Background
Events - June-November 1941
Invasion of
Russia, Malta Convoys, Japan prepares for war
1941
Friday,
15 August
Battlecruiser REPULSE
departed Rosyth at 0720
escorted by destroyers IMPULSIVE, ECLIPSE, and ACTIVE,
and arrived at Scapa Flow at 1900.
_____
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde for escort
duty with convoy WS.10X, and arrived on the 16th.
_____
Convoy ON.7 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 16th by
destroyers
AMAZON, BULLDOG, BURZA, and GEORGETOWN, corvettes
AUBRETIA, HEARTSEASE, NIGELLA,
minesweeper BRITOMART, and anti-submarine trawlers
ANGLE, CAPE
WARWICK, DANEMAN, and NOTTS
COUNTY. Destroyers AMAZON and BURZA were detached on the 18th. The remainder
of the escort was detached on the 21st when the convoy
was joined by
destroyer CHURCHILL and corvettes ARROWHEAD, CAMELLIA,
and EYEBRIGHT. The
destroyer was detached on the 23rd and the corvettes on
the 25th when the
convoy was dispersed.
_____
German steamer MEMELLAND
(542grt) was lost on a
mine south of Helsinki.
_____
Italian steamer ADUA
(400grt) was sunk by British
bombing in the Gulf of Sirte in 31-31N,
15-42E.
_____
German steamer NORDENEY
(3667grt) scuttled herself
when she was intercepted by light cruiser DESPATCH and
armed merchant cruiser
PRETORIA CASTLE northeast of the Amazon Estuary.
_____
Battleship BARHAM arrived
at Suez after repairs of Crete battle damages in Durban.
The battleship departed
Port Said that evening escorted by anti-aircraft ship
COVENTRY and destroyers JACKAL, NIZAM, KIPLING, and
KINGSTON. Troopship GLENGYLE was in company.
The ships arrived at
Alexandria on the 16th.
_____
Australian light cruiser
HOBART, minelaying cruiser
ABDIEL, and destroyers DECOY and HAVOCK departed Port
Said for Famagusta with troops in Seruak S.21 of the
GUILLOTINE
operation.
Australian sloop
PARRAMATTA was at Famagusta to provide anti-submarine
protection.
After departing Port Said
on 13 July, Corvette PEONY arrived at Famagusta with
motor transport ship GUJARAT of Serial S.19
and then departed for Beirut.
The HOBART group
disembarked their troops at Famagusta during the night
of 15/16 August. Minelaying
cruiser ABDIEL departed for Alexandria; the remainder of
the group proceeded to Haifa.
Sloop PARRAMATTA departed
Famagusta on the 16th for Port Said, where she arrived
on the 17th.
_____
Destroyers KANDAHAR and
KIMBERLEY landed stores at Tobruk during the night of
14/15
August and returned to Alexandria.
_____
Destroyers HASTY and
JAGUAR departed Alexandria with stores for Tobruk.
The destroyers returned to
Alexandria on the 16th.
_____
Submarine THRASHER
unsuccessfully attacked German
steamer ANKARA, escorted by torpedo boat SIRIO, in
Mandri
Channel.
_____
Dutch submarine O.24
arrived at Gibraltar after patrol in the Gulf of Genoa and Tyrrhenian Sea.
_____
Submarine OSIRIS arrived
at Malta from Alexandria, having departed on the 7th, to
discharge petrol,
stores, mail, and passengers.
_____
Convoy SL.84 departed
Freetown escorted by destroyer BRILLIANT, corvettes
AMARANTHUS, ARMERIA, MIGNONETTE, and WOODRUFF, and
anti-submarine trawlers
SARABANDE and ST.WISTAN to 19 August.
On the 18th, sloops
FOLKESTONE and LONDONDERRY joined the convoy to 8
September. Sloop WESTON
joined on the 20th to 8 September.
Destroyer ST.ALBANS joined
on 2 September to 8
September. Catapult ship SPRINGBANK and destroyers
CAMPBELTOWN, WANDERER, and
WESTCOTT joined on 3 September to 8 September.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 8 September.
_____
American aircraft carrier
YORKTOWN, light cruiser BROOKLYN, and
destroyers GRAYSON and EBERLE departed Bermuda on neutrality patrol. The patrol concluded on the 27th when they
arrived back at Bermuda.
Saturday,
16 August
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow, arriving on
the 17th.
_____
Destroyer LIVELY departed
Scapa Flow at 1845 for Scrabster. The destroyer embarked
the
Senior Officer of Force A, Rear Admiral P. L. Vian DSO,
and returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at 2100.
_____
Destroyer VIVACIOUS
departed the Humber at 1800 for Scapa
Flow to work up. En
route, the destroyer developed engine defects and put
into Rosyth for
repairs.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
ALYNBANK departed Scapa Flow at 1430 and escorted convoy
WN.67 from the Pentland Firth to Methil, where they
arrived at 1930/17th.
The ship proceeded to
Rosyth to clean boilers.
_____
Convoy WS.10X departed
Liverpool on the 15th and the Clyde on the 16th. On the 16th, the two sections rendezvoused.
The convoy was composed of
liners STRATHNAVER, PALMA, STRATHMORE, BRISBANE STAR,
ORION, and PORT JACKSON.
The convoy was escorted by
light cruiser HEEMSKERK
and destroyers WHITEHALL and WITCH from 15 to 19 August.
Destroyers GURKHA, LANCE,
PIORUN, and ISAAC SWEERS
escorted the convoy from 17 to 19 August.
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE
escorted the convoy from
17 to 28 August, when the convoy arrived at Freetown.
Destroyers BRILLIANT and
WRESTLER and corvettes
CROCUS and CLEMATIS escorted the convoy from 26 to 28
August.
Destroyer VELOX escorted
the convoy on 26 and 27
August.
The convoy arrived at
Freetown on the 28th and sailed on 1 September.
The convoy was escorted by
battleship REVENGE from
1 to 11 September, when the convoy arrived at Capetown.
Corvette AMARANTHUS
escorted the convoy on 1 and 2
September.
Corvettes WOODRUFF,
MIGNONETTE, and ARMERIA from 1
to 3 September.
Battleship REVENGE was in
a collision with liner
ORION on 2 September and sustained slight damage to her
bulges.
The convoy arrived at
Capetown on 11 September and
sailed on 14 September.
The convoy was escorted by
battleship REVENGE until
23 September when light cruiser CERES took over the
convoy. Light cruiser
CERES remained with the convoy until 27 September when
the convoy arrived at Aden. The liners proceeded
independently to Suez.
_____
Convoy ON.8 departed
Liverpool escorted by corvettes ABELIA and ANEMONE. The
convoy was joined on the 17th by corvette VERONICA and
anti-submarine
trawlers ST.ELSTAN and ST.ZENO. On the 18th, destroyers
DOUGLAS, LEMAINGTON,
SALADIN, and VETERAN, minesweepers LEDA and SPEEDY, and
anti-submarine
trawlers ST.KENAN and VIZALMA joined. These were all
detached on the 21st
when relieved by destroyer BURNHAM, armed merchant
cruiser WOLFE, and
corvettes AGASSIZ, LEVIS, and MAYFLOWER. The convoy was
dispersed on the
25th.
_____
Submarine TRIDENT departed
Murmansk on patrol.
On the 19th, the submarine
damaged German steamer
LEVANTE (4769grt) by gunfire in 71-01N, 24-34E.
On the 22nd, the submarine
sank German steamer
OSTPREUSSEN (3030grt) in 70-12N, 21-05W.
On the 30th, submarine
TRIDENT sank German steamers
DONAU (2931grt) and BAHIA LAURA (8561grt) off the
Lofotens in 70-27N, 21-55E,
from a convoy of German DONAU and BAHIA LAURA, French
CORNOUAILLE (3290grt),
and Norwegian AUGUST BOLTEN (3665grt), escorted by
destroyers LODY and
GALSTER, submarine chaser UJ.178, and auxiliary
submarine chasers Vp.6113 and
Vp.6111, joined by UJ.176 and UJ.177 off Nordkinn.
The survivors from the two
ships were rescued by
destroyer GALSTER (490 men), destroyer LODY (38 men),
Vp.6111 (178 men),
Vp.6113 (360 men), Norwegian steamer MITTNATTSOL (200
men), and R.153 twenty
three men.
On the 31st, Russian
submarine SC.402
unsuccessfully attacked this convoy in Kjoellefjord.
_____
Tug NESS POINT was damaged
by a near miss of German
bombing at Lowestoft, sank, but was raised on the 23rd
and repaired.
_____
Sloop FLAMINGO departed
Port Said escorting a motor transport ship SALAMAUA to
Famagusta in Serial S.22 of the GUILLOTINE operation.
The sloop arrived at
Famagusta on the 18th and returned to Port Said.
_____
Destroyers KANDAHAR and
KIMBERLEY carried supplies to Tobruk.
The destroyers arrived
back at Alexandria on the 17th.
_____
Submarine
TORBAY sank Greek
steamer EVANGELISTRA (28grt)near Benghazi.
_____
Dutch submarine O.23
unsuccessfully attacked a
steamer in 39-35N, 13-18E.
_____
Yugoslav torpedo boats
DURMITOR and KAJMAKALAN
departed Alexandria to operate for Mersa Matruh to
operate off Bardia.
_____
Corvettes JONQUIL and
COREOPSIS departed Gibraltar escorting ocean boarding
vessel CAVINA.
Out of the local
approaches, the corvettes joined
arriving tanker CARDIUM.
_____
Convoy HX.145 departed
Halifax escorted by destroyer BROADWATER, armed merchant
cruiser CALIFORNIA, corvettes RIMOUSKI and SPIKENARD,
and anti-submarine whalers KOS IX
andKOS VIII. The whalers were detached that night.
Corvettes ARVIDA and
MATAPEDIA joined on the 17th for the day. Corvette
CHILLIWACK joined on the 20th. The escorts were detached
on
the 25th when relieved by destroyers BEAGLE, BOADICEA,
and SALISBURY, corvettes HEATHER and NARCISSUS,
minesweeper
SEAGULL, and anti-submarine trawlers ARAB, NORWICH CITY,
and ST.LOMAN. The minesweeper and the trawlers
were detached later that day. On the 29th, destroyers
SKTA and WITCH and
minesweepers HEBE and SPEEDWELL joined. Destroyer
SALISBURY, corvettes HEATHER and NARCISSUS, and the
minesweepers were detached on the 30th. The convoy
arrived at Liverpool on the 31st.
Sunday,
17 August
Light cruiser PENELOPE
departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow to work up after long
repairs.
_____
Destroyer LAMERTON
departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow at 0500 to carry out
working up exercises.
The ship arrived at 1930.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
PALOMARES departed Scapa Flow at 0915 on completion of
working up exercises. The
joined join convoy EC.60 and proceeded to Belfast where
she came under the orders of the Western
Approaches.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Rosyth on
completion of boiler cleaning and proceeded northwards
to meet convoy WN.68
in Moray Firth at 1800.
The ship escorted convoy
WN.68 to May Island. Off May Island on the 18th, ship
CURACOA transferred to convoy
EC.61 and escorted it northward. The convoy was attacked
off Aberdeen by German bombing, but no damage was done.
In Pentland
Firth on the 19th, the
ship parted company with convoy EC.61 and arrived at
Scapa Flow at 1800.
_____
British steamer KINDERSLEY
(1999grt) was damaged by
German bombing three miles southeast by east of B.1 Buoy
(Blyth).
The steamer arrived at
Blyth on the 18th.
_____
Panamanian steamer SESSA
(1700grt) was reported
sunk by a submarine in 61-26N, 30-50W.
The steamer does not
appear in the Rohwer list.
Three crew were rescued by US.destroyer LANSDALE on 7
September. The rest
were lost.
_____
An Italian convoy of
steamers MADDALENA ODERO
(5479grt), NICOLO ODERO (6003grt), CAFFARO (6476grt),
MARIN SANUDO (5081grt),
GIULIA (5921grt), and MINATITLAND (7599grt) escorted by
destroyers FRECCIA,
EURO, and DARDO and torpedo boats PROCIONE, PEGASO, and
SIRTORI was attacked
by Dutch submarine O.23.
Italian steamer MADDALENA
ODERO was torpedoed.
The steamer, escorted by
torpedo boats PEGASO and
SIRTORI, was sunk by British aircraft on the 18th at
Lampedusa.
The convoy arrived at
Tripoli on the 19th.
_____
Destroyers KIPLING and
NIZAM landed supplies at
Tobruk during the night of 17/18 August.
The destroyers then
returned to Alexandria.
_____
Submarine REGENT at
Alexandria was damaged when an air vessel of a torpedo
exploded.
There were no personnel
casualties.
_____
Dutch steamer KOTA NOPAN
(7322grt) was captured by
German raider KOMET at 1-22S, 89-10W.
_____
Australian heavy cruiser
AUSTRALIA and Heavy cruiser HAWKINS were ordered to
search
for a French convoy which departed Tamatave on the 12th.
The operation which
was a RATION operation was given the codename of
KEDGREREE.
Cruiser AUSTRALIA departed
Durban at 2350/18th and cruiser HAWKINS departed Durban
at 0800/19th.
The convoy consisted of
French steamers VILLE
D'ORAN (10,172grt), LINOIS (7473grt), DALNY (6672grt),
LEPARI (tons), and
SAGITTAIRE (7706grt).
The operation ended on the
25th, without contact
with the French convoy.
Monday,
18 August
Heavy cruiser LONDON
arrived at Scapa Flow from convoy WS.10 escort and
Biscay patrol.
_____
Destroyer NEWARK arrived
at Scapa Flow at 0900 to carry out a short program of
working up
exercises.
_____
Destroyer ANTHONY departed
Scapa Flow for
Greenock to join
destroyers INTREPID and ANTELOPE to provide escort for
aircraft carrier ARGUS
and troopship EMPRESS OF CANADA.
The ships sailed at
0200/19th.
At 1530/19th, Force A in
light cruiser NIGERIA with light cruiser AURORA and
destroyers TARTAR,
ICARUS, and ECLIPSE departed Scapa
Flow to meet the ARGUS
force. Fifteen miles north of the Butt of Lewis at 2100,
the two forces
rendezvoused. Aircraft carrier ARGUS with destroyers
TARTAR, INTREPID, and
ECLIPSE proceeded to Scapa
Flow where they arrived
at 2030/20th. The troopship and light cruisers NIGERIA
and AURORA and destroyers ICARUS, ANTELOPE, and ANTHONY
proceeded to Reykjavik, where they arrived at 0730/21st.
_____
Anti-submarine whaler
WASTWATER departed Scapa Flow for Iceland, escorting
motor launches ML.1043 and ML.1045, via
the Faroes.
_____
Destroyer QUORN, between
Harwich and Chatham, was
damaged on a mine.
The damage was repaired at
Chatham and was completed on 13 September.
_____
British P/T/Midshipman (A)
J. M. Down RNVR, was
killed when his Martlett of 802 Squadron crashed after
an engine failure on
take off near Campbeltown.
_____
U.38 sank Panamanian
steamer LONGTAKER (1700grt) in
61-26N, 30-50W.
_____
Destroyers JACKAL and
KINGSTON departed Alexandria to carry supplies to
Tobruk.
The destroyers arrived
back at Alexandria on the 19th.
_____
Submarine P.33 (Lt R. D.
Whiteway-Wilkinson DSC),
which departed Malta on the 6th, was sunk by mining or by Italian anti-submarine attack
north of Tripoli
on the 18th.
Whiteway-Wilkinson, Lt R.
H. Bygott, Lt R. L.
Cunningham, Lt R. S. Frost RNR, and
twenty eight ratings were lost.
_____
Submarine P.32 (Lt D. A.
B. Abdy) had departed Malta on the 12th. Attempting to
attack the convoy, she
was damaged on a mine off Tripoli.
The damage killed the
eight crew forward in the
submarine.
The submarine was grounded
on the bottom. Only Abdy
and one rating were able to successfully evacuate the
submarine and were
picked up by an Italian MAS boat.
Sub Lt M. F. Millar, Lt R.
L. S. Morris, Sub Lt R.
M. Smithard and twenty seven ratings were lost on the
submarine.
_____
Submarines UNBEATEN and
URGE departed Malta to intercept a convoy north of
Pantelleria.
_____
Submarine TETRARCH fired
torpedoes into Benghazi Harbour.
The torpedoes exploded on
the boom defense.
_____
Australian minesweeper
BATHURST arrived at Port Said from Alexandria to pass
through the Suez Canal.
The minesweeper joined the
East Indies Fleet.
Australian minesweeper
LISMORE was also transferred
to the East Indies Fleet, passing through the Canal on
the 21st.
In exchange, armed
boarding vessels CHANTALA, which
passed through the Canal on the 20th, and CHAKDINA,
which arrived at Suez on the 29th, were attached to the
Mediterranean
Fleet.
Armed boarding vessel
CHAKDINA arrived at Alexandria on 2 September.
_____
Convoy HG.71 departed
Gibraltar escorted by destroyer WILD SWAN, sloop
DEPTFORD,
corvettes AURICULA, CONVOLVULUS, MARIGOLD, SAMPHIRE and
anti-submarine
trawler ST.NECTAN. The trawler was detached that night.
Destroyer WILD SWAN was
detached on the 23rd and
destroyer VIMY, which departed Gibraltar on the
19th, relieved her in the escort on that date. Destroyer
VIMY was detached on
the 25th and arrived at Gibraltar on the 28th.
Anti-aircraft ship
PALMARES joined the escort on
the 29th. Destroyers CALDWELL and CASTLETON joined on
the 30th.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 1 September.
_____
Soviet destroyer STATNY
was mined and sunk off
Oesel.
_____
Soviet steamer AXEL CARL
(2170grt) was sunk by
German bombing in Leningrad
Harbour.
_____
Destroyers AVONVALE and
ERIDGE departed Gibraltar for Freetown, en route to the
Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Submarine
CLYDE departed Gibraltar for
patrol in the Atlantic.
Tuesday,
19 August
Heavy cruiser LONDON
departed
Scapa Flow for
boiler cleaning in the Clyde, arriving on the 20th.
_____
Destroyer INGLEFIELD
departed Rosyth after boiler cleaning
and arrived at Scapa Flow that day.
_____
Leading Airman E. S. Ingle
and Leading Airman G. R.
Watson of 1 SFTS Netheravon were killed when their Hart
crashed at Claverton,
three miles ESE of Bath.
_____
U-boat attacks on convoy
OG.71, escorted by sloop LEITH, corvettes CAMPANULA, HYDRANGEA, BLUEBELL, CAMPION, WALLFLOWER, and
ZINNIA and anti-submarine trawler LORD NUFFIELD, began
on the 19th and
continued through 23 August.
On the 19th, Norwegian
destroyer BATH (Lt Cdr C. F. T. Melsom RNorN), which had
been
detached the evening before, was travelling behind the
convoy. The destroyer
was sunk by U.204 in 49N, 17W, SW of Ireland.
Melsom, T/Sub Lt J. R. A.
Pennick RNVR,T/Surgeon Lt
R. Taylor MB, ChB RNVR, and nine RN ratings were lost in
the destroyer; one
further died of wounds. Two more Norwegian officers and
sixty seven Norwegian
ratings were lost in the destroyer. Corvette HYDRANGEA
picked up thirty nine
and destroyer WANDERER four survivors from the
destroyer. All but nine of the
survivors in the corvette were transferred to the
destroyer for medical
attention; two died of wounds en route to Gibraltar.
Submarine U.559 sank
British steamer ALVA (1584grt)
in 49N, 17W on the 19th. The submarine also claimed
sinking one more steamer
and damaging another. One crew was lost on the steamer.
British steamer
CLONLARA (1203grt) rescued her some of her survivors,
but fifteen of the ALVA
survivors were lost when CLONLARA was sunk on the 22nd.
Tug EMPIRE OAK picked
up eleven survivors from steamer ALVA. Destroyer BOREAS
picked up five
survivors.
Submarine U.201 sank
British steamer CISCAR
(1809grt) in 49-10N, 17-40W and British steamer AGUILA
(3255grt) in 49-23N,
17-56W on the 19th. A third ship was reported sunk.
Twenty one crew and five
gunners were rescued.
British steamer CERVANTES (1810grt) rescued five
survivors; on 26 September
when CERVANTES was lost, three of these survivors were
lost. Steamer PETEREL
rescued twenty five survivors from CISCAR.
Fifty eight crew, five
gunners, Commodore (Vice
Admiral P. E. Parker DSO Rtd), four of his staff, and
eighty nine passengers
were lost on steamer AGUILA.
Among the passengers lost
were Lt J. C. Graham,
Surgeon Commander A. N. Forsyth, MB ChB, T/Sub Lt (A) A.
J. Ensor RNVR,
T/A/Sub Lt (A) R. A. Fawcett RNVR, P/T/Sub Lt (A) W. P.
Blewitt, P/T/Sub Lt
(A) M. Eden RNVR, and P/T/Midshipman (A) HM Bulpitt
RNVR, en route to the
aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, A/Gunner (T) T. L. P.
Melloy,en route to
destroyer FORESIGHT, Surgeon Lt R. M. Calder, MB, ChB
RNVR, en route to
destroyer DUNCAN, T/A/Warrant Shipwright G. J. Lawson en
route to submarine
depot ship MAIDSTONE, Paymaster Lt Cdr D. G. Mackenzie
RNR, T/Lt L. Beeching RNVR, T/Lt R. A. Crichton
RNVR,T/Sub Lt S. J. Golding RNVR, T/Sub Lt G. M. Wright
RNVR, T/Paymaster Sub
Lt R. W. Phillips RNVR, and T/Skipper A. V. Roberts RNR,
en route to CORMORANT. Also lost were nine WREN
officers and one nursing sister.
Six survivors from steamer
AGUILA were picked up by
Tug EMPIRE OAK (484grt) and corvette WALLFLOWER picked
up survivors.
Submarine U.204 made two
attacks on the 19th and
reported sinking two steamers, but none were reported.
Destroyers GURKHA and
LANCE from convoy WS.10 X
reinforced the convoy from 20 to 23 August. Destroyer
VIDETTE, which departed
Gibraltar on the 21st, from 21 to 23 August.
Destroyers BOREAS and
WIVERN reinforced the convoy
from 22 to 23 August.
Submarine U.564 made four
attacks on the 22nd and
sank British steam tug EMPIRE OAK (484grt) and British
steamer CLONLARA
(1203grt) in 40-43N, 11-39W. She reported damaging two
other steamers.
Eleven crew and three
gunners were missing from the
tug. Eight survivors from steamers ALVA and six
survivors from AGUILA were
missing. Destroyer BOREAS rescued four survivors from
the tug. Corvette
CAMPANULA picked up the remainder of the survivors.
Eleven crew were lost on
the steamer.
Submarine U.201 sank
British steamers STORK
(787grt) and ALDERGROVE (1974grt) in 40-43N, 11-30W on
the 23rd. She reported
damaging two other steamers.
One naval rating was lost
on steamer ALDERGROVE.
Destroyer BOREAS rescued four survivors from the
steamer. Corvette CAMPANULA
rescued the remainder of the survivors.
Nineteen crew were lost on
steamer STORK. Three
crew were rescued by corvette CAMPION.
Submarine U.564 on the
23rd damaged Norwegian
steamer SPIND (2129grt) in 40-43N, 11-39W. The submarine
reported damaging
another steamer.
Corvette ZINNIA (Lt Cdr C.
G. Cuthbertson DSO RNR) was sunk by U.564 in 40-43N,
11-39W west of Portugal on the 23rd.
A/Sub Lt M. T. Edwards
RNVR, T/Sub Lt J. Halliday
RNVR, and T/Sub Lt J. B. Miller RNVR, and forty six
ratings were lost on the
corvette. Her survivors were picked up by corvette
CAMPION.
The submarine reported
sinking two other steamers
on the 23rd.
Submarine U.552 sank
damaged Norwegian steamer
SPIND (2129grt) in 40-43N, 11-39W. The entire crew was
rescued by destroyer
BOREAS.
_____
Convoy OG.72 departed
Liverpool.
On the 20th, destroyers
CHELSEA, CROOME, HEYTHROP,
and WOLVERINE, sloop ROCHESTER, corvettes CARNATION,
HELIOTROPE, LA MALOUINE,
and MALLOW, and catapult ship MAPLIN joined the convoy.
Destroyer DUNCAN departed
Londonderry on the 22nd and joined the convoy.
Destroyers CHELSEA and WOLVERINE were detached on the
23rd.
Destroyers CROOME and HEYTHROP were detached on the 27th
and arrived at Gibraltar on the 30th.
Destroyer LANCE joined the
escort from patrol on
the 26th and destroyer BOREAS departed Gibraltar on the
27th to join. Destroyer DUNCAN arrived at Gibraltar on
the 31st. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on 1 September
with destroyers BOREAS and LANCE,
sloop ROCHESTER, corvettes MALOW, HELIOTROPE, CRNATION,
and LA
MALOUINE, and catapult ship MAPLIN.
_____
Italian submarine TAZZOLI
sank Norwegian tanker
SILDRA (7313grt) in 5-30N, 12-50W. The entire crew were
rescued.
_____
Motor barge GOLDEN GRAIN
(101grt) was sunk on a
mine in 51-35-18N, 1-03-18E.
The crew of three were all
lost.
_____
Soviet hospital ship SIBIR
(3767grt) was sunk by
German bombing in the Gulf
of Finland.
Some 400 passengers were
lost on the ship.
_____
Operation TREACLE began.
Six thousand troops of the
Polish Carpathian
Brigade were ferried to Tobruk, covered by the cruisers
of the 7th and 15th
Cruiser Squadrons.
On the first night of
TREACLE, destroyers JERVIS, KIMBERLEY, and HASTY
departed Alexandria for Tobruk in the first series.
The destroyers arrived
back at Alexandria on the 20th.
_____
Whaler THORBRYN (Lt Cdr J.
F. Hall RNR), towing two D.lighters, was sunk by German
bombing in 32N, 24-09-15E off Tobruk.
T/Lt D. C. Wilson RNVR,
T/Lt W. B. Chisholm RNVR,
and six ratings were killed on the whaler.
Hall, T/Sub Lt (E) R.
Firing RNVR, T/Lt (E) K. A.
Larsen RNR, and sixteen ratings were taken prisoner.
One D lighter was sunk and
the second drifted onto
the enemy coast. Skipper P. D. Jackson RNR, was killed
and T/Skipper J. J. Fortune RNR taken prisoner.
_____
Light cruiser GALATEA
arrived at Suez to join the Mediterranean Fleet.
_____
Anti-aircraft cruiser
COVENTRY departed Alexandria for the Canal Area. The
cruiser arrived at Suez on the 20th. There she escorted
liners ILE DE FRANCE (43,450grt), NIEUW
AMSTERDAM (36,287grt), and
ORION (23,371grt) to Port Taufiq.
_____
Destroyer HOTSPUR departed
Alexandria to relieve destroyer HAVOCK at Haifa.
Destroyer HAVOCK arrived
back at Alexandria on the 20th.
_____
Submarine TETRARCH
unsuccessfully attacked Italian
steamer CADAMOSTO, which was arriving at Benghazi from
Tripoli.
_____
Submarine UNBEATEN
unsuccessfully attacked a convoy
of liners MARCO POLO, ESPERIA, NEPTUNIA, and OCEANIA, escorted by destroyers VIVALDI, DA RECCO, GIOBERTO, and ORIANO and
torpedo boat DEZZA, fifteen miles north of Pantelleria.
After the attack, the
convoy was joined by destroyers
MAESTRALE, GRECALE, and SCIROCCO.
The convoy arrived at
Tripoli on the 20th.
_____
Australian sloop
PARRAMATTA departed Port Said escorting motor transport
ship KEVINBANK to Famagusta in Serial S.23 of the
GUILLOTINE operation.
The sloop arrived on the
21st and then sailed for Port Said.
_____
British steamer DEVON (9036grt) was sunk by German raider KOMET about two hundred miles SW
of the Galapagos
Island, in 5S, 91W. The entire crew was rescued and made prisoners of war.
Wednesday,
20 August
Battleship KING GEORGE V
departed Scapa Flow at 2100 for Rosyth, escorted by
destroyers
INGLEFIELD, LIGHTNING, and PUNJABI.
The ships arrived off May Island at 0600/21st.
Destroyer PUNJABI continued to
Rosyth to boiler clean. Destroyers INGLEFIELD and
LIGHTNING returned to Scapa Flow, arriving that mid
afternoon.
_____
Battleship DUKE OF YORK
(Captain C. H. J. Harcourt, CBE) was completed.
_____
Destroyer BADSWORTH
departed Greenock at 0930 for Scapa
Flow to carry out working
up exercises.
The destroyer arrived at
0600/21st.
_____
Destroyer PUCKERIDGE
departed Scapa Flow at 1000 to convey the Commander in
Chief, Home
Fleet to Scapa Flow. On arrival, she returned to Scapa
Flow, to carry out practices in the Pentland Firth on
passage.
_____
Destroyer TARTAR departed
Scapa Flow at 2200 for Skaalefjord. The destroyer
arrived at
0800/21st.
Destroyer TARTAR escorting
damaged destroyer
ACHATES in tow of tug ASSURANCE and with salvage vessel
LE LUTTEUR departed
Skaaleford for the Tyne.
The ships arrived in the
Tyne at 2300/24th.
_____
Convoy ON.9 departed
Liverpool, escorted by destroyers BEAGLE, BOADICEA,
SALISBURY, and WINCHELSEA, corvette NARCISSUS,
minesweeper
SEAGULL, and anti-submarine trawlers AYRSHIRE and LADY
MADELEINE. Corvette
HEATHER joined on the 21st. Destroyers BOADICEA and
WINCHELSEA and the
trawlers were detached on the 23rd. Destroyers BEAGLE
and SALISBURY, corvettes HEATHER and NARCISSUS, and
minesweeper
SEAGULL were detached when the convoy was dispersed on
the 25th.
_____
Polish steamer CZESTOCHOWA
(1971grt) was sunk by German motor torpedo boat
S.48 in 53-11-30N, 1-06E and damaged British steamer
DALEWOOD (2774grt) in
53-11-24N, 1-05-30E. One crewman was lost on the Polish
steamer. Three crew
and a naval gunner were lost on the British steamer. The
steamer was towed to
Humber badly damaged aft.
_____
British fishing trawler
JULIET (173grt) was sunk by
German bombing thirty miles south of Old Head of
Kinsale. The entire crew was
rescued.
_____
Faroes auxiliary trawler
SOLARRIS (236grt) was sunk
on a mine off Seidisfjord.
Four crew were rescued.
_____
On the 19th, an Italian
convoy of troopships
ESPERIA (11,398grt), MARCO POLO (12,272grt), NEPTUNIA
(19,475grt), and
OCEANIA (19,507grt) departed Naples for Tripoli escorted
by destroyers
VIVALDI, DA RECCO, GIOBERTI, and ORIANI and torpedo boat
DEZZA. The convoy
was reinforced later the same day by destroyers
MAESTRALE, GRECALE, and
SCIROCCO after an attack by submarine UNBEATEN.
Submarine UNIQUE sank
Italian troopship ESPERIA
eleven miles north of Tripoli
in 33-03N, 13-03E on the 20th.
Thirty one troops were
lost on the troopship. One
thousand, one hundred and thirty nine men were rescued.
The convoy arrived at
Tripoli on the 20th.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER sank
Italian steamer ENOTRIA
(852grt) six miles northwest of Cape St Vito, northwest
Sicily.
_____
Submarine THRASHER sank
small Greek steamer SAN STEFANO off Cape Malea with gunfire.
_____
Light cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE departed Alexandria covering minelaying cruiser
LATONA and destroyers
KIPLING, NIZAM, and KINGSTON
en route to Tobruk in the second series of the TREACLE
operation.
Returning from the
operation, destroyer NIZAM was
damaged by a near miss north of Bardia at 0630/21st.
The destroyer was taken in
tow by destroyer KINGSTON for a time until she could
proceed under her own
power.
The light cruisers
provided cover for the
destroyer's return to Alexandria.
_____
Destroyers HOTSPUR and
DECOY were sailed from Haifa to Beirut.
_____
British tanker TURBO
(4782grt) was badly damaged by
German bombing in 32-08N, 31-57E.
Sloop FLAMINGO and
trawlers for Port Said assisted the tanker. The entire
crew was rescued.
The tanker arrived at Port
Said on the 21st. On 23 September, the tanker was moved
to Suez. On 1 April 1942, the tanker departed Suez for
Aden in the tow of British steamer GLADYS MOLLER
(5285grt). At 25-16N, 35-25E on 4 April, the tanker
broke in half and sank.
_____
Submarine
SEVERN departed Gibraltar for
patrol in the Atlantic.
_____
Dutch submarine O.23
arrived at Gibraltar from patrol in the Mediterranean.
_____
Submarine OTUS arrived at
Malta from Alexandria with stores, including a submarine
generator,
twelve cases of U-class submarine spares, petrol, and
eighteen passengers.
_____
Submarine URGE arrived at
Malta from patrol.
_____
Minesweeping trawler
LORINDA (348grt, Lt J. H.
Seelye NZRNVR), en route to Port Harcourt in company
with trawler BALTA, was lost through
engine trouble and a fire off Freetown in 6-30S, 11-37W.
Corvette LAVENDER
proceeded to assist. The entire
crew were rescued by trawler BALTA which returned to
Freetown.
Thursday,
21 August
Force K of light cruisers
NIGERIA and AURORA and destroyers
ANTHONY, ANTELOPE, and ICARUS departed Hvalfjord at 2200
escorting troopship
EMPRESS OF CANADA on Operations GAUNTLET and BENEDICT.
Oiler OLIGARCH arrived at
Spitzbergen on the 24th,
escorted by trawlers HAZEL and ELM.
After demolishing the coal
fields at Bergensburg,
light cruiser NIGERIA departed on the 26th
with destroyers ANTHONY,
ANTELOPE, and ICARUS escorting troopship EMPRESS OF
CANADA to Archangel.
On the 26th, Norwegian
colliers INGERTO (3089grt),
NANDI (1999grt), and MUNIN (1285grt) taken as prizes,
escorted by
anti-submarine trawler SEALYHAM, and until the morning
of 27 August by light
cruiser AURORA, departed Spitzbergen for Hvalfjord,
arriving on 1 September.
This convoy was designated Convoy Drover.
These ships returned to
Spitzbergen on 1 September
and joined light cruiser AURORA.
Convoy DERVISH departed
Liverpool on the 12th, escorted by anti-aircraft ship
POZARICA and minesweeping trawlers CELIA (545grt),
HAMLET (545grt), and
MACBETH (545grt), anti-submarine trawlers ST.CATHAN
(565grt) and LE TIGRE
(516grt) for Reykjavik.
The convoy called at Scapa
Flow on the 15th and departed at 1800/16th with
destroyers ELECTRA, IMPULSIVE, and ACTIVE with light
cruiser AURORA as
additional escort until 18 August.
The convoy departed
Reykjavik on the 21st with
British steamers LANCANSTRIAN PRINCE (1914grt), NEW
WESTMINSTER CITY (4747grt), ESNEH (1931grt), LLANSTEPHAN
CASTLE
(11,348grt), and TREHATA (4817grt), Dutch steamer
ALCHIBA (4427grt), and
British oiler ALDERSDALE escorted by destroyers ELECTRA,
ACTIVE, and
IMPULSIVE, minesweepers HALCYON, HARRIER, and
SALAMANDER, and minesweeping
trawlers HAMLET, MACBETH, and OPHELIA.
The convoy was covered by
Aircraft carrier
VICTORIOUS, heavy cruisers DEVONSHIRE and SUFFOLK, and
destroyers ECLIPSE, ESCAPADE, and INGLEFIELD
from 24 to 30 August, when the ships called at
Spitzbergen to refuel.
The convoy arrived on the
31st at Archangel.
_____
Destroyers SOMALI and
ORIBI departed Scapa Flow escorting aircraft carrier
FURIOUS to Greenock.
The ships arrived at
Greenock at 0245/22nd. Destroyer ORIBI proceeded to
Glasgow for repairs.
Destroyer SOMALI returned to Scapa Flow, arriving at
0700/23rd.
_____
Heavy cruiser SHROPSHIRE
departed Hvalfjord for Scapa Flow, via Akureyri and East
of Iceland.
The cruiser arrived at
Scapa Flow on the 24th.
_____
Destroyer NEWARK departed
Scapa Flow at 1730
to rejoin the Minelaying Command at Loch Alsh.
_____
At 2100 a U-boat was
suspected attempting to force
a passage into Scapa Flow.
A patrol was established
through the night with
destroyers LIGHTNING, MATABELE, INTREPID, and
PUCKERIDGE, trawlers, and motor
launches.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship CURACOA
departed Scapa Flow at 0700 and escorted convoy WN.70
from Pentland Firth to May Island.
On this date, the
anti-aircraft ships operating
with the WN.and EC.convoys came under the administration
of Commander in
Chief, Rosyth.
_____
French submarine RUBIS,
which departed Dundee on the 14th, laid mines in minefield FD 33 off Jaederens.
At 1535/21st, the
submarine attacked two steamers
and sank Finnish steamer HOGLAND (4360grt) in 58-16N,
4-48E.
In the attack, two
torpedoes exploded shortly after
leaving the torpedo tubes and damaged the submarine.
Early on the 22nd, the
submarine was able to signal
her situation.
Anti-aircraft cruiser
CURACOA, which was already at
sea with convoy WN.70, destroyers LIVELY and LIGHTNING,
which departed Scapa Flow at 0600/22nd, destroyer
WOLFHOUND, anti-submarine
trawlers CLEVELLA and FILEY BAY, and tug ABEILLE IV were
sent to assist.
Destroyers LIVELY and
LIGHTNING arrived back at Scapa Flow at 2100/24th. En
route, destroyer LIGHTNING
rescued three Norwegians from Bergen in a dinghy.
The submarine, escorted by
destroyer WOLFHOUND,
arrived at Dundee on the 24th for repairs.
_____
French drifter GLORIA IN
EXCELSIO DEO was damaged by German bombing at
Southampton.
The drifter sank, but was
later raised and
repaired.
_____
Force H departed Gibraltar
with battleship NELSON, aircraft carrier ARK
ROYAL, light cruiser HERMIONE, and destroyers NESTOR,
FORESTER, FURY,
FORESIGHT, and ENCOUNTER for operations against Sardinia in Operation MINCEMEAT.
On the 23rd, Italian
battleships LITTORIO and VENETO with six destroyers
departed Taranto and heavy cruisers TRIESTE, TRENTO,
BOLZANO, and GORIZIA with four destroyers departed
Messina to guard against Force H operations. Five
destroyers departed Trapani
and joined the Italian force.
Light cruisers ABRUZZI,
ATTENDOLO, and MONTECUCCOLI
of the 8th Cruiser Division and five destroyers departed
Palermo and were stationed north of Tunisia.
On the 24th, British air
reconnaissance sighted the
Italian battleship force. After ARK ROYAL aircraft
dropped incendiary bombs
in the cork woods west and southeast of Tempio, Sardinia, Force H returned to Gibraltar.
The Force H operations
were a diversion for a
minelaying by minelayer MANXMAN. The minelayer had
departed England on the 17th and arrived at Gibraltar on
the 21st. Minelayer MANXMAN departed Gibraltar early on
the 22nd, disguised as a French LEOPARD
destroyer for the passage to and from off Livorno in the Gulf of Genoa, where mines
were successfully laid.
Submarine UPHOLDER
reported sighting one Italian
battleship, two heavy cruisers, and six destroyers in
the Central Mediterranean on the 24th. The submarine
made an unsuccessful
attack on light cruiser LUIGI DI SAVOIA in 38-30N,
12-00E.
British steamer DURHAM
(10,893grt), which departed Malta independently on the
21st for Gibraltar, was damaged by mining west of
Pantelleria.
The steamer arrived at
Gibraltar on the 24th and was drydocked for damage.
British steamer DEUCALION
(7516grt) departed Malta on the 26th and proceeded
independently to Gibraltar, followed by destroyer
FARNDALE. Both arrived at Gibraltar on the 29th. The
steamer having sustained slight
damage by mine explosion.
On the 26th, while the
Italian forces were
returning to port, Submarine TRIUMPH sighted a group of
these ships composed
of battleship LITTORIO, heavy cruisers BOLZANO and
TRIESTE, and ten destroyers.
Submarine TRIUMPH
torpedoed and badly damaged heavy
cruiser BOLZANO north of Messina.
Battleship NELSON,
aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL,
light cruiser HERMIONE, and destroyers of the operation
arrived back at Gibraltar on the 26th.
Minelayer MANXMAN arrived
at Gibraltar on the 25th. The minelayer departed
Gibraltar on the 26th and arrived back in England on the
30th.
_____
Destroyers KANDAHAR,
GRIFFIN, and JACKAL departed Alexandria for Tobruk in
the third series of the TREACLE
operation.
The destroyers returned to
Alexandria on the 22nd.
_____
Destroyer NAPIER departed
Port Said for Alexandria after turbine repairs to rejoin
the Mediterranean
Fleet.
On the destroyer's arrival
at Alexandria on the 22nd, Captain D.7th Destroyer
Flotilla
reembarked.
_____
A report that British
liner DUNERA (11,162grt) was
under attack by aircraft caused Australian minesweeper
BATHURST to be diverted to search for her. Anti-aircraft
cruiser COVENTRY was sailed from Suez to protection
shipping in anchorage F. Sloop
FLAMINGO departed Port
Said for Suez.
It was later discovered
the report was an
inaccuraterebroadcast of SOS of the
tanker TURBO attack.
_____
Gunboat GNAT departed
Alexandria to relieve gunboat APHIS at Mersa Matruh.
_____
Greek light cruiser
AVEROFF departed Port Sudan for Aden and Bombay for
boiler repairs.
_____
Egyptian steamer EL FATH
(311grt) was damaged by
German bombing at Famagusta.
Four crew were killed.
_____
British steamer ATLANTIC
COAST (890grt) departed Gibraltar
for Freetown, escorted by anti-submarine trawler STELLA
CARINA
until dark.
_____
Subamrine TAKU arrived at
Malta from Alexandriawith stores.
On the 25th, the submarine
departed for Gibraltar, arriving on 1 September. She
departed on 4
September and proceeded to Chatham for refitting,
arriving on 15 October, via
Rothesay on 13 September and Blyth on 6 October.
_____
Submarine UNBEATEN arrived
at Malta after patrol.
_____
Convoy HX.146 departed
Halifax escorted by armed merchant cruiser
WORCESTERSHIRE
and corvettes KENOGAMI, MOOSE JAW, and PRESCOTT.
Corvettes BARRIE and MATAPEDIA joined on the
22nd. The corvettes were detached on the 24th when
relieved by destroyer
BROADWAY and corvettes COBALT, POLYANTHUS, and TRAIL.
The entire escort,
including the armed merchant cruiser was detached on 2
September when
relieved by destroyers KEPPEL, LINCOLN, NIAGARA, SABRE,
SHIKARI, and
VENOMOUS, corvettes ALISMA, ALYSSE, COLLINGWOOD,
DIANELLA, and SUNFLOWER, and
anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSA and MAN O.WAR.
Destroyer NIAGARA and corvettes ALYSSE and COLLINGWOOD were detached later that day.
Destroyers LINCOLN and SABRE, corvettes ALISMA,
DIANELLA, and SUNFLOWER, and
the trawlers were detached on 5 September. The convoy
arrived at
Liverpool on 6 September.
Friday,
22 August
Battleship RODNEY departed
Newport, Rhode Island, for
Bermuda to work up
after repairs.
_____
Minelayer AGAMEMNON,
escorted by destroyer NEWARK, laid minefield SN.22B in
the Northern Barrage.
_____
An Italian convoy of
Italian transport LUSSIN
(3958grt) with steamer ALCIONE (493grt) in tow and
steamer ALBERTO FASSIO
(2289grt) departed Palermo for Tripoli escorted by
torpedo boats CIGNO and PEGASO. On the
22nd, submarine UPHOLDER sank LUSSIN near Cape St Vito.
_____
Minelaying cruiser ABDIEL
and destroyers JERVIS,
HASTY, and KIMBERLEY departed Alexandria for Tobruk in
the fourth series of the TREACLE
operation. The operation was covered
by light cruisers PHOEBE, NAIAD, and GALATEA of the 15th
Cruiser
Squadron. The ships arrived back at Alexandria on
the 23rd.
_____
Australian destroyer
STUART departed Alexandria with one engine inoperative
to return to Australia, arriving on 16 September at
Fremantle.
The 10th Destroyer
Flotilla at this time ceased to
exist. Destroyer VENDETTA was then attached to the 7th
Destroyer Flotilla and
destroyer DECOY was attached to the 2nd Destroyer
Flotilla.
Destroyer STUART was sent
on to Williamstown for
refitting.
_____
Greek steamer LESBOS (1009grt) was damaged by German bombing at Tobruk.
_____
Netlayer TONBRIDGE (T/A/Lt
Cdr D E Brown RNR) was sunk by German bombing three
cables 108° from
Scroby Elbow Buoy off Yarmouth. Brown and 34
ratings were lost.
_____
Corvettes FLEUR DE LYS and
AZALEA departed Gibraltar escorting tankers BENEDICK and
CAPSA. The
corvettes then joined arriving tanker CORDELIA and
escorted her to Gibraltar, arriving on the 31st.
_____
American destroyer HUGHES
was damaged in a
collision with British steamer CHUMLEIGH at Reykjavik.
Saturday,
23 August
Heavy cruisers DEVONSHIRE
(SO Force M) and SUFFOLK,
aircraft carrier VICTORIOUS, and destroyers INGLEFIELD,
ECLIPSE, and ESCAPADE
departed Scapa Flow as Force M.to operate in the
northern waters in Archangel
and Murmansk areas in Operations E. G. V. 1 and E. G. V.
2.
An Albacore of 832
Squadron ditched off Cape Wrath. Destroyer INGLEFIELD
rescued Sub Lt H. Eyre, Sub
Lt D. J. R. Harvey, and Leading Airman T. E. J. St
Vaughan.
_____
Minelayers SOUTHERN
PRINCE, PORT QUEBEC, and ADVENTURE, escorted by
destroyers
CASTLETON, NEWARK, and CHARLESTOWN, laid minefield
SN.70A east of Iceland.
The heavy cruiser
DEVONSHIRE force provided cover for this minelay as they
proceeded on their operation.
_____
Minesweeper SPEEDWELL was
damaged in a collision
with British steamer ST.JULIAN (1952grt) in the North
Sea.
The damage to the
minesweeper was minor.
_____
Convoy OS.4 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers CALDWELL, CASTLETON,
VANOC,
VOLUNTEER and WALKER. The destroyers were detached on
the 28th. Also
departing with the convoy was French sloop CHEVREUIL
which was detached on
the 27th, special service vessel FIDELITY, which was
detached on 2 September,
escort vessels GORLESTON and LULWORTH, which were
detached on 9 September,
and anti-air craft ship PALMORES which as detached on
the 28th.
On the 31st, escort
vessels SENNEN and TOTLAND
joined the convoy and were detached on 9 September. On 9
September, destroyer
VANSITTART joined the convoy and escorted it into
Freetown arriving on 11 September.
_____
U.143 sank Norwegian
steamer INGER (1418grt) in
58-58N, 7-50W.
Nine crew were lost.
Fourteen survivors were landed
at Stornoway.
_____
Submarine TETRARCH sank
Italian steamers FRATELLI
GARRE (413grt) at twelve miles northwest of Sirte and
FRANCESCO GARRE
(395grt) at one miles from Sirte.
_____
Destroyers NAPIER and
JACKAL departed Alexandria to intercept any supply ships
attempting to enter
Bardia.
A merchant ship was
sighted by submarine TALISMAN
in 33-30N, 24-20E.
No further contact was
made. The ship turned
northward to avoid the British ships.
The ships arrived back at
Alexandria on the 24th.
_____
Italian steamer CONSTANZA
(582grt) was sunk by
British Blenheims from Malta south of Lampedusa.
_____
There was no TREACLE
operation on the 23rd.
_____
German raider ORION
arrived at Bordeaux, escorted by submarines U.75 and
U.205, after
raiding in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian
Oceans.
The cruiser sank nine and
a half ships for 57,744 tons.
She shared seven kills with cruiser KOMET.
Sunday,
24 August
Light cruiser ARETHUSA
departed Scapa Flow to refit in the Tyne.
_____
Destroyer VIVACIOUS
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1900
from Rosyth to carry out working up practices.
_____
Destroyer SOMALI departed
Scapa Flow at 2200 for Loch Alsh to embark the First
Lord of
the Admiralty.
The destroyer arrived at
0800/25th and after
embarking the First Lord of the Admiralty sailed for
Stornoway at 1400.
Destroyer SOMALI arrived at 1550. At 1630 the destroyer
departed for Scapa Flow and arrived at 0930/26th.
The First Lord of the
Admiralty was transferred to
battleship PRINCE OF WALES.
_____
Sloop BLACK SWAN,
escorting a convoy in the Irish Sea, was damaged by
German bombing.
The damage required three
weeks to repair at
Milford Haven.
_____
British steamer SKAGERAK
(1283grt) was sunk on a
mine in the River Orwell, Harwich in 51-58-08N,
1-16-06E. Seventeen crew and
the pilot were killed.
_____
Anti-submarine whaler KOS
XVI was sunk in a
collision with Destroyer WOLSEY in the Irish Sea.
Damage to the destroyer
was minor and did not
remove her from service.
_____
Soviet destroyer ENGELS
was sunk on a mine off Cape Juminda.
_____
Light cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE departed Alexandria covering minelaying cruiser
LATONA and destroyers
KIPLING, KINGSTON, and GRIFFIN in the fifth series of
the TREACLE operation.
The ships arrived back at
Alexandria on the 25th.
_____
A Catalina aircraft
sighted and attacked a U-boat
30 miles SW of the River Tagus. Destroyers BOREAS and
WIVERN searched the
area without result.
_____
Convoy SC.41 departed
Sydney, CB escorted by armed
merchant cruiser RANPURA and corvettes ARVIDA,
CHICOUTIMI, and MATAPEDIA. The corvettes were detached
on the
26th when relieved by destroyer ST.CROIX and corvettes
BUTOUCHE, GALT, and PICTOU. Destroyer RAMSEY joined on 2
September. Corvettes ARABIS, MONKSHOOD, and PETUNIA and
anti-submarine
trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN PRIDE, and NORTHERN WAVE
joined on 5 September, destroyer SARDONYX on 6
September, and destroyers MALCOLM and WATCHMAN on 11
September. Destroyer
ST.CROIX was detached on 5 September and destroyer
RAMSEY and corvettes
BUTOUCHE and GALT on 6 September. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 11 September.
Light cruiser CERES was
damaged in a collision with
Norwegian tanker GYLFE (6129grt) off Bombay.
The cruiser's stem was
fractured, but the cruiser
was able to depart Bombay that day escorting convoy BM 8
to Trincomalee.
_____
In Operation CUTTING,
British steamer LADY
DENISON-PENDER (1984grt) departed Freetown, escorted by
sloop MILFORD, to cut and lift about sixty miles of the
Dakar - Pernambuco cable.
The ship arrived in
position on the 28th and the operation
required one week to complete.
_____
Convoy SL.85 departed
Freetown escorted by destroyer VANSITTART to 28 August,
sloop MILFORD to 28 August, and corvettes ASTER,
BURDOCK,
STARWORT, and VERVAIN to 28 August.
On the 28th, sloop
SANDWICH to 17 September, sloop COMMANDANT DOMINE to 17 September, and
anti-submarine yacht PHILANTE to 17 September joined.
On 2 September, corvette
WALLFLOWER joined to 11
September.
On 11 September,
destroyers BOREAS, CALDWELL,
VANOC, VOLUNTEER, and WALKER
and corvettes BLUEBELL, CAMPANULA, CAMPION, CARNATION,
HELIOTROPE, HYDRANGEA,
LA MALOUINE, and MALLOW joined. Sloop LEITH joined on 14 September.
The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on 17 September with ocean boarding vessel
CAVINA
and the escorts which joined on 11 and 14 September.
_____
Convoy BM 8 departed
Bombay with steamers EKMA
(5108grt), NEVASA (9213grt), EGRA (5108grt), ETHIOPIA
(5574grt), and EL
MADINA (3962grt), escorted by light cruiser CERES to
Trincomalee. The convoy
was escorted on by armed merchant cruiser ANTENOR to 31
August, when light
cruiser DAUNTLESS relieved her.
The convoy arrived at Port
Swettenham on 2
September.
Monday,
25 August
Light cruiser KENYA
departed Rosyth after repairs and arrived back at Scapa
Flow. Her repair trial was not satisfactory and speed
was limited to a maximum of 28.5 knots.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship ULSTER
QUEEN arrived at Scapa Flow at 1200 from Belfast to
carry out working up exercises.
_____
Cruiser minelayer WELSHMAN
departed Rosyth at 2200
to carry out a practice lay of mines and then proceed to
Scapa Flow where she arrived at 0910/26th. The cruiser
then
carried out working up exercises.
_____
Minelayers SOUTHERN
PRINCE, PORT QUEBEC, and minelaying cruiser ADVENTURE,
escorted
by destroyers CASTLETON, NEWARK,
and CHARLESTOWN, laid minefield SN.70 A in the Northern
Barrage.
Auxiliary minelayer
SOUTHERN PRINCE (10,917grt),
returning from laying the minefield, wasdamaged by a
U.652 west of the Faroes
in 62-55N, 9-55W.
There were no casualties
in the minelayer.
Destroyers LIGHTNING and
LAMERTON departed Scapa Flow at 0615/26th to assist the
minelayer. The
minelayer was escorted as far the Minches. The
destroyers arrived back at Scapa Flow on the 27th.
The minelayer was repaired
at Belfast.
_____
T/A/Sub Lt (A) G. L.
Stewart RNVR, was killed when
his Walrus of 749 Squadron crashed near Piarco. Two
students, Leading Airman
B. C. Hamilton, RNZNVR, and Leading Airman H. Hunt RNVR,
were also killed.
_____
U.452 was sunk by a
Catalina of 209 Squadron
andanti-submarine trawler VISENDA south of Iceland in
61-30N, 15-30W. The entire crew of forty two
were lost in the submarine.
_____
U.752 sank Soviet
minesweeping trawler DVINA (633grt) northwest of Svyatoy.
_____
German steamer TROYBURG
(2288grt) was lost when she
was stranded at Faresund.
_____
Light cruisers NAIAD,
PHOEBE, GALATEA departed Alexandria to cover minelaying
cruiser ABDIEL and destroyers
JACKAL, HASTY, and KANDAHAR on the series six of the
TREACLE operation.
The light cruisers were
unsuccessfully attacked at
dusk on the 25th.
The ships safely returned
to Alexandria on the 26th.
_____
Yugoslav torpedo boats
DURMITOR and KAJMAKCALAN,
completely out of service after two operations off
Bardia, were ordered to depart
Mersa Matruh and return to Alexandria.
The boats arrived on the
26th.
_____
Corvettes JONQUIL and
COREOPSIS arrived at Gibraltar, escorting British tanker
CARDIUM from Curacao.
_____
Operation
COUNTENANCE was
the overall operation supporting the British invasion of
Iran. There were three naval operations and
two ground forces operations in this plan. The name
RAPIER was originally
given to operations at Abadan
and Korramshahr, but was not used. Operation BISHOP was
the capture of the
port and shipping at Bandar Shapur.
Armed
merchant cruiser
KANIMBLA, gunboat COCKCHAFER, sloop LAWRENCE, corvette
SNAPDRAGON, minesweeping trawlers ARTHUR
CAVANAGH and LILAC, Anglo Iranian Oil Company salvage
tugs ST ATHAN and
DELAVAR, R.A.F. Launch 20, and dhow DAIF were in BISHOP.
Sloop
LAWRENCE seized Iranian gunboats CHAZBAAZ and KARKAZ.
German
steamer HOHENFELS
(7862 tons) was captured by a boarding party from
KANIMBLA and renamed EMPIRE
KEMAL. The steamer left Bandar Shahpur under tow
for Karachi on 11 October.
German
steamer MARIENFELS
(7575 tons) was captured by a boarding party from
KANIMBLA and was renamed
EMPIRE RANI. The steamer sailed for Karachi on 8
September.
German
steamer WILDENFELS
(6224 tons) was captured by a boarding party from
KANIMBLA and was renamed
EMPIRE RAJA. The steamer departed on 2 September
for Karachi.
German
steamer STURMFELS
(6288 tons) was captured by corvette SNAPDRAGON and was
renamed EMPIRE
KUMARI. The steamer sailed for Karachi on 5
September.
German
steamer WEISSENFELS
(7861 tons) was scuttled and was beyond salvage.
Italian
steamer BARBARA
(3065 tons) was set afire, but sloop LAWRENCE put a fire
fighting unit aboard the steamer,
assisted by ARTHUR CAVANAGH and DELAVAR. The
steamer was renamed EMPIRE
TAJ. The steamer departed Bandar Shahpur under of
tow of SNAPDRAGON on 3 September
1941 for Karachi. At Chahbar on 9 September,
Australian YARRA
took over the tow and they arrived at Karachi on 13
September.
Italian
tanker BRONTE
(4769 tons) was set afire by her crew, but was salved
and renamed EMPIRE
PERI.
On 4
September, tanker
BRONTE left Basra in tow of British sloop FALMOUTH for
Karachi.
Italian
steamer CABOTO
(5225 tons) was scuttled to prevent her capture sloop
LAWRENCE. The steamer had been set afire, but the
fire was extinguished by LAWRENCE, ARTHUR CAVANAGH, and
DELAVAR. The
steamer was towed by sloop SHOREHAM to Karachi departing
on 1 September.
Gunboat
COCKCHAFER
captured a floating dock.
US steamers PUERTO
RICO (6076 tons) and ANNISTON CITY (5687 tons) were at
Bandar Shapur.
Operation
MARMALADE was
the destruction of Iranian Naval Forces at Khorramshahr
at the junction of
the Shatt Al-Arab and the Karun River.
Sloops
FALMOUTH and YARRA, Kenyan launch BALEEKA, and armed
river
tug SOURIYA operated at Khorranshahr.
YARRA
sank BABR at
Khorranshahr in Operation MARMALADE and captured
gunboats CHAROGH and
SIMORGH, depot ship IVY, and tug NEYROU.
In the
defense of the
Iranian naval base, the Iranian Naval Commander in Chief
Rear Admiral
Bayendor was killed ashore.
Italian
steamer HILDA
(4901 tons) was captured at Banda Addas on 27 August by
Australian sloop
YARRA. The ship was afire, but the fires were
extinguished. The
sloop towed her to Chahbar Bay before a salvage
tug was required. The
departed Chahbar Bay
for Karachi under tow of the tug SYDNEY THUBRON on 8
September.
Operation
CRACKLER was the
capture of the island of Abadan and its
attendant oil refinery and facilities.
Armed
yacht SEABELLE,
sloop SHOREHAM, Indian auxiliary minesweeper LILAVATI,
armed river steamers
IHSAN and ZENOBIA, five Eureka
motor boats, two motor dhows, and one motor launch were
deployed against Abadan in CRACKLER.
Sloop
SHOREHAM sank
Iranian gunboat PALANG.
The
landing of troops at Abadan was Operation DEMON.
Operation
MOPUP was
successfully undertaken on 26 August to clear the
Khazalabad area between
Khorramshahr and Abadan.
_____
Convoy BA.5 departed
Bombay, escorted by armed merchant cruiser HECTOR and
auxiliary patrol vessels DIPAVATI and SONAVATI. The
patrol vessels were
detached on the 26th. The convoy was dispersed on the
31st.
There were no convoys BA.6
and BA.7.
_____
Light cruiser EMERALD
arrived at Seychilles.
_____
Light cruiser DANAE
arrived at Singapore.
_____
On the 25th, Italian
steamers in Argentine ports
were taken over by Argentina for their own use.
|
Italian name
|
BRT
|
Argentine
name
|
|
AMABILITAS
|
5245
tons
|
no
name change
|
|
CAPO
ROSA
|
4699
tons
|
RIO DULCE
|
|
CASTELBIANCO
|
4900
tons
|
no
name change
|
|
CERVINO
|
4363
tons
|
RIO PRIMERO
|
|
DANTE
|
4901
tons
|
RIO SEGUNDO
|
|
FORTUNSTELLA
|
4864
tons
|
RIO TERCERO
|
|
GIANFRANCO
|
8181
tons
|
RIO SALADO
|
|
INES CORRADO
|
5159
tons
|
RIO DIAMANTE
|
|
MONTESANTO
|
5850
tons
|
RIO COLORADO
|
|
MARISTELLA
|
4872
tons
|
RIO ATUELE
|
|
PELORUM
|
5314
tons
|
RIO CHICO
|
|
PRINCIPESSA
MARIA
|
8918
tons
|
RIO DE LA
PLATA
|
|
TESEO
|
4966
tons
|
RIO CORRIENTES
|
|
VALDARNO
|
5696
tons
|
RIO NEUQUEN
|
|
VITTORIO VENETO
|
4595
tons
|
RIO GUALEQUAY
|
|
VOLUNTAS
|
5597
tons
|
RIO TEUCO
|
_____
American aircraft carrier
WASP and light cruiser SAVANNAH with destroyers MEREDITH
and GWIN departed Hampton
Roads on neutrality patrol ending on 10 September at
Bermuda.
Tuesday,
26 August
Heavy cruiser LONDON
departed the Clyde after boiler cleaning and arrived at
Scapa Flow on the 27th.
_____
Destroyer INTREPID
departed Scapa Flow at 0600 to join convoy ES.78 off May Island and act as additional
escort to Sheerness.
Destroyer INTREPID arrived
at Sheerness at
1520/28th to disembark ammunition. The destroyer then
proceeded to refitting
at London, arriving at 1400/29th. The destroyer departed
Sheerness for Scapa Flow on 23 October after the refit.
_____
Destroyer TARTAR departed
the Tyne and joined convoy FS.577 as additional anti-aircraft protection to
the Humber.
The destroyer arrived at
Sheerness at 1222 on the
27th to disembark ammunition prior to going up river to
refit. Destroyer
TARTAR arrived at London at 1600/28th for refitting
which continued until
17 October.
_____
Canadian troop convoy
TC.12B departed Halifax with British steamers DOMINION
MONARCH
(27,155grt), EMPRESS OF RUSSIA (16,810grt), and
STRATHDEN (23,722grt).
The convoy was escorted on
26 and 27 August by
destroyers ANNAPOLIS and RICHMOND.
On the 27th, destroyers
ASSINIBOINE, HARVESTER, HAVELOCK, RIPLEY, SAGUENAY, and
ST.LAURENT joined the convoy and remained with it until
its arrival on 1
September.
_____
U.571 damaged Soviet
steamer MARIJA ULJANOVA
(3870grt) north of Cape Retiberka.
_____
Light cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE departed Alexandria escorting minelaying cruiser
LATONA and destroyers
JERVIS (Rear Admiral Destroyers, Mediterranean Fleet
embarked), GRIFFIN, and HAVOCK in the seventh series of
the TREACLE
operation.
The ships arrived back at
Alexandria on the 27th.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
CARLISLE, having passed through the Canal on the 24th, arrived at
Alexandria.
_____
Destroyers DECOY and
HOTSPUR arrived at Alexandria
from Haifa.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL laid
fifty mines off Skinari.
_____
Sub Lt (A) G. B. Pudney
was killed when his
Hurricane of 806 Squadron was shot down ten miles north
of Sidi Barrani.
_____
The 166th South African
Minesweeping Group,
consisting of trawlers GRIBB, IMHOFF, SEKSERN, and
TREERN, arrived at Suez.
The trawlers were sent to
Haifa to fit out.
_____
Convoy ST.1 of four
steamers departed Freetown. The convoy arrived at
Takoradi on the 31st.
_____
Heavy cruiser HAWKINS
arrived at Simonstown.
Wednesday,
27 August
A Fulmar of 809 Squadron
crashed off the deck
during landing. Lt H. E. Yates and the observer were
picked up by a
destroyer.
_____
Light cruiser EURYALUS and
destroyer PUCKERIDGE
departed Scapa Flow at 0100 to join Battleship MALAYA
and destroyer
PUNJABI off May Island and escort the battleship to
Scapa Flow, where they
arrived at 2000.
_____
Destroyer LIVELY departed
Scapa Flow at 1930 for Greenock having completed her working up exercises.
The destroyer arrived at
1230/28th.
_____
Convoy ON.10 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 29th by
destroyers
KEPPEL, LINCOLN, SABRE, SHIKARI, and VENOMOUS, corvettes
ALISMA and DIANELLA,
and anti-submarine trawlers LADY ELSA and MAN O.WAR. On
1 September, the convoy was joined by
corvettes DIANTHUS, HONEYSUCKLE, and SNOWBERRY.
Destroyers KEPPEL, LINCOLN,
SABRE, and SHIKARI were detached on 1 September. On 2
September, destroyer NIAGARA and corvettes ALYSSE, CELANDINE, and COLLINGWOOD joined. These
escorts, less DIANTHUS, were detached on 10 September.
The convoy was
dispersed on 11 September and the corvette was detached.
_____
Leading Airman D. C.
Stewart of 1 SFTS Netheravon
was killed when his Master crashed into the ground at
Shrewton LG.
_____
U.570 was damaged by
British bombing SW of Iceland
in 52-15N, 18-35W and captured by Forces.
The forty four German crew
were taken prisoner.
Anti-submarine trawler
NORTHERN CHIEF arrived
during the evening of 27 August.
During the morning of 28
August, trawlers KINGSTON
AGATE, WASTWATER, and WINDERMERE and destroyers BURWELL
and NIAGARA arrived on the scene.
The submarine towed to
Thorlakshavn, Iceland by two trawlers. On arrival on the
28th, the
submarine was beached. On 5 September, the submarine was
towed off by tug
SALVONIA. Submarine U.570 was alongside depot ship HECLA
at Hvalfjord on 6
September.
On 29 September, the
submarine departed Hvalfjord
escorted by destroyer SALADIN and arrived at Barrow on 3
October.
_____
Canadian T/Lt C. A. Keefer
RCNVR, of escort vessel
LULWORTH, drowned rescuing a passenger from Norwegian
steamer INGRIA
(4391grt). Both ships were in convoy OS.4.
Keefer was awarded the
Albert Medal.
_____
U.557 sank Norwegian
steamer SEGUNDO (4414grt) from
convoy OS.4 in 53-36N, 16-40W.
Seven crew were lost on
steamer SEGUNDO.
Submarine U.557 sank
British steamers SAUGOR
(6303grt) and TREMODA (4736grt) from convoy OS.4 in
53-36N, 16-40W.
Fifty nine crew were lost
on the steamer SAUGOR.
Twenty six crew and six
gunners were lost on
steamer SAUGOR.
Submarine U.557 sank
British steamer EMBASSAGE
(4954grt) from convoy OS.4 in 54N, 13W. The submarine
also reported damaging
a steamer in the convoy.
Thirty nine crew were lost
on steamer EMBASSAGE.
On the 28th, submarine
U.558 sank British steamer
OTAIO (10,298grt) from convoy OS.4 in 52-16N, 17-50W.
Four crew were lost on the
steamer. Nine crew
drowned in a small boat.
_____
U.202 sank British trawler
LADYLOVE (230grt) near Iceland.
_____
Light cruisers NAIAD,
GALATEA, and PHOEBE departed Alexandria covering
minelaying cruiser ABDIEL and destroyers
KIPLING, KINGSTON, and HOTSPUR in the eighth series of
the TREACLE
operation.
Light cruiser PHOEBE was
torpedoed by an Italian
aircraft at 2145/27th 32-15N, 24-53E, one hundred miles
northeast of Tobruk.
The light cruiser reported
eight ratings killed.
Destroyers JERVIS,
KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, and HASTY departed Alexandria to
escort the damage ship.
Light cruiser PHOEBE was
able to proceed to Alexandria under her own power.
Minelaying cruiser ABDIEL
and destroyers KIPLING, KINGSTON, and HOTSPUR returned
to Alexandria from Tobruk, independently, arriving on
the 28th.
The light cruiser after
temporary repairs was sent
to the United
States for permanent repairs. She was undocked at
Alexandria on 9 October
and passed through the Suez Canal on 13 October. On 26
October, the light cruiser
arrived at Durban from Mombasa and departed on 28
October for Simonstown. Light
cruiser PHOEBE was under repair at New York Navy Yard
from 20 November to 15 April 1942.
_____
Australian sloop
PARRAMATTA departed Port Said for Famagusta with Motor
transport ship SALAMAUA (6676grt) of
Serial 24, the last of the GUILLOTINE operations.
The ships, plus steamer
RODI (3220grt), arrived at Famagusta on the 29th.
The sloop returned to
Alexandria.
_____
Whaler SKUDD III (245grt,
Lt R. C. Macmillan RCNVR) was sunk by
German bombing at Tobruk.
T/Midshipman J. T. Bloxham
RNR, and two ratings were killed. T/Sub Lt E. R. Swift
RNVR, died of wounds. Two ratings were missing and six
ratings were wounded.
_____
An Italian convoy of
steamers ERNESTO (7272grt), AQUITANIA (4971grt), COL DI
LANA (5891grt), and POZARICA
(7751grt) departed Naples on the 26th for Tripoli
escorted by destroyers ORIANI and EURO and torpedo
boats PROCIONE, ORSA, and CLIO. Torpedo boat PEGASO
joined at Trapani.
Submarine URGE
unsuccessfully attacked steamer
POZARICAoff Marettimo.
On the 27th, Submarine
URGE torpedoed steamer AQUITANIA. The steamer and
torpedo boat ORSA arrived at Trapani on the 27th. The
convoy arrived at Tripoli on the 29th.
Submarine URGE was not
damaged by heavy
counterattacks by torpedo boat CLIO.
_____
Submarine TRIUMPH
captured, then sank a small
fishing vessel off the Furiano River.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21
departed Gibraltar for patrol in the South Tyrrhenian
Sea.
_____
Submarine UPHOLDER arrived
at Malta from patrol.
_____
Heavy cruiser EXETER
departed Aden, escorting troopship MAURETANIA, and
arrived at Durban on 2 September.
Thursday,
28 August
Destroyer PUCKERIDGE
embarked the First Lord of the
Admiralty and transported him to Scrabster.
The destroyer arrived back
at Scapa Flow at 1600.
_____
British tanker DONOVANIA
(8149grt) was damaged by
German bombing three miles 208° from St Ann's Head.
The steamer proceeded to
Milford Haven. One crewman
was killed on the tanker.
_____
Soviet light cruiser KIROV
was damaged by German
bombing at Tallinn.
_____
Soviet destroyer KALININ
was mined and sunk off Cape Juminda.
_____
Soviet destroyer ARTEM was
mined and sunk off Cape Juminda.
_____
Soviet destroyers SKORY
and VOLODARSKI were mined
and sunk off Seiskaari.
_____
Soviet destroyers
LENINGRAD and MINSK were badly damaged in minings off
Tallinn.
_____
Light cruisers AJAX and
NEPTUNE departed Alexandria escorting minelaying cruiser
LATONA and destroyers
NAPIER, JACKAL, and DECOY in the ninth series of the
TREACLE operation.
The ships arrived back at
Alexandria on the 29th.
_____
Submarine RORQUAL sank
Italian steamer CILICIA (2747grt) off Morea in 36-00N, 21-30E.
Escorting torpedo boat
ANTARES rammed the submarine
and damaged her periscope.
_____
Subamrine UNBEATEN
unsuccessfully attacked an
Italian submarine north of Sicily.
_____
Submarine UTMOST
unsuccessfully attacked a steamer
east of Calabria.
_____
Dutch submarine O.24
departed Gibraltar for patrol in the Gulf of Genoa.
_____
American escort aircraft
carrier LONG
ISLAND, light cruiser NASHVILLE, and destroyers LIVERMORE and
KEARNY departed
Bermuda on
neutrality patrol. The patrol concluded at Bermuda on 9 September.
Friday,
29 August
Battlecruiser REPULSE,
light cruiser SHEFFIELD, and destroyers LIGHTNING,
BADSWORTH, and
VIVACIOUS departed Scapa
Flow for the Clyde. The battlecruiser and light cruiser were required for escort duties
with convoy WS.11.
The ships arrived in the
Clyde at 1000/30th. The destroyers returned to
Scapa Flow, arriving at
0730/31st.
_____
Destroyer LAFOREY (Captain
R. M. J. Hutton, D.19)
arrived at Scapa Flow at 1340 to carry out working up
exercises.
_____
Destroyer ST.MARYS was
damaged in a collision with
troopship ROYAL ULSTERMAN (3244grt) in convoy SD 10 off
the west coast of Scotland.
The destroyer proceeded to
Greenock for temporary repairs, then proceeded to
Liverpool, arriving on 2
September.
The destroyer was repaired
at Liverpool, completing on 15 December.
_____
Convoy OG.73 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers CAMPBELTOWN,
ST.ALBANS,WANDERER, and WESTCOTT, sloop FOWEY, corvettes
GENTIAN, JASMIN,
MYOSOTIS, PERIWINKLE, and STONECROP, anti-aircraft ship
SPRINGBANK, and ocean
boarding vessel HILARY. The ocean boarding vessel was
detached that night.
Corvettes BEGONIA and
LARKSPUR joined the escort on
the 30th.
The destroyers were
detached on 2 September.
On 2 September, corvette
HIBISCUS joined the
escort. Corvette GENTIAN was detached on 11 September.
Destroyers DUNCAN and
VIDETTE departed Gibraltar on 6 September joined the
escort on 8 September.
Destroyers FARNDALE and WILD SWAN after refuelling at
Ponta Delgada joined the escort on 8 September.
Destroyer FURY
also joined the escort on 8 September.
The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on 13 September.
_____
Soviet destroyer YAKOV
SVERDLOV was mined and sunk
off Cape Juminda.
_____
Destroyers GRIFFIN and
HAVOCK departed Alexandria for Tobruk in the tenth and
final series of the
TREACLE operation. The destroyers arrived back at
Alexandria on the 30th.
_____
Destroyers KINGSTON and
HASTY departed Alexandria for Beirut.
_____
An Italian convoy of
troopships NEPTUNIA, OCEANIA,
and VICTORIA, escorted by destroyers AVIERE, DA NOLI,
CAMICIA NERA, GIOBERTI,
USODIMARE, and PESSAGNO, departed Naples for Tripoli.
Submarine URGE made an
unsuccessful attack on VICTORIA off Capri.
_____
Submarines UPHOLDER and
URSULA departed Malta to intercept a convoy east of
Tripoli.
_____
Destroyers VIMY, VIDETTE,
and WILD SWAN, corvettes
CAMPANULA, WALLFLOWER, CAMPION, and HYDRANGEA, and motor
launches ML.170 and
ML.172 departed Gibraltar to patrol in the Straits of
Gibraltar to intercept
any U-boat attempting passage.
_____
Convoy HX.147 departed
Halifax escorted by armed merchant cruiser LACONIA and
corvettes GLADIOLUS, MIMOSA, and WETASKIWIN.
Destroyer COLUMBIA joined on 2 September. On 8
September, the
corvettes were detached when relieved by destroyers
AMAZON, BELMONT and
BULLDOG, corvettes ACONIT, AUBRETIA, HEARTSEASE, and
NIGELLA, and
anti-submarine trawlers DANEMAN, NORTHERN WAVE, and
ST.APOLLO. Destroyer COLUMBIA was detached on 8
September. On 11 September, destroyers
AMAZON, BELMONT, and BULLDOG and corvette ACONIT were
detached.
The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 12 September.
_____
New Zealand light cruiser
ACHILLES departed Auckland and met British steamer
RIMUTAKA (16,576grt) off Cape Palliser. The steamer was escorted to 250 miles southeast of
Chatham
Island.
On 2 September, the
steamer was detached and the
light cruiser joined another steamer which was escorted
to Wellington.
Saturday,
30 August
Convoy WS.11 departed
Liverpool on the 30th and the Clyde on the 31st.
The convoy was composed of
the following steamers
KINA II, BHUTAN, BARRISTER, GLAUCUS, MOOLTAN, EMPRESS OF
AUSTRALIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, ABOSSO, ORONTES, SCYTHIA, VICEROY OF INDIA, HMS LARGS BAY, HMS GUARDIAN, DUCHESS OF
YORK, OTRANTO, CITY OF
EDINBURGH, GLENORCHY, CITY OF MANCHESTER, and MANCHESTER
PROGRESS.
The convoy was escorted by
battlecruiser REPULSE,
aircraft carrier FURIOUS, light cruiser SHEFFIELD,
anti-aircraft cruiser
CAIRO, armed merchant cruiser DERBYSHIRE, destroyers
COSSACK, ZULU, LEGION,
LIVELY, ISAAC SWEERS, HIGHLANDER, PIORUN, GARLAND, and
WINCHELSEA, sloop
SUTLEJ, and escort ships TOTLAND and SENNEN.
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS
suffered an engine room
defect on the 31st and put into Bangor. She was able to
sail at 0548 on 1 September,
escorted by destroyer LIVELY, and rejoined the convoy.
The convoy split into Fast
and Slow sections on 5
September.
WS.11 Fast was MOOLTAN,
EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, KINA
II, ORONTES, SCYTHIA, VICEROY OF INDIA, HMS LARGS BAY,
HMS GUARDIAN, DUCHESS
OF YORK, BHUTAN, CITY OF EDINBURGH, OTRANTO, and
GLENORCHY escorted by
battlecruiser REPULSE and destroyers NESTOR, which
departed Gibraltar on the
31st, and ENCOUNTER, which departed Gibraltar on 3
September. Off Freetown, the convoy was joined by
destroyers VELOX and
WRESTLER and corvette STARWORT. The convoy arrived on 13
September.
WS.11 Slow with GLAUCUS,
BARRISTER, NORTHUMBERLAND,
ABOSSO, RAPIDOL, and CITY OF MANCHESTER was escorted by
armed merchant cruiser DERBYSHIRE
and escort ships SENNEN and TOTLAND. The convoy arrived
at Freetown on 15 September.
The convoy re united at
Freetown and departed on 18 September, less ABOSSO, HMS
GUARDIAN, and NORTHUMBERLAND, plus liner NIEUW ZEELAND.
The convoy was
escorted by destroyers WRESTLER and VELOX from 18 to 20
September.
Battlecruiser REPULSE and armed merchant cruiser
DERBYSHIRE escorted the
convoy to the Cape.
Steamers DUCHESS OF YORK,
CITY OF MANCHESTER, NIEUW
ZEELAND, CITY OF EDINBURGH, KINA II, LARGS BAY,
VICEROY OF INDIA, ORONTES, GLAUCUS, BHUTAN, and GLENORCHY
arrived at Capetown on 30 September
escorted by armed merchant cruiser DERBYSHIRE.
Steamers MOOLTAN, EMPRESS
OF AUSTRALIA, SCYTHIA, OTRANTO, BARRISTER, and MANCHESTER PROGRESS arrived at
Durban on 3 October.
The Capetown ships
departed on 3 October, steamer
GLAUCUS not sailing until 4 October and overtaking the
convoy, escorted by
armed merchant cruiser DERBYSHIRE.
The Durban ships, plus
steamers DILWARA, CITY OF CANTERBURY, PULASKI, EASTERN
PRINCE, LLANDAFF CASTLE, NIEUW HOLLAND, and JOHANN DE WITT, less EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA and SCYTHIA, departed on 7 October and rendezvoused with the Capetown ships on 8
October. On rendezvous, armed merchant cruiser
DERBYSHIRE returned to
Capetown. Battlecruiser REPULSE escorted the convoy to
13 October, when she
was relieved by light cruiser CERES.
On 17 October, steamers
GLENORCHY, CITY OF EDINBURGH, BARRISTER, ORONTES, NIEUW
ZEELAND,
VICEROY OF INDIA, LARGS BAY, JOHAN DE WITT, OTRANTO,
DUCHESS OF YORK, KINA II, and GLAUCUS was detached from
convoy
WS.11 as convoy WS.11 X escorted by light cruiser
GLASGOW.
Steamers GLENORCHY and
CITY OF EDINBURGH were detached as independents on 19
October for Basra.
The convoy arrived at
Bombay on 22 October.
The convoy departed Bombay
on 27 October with steamers
GLAUCUS, KINA II, JOHAN DE
WITT, ELLENGA, ORION,
NIEUW ZEELAND, and LARGS BAY, escorted by armed
merchant cruiser HECTOR. The
convoy arrived at Colombo on 30 October, less steamer
KINA II, detached on
29 October.
On 31 October, the convoy,
plus RANGITIKI, departed
Colombo, escorted by light cruiser MAURITIUS arriving at
Singapore on 6 November.
_____
Heavy cruiser SHROPSHIRE
(SO Force L), aircraft carrier ARGUS, and
destroyers SOMALI, MATABELE, and PUNJABI departed Scapa
Flow at 0800 for Seidisfjord in Operation STRENGTH.
The ships arrived off
Seidisfjord at 0500 on 1
September, but were unable to enter port due to thick
fog. Destroyer PUNJABI
was able to enter Seidisfjord at 1045 and sailed at 1300
to rejoin the Force.
??Force M proceeded to
rendezvous with Force M in
74N, 8E.
_____
Heavy cruiser LONDON
departed London for Akureyri and Hvalfjord.
_____
Convoy ON.11 departed
Liverpool. The convoy was joined on 1 September by
destroyers MALCOLM, SARDONYX, and WATCHMAN, corvettes
ARABIS, MONKSHOOD, and
PETUNIA, and anti-submarine trawlers NORTHERN GEM,
NORTHERN PRIDE, NORTHERN SPRAY, NORTHERN WAVE, and
WISTARIA. These escorts were detached on 4
September when relieved by destroyer BURWELL, armed
merchant cruisers CALIFORNIA and MALOJA, and corvettes
CHILLIWACK, SPIKENARD, and TRAIL. These were detached
when
the convoy was dispersed on 11 September.
_____
Destroyer ASHANTI departed
the Tyne at 0530 to return to Scapa
Flow on completion of her
long repairs, but a defect developed on passage.
The destroyer arrived at
Rosyth for repairs on 1
September.
_____
US battleship NEW MEXICO,
heavy cruiser QUINCEY, and destroyers
SIMS, HUGHES, and RUSSELL departed Hvalfjord to operate
in the Denmark Strait
after a suspicious vessel was reported by US.Coast Guard
cutter ALEXANDER
HAMILTON.
_____
Destroyers BERKELEY and
ATHERSTONE departed Portsmouth at 2000 to hunt a
submarine in Operation ILIAD.
After an unsuccessful
search, the destroyers
returned to Portsmouth.
_____
Convoy SC.42 of sixty five
ships departed Sydney, joined by five more ships from St
John on 2 September.
The local escort of the
convoy was Canadian
destroyer SKEENA (Hibbard, SO ) and corvettes ALBERNI,
KENOGAMI,
and ORILLIA.
_____
Submarine UNBEATEN sank
Italian steamer ALFA (373grt) off Augusta.
_____
Submarine TALISMAN damaged
Italian auxiliary patrol
boats SAN MICHELE and TENACEMENTE three miles north of
Benghazi.
_____
Italian steamer EGADI
(861grt) was sunk by British aerial
torpedo from an aircraft of 830 Squadron from Malta
thirty miles northeast of Lampedusa.
_____
Italian steamer RIV
(6630grt) was sunk by British Wellington aircraft
at Tripoli.
_____
Convoy SC.42 departed
Sydney, CB escorted by
corvettes ARVIDA, BARRIE, and NAPANEE. These corvettes
were detached on 2
September when the convoy was joined by corvettes
ALBERNI, KENOGAMI, and ORILLIA. Corvette ORILLIA was
detached on 9 September. On 10 September, the
convoy was joined by corvettes CHAMBLY, GLADIOLUS,
MIMOSA, MOOSE JAW, and WESTASKIWIN and
anti-submarine trawler BUTTERMERE. Destroyers DOUGLAS, LEAMINGTON, SALADIN, and
VETERAN and anti-submarine trawler
WINDERMERE joined on 11 September. Destroyers BELMONT,
COLUMBIA, SKATE,
SKEENA, and
ST.CROIX joined on 12 September. Corvettes ALBERNI,
KENOGAMI, and MOOSE JAW
were detached on 13 September. American destroyers
CHARLES F. HUGHES,
RUSSELL, and SIMS escorted the convoy on 14 September
and then were detached.
Destroyer COLUMBIA, corvettes GLADIOLUS, MIMOSA, and
WETASKIWIN, and
anti-submarine trawlers BUTTERMERE and WINDERMERE were
detached on 16
September. Destroyer SALISBURY and corvettes LOBELIA, NARCISSUS, and RENONCULEjoined on 16
September. Destroyers SALADIN, SKEENA, and
ST.CROIX and corvette CHAMBLY
were detached on 17 September. Destroyers LEAMINGTON,
SKATE, and VETERAN were detached on 18 September.
The convoy arrived Liverpool on 19 September.
Sunday,
31 August
Destroyer BEDOUIN departed
the Humber at 1945 to return to Scapa
Flow on completion of her
refitting, and arrived at 1830 on 1 September.
_____
Italian steamer RECCA
(5441grt) was seized by Cuban
authorities at Avana, Cuba, and renamed LIBERTAD for
Cuban use.
_____
Australian light cruiser
HOBART departed Haifa for Alexandria, where she arrived
on 1 September.
_____
Anti-aircraft ship
CARLISLE arrived at Suez.
_____
Sloop FLAMINGO departed
Alexandria for Port Said for intended duty in the Red
Sea.
_____
Australian destroyer
NESTOR departed Gibraltar to refuel at Ponta Delgada
prior to joining convoy WS.11. She then proceeded
with the convoy to Freetown.
_____
Destroyer FORESIGHT, FURY,
and FORESTER departed Gibraltar to carry out
anti-submarine patrols in the Straits
during the night.
_____
Destroyer DUNCAN arrived
at Gibraltar from convoy OG.72 duty.
_____
Corvettes AZALEA and FLEUR
DE LYS arrived at Gibraltar with tanker CORDELIA,
arriving from Curacao.
_____
An air raid on Alexandria
late on the 31st and early on 1 September caused a
number of casualties on shore, but no damage was done to
ships or
facilities. Cdr E E Addis Rtd of HMS
NILE and Sub Lt J Roper RNR of
THORGRIM were killed and another officer wounded. There
were also a number of
rating casualties.
_____
Dutch submarine O.21 made
an unsuccessful attack on
an Italian submarine in the Tyrrhenian
Sea.
_____
Submarine UTMOST arrived
at Malta from patrol.
_____
Italian convoy of liners
NEPTUNIA, OCEANIA, VICTORIA, escorted by destroyers AVIERE, DA NOLI, CAMICIA NERA,
GIOBERTI, USODIMARE, and PESSAGNO, departed
Tripoli for Taranto on the
31st. Off Tunisia, submarine UPHOLDER made
an unsuccessful attack on the convoy, which arrived at
Taranto without loss on 2 September.
