops MALLARD, SHEARWATER, SHELDRAKE,MTB 14, MTB.15,
most of the original
force, less the minesweepers, returned the night of
26/27 May with blockships
ATLANTIC GUIDE (1943grt) and BORODINO (2004grt) which
were originally
designated for Ostend, Operation DF.
The
blockships sank between 0642 and 0655/27th and Zeebrugge
harbour was blocked,
their crews rescued by MTB.14 and MTB.15.
Destroyer
VEGA
escorting Dutch submarine O 13 off Zeebrugge was
unsuccessfully attacked
by German motor torpedo boats which claimed sinking both
ships.
Destroyer
VEGA
was also attacked by German bombers and damaged by near
misses. She was
taken to Dover
and repaired completing on 3
June.
Minesweeping
HARRIER,
minesweeping off Zeebrugge, was attacked by German
bombers.
One
hit and five near misses badly damaged the minesweeper.
The hit entered
through the upper deck and passed out through the port
side.
Minesweeper
HARRIER
arrived in the Thames on the 27th was repaired completing on 9 July.
_____
Motor
torpedo
boat MTB.22 from Harwich joined motor torpedo boat
MTB.25
off Dover, then both proceeded to Dunkirk.
The
boats brought back twenty to thirty members of the
Belgian government.
On
arrival back at Dover,
MTB.25 proceeded to Harwich.
_____
Minesweeping
trawler
CHARLES BOYES (290grt, Temporary Skipper G.Reynolds RNR)
was sunk on a mine off the
east coast of England.
Reynolds,
Temporary
Skipper W. Gregson RNR,
thirteen ratings were
missing from the trawler.
_____
British
steamer
SPINEL (680grt) was sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk.
Her
crew of nine was rescued.
On 4 July, she was salved by German forces and taken in prize.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweepers LA JEANNINE (49grt) and LA TROMBE II (tons)
were sunk
by German bombing at Dunkirk.
_____
Panamanian
tanker
JOSEPH SEEP (7088grt) was sunk in a mining off Le Havre
Roads.
The
entire crew in liferafts from the tanker were towed to
safety by a lifeboat
from Norwegian steamer LYSTAAD.
_____
Convoy
OG.31F
was made from convoys OA.153GF, which departed Southend
on the 22nd
escorted by destroyer MACKAY, OB.153GF, which departed
Liverpool on the 22nd escorted by
sloops ENCHANTRESS and LEITH, of fifty five ships.
Submarine
H.31
accompanied convoy OA.153GF on passage to Portsmouth.
Sloop
ENCHANTRESS
escorted the convoy on the 25th.
Destroyer
MACKAY
escorted the convoy from 25 to 27 May.
Sloop
LEITH
escorted the convoy from 25
to 28 May and then was detached to convoy HG.32F.
Destroyer
WATCHMAN
joined on the 28th and escorted the convoy to Gibraltar,
where it arrived on the
30th.
_____
Convoy
SA.42
arrived at St Malo from Southampton.
_____
Convoy FN.180 departed Southend, escorted by sloop HASTINGS.
The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 27th.
_____
Convoy MT.73 departed Methil, escorted by sloop LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived at the Tyne, later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.179 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived at
Southend on the 27th.
Sunday,
26
May
Destroyer
KELVIN
departed Rosyth at 1800 escorting A. S. I. S. NGAKAO and
ARBROATH to Scapa Flow.
Destroyer
FORESIGHT
departed Scapa Flow at 0400/27th to assist.
Destroyer
FORESIGHT
and the A. S. I. S. ships arrived at Scapa Flow at
0830/28th.
Destroyer
KELVIN
had lost touch in the fog and arrived off Scapa Flow
after the visibility
improved at 1200/28th.
Destroyer
KELVIN
was joined by destroyer ZULU at Hoxa Entrance to screen
heavy cruiser SUSSEX for HA firings.
The
destroyers returned to the harbour entrance at
1945/28th.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CURLEW (Captain B. C. B. Brooke), en route to Skaanland,
was badly
damaged by German bombing on the 26th in Ofotfjord and
run aground a total
loss.
Paymaster
Cdr
William Yates, Paymaster S/Lt D. H.Jackson, Temporary
Paymaster S/Lt A.
M. L.Merry RNVR, Acting S/Lt H.N. Hinge RNVR, five
ratings were killed on the
cruiser.
The
survivors from CURLEW were ferried to destroyer BEAGLE
which took them to
Harstad.
_____
Boom
defense vessel LOCH SHIN (255grt, Temporary Boom Skipper
H.Sizer RNR) was badly damaged by German
bombing at Harstad. She was beached to prevent sinking,
but capsized and
sank.
_____
British
tanker
OLEANDER (7048grt) was badly damaged by German bombing
at Harstad.
The
tanker's crew of thirty eight crew and one gunner were
rescued.
She
was run aground on the 27th to prevent sinking.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS flew Hurricanes of 46 Squadron ashore to the
Harstad area
for local defense duties.
_____
Late
on the 26th, light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON, anti-aircraft
cruisers COVENTRY and CAIRO, destroyers FIREDRAKE, FAME,
BEAGLE bombarded Narvik.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON was again splinter damaged by the near
misses of German
bombing at Harstad.
_____
Destroyer
ESCORT
departed Greenock at 1000 for Plymouth.
_____
Minesweepers
HEBE
and SHARPSHOOTER of the 1st Minesweeping Squadron
departed Scapa Flow for Dover to replace damaged units
in
the 6th Minesweeping Squadron.
_____
Light
cruiser
GALATEA screened by destroyer GRAFTON departed Sheerness
at 0440 and
bombarded German targets at Calais from 0700 to 1000.
Destroyers
WOLSEY
and WOLFHOUND bombarded Calais.
Light
cruiser
ARETHUSA departed Sheerness at 1537. Screened by
destroyer GRAFTON,
the light cruiser bombarded German targets later in the
day until 2030 when
poor visibility due to fog forced stopping the
bombardment.
A
Swordfish spotting for light cruiser GALATEA was
attacked by German fighters.
S/Lt J. B. Kiddle and Naval Airman 1st Class V. S. A.
Moore were unhurt, but
Lt G.N. Beaumont was thrown from the plane and lost
during evasive manuevers.
_____
Destroyer
IVANHOE
was damaged alongside an oiler at the Humber. The damage
did not prevent
the destroyer from continuing her duties.
_____
Minesweeping
trawler
MARETTA (350grt) was damaged by the near misses of
German bombing at Calais.
The
minesweeper was towed by Dover
by minesweeping trawler
KINGSTON GALENA.
_____
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN on two trips to Dunkirk
escorted British steamers
MAID OF ORLEANS (2386grt) and CANTERBURY (2910grt) from
Dover to Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WILD
SWAN departed Dunkirk
early on the 27th escorting
MAID OF ORLEANS, CANTERBURY,
MONA'S QUEEN (2756grt) to Dover and French steamer ROUEN
(1182grt) leaving for Cherbourg.
Returning
to
Dover, destroyer WILD SWAN was damaged by a bombing near
miss which damaged her screws. She proceeded to Tilbury
for repairs from 29
May to 4 June.
_____
Destroyer
WOLSEY
was sent to Dunkirk
to act as a W/T link.
_____
Submarine
TETRARCH
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
Submarines
SUNFISH
and SEALION departed Harwich to patrol in the vicinity
of Brown Ridge
to protect British forces from interference by German
naval vessels.
Submarine
STURGEON
left her patrol area to reinforce these submarines.
Submarine
TAKU
departed Rosyth on the 27th to take over submarine
STURGEON's billet.
_____
Submarine
SALMON
searched for a downed air crew in her area in the North
Sea, due to no surface vessels
being available for the duty.
_____
There
was
some reorganization of the Submarine Flotillas.
French
submarines
CASABIANCA, SFAX, RUBIS were transferred to the 10th
Submarine
Flotilla.
Submarines
SEVERN
and CLYDE were transferred to the 3rd
Submarine Flotilla.
Submarine
PORPOISE
was transferred to the 6th Submarine Flotilla.
The
9th Submarine Flotilla command lapsed at this time.
_____
Minesweepers
SKIPJACK
and HALCYON arrived at Dover during the afternoon.
These
were
the only operational units of the 6th Mine Sweeping
Flotilla.
Minesweepers HUSSAR and HARRIER were bomb damaged and
minesweeper SPEEDWELL
was out of service due to defects.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper DIJONNAIS (389grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
_____
French
steamer
SAINT CAMILLE (3274grt) was sunk by German bombing off
Dunkirk.
_____
French
steamer
CERES (3073grt) was sunk by German bombing between Rouen
and Dunkirk.
_____
Convoy FN.181 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 28th.
_____
Convoy MT.74 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VANSITTART. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.180 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VANSITTART. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 28th.
_____
Belgian
dredger
VOLKRACHT IV (300grt) was sunk by a mine in the
Zeebrugge Canal.
_____
Armed
merchant
cruiser ASTURIAS, which had arrived at Gibraltar on the
22nd, was damaged
when a fire broke out in the ship at 0200/26th at
Gibraltar.
The
fire took thirty hours to control by local fire
authorities and parties from
destroyers VELOX and VIDETTE.
_____
Armed
merchant
cruiser CHESHIRE
departed Gibraltar, escorted by destroyer
KEPPEL. The cruiser was proceeding to patrol off Vigo.
_____
With
Italy entering the war at any time, Australian troop
convoy US 3 was ordered
to Capetown while still in the Indian Ocean, rather that
risking a passage
through the Red Sea.
On
20 May, Australian heavy cruiser CANBERRA of the US 3
escort was relieved by
heavy cruiser SHROPSHIRE.
Australian
heavy
cruiser CANBERRA
returned to Australia.
On
the 26th, the convoy and her escorts arrived at
Capetown.
On
the 31st, convoy US 3, less troopship EMPRESS OF
JAPAN (26,032grt), departed Capetown with Heavy cruisers
SHROPSHIRE and CUMBERLAND for Freetown arriving on 7
June.
Monday,
27
May
Battlecruiser
HOOD,
her refit completed, departed Devonport at 1100 escorted
by destroyers
ESCORT, WITCH, WOLVERINE for Liverpool where they arrived on the 28th.
_____
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
was at Lerwick to provide local defense protection until
shore
batteries were erected.
_____
Destroyer
ESKIMO
was towed by repair ship VINDICTIVE from Skelfjord to
Harstad arriving
on the 17th.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
departed Harstad at 0100/27th under the tow of tug
BANDIT and escorted
by sloop FLEETWOOD. British steamer DEVON CITY
(4928grt), cable ship LASSO,
captured German steamer ALSTER (8514grt) accompanied
this force.
Destroyer
AMAZON
joined this group on the 30th.
Destroyer
VOLUNTEER
left her convoy of troopships BATORY and SOBIESKI, en
route to
Harstad, to join the ESKIMO group on the 30th.
Sloop
FLEETWOOD
was relieved on the 31st by destroyer WREN, which
departed Scapa Flow on the 31st, FLEETWOOD arrived
in Scapa
Flow
at 0300 on 1 June.
Boom
carrier DEVON CITY
arrived at Scapa Flow at 2157/31st with her
commanding officer, ten other officers, 184 other ranks
of a Royal Marine
Field Unit.
Steamer
ALSTER
arrived with her prize crew at Scapa Flow at 2200/31st
with passengers
embarked of twenty seven British officers and one
hundred and eighty two
other ranks, nine officers and thirty seven Norwegian,
ten officers and sixy
two German prisoners.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
at 2300 on 1 June was ordered to proceed directly to
Barrow and
Furness.
Steamer
ALSTER
arrived at Rosyth during the forenoon of 4 June.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
arrived at Barrow in Furness at 1130/4 June.
Destroyers
WREN
and VOLUNTEER returned to the Clyde after the escort duty. They arrived at 1600/4
June.
Destroyer
ESKIMO
was under repair until late September 1940.
_____
Destroyer
ELECTRA
departed Greenock at 0030 for Scapa Flow
after repairs.
En
route, destroyer ELECTRA investigated two suspicious
vessels, one in Loch Indaal
and one southwest of Ame
Island, Islay.
There
was
nothing to report and the destroyer arrived at Scapa
Flow at 2300.
_____
Submarine
TRUANT
arrived at Harstad.
_____
When
a Blenheim aircraft was reported by Wick to be down in
the sea off Dunnet
Head, anti-submarine trawlers PETER HENDRICKS and PAUL
RYKENS were ordered to
search. The search was later cancelled when aircraft
were unable to locate
any survivors.
_____
U.37
sank British steamer SHEAF MEAD
(5008grt) in 43‑48N,
12‑38W, straggling behind convoy OG.31F, Argentine
steamer URUGUAY (3225grt) 160 miles off Cape Villano, in
43-40N, 12-16W.
Thirty
one
crew from the steamer SHEAF MEAD were lost. Seven crew
were
rescued by Greek steamer FRANGOULA B. GOULANDRIS
(6701grt).
Fifteen
crew
from the steamer URUGUAY were lost. Thirteen
survivors were landed at Corunna.
_____
French
submarine
RUBIS, which departed Dundee
on the 23rd, laid minefield
FD.15 at 0435 near Haugesand at Bleivik in 59‑28N,
05‑13E.
On
the 28th, Norwegian steamer BLAMMARREN (174grt) was lost
on this minefield.
On
the 31st, Norwegian steamer JADARLAND (938grt) was lost
on this minefield.
In
October, Norwegian steamer OYULF (173grt) was lost on a
mine in Haugesand.
This loss may be from the RUBIS minefield.
French
submarine
RUBIS safely arrived back at Dundee on the 30th.
_____
The
final assault on Narvik began at 2340 27 May.
Destroyers
HAVELOCK, BEAGLE, FAME,
WALKER, WHIRLWIND operated
in Rombaksfjord.
Anti-aircraft
cruisers
CAIRO
(Flag Lord Cork) and COVENTRY (Flag Vivian) with
destroyer
FIREDRAKE were in Ofotfjord.
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON was in position to bring
support to the Ankenes peninsula and sloop STORK
protected the landing craft
of the operation.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO
was hit by two bombs at
0620/28th and was badly damaged with nine ratings killed
and S/Lt B. H.Moss
RNVR, Gunner J. L.Thundercliffe, six ratings wounded.
One of the ratings died
of wounds.
One
bomb struck abaft B.position, penetrated the deck,
exploded among the supply
party.
The
second bomb hit the starboard. 5" anti-aircraft gun
mounting.
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON was near missed by German bombing and had
two ratings
killed by bomb splinters. CaptainF. H.W. Jeans, CVO, was
wounded.
Damage
to
light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON required ten days to repair by
local facilities.
Anti
aircraft cruiser COVENTRY
was near missed and
sustained one rating killed by bomb splinters.
Destroyers
HAVELOCK, WALKER,
WHIRLWIND all sustained
minor damage from near misses of air bombs.
Destroyer
WALKER's
damage required ten days to repair once she returned to
England.
Destroyers
HAVELOCK and WHIRLWIND had no time out of service.
At
0630, Lord Cork withdrew with his force seaward leaving
anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY and destroyers BEAGLE and FIREDRAKE to support
the troops.
Destroyers
DELIGHT
and ECHO joined COVENTRY
later in the day.
Cruiser
CAIRO departed Harstad with the survivors from cruiser
CURLEW and arrived at Scapa Flow at 1700/30th.
At
Scapa
Flow,
the CURLEW survivors were taken aboard minesweepers
SEAGULL and SPEEDY and
taken ashore.
The
minesweepers departed Scapa Flow at 0530/31st escorted by destroyer MASHONA to
Scrabster.
Cruiser
CAIRO departed Scapa Flow
on the 31st for the Tyne for repairs completed on 7
August. On 12 August, anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO was
back in service.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO
between 11 May and 28 May in
operations near Narvik had fired 5700 rounds of
anti-aircraft ammunition.
Several of her guns, the rifling in the barrels worn
smooth, were out of
action.
At
2200/28th, Narvik was announced captured by Anglo-French
forces.
_____
French
troopships
EL KANTARA (5079grt), EL D'JEZAIR (5818grt), EL MANSOUR
(5818grt),
VILLE D'ALGER (10172grt) departed the Clyde at 1930
escorted by destroyers
HAVANT, SALADIN, VISCOUNT and French destroyer MILAN for
Cherbourg and St Nazaire.
Destroyer
SALADIN
was detached during the afternoon on the 28th. Destroyer
HAVANT was
reassigned to the Western Approaches Command after the
escort.
Destroyer
VISCOUNT
arrived in the Clyde at 1200/30th after the escort. She then
returned to Scapa Flow.
_____
British
oiler
OIL PIONEER and steamer CORMINSTER (1703grt) arrived at
Harstad from Scapa Flow.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawler
CAPE PORTLAND
departed Scapa Flow escorting oiler OIL RELIANCE to
Methil.
With
this trawler's departure, no anti-submarine trawlers
remained at Scapa Flow.
_____
British
steamer
DALLINGTON
COURT
departed the Clyde, unescorted, for Vaagsfjord.
_____
A
British Floating dock, in tow of tug WATERMEYER and
escorted by
anti-submarine trawlers LE TIGER, LOCH OSKAIG, WISTARIA,
departed Leith for
the Sullom Voe seaplane base. They all arrived safely on
the 30th.
_____
Light
cruisers
ARETHUSA and GALATEA arrived at Sheerness.
_____
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
departed Harwich at dawn for
the Downs.
_____
Destroyers
JAGUAR,
JAVELIN, GRENADE departed Harwich at 0042 to a "special
operation. "
_____
Destroyer
VERITY,
escorting British steamers BIARRTIZ and ARCHANGEL to
Dunkirk, was damaged by German
shellfire six miles east, northeast of Calais and her
commanding officer,
Cdr A. R. M. Black, was seriously wounded. S/Lt C.F.
Alington was also
wounded.
_____
Gunboat
LOCUST
arrived at Sheerness from Portsmouth.
_____
British
steamer
SEQUACITY (870grt) was sunk by German shore guns one and
a half miles
from number two buoy to the east of Calais, in
52-04-20N, 1-38-36E.
Steamer
SEQUACITY's
thirteen man crew were rescued by British steamer
YEWDALE
(823grt).
_____
British
steamer
YEWDALE (823grt) was damaged by German shoreguns off the
French Channel Coast at 0400.
_____
Late
on the 26th, the Admiralty ordered Operation DYNAMO to
commence. Major
warships participating in the evacuation of allied
troops from the Dunkirk area from 27 May to 4 June
were as follows.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
– CALCUTTA, 1st Anti-Aircraft Cruiser Squadron (Captain
D M
Lees)
French large
destroyers – EPERVIER, 11th Large Destroyer Division
(Capitaine de Fregate J
J G Bros), LEOPARD, 2nd Large Destroyer Division
(Capitaine de Fregate C A
Loisel)
Destroyers – ANTHONY,
16th Flotilla (Lt Cdr N V J T Thew), BASILISK, 19th
Flotilla (Cdr M
Richmond), CODRINGTON, 1st Flotilla (Captain GF
Stevens-Guille, DSO, D.1),
ESK, 20th Flotilla (Lt Cdr R J H Couch), EXPRESS, 20th
Flotilla (Captain J G
Bickford, D.20), GALLANT, 1st Flotilla (Lt Cdr C P F
Brown), GRAFTON, 1st
Flotilla (Cdr C E C Robinson, Lt H C J McRea after death
of Robinson),
GRENADE, 1st Flotilla (Cdr R C Boyle), GREYHOUND, 1st
Flotilla (Cdr W R Marshall-A'Dean),
HARVESTER, 9th Flotilla (Lt Cdr M Thornton), HAVANT, 9th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr A F
Burnell-Nugent), ICARUS, 20th Flotilla (Cdr C D Maud),
IMPULSIVE, 20th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr W S Thomas), INTREPID, 20th Flotilla
(Cdr R C Gordon),
IVANHOE, 20th Flotilla (Cdr P Hadow), JAGUAR, 7th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr J F W
Hine), JAVELIN, 7th Flotilla (Cdr A F Pugsley), KEITH,
19th Flotilla (Captain
E L Berthon DSC, D.19), MACKAY, 11th Flotilla (Cdr G H
Stokes), MALCOLM, 16th
Flotilla (Captain T E Halsey, D.16), MONTROSE, 17th
Flotilla (Cdr C R Parry),
SABRE, attached destroyer (Cdr B Dean, ret), SALADIN,
11th Flotilla (Lt Cdr L
J Dover), SCIMITAR, 16th Flotilla (Lt R D Franks),
SHIKARI, 16th Flotilla
(Cdr H N A Richardson), VANQUISHER, 11th Flotilla (Lt
Cdr C B Alers-Hankey until
the 29th (sick), Cdr W C Bushell after the 30th),
VENOMOUS, 16th Flotilla
(Cdr J E H McBeath), VERITY, 15th Flotilla (Cdr A R M
Black, wounded on the
27th, Lt E L Jones from the 27th), VIMY, 11th Flotilla
(Lt Cdr R G K
Knowling, lost on the 28th en route to Dunkirk, Lt A P W
Northey for the rest
of this trip, Lt Cdr M W Ewart-Wentworth from the 30th),
VIVACIOUS, 17th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr F R W Parish (sick), Cdr E F V
Dechaineux RAN on the 30th;
this officer was the commanding officer of destroyer
EGLINTON under
construction), WAKEFUL, 17th Flotilla (Cdr R L Fisher),
WHITEHALL, 15th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr A B Russell), WHITSHED, 18th Flotilla
(Cdr E R Conder), WILD
SWAN, 18th Flotilla (Lt Cdr J L Younghusband DSC),
WINCHELSEA, 11th Flotilla
(Lt Cdr W A F Hawkins), WINDSOR, 18th Flotilla (Lt Cdr P
D H R Pelly),
WOLFHOUND, Convoy C of Rosyth Command (Lt Cdr J W
McCoy), WOLSEY, Convoy C of
Rosyth Command (Cdr C H Campbell), WORCESTER 18th
Flotilla (Cdr J H Allison)
Polish BLYSKAWICA 1st
Flotilla (Cdr Stanislaw Nahorski ORP)
French destroyers of
the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla – BOURRASQUE, 4th Division
(Capitaine de Fregate R
G A Fouque), CYCLONE, 6th Division (Capitaine de
Vaisseau Y F C A M Urvoy de
Portzamparc), FOUDROYANT, 5th Division (Capitaine de
Corvette P L A
Fontaine), MISTRAL, 6th Division (Capitaine de Corvette
E R Lavene), SIROCCO,
6th Division (Capitaine de Corvette G P C M J M de
Toulouse-Latrec Montfa)
Sloop – BIDEFORD, 1st
Sloop Division (Lt Cdr J H Lewes)
Patrol sloops -
GUILLEMOT, 2nd Anti-Submarine Striking Force (Lt Cdr H M
Darell-Brown),
KINGFISHER, Experimental Ship (Lt Cdr G A M V Harrison),
MALLARD, 1st
Anti-Submarine Striking Force (Cdr The Hon V
Wyndham-Quinn), SHEARWATER, 2nd
Anti-Submarine Striking Force (Lt Cdr C F Powlett),
SHELDRAKE, 1st
Anti-Submarine Striking Force (Lt Cdr A E T Christie),
WIDGEON, 2nd
Anti-Submarine Striking Force (Lt Cdr R Frederick),
French torpedo boats
- BOUCLIER, 14th Torpedo Boat Division (Capitaine de
Fregate C M H de La
Fourniere), BRANLEBAS, 11th Division (Capitaine de
Corvette H M de
Cacqueray), FLORE, 14th Division (c J M P Roussel de
Courcy), L'INCOMPRISE,
11th Division (Capitaine de Corvette A A P Gras)
French sloops -
AMIENS (anti-aircraft ship), attached sloop (Capitaine
de Corvette M E J
Monick), ARRAS, 1st Sloop Squadron (L V J P M Bidal),
BELFORT, Naval Aviation
Tender (Capitaine de Corvette P A Viel), LA BOUDEUSE,
2nd Sloop Squadron
(Capitaine de Corvette M F L Hilly), COMMANDANT DELAGE,
2nd Sloop Squadron
(Capitaine de Corvette A R P Froget), COMMANDANT
RIVIERE, 2nd Sloop Squadron
(Capitaine de Corvette J F U M De Gantes), DILIGENTE,
Naval Aviation Tender
(L V P H M Le Roux), L'IMPETUEUSE, 2nd Sloop Squadron
(Capitaine de Corvette
F M J Bachy)
Gunboats – LOCUST (Lt
A N P Costobadie), MOSQUITO, both Thames Estuary
Defense Flotilla (Lt D H P Gardiner)
Minesweepers -
ALBURY, 5th Mine Sweeping Flotilla (Lt Cdr C H
Corbet-Singleton), BRIGHTON
BELLE, 10th Flotilla (Temporary Lt L K Perrin RNVR),
BRIGHTON QUEEN, 7th
Flotilla (Temporary Lt A Stubbs RNR), DEVONIA, 7th
Flotilla (Temporary Lt J Brotchie
RNVR), DUCHESS OF FIFE, 12th Flotilla (Temporary Lt J
Anderson RNR), DUNDALK, 4th Flotilla (Lt CdrF A I
Kirkpatrick),
EMPEROR OF INDIA, 10th Flotilla (Temporary Lt C Pawley
RNR), FITZROY, 4th Flotilla (Lt Cdr R A Forbes), GLEN
AVON, 8th Flotilla (Temporary Lt B H Loynes RNR), GLEN
GOWER, 8th Flotilla (Acting Cdr M A O
Biddulph (SO 8th Flotilla), GOSSAMER, 5th Flotilla (Lt
Cdr R Ross, SO 5th
Flotilla), GRACIE FIELDS, 10th Flotilla (Temporary Lt N
Larkin RNR, Temporary Lt A C Weeks RNVR), HALCYON, 6th
Flotilla (Lt Cdr J M S Cox DSC with Cdr E P Hinton MVO,
SO 6th Flotilla),
HEBE, 1st Flotilla (Cdr J S Temple), KELLET, 5th
Flotilla (Cdr R C
Hasket-Smith), LEDA, 5th Flotilla (Lt Cdr H Unwin),
LYDD, 5th Flotilla (Lt
Cdr R C D Haig), MARMION, 12th Flotilla (Temporary Lt H
C Gaffney RNVR),
MEDWAY QUEEN, 10th Flotilla (Temporary Lt A T Cook RNR),
NIGER, 4th Flotilla (Cdr St J Cronyn, S O 4th
Flotilla), ORIOLE, 12th Flotilla (Temporary Lt E L
Davies RNR), PANGBOURNE, 5th Flotilla (CdrF
Douglas-Watson),
PLINLIMMON, 7th Flotilla (Lt G P Baker RNVR), PRINCESS
ELIZABETH, 10th
Flotilla (Temporary Lt C J Carp RNVR), QUEEN OF THANET,
7th Flotilla
(Temporary Cdr S P Herival RNVR, SO 7th Flotilla), ROSS,
5th Flotilla (Acting CO Lt K A Gadd RNR, Cdr J P Apps
Rtd), SALAMANDER, 4th Flotilla (Lt
Cdr L J S Ede), SALTASH, 5th Flotilla (Lt Cdr T R
Fowke), SANDOWN, 10th
Flotilla (Acting Cdr K M Greig DSO Rtd, SO 10th
Flotilla), SHARPSHOOTER, 1st
Flotilla (Lt A E Doran), SKIPJACK, 6th Flotilla (Lt Cdr
F B Proudfoot),
SNAEFELL, 8th Flotilla (Temporary Lt F Brett RNVR),
SPEEDWELL, 6th Flotilla
(Lt Cdr F R G Maunsell), SUTTON, 4th Flotilla (A/Cdr G M
Temple, SO 4th
Flotilla), WAVERLEY, 12th Flotilla (Lt S F Harmer-Elliot
RNVR, SO 12th
Flotilla), WESTWARD HO, 7th Flotilla (Temporary Lt A L
Braithwaite RNVR),
WHIPPINGHAM, unattached (Temporary Lt E Reed RNR)
In
the 4th, 5th, 6th Mine Sweeping Flotillas, only the 4th
Flotilla's SELKIRK
and ELGIN and 6th Flotilla's HARRIER and HUSSAR were absent
from DYNAMO, all under repairs. The 6th Minesweeping
Flotilla's SPEEDWELL was
under repair at Chatham
from 26 to 30 May
Motor torpedo boats -
MTB.16, 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla (Lt P F S
Gould), MTB.22, 4th Flotilla (Lt A B Cole), MTB.67,10th
Flotilla (Lt C G Anderson), MTB.68, 10th Flotilla (Lt R
K L Walker RNVR), MTB.102, 3rd Flotilla (Lt C W S
Dreyer), MTB.107, 10th Flotilla (Lt J Cameron RNVR)
Motor Launch –
ML.100, 3rd Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla (Lt W L Stephens
RNVR)
Motor Anti-Submarine
Boats - MA/SB.5 (Lt E M Thorpe), MA/SB.6 (Lt W G
Everitt, SO 1st MA/SB
Flotilla), MA/SB.7 (S/Lt A Ecclestone), MA/SB.10, all
1st MA/SB Flotilla (Lt
R G H G Eyre)
French motor torpedo
boats - VTB.23, VTB.24, VTB.25, VTB.26, VTB.27, VTB.28,
CH.5 (LV M A
Detroyat), CH.6 (EV Desmoutis, CH.7, CH.11 (EV
Montillier), 42 (P M T Y
Jule), C.106
Patrols
were
deployed in the southern North Sea
as follows just prior to
DYNAMO's activation.
Light
cruiser
GALATEA and Nore destroyers CODRINGTON, JAVELIN, JAGUAR
were south of
Inner Gabbard and west of the Galloper to south Falls
Buoy in 52-00N, 00-30E.
Light cruiser GALATEA departed Sheerness at daylight on
the 27th, but was
recalled.
South
Fairy
Bank to Kwinte Buoy were Dover destroyers GREYHOUND and
GRAFTON off Yarmouth.
On
Stations OC.1 and OC.2 was Dover destroyer GRENADE.
Off
the North Goodwins to T Buoy and 51-18N, 2-13E on the
Wandelaar searched
channel were destroyers GALLANT, VIVACIOUS, BLYSKAWICA.
At
each end of the R, S, T Buoys were two anti-submarine
trawlers.
Minesweepers
SKIPJACK
and HALCYON and Trinity House Vessel PATRICIA covered by
destroyer
IMPULSIVE swept the "X" route to DYNAMO.
Captain
Tennant,
who was to direct DYNAMO from France, arrived at Dunkirk
on destroyer WOLFHOUND.
Destroyer
WOLFHOUND
was to have been the communications link with Dover, but
she was soon released
to carry troops.
Destroyers
WOLSEY
and WOLFHOUND escorted two trawlers back to Dover after
embarking troops at Dunkirk.
After
embarking
troops at Dunkirk,
armed boarding vessel
MONA'S ISLE (1688grt) was damaged by German bombing west of
Dunkirk,
between Gravelines and Les
Hemmes.
Armed
boarding
vessel MONA'S ISLE was towed by tugs LADY BRASSEY and SIMLA and
escorted by destroyer WINDSOR to Dover.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA,
destroyers ANTHONY,
GALLANT, IMPULSIVE, SABRE, VIVACIOUS, VIMY and four
minesweepers, including
SKIPJACK and HALCYON, also operated off Dunkirk on the
27th. Destroyer WAKEFUL
arrived at Dover
from Plymouth and proceeded immediately to Dunkirk.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA
operated off La Panne.
Destroyer
IMPULSIVE
had arrived at Dover
for another purpose, but was
diverted to DYNAMO operations.
By
the end of 27 May, 7669 troops had been evacuated
from Dunkirk.
_____
At
1418, destroyers WAKEFUL, MACKAY, WORCESTER, MONTROSE
from the Western
Approaches Command and destroyer SHIKARI and SCIMITAR
from Portsmouth were ordered to Dover for DYNAMO
operations.
_____
French
steamer
ADEN
(8033grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper LA MAJO (47grt) was sunk by German bombing
at Dunkirk.
_____
British
steamer
WORTHTOWN (868grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Dunkirk.
Steamer
WORTHTOWN
was later salved and renamed ILSE SCHULTE for German
service.
_____
British
steamer
BIARRITZ
(2388grt) was damaged by
German shore guns near Dunkirk.
_____
British
drifter
OCEAN REWARD (95grt, Probationary Temporary Lt H.C.
Slater RNR) was sunk in a collision
with British steamer ISLE OF THANET (2701grt), just
arriving
from Dunkirk, off Dover.
Drifter
OCEAN
REWARD sank with no survivors and steamer ISLE OF THANET
was seriously damaged.
Tug
LADY BRASSEY searched for survivors.
_____
Light
cruisers
SHEFFIELD, MANCHESTER,
BIRMINGHAM departed Rosyth at dawn and
arrived at the Humber to reinforce the Nore command.
_____
Light
cruiser
CARDIFF
departed Portland for Portsmouth for operations with the
2nd
Cruiser Squadron.
_____
Convoy
OA.156
departed Southend escorted by corvette PERIWINKLE from
27 to 29 May.
_____
Convoy
OB.156
departed Liverpool escorted by sloop FOLKESTONE from 27 to 30 May. The
sloop was detached to convoy SL.32.
_____
Convoy MT.75 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.181 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 29th.
_____
French
battleships
PROVENCE
and BRETAGNE, large destroyers TIGRE and LYNX,
destroyers BRESTOIS and
BOULONNAIS departed Mer el Kebir on patrol.
_____
French
large
destroyer FANTASQUE arrived at Oran from Lorient.
Tuesday,
28 May
Heavy
cruiser
YORK departed Scapa Flow
for Rosyth.
_____
British
steamer
ROYAL SCOTSMAN (3244grt) escorted by destroyers VANOC
and
WITHERINGTON departed the Clyde at 0300 for Harstad.
En
route, destroyer WITHERINGTON was detached at the Faroes
to escort British
steamer ULSTER
PRINCE (3791grt) at
Thorshavn back to the Clyde.
Steamer
ULSTER
PRINCE departed the Faroes
on the 29th escorted by anti-submarine trawlers
IMPERIALIST and ALOUETTE. The
trawlers were to be relieved by destroyer WITHERINGTON.
Destroyer
WITHERINGTON
arrived at Thorshavn at 1600/29th.
On
the 31st, steamer ULSTER PRINCE and destroyer
WITHERINGTON arrived at the Clyde at 0400.
Steamer
ROYAL
SCOTSMAN and destroyer VANOC arrived at Harstad early on
1 June.
_____
Hospital
ship
ABA departed Scapa Flow
for Harstad, routed west of
the Shetlands.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS 802 Squadron was operating near Narvik. A
flight of Lt (A)
G.H. J. Feeny (SO), Lt G.D. D'E. Lyver, Lt G.H. N.
Ogilvy shot down a Heinkel
near Narvik.
Destroyer
WREN
recovered a body.
_____
Destroyer
CAMPBELL
departed Greenock at 1730 with Convoy slow NS 4 of steamers
BLACKHEATH (4637grt), HARMATTAN (4558grt), OLIGARCH
(6897grt). British
steamer MARINA (5088grt) joined the convoy on the 30th
from Scapa
Flow.
_____
British
troopships
MONARCH OF BERMUDA (22424grt), GEORGIC (27759grt),
FRANCONIA (20175grt), LANCASTRIA
(16243grt), escorted by destroyer AMAZON departed
Greenock at 2300 for Harstad.
On
the 31st, destroyer WREN departed Scapa Flow
to relieve destroyer AMAZON
in 63N. Destroyer AMAZON was ordered to proceed to the
Clyde.
_____
Destroyers
FURY,
FORESIGHT, FORTUNE proceeded to the Humber to operate
under orders of
Vice Admiral, 18th Cruiser Squadron.
Destroyers
FURY
and FORESIGHT arrived in the Humber
at 2345.
_____
Destroyer
SIKH
departed Scapa Flow for refitting in the Clyde.
At
2215/28th, a German submarine was reported by the Coast
Guard 10 miles 285°
from Strathie Point.
Destroyer
SIKH
was ordered to search for this submarine.
The
destroyer made no contact and left the area at 0600/29th
and arrived in the Clyde at 0630.
_____
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
at Lerwick was ordered to proceed to hunt for a U boat
reported by
aircraft in a position twelve miles north of North
Foreland.
The
search was cancelled when nothing was found. Destroyer
ATHERSTONE departed
for Scapa
Flow
at 2330 and arrived at 0600/29th.
_____
Destroyer
ESCORT
arrived at Greenock at 2212 from Liverpool.
_____
Destroyer
ANTELOPE
departed Greenock at 2030 escorting Norwegian steamer MARITA
(1931grt) and British steamer YEWMOUNT (859grt) for
Harstad.
_____
Submarine
TRUANT
departed Harstad for Rosyth.
_____
Submarine
TRIBUNE
arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
French
submarines
ANTIOPE and AMAZONE arrived at Dundee.
_____
Belgium
surrendered to German
forces.
_____
French
battleships
COURBET (Capitaine de Vaisseau A. M. J. Croiset) and
PARIS (Capitaine de Vaisseau P.
L.Guillerm) of the 3rd Battleship Division arrived at
Cherbourg after a ninety six hour
refit at Brest
which included the
installation of anti-aircraft guns.
These
two
battleships had been demilitarized, as had their sister
ship JEAN BART
(renamed OCEAN) for use as training ships in 1931.
Battleships
COURBET
and PARIS were to be used against the Germans as
expendable gun
platforms to extend the Dunkirk
perimeter.
_____
French
Amiral
Marcel Landriau was named commander of the "Pas de
Calais" Flotilla at Dover.
This
force, whose flagship was sloop SAVORGNAN DE BRAZZA at
Dover, was composed of
large destroyers EPERVIER and LEOPARD,
destroyersFOUGUEUX and FRONDEUR of the
2nd Destroyer Division, BOURRASQUE of the 4th Destroyer
Division, FOUDROYANT
of the 5th Destroyer Division, CYCLONE, MISTRAL, SIROCCO
of the 6th Destroyer
Division, torpedo boats BRANLEBAS, L'INCOMPRISE,
CORDELIERE of the 11th
Torpedo Boat Division, MELPOMENE, BOUCLIER, FLORE of the
14th Torpedo Boat
Division, sloops ARRAS, AMIENS, EPINAL, AMIRAL MOUCHEZ,
auxiliary sloops
PATRIE, REINA DES FLOTS, ASIE, CERONS, SAUTERNES, PESSAC, LISTRAC,
L'ATLANIQUE, but not all ships were fit for operations.
_____
At
0131/28th, destroyers WAKEFUL, MONTROSE, WORCESTER,
MACKAY arrived at Dover from the Western Approaches
for DYNAMO duty.
_____
Destroyers
CODRINGTON,
GRENADE, JAVELIN, JAGUAR on patrol together in the North
Sea were ordered to Dunkirk to pick up troops.
British
steamer
ABUKIR (694grt) departed Ostend at 2300/27th after
evacuating Ostend.
The steamer was sunk in 51‑29N,
02‑16E by German motor torpedo boat S.34 at 0130.
There
was
a crew of 21 and 210 passengers on steamer ABUKIR.
Sixteen
crew
and 189 passengers were lost on steamer ABUKIR.
Destroyers
CODRINGTON,
JAGUAR, JAVELIN en route to Dunkirk picked up her thirty
three
survivors.
At
0205, a French patrol boat struck a wreck near Deal Bank
Buoy. British
drifter COMFORT was sent from Dover to locate and tow
back the
patrol boat.
British
personnel
ship QUEEN OF THE CHANNEL (1162grt) was sunk by German
bombers at
0425 in 51-15N, 2-40E after she had embarked 920 men at
Dunkirk.
There
were
no casualties on the ship QUEEN OF THE CHANNEL.
British
steamer
DORRIEN ROSE (1039grt) picked up her survivors and was
escorted back
to Dover by destroyer GREYHOUND.
Destroyer
WINDSOR,
which had been ordered to Dunkirk from Goodwins patrol,
was
near missed by German bombing at South Goodwin Light.
The
destroyer had one boiler room damaged and there were
twenty to thirty
casualties on the destroyer.
Destroyer
WINDSOR
returned to Dover
with several hundred troops
on board. She spent no time out of service.
Destroyers
ANTHONY,
CODRINGTON, which embarked 1600 men in two trips, ESK,
EXPRESS,
GALLANT, which brought back 681 men, GRENADE, which
brought back 700 men,
HARVESTER, which brought back 700 men, JAGUAR, JAVELIN,
MACKAY, MALCOLM,
MONTROSE, SABRE, SCIMITAR, SHIKARI, VERITY, WORCESTER
embarked troops at
Dunkirk during the morning of 28 May.
Destroyers
ANTHONY,
CODRINGTON, JAVELIN, were damaged by German bombing at
Dunkirk.
The
destroyers spent no time out of action.
Destroyer
GRAFTON
and Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA embarked troops from the
beach
between Malo les Bains and Zuydcoote.
Destroyers
VERITY,
HARVESTER, ESK, MALCOLM, EXPRESS, SHIKARI, SCIMITAR were
ordered into
DYNAMO.
Later
in
the day, destroyers INTREPID, IVANHOE, ICARUS,
VANQUISHER were ordered to Dover for DYNAMO.
Minesweepers
ALBURY,
GOSSAMER, LEDA, KELLET, SUTTON operated off the Bray.
Minesweepers
SALAMANDER,
HALCYON, SKIPJACK, WAVERLEY operated off La Panne.
Minesweepers
ROSS,
PANGBOURNE, LYDD were at Dunkirk.
Minesweepers
HEBE,
SHARPSHOOTER, DUCHESS OF FIFE, EMPEROR OF INDIA reached
Dunkirk during the night of 28/29
May.
Minesweepers
ORIOLE
and MARMION arrived off the Dunkirk beaches at
0600/29th.
Auxiliary
minesweeper
BRIGHTON BELLE (396grt, Temporary Lt L.K. Perrin RNVR)
of the
10th Mine Sweeping Flotilla was sunk in collision with a
wreck in the Downs, near the Goodwin Knoll
Buoy.
The
minesweeper was taken in tow, but sank before she got to
harbour.
Her
survivors were rescued by Auxiliary minesweeper MEDWAY
QUEEN.
Minesweeping
trawler
THOMAS BARTLETT (290grt, Temporary Skipper J. J.
Tomlinson RNR) was sweeping mines off Calais with three
other
minesweeping trawlers.
Trawler
THOMAS
BARTLETT struck a Mine at 1025 and sank off Calais.
Eight
crew
were missing from the trawler.
Anti-submarine
trawler
THURINGIA (550grt, Chief Skipper D. W.
L.Simpson DSC, DSM RNR) of the 21st AntiSubmarine Group was sunk on a
mine at 0600 in the North Sea.
Chief
Skipper
Simpson was killed. There were only four survivors from
trawler THURINGIA.
British
drifters
BOY ROY (95grt) and PAXTON (92grt) were damaged by German
bombing and were run aground and abandoned at Dunkirk.
There
were
no casualties on either drifter.
French
auxiliary
minesweeper MARGUERITE ROSE (409grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
British
drifter
GIRL PAMELA (93grt) was sunk at 2330 in an accidental
collision
passing the entrance to Dunkirk
harbour on her way to the
beaches.
British
steamer
MARJORY H.(84grt) was seized as a prize by German forces
near Dunkirk.
On
the 28th, 17,804 troops were lifted from Dunkirk.
_____
British
operation
QUIXOTE, the cutting of the six cables between Bacton
and Borkum,
continued with Destroyers CODRINGTON, GRENADE, JAVELIN,
JAGUAR escorting
minesweeping trawlers
CAPE MELVILLE, GRAMPIAN, PELTON,
MILFORD QUEEN, MILFORD PRINCESS, JAMES LAY.
_____
Two
Skua aircraft of 806 Squadron were attacked down near
Goodwin Sands by French fighters. Lt (A)
C. P. Campbell Horsfall and Petty Officer Airman L.Clare
were wounded their
aircraft shot down. They were picked up by a destroyer.
Midshipman (A) G.A.
Hogg RNVR, was able to return to base with his badly
damaged aircraft, but
Naval Airman J. B. Burton later died of wounds.
A
third Skua of the Squadron was lost on take off from
Manston on this date.
A
Swordfish of 825 Squadron forced landed on Goodwin
Sands. S/Lt P. H.L. Rylands was
killed, while Captain W. G.S. Aston RM, unhurt.
Another
Swordfish
of the Squadron crashed into the sea on take off. The
crew were
unhurt.
_____
British
steamer
CARARE (6878grt) was sunk on a mine in 51‑18N, 03‑44W.
The
steamer was carrying a crew of 97 and 29 passengers.
Seven
crew
and three passengers were lost on the steamer CARARE.
Armed yacht
RHODORA rescued eighty six survivors and anti-submarine
trawler
CAMBRIDGESHIRE rescued two survivors.
_____
Convoy
OA.157
departed Southend escorted by corvette GLADIOLUS.
_____
Convoy
OB.157
departed Liverpool escorted by sloop ROCHESTER
from 28 to 31 May. The sloop
was detached to convoy HX.44.
_____
Convoy FN.182 departed Southend, escorted sloop LONDONDERRY.
The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 30th.
_____
Convoy MT.76 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FS.182 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 30th.
_____
Convoy
HG.32F
of thirty two ships departed Gibraltar.
Destroyers
ACTIVE
and WATCHMAN escorted the convoy from 28 May. Destroyer
WATCHMAN was
detached to convoy HG.32 on the 29th. Destroyer ACTIVE
was detached on 1
June.
Sloop
LEITH
escorted the convoy from 29
May to 4 June.
Corvette
GLADIOLUS
escorted the convoy from 3 to 6 June. The convoy arrived
at Liverpool on 6 June.
_____
Convoy
HX.46
departed Halifax
at 0800 escorted by Canadian
destroyer SAGUENAY, which was detached on the 29th.
Convoy
BHX.46
departed Bermuda on the 27th escorted by ocean escort armed merchant cruiser AURANIA.
The convoy rendezvoused with HX.46 on 2 June and the
armed merchant cruiser
was detached.
Destroyer
SAGUENAY
turned over the convoy to
Armed merchant cruiser COMORIN at 2130/28th. Armed
merchant cruiser was
detached on 2 June.
Armed
merchant
cruiser AURANIA departed Bermuda
and relieved merchant
cruiser COMORIN which arrived at Bermuda
on 6 June. Armed merchant
cruiser AURANIA was detached on 9 June.
Corvette
CLARKIA
and anti-submarine trawler HUDDERSFIELD TOWN escorted
the convoy from 9
to 12 June when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
_____
American
heavy
cruiser VINCENNES
(CA.44, Captain J. R.
Beardall) and destroyers TRUXTON (DD.229, LCDR B. B.
Adell) and SIMPSON
(DD.221, LCDR H.W. Chanler) departed Norfolk, Virginia
to proceed to Lisbon to reinforce Squadron 40-T.
This
squadron arrived at Ponta Delgada
on 4 June and departed for Casablanca on 6 June.
_____
U.37
sank French steamer BRAZZA (10,387grt) in 42‑43N, 11‑00W
and
escorting trawler JULIEN (177grt) in 42‑50N, 10‑40W.
The
entire crew of ten of the trawler was safely landed.
_____
Light
cruiser
DRAGON arrived at Aden,
transferring to the 4th
Cruiser Squadron.
Light
cruiser
DRAGON proceeded to Durban for refitting.
Wednesday,
29 May
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON bombarded German positions on the Ankenes
Peninsula.
_____
The
areas around Bodo and Hopen were evacuated on three
consecutive nights by two
destroyers. Nine hundred and seventy six troops, ferried
by destroyers
HAVELOCK and ARROW, embarked on British repair ship
VINDICTIVE early on the
30th and taken directly to Scapa Flow, arriving on 1
June at 0057.
On
the second on 30/31 May, destroyers FAME, FIREDRAKE,
BEAGLE departed
Bodo after embarkation at 0102/31st. On the 31st/1 June,
destroyers ARROW,
DELIGHT, ECHO embarked troops. Fifteen hundred troops were embarked
each night on the destroyers and taken to Harstad.
Hopen
was
completely evacuated of allied troops by 30 May.
On
the third night, destroyer VANOC was added, but the
evacuation was completed
prior to her arrival.
By
the end of 31 May, Bodo was clear of allied troops.
Destroyer FIREDRAKE
picked up the demolition parties at Bodo and took them
to Harstad.
_____
Destroyer
VOLUNTEER
with Polish troopships BATORY (14287grt) and SOBIESKI
(11,030grt)
departed Greenock at 1230 for Harstad.
The
destroyer was detached on the 30th to join the destroyer
ESKIMO force.
_____
Destroyer
ELECTRA
departed Scapa Flow at 1030 for exercises.
However,
fog
forced cancellation of the exercises. The destroyer
remained at sea
during the night.
_____
French
steamer
SAINT CLAIRE (3824grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Tjeldsundet.
_____
German
auxiliary
patrol boat Vp.1109 (trawler ANTARES, 291grt) was sunk
on minefield
FD.12 laid by submarine NARWHAL in 62-58N, 06-48E.
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER departed Scapa Flow,
escorted by destroyer
ATHERSTONE, for Rosyth.
_____
Convoy
OG.31
made formed from convoys OA.155G, which departed
Southend on the 26th
escorted by destroyer WHITEHALL,
OB.155G, which departed Liverpool on the 26th escorted
by
destroyer MACKAY and sloop WELLINGTON, with forty ships.
The
convoy was escorted by destroyer WHITEHALL on the 29th.
Sloop
WELLINGTON escorted the convoy from 29 May to 2 June when
she was detached to convoy HG.32.
Destroyer
DOUGLAS
escorted the convoy from 31 May to 4 June.
Destroyer
WATCHMAN
from convoy HG.32 escorted the convoy from 2 to 3 June.
The convoy
arrived at Gibraltar on 3 June.
_____
Convoy
BC.39
with six steamers, including BARON CARNEGIE, BARON
NAIRN, DUNKWA
(Commodore), MARSLEW departed Bristol Channel
escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers HUDDERSFIELD
TOWN and YORK CITY. The convoy arrived at Loire on 1
June.
_____
Convoy FN.183 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS. The
convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 31st.
_____
French
armed
merchant cruiser VILLE D'ORAN (10,172grt) was ordered to
embark two
hundred tons of gold at Pauillac and take it to
Casablanca. The gold was embarked and
the armed merchant cruiser departed on 3 June and
arrived at Casablanca on 7 June.
Early
negotiations
were for American warships to embark the gold at Saint
Jean de
Luz, but the threat of air attack in the open harbour
caused modification of
plans.
American
heavy
cruiser VINCENNES (CA.44) and destroyers TRUXTON
(DD.229) and SIMPSON
(DD.221) arrived at Casablanca
at 1100 on 9 June and
embarked this gold for transshipment to the United
States.
The
American Force departed Casablanca
at 2030 on 10 June and
arrived at New York
on 20 June.
_____
Lt
R. J. Hyland was killed when his RAF Hind of RAF No. 1
Flying Training School
at Netheravon crashed three miles east, northeast of
Netheravon.
_____
U.37
sank French steamer MARIE JOSE (2477grt) forty miles
northwest of Vigo near Salvora Island and badly damaged
British
steamer TELENA (7406grt) in 42‑25N, 09‑08W.
There
were
eighteen dead on steamer TELENA. The steamer was
abandoned, but it was
later towed to Vigo
by Spain. Steamer TELENA was sold to Spain and on 7
October was renamed
GERONA.
_____
Destroyer
VEGA
was searching for a submarine from daylight between
South Falls and the Whistle Buoy near
Kwinte Bank.
Destroyer
VEGA
made an attack at 0707 on a submarine contact in 51-22N,
02-45E.
_____
At
0015, destroyer MONTROSE collided with tug SUN V, towing
eleven naval
cutters, off Cape de Griz and sustained heavy damage to
her bow.
Destroyer
MONTROSE's
stem was broken and a piece ten feet long was completely
taken
out.
Destroyer
MONTROSE
was run aground to prevent sinking and later in the day
was towed
back to Dover
stern first by tugs LADY
BRASSEY (362grt) and SIMLA (144grt).
Destroyer
MONTROSE
departed Dover
on the 30th for the Thames for docking. The destroyer
was repaired at Woolwich and returned to duty on 24
June.
Destroyer
MACKAY,
en route to Bray, ran aground at 0136 at Zuydcote Pass
with heavy damage to her
propellers. She was able to get herself off at high tide
and returned to
Sheerness.
Destroyer
MACKAY
departed Dover
on the 30th for docking in
the Thames.
New
destroyer HARVESTER had arrived from the yards without
charts. She had been
ordered to follow destroyer MACKAY. Destroyer HARVESTER
continued to Dunkirk after destroyer MACKAY's
accident.
German
schellboote
S.25 (SO), S.30, S.34 departed Wilhelmshaven during the
afternoon of 28
May to operate off Dunkirk.
Destroyers
WAKEFUL
and GRAFTON left the beaches at the same time after
embarking troops
at Dunkirk late on the 28th.
Patrol
sloop
SHEARWATER at 0120 south of Fairy Bank was attacked by
two German motor
torpedo boats.
Destroyer
WAKEFUL,
with 600 troops on board, was torpedoed and sunk at 0136
by German
schnellboote S.30 of the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla close
to North Kwinte Boy
in 51-20N, 2-45E.
S/Lt
J. S. Percival Jones, S/Lt W. L.Cranefield, Probationary
S/Lt W. P. Creak,
Warrant Engineer H.J. Tucker, Probationary Temporary
Surgeon Lt DGWalker, MB,
CHB RNVR, ninety two ratings,
one NAAFI personnel, 650 troops were lost on the
destroyer WAKEFUL.
Midshipman M. M. Patterson RNR,
was wounded.
Destroyer
WAKEFUL's
twenty five crew and one soldier which survived were
picked up by
destroyer GRAFTON, minesweeper GOSSAMER, drifters
NAUTILUS (64grt) and
COMFORT (60grt).
At
0420 destroyer GRAFTON was torpedoed and badly damaged
by U.62 in 51‑22N,
02‑45E.
The
submarine thought she had torpedoed a merchant ship.
Cdr
Robinson, Lt H.C. C. Tanner, fourteen ratings were lost
on the destroyer
GRAFTON.
At
0430, arriving destroyers JAVELIN, ICARUS, VANQUISHER,
INTREPID, IVANHOE
encountered the GRAFTON wreck.
Destroyer
INTREPID,
after taking off the survivors, scuttled GRAFTON by
firing three
shells into the destroyer's hull. British steamer
MALINES (2980grt) also rescued
survivors from the destroyer.
On
the 30th, patrol sloop SHELDRAKE proceeded to the area
of the Kwinte Bank and
destroyed the anti-submarine gear on the capsized wreck
of destroyer WAKEFUL
with gunfire and depth charges.
After
the
loss of destroyer GRAFTON, ships were ordered not to
stop to assist a
ship in distress.
British
drifter
COMFORT (60grt, Temporary Skipper J. D. Mair RNR) was
rammed and sunk off Dover by minesweeper LEDA which
believed her to be a German S.boat.
Four
crew, including Mair, from the drifter were lost. Only
two survivors were
picked up.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
damaged her propellers on debris at Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WOLFHOUND
damaged her propellers on debris at Dunkirk and required
docking.
Sloop
BIDEFORD
of the 1st Sloop Division of the Western Approaches
Command arrived
at Dover on the 28th from Gibraltar
with HG.31F. She was to pick
up convoy OA.158GF for convoy OG.32F.
Sloop
BIDEFORD
went over to Dunkirk
where she was struck by a
German bomb on her quarter deck and had forty feet of
her stern blown off.
Lt
P. A. Stewart, S/Lt A. B. Wood, S/Lt S. E. Edmundson
RNR,and thirteen ratings were
lost on the sloop; two officers and eighteen ratings
were wounded. Of the
passengers, Probationary Temporary S/Lt R. O. Wilcoxon
RNVR, another officer
and ten ratings were killed and two officers wounded.
Sloop
BIDEFORD
was beached to prevent sinking. Minesweeper KELLET came
alongside
and took off the passengers.
Tugs
LADY BRASSEY (362grt) and FOREMOST 87 (163grt) were sent
over on the 30th to
retrieve BIDEFORD but could not locate her.
Sloop
BIDEFORD
was later gotten off and towed towards Dover by Gunboat
LOCUST. LOCUST
was relieved off Dover
by tugs SIMLA (144grt) and
GONDIA (200grt) and all arrived safely on the 31st after
thirty six hours in
tow.
Sloop
BIDEFORD
departed Dover
at 0615 on 4 June in tow and
escorted by anti-submarine trawlers TOPAZE and OLVINA.
Repaired
at
Portsmouth, sloop BIDEFORD did not return to service until
15 April 1941
when she sailed for Greenock.
Destroyers
GALLANT,
GRENADE, JAGUAR were plotting a new route for DYNAMO.
They were sent
to test the strength of shore batteries at Gravelines.
They drew no fire, but
they were attacked by German bombers.
At
1129 destroyer GALLANT was near missed and damaged.
Destroyer
GALLANT
departed Dover
at 1620/31st for repairs in
the Humber, but was able to return to
duty in one week.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CALCUTTA, escorted by patrol sloop MALLARD off La Panne,
evacuated
1856 men which were ferried out to her by minesweepers
SALAMANDER and SUTTON,
tug JAVA, eight smaller ships.
Also
at La Panne were destroyers SHIKARI, HARVESTER, ANTHONY,
SABRE, GREYHOUND and
minesweepers EMPEROR OF INDIA, GRACIE FIELDS, HALYCON,
HEBE, ORIOLE, PRINCESS
ELISABETH, WAVERLEY.
French
destroyers
MISTRAL, CYCLONE, SIROCCO began the evacuation of French
troops
from Dunkirk.
However,
destroyer
MISTRAL was bombed and badly damaged along the east mole
and did
not embark troops. Her commanding officer Capitaine de
Corvette Lavene was
fatally wounded and Lieutenant de Vaisseau J. D. J.
Guillanton assumed
command.
Destroyer
CYCLONE
lifted 733 passengers, including 158 men from the Sloop
BIDEFORD,
SIROCCO lifted 509 men.
Along
the
east mole, destroyer GRENADE was sunk at 1602 by German
bombing. Fourteen
ratings were killed and four more dying of wounds.
Destroyer JAGUAR,
alongside GRENADE outboard, was badly damaged at 1600 by
German bombing.
Destroyer
JAGUAR
was hit by one bomb. One boiler room out of action, her
hull was
holed, there was damage to oil tanks and her engine
room. Thirteen ratings
were killed and nineteen crew, including LtF. Bruen,
were wounded.
The
troops on destroyer JAGUAR were transferred to other
ships.
Destroyer
EXPRESS
towed JAGUAR out into the channel.
Destroyer
JAGUAR
was able to make most of the voyage back to Dover on her
own, but off Dover she was joined by tug SIMLA
(144grt) which towed her into Dover.
Destroyer
JAGUAR
departed Dover
at 1620/31st in company of
destroyer GALLANT and was repaired at Immingham in
sixteen days.
Destroyer
INTREPID
was badly damaged at 1830 by German bombing off La Panne
with two
ratings killed and nineteen wounded.
One
engine room was out of action and one was damaged. The
destroyer returned
under her own power.
Destroyer
INTREPID
was repaired at Middlesborough completing in two weeks.
At
1321 Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA, operating in 51-19N,
2-07E in the Channel
in a division of four destroyers, was near missed by
torpedoes from
U.60. U.60 was depth charged in
return, but sustained no damage.
Destroyer
GREYHOUND
was badly damaged at 1628 by a near miss off La Panne.
Probationary
Midshipman
W. S. Underwood RNR,
Probationary Temporary S/Lt
M. H.Matthews RNVR, eighteen ratings were lost on the
destroyer.
After
emergency
repairs,destroyer GREYHOUND was towed by Polish
destroyer
BLYSKAWICA towards Dover.
Off the North Goodwins
Light Ship, BLYSKAWICA was relieved by tug LADY BRASSEY
which took GREYHOUND
into Dover.
Destroyer
GREYHOUND
departed Dover
at 1419/31st for Sheerness.
The destroyer was repaired at Chatham, returning to
service in
three weeks.
Destroyers
SALADIN,
MALCOLM, WOLFHOUND were all moderately damaged by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
All
three were returned to service after minor repairs at
Chatham. Destroyer SALADIN was
damaged by a near miss and was under repair for eleven
days and was completed
on 9 June. Destroyer WOLFHOUND was under repair for this
damage and her
propeller damage for ten days.
Destroyer
VERITY
was damaged in a collision with a sunken drifter off
Dunkirk.
Destroyer
VERITY
returned to service on 15 June after repairs at
Portsmouth.
Destroyers
CODRINGTON,
EXPRESS, HARVESTER, ICARUS, IVANHOE, KEITH, SABRE,
SCIMITAR,
WINCHELSEA, WOLSEY were also at Dunkirk on the 29th.
Destroyer
ICARUS
was damaged by near misses and sustained one rating
killed and twenty
five men wounded.
On
the 29th, the following destroyers made one round trip
to lift troops:
ANTHONY,
CODRINGTON,
ESK, EXPRESS, GREYHOUND, HARVESTER, INTREPID, IVANHOE,
JAVELIN,
MALCOLM, SABRE, SCIMITAR, SHIKARI, VANQUISHER, VERITY,
WOLSEY, WORCESTER.
Destroyer
ICARUS
made two round trips.
Minesweepers
ALBURY,
DUCHESS OF FIFE, EMPEROR OF INDIA, FITZROY, HALCYON,
HEBE, LEDA,
MARMION, SHARPSHOOTER lifted troops from the beaches on
the 29th.
The
British Admiralty ordered all the H, I, J class
destroyers (destroyers
HARVESTER, HAVANT, ICARUS, IMPULSIVE, INTREPID, IVANHOE,
JAVELIN) out of
DYNAMO due to severe losses. All the G-class destroyers
were already out of
the operation due to loss or damage.
This
left only fifteen old destroyers, ESK, EXPRESS, ANTHONY,
KEITH, CODRINGTON,
MALCOLM, WHITEHALL,
WINCHELSEA, WORCESTER,
WINDSOR, VERITY, VANQUISHER, SABRE, SCIMITAR, SHIKARI to
continue DYNAMO.
Destroyers
SALADIN,
WHITEHALL,
WINCHELSEA were ordered to Dover for DYNAMO operations.
Auxiliary
minesweeper
GRACIE FIELDS (393grt, Temporary Lt N. Larkin RNR) of
the 10th Minesweeping
Flotilla was sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk, three
miles west of
Middelkerk Buoy.
S/Lt
A. J. Glover RNVR, was lost in the minesweeper.
Temporary Lt N. Larkin RNR, Tempary Lt (E) R. W. Daish
RNR, were wounded.
Minesweeper
GRACIE
FIELDS's survivors were picked up by minesweeper
PANGBOURNE after an
unsuccessful attempt to tow her out of the area.
Minesweeper
PANGBOURNE
was damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk. Probationary
Temporary S/Lt
I.F. Buckley RNVR, Lt G.MacClelland were wounded.
The
minesweeper was repaired at Grimsby in June.
Auxiliary
minesweeper
WAVERLEY
(537grt, Lt S.F.
Harmer-Elliot RNVR) of the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla
was sunk at 1800 by
German bombing at Dunkirk.
Some three hundred and
sixty crew and passengers were lost in the minesweeper.
French
destroyer
CYCLONE, auxiliary anti-air craft ship GOLDEN EAGLE, a
tug, two
drifters picked up the survivors.
Auxiliary
anti-aircraft
ship CRESTED EAGLE (1110grt, Temporary Lt Cdr B. R.
Booth
(probationary) RNR) was sunk by German bombing at 1850 at
Dunkirk.
Anti-aircraft
ship
CRESTED EAGLE's survivors were rescued by minesweeper
PANGBOURNE.
Temporary
Probationary
Lt C. S. Elliott RNR,
Temporary Lt (E) E. Jones RNR, Temporary S/Lt (E) A. W.
Turnbull RNR, were wounded.
Minesweeping
trawler
POLLY JOHNSON (290grt, Skipper Lt F. Padley RNR) was
badly damaged by German
bombing off Dunkirk
and later scuttled.
Acting
Skipper
J. M. Greengrass RNR,
was lost in the trawler.
Minesweeping
trawler
CALVI (363grt, Temporary Skipper B. D. Spindler RNR) of
Minesweeping Group 51
was sunk by German bombing in Dunkirk Harbour.
The
survivors were picked up by minesweeping trawler JOHN
CATTLING.
Temporary
S/Lt
Everitt RNVR, which died of wounds on 12 June, two
ratings were lost.
French
steamers
MONIQUE SCHIAFFFINO (3236grt) and MARS (721grt) were
sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
French
steamer
SAINT OCTAVE (5099grt) was scuttled at Dunkirk, but was
later salved by
German forces and renamed ILSE FRITZEN for German
service.
French
auxiliary
minesweeper JOSEPH MARIE (41grt) was sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
Belgian
tugs
VULCAIN (200grt), MAX (177grt) and THAMES
(144grt) were sunk by German
bombing at Dunkirk.
French
steamer
DOUAISIEN (2954grt) was bombed and badly damaged by
German bombing
off Dunkirk.
Three
passengers
were killed in the bombing.
Steamer
DOUAISIEN
was sunk in further attacks on 1 June.
British
steamer
CLAN MACALISTER (6787grt) was set on fire by German
bombing at Dunkirk, off No. 6 Buoy, Dunkirk
East Buoy. The steamer was abandoned.
Eighteen
lives
were lost on the steamer.
Steamer
CLAN
MACALISTER's survivors were picked up by destroyer
MALCOLM and
minesweeper PANGBOURNE.
British
steamer
MONA'S QUEEN (2756grt) was sunk by a mine off Dunkirk,
one half mile east of
Dunkirk Pier Head.
Twenty
six
lives were lost on the steamer.
Steamer
MONA'S
QUEEN 's survivors were rescued by destroyer VANQUISHER
and taken to Dover.
British
steamer
LORINA (1578grt) was sunk by German bombing in Dunkirk
Roads.
Eight
lives
were lost on the steamer.
British
steamer
FENELLA (2376grt) was sunk by German bombing off
Dunkirk.
The
steamer was set on fire by the bombing and was
abandoned. The steamer was
observed sinking on the 30th. Fifteen lives were lost on
the steamer.
Flare
drifter
YORKSHIRE LASS (111grt) was escorted back to Dover in an
unseaworthy condition
after she passed close to a steamer when it struck a
mine.
French
steamer
MARS (721grt) was sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk.
British
drifter
NAUTILUS (64grt) was lost at Dunkirk.
In
operations by 825 Squadron over Dunkirk. Five Sowrdfish
were shot
down by German fighters.
Leading
Airman
L.P. Gardner were killed when his Swordfish was shot
down; Lt R.
H.G.Grey was taken prisoner, but died as a POW on 29
August 1941.
Lt
Cdr J. B. Buckley and Lt R. G.Wood were taken prisoner
when their Swordfish
crashed landed. Buckley died in POW camp on 21
March 1943.
S/Lt
C.F. S. Hogg and Leading Airman H.K. Murrin was killed
when their Swordfish
crashed.
S/Lt
(A) J. T. Nicholson and Naval Airman V. S. A. Moore were
taken prisoner when
their Swordfish crashed.
Lt
A. D. Neely and Naval Airman F. G.Rumsey were taken
prisoner when their
Swordfish was shot down.
Two
other Swordfish of the Squadron were also lost, but
their crews were able to
return to England
through Dunkirk.
_____
On
the 29th, 47,310 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
_____
Escort
destroyer
FERNIE was completed. Following a brief working up at
Portland, she was employed in the
evacuation of the French north coast.
_____
Submarine
H.43
was patrolling with Anti-submarine trawler MANOR
(314grt) off Dingle Bay to sink U boats and inspect
merchant ships outside Irish territorial waters.
_____
Submarines
TRIAD
and SEAWOLF departed Rosyth to relieve submarines L.23
and L.26 on
patrol off the Dutch coast.
Submarine
SALMON
was ordered to a new billet to allow submarine L.26 to
return to port.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE
departed Dundee and arrived at Rosyth later
that day.
_____
Submarine
TETRARCH
at Rosyth was docked. She was undocked the next day.
_____
Convoy
SA.43
of one steamer arrived at St Malo from Southampton.
_____
Convoy
AXF.6
departed Southampton for St Malo.
_____
French
submarine
CENTAURE, escorted by sloop COMMANDANT BORY, passed
Gibraltar, en route from Brest for Bizerte, where she
arrived on 1
June.
Thursday,
30 May
Aircraft carrier
ARK ROYAL with destroyers ARDENT,
ACASTA, ACHERON departed the Clyde at 0545 for Scapa
Flow where they arrived on the
31st at 0529.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
GLORIOUS with destroyers HIGHLANDER and WREN arrived off
Scapa Flow from patrol off Norway at 1600/29th, but
could not
enter due to fog.
Destroyer
ELECTRA
was ordered to join the aircraft carrier off Sule Skerry
to relieve
destroyer WREN which was detached for refuelling at
Scapa Flow.
The
aircraft carrier arrived in Scapa Flow at 1515/30th.
_____
Destroyer
BEAGLE
was damaged by the near miss of a German air bomb near
Narvik. The
destroyer spent no time of out action.
_____
Battleship
REVENGE
and destroyers ESCORT and WESTCOTT departed the Clyde at
2315 to escort British
troopships DUCHESS OF RICHMOND (20,022grt) and ANTONIA
(13,867) which
departed Liverpool at 1845 with destroyers WOLVERINE, WARWICK,
WITCH.
Battleship
REVENGE
was carrying 40 million pounds sterling in gold bullion
and ANTONIA
and DUCHESS OF RICHMOND each carried another 10 million
pounds sterling in
gold.
At
15W, REVENGE and her group met the troopships. The
destroyers were detached
and ESCORT and WOLVERINE arrived at Scapa Flow
at 1800 on 1 June and WARWICK, WESTCOTT, WITCH arrived
in
the Clyde at 1800 on 1 June.
Battleship
REVENGE
and the troopships safely proceeded to Halifax.
_____
Destroyer
BRAZEN,
which departed Rosyth on the 29th for Harwich, struck a
sunken wreck
on the 30th which badly damaged her and flooded both
boiler rooms.
Destroyer
BRAZEN
was able to reach the Humber at 1030/30th and she was under repair at
Hull
until 30 June. Her
completion was delayed due to machinery defects.
_____
Destroyer
VETERAN
departed Scapa Flow at 0030 with British steamers ARBROATH (553grt) and
NGAKOA (507grt) for Harstad.
Leaving
Scapa
Flow,
destroyer
VETERAN was in a minor collision in thick fog at Switha
Gate with
steamer NGAKOA. The convoy returned to Scapa Flow at
0200, but all ships were
able to depart at 1545 that day for Harstad.
Destroyer
ANTELOPE
departed the Clyde on the 29th at 2030 with Norwegian steamer
MARITA (1931grt) and British steamer YEWMOUNT (859grt)
for Harstad. This
group arrived at Stornoway at 1615/30th to await
destroyer VETERAN's
departure from Scapa Flow.
The
destroyer ANTELOPE group departed Stornoway and
rendezvoused off Cape Wrath with the VETERAN group at
0300/31st.
After
the
two groups rendezvoused, destroyer ANTELOPE was detached
to Scapa Flow.
_____
U.56
attacked British troopship ULSTER PRINCE (3791grt),
returning
to the Clyde escorted by destroyer
WITHERINGTON, in 59‑32N, 06‑23W.
Prematurely
exploding
torpedoes prevented any damage.
At
0425, destroyer WITHERINGTON attacked U.56 without
result.
_____
Belgian
steamer
EGYPTE (2568grt) was seized as a prize off Cape Bon in
the Mediterranean.
_____
German
steamer
FINKENAU (916grt) was sunk on a mine south of Drogden
near Copenhagen.
_____
U.101
sank
British steamer STANHALL (4831grt) off Cape Finisterre
in 48‑59N, 05‑17W.
One
crew was lost on the steamer STANHALL. The survivors
were picked up by
British steamer TEMPLE
MOAT (4427grt), formerly in
convoy HX.43.
Canadian
destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST LAURENT, on passage from Canada, were
ordered to search for
the submarine after detaching destroyer SKEENA to
Plymouth for fuel.
Destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE,
ST
LAURENT,
SKEENA attacked a submarine contact
in 48-51N, 5-04W off Ushant on the 31st.
On
the 31st, U.101 attacked Convoy HG.31 and sank British
steamer ORANGEMOOR
(5775grt) in 49‑53N, 03‑23W before being slightly
damaged and
driven away from the convoy by escorting British
corvette ARABIS.
Eighteen
crew
of the steamer ORANGEMOOR were missing. The survivors
were rescued by
British steamer BRANDENBURG
(1473grt).
Canadian
destroyer
RESTIGOUCHE was ordered to hunt for the submarine.
Destroyer FERNIE
was ordered to join corvette ARABIS.
_____
Boom
defense vessel CAMBRIAN (338grt, Temporary Boom Skipper
A. L.Wood RNR) was sunk on a mine off Spithead.
Wood
and Temporary Boom Engineer A.F. Ross RNR, were lost in
the vessel.
_____
Destroyers
FURY
and FORESIGHT arrived at the Humber
from the Home Fleet.
_____
Destroyer
BASILISK
arrived at Dover
after repairs at Plymouth.
_____
On
the 30th, the covering patrol station north of Dunkirk
was assigned to destroyers
VEGA and BLYSKAWICA and patrol sloops SHELDRAKE and
WIDGEON.
Destroyer
VANQUISHER
was sent over to Dunkirk by Admiral Ramsay to confirm
the situation there.
French
destroyers
CYCLONE, which was having engine troubles limiting her
speed to
sixteen knots, SIROCCO departed Dover to operate off
Dunkirk.
At
1530, destroyers HARVESTER and HAVANT of the 9th
Destroyer Flotilla and
IVANHOE, IMPULSIVE, ICARUS, INTREPID of the 20th
Destroyer Flotilla were
ordered back into DYNAMO after having been withdrawn the
day before to
prevent their losses.
French
destroyers
FOUDROYANT and BOURRASQUE and torpedo boats BOUCLIER and
BRANLEBAS
embarked troops at Dunkirk.
French
torpedo
boat BRANLEBAS was damaged in a collision while
embarking troops.
French
destroyer
BOURRASQUE, with 880 men on board, struck a mine and
then was sunk
by German artillery within sight of Ostend.
Sixteen
crew
from the destroyer were lost. French torpedo boat
BRANLEBAS rescued one
hundred survivors and other ships in the area picked up
two hundred more. The
rest of the 880 were killed or captured.
Destroyers
ESK,
EXPRESS, which lifted 1431 troops this date, SABRE,
which lifted 1700
men in two trips, VANQUISHER, which lifted 1204 men,
VIMY, which lifted 1472
men, VIVACIOUS, which lifted 1023 men, WHITEHALL, which
lifted 1248 men,
WINDSOR, WOLSEY, which lifted 1677 men in three trips on
this date,
WORCESTER, which lifted among many others British
General Brook, were among
the ships lifting troops from Dunkirk and delivering
them to Dover on the
30th.
Destroyers
ANTHONY
and SABRE were damaged at 1800 by German bombing at
Dunkirk.
Destroyer
ANTHONY
had damage to her engine room machinery. Destroyer
ANTHONY departed Dover at 1850 on 1 June with
destroyer WOLSEY and was repaired at Portsmouth in two
weeks.
Destroyer
SABRE
had no casualties, except Acting Gunner A.F. Coombe
wounded by
splinters, her damage was limited to her gyrocompass.
She spent no time out
of action.
Destroyer
ICARUS
reported German motor torpedo boats off Bray at 2209.
Destroyer
HARVESTER
was missed by torpedoes at 2306 in Zuydcote Pass. The
destroyer reported these
were fired by an enemy motor torpedo boat.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
was in a collision off Dunkirk with British steamer
ROEBUCK
(776grt).
Destroyer
WOLSEY
was able to proceed at a reduced speed. At 1850 on 1
June, destroyer
WOLSEY departed Dover
in the company of destroyer
ANTHONY for repair and refit at Portsmouth completing on
21 June.
Minesweeper
KELLET
was damaged by the near miss of German bombing at
Dunkirk. Minesweeper KELLET was
leaking slightly.
She
was taken to Sheerness for repairs, then on 19 June was
moved to Grimsby to complete the repairs.
Minesweeper KELLET returned to service on 28 June.
Minesweeper
SHARPSHOOTER
was damaged in a collision with British personnel ship
ST HELIER (1952grt) off Dunkirk. The two ships were
locked
together and continued towards Dover in that way for
forty
minutes.
The
minesweeper was cut from the forecastle deck to the
keel.
Minesweeper
SHARPSHOOTER
was towed to Dover
by tug EMPIRE HENCHMAN
(391grt).
Minesweeper
SHARPSHOOTER
departed Dover
for Sheerness on 2 June.
Minesweeper
DUNDALK
departed Grimsby and proceeded independently
to Dunkirk.
Flare
drifters
GOLDEN GIFT (89grt) and SHIPMATES (82grt) went ashore on
the Goodwins.
Both
drifters were later refloated.
Armed
boarding
vessel KING ORRY (1877grt, Cdr J. Elliot, RD RNR) was
damaged by German
bombing near misses. The ship cleared the harbour and
foundered at 0300 one
half mile north of Dunkirk.
The
drifter VIVACIOUS, trawler LORD GREY, other small ships
picked up
the survivors.
British
steamer
PRINCESS MAUD (2883grt) was damaged by German shell guns
midday near Gravelines.
The
damage was not serious.
British
steamer
ST JULIEN (1952grt) was damaged by German bombing midday
at Dunkirk.
The
damage was not serious.
British
steamer
NORMANNIA (1567grt) was badly damaged by German bombing
four miles
271° from the Dunkirk
breakwater.
The
steamer was taken in tow, beached, abandoned.
There
were
no casualties on the steamer NORMANNIA.
British
steamer
FULHAM IV (1584grt) was damaged by German bombing off
Orfordness.
British
trawler
CORRENIE (203grt) was lost in the North Sea.
On
the 30th, 53,823 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
_____
Mine
destructor ship CORFIELD was damaged by mining and fire
late on the 30th in
the Dover area. salvage tug DAPPER came to her assistance and
she repaired at Chatham
completing on 25 July.
_____
French
submarine
RUBIS arrived at Dundee.
_____
Convoy FN.184 departed Southend, escorted by sloop WESTON. The convoy
arrived in the Tyne on 1 June.
_____
Convoy MT.77 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FN.183 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The convoy
arrived at Southend on 1 June.
_____
Light
cruisers
DURBAN
and DANAE departed Singapore.
Friday,
31 May
Aircraft
carriers
ARK
ROYAL and GLORIOUS departed Scapa Flow at 0830 with
destroyers HIGHLANDER,
ACASTA, ARDENT, DIANA, ACHERON for operations off
Vestfjord.
_____
Lt
R. L.Strange and Petty Officer N. Reid and Probationary
Temporary S/Lt (A) J.
B. Marsh RNVR, Naval Airman G.R. Nicholson were lost in
the crashes of Skuas
from 801 Squadron shot down off Nieuport.
_____
Sgt
Pilot L.W. C. Sturgess was killed when his Gladiator of
804 Squadron crashed
at Hatston.
_____
British
troopships
ORONSAY (20043grt), ULSTER MONARCH (3791grt), ARANDORA
STAR (15501grt), ULSTER PRINCE (3791grt),and VANDYCK
(13241grt) departed the Clyde at 2030 for Harstad escorted by destroyers
WITHERINGTON and VISCOUNT.
The
destroyers were detached in 63N and arrived back at
Scapa Flow on 3 June.
_____
Destroyer
ASHANTI
proceeded to Rosyth to
rendezvous with troopships ORAMA (19,840grt) and ORMONDE
(14,982grt) at 1800
and escort them to Scapa Flow.
The
three ships arrived at Scapa Flow at 0515 on 1 June. However, on arrival,
troopship ORAMA grounded south of Cava
Island. The troopship was refloated
during the afternoon with no apparent damage. The three
departed Scapa Flow at 2050 on 1 June.
_____
Destroyers
BEDOUIN
and MASHONA at 1600 exercising at sea was ordered to
proceed to the
east of the Orkneys to establish a patrol line.
Destroyers
BEDOUIN
and MASHONA arrived at Scapa Flow
at 1105 on 1 June after
being sent to investigate five Dutch trawlers in Holm
Sound.
_____
Destroyers
MAORI
and KELVIN departed Scapa Flow at 1745 to carry out a patrol east and
northeast of the Orkneys.
Destroyers
ZULU
and ELECTRA departed Scapa Flow at 1815 to carry out a patrol as destroyers
MAORI and KELVIN.
Destroyer
ELECTRA
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0650 on 1 June.
Destroyers
MAORI,
ZULU, KELVIN arrived at Scapa Flow
at 0800 on 1 June after
patrol. Firing practices were cancelled due to weather.
_____
Destroyer
MASHONA
departed Scapa Flow at 0530 escorting Minesweepers BRAMBLE and SPEEDY to
Scrabster.
The
destroyer then carried out gunnery and torpedo
exercises.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers
JUNIPER and WHITETHORN departed Scapa Flow escorting
oiler CONCH to
Harstad.
_____
Destroyer
FORESTER
departed the Humber at 1900 after refitting for Scapa
Flow.
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER and destroyers ATHERSTONE and ENCOUNTER
departed Rosyth
at 1500 on minelaying mission BS.10.
The
minelay was carried out from 1302 to 1348 on 1 June.
After
the
operation, the minelayers returned to the Humber and the
destroyers returned
to Rosyth.
_____
Sloop
WESTON
attacked U.13 ahead of convoy FN.184 fourteen miles
southeast of Lowestoft in 52‑27N, 02‑02E.
Destroyer
FORESIGHT
approaching from the north during the hunt was unable to
assist due
to being en route to meet northbound liners.
The
submarine, which had departed Germany on the 26th on
patrol, was
sunk. All the crew, three officers and twenty three
ratings, of the submarine
were rescued and taken prisoner.
On
23 June, minesweeper TEDWORTH, escorted by patrol sloop
PUFFIN, carried out
diving operations on the submarine in Operation ROBIN.
_____
Convoy FN.185 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WALLACE. The
convoy arrived at the Tyne on 2 June.
_____
Convoy MT.78 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WALPOLE. The
convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
_____
Convoy FN.184 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer WALPOLE. The convoy
arrived at Southend on 2 June.
_____
Destroyer
VIVACIOUS
was hit by German shore guns off Bray at Dunkirk.
Three
ratings
were killed and twelve wounded, including LtF. P. Baker,
on the destroyer
VIVACIOUS.
Destroyer
VIVACIOUS
departed Dover
at 1300 on 4 June for Portsmouth for repair.
Destroyer
EXPRESS
was damaged by the near miss of a German air bomb at
Dunkirk.
Destroyer
EXPRESS
departed Dover
at 1300 on 4 June for Portsmouth and was repaired in one
week.
Destroyers
BASILISK
and IMPULSIVE damaged their propellers on debris in
Dunkirk Harbour.
Destroyer
IMPULSIVE
damaged both propellers on debris at 1554. Destroyer
IMPULSIVE
departed Dover
at 1735 on 1 June for
Blackwall and was repaired completing on 4 July.
Destroyer
BASILISK
was lost before any repairs were made.
Destroyers
ICARUS
and SCIMITAR collided at 1147 off Dunkirk.
Destroyer
ICARUS
was slightly damaged. Destroyer SCIMITAR was
considerably damaged and
was forced to return to Dover.
Destroyer SCIMITAR departed Dover at 0630 on 2 June for repairs at Sheerness.
Destroyer
SCIMITAR
was also involved in a collision with a drifter (either
British
flare burning drifter GERVAIS RENTOUL (100grt) or Armed
patrol drifter EILEEN
EMMA (102grt) which both returned to Dover with
collision damage.)
Destroyer
WOLFHOUND
brought a large party of naval signalmen to Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WOLSEY
arrived at Dunkirk
to serve as a communications
link with Dover.
Destroyers
ICARUS,
KEITH, WINCHELSEA were damaged at Dunkirk by German
bombing attack.
Destroyer
ICARUS
departed Dover
at 1300 on 4 June with
destroyers VIVACIOUS, EXPRESS, ESK, WINDSOR, WINCHELSEA,
WHITSHED for Portsmouth. Destroyer ICARUS was
repaired at Portsmouth
completing on 13 June.
Destroyer
WINCHELSEA
was returned to service after repairs at Dover.
Destroyer WINCHELSEA
departed Dover
at 1300 on 4 June for Portsmouth.
Destroyer
KEITH
was able to continue off Dunkirk and was lost the next
day.
Destroyer
MALCOLM
sustained damage to her bow when she collided with the
pier at Dunkirk.
Destroyer
WHITEHALL damaged her propellers on debris and had one
engine out of service.
Destroyer
WORCESTER
damaged her propellers when she grounded in Dunkirk
Roads.
Destroyer
VANQUISHER
sustained propeller damage when she struck debris at
Dunkirk.
French
large
destroyer LEOPARD was damaged by German bombing off
Dunkirk.
Between
0000
and 0200, French destroyer SIROCCO was torpedoed and
badly damaged by
German schnellboote S.23 and S.26 near West Hinder, in
51-18N, 2-15E.
Attempting
to
effect emergency repairs, destroyer SIROCCO was sunk by
German bombing.
Destroyer
SIROCCO
had been credited with sinking three German submarines
in the war.
She went down with the colours of the 92nd French
Infantry Regiment which its
Colonel had smuggled out of the outskirts of Lille where
the unit was encircled
by German troops.
Destroyer
SIROCCO
had on board 180 crew and 700 French troops. Fifty nine
crew and over
six hundred troops were lost.
On
patrol nearby, destroyer BLYSKAWICA picked up fifteen
survivors, patrol sloop
WIDGEON picked up 166 survivors, STELLA DORADO (416grt)
picked up twenty one
survivors, WOLVES (422grt) picked up fifty survivors.
French
destroyer
CYCLONE was torpedoed and badly damaged when her bow was
blown off
by German
S.24
off Dunkirk.
Destroyer
CYCLONE
was able to return to Dover at four knots escorted by
two French ships. After emergency repairs, she was taken
to Brest.
Minesweeper
LEDA
was slightly damaged in a collision at Dunkirk.
French
torpedo
boats BOUCLIER, which among her passengers were French
General
Blanchard, General Langlois, Commander of the French
Cavalry Corps, their
staffs, BRANLEBAS, FLORE, INCOMPRISE and sloop
IMPETEUESE, which lifted 649
troops, evacuated troops from Dunkirk.
Auxiliary
minesweeper
DEVONIA (622grt, Temporary Lt J. Brotchie RNVR) of the
7th
Minesweeping Flotilla was beached and abandoned after
damage from German
bombing near La Panne at Dunkirk.
Anti-submarine
trawler
ST ACHILLEUS (484grt, Temporary Lt H.A. Gellet RNVR) of
the 11th
AntiSubmarine Striking Force was sunk on a mine off
Dunkirk.
Gellet
was
lost with the trawler. Probationary Temporary LtF. W.
Cundiff RNVR,
Skipper C. Hodson RNR, were wounded.
French
steamers
AIN EL TURK (2008grt) and COTE D'AZUR (3047grt) and
trawlers PUISSANT (200grt), COSTAUD (140grt), ADJADER
(414grt) were sunk by
German bombing at Dunkirk.
Steamer
COTE
D'AZUR was later salved and renamed ELSASS for German
service.
Lt
D H King RNVR of LUCIFER, was killed at Dunkirk. He was
posted missing until
the summer of 1945.
_____
During
the
night of 31 May/1 June, French large destroyer EPERVIER
patrolled seven
miles from North Goodwin Light.
French
large
destroyer LEOPARD patrolled fourteen miles from North
Goodwin Light.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser
CAIRO
patrolled twenty three miles
from North Goodwin Light.
On
the 31st, 68,014 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
_____
In
air combat over Dunkirk,
a Skua of 801 Squadron was
shot down. Midshipman (A) R. M. S. Martin RNVR, Naval
Airman R. Hedger were
injured, but both returned to the UK.
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
departed Blyth for Immingham.
_____
Submarine
H.33
arrived at Campbeltown.
_____
Dutch
submarine
O 9 arrived at Portland.
_____
Submarines
H.43,
after Dingle Bay
patrol was abandoned, OTWAY
arrived at Plymouth.
_____
Submarines
L.23
and L.26 arrived at Harwich.
_____
Reallocations
were
made in Home Waters within the Submarine Command.
At
Portsmouth, submarine OTWAY and OBERON were assigned to
submarine training.
At
Portland, Dutch submarines O 9 and O 10 were assigned to
anti-submarine training. After refitting, submarine H.32
joined this unit.
At
Plymouth, submarine H.43 was assigned to anti-submarine
training.
At
Harwich, submarines H.34, H.44, H.49, H.50 were involved
in operational
duties.
At
Blyth, submarines H.28 and H.31
were involved in operational duties.
At
Dundee, submarines L.23 and L.26 and
the remaining Dutch submarines were involved in
operational duties.
_____
Convoy
BC.38
with stamers BALTRAFFIC, BARON KINNAIRD, DAVID
LIVINGSTONE (Commodore),
KERMA departed Loire escorted by anti-submarine trawlers HUDDERSFIELD
TOWN and YORK CITY and armed yacht ZAZA. The
convoy arrived in Bristol Channel
on 2 June.
_____
Convoy
HG.32
with twenty four ships departed Gibraltar escorted by
destroyer
WISHART from 31 May to 1 June.
Destroyer
VORTIGERN
escorted the convoy from 1 to 4 June.
Destroyer
WATCHMAN
came from convoy HG.32F and escorted the convoy from 1
to 2 June.
The destroyer was then detached to convoy OG.31.
Sloop
WELLINGTON from convoy OG.31 escorted the convoy from 2 to
10 June.
Sloop
FOLKESTONE
from convoy OG.32 escorted the convoy from 7 to 10 June.
The
convoy arrived at Liverpool on 10 June.
_____
Convoy
AXF.7
departed Southamtpon for
St Malo.
_____
Convoy
SL.34
departed Freetown
escorted by armed merchant
cruiser CARNARVON
CASTLE to 14 June.
Sloop
LEITH
and corvette HIBISCUS joined
the convoy on 14 June and escorted it to arrival on 15
June.
_____
Light
cruiser
DUNEDIN
arrived at Bermuda.
_____
French
submarines
IRIS, PALLAS, VENUS, CERES passed Gibraltar en route
from the Antilles to Toulon, where they arrived on 3
June.
The
submarines left the Antilles command on the 1st. They had been in the
command since 22 February.
May,
miscellaneous
Operator
MEDOR
- in late May, the four cruisers and destroyers of
French Amiral Rene
Godfroy's Mediterranean Fleet French detachment departed
Alexandria for Beirut to embark troops for the
proposed occupation of Crete and Milos. Also, British troops were to have embarked on
British cruisers at Port Said.
This operation, after
several postponements, was finally cancelled on 8 June
unless Italy invaded Greece.