Background
Events - June 1940
Evacuation
of
Dunkirk ends, Italy at war, Action at sea in
the Mediterranean, France falls
1940
Saturday,
8
June
Mobile
Naval
Base Ship MASHOBRA, bombed and badly damaged by
German bombing on 25
May and ran aground to prevent sinking, was scuttled to
prevent her capture
near Harstad.
______
Tanker
OLEANDER (7048grt), bombed and badly damaged by
German bombing on 26
May and ran aground to prevent sinking near Harstad, was
scuttled to prevent
her capture.
______
British
Troopship
Group I and battleship VALIANT and her destroyers
rendezvoused at
0100, and VALIANT remained with the convoy until it was
west of the Faroes.
VALIANT and her destroyers then left Group I and picked
up Group II on the
10th. The convoy was continually bombed. VALIANT
remained with
Group II until they reached 59N, and then proceeded to
Scapa Flow.
Group
I
arrived in the
Clyde at 0600/10th with her escorts of repair ship VINDICTIVE and
destroyers VISCOUNT, WITHERINGTON, WOLVERINE, ANTELOPE
and ATHERSTONE. Troopship
GEORGIC went directly to Brest arriving on the 14th to
disembark her French troops.
Battlecruiser
RENOWN
and destroyers ZULU and KELVIN departed Icelandic waters
for
refuelling at Scapa Flow, where they arrived at 0515 and
520, respectively, on
the 9th.
______
Tanker
OIL PIONEER (5666grt) and escorting trawler JUNIPER
(Lt
Cdr G. S.Grenfell (emcy) of the 19th Anti-Submarine
Striking Force, which had
departed Tromso on the 7th were attacked and sunk off
Jan Mayen Island in 67‑20N,
04‑10E by German heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER and the
four destroyers
of the JUNO operation. The
Master
and nineteen crew of the tanker were lost. Twenty
five survivors from the tanker and four from JUNIPER
were picked up by the
German ships. Grenfell, Probationary Temporary Lt R. C.
B. A. Daniel RNVR,
Probationary Temporary Lt N. L.Smith RNVR, and the rest
of the crew of the trawler
were lost.
Troopship
ORAMA (19,840grt) was also located in 67‑44N,
03-52E and sunk
by the German ships which had sunk OIL PIONEER and
JUNIPER, but her
companion, hospital ship ATLANTIS, was not molested. Of
a crew of 297 men and two gunners, eighteen crew were
missing and one died of
injuries.
ADMIRAL
HIPPER and the four destroyers were then ordered to
Trondheim for refuelling. Destroyer
STEINBRINCK arrived at Trondheim
on the 10th with one engine
operating. The defects were corrected by 10 June.
______
German
battlecruisers
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU encountered aircraft carrier GLORIOUS
(Captain G. D'Oyly Hughes) with destroyers ACASTA
(Cdr C. E. Glasfurd) and
ARDENT (Lt Cdr J. E. Barker) at 1600 west of the
Lofoten Islands in 68‑45N, 4‑30E. GLORIOUS had been
detached from the Narvik evacuation covering force
and was proceeding independently to
Scapa Flow.
All
three British ships were sunk west of Narvik, but not
before ACASTA was able
to torpedo SCHARNHORST and badly damage her, putting an
end to Marschall's operation. She had her centre and
starboard engine room flooded, the after
turret out of action, and speed reduced to twenty knots.
Two officers and
forty six ratings were killed.
On
11 June, Lt Cdr R. C. O. Hill, FAA Petty Officer Pilot
R. T. Leggott of 802
Squadron and officers S/Lt I. V. MacLachlan and
Midshipman E. Baldwin of the
823 Squadron, RAF officers Squadron Leader K. B. B.
Cross and Flight Lt P. C.
Jameson, thirty ratings from GLORIOUS, two ratings from
ACASTA, a RAF non
commissioned officer were picked up by Norwegian trawler
BORGUND (303grt)
which landed them in the Faroes on the 13th. One
GLORIOUS survivor died before arriving, and one GLORIOUS
survivor and one ACASTA survivor died shortly after
arriving. Destroyers VETERAN and FORESTER were
detached from the Commander in Chief on the 14th to call
at the Faroes on the
16th and pick up these men, taking them to Scapa Flow.
Another
five
ratings, of whom one died, from GLORIOUS were picked up
by Norwegian
trawler SVALBARD 2 (270grt). The trawler returned
to Tromso, arriving on the 14th and was captured by
German forces. Two
ratings from destroyer ARDENT, of whom one died, were
picked up by a German
seaplane and made prisoners of war. Norwegian steamer
MARITA (1136grt) picked
up five bodies from GLORIOUS on the 10th and landed in
the Faroes. One other
rating, who soon died, from ARDENT was picked up by
Faroes fishing boat
ROKUR.
Lost
on the three British ships were 1474 officers and
ratings of the Royal Navy and 59 RAF personnel:
With
GLORIOUS were Captain D'Oyly Hughes, Cdr A E F Lovell,
Lt Cdr J R F
Newnham, Lt Cdr C H Wells, Lt Cdr R W J
Pringle-Nicholson, Lt Cdr W G D
Blakeney, Lt Cdr A Malcouronne,Lt Cdr A N R Keene Rtd,
Lt Cdr J R de la H
Marett Rtd, Lt D V Whinney, Captain M N Humphreys, RM,
Temporary Lt H W
Brooks RNVR, Probationary Lt G R Gibb RNVR, Probationary
Temporary Acting
S/Lt T J Earle RNVR, S/Lt H Dann RNVR, Cdr (E) J M
Goodman, Lt Cdr (E) D E
Smeeton, Lt (E) W H Forbes, Lt (E) C Howlett, Lt (E) A T
Noble, Lt (E) R H
Woodifield, Probationary Temporary S/Lt (E) P M Blunt
RNVR, Probationary
Temporary S/Lt (E) D L McIntyre RNVR, Reverend J B King,
Instructor Lt G
Steel, Surgeon Lt T A M Maunsell, Surgeon Cdr C H Egan,
MRCS, LRCP, Surgeon
Lt (D) G P Pearse, LDS, Surgeon Lt Cdr H A Lockhart
RNVR, Paymaster Cdr C S
Bishop, Paymaster Cdr H A Gibbons, Paymaster Lt Cdr C C
Elliot, Paymaster
S/Lt E J L Wright, Temporary Paymaster S/Lt A G Bailey
RNVR, Commissioned
Electrician A J Abraham, Gunner E G Meadows,
Commissioned Gunner (T) H P
Scott, Commissioned Gunner L J Werran, Signal Boatswain
C Rogers, Warrant
Telegraphist R R Clark,Warrant Engineer A E W Elliott,
Warrant Engineer H E E
May, Warrant Engineer J H Longman, Warrant Shipwright B
B Cole, Warrant Air
Mechanic L P Ayres, Acting Warrant Shipwright J H
Hoppins, Acting Warrant
Engineer F B T Cusse, Warrant Writer R C V C Roberts,
Warrant Supply Officer
F G Penny, Warrant Supply Officer J L Porter, Acting
Boatswain P J
Caddy,Schoolmaster H G Hallum, 1086 ratings, 18 RAF
pilots of 46 and 263
Squadrons and 41 RAF ground personnel.
Lt
Cdr E H P Slessor, Lt Cdr W H Parkin Rtd, Lt Cdr J D
Watson, Lt (A) B P Hart,
Probationary S/Lt (A) E A Phillips RNVR, of the air
staff were lost in
GLORIOUS.
Lt
J F Marmont (Squadron CO), Lt D N H Ogilvy, Lt N E Ward,
Lt G D D'E Lyver,
Captain R J W Nott, RM, Captain J R Owens, RM, Lt (A) G
H J Feeny, Lt (A) R J
B Miles of 802 Squadron, and Lt Cdr C J T Stephens
(Squadron CO), Lt J L
Hallewell, Lt S F W Hebblethwaite, Lt G Starkey, Lt B J
C Wise, S/Lt (A) J H
Radclift, S/Lt (A) G P Ritchie, Acting S/Lt (A) J M
Franklin, S/Lt (A) J F
Shillitoe RNVR, of 823 Squadron were lost in GLORIOUS.
With
ACASTA were Cdr Glasfurd, Lt C F S Robinson, Lt S L
Haydock, Lt B Pares,
Lt (E) F J Boyland, Probationary Temporary Surgeon Lt H
J Stammers, MRCS,
LRCP, MC, BS RNVR, S/Lt R J D Law, Probationary
Temporary S/Lt J H Hide RNVR,
Acting Gunner (T) A Sharpe, 152 ratings. One rating
survived.
With
ARDENT were Lt Cdr Barker, Lt G L de Pury, Temporary
Surgeon Lt D H T
Duggan, MD, BCH, BAO RNVR, S/Lt D P Robertson, S/Lt G V
R Read-Davis,
Probationary S/Lt K S Wood RNVR, Commissioned Engineer B
G Clynick, Acting
Gunner (T) G H Moses, Probationary Midshipman J F
Hawkins RNR, 142 ratings. Two ratings,
one of whom died in captivity, were rescued.
______
Polish
submarine
ORZEL, mined and sunk on 25 May, was declared
lost after failing to
return from her second Norwegian war patrol. Lt K D'O
Nott, a British
observer and two British communications ratings were
lost with the Polish
crew.
______
Battleship
NELSON
with destroyers WARWICK, WITCH, AMAZON arrived in the
Clyde at 1115. AMAZON departed the
Clyde at 1830 for Scapa Flow.
______
Destroyer
INGLEFIELD
(D.3) arrived at Scapa Flow at 2215 after refitting at
Devonport.
______
Anti-submarine
trawler
STOKE CITY ran around south of Duncansby Head, but was
refloated.
______
British
steamer
CORMINSTER arrived at Scapa Flow from Harstad.
______
A
German submarine was reported by a British aircraft at
0840 in 55-52N, 2-40E.
______
Escort
destroyer
HAMBLEDON was completed. Following working up at Milford
Haven, she
was attached to the Home Fleet.
______
Swedish
steamer
KJELL BILLNER (1106grt) was seized by German
forces at Stavanger. She
was renamed HELGA SCHRODER for German service. The
crew were returned to Gotenburg.
______
Destroyers
VESPER
and WANDERER, which had departed Dover on the 7th,
bombarded German
targets on the roadway between Abbeville and Treport,
east of Dieppe on the
8th, before arriving at Dover later that same day. Light
cruiser CARDIFF at 1715/8th and VESPER and WANDERER
later arrived
at Dover to stand by for operations off Dieppe.
______
British
steamer
HARDINGHAM (5415grt), detached from convoy FS.89,
struck a mine in
51-34N, 01-37E, and sank in 51-39N, 01-40E. Two
crew were lost.
______
Convoy
BC.40
departed Bristol Channel, escorted by anti-submarine
trawler AGATE. The
convoy arrived at Loire on the 10th.
______
Convoy FN.191 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers WOLFHOUND and
VALOROUS. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 10th.
______
Convoy
HG.33
departed Gibraltar with twenty three ships. Destroyers
DOUGLAS and VIDETTE escorted the convoy from 8 to 10
June. Sloop
ABERDEEN from convoy OG.32 escorted the convoy from 10
to 17 June. It arrived at Liverpool on the 18th.
______
Troop
convoy US 3 departed Freetown escorted by aircraft
carrier HERMES and
heavy cruisers CUMBERLAND and SHROPSHIRE. HERMES was
detached on the 10th and
heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE accompanied the convoy on 12
to 14 June.
US 3
was joined off Gibraltar by battlecruiser HOOD, which
departed the Clyde
on the 12th, aircraft carrier ARGUS, destroyers BROKE,
WANDERER, WESTCOTT,
and Canadian destroyers ST LAURENT, RESTIGOUCHE, SKEENA
which joined DORSETSHIRE, CUMBERLAND, SHROPSHIRE on the
14th. The
fourth Canadian destroyer in Home Waters, FRASER, had
arrived at Plymouth on
the 3rd and was repairing defects; she did not return to
service until 11
June.
DORSETSHIRE
conducted a patrol off the Canary Islands and arrived at
Gibraltar on the 16th. On 23 June, she departed for
Dakar, changed in view of
Armistice to Freetown.
On
15 June, the convoy was joined by destroyers WARWICK and
WITCH. On 16 June,
the convoy, CUMBERLAND, SHROPSHIRE and escorts
safely arrived
in the Clyde, SHROPSHIRE to refit, completing at the
beginning
of August.
From
12 to 16 June, U.29, U.43, U.46, U.48, U.101 were
involved in an unsuccessful
attempt to intercept the convoy.
______
Light
cruiser
DELHI arrived at Gibraltar, sailed the next day with
important RAF stores, but was recalled to Gibraltar,
arriving back on the
11th.
______
Convoy
SL.35
departed Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser
DUNNOTTAR CASTLE
to 22 June. On that date, destroyer WARWICK and corvette
CLARKIA joined the convoy and
escorted it to arrival on the 25th.
Sunday,
9
June
French
submarine
RUBIS, which had departed Dundee on the 5th, arrived off
Fedjeonsonfjord, near Bergen. She sighted German
destroyer RIEDEL, which had
departed Trondheim on the 8th for Wilhelmshaven. RUBIS
dived to evade, but
RIEDEL did not pursue, continuing south. RUBIS laid
mines at 2210 in Fedjeosonfjord in 60‑36N, 04‑54E for
minefield FD.17. On the 10th, Norwegian steamer SVERRE
SIGURDSON (1081grt)
was lost on this minefield.
______
Submarines
PORPOISE
and NARWHAL departed Immingham to lay minefields FD.18
on the 14th
off Fro Havet in 63‑30N, 08‑12E and FD.19 on the 12th
off
Haugesand 59‑26N, 05‑10E, respectively.
______
Submarines
STURGEON,
H.28 and H.31 departed Blyth on patrol.
______
Late
on the 9th, German battlecruiser SCHARNHORST arrived at
Trondheim with
sister-ship GNEISENAU and were escorted into harbour by
torpedo boats
GREIF and KONDOR which were just arriving from Germany.
______
Destroyers
ESCORT
and ELECTRA departed Scapa Flow at 0900 to rendezvous
with heavy
cruiser DEVONSHIRE and escort her to the Clyde, but they
were recalled to Scapa Flow for other duty.
______
Light
cruiser
NEWCASTLE (CS.18) and heavy cruiser SUSSEX was ordered
to leave the
Iceland area for a position off the west coast of
Iceland.
______
At
1030/9th, hospital ship ATLANTIS met battleship VALIANT
and the first
intelligence of Marschall's forces was received by the
Admiralty and the Home
Fleet. She advised she had observed a pocket battleship
engaging a two
funnel transport in 67-44N, 0-52E at 0900/8th. This was
presumed to be liner ORAMA. ATLANTIS arrived at Scapa
Flow on the 10th at 1600.
Battleship
RODNEY,
battlecruiser RENOWN, destroyers ZULU, KELVIN,
INGLEFIELD (D.3),
ELECTRA and ESCORT departed Scapa Flow at 1245 to escort
the convoys. Aircraft
carrier ARK ROYAL was ordered to join this force on the
10th.
A
Swordfish of 810 Squadron from ARK ROYAL ditched in the
sea after missing the
aircraft carrier on its return from a reconnaissance
mission looking for SCHARNHORST. S/Lt R. C. Eborn,
Midshipman G. T.
Shaddick and Leading Airman P. W. Clitheroe were picked
up by Norwegian fishery
protection vessel SYRIAN and taken to Iceland.
Battlecruiser
REPULSE,
heavy cruiser SUSSEX, light cruiser NEWCASTLE, and
destroyers MAORI,
FOXHOUND, FORESTER were still in Icelandic waters. They
were ordered at 1026
to sweep northeast and join Troopship Group II and the
slow auxiliary convoy
which were travelling together. NEWCASTLE arrived at
Scapa Flow on the 11th.
MAORI, FOXHOUND, FORESTER arrived at Sullom Voe for
refuelling at 0100/10th
and departed at 0800 after refuelling.
Destroyers
VOLUNTEER
and WHIRLWIND departed Scapa Flow at 2000 for Sullom
Voe. FOXHOUND experienced a turbine problem and returned
to Sullom Voe, to be replaced
by WHIRLWIND, which sailed from Sullom Voe at 1530/10th.
FOXHOUND
departed Sullom Voe at 0845/11th and arrived at Scapa
Flow at 2100.
WHIRLWIND was soon detached to hunt a U-boat in 60‑04N,
1‑50E,
sighted by air at 0633/10th, and was ordered to hunt for
twenty four hours.
Destroyer
FIREDRAKE
at 1300, with Group II, attacked a submarine contact in
68-05N,
2-30E. Destroyers
FEARLESS, AMAZON, ANTELOPE, ESCAPADE departed Sullom Voe
at 2230/11th to join
the Home Fleet at sea.
Late
on the 11th, VALIANT and REPULSE with destroyers TARTAR
(D.6), BEDOUIN,
MAORI, DIANA, ACHERON and FORESTER arrived at Scapa Flow
at 2200 for refuelling.
______
While
following
the British slow convoy, Norwegian steamers PRINS
OLAV (2147grt)
and ARIADNE (2029grt) were sunk by German
bombing in 67‑55N, 02‑10E,
northeast of the Shetlands. One crewman was missing from
PRINS OLAV and nine from ARIADNE. Destroyer
ARROW rescued seventy two male and nine female
survivors.
______
Destroyers
VETERAN
and VANOC arrived at Sullom Voe at 2350.
______
Destroyers
WARWICK
and WITCH departed the Clyde at 2330 for Liverpool.
______
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER escorted by destroyers GALLANT and WALPOLE
departed the
Humber to lay minefield BS 12 in the North Sea, arriving
back in the Humber on the 10th after the minelay.
______
Operation
CYCLE,
the evacuation of the French north coast was set into
action.
Destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE,
BROKE, ST LAURENT, CODRINGTON and sloop WELLINGTON were
ordered
at 1509/9th to proceed to rendezvous with destroyer
SALADIN seven miles 270°
from Cape De Le Havre. At
1533 the same orders were sent to anti-aircraft cruiser
CALCUTTA and
destroyers BULLDOG and BOADICEA. The
ships were ordered not to arrive at Havre before
0400/10th.
Destroyers
AMBUSCADE,
HARVESTER, FERNIE and corvette GARDENIA from the Western
Approaches were also ordered to CYCLE and departed
Portland on the 9th.
______
Drifter
DEWEY EVE (109grt) was sunk in an accidental
collision at Scapa Flow with
British trawler
GOLD CROWN (178grt).
______
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER,
sailing with a convoy to Aberdeen, was delayed by fog.
They were
able to proceed and departed Scapa Flow at 1345/10th.
British steamers ST MAGNUS, LOCH NAGAR, ROYAL SCOTSMAN
and Norwegian
steamer IRIS were escorted by ENCOUNTER and
trawlers ANGLE, INDIAN STAR, ST KEENAN, LADY ELSA for Aberdeen, arriving
at 0430/11th. ENCOUNTER returned to
Scapa Flow.
______
Trawlers
BARBARA ROBB, MOUNT ARD, FORT RYAN arrived at Scapa Flow
from
Norway.
______
U.46
sank Finnish steamer MARGARETA (3598grt) in
44‑04N, 12‑30W. Five
crew were lost.
______
Steamer
EMPIRE COMMERCE (3857grt) was badly damaged on a mine
five cables
west, northeast, 220° of the NE Spit
Buoy, near Margate. Two
crew were missing. She was beached 19 cables 261° from
NE Spit Buoy, refloated on
the 11th and again beached on the 12th in 51-26N,
01-24E.
______
Steamer
DULWICH (4102grt) was sunk by German bombing off
Villequier. She was later salved and renamed HOLTENAU
for German service.
______
French
auxiliary
minesweepers NOTRE DAMES DES DUNES (481grt) and
MADELEINE
LOUISE (464grt) were sunk by German bombing at
Dunkirk.
______
Greek
steamer
MAX WOLF (6694grt) was sunk by German bombing in
the
English Channel between Roque and Berville. Two crew
were killed and she was
beached at Tancarville. The wreck was later used as a
target for German
aircraft.
______
Convoy
OA.164
did not sail.
______
Convoy
OB.164
departed Liverpool escorted by sloop SANDWICH from 9 to
12 June. The
sloop was detached to convoy HX.47.
______
Convoy
OG.33F
was formed from (1) convoys OA.163GF, which
departed Southend on the 7th
escorted by corvette GLADIOLUS, and (2)
OB.163GF, which departed Liverpool on the 7th
escorted by sloop SCARBOROUGH, with a total of fifty two
ships. Corvette
PERIWINKLE escorted the convoy from 9 to 10 June and was
then detached to
convoy HG.33F. SCARBOROUGH escorted the convoy from 9 to
13 June and was then detached to
convoy HG.34F. Destroyer
DOUGLAS joined on the 13th and escorted the convoy into
Gibraltar, arriving
on the 14th.
______
Convoy FN.192 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN.
Destroyers JACKAL and FORESIGHT were ordered to close
the convoy for the
night of 9/10 June and remain with it until daylight.
The convoy arrived at
the Tyne on the 11th.
______
Convoy MT.85 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and
sloop FLEETWOOD. The convoy arrived at the Tyne later
that day.
______
Convoy FS.191 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and
sloop FLEETWOOD. The convoy arrived at Southend on the
11th.
______
Convoy
HX.49
departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyers
SAGUENAY and
ASSINIBOINE, which were detached on the 10th. Ocean
escort was armed merchant cruiser AUSONIA. Armed
merchant cruiser LACONIA had departed with the convoy
but ran aground in
Halifax Harbour, and AUSONIA was sailed in her place at
1900/9th. She was
detached on the 20th. Also on
20 June, sloops FOWEY and SANDWICH joined the convoy.
FOWEY was
detached on the 23rd. SANDWICH escorted the convoy to
Liverpool,
arriving on the 24th.
______
German
steamer
DOCKENHUDEN (216grt) was sunk at Stolpmunde.
______
German
auxiliary
patrol boat Vp.801 (trawler BAYERN, 437grt) was
sunk off Ameland in
53‑33N, 06‑02E on a mine. Auxiliary patrol boat Vp.803
(trawler
WIESBADEN, 325grt) on patrol nearby rescued the
survivors. Although
some German sources indicate that Vp.801 was a victim of
a submarine attack,
auxiliary patrol boat Vp.803 reported that Vp.801 struck
a mine. Two British submarines in the area, TRIAD and
SWORDFISH, reported no vessels sighted on
their respective patrols and the French submarines had
since been withdrawn
to Brest in preparation for duty in the Mediterranean.
______
Between
7
and 9 June, thirty three Italian submarines departed
Italian ports on
patrol in the Mediterranean.
______
During
the
night of 9/10 June, Italian light cruisers BARBIANO and
CARDONA,
destroyers CORAZZIERE and LANCIERE, and torpedo boats
CALIPSO and POLLUCE laid
mines between Lampedusa and Kerkenah. Feared
intervention by Bizerte-based French units did not
materialize.
______
Italian
steamer
AVVENIRE (957grt) was sunk north of Pantelleria
on an Italian mine.
______
Italian
steamer ANGIULLIN (873grt) was sunk off
Cape Granitola on an Italian mine.
Monday,
10
June
After
proceeding
to one of the inner evacuation rendezvouses after
British forces
had already departed, armed boarding vessel VANDYCK
(13,241grt, Captain G F W Wilson Rtd) was sunk by German
bombing off Andenes. Temporary Lt Cdr (E) E Watson RNR,
Refrigerating Engineer D
Elias and five ratings were lost. The rest of the crew,
Captain Wilson, Lt K
L Alger RNR, Temporary Paymaster Lt J E L Jones
RNR,
Temporary Lt (E) W
Henderson RNR, Cdr J L Croasdaile
RNR,
Temporary S/Lt R L
Callaghan RNR, 3rd Electrician C Bell, Temporary S/Lt J B Kennedy RNR,
Chief Steward G S Thorpe,
4th Engineer E Champion, Lt W F Graves RNR Rtd,
Temporary Probationary
S/Lt D F Rees RNR, 10th Engineer W Purdy, 11th Engineer R T
Frost, Junior Engineer W B Carter, Acting Temporary
Surgeon Lt Cdr R G
Knight, 3rd Engineer R G Beatty, 7th Engineer R Smith,
Acting Paymaster Lt Cdr
C W Linton RNVR, 8th Engineer A J Green, 9th Engineer T
H Parry, Engineer T
Yates and one hundred and thirty two ratings, were able
to row ashore in the
ship's boats and taken prisoner. Temporary S/Lt (E) J
Lavender
RNR,
C G Evans, 2nd Engineer and five ratings were wounded.
Lt D Conolly RNR, died as a prisoner of war
on the 22 June 1940 and Gunner S.J. Gooch Rtd on 20
February 1941. Two ratings
also died as prisoners of war. Destroyer DELIGHT was
sent to unsuccessfully
search for her when she failed to arrive at the
rendezvous.
______
Destroyer
WHIRLWIND
at 2048 attacked a submarine contact in 61-42N, 3-56W.
______
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
and ANTELOPE departed the Clyde at 1930 for Scapa Flow.
______
Destroyers
WOLVERINE,
VISCOUNT, WITHERINGTON departed the Clyde at 1600 for
Sullom Voe,
arriving on the 11th. Destroyers ESCAPADE, VISCOUNT,
ANTELOPE had arrived
earlier on the 11th. They joined destroyers FEARLESS and
AMAZON.
______
Destroyers
VOLUNTEER,
WHIRLWIND from the Clyde and VETERAN, VANOC, WALKER
arrived at
Sullom Voe for refuelling.
VETERAN and VANOC arrived at 2350. After
refuelling, WALKER joined the slow store convoy.
______
Destroyer
ESCAPADE
departed Liverpool at 1200. She proceeded to Sullom Voe,
proceeding
at twenty knots, due to a loss of lubricating oil.
______
Anti-submarine
trawlers
LE TIGER and LEICESTER CITY were ordered to investigate
a direction finding bearing in Fair Isle Channel.
______
Submarine
TRIBUNE
departed Rosyth for patrol off Fro Havet.
______
German
battlecruiser
GNEISENAU, heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER, and destroyers
LODY,
STEINBRINCK, SCHOEMANN, GALSTER departed Trondheim to
attack the Allied Convoys
evacuating Norway. It was soon decided that the convoys
were beyond reach and the German ships
arrived back at Trondheim late on the 10th.
______
Submarine
CLYDE
at 1400 reported one German pocket battleship and one
HIPPER class cruiser
in 64-35N, 9-45E, steering 300°.
______
Destroyer
ECHO
arrived at Scapa Flow at
1130/11th to oil, and departed at 1530 to rejoin
British Troopship Group II. The Group, with
anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY and destroyers FIREDRAKE,
FAME, HAVELOCK, BEAGLE, DELIGHT, ECHO arrived at
Greenock at
2300/12th.
French
troops
on troopship ORMONDE were transferred to troopship
ULSTER PRINCE, which then went to Brest, arriving on the
15th. Troopship
ROYAL ULSTERMAN arrived at Lorient on the 16th and
troopship ROYAL SCOTSMAN
arrived at Brest on the 17th to disembark French troops.
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON and anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY were
detached to Scapa
Flow. COVENTRY went on to Glasgow, then the Clyde.
SOUTHAMPTON arrived in the Clyde at 1306/12th. COVENTRY
departed the Clyde on the 15th and arrived in the Tyne
for
refitting on the 16th. Following a short refit, she
departed on the 29th for
Scapa Flow, arriving on the 30th.
______
Destroyers
TARTAR
(D.6), BEDOUIN, MAORI and ASHANTI departed Scapa Flow at
1130/13th to
rendezvous with the Commander in Chief, Home Fleet in
65N, 4W. Destroyers
VETERAN, CAMPBELL, MASHONA departed Sullom Voe at
0400/13th and destroyer
FORESTER departed Scapa Flow at 2100/12th also to
rendezvous with the Commander in
Chief Home Fleet, in 63-00N, 4-00W at 1300/13th.
At
dawn on the 13th, aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL launched an
air attack of
fifteen Skuas on Trondheim harbour to be coordinated
with a Royal Air Force
strike of four Beauforts of 22 Squadron and six Blenheim
aircraft on the
Vaernes airfield near Trondheim. German
battlecruiser SCHARNHORST was hit by a bomb that did not
explode and no other
ships were hit.
Eight
Skuas
were shot down. From the 800 Squadron, Captain R. T.
Partridge, RM, was
made a prisoner of war, but his observer Lt R. S.Bostock
was
killed in the crash. Lt G. E. D. Finch-Noyes. DSC, was
shot down and killed,
but Petty Officer Airman H.G. Cunningham survived.
Midshipman (A) L.M. Gallagher, DSC and Acting Petty
Officer W. Crawford died when their Skua crashed.
Midshipman (A) D. T. R. Martin was shot down and was
taken prisoner, but
Leading Airman W. J. Tremeer was killed. Martin was
picked up by the German
seaplane which had just picked up the two ARDENT
survivors. From the 803
Squadron, Lt Cdr J. Casson and his observer Lt P. E.
Fanshawe, and Lt C.
H.Filmer and his observer Midshipman (A) T. A. McKee
were shot down and made
prisoners of war. S/Lt J. A. Harris and Naval Airman
S.R. Stevenson were shot
down; Harris died of injuries shortly thereafter and
Stevenson died of injuries
on 31 May 1941. S/Lt R. E. Bartlett and Naval Airman 1/c
L.G. Richards were
shot down and were made prisoners of war.
Surviving
aircraft,
piloted by Lt K. V. V. Spurway and Petty Officer Airman
H.A. Monk
of 800 Squadron and S/Lt (A) G. W. Brokensha, Petty
Officer Airman T. F.
Riddler, Midshipman (A) A. S.Griffiths, Midshipman (A)
A. S.Gibson, Petty
Officer Airman H.Gardiner of 803 Squadron returned to
the aircraft carrier.
Later
on
the 13th, destroyers ELECTRA and ANTELOPE collided,
while escorting ARK ROYAL off central Norway in heavy
fog. Destroyer
ZULU took ELECTRA in tow, while destroyer INGLEFIELD
stood by ANTELOPE. This
signalled an end to the Norwegian operations. The
retirement of the two
damaged destroyers was covered by battleship RODNEY and
battlecruiser RENOWN. Tug
BRIGAND proceeded on the 15th and joined ELECTRA, which
was
taken in tow, and at 2000 they were proceeding at eight
knots in 60-36N,
4-00W. ELECTRA arrived at Scapa Flow at 1430/16th,
attended by tug BRIGAND and
escorted by ZULU and ESCAPADE. She then departed on the
18th escorted by destroyer CAMPBELL and arrived at Troon
on the 20th. Repairs were completed on 24 August.
ANTELOPE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 0330/15th escorted by destroyer
INGLEFIELD.
She departed the Scapa Flow at 2213/15th to the Tyne,
and
returned to duty on 16 August.
ARK
ROYAL with destroyers KELVIN, ESCORT, CAMPBELL arrived
at Scapa
Flow on the 14th at 1545.
RODNEY, RENOWN, and destroyers TARTAR, FEARLESS,
ASHANTI, BEDOUIN, MASHONA, MAORI arrived at Scapa Flow
at 1640/15th.
______
Light
cruisers
MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, SHEFFIELD departed the Humber on
the 9th and
arrived at Rosyth on the 10th. They joined heavy cruiser
YORK, which had been there since
28 May.
______
Minelayers
ATREUS
and LINNET were ordered to lay a controlled minefield in
Bressay
Sound, Lerwick with a guard loop to seaward. Following
the operation, ATREUS proceeded to Scapa Flow and LINNET
proceeded to the Clyde.
______
Trawler
RIVER NESS (203grt) was sunk by German bombing
eight miles northeast
by north of the Skerries. Eight crew were lost and two
rescued.
______
Destroyer
VEGA
(Captain G. A. Garnons-Williams on board) took
blockships JACOBUS
(1262grt), KAUPO (2420grt), RIVER TYNE
(1525grt) to Dieppe from Portsmouth in
Operation C P to block the harbour which was
accomplished.
______
Operation
CYCLE
was the evacuation of allied troops from the French
north coast. On
10 and 11 June, 3321 troops were embarked at St Valery.
British
warships
in CYCLE were destroyers CODRINGTON (Captain G.
L.Warren, SO ), AMBUSCADE,
BULLDOG, BOADICEA, HARVESTER, BROKE, SALADIN, FERNIE,
Canadian destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST LAURENT, sloop WELLINGTON, corvette
GARDENIA, auxiliary
minelayer HAMPTON.
CODRINGTON
had completed repairs and was due for return to Dover
when she was
detached to the Portsmouth Command for this operation.
Anti-aircraft
cruiser CALCUTTA departed Harwich at 0917/10th for
Portsmouth to arrive at
1800.
On
the 10th during the evacuation of the Le Havre
Peninsula, destroyer AMBUSCADE
was damaged by shore guns off Fecamp near St Valery.
Damage was limited to
minor hull damage and splinter damage. There were men
killed in AMBUSCADE. She was repaired at Portsmouth from
12 to 15 June. After working up
from 16 to 22 June at Portland and 23 to 27 June at
Portsmouth, she arrived
at Harwich for duty on the 27th.
BULLDOG
and BOADICEA were badly damaged by German bombing off Le
Havre at
1738/10th in 49-53N, 0-28E. BOADICEA was hit by three
bombs and immobilised due to flooded and wrecked
machinery spaces. AMBUSCADE, later relieved by tug
KROOMAN towed
destroyer BOADICEA to Portsmouth. Commissioned
Engineer F. R. J. Drake and five ratings were killed and
two ratings were
wounded on BOADICEA.
BULLDOG
was also struck by three bombs, one of which came to
rest in number
three boiler without exploding and a second passing into
number three boiler
and exploding ten minutes later. No men were killed.
Destroyer
BROKE found BULLDOG at anchor damaged and unable to
proceed, and towed her to Portsmouth.
BULLDOG
and BOADICEA, taken to Portsmouth for repairs, did not
return to duty
until 26 July 1940 and 16 February 1941, respectively.
The delay in BOADICEA's repair was due to mechanical
defects.
CODRINGTON
was slightly damaged by air attack. She was repaired at
Portsmouth
completing on the 21st. Motor
torpedo boat MTB.69 was damaged in this operation.
On
11 June, light cruiser CARDIFF departed Dover to cover
the evacuation at St
Valery. She was joined by destroyer HARVESTER off the
French coast. Destroyer
BROKE and corvette GARDENIA evacuated wounded from St
Valery on the 11th. Canadian
destroyer RESTIGOUCHE embarked troops off Veules on the
11th. Destroyer
SALADIN reported St Valery was occupied by German troops
at 0100/12th.
Troopship
BRUGES (2949grt) was sunk by German bombing on
the 11th near Le
Havre. During
the night of 12/13 June, 11,059 troops were evacuated
from Le Havre; 9000 of
them were taken to Cherbourg.
______
Convoy
OA.165
departed Southend escorted by corvette ARABIS.
______
Convoy
OB.165
departed Liverpool escorted by sloop LEITH from 10 to 11
June.
______
Convoy
BC.39
of steamers BARON CARNEGIE, BARON NAIRN, GLOUCESTER
CITY, KUFRA (Commodore),
LURIGETHAN departed Loire escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers AGATE (627grt)
and LORD HAILSHAM (445grt). The convoy arrived in
Bristol Channel on the
11th.
______
Convoy MT.86 departed Methil, escorted by sloops BLACK SWAN and
HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at the Tyne later that day.
______
Convoy FN.193 departed Southend, escorted by sloops LOWESTOFT and
WESTON. Upon reaching the Tyne, LOWESTOFT was detached
to escort
minelayer PORT QUEBEC to Rosyth. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on
the 12th.
______
Light
cruisers
BIRMINGHAM, MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD departed the Humber
and arrived at
Rosyth later the same day.
______
After
delivering
the Narvik ALPHABET Group I, destroyers WOLVERINE,
VISCOUNT,
WITHERINGTON, ATHERSTONE and ANTELOPE departed the Clyde
for Scapa Flow.
______
French
destroyers
FRONDEUR and FOUGUEUX departed Brest escorting
troopships EL
MANSOUR, EL KANTARA, VILLE D'ALGER to Plymouth. British
steamer PRINCESS BEATRIX
joined the convoy en route. The convoy arrived on the
11th and embarked
Canadian troops.
EL
MANSOUR and VILLE D'ALGER departed Plymouth on the 11th,
escorted by the
same two destroyers and arrived at Brest on the 12th.
EL KANTARA departed Plymouth on the 12th and was
escorted by destroyer
WANDERER. They arrived at Brest on the 13th.
On
the 12th, EL MANSOUR and VILLE D'ALGER departed Brest,
escorted by
French destroyer EPERVIER on another trip to Plymouth,
arriving on the 13th. On the
13th, the troopships returned, escorted by French
destroyers EPERVIER and MISTRAL,
arriving at Brest on the 14th.
EL
KANTARA departed Brest on another trip to Plymouth,
escorted by French sloop SUIPPE, on the 13th, arriving
on the 14th. On
the same day, she departed Plymouth and arrived at Brest
on the
17th.
On
14th June, EL MANSOUR and VILLE D' ALGER departed Brest
on a third
trip, again escorted by EPERVIER and MISTRAL. That
evening, the mission
was cancelled and the ships returned to Brest.
______
Destroyer
VIVIEN,
escorting convoy FN.192 east of Lowestoft, reported
attacks by German
E-boats. Astern
of the convoy, steamer BARON ELPHINSTONE (4635grt) was
attacked by
the E-boats near Smith's Knoll. Destroyers
JACKAL and FORESIGHT and two Anson and two Hudson
aircraft joined the convoy.
The
Hudson aircraft attacked the German vessels northeast of
Schouwen Bank at 0355.
FORESIGHT was relieved by destroyer FURY from Rosyth in
mid morning.
______
Anti-submarine
trawler
HICKORY (530grt) attacked a submarine contact three
miles 120° from
Hartlepool. Destroyer
WOOLSTON and anti-submarine trawler CYPRESS (548grt)
joined in the hunt.
______
Submarine
TRITON
departed Rosyth for patrol off Fro Havet.
______
Submarine
SEVERN
arrived at Dundee.
______
Submarine
STURGEON
arrived at Blyth.
______
Polish
submarine
WILK arrived at Rosyth.
______
German
light
cruiser NURNBERG with Luftwaffe stores and mining
equipment for
Trondheim departed Kiel the evening of 10 June escorted
by torpedo boats
JAGUAR and FALKE and at the start by escort ship F.3. On
the 12th, the torpedo boats were detached to Stavanger
for refuelling. On
the 13th, NURNBERG arrived at Trondheim escorted on the
last
leg of her voyage by minesweepers of the 2nd Flotilla.
After disembarking the
supplies, she continued north arriving at Harjangerfjord
and Narvik on the
17th.
______
German
armed
merchant cruiser ATLANTIS captured Norwegian steamer TIRRANNA
(7230grt)
in the Indian Ocean near 12S, 68E. Eight
crew and one passenger were lost.
______
On
the 10th, Italy declared war on France and Britain.
War
in the
Mediterranean
At
1645, the
Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs informed the
British Ambassador in Rome
that at one minute past midnight on the 11th, a state of
war would exist
between Italy and the United Kingdom.
_____
Anticipating
this
action for some time, destroyers HYPERION, HAVOCK, HERO,
WATERHEN,
HOSTILE, IMPERIAL, DECOY, DEFENDER of the 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla and two
flying boats departed Alexandria early on the 10th to
sweep for Italian
submarines. They were to return to Alexandria to refuel
at 0400/11th, then
join the Fleet at sea. Just before 2200, DECOY made an
attack on an Italian
submarine south of Crete.
Light
cruiser
CALYPSO had just relieved light cruiser CAPETOWN on
patrol in Kithera
Channel. CAPETOWN, returning from the patrol off Crete
to Alexandria, was
diverted to Port Said. Light cruiser CALEDON was at Port
Said.
_____
Late
on the 10th, submarine RORQUAL departed Malta to lay
mines off Brindisi on
the 14th. ODIN, ORPHEUS, OSWALD and GRAMPUS also
departed Malta on the 10th to operate off Gulf
of Taranto, off Syracus, southwest of Rhodes, and off
Augusta, respectively.
Submarines
PARTHIAN
from 14 June, PANDORA, PROTEUS from 14 June, and PHOENIX
from 4 June operated from Alexandria in the Eastern
Mediterranean. PARTHIAN
operated off Tobruk, PANDORA in the Doro Channel,
PROTEUS in the Kithera and
antikithera Channels, and PHOENIX off Suda Bay.
_____
French
submarines
LE CENTAURE, PASCAL, FRESNEL, VENGEUR, REDOUTABLE,
NARVAL, CAIMAN,
MORSE, SOUFFLEUR, MONGE, PEGASE, LE TONNANT departed
Bizerte and Sousse to
operate in the Central Mediterranean.
PHOQUE,
ESPADON,
PROTEE, ACHERON, ACTEON from Beirut operated in the
Dodecanese,
PROTEE and ESPADON east of Leros, and PHOQUE east of
Rhodes.
IRIS,
VENUS,
PALLAS, ARCHIMEDE from Toulon operated in the Tyrrhenian
Sea.
ARIANE,
EURYDICE,
DIANE, DANAE from Oran operated off Gibraltar.
SAPHIR,
NAUTILUS,
PERLE, TURQUOISE were at sea to lay mines off the
Italian coast.
_____
Destroyer
DIAMOND
departed Malta and shortly after departure attacked a
submarine off
Malta, nine miles 92° from St Elmo Light without
success.
_____
Italian
heavy
cruisers POLA, TRENTO, BOLZANO of the 3rd Cruiser
Division with
destroyers MAESTRALE, LIBECCIO, GRECALE, SCIROCCO of the
10th Destroyer
Division departed Messina. The Italian light cruisers at
Naples sortied for operations.
_____
Italian
steamer
UMBRIA (9349grt) scuttled herself at Port Sudan
after being brought
into port by sloop GRIMSBY. Light
cruiser LEANDER took off the crew.
_____
Italian
steamers
OLTERRA (4995grt), LAVORO (7886grt), LIBANO
(5192grt) scuttled
themselves at Gibraltar and PAGAO (6101grt)
scuttled herself at Rada di
Algeciras, across the harbour. LIBANO was salved for
British service.
_____
Italian
steamer
POLINICE (1373grt) was captured at sea and sent
into Malta. On
the 11th at Malta, she was scuttled.
_____
Italian
steamer
CAPO NOLI (3921grt) was captured in the Gulf of
St Lawrence by
Canadian auxiliary minesweeper BRAS D'OR, and renamed
BIC ISLAND for Canadian use.
_____
Italian
steamer
SAN PIETRO (5199grt) was seized by French forces at
Bordeaux and taken to Casablanca. She was later returned
to the Italian
owners.
_____
Italian
steamers
CAPO OLMO (4781grt) and NICOLO ODERO
(6003grt) were seized by French
forces at Marseilles.
CAPO OLMO was later used by the British under the same
name.
_____
A
number of Italian steamers were seized in British ports
and taken for allied
use.
Italian
Steamer
Names
|
B.
R. T.
|
Where
seized
|
British
name
|
ADIGE
|
2189
|
Malta
|
name not changed (5)
|
AMELIA
LAURO
|
5335
|
Immingham
|
EMPIRE
ACTIVITY
|
ANDREA
|
5152
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
ADVENTURE
|
ANGELINA
LAURO
|
5787
|
Liverpool
|
EMPIRE
ADVOCATE
|
BARBANA
C.
|
6161
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
AIRMAN
(1)
|
CALABRIA
|
9515
|
Calcutta
|
EMPIRE INVENTOR (6)
|
CELLINA
|
6140
|
Gibraltar
|
EMPIRE SAILOR
|
ELIOS
|
5202
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
BRIGADE
|
ERICA
|
4704
|
Liverpool
|
EMPIRE
DEFIANCE
|
ESQUILINO
|
8657
|
Straits
of Perim
|
EMPIRE
GOVERNOR
|
FELICE
|
5639
|
Haifa
|
EMPIRE
DEFENDER
|
GABBIANO
|
6584
|
Liverpool
|
EMPIRE
ENERGY(2)
|
GIOACCHINO
LAURO
|
5345
|
Hartlepool
|
EMPIRE
ENGINEER
|
LIBANO
|
5192
|
Gibraltar
|
EMPIRE
RESISTANCE
|
MARZOCCO
|
5106
|
North
Sea
|
name
not changed (4)
|
MINCIO
|
5404
|
Liverpool
|
EMPIRE
FUSILIER
|
MONTE PIANA
|
5890
|
Aden
|
EMPIRE
BARON
|
MOSCARDIN
|
4374
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
GUNNER (1)
|
MUGNONE
|
5213
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
PROGRESS (1)
|
PAMIA
|
6245
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
PROTECTOR (1)
|
PELLICE
|
5360
|
Newcastle
|
EMPIRE
STATESMAN (3)
|
POLLENZO
|
6470
|
Gibraltar
|
name
not changed
|
PROCIDA
|
5366
|
Cardiff
|
EMPIRE
VOLUNTEER
|
REMO
|
9780
|
Fremantle
|
REYNELLA
|
RODI
|
3320
|
Malta
|
EMPIRE
PATROL
|
SISTIANA
|
5827
|
Capetown
|
EMPIRE
UNION
|
VERBANIA
|
6640
|
Port
Said
|
EMPIRE
TAMAR
|
(1)
BARBANA C., MOSCARDIN, MUGNONE, PAMIA departed the Tyne
on the 10th and were captured at sea. PAMIA was seized
by British trawler LIFFEY
(292grt) . They were all sent to Methil. On 28 June,
PAMIA and PELLICE departed for Leith, while MOSCARDIN,
MUGNONE, BARBANA C. departed for the Tyne.
(2)
GABBIANO was captured by the officers and men of the
light cruiser
GLASGOW which was repairing near the berth of the
Italian ship.
(3)
PELLICE departed the Tyne on the 9th and was captured at
sea and
taken to Methil.
(4)
MARZOCCO departed Sunderland at 0619/9th for Falmouth.
She was
intercepted at 2359/10th by patrol trawlers and was
purposely ran aground by
her crew on the 10th one and a half miles north of
Peterhead. The steamer was
abandoned. Tugs SAUCY and IRON AXE stood by.
(5)
ADIGE was captured at sea and sent to Malta.
(6)
CALABRIA was lost before she was formally renamed EMPIRE
INVENTOR.
Tuesday,
11 June
At
0540, destroyers VETERAN and VANOC were ordered to
assist Vice Admiral
Northern Patrol in rounding up Italian merchant ships.
_____
At
1030, destroyers ATHERSTONE and VOLUNTEER were ordered
to Scapa Flow. ATHERSTONE arrived at 1315.
VOLUNTEER departed Sullom Voe at 1300 for Scapa Flow,
arrived at 2200, then departed for
Liverpool for boiler cleaning and repairs.
_____
Destroyers
WOLVERINE
and WITHERINGTON, en route to Sullom Voe, were ordered
at 1310 to
59-58N, 0-10W to rescue the crew of a Sunderland down in
the water. They were later advised the plane had taken
off again, and arrived at Sullom Voe at 1900.
_____
Troopship
BRITANNIC (26,943grt) departed Liverpool escorted by
destroyers
WARWICK and WITCH for Bermuda.
_____
After
a
Wellington went down in the sea in 51-47N, 1-57E,
destroyers JACKAL and
FORESIGHT were sent to search.
_____
Dutch
submarine
O.13 arrived at Aberdeen and departed that day on
patrol.
_____
Submarine
SHARK
departed Rosyth on patrol.
_____
Submarines
SEALION,
SALMON, SNAPPER departed Rosyth on exercises, and
returned later that same day.
_____
Convoy FS.192 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops BLACK SWAN and
HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 12th.
_____
Canadian
troop
convoy TC.5 departed Halifax, escorted by Canadian
destroyers ASSINIBOINE
and SAGUENAY, at 0900 with troopships DUCHESS OF ATHOLL
(20,119grt),
SAMARIA (19,597grt), and DUCHESS OF BEDFORD (20,123grt)
carrying 1173, 787, and 1792
troops, respectively.
DUCHESS
OF ATHOLL came from Montreal departing on the 8th and
joined the
other two liners at Halifax.
Troopship
EMPRESS
OF AUSTRALIA (21,833grt) departed Halifax with the
convoy and was
detached on the third day to Iceland. ASSINIBOINE and
SAGUENAY were detached at 1800/12th. Battleship
REVENGE was the ocean escort.
Convoy
TC.5
safely arrived at Liverpool on the 20th escorted by
destroyers WANDERER
and WITCH and Canadian destroyers ST LAURENT, SKEENA,
RESTIGOUCHE and FRASER. On
the 21st, REVENGE arrived at Plymouth at 0645 and the
Canadian
destroyers arrived at Plymouth at 0640.
_____
Destroyer
WANDERER
departed Dover at 1225 for Plymouth. This
left only destroyer VESPER available at Dover. She was
on patrol from South Goodwins to Dungeness.
_____
Canadian
destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST LAURENT and destroyer BROKE operated
off St
Valery en Caux. BROKE and corvette GARDENIA embarked
wounded from St Valery and took them to
Portsmouth.
Destroyer
HARVESTER
was shelled ten miles west of Havre, but sustained no
damage.
RESTIGOUCHE
and ST LAURENT bombarded German targets at Veules. At
Veules, 2137 British troops and 1184 French troops were
evacuated on the
11th. RESTIGOUCHE embarked troops off the beach at
Veules.
The
demolition party for Le Havre and Veules was XD J (Cdr
C. A. N. Chatwin) .
Canadian
destroyer
ST LAURENT, sloop WELLINGTON, tugs STALWART and RESOLVE,
drifters
GOLDEN HARVEST and GOLDEN NEWS were unable to stay in St
Valery Harbour
during low water and returned to Havre.
_____
The
total number of troops evacuated in CYCLE (French north
coast) and the later
AERIAL (French Biscay coast), which began on the 17th,
was 191,870.
_____
French
auxiliary
patrol vessel PATRICE II (247grt) was sunk by
German gunfire off Fecamp.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper LA BRETONNIERE (628grt) was scuttled
at Le Havre.
_____
Steamer
BRUGES (2949grt) was hit by German bombing off Le
Havre, and was beached to avoid sinking. Seventy
two men were rescued.
_____
French
steamers
GENERAL METZINGER (9345grt), NIOBE
(1684grt), SYRIE (2460grt) were
sunk by German bombing at Le Havre.
_____
Belgian
steamers
ALBERTVILLE (11,047grt) and PIRIAPOLIS
(7340grt) were sunk by German
bombing off Le Havre.
ALBERTVILLE was en route to Le Havre from Bordeaux to
embark troops.
_____
Norwegian
steamer
ELLAVORE (1302grt) was sunk by German bombing at
Le Havre. The
entire crew was rescued.
_____
The
first Italian air raid on Malta occurred. Monitor TERROR
and gunboats
APHIS and LADYBIRD were in Grand Harbour. Australian
destroyer VENDETTA and
submarines OTUS and OLYMPUS were in the dockyard.
Lt
(E) E. E. Wellman DSC Rtd and three ratings from ST
ANGELO were killed on the
11th and two more ratings died from wounds the next day
from this air raid. There
was no damage to any of these vessels. However, after
further air raids,
Malta was abandoned on the 21st as a submarine base
until the anti-aircraft
protection could be augmented. The
submarines did return to Malta as a base in September.
_____
7th
Cruiser Squadron of light cruisers ORION, NEPTUNE,
SYDNEY,
LIVERPOOL, GLOUCESTER departed Alexandria at 0100 ahead
of the Main Fleet. The
Mediterranean Fleet departed Alexandria at 0230 with
battleships WARSPITE and
MALAYA, aircraft carrier EAGLE, and destroyers STUART,
VAMPIRE, VOYAGER, DAINTY,
HASTY, ILEX, JANUS, JUNO, NUBIAN.
Light
cruiser
CALEDON joined the fleet at 0840. Light cruiser CALYPSO,
which
departed Port Said on the 10th, joined at 1325.
Destroyer MOHAWK,
which departed Alexandria on the 11th after the fleet,
joined that afternoon.
The
Australian destroyers were detached at 1953, and
relieved by destroyers HAVOCK,
HYPERION, HERO, HEREWARD, HOSTILE and IMPERIAL which
joined at 1840 after
refuelling. Destroyer
DIAMOND, which had departed Malta on the 10th, joined
the Fleet at sea.
French
heavy
cruisers SUFFREN, DUQUESNE, TOURVILLE, light cruiser
DUGUAY TROUIN,
and destroyers FORBIN, FORTUNE, BASQUE under Amiral
Godfroy departed Beirut to
operate in the Kaso Strait as a diversion for the "VADO"
operation
in the western Mediterranean.
On
the 12th, Australian destroyers STUART, VAMPIRE,
VOYAGER, WATERHEN departed
Alexandria on anti-submarine patrol. VOYAGER claimed
sinking a submarine soon after the destroyers's
departure at dawn off Alexandria. Late
on the afternoon of the 12th, STUART found the minefield
laid by
Italian submarine MICCA earlier on the 12th. She
summoned minesweepers
ABINGDON and BAGSHOT which cleared a channel for light
cruiser CALEDON and
destroyer DAINTY which later arrived at Alexandria from
Crete.
_____
Light
cruiser
DELHI arrived at Gibraltar.
_____
Destroyers
WATCHMAN,
VELOX, KEPPEL, STURDY, WISHART and WRESTLER were
deployed to the west
of the Straits of Gibraltar to intercept and engage any
enemy surface ships
trying to pass.
_____
Cable
ship MIRROR, escorted by destroyer ACTIVE and
anti-submarine trawler
LEYLAND, proceeded on cable cutting operations. They
returned later that day.
Danish
tug
VALKYRIAN, escorted by destroyer WRESTLER and
anti-submarine trawler LORD
HOTHAM, departed to cut the Malaga-Rome and
Malaga-Barcelona cables.
Cover was provided by light cruiser ARETHUSA and a
French submarine.
On
the 12th, MIRROR, escorted by anti-submarine trawler
KINGSTON CHRYSOLITE, sailed to replaced VALKYRIAN, which
reported her gear
was not suitable to the task. The tug and LORD HOTHAM
returned
to Gibraltar, as did ARETHUSA. MIRROR returned to
Gibraltar on the 14th after successfully cutting the
cables.
_____
Australian
light
cruiser HOBART and destroyers KINGSTON and KHARTOUM
departed Aden to
sweep in the Red Sea off the Italian Somali coast.
Italian
bombers attacked them, but caused no damage. They
arrived back late on the 12th without contact.
_____
Late
on the 11th Italian heavy cruisers BOLZANO, POLA, TRENTO
of the 3rd Cruiser
Division with destroyers ARTIGLIERE, CAMICIA NERA,
AVIERE, GENIERE of the
11th Destroyer Division and light cruisers D'AOSTA and
ATTENDOLO of the 7th
Cruiser Division with destroyers LANCIERE, CARABINIERE,
CORAZZIERE, ASCARI of
the 12th Destroyer Division carried out sweeps in the
Sicilian Channel.
_____
Italian
steamers
TIMAVO (7549grt) and GERUSALEMME (8052grt) departed
Durban during
the night of 9/10 June. On the 11th, aerial strafing
drove TIMAVO ashore five miles north of St
Mary's Hill, north, northeast of Durban. GERUSALEMME was
intercepted by armed merchant cruiser RANCHI and ran
herself
ashore near Oro Point, Mozambique. She was later
refloated and taken to Lourenco Marques.
_____
Greek
steamers
ZINOVIA (2975grt) and MAKIS (3546grt)
were sunk by mines twenty
miles and fifteen miles north of Pantellaria Island,
respectively, in the
Mediterranean. Two crew was missing from ZINOVIA, but
the entire crew of MAKIS
was rescued.
_____
U.48
sank Greek steamer VIOLANDO N. GOULANDRIS
(3598grt) in 44‑04N, 12‑30W. Six
crew were missing.
_____
U.101
sank
Greek steamer MOUNT HYMETTUS (5820grt) in
42‑12N, 11‑20W. The
entire crew was rescued.
_____
U.46
damaged Motor tanker ATHELPRINCE (8782grt) in convoy
OG.33F in 43‑42N,
13‑20W.
_____
Steamer
ST RONAIG (509grt) was sunk on a mine one mile
132° from West
Breakwater Light, Newhaven. Two
crew were killed, two missing and four crew were
rescued.
Wednesday,
12 June
At
0200, Italian heavy cruisers ZARA, FIUME, GORIZIA of the
1st Cruiser Division
and light cruisers ABRUZZI and GARIBALDI of the 8th
Cruiser Division with destroyers
ALFIERI, CARDUCCI, GIOBERTI, ORIANI of the 9th Destroyer
Division and DA
RECCO, USODIMARE, PESSAGNO (TARIGO did not sail) of the
16th Destroyer
Division departed Taranto to patrol in the Ionian Sea
while two other
destroyer divisions operated between Sicily and Malta.
During
the
operations of Cruiser Divisions 1 and 8, British
submarines made five attacks on
these ships without causing any damage.
ORPHEUS sighted three cruisers escorted by destroyers
southeast of Syracuse, but was unable to attack. In
three sweeps by destroyers and one by torpedo boats,
submarine ODIN was sunk
on the 13th.
_____
Italian
submarine
BAGNOLINI sank light cruiser CALYPSO (Captain H.
A. Rowley)
southwest of Crete in 33‑45N, 24‑32E at about 0200. One
officer,
Lt A. W. Whitfield
RNR, and thirty eight ratings were lost. Light
cruiser
CALEDON and destroyer DAINTY in company picked up the
twenty four
officers and three hundred and ninety four rating
survivors and took them to
Alexandria.
_____
Italian
submarine
NEREIDE torpedoed and badly damaged Norwegian tanker ORKANGER
(8029grt), en route from Suez to Malta, in 31‑42N,
28‑50E at
0503. Italian
submarine NAIADE then torpedoed and sank her at 2157.
Four
crew were killed.
_____
Early
on
the 12th, Italian submarine MICCA laid mines off
Alexandria.
_____
Light
cruiser
DELHI departed Gibraltar to patrol off the Canary
Islands. On
termination of patrol, she was to proceed to Dakar for
refuelling and join
the South Atlantic Station.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
ARGUS departed Gibraltar to join heavy cruisers
SHROPSHIRE,
CUMBERLAND, DORSETSHIRE with convoy US.3. She was given
local protection by destroyers VELOX and WATCHMAN and
French aircraft. The
destroyers arrived back at Gibraltar on the 12th.
_____
French
destroyer
FLEURET departed Toulon. She passed Gibraltar on the
14th and
arrived at Casablanca on the 15th.
_____
New
Zealand light cruiser LEANDER departed Port Sudan, and
arrived at Aden on the 13th.
_____
The
French Raiding Force departed Mer El Kebir in response
to a rumour that
German battleships SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU were
preparing to enter the
Mediterranean through Gibraltar. French
light cruisers MARSEILLAISE, LA GALISSONNIERE, JEAN DE
VIENNE and destroyers
BRESTOIS and BOULONNAIS were operating together when
they were attacked by
Italian submarine DANDOLO on the 13th. The torpedo fired
passed between JEAN DE VIENNE and LA GALISONNIERE.
_____
British
cruisers
steering west were sighted by Italian aircraft south of
Crete.
Italian cruisers BOLZANO, POLA, TRENTO of the 3rd
Cruiser Division and
destroyers ARTIGLIERE, CAMICIA NERA, AVIERE, GENIERE of
the 11th Destroyer
Division and LANCIERE, CARABINIERE, CORAZZIERE, ASCARI
of the 12th Destroyer
Division were sent to investigate, but no contact was
made.
_____
Light
cruisers
LIVERPOOL and GLOUCESTER supported by aircraft carrier
EAGLE
aircraft, sank small Italian gunboat GIOVANNI BERTA
off Tobruk at 0400 off
Tobruk in an action with Italian gunboats PALMAIOLA,
GRAZIOLI, LANTE,
GIOVANNI BERTA and coastal defense ship SAN GIORGIO.
SAN GIORGIO was damaged by air bombing from British
202 Squadron which was operating in conjunction with the
British ships.
_____
Light
cruisers
ORION and SYDNEY were sweeping off Benghazi at dawn on
the 12th.
_____
Italian
steamer
ROMOLO (9780grt) departed Brisbane on the 5th.
Australian
armed merchant cruiser MANOORA intercepted her in Torres
Strait, and she scuttled herself at 1915/12th.
_____
Destroyer
INTREPID
arrived in the Humber.
_____
Battlecruiser
HOOD
and Canadian destroyers RESTIGOUCHE, ST LAURENT, SKEENA
departed
Liverpool for US.3 convoy escort duty.
_____
Light
cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON arrived in the Clyde.
_____
Destroyer
VOLUNTEER
departed Scapa Flow for Devonport.
_____
Destroyer
FORESTER
departed Scapa Flow to rendezvous with destroyers
VETERAN, CAMPBELL,
MASHONA, which departed Sullom Voe at 0400/13th, in 63N
on the 13th.
_____
Destroyers
FORTUNE
and FORESIGHT joined convoy FN.94, escorted by destroyer
WOOLSTON, as
far as Outer Dowsing. The two destroyers then proceeded
to the Humber for
stores. Sloop FLEETWOOD joined the convoy when the
destroyers were detached.
FORTUNE and FORESIGHT then proceeded to patrol between
Smith's Knoll and Outer Gabbard.
_____
Destroyer
HAMBLEDON
and steamer KYLE FISHER (520grt) arrived in the Clyde.
_____
Destroyers
HIGHLANDER
and ASHANTI arrived at Scapa Flow at 1600 to refuel.
HIGHLANDER departed Scapa Flow at 2200 for Plymouth to
join the Commander in
Chief, Western Approaches. En
route, she was detached to assist damaged armed merchant
cruiser SCOTSTOUN on the 13th.
_____
Destroyer
AMAZON
departed Sullom Voe at 1700 for Scapa Flow where she
arrived at
0500/13th.
_____
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1645.
_____
Destroyer
ENCOUNTER
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1745.
_____
Minelayer
PORT
QUEBEC escorted by sloop
LOWESTOFT departed Tees for Rosyth where they arrived
that day.
_____
Convoy
"Hebrew"
departed Scapa Flow at 0600 with British steamers
DROMORE
CASTLE (5242grt), RUTLAND (1437grt), HERON (2374grt),
LOMBARDY (3379grt),
CYPRIAN PRINCE (1988grt), ST CLAIR (1637grt), tanker
INVERSHANNON (9154grt),
French steamers ALBERTE LE BORGE (3921grt), PAUL EMILE
JAVARY (2471grt),
VULCAIN (4362grt) . The convoy was escorted by
destroyers ATHERSTONE and
ENCOUNTER and anti-submarine trawlers LE TIGRE (516grt)
and LEICESTER CITY (422grt) .
On
the 12th, destroyers VISCOUNT, WOLVERINE, VANOC,
WITHERINGTON, WHIRLWIND
departed Sullom Voe at 0200 to relieve the escort north
east of Cape Wrath.
French
steamers
ARMENIER (914grt) and British steamer NAILSEA LASS
(4289grt) joined
the convoy off Stornoway on the 13th.
These
two
steamers had to be escorted independently by destroyer
WITHERINGTON. The
convoy and NAILSEA LASS arrived at Greenock at
0630/14th. WITHERINGTON and steamer ARMENIER arrived at
Greenock at 0915.
_____
French
tanker
TARN departed the Clyde for Brest.
_____
Submarine
NARWHAL
laid minefield FD.19 in 56-26N, 5-10E at 2119. She then
patrolled off Utsire to intercept German transports.
Norwegian
steamer JAEDEREN (908grt) was lost on this
minefield and German patrol boat
NB 15 (trawler BIENE (178grt) damaged on 16 August.
Norwegian
fishing trawler ARILD (128grt) was sunk on this
minefield on 26 August. German
auxiliary minesweepers (former Norwegian fishing
vessels) GNOM 7 (50grt), KOBOLD 1
(50grt),
KOBOLD 3 (50grt) were sunk on 13 October.
_____
Submarines
TAKU
and TRIAD arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
_____
Submarines
H.31
and H.28 with submarine tender WHITE BEAR were
exercising off Blyth.
_____
Submarines
TRUANT
and TRIDENT were exercising in the Forth of Forth.
_____
Submarine
THAMES
arrived at Campbeltown.
_____
French
submarine
RUBIS arrived at Dundee after minelaying operation
FD.17.
_____
French
light
cruiser EMILE BERTIN departed Brest, escorted by
destroyer GERFAUT for
Halifax. She arrived on the 18th with 300 tons of gold,
but the
gold was not disembarked.
_____
Light
cruiser
CARDIFF departed Dover at 1235 to cover the evacuation
near St Valery
en Caux.
_____
Convoy FN.194 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON.
Sloop FLEETWOOD was to have been in the escort, but was
not ready. She was
ordered to departed when ready and overtake the convoy.
The convoy was joined
by destroyers FORTUNE and FORESIGHT as far as Outer
Dowsing when the
destroyers proceeded to the Humber. The convoy arrived
in the Tyne on the 14th.
_____
Convoy MT.87 escorted by destroyer VALOROUS and armed patrol yacht
BREDA departed Methil. The convoy arrived in the Tyne
the next day.
_____
Convoy FS.193 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIMIERA and
sloop LONDONDERRY. The convoy arrived at Southend on the
14th.
_____
Early
on
the 12th, Trinity House Vessel PATRICIA, covered by
anti-submarine trawler
GRIMSBY TOWN was lifting buoys B to H between the
indicator loops and the
deep minefield.
_____
Trinity
House
Vessel STRATHEARN, escorted by anti-submarine trawler
KINGSTON GALENA,
replaced the Lydd Light Vessel with a float.
_____
Steamers
BAHARISTAN (5479grt) and FLORISTAN (5478grt) departed
Falmouth for
Brest.
_____
Steamer
BARON SALTOUN (3404grt) was sunk in mining in the outer
roads of
Cherbourg. One
crewman was lost.
_____
Steamer
TRAIN FERRY No. 6 (2678grt), after damage from
shore batteries, was
beached and abandoned at St Valery en Caux. Two
crew were killed and twelve were missing.
_____
Steamers
SWALLOW (209grt) and INNISULVA (264grt)
were beached and abandoned
in the River Seine in Paris. There
was a crew of five on the INNISULVA; one crewman
survived and was
made a prisoner. She was later salved by German forces
and used under that name for
German service. There
was a crew of six on the SWALLOW. These were all saved.
She was also later salved by German forces and renamed
SCHWABLE.
_____
French
auxiliary
sloop CERONS was sunk by German gunfire off
Fecamp/Veule des Roses.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper GRANVILLE (511grt) was sunk by
German shore guns off St
Valery/Fecamp.
_____
Steamers
ST BRIAC (2312grt), AMSTERDAM (4220grt), TYNWALD
(2376grt), THEEMS
(553grt), EMERALD (736grt) departed St Valery for
Cherbourg during the night
of 12 / 13 June with 4000 troops, including the rear
guard. Steamer LOWICK (586grt) carried the beach party.
They were escorted by destroyers FERNIE and VEGA.
_____
Steamer
ROEBUCK (776grt) was damaged by German gunfire off St
Valery.
_____
French
auxiliary
patrol vessel ETIENNE RIMBERT (197grt) was
scuttled at Dieppe.
_____
Minesweeping
trawler
SISAPON (326grt, Temporary Skipper F. A. Henson
RNR), minesweeping with
minesweeping trawler LORD IRWIN, was sunk on a mine near
Cork Light Vessel,
Harwich. Henson, Probationary
Temporary S/Lt W. T. McCalla, ten ratings were lost in
the trawler.
_____
Tug
TWENTE (239grt) was lost in mining in the North
Sea.
_____
Belgian
steamer
YVONNE (668grt) was lost in mining two miles
north of Goodwin Knoll
Buoy. Ten crew were killed, and two rescued.
_____
Dutch
coastal
steamer PRINSES JULIANA (198grt) was sunk on a
mine 1½ cables 50°
from Beacon Training Bank, Poole. Two
crew were killed.
_____
U.46
sank British steamers BARBARA MARIE (4223grt)
and WILLOWBANK (5041grt) of
convoy SL.34 in 44‑16N, 13‑54W. Thirty
two crew were missing on BARBARA MARIE, but the entire
crew of WILLOWBANK was rescued. Sloop
LEITH, escorting SL.34B and steamer SWEDRU (4124grt)
from convoy SL.34B,
rescued survivors on the 14th.
_____
U.101
sank
British steamer EARLSPARK (5250grt) of convoy
OG.33F in 42‑26N, 11‑33W. There
were four dead and three missing.
_____
U.38
landed an agent on the Irish coast.
Thursday,
13 June
U.25
torpedoed armed merchant cruiser SCOTSTOUN
(Captain S. K. Smyth Rtd) at 0600
northwest of Ireland in 57‑00N, 09‑57W. She had departed
the Clyde for patrol on the 12th. Destroyers
HIGHLANDER, which was diverted from her voyage to
Plymouth, DELIGHT and ECHO, which departed Greenock at
0900, tugs BANDIT and MARAUDER were sent to assist, but
SCOTSTOUN sank prior
to their arrival. Temporary
Lt W. A. D. Van Oosterwyk-Bruyn RNVR, Temporary Lt (E)
T. Martin RNR, and five ratings were missing, and the
survivors taken aboard HIGHLANDER. HIGHLANDER, DELIGHT
and ECHO proceeded to the Clyde, arriving on the 14th.
_____
Destroyer
ATHERSTONE
departed Scapa Flow at 1345 for Aberdeen, met steamers
LOCHNAGAR (1619grt) and MACCLESFIELD (1018grt)
at Aberdeen and escorted them to Lerwick. ATHERSTONE
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1740/14th after the escort
duty.
_____
Destroyers
DIANA
and ACHERON departed Scapa Flow at 1800 to search for a
German
submarine reported by aircraft at 1505 in 59-07N, 1-30W
on a course of 315°. They also investigated a further
report of a another submarine in
59-54N, 00-10E at 1904, were then ordered at 1530/14th
to return to Scapa Flow, and arrived at 0115/15th.
_____
The
British XD.L (Cdr J. A. Grindle) demolition party
departed Chatham for
Portsmouth, and then proceeded on to Cherbourg.
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER departed the Humber escorted by destroyers
GALLANT,
INTREPID, WALPOLE to lay minefield BS.14 in the North
Sea, during the night of 13/14 June.
_____
Destroyer
EXPRESS,
on passage from Portsmouth to Immingham, was diverted
into Dover for
the night. She arrived at 2205/13th, then departed at
0347/14th to continue her voyage.
_____
Destroyer
FAULKNOR
departed the Humber at 2000 after refitting and
proceeded to Methil
where she arrived. She then proceeded to Rosyth,
departing Rosyth on the 14th to escort tanker WAR
PINDARI (5559grt). That night, FAULKNOR drove off a
submarine that had attempted to attack
the tanker. Both ships arrived safely at Scapa Flow at
0830/15th.
_____
Convoy
OG.33
was formed from (1) convoys OA.166G, which
departed Southend on the 11th
escorted by corvette CALENDULA from 11 to 12 June, and (2)
OB.166G, which departed
Liverpool on 11 June escorted by anti-submarine trawler
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN on 11
and 12 June and sloop ENCHANTRESS on the 12th, a total
of thirty two ships. Sloop
ENCHANTRESS escorted the convoy from 13 to 18 June.
Destroyer
WRESTLER joined on the 18th. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on
the 19th with WRESTLER.
_____
Convoy
OA.167
departed Southend escorted by corvette CLARKIA.
_____
Convoy
OB.167
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer VOLUNTEER from
13 to 16 June.
Destroyer VOLUNTEER was detached to convoy HX.48.
_____
Convoy FS.194 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALOROUS and
armed
patrol yacht BREDA. The convoy arrived at Southend on
the 15th.
_____
Convoy MT.88 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers WALLACE and
WOLFHOUND. The convoy arrived in the Tyne the next day.
_____
Convoy
HX.50
departed Halifax escorted by Canadian destroyers
ASSINIBOINE and
OTTAWA. On the 14th, they turned the convoy over to the
ocean escort, armed
merchant cruiser VOLTAIRE, which was detached on the
24th. Convoy
BHX.50 departed Bermuda on the 12th escorted by ocean
escort armed merchant
cruiser COMORIN. The convoy rendezvoused with HX.50/17th
and the armed
merchant cruiser was detached. On
25 June, destroyers VOLUNTEER and WHIRLWIND and
corvettes ARABIS and
HEARTSEASE escorted the convoy until 27 June. The convoy
reached Liverpool on
the 30th.
_____
Convoy
FF.1
of British troopships DUCHESS OF YORK (20021grt),
SOBIESKI
(11030grt), BATORY (14287grt), GEORGIC (27759grt)
escorted by destroyers
BEAGLE, HAVELOCK (D.9), HAMBLEDON, WREN departed the
Clyde for Brest. HAMBLEDON was later detached and
returned to the Clyde on escort duties. She arrived in the Clyde at 1800/14th.
_____
French
aircraft
carrier BEARN was at Halifax. She had brought 250 tons
of gold to Halifax in late May. Some of
the 50 SBC4 dive bombers and 93 A17A attack bombers, ordered
from the United States, had been embarked by this date.
_____
French
auxiliary
minesweeper MARTHE ROLAND (85grt) and auxiliary
harbour defence
vessel REINES
DES FLOTS were scuttled at Le Havre.
_____
Tanker
BRITISH INVENTOR (7101grt)
was badly damaged on a mine five miles 230° from St
Albans Head. The entire
crew was saved. Anti-submarine yacht CONQUEROR (900grt),
corvette GARDENIA,
and ML.100 carried out an anti-submarine hunt. The
tanker was beached and sank,
and broke in two on the 30th. The after section was
towed to Portland,
arriving on 31 July.
_____
Drifter
OCEAN SUNLIGHT (131grt,
Chief Skipper R J Crane
RNR)
was sunk on a mine 4. 4
cables 129° from the W. Breakwater Light, Newhaven.
Eight ratings were lost.
_____
Dutch
steamer
ABEL TASMAN (314grt) was
sunk on a mine in Swash Channel, Poole. There were no
survivors. Among
the men lost were Probationary Lt E T Mudie RN and
Probationary Temporary
S/Lt I R Grant
RNR of EXCELLENT, both on passage.
_____
Submarine
ODIN (Lt Cdr K Mac I Woods)
attempted to attack Italian heavy cruisers FIUME and
GORIZIA in the Gulf of
Taranto. In the counterattack, ODIN was sunk by
destroyers STRALE and
BALENO off Cape St Vito. At the time, she was presumed
mined. Lt Cdr Woods,
Lt I M Anderson, Lt R R Simpson, S/Lt P L C M. Lee,
Warrant Engineer G H
Cook, all fifty rating, and the Chinese steward were
lost.
_____
French
submarine
SAPHIR laid thirty two mines off Cagliari during the
night of 12/13
June. Italian steamer ALICANTINO (1642grt) was
sunk on this minefield on the
28th. Sailing vessel
SAN CALIGERO (57grt) claimed on this
minefield was
lost before the minefield was laid.
_____
French
submarine
TURQUOISE laid mines off Trapani; fourteen off Sotille
Point and sixteen off Marsala Point.
_____
French
submarine
PERLE laid thirty two mines off Bastia.
_____
Italian
submarines
FINZI and CAPPELINI had departed Cagliari on 5/6 June.
FINZI passed the Straits of Gibraltar for patrol in the
Atlantic, and passed back through on 6 July on her
return, to arrive at Spezia on 13
July. She was the first Italian submarine to operate in
the Atlantic, and was soon followed in June by
CALVI, CAPPELINI, MALASPINA and VENIERO. In
all twenty seven Italian submarines operated in the
Atlantic.
_____
French
steamer
GOUVENEUR GENERAL LAFERRIERE (3463grt), en route from
Oran to
Marseilles, arrived at Alicante after being followed by
an Italian submarine. The
crew and troops were interned.
_____
Australian
light
cruiser HOBART and anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE at
Aden were
unsuccessfully attacked by Italian bombers.
CARLISLE shot down one aircraft.
_____
Australian
light
cruiser SYDNEY made a reconnaissance of the Ionian
Islands.
_____
Australian
destroyer
STUART on anti-submarine patrol off Alexandria sighted
gun flashes
in the distance and reported a contact, which later
proved to be Australian
destroyer VOYAGER. Destroyers
DAINTY and DECOY and Australian destroyer VAMPIRE were
dispatched to assist. STUART and VOYAGER made attacks on
a submarine contact. Early
on the 14th, VOYAGER, STUART and DECOY
attacked on another submarine contact.
_____
Convoy
HG.34F
departed Gibraltar with twenty four ships. Destroyer
DOUGLAS escorted the convoy until joining convoy OG.33F
later on the 13th. Destroyer
STURDY and sloop SCARBOROUGH escorted the convoy from 13
to 19 June. STURDY then arrived at Plymouth. Destroyer
HIGHLANDER escorted the convoy from 17 to 19 June, on
which date it arrived at Liverpool.
_____
German
armed
merchant cruiser ORION laid mines in Hauraki Gulf,
Auckland, New
Zealand as New Zealand light cruiser ACHILLES was
entering harbour. On
the 18th, steamer NIAGARA (13,415grt) was lost
on this minefield. After
her loss, light cruisers ACHILLES and PERTH and armed
merchant
cruiser HECTOR searched for ORION without success.
Later,
on 14 May 1941, New Zealand minesweeper PURIRI was
lost on this minefield.
_____
Dutch
light
cruiser SUMATRA departed Halifax for the Dutch East
Indies, via Bermuda
and Curacoa. She reached Curacoa on the 22nd, and after
patrols from there, departed on 7 August for the Dutch
East Indies via South Africa. SUMATRA arrived at
Surabaya on 15 October.
_____
German
armed
merchant cruiser WIDDER captured British tanker BRITISH
PETROL
(6891grt) on the Trinidad-Azores track at 20‑10N,
46‑56W, 1000
miles from Trinidad. Two
of the crew were lost, and the rest made
prisoners of war. She sank BRITISH PETROL on the 14th in
18N,
54-30W.
Friday,
14
June
Operation
"VADO"
was the French bombardment of Genoa on Cape Vado. On
the 13th, the French ships departed Toulon. 3rd Squadron
(Vice Amiral Emile Duplat) was divided into two groups.
Group
1
- heavy cruisers ALGERIE (Flagship Duplat) and FOCHwith
destroyers VAUBAN, LION, AIGLE of the 1st Large
Destroyer Division and TARTU, CHEVALIER PAUL, CASSARD of
the 5th Large Destroyer
Division.
Group
2
- heavy cruisers DUPLEIX (Flagship Contre Amiral Edmond
Derrien) and
COLBERT with destroyers ALBATROS and VAUTOURof the 7th
Large Destroyer
Division and GUEPARD, VALMY, VERDUNof the 3rd Large
Destroyer Division.
French
submarines
IRIS, VENUS, PALLAS, ARCHIMEDE operated in the area of
Savona in
support.
Early
on
the 14th, VADO was conducted. French destroyer ALBATROS
was the only
casualty when an Italian 152 mm shell exploded in a
fireroom and ten men were
burnt to death.
In
response to the operation, Italian torpedo boat
CALTAFIMI and MAS Squadron 13 (MAS.535, MAS.539,
MAS.534, MAS.538) sortied from Spezia to
attack the French force. After
a brief encounter with the Italian ships, the French
units retired and
returned to Toulon.
Italian
Torpedo
Boat Division 11 (torpedo boats ALTAIR, ANDROMEDA,
ANTARES,
ALDEBARAN) departed Trapani and proceeded to Spezia.
Italian
submarines NEGHELLI and VENIERO were at sea and
submarines IRIDE and SCIRE
departed Spezia, but none contacted the French force.
_____
The
British Mediterranean Fleet and the French forces in the
Eastern Mediterranean
arrived at Alexandria.
_____
French
submarine
NAUTILUS laid mines off Tripoli.
_____
From
0349 to 0405, Italian destroyers TURBINE, NEMBO and
AQUILONE of the 2nd
Destroyer Division shelled Sollum.
_____
Italian
submarine
CAPPELINI was damaged by a anti-submarine trawler ARCTIC
RANGER
(493grt) near Gibraltar. Destroyer VIDETTE joined to
assist, but CAPPELINI
was able to escape and arrive at Ceuta on the 15th.
After emergency repairs,
she departed on the 24th.
_____
Light
cruiser
ARETHUSA departed Gibraltar for Verdon, where she
arrived on the
16th.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
HERMES and light cruiser DELHI were ordered to leave
their patrol off
the Canary Islands when fuel necessitated and proceed
independently to Dakar.
_____
Light
cruiser
CARDIFF arrived at Sheerness on the 14th.
_____
On
the 14th, steamers
PORT
MONTREAL (5882grt) and EURYADES
(5801grt) departed Falmouth in the morning for Brest.
Steamers
BAHARISTAN (5479grt) and FLORISTAN (5478grt) also
departed Falmouth, in the
afternoon for Nantes.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
ARK ROYAL arrived at Scapa Flow escorted by destroyers
KELVIN,
ESCORT and CAMPBELL.
_____
Aircraft
carrier
FURIOUS departed the Clyde at 2030 with £18,000,000 of
gold
bullion for Halifax for safekeeping. She was accompanied
by heavy cruiser DEVONSHIRE and destroyers HAMBLEDON, ECHO
and WITHERINGTON to 15W. DEVONSHIRE
was detached for Iceland and arrived at Halifax on the
23rd.
The destroyers detached at the same time; ECHO arrived
at Scapa Flow and HAMBLEDON and WITHERINGTON in the
Clyde. FURIOUS safely arrived at Halifax on the 21st.
_____
Destroyer
HIGHLANDER
departed the Clyde at 0400 for Plymouth.
_____
Minelayers
TEVIOTBANK
and PLOVER and destroyers EXPRESS and INTREPID departed
the Humber on minelaying operation BS.15, carried out
during the night of 14/15 June. The
ships arrived back in the Humber on the 15th.
_____
Sloops
LOWESTOFT
and WESTON departed Rosyth for the Tyne.
_____
Convoy FN.195 departed Southend, escorted by sloops BLACK SWAN and
HASTINGS. On the 15th, the convoy became separated in
fog. BLACK SWAN
took one section and HASTINGS the second. The convoy
arrived at Rosyth
on the 16th. BLACK SWAN’s section, together with
minesweeper
SHARPSHOOTER arrived during the early afternoon.
HASTINGS section
arrived hours later.
_____
Convoy FS.195 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyers WALLACE and
WOLFHOUND. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 16th.
_____
Sloop
STORK
departed Scapa Flow at 1930 to join the Commander in
Chief, Rosyth, and arrived at Rosyth on the 15th.
_____
Anti-submarine
trawlers
ELM, HAZEL, WINDERMERE and ST LOMAN escorted cable ship
MONARCH laying
cable in Fair Isle Channel.
_____
Submarine
H.28
departed Blyth on patrol.
_____
Submarine
PORPOISE
laid minefield FD.18 at 1448 in 63-30N, 08-12E, and then
then patrolled off Fro Havet. German
minesweeper M.5 and Swedish steamer SONJA
(1828grt) were lost on this minefield
on the 18th.
_____
Convoy
FF.2
of British troopships FRANCONIA (20,175grt), LANCASTRIA
(16,243grt),
ORONSAY (20,043grt) and ORMONDE (14,982grt) departed the
Clyde for Brest
escorted by destroyers VANOC, WOLVERINE and WHIRLWIND.
_____
French sloop D'ENTRECASTEAUX captured Italian steamer FORTUNATA
(4786grt) in the Atlantic and took her to Port Lyautey.
_____
Minesweeping
trawler
MYRTLE (550grt, Chief Skipper W. G. Cleveland,
RD RNR) of the 2nd Minesweeping
Group was sunk on a mine in the Thames Estuary.
Cleveland,
Temporary Skipper W. H. Winter RNR, Cdr S. G.
Spickernell Rtd
and eighteen ratings were lost on the trawler. There
were no survivors.
_____
U.38
sank Greek steamer MOUNT MYRTO (5403grt) in
50‑03N, 10‑05W. Four
crew were killed.
_____
U.47
sank steamer BALMORALWOOD (5834grt), a straggler
from convoy HX.48,
in 50‑19N, 10‑28W. The entire crew was rescued by Greek
steamer
GERMAINE (5217grt) and taken to Liverpool.
_____
U.101
sank
Greek steamer ANTONIS GEORGANDIS (3557grt)
northwest of Cape Finisterre,
in 42-45N, 16-20W. The entire crew was
lost.