This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

[parsifal]

14 October 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Fairmile B Motor Launch ML 129

Losses
Steamer RECULVER (UK 683 grt) was sunk on a mine 1.2 miles 195° from Spurn Point Light House (off the Yorkshire coast). The entire crew was rescued.

ASW trawler LORD STAMP (RN 448 grt) was sunk on a mine 17 miles SW of Portland Bill in the English Channel. 23 crew members were lost.

Collier GLYNWEN (UK 1076 grt) was lost to an unspecified enemy attack .

Steamer EULER (Ger 1879 grt) was sunk on a mine near St Nazaire.

UBOATS
Departures
Bergen: U-58
Lorient: U-47

At Sea 14 october 1940
U-28, U-37, U-38, U-43, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-58, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-103, U-123, U-124, U-137, U-138.
17 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
OA.229 departed Methil escort sloop JASON and corvettes COREOPSIS and HIBISCUS from 14 to 19 October. FN.308 departed Southend, escort DD WOLSEY and sloop LOWESTOFT. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 16th. FS.309 departed Methil, escort DDs VERDUN and WATCHMAN. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 16th.

Northern Waters
DD DOUGLAS made Minesweeping runs in Scapa Flow in view of suspected minelaying, to fire acoustic mines. No mines were located. DD MENDIP arrived at Scapa Flow at 0730 to work up.

West Coast UK

Western Approaches
U.138 torpedoed AMC CHESHIRE. RCN DD SKEENA and corvette PERIWINKLE took off 220 crewas the AMC was abandonbede. However she did not sink and DC crews reboarded. The vesel was taken in tow and beached near Belfast. She underwent emergency repairs before being refloated and towed to Liverpool for repairs requiring six months.

Med- Biscay
In the pre-dawn darkness on the 14th, CV ILLUSTRIOUS, escorted by CLs GLOUCESTER and LIVERPOOL and DDs NUBIAN, HAVOCK, HERO, HEREWARD launched air strikes against Leros. The raid was successful and the ships returned to the Main Force later on the 14th 14th. At 0900, CA YORK, which was short of fuel, and DD DEFENDER were detached to Alexandria. RAN DDs VAMPIRE and VENDETTA attacked submarine contacts at 1132.

At 1855 on the 14th, LIVERPOOL was torpedoed by an RA SM79 armed with a torpedo in the Aegean. The hit started a fire on the ship and an explosion of her petrol and ammunition wrecked the bow which later broke away just ahead of the bridge. 27 crewmen were lost , with three more ratings dying of wounds. Forty two ratings were wounded.
DDs HEREWARD and DECOY were sent to stand by the cruiser. Tug ST ISSEY was dispatched at 2345 on the 14th.

LIVERPOOL was taken in tow stern first by CL ORION and screened by CLA CALCUTTA. She arrived at Alexandria on the 16th, with DDs DAINTY, DECOY, DIAMOND, RAN VAMPIRE, which had been sailed from Alexandria at 1420 and joined at 1900/15th. After temporary repairs at Alexandria, completed in April 1941, LIVERPOOL proceeded to Mare Island, California for repairs from 16 June to 15 November 1941.

The Med Flt arrived back at Alexandria at 0100/16th. BC RENOWN and DDs GALLANT, FIREDRAKE, GRIFFIN arrived at Gibraltar. CL SHEFFIELD arrived at Gibraltar from a month in Home Waters after carrying out a patrol off the Azores, and rejoined Force H

Pacific/Far East/Australia Station
DKM Raider ORION sank steamer RINGWOOD (Nor 7302 grt) in the Pacific. The European crew was repatriated to Norway.

Malta

Orders were issued to infantry bns manning the beach defence posts. All beach guns are now under the tactical command of commanding officers of infantry sectors in which they are positioned. According to the operating instructions, the maximum range for beach guns to open fire is 5000 yds by day and 1800 yds by night.

Blockhouses along the Malta shoreline

 

[Njaco]

October 14 Monday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post727821.html#post727821

WESTERN FRONT: Obstlt. Werner Streib, Gruppenkommandeur of I./NJG 1 scores his tenth night-fighter victory during the evening.

PACIFIC OCEAN: German armed merchant cruiser "Orion" stopped and scuttled Norwegian ship "Ringwood" in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles northwest of New Ireland, Bismarck Islands. The crew of 35 was taken prisoner.

ASIA: Three American passenger liners were sent for Japan and China to repatriate American citizens.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British anti-submarine trawler HMT "Lord Stamp" hit a mine and sank off Dorset, England, in the English Channel; 25 were killed. German submarine U-137 hit British armed merchant cruiser HMS "Cheshire" with a torpedo 100 miles northwest of Ireland at 2128 hours; "Cheshire" remained afloat, and the 220 crew members were rescued by Canadian destroyer HMCS "Skeena" and British corvette HMS "Periwinkle".

GERMANY: Major Friedrich Kless of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

MEDITERRANEAN: En route from Malta to Alexandra, Egypt, aircraft carrier HMS "Illustrious" detached from the British Mediterranean Fleet and launched an air attack against the Italian Dodecanese Island of Leros. Later in the day, at 1855 hours, an Italian SM79 bomber attacked the fleet 50 miles south of Crete, hitting cruiser HMS "Liverpool" with a torpedo and blew off her bow after detonating the aviation fuel store, killing 30 and wounding 35; "Liverpool" would survive the attack and would be towed to Alexandra to receive temporary repairs.

EASTERN EUROPE: The Soviet politburo accepts the Army war plan for an attack on Germany.

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[parsifal]

15 October 1940
Losses
MV THISTLEGARTH (UK 4747 grt) Sunk by U-103 (Viktor Schütze) Crew: 39 (30 dead and 9 survivors) Cargo: Empty Route: Scapa Flow - New Brunswick; Convoy OB-227 (dispersed); Sunk in the outer limits of the Western Approaches. At 1933 hrs the THISTLEGARTH, dispersed from convoy OB-227, was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-103 45 miles WNW of Rockall. The crew abandoned ship due to the list, but then reboarded the vessel when it remained afloat. The U-boat surfaced and opened fire with the deck gun, but had to cease fire after three rounds and crash dive due to return fire. U-103 then fired torpedoes whilst submerged, which sank the stricken vessel almost immediately. Only 9 crew members were picked up by Corvette HEARTSEASE.

MV BONHEUR (UK 5327 grt) Sunk by U-138 (Wolfgang Lüth) Crew: 39 (0 dead and 39 survivors) Cargo: Fully laden general cargo Route: Outward Bound Liverpool - Rosario; Convoy OB 228 Sunk in the Western Approaches . At 0510 hrs , U-138 fired torpedoes at the convoy OB-228 38 miles NW of Butt of Lewis and hit the BONHEUR followed 5 mins later by the BRITISH GLORY (which was damaged but did not sink). The BONHEUR foundered later that day. All of the crew were rescued and were were picked up by ASW Yacht SPHERE and landed at Belfast.

MV HURUNUI (NZ 9331 grt) Sunk by U-93 (Claus Korth) Crew: 75 (2 dead and 73 survivors) Cargo: Empty Route: Newcastle - Liverpool - Panama - Auckland Convoy OA-228 Sunk in the Western Approaches . Torpedoed by U93 and sank the following morning 150 miles west of Cape Wrath . Two of the crew were lost when they fell in the sea whilst abandoning ship.

Drifter APPLE TREE (UK 84 grt) was lost in a collision with RAF Pinnace No.50 in Oban Harbour.

River patrol vessel MISTLETOE (RN 19 grt) was sunk on a mine, eight cables 310° from Bull Sand Fort. Four crew were lost from the vessel. Two crew were rescued.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Bergen: U-59

Departures
Lorient: U-65

At Sea 15 October 1940
U-28, U-37, U-38, U-43, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-58, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-103, U-123, U-124, U-137, U-138.
18 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FN.309 departed Southend, escort DD VIVIEN and sloop LONDONDERRY. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 18th. FS.310 departed Methil, escort DD WINCHESTER and sloop EGRET. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 18th. Sub L 27 attacked a German convoy off Cape Barfleur and claimed three torpedo hits on a 7000 ton steamer, escorted by seven trawlers. However, German records do not support this claim.

Northern Waters
Operation D.H.U; BC HOOD departed Scapa Flow as screen for CVL FURIOUS and CA BERWICK and NORFOLK with DDs MATABELE and PUNJABI to raid Tromso on the 16th. DDs SOMALI, ESKIMO, MASHONA also departed Scapa Flow and were exercising in the Pentland Firth prior to DHU. These DDs joined the escort for the FURIOUS. Airstrikes from the FURIOUS were launched and attacked oil tanks and the seaplane base and shipping at Tromso on the 16th.
Lt H. S. Hayes and Lt E. G. Savage in a Skua of 801 Sqn landed in Sweden and were interned, with the crews eventually to return to England. On the 17th, DDs DUNCAN, ISIS, DOUGLAS departed Scapa Flow to join the FURIOUS force. On 18 October, Phase II of the DHU operation was abandoned due to low visibility. The forces returned to Scapa Flow. DOUGLAS and ISIS proceeded to Skaalefjord to meet tkr MONTENOL and take her to Scapa Flow. SOMALI, ESKIMO, MASHONA arrived in Pentland Firth and carried out full caliber firings before arriving at Scapa Flow on the 19th. FURIOUS, with CAs BERWICK and NORFOLK, DDs DUNCAN, PUNJABI, MATABELE arrived back at Scapa Flow during the afrternoon of the 19th. DDs DOUGLAS and ISIS arrived back at Scapa during the morning of the 20th escorting tkr MONTENOL.

British minefield BS.41 was laid by ML TEVIOTBANK and DD INTREPID, escorted by DD VORTIGERN and MSW LYDD.
CLA CURACOA arrived at Scapa Flow at 1000 after covering convoy OA.229 to Pentland Firth. DD QUORN departed Lerwick at 1735 escorting British steamer LOCHNAGAR to Aberdeen.

Western Approaches
OB.229 departed Liverpool escort DDs CHELSEA, STURDY, WHITEHALL, corvettes ARABIS and HELIOTROPE, ASW trawlers BLACKFLY and LADY ELSA. CHELSEA was detached on the 16th and the rest of the escort on the 18th.

Channel
BB REVENGE departed Portsmouth late on the 15th escort DDs WANDERER and WITCH and ORP DD BURZA, arriving at Plymouth early on the 16th.

U.65, leaving Lorient, reported being attacked by a British submarine.

Nth Atlantic
SC.8 departed St Johns escort RCN PV ELK and ocean escort Sloop SANDWICH. The convoy was joined on the 26th by SLOOP WESTON, corvettes CAMPANULA, CLARKIA, GLADIOLUS, ASW trawlers FANDANGO, MAN O.WAR, STELLA CAPELLA, VIZALMA. DDs HARVESTER and HIGHLANDER joined the convoy on the 27th. DD STURDY joined the convoy on the 30th, but was lost that day. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 31st.

Central Atlantic
Steamer KABALO (Be 5186 grt) from convoy OB.223 in 31‑59N, 31‑20W was lost after being torpedoed by the RM Sub COMANDANTE ALFREDO CAPPELLINI (CC Salvatore Todaro) off the Azores She was on an outbound voyage from from Glasgow-Freetown in convoy OB 223 (dispersed) with war material. Capt. Georges Vogels + 42 crew were rescued. There was 1 dead. Survivors (16) picked up by Panamean tkr PANAM and landed at Lisbon. Others taken to Santa Maria Island (Azores) by the sub, then to Lisbon by Portuguese ss CARVALHO ARAUJO.

Med- Biscay
T Class Sub TRIAD (RN 1090 grt) departed Malta on the 9th to patrol in the Gulf of Taranto. She was then to proceed, via the Libya coast, to Alexandria to arrive on the 20th. She did not complete this mission. The sub was on the surface 50 miles sth of Cape Collonne in Otranto Strait, when early on the 15th at 0140, RM sub ENRICO TOTI, which because of a mechanical breakdown could not submerge, encountered the TRIAD. In a gun engagement and torpedo engagement, submarine TRIAD was sunk by the TOTI. The entire crew of the British Sub were lost.

BB BARHAM and DD ECHO, ESCAPADE, FORTUNE arrived at Gibraltar from Freetown. BB BARHAM, which had been damaged off Dakar, was docked at Gibraltar on the 16th. RAN CA AUSTRALIA arrived at Gibraltar from patrol off the Azores. Also, arriving on this date were transports ETTRICK and KARANJA, escort DDs GREYHOUND, WISHART, VIDETTE, arriving from Freetown.

ML Sub FOCA (RM 1305 grt) while laying a minefield, was lost to causes that remain uncertain. .

Malta
A French Loire aircraft with a crew of three arrived at Kalfrana today from Bizerta seeking to serve with the RAF. The Catapult seaplane left base at 0430 hrs this morning along with a second Loire 130. The two aircraft had been destined to join the French battleship Richelieu at Dakar. The second plane has so far failed to arrive at Malta. Swordfish were sent out morning and afternoon to search but no trace of it has been found.

Loire 130 Shipborne seaplane

 

[Njaco]

October 15 Tuesday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post727823.html#post727823

Goring issues orders to give priorities for the German night offensive against Britain. The priorities are firstly London, secondly aircraft factories and third industry in the Midlands and all air bases.

UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill instructs that British ambassadors be informed that;

"...nothing can compare with the importance of the British Empire and the United States being co-belligerent.".

GERMANY: A new recruit joins the Luftwaffe Military Training Regiment 10 at Neukuhurn near Koenigsberg in East Prussia. Erich Hartmann, soon to be known as the "Blond Knight of Germany" and "The Black Devil of the South", will begin his flight training and be told he is best suited to be a fighter pilot.

The RAF conducts a nighttime raid on Kiel.

WESTERN FRONT: General Alexander Holle is made Kommodore of KG 26 in place of Generalmajor Robert Fuchs.

MEDITERRANEAN: British submarine HMS "Triad" detected Italian submarine "Enrico Toti" while running on the surface 100 miles south of Taranto, Italy at 0100 hours. "Triad" hit "Enrico Toti" twice with her deck gun, but the torpedo fired missed. "Enrico Toti's" damage prevented her from diving. "Enrico Toti" returned fire, hitting "Triad" twice with the deck gun and sprayed her with machine gun. As "Triad" attempted to dive, "Enrico Toti" scored a hit with a torpedo, sinking "Triad" at about 0130 hours and killing the entire crew of 59. She will be the only British submarine to be sunk by an Italian submarine during the war. Until 1988 it was believed that HMS "Rainbow" (N16) had been sunk by Italian submarine "Enrico Toti", but the sunken ship was eventually determined to be HMS "Triad" (N53).

Italian submarine "Foca" sank while laying a minefield off Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine.

Far to the south, Italian submarine "Comandante Cappellini" sank Belgian ship "Kabalo" 800 miles west of Casablanca, Morocco; 1 was killed.

The Italian War Council makes the final decision for an attack on Greece. Hitler is not to be told beforehand and instead is to be presented with a fait accompli. The Italians hope for the campaign to be over within two weeks. Operations will start at the end of the month.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-93 sank British ship "Hurunui" of Allied convoy OA-228 100 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, just after 0000 hours; 2 were killed and 72 survived. Five hours later in the same general area, German submarine U-138 sank British ship "Bonheur" (all survived) and damaged British tanker "British Glory" (3 killed) of Allied convoy OA-228 between 0510 and 0515 hours. German submarine U-103 sank British ship "Thistlegarth" 100 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, at 1933 hours; 30 were killed and 9 survived.

NORTH AMERICA: US Marine Corps mobilized its reserve battalions, ordering that these reserve personnel to be assigned to active duty no later than 9 Nov 1940.

EASTERN EUROPE: Adolf Hitler noted that about half the Czechs in occupied western Czechoslovakia could be assimilated into the German population. The other half, which included the intellectuals, were to be eliminated.

ASIA: Captain Sadayoshi Yamada was named the commanding officer of "Kaga". Captain Matsuji Ijuin was named the commanding officer of "Naka".

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[parsifal]

16 October 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type IID U-145
New image source: U-Boats (1903-1945)

U-145 was used almost exclusively for the entire war as a training boat. By the latter part of 1940, with much of the UBoat campaign now shifted to the Western Approaches and Nth Atlantic, the smaller Type IIs were not well suited to the rigours of open ocean operations

Cagni Class Sub RM AMMIRAGLIO CARACCIOLO

(Commissioned 1 June 1941)

Allied
Tug HMS CALSHOT

Modern Photograph of the tug CALSHOT under restoration in Southampton Docks.
At the outbreak of WW II, CALSHOT was appropriated by the Admiralty for use at Scapa Flow. In 1942 she was transferred to the River Clyde where she acted as tender to the two Cunard Line Queens, RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and RMS QUEEN MARY , transferring approximately 1,500,000 servicemen. In 1944 she returned to Southampton for the build up to D-Day. In 1986, CALSHOT was bought back by her port of registry (more specifically the Southampton City Council), with the intention of making her the centrepiece of a maritime museum in Ocean Village

Flower Class Covette HMS CANDYTUFT

CANDYTUFT was transferred to the USN in 1942 under reverse lend lease, after the losses inflicted by the UBoat offensive against shipping off the US seaboard in 1942. She was renamed the USS TENACITY in US service

Flower Class Corvette HMS CARNATION

CARNATION was transferred to the RNeN in 1943 as the FRISO, being attached mostly to the 37th Escort GP

Fairmile B Motor Launch ML 122

Losses
MV TREVISA (Cdn 1813 grt) Sunk by U-124 (Georg-Wilhelm Schulz) Crew: 21 (7 dead and 14 survivors) Cargo: Timber Route: Sydney - Aberdeen ; Convoy SC-7 (Straggler) Sunk in the Nth Atlantic. The Canadian Great Lakes Carrier bulk cargo ship TREVISA was sunk in the North Atlantic , by U-124. The survivors were picked upo by HMS BLUEBELL.

Illustrating the slowly increasing strength of escort command, during battle against convoy OB- 228, U-93 was attacked three times - in the early morning by three escorts with 19 DCs, the second time at 1015 hrs by an escort with 7 DCs, and the third and last time in the evening by a Sunderland aircraft with a bomb. The boat was not damaged, but it was repeatedly forced to break off its pursuit of the convoy. Escort Command needed to improve the co-ordination of its attacks, but it was improving. Still no radar was being fitted to the escort forces. .

RN Sub TIGRIS sank trawler CIMCOUR (Vichy 250 grt).

UBOATS
At Sea 16 October 1940
U-28, U-37, U-38, U-43, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-58, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-103, U-123, U-124, U-137, U-138.
18 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
BB KING GEORGE V had completed construction at Vickers Armstrong, Tyne, in mid October and was to be taken away from the Tyne for final completion and working up at Rosyth. She would comission 16-12-1940. Due to the threats posed from the new acoustic mines being laid by the Germans, six DDs were used to run up the Tyne to simulate the magnetic field of the battleship prior to KING GEORGE V's departure. KGVs escort consisted specifically of CLAs NAIAD and BONAVENTURE and DDs FAME, ASHANTI, MAORI, SIKH, ELECTRA, BRILLIANT on the 16th. The DDs proceeded up the Tyne to detonate acoustic mines. They were then to pick up the BB and escort her to Rosyth with the CLAs.

At 0459 on the 17th at Whitburn Rifle Range near Sunderland, FAME and ASHANTI ran aground and were badly damaged and MAORI also ran aground, but was able to get herself off with light hull damage. The damaged DD crews went ashore during the night of 17/18 October due to heavy swells. Only the AA crews, damage control, salvage personnel remained on board. ASHANTI was refloated on 1 November and towed to Sunderland. On 9 November, the DD was towed to the Tyne. She was under repair at Wallsend until the end of August 1941. FAME was refloated on 1 December. She was under temporary repair at Sunderland until 5 February 1941. She then was taken to Chatham and rebuilt on a new hull. She was repairing until 29 August 1942.

Meanwhile, KGV was joined by NAIAD and BONAVENTURE and DDs MAORI, SIKH, BRILLIANT, ELECTRA on the 17th.
The screen was augmented at 1000 by DDs BEAGLE, WESTMINSTER, WALLACE to replace those that had been damaged. At 1030, DD FEARLESS joined the screen. At 1440, the force reached the Oxcars Boom at Rosyth. MAORI lost her asdic dome in the grounding but completed her repairs at Rosyth by the end of the month. CL MANCHESTER, on passage from the Firth of Forth to the Humber, detonated a mine, however, there was no damage to the cruiser. CL SOUTHAMPTON departed the Humber for Scapa Flow.

OA.230 departed Methil escort sloop FLEETWOOD and corvette CLEMATIS. The sloop was detached on the 20th and the corvette on the 21st when the convoy rendezvoused with OB.230. FN.310 departed Southend, escort DDs VEGA and VIMIERA. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 18th. FS.311 departed Methil, escort DD WOOLSTON and sloop BLACK SWAN. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 19th.

MSW DUNDALK (RN 255 grt) was badly damaged on a mine off Harwich. She was taken in tow by minesweeper SUTTON but sank in tow at 0242 on the 18th. Four ratings were lost in the minesweeper. Seven ratings were wounded.

FV PRIDE (UK 25 grt) was sunk on a mine off Scarborough East Pier. Four crew were lost on the vessel.

British steamer ACTIVITY was damaged on a mine.

Northern Waters
LW a/c raided the Orkneys at 1920. Bombs were dropped on Deerness and Shapinsay. There was suspected minelaying in the area 58-20N to 58-30N, 2-20W to 2-35W. CLA CURACOA departed Scapa Flow at 1000 to meet convoy OA.230 before dusk and escort the convoy to Pentland Firth.

Channel
In Operation P S, British monitor EREBUS, escort DDs GARTH and WALPOLE, departed the Nore and bombarded Calais from 0010 to 0042 on the 17th. On the return, EREBUS's port engine broke down and the monitor was assisted by British tug ST CLAIR. British escort ship VIVIEN, escorting FN.9, engaged DKM S-Boats.

MTB.106 (RN 80 grt) was sunk on a mine near the Nore Light Vessel in the Thames Estuary.

Nth Atlantic
HX.81 left Halifax local escort RCN DDs COLUMBIA and ST FRANCIS and aux PVs HUSKY and REINDEER. Later on the 17th, the DDs returned to Halifax and AMC VOLTAIRE assumed the ocean escort duties for the convoy. The AMC was detached on the 27th. On 27 October, for the escort in home waters the convoy was joined by DDs CALDWELL, VANSITTART, WALKER, sloop ABERDEEN, corvettes CALENDULA. GARDENIA, and GLOXINIA . The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 2 November.

Central Atlantic
DDs FAULKNOR, FORTUNE, FURY, ESCAPADE, which had arrived at Freetown on the 7th after leaving Duala on the 6th, departed Freetown with DD FORESTER joining them.

Med- Biscay
Sub PANDORA on patrol in the Otranto Strait made unsuccessful attacks on RM subs on 16 and 17 October.

Steamer VERACE (FI 1219 grt) was sunk on a mine at Benghazi.

Malta

Following representations from Winston Churchill, the War Cabinet in London agrees that the reinforcement of Malta is a matter of urgency. One infantry battalion should be sent to Malta from Egypt as part of the next fleet operation, and two more battalions as requested by Lt Gen Dobbie should be sent at the earliest opportunity.

In addition, it is decided that tanks and field artillery plus necessary personnel and stores will be sent from UK leaving on or about 1st November. These reinforcements would bring the total AA provision at Malta to 70 heavy and 34 light AA guns.

Additional fighters and recon a/c will form part of the reinforcing operations. Twelve Hurricanes will be flown into Malta off HMS ARGUS, and 6 Glenn Martin recon a/c will fly direct to the Island.

 

[Njaco]

October 16 Wednesday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post727825.html#post727825

UNITED KINGDOM: Two ARP rescue workers who helped themselves to £16 they found in a bombed-out house were each jailed for 12 months at the Old Bailey in central London, England, for looting.

GERMANY: Reichsmarschall Göring promotes Oberst Josef Kammhuber to Generaloberst and names him to the new position of General der Nachtjägd. Generaloberst Kammhuber's headquarters is based in Utrecht, Holland as he begins to organize the night-fighter force into mainly two different branches: the defense of the Reich's territory and the long range night attacks on RAF bases.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British motor torpedo boat MTB-106 hit a mine and sank near the Nore lightship at the mouth of the Thames Estuary in southern England. German submarine U-124 sank Canadian ship "Trevisa" 400 miles northwest of Ireland at 0350 hours; 7 were killed and 14 survived. British submarine HMS "Tigris" sank small French trawler "Cimcour" with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay 120 miles west of La Rochelle, France.

The 30-ship Allied convoy SC-7 was attacked by 7 German submarines on the last leg of its journey from Sydney, Australia to Aberdeen, Scotland,; attacks followed for 3 more days, and the overall losses amounted to 20 ships totaling 79,646 tons.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Aircraft of British carrier HMS "Furious" bombed German oil storage tanks, seaplane base, and shipping at Tromsø, Norway.

ASIA: Aviation engineers Ichiro Sekine (Nakajima), Joji Hattori (Mitsubishi), Yu Nakajima (Mitsubishi), Shuzo Kito (Mitsubishi), and Tomio Kubo (Mitsubishi) were awarded the Nagao Memorial Award for the excellence for aviation engineering.

There are discussions (concluded on October 19th) between the Japanese and the authorities in the Dutch East Indies concerning the supply of oil. It is agreed to supply the Japanese with 40 percent of the production for the next six months. There are British attempts to block this agreement.

EASTERN EUROPE: German authorities ordered the establishment of Warsaw ghettos for Jews in occupied Poland.

NORTH AMERICA: In the United States registration begins for the draft according to the provisions of the Selective Service Act. The first drafts will be balloted on October 29th. The Roosevelt administration announced that 16.4 million American men had registered for the military draft as the first step towards expanding U.S. military forces.

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[parsifal]

Two ARP rescue workers who helped themselves to £16 they found in a bombed-out house were each jailed for 12 months at the Old Bailey in central London, England, for looting.

That's the equivalent of roughly $4200 USD in todays money

 

[parsifal]

17 October 1940 (Part I)
Losses
FV CHEERFUL (Faroes 65 grt) was sunk on a mine off the Faroes Island.

Steamer FRANKRIG (UK 1361 grt) was sunk on a mine in the Nth Sea. 19 crew from the steamer were rescued by DD HOLDERNESS.

FV ALBATROSS (UK 15 grt) was sunk on a mine off Grimsby. All but five crew were lost on the fishing vessel.

Battle For Convoy SC-7
On the 17th as SC-7 entered the Western Approaches HMS SCARBOROUGH (the sole escort from early on the 16th) was joined by the sloop FOWEY and the new corvette BLUEBELL. Later that day the convoy was sighted by U-48, which attacked, sinking two ships including the tkr LANGUEDOC. SCARBOROUGH counter-attacked, driving U-48 deep so she was unable to shadow or report. However the attack was prolonged for too long , and the convoy moved so far ahead of SCARBOROUGH that she was was unable to rejoin.

On the 18th SC 7 escort forces were reinfoced by the arrival of sloop LEITH, and the corvette HEARTSEASE, and LEITH assumed command. Later that day U-38, sighted the convoy and attacked, damaging SS CARSBRECK . LEITH and HEARTSEASE attacked without success, but did drive U-38 off. The escort commander then made a mistake, ordering HEARTSEASE to escort CARSBRECK home, significantly weakening the main force escort further.

The night of the U-boats
On the night of 18th/19th 5 U-boats (U-46, U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123) made a concerted attack. The attack was coordinated from Lorient by Admiral Karl Dönitz and his staff. An early casualty was the iron ore ship, SS CREEKIRK, bound for Cardiff, Wales. With her heavy cargo, she sank like a stone, taking all 36 crew members with her. Later that night, SC 7 lost many of its members, including the SS EMPIRE BRIGADE with her cargo of trucks and six of her crew and the SS FISCUS with her cargo of steel ingots from Sydney. She sank like a stone as well, taking with her 38 of her 39 man crew. Also among the casualties was the commodore's ship, SS ASSYRIAN , going down with 17 crew. In all, 16 ships were lost in this 6 hour ordeal.

On 18 October, SS BLAIRSPEY was torpedoed by U-101 and was abandoned. She was torpedoed again on 19 October by U-100 but remained afloat. She was towed to the Clyde and later repaired at Greenock. The escorts were unable to prevent any of these losses; their responses were uncoordinated and ineffective. They never realised that the attacking submarines did not attack submerged or from outside the convoy, but were actually running surfaced between the ships inside the convoy. Therefore the escorts were unable to mount any serious attacks on the U-boats, and had to spend much of their time rescuing survivors. Further atacks on the convoy continued on the 19th.

Some U-Boats were diverted to attack Convoy HX-79. The arrival of Convoy HX-79 in the vicinity had diverted the U-boats and they went on to sink 12 ships from HX-79 that night. No U-boats were lost in either engagement. The loss of 28 ships in 48 hours made 18th and 19 October the worst two days for shipping losses in the entire Atlantic campaign for the entire war, exceeding the worst days of PQ17. It exposed glaring weakneses in the escort tactics and organisation and started a process of drastic changes in the way the Western Approaches traffic was to be defended.

MV AENOS (Gk 3554 grt) Sunk by U-38 (Heinrich Liebe); Crew:29 (4 dead and 25 survivors) Cargo: Wheat Route: Sydney (Canada) - Manchester Convoy SC-7 (straggler); Sunk in the Western Approaches. In October 1940 AENOS loaded a cargo of 6,276 tons of wheat at Sorel in Canada to take to Manchester, England. Her Master was Dionisios Laskaratos. She sailed from Sorel to Sydney, Nova Scotia where she joined Convoy SC-7 which was to take her as far as Liverpool. SC-7 left Sydney on 5 October 1940, initially with only one escort ship, the Hastings-class sloop HMS SCARBOROUGH for the inbound leg of the journey. A wolf pack of U-boats found the convoy on 16 October and quickly overwhelmed it, sinking many ships over the next few days.

AENOS was straggling behind the main convoy and was the first ship to be sunk. On the morning of 17 October she was about 80 nautical miles (150 km) NNE of Rockall when the U-38 sighted her, fired one G7e torpedo at her at 0957 hrs but it missed. The Uboat then surfaced and fired on AENOS with her 105 mm deck gun until the ship sank at 1052 hours. Out of a complement of 29, four crew members were killed. Another straggler, the Canadian cargo ship EAGLESCLIFFE HALL, rescued 25 survivors including Captain Laskaratos, and landed them at Gourock in Scotland the next day.

Tkr LANGUEDOC (UK 9512 grt) Sunk by U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) Crew: 39 (0 dead and 39 survivors) Cargo: Fully laden with Fuel Oil Route: Trinidad - Sydney - Clyde ; Convoy SC-7; Sunk in the Western Approaches. When on route from TRINIDAD for CLYDE carrying 13,700 tons fuel oil in Convoy SC-7 LANGUEDOC was torpedoed by U-48 and sunk. The master and 38 crew members from the LANGUEDOC were picked up by the HMS BlLUEBELL after an inspection revealed that the tkr was beyond salvage and was scuttled with gunfire by the corvette. The survivors were landed at Gourock on 20 October.

MV SCORESBY (UK 3843 grt) Sunk by U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) Crew: 39 (0 dead and 39 survivors) Cargo: Timber props for mines Route: Corner Brook - Francis Harbour, Labrador - Sydney - Clyde ; Convoy SC-7; Sunk in the Western Approaches. At 0553 hrs was about 160 nautical miles (300 km) NW of Rockall when SCORESBY was hit along with the LANGUEDOC. U-48 fired three torpedoes at the convoy. The SCORESBY's entire crew successfully abandoned ship, and were rescued by the Flower-class corvette HMS BLUEBELL, and on 20 October were landed at Gourock in Scotland.

MV DOKKA (Nor 1168 grt) Sunk by U-93 (Claus Korth) Crew: 17 (10 dead and 7 survivors) Cargo: Empty Route: Barry Dock - Milford Haven - Mont-Louis, Gaspe, Quebec ; Convoy OB-228; Sunk in the Far Nth of the Western Approaches. DOKKA's armament is recorded as 1 Hotchkiss, 1 stripped Lewis and 2 rifles, and she was on a course 270° true, wind W 4, sailing at a speed of 7 knots, when she was torpedoed at 0245hrs by U-93 (Rohwer gives the time as 0317, German time). The attack happened before the convoy was dispersed on the 17th; the Admiralty action report states that 32 other ships were in sight, well in station, as well as the escorting HMS FOLKESTONE. 2 men had been on lookout; 1 on the bridge, the other on the Monkey Island, but the U-boat and the track of the torpedo had not been seen beforehand, because of the half light and sea state. It struck aft near No. 4 hatch on the starboard side, blowing the after end of the ship to pieces, and she sank vertically in less than a minute. The 2nd mate and the helmsman ran to the port boat and cut it loose, but it was taken by the seas. They later saved themselves on a raft, which had been on the poop and was partly destroyed by the explosion. The captain, who was in his cabin on the lower bridge jumped overboard, as did the lookout from the upper bridge. The captain managed to get hold of the raft that had been on the boat deck and with the help of some planks he was able to paddle towards the 1st mate and 2 able seamen who were in the water. Cries for help were heard a little further away, and they found Ordinary Seaman Azzopardi drifting on a hatch, completely naked and with an injured leg. The 2 rafts were about 100 meters away from each other, when the U-boat suddenly surfaced near the 2nd mate's raft to interrogate them. No assistance was offered. The boat U-Boat skipper was unhappy with the responses and approached the captains raft, who also gave a false name and tonnage of the ship. Just then HMS FOLKESTONE was seen in the distance approaching and the U-boat submerged and left the scene Captain Pedersen was able to inform the escort of the direction the U-boat had taken, and as FOLKESTONE went in pursuit the survivors tied the rafts together, while what little clothes they had were shared between them.

At first light they kept a lookout for more survivors but none were seen. Later in the morning FOLKESTONE broke off her pursuit of the U-boat, which surfacxed, but due to its greater surface speed quickly got away from the danger area. It was last seen by a/c as it submerged and disappeared. The escort vessel then returned to the rafts and picked up the 7 survivors, who were landed in Sydney, Cape Breton on Oct. 23.
Source: Per-Erik Johnsen - Europeana: D/S Dokka (b.1925, Laxevaags Maskin Jernskibsbyg... | Johnsen, Per-Erik / Norsk Maritimt Museum

MV USKBRIDGE (UK 2715 grt) Sunk by U-93 (Claus Korth) Crew: 29 (2 dead and 27 survivors). Cargo: Anthracite Route: Swansea - Montreal ; Convoy OB-228; Sunk in the Far Nth of the Western Approaches. At 339 hrs (54 mins after the attack on the DOKKA) U-93 struck again. U-93 fired a G7e-type torpedo into Convoy OB 228, not sure exactly where it would detonate. In fact it missed his intended target and hit the USKBRIDGE on the starboard side under the Bridge. Captain Smith and Second Officer Bettridge were both killed. The Chief Officer was also on the bridge, but managed to survive.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-137

Departures
Bergen: U-59

At Sea 17 October 1940
U-28, U-37, U-38, U-43, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-58, U-59, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-103, U-123, U-124, U-138.
18 boats at sea

 

[Njaco]

October 17 Thursday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post727827.html#post727827

UNITED KINGDOM: London Transport appeals to provincial bus companies for replacement vehicles after air raid losses.

WESTERN FRONT: Despite his resentment on their failure to secure the airspace over England, Reichsmarschall Göring decides to praise his pilots;

"In the past few days and nights you have caused the British world enemy disastrous losses by your uninterrupted disastrous blows. Your indefatigable, courageous attacks on the heart of the British Empire, the City of London, with its eight and a half million inhabitants, have reduced British plutocracy to fear and terror. The losses which you have inflicted on the much-vaunted Royal Air Force in determined fighter engagements is irreplaceable."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1052 hours, German submarine U-38 sank Greek ship "Aenos" with the deck gun in the Atlantic Ocean; 4 were killed and 25 survived.

German submarine U-48 fired 3 torpedoes at Allied convoy SC-7 400 miles northwest of Ireland at 0553 hours, sinking British ship "Scoresby" and damaging British tanker "Languedoc". British corvette HMS "Bluebell" scuttled "Languedoc" with gunfire and rescued the 39 survivors from "Scoresby" and 39 survivors from "Languedoc".

German submarine U-93 attacked Allied convoy OA-228 300 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, sinking Norwegian ship "Dokka" at 0317 hours (10 killed, 7 survived) and British ship "Uskbridge" at 0339 hours (2 killed, 6 survived); U-93 was depth charged at 0400 hours by HMS "Folkestone", depth charged at 1015 hours, and attacked by aerial bombs in the evening; none of the attacks caused damage.

In the North Sea, German motor torpedo boats S-24 and S-27 attacked Allied convoy FN.311 10 miles off Lowestoft, Norfolk, England. British ship "Hauxley" was damaged by a torpedo, killing 1, sinking on the next day.

4 German destroyers and 6 torpedo boats departed from Brest, France to attack shipping in the Bristol Channel, but they were detected by British reconnaissance aircraft at 0719 hours. British cruiser HMS "Newcastle," cruiser HMS "Emerald", and 5 destroyers were dispatched from Plymouth at 1100 hours to intercept. At 1600 hours, the British ships found their targets and exchanged fire at the range of 11 miles; no hits were made by either side.

British minesweeper HMS "Dundalk" hit a mine 20 miles northeast of Harwich, England, killing 4 and wounding 7. She was towed into the harbor for repairs, but she would sink on the next day.

EASTERN EUROPE: A message from Joachim von Ribbentrop to Joseph Stalin to invite Vyacheslav Molotov to Berlin, Germany to speak about the recent deterioration of German-Soviet relations was delivered, at a few days delay, to Vyacheslav Molotov. Ribbentrop was not happy regarding the delay, and the fact that the letter was delivered to the Soviet foreign ministry rather than to Stalin himself.

.

 

[parsifal]

Half way through, give or take a day......


17 October (Part II)
OPERATIONS [CONTD]
North Sea

British steamer ETHYLENE was damaged on a mine one quarter mile NNE of East Oaze Light Buoy (I only know that is off the East Coast UK).

British steamer GEORGE BALFOUR was damaged on a mine 12,900 yds 230° from Aldeburgh Light Vessel.

FN.311 departed Southend, escort DDs VERDUN and WATCHMAN. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 19th. Steamer HAUXLEY (UK 1595 grt) in convoy FN.311 was torpedoed by DKM SBoat S.18 six miles NNW of Smith's Knoll. HAUXLEY sank in tow of Destroyer WORCESTER at 0645 on the 18th. One crew was lost on the British steamer.

British steamers P. L. M. 14 and GASFIRE in the same convoy were damaged by DKM S Boats S.24 and S.27. British steamer BRIAN claimed sinking one of the German S.boats.

FS.312 departed Methil, escort DDs WALLACE and WESTMINSTER. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 19th. CLA CURACOA transferred to convoy SL.49 A east of Pentland Firth and escorted it towards Buchanness. At that point, the cruiser began escorting convoy EN.10.

West Coast UK
OB.230 departed Liverpool escort DDs ANTELOPE and CLARE, corvettes ANEMONE, CLEMATIS, MALLOW, ASW trawlers ST LOMAN and ST ZENO from 17 to 20 October.

Channel
Early on the 17th, DKM DDs STEINBRINCK, LODY, IHN, GALSTER departed Brest to raid British shipping at the west exit of the Bristol Channel. DKM TBs GREIF, SEEADLER, KONDOR, FALKE, WOLF, JAGUAR departed Cherbourg to provide support. The DKM Zerstorers were sighted at 0719 near Brest by British a/c. Three convoys were in immediate danger, convoy OG.44 escorted by Sloop WELLINGTON, convoy SL.50 escorted by AMC PRETORIA CASTLE, convoy HG.45 escorted by British escort vessel GLEANER. These convoys were ordered to steer west until the threat was dealt with. CLs NEWCASTLE and EMERALD with DDs JACKAL, JUPITER, KASHMIR, KIPLING, KELVIN departed Plymouth at 1100 to intercept thge DKM TG. The German ships were sighted again at 1600 and an action ensued that continued until 1800 when the DKM forces had retreated, using their high speed to outdistance the British forces. No damage was received by either side, but DD JUPITER experienced mechanical problems limiting her speed before the engagement and CL NEWCASTLE had a breakdown in number three boiler room in the pursuit. The British and German forces were never less than 18,000 yds apart. Both forces were back in their respective ports early on the 18th.

Med- Biscay
RAN CA AUSTRALIA and RN DDs ECHO and GRIFFIN departed Gib, escorting troopships KARANJA and ETTRICK to the UK. They were recalled when a report was received that Vichy BC STRASBOURG and 20 warships were departing Toulon with the intention of passing Gibraltar without permission. When the report was found to be spurious, and the CA and DDs ECHO and ESCAPADE with the troopships departed Gibraltar on the 18th. British troopship REINA DEL PACIFICO arrived at Gibraltar from Freetown. British storeship CITY OF DIEPPE, escort DD GALLANT, arrived at Gibraltar from Freetown.

Vichy authorities sought and were granted permission to pass some ships through straits. TB LA BATAILLEUSE passed Gibraltar westbound escorting subs PEGASE and MONGE, which had departed Bizerte on the 11th and submarines ESPOIR and VENGEUR, which had departed Toulon on the 11th. These ships proceeded to Casablanca to relieve submarines LE HEROS, LE GLORIEUX, CIRCE, CALYPSO. These later named ships departed Casablanca on 2 November, escorted by TB LA BATAILLEUSE and in an unnumbered convoy with two steamers, arrived at Oran on 5 November.

 

[parsifal]

18 October 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Type I Hunt Class Escort DD HMS EXMOOR(I)

Flower Class Corvette HMS RHODODENDRON

Losses
Sub H.49 (RN 423 grt) was sunk by DKM aux SCs UJ.116 and UJ.118 off Terschelling. All but 1 of the crewe perished. .The sole survivor was rescued and made a prisoner of war.

RCN Aux MSW BRAS D'OR (RCN 221 grt) was lost in the Gulf of St Lawrence while shadowing Rumanian steamer INGINER N. VLASSPOL during the night of 18/19 October. There were no survivors.

ASW trawler KINGSTON CAIRNGORM (RN 448 grt), was mined off Portland on the 17th, and sank in tow at 0318 on the 18th.

MV SANDSEND (UK 3612 grt) Sunk by U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) Crew: 39 (5 dead and 34 survivors) Cargo: Anthracite Route: Port Talbot - Quebec ; Convoy OB-228 (Straggler) ; Sunk in the Nth Atlantic, just outside the Western Approaches; At 1025 hrs the SANDSEND, a straggler from convoy OB-228, was hit by one torpedo from U-48 and sank by the bow after the crew had abandoned ship in three lifeboats 254 miles WNW of Rockall. The U-boat had spotted a group of three stragglers and attacked the one in the middle, but missed with the first two torpedoes at 0808 and 0809 hrs before hitting the same target with the third torpedo. The contact to the other two ships was then lost in the mist. Five crew members were lost. The master and 33 crew members were picked up by HMS HIBISCUSand landed at Methil.

Battle of Convoy SC-7

The Wolf Pack Gathers: U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123 Prepare to Attack Convoy SC7, 18 October 1940
by John Alan Hamilton

As the wolfpack intensified its attacks, the escorts were unable to prevent or impede the slaughter. Their responses were uncoordinated and ineffective. They never realised that the attacking U-Boats were not attacking submerged or from outside the convoy, but were running surfaced between the ships and attacking from inside the convoy. Moreover, all of the U-Boats involved were now using this tactic and with such small numbers of escorts it was easy for the Uboats to penetrate the screen as required. The escorts were unable to mount any serious attacks on the U-boats, and had to spend much of their time rescuing survivors.

MV CREEKIRK (UK 3917 grt) Sunk by U-101 (Fritz Frauenheim) Crew: 36 (36 dead - no survivors) Cargo: Iron Ore Route: Wabana, Conception Bay - Sydney - Workington ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. Sunk at 2112, ship sank within 60 seconds of being hit

MV BLAIRSPEY (Damaged) At 23.08 hours on 18 Oct 1940 U-101 (Frauenheim) attacked the convoy SC-7 ENE of Rockall and claimed two ships with 9500 grt sunk and one with 6000 grt damaged. According to Allied sources however, only the BLAIRSPEY was hit, with one of the two torps fired at her. She fell out of the convoy and straggled badly. At 0250 hrs the next morning the BLAIRSPEY was hit again by two torpedoes from U-100, but though badly damaged the ship remained afloat because her load of timber and was saved. She was towed back to port and was eventually repaired, but not until 1942 did she re-enter service.

MV SHEKATIKA (Damaged, then finally sunk) (UK 5458 grt) Sunk by U-123 (Karl-Heinz Moehle) Crew: 36 (0 dead and 36 survivors) Cargo: Timber and some steel Route: Gaspé, New Brunswick - Sydney - Hartlepool ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. At 2021 hrs the SHEKATIKA, a romper from convoy SC-7, was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-123 about 90 miles ESE of Rockall and 7 minutes later by a coup de grace under the bridge, but both hits did not have much effect. When the U-boat surfaced at 2030 hrs, along with U-99 further attacks were made, but again failed to sink her. After the crew had abandoned ship on rafts, U-123 fired a second coup de grace into the vessel at 2046 hours and then left the slowly sinking ship. At 2317 hrs, U-100 (Schepke) fired another coup de grace into the abandoned hulk, but she remained afloat until U-123 found her again at 0244 hrs on 19 October. At 0317 hours, a fifth torpedo hit the ship amidships, starting a fire in the engine room. The vessel developed a list and the deck cargo of pit props fell overboard before she sank. The master and 35 crew members were picked up by HMS FOWEY, RN) and landed at Grennock on 20 October.

Between 2058 and 2104 hrs, U-46 fired four single torps at the convoy SC-7 about 100 miles SW of Barra Head and claimed two ships totalling 8000 grt sunk and one ship with 7000 grt damaged. The U-boat is credited with sinking the BEATUS and CONVALLARIA in this attack

MV BEATUS (UK 4885 grt) Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass) Crew: 37 (0 dead and 37 survivors) Cargo: Steel, Timber and deck cargo of crated a/c Route: Three Rivers - Sydney (5 Oct) - Tyne - Middlesbrough ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches; Survivors were picked up by HMS BLUEBELL and landed at Gourock.

MV CONVALLARIA (SD 1996 grt) Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass) Crew: Unknown Cargo: Pulpwood Route: St. Johns, Newfoundland - Ridham Dock ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. The CONVALLARIA stayed afloat for a short time and sank later in position 57°20N/10°40W. The crew was picked up by HMS FOWEY and landed at Greenock.

MV BOEKELO (NL 2118 grt) Sunk by U-123 (Karl-Heinz Moehle) Crew: 25 (0 dead and 25 survivors) Cargo: Timber Route: Chatham, New Brunswick - London ;Convoy SC-7 (Straggler) ; Sunk In the Western Approaches; the BOEKELO fell behind the convoy SC-7 because she had stopped to rescue survivors from the BEATUS, which had been sunk U-46 (Endrass) at 2103 hrs. At 2337 hrs, she herself was torpedoed and damaged by U-100 (Schepke) but was finished off by U-123 at 0131 hrs on 19 October. All crew members managed to survive.

MV CARSBRECK was damaged. At 0204 hrs , the CARSBRECK in convoy SC-7 was hit by one of two torps from U-38 (Liebe) in position 58°46N/14°11W. At 0227 hrs, the U-boat fired another G7a torp at the ship but missed. The ship stayed afloat on its load of lumber and was escorted to the Clyde by HMS HEARTSEASE , arrving on 21 October. She was repaired and returned to service in December 1940. She was eventually lost 24 November 1941.

MV GUNBORG (SD 1572 grt) Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass) Crew: 23 (0 dead and 23 survivors). Cargo: Pulpwood Route: Tommys Arm, Newfoundland - Halifax - Clyde - Ridham Dock ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. At 2225 hrs the GUNBORG in convoy SC-7 was hit by one G7e torpedo from U-46 and sank about 150 miles west of the Hebrides. The crew was picked up by HMS BLUEBELL and landed at Gourock.

MV EMPIRE MINIVER (UK 6055 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 38 (3 dead and 35 survivors) Cargo: Pig Iron Steel Route: Baltimore - Sydney - Newport ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. At 2206 hrs the EMPIRE MINIVER in convoy SC-7 was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 about 100 miles SW of Barra Head. Three crew members were lost. The master and 34 crew members were picked up by HMS BLUEBELL and landed at Greenock on 20 October.

MV FISCUS (UK 4815 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 39 (38 dead and 1 survivor) Cargo: Steel, Timber, and a deck cargo of crated a/c Route: Three Rivers - Sydney - Clyde ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 2355 hrs the FISCUS , in convoy SC-7, was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 east of Rockall. The master, 36 crew members and one gunner were lost. The only survivor was found standing on some debris by a lifeboat of SNEFIELD, another victim of the same U-boat. On 23 October, they were all picked up by HMS CLEMATIS.

MV NIRITOS (GK 3854 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 28 (1 dead and 27 survivors) Cargo:Sulphur Route: Sydney - Garston ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches ; Convoy SC-7 Sydney - Garston; At 2330 hrs the NIRITOS in convoy SC-7 was hit by one torpedo from U-99 and sank.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Kiel: U-58
Lorient: U-43

At Sea 18 October 1940
U-28, U-37, U-38, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-59, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-103, U-123, U-124, U-138.
16 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
Baltic
Eastern Baltic

Western Baltic

North Sea
CLA CURACOA transferred from convoy EN.10 to HX.78 off Duncansby Head. OA.231 departed Methil escort sloop HASTINGS and corvette FLEUR DE LYS from 18 to 23 October. DDs KEPPEL and DOUGLAS of DesFlot 12 at Greenock were placed under the command of the Commander in Chief, Home Flt.


Northern Patrol
CVE ARGUS with DDs BEAGLE, HURRICANE, and ACHATES departed the Clyde to embark the RAF 701 Sqn at Reykavik. ARGUS and ACHATES arrived at Reykavik late on the 20th, whilst HURRICANE and BEAGLE were detached during the night of 19/20 October and did not arrive at Reykavik until the 21st.

 

[parsifal]

18 October 1940 (Part II)
OPERATIONS (Cont'd)
Western Approaches
HX.79, which had departed Halifax on the 8th escorted by AMCs MONTCLARE and ALAUNIA and NL O.14, was reinforced in the Western Approaches by DDs WHITEHALL and STURDY, escort vessel JASON, corvettes HIBISCUS, HELIOTROPE, COREOPSIS, ARABIS, ASW trawlers LADY ELSA (531grt), BLACKFLY (428grt), ANGLE (531grt) in the Western Approaches. The entry of this convoy was to draw fire away from the hard pressed SC-7.

SW Approaches
British trawler KING ATHELSTAN was damaged by the LW about 15 miles off Mizzen Head (SW of ireland).

Central Atlantic
CA CORNWALL intercepted Vichy steamer INDOCHINOIS, which had departed Casablanca on the 15th for Conakry. The steamer was sent under prise crew to Freetown, arriving on the 19th.

Convoy SL.52 departed Freetown escorted by AMC MOOLTAN to 5 November, when the convoy rendezvoused with convoy SLF.52. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 10 November.

Med- Biscay
DDs FIREDRAKE, WRESTLER and VIDETTE attacked and sank Adua Class sub DURBO (RM 680 grt) off Alboran Island (East Of Gibraltar). 48 survivors were picked up by the British ships and landed at Gibraltar. The Italian personnel were placed aboard troopship REINA DEL PACIFICO for transport to England.

Crew of the DURBO awaiting rescue after the submarine had surrendered. The RN gained access to considerable information on the RM submarine fleet from this event.

Malta

No air raids

OPERATIONS REPORTS FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER 1940

RN Sub REGENT arrived for repairs having been in collision with a caique in the Ionian sea. She suffered extensive damage to her forward hydroplanes.

AIR HQ Northern patrol by Glenn Martin cancelled due to bad weather. Southern and western areas patrolled by one Blenheim 431(GR) flight and two Swordfish 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm; nil reports.

 

[Njaco]

October 18 Friday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post728479.html#post728479

WESTERN FRONT: Vichy France officially published the Statute of 4 Oct 1940 in which Jews who were not French citizens were no longer protected by French law. 'Special camps' were established to begin housing these stateless Jews.

Night-fighting Do 17Z-10s of 4./NJG 1 score the Staffel's first kill by shooting a RAF Wellington into the Zuider Zee.

Hptm. Radusch's place as Gruppenkommandeur of I./NJG 1 is taken by Major Werner Streib.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarines attacked Allied convoy SC-7 all day. 14 ships are sunk by German submarines. U-38 attacked British ship "Carsbreck" at 0636 hours. U-99 sank British ship "Fiscus" 100 miles northwest of Ireland, killing 38 of 39 aboard. U-100 and U-123 damaged British ship "Shekatika" 100 miles northwest of Ireland at 2225 hours, with all 36 aboard surviving. German submarine U-48 sank British ship "Sandsend" 500 miles west of Ireland at 2225 hours, killing 5.

German submarine chasers UJ-116 and UJ-118 sank British WW1-era submarine H-49 off Texel Island, the Netherlands; 21 were killed and 1 survived and captured. British anti-submarine trawler HMT "Kingston Cairngorm" hit a mine in the English Channel. She was able to be towed back to the harbor, but would sink on the following day.

MEDITERRANEAN: Two British flying boats of No. 202 Squadron RAF spotted Italian submarine "Durbo" 120 miles east of Gibraltar off Alboran Island. British destroyers HMS "Firedrake" and HMS "Wrestler" attacked with depth charges, forcing "Durbo" to the surface and be scuttled. British sailors managed to capture information regarding Italian submarine dispositions from the submarine before she sank. "Durbo's" crew of 48 was taken prisoner.

ASIA: Japanese advances in French Indo-China and the lack of serious negotiations with the Nationalist Chinese persuaded the British government to reopen the Burma Road. The Nationalist Chinese regained access to foreign military supplies and equipment to continue their war against the Japanese. The Burma road had been closed for three months on the condition of progress being made towards peace between Japan and China. This hadn't happened.

Japanese bomb Bunna Road.

NORTH AFRICA: RAF and South African Air Force raid targets in Italian East Africa.

DeGaulle meets with General Catroux who has been ordered to Cairo to assist planning for move against Vichy forces in Lebanon and Syria. DeGaulle suspects British maybe plotting to place Catroux, who out ranks him by three stars, at the head of Free France should he displease them. DeGaulle leaves the meeting satisfied with Catroux's loyalty but remains suspicious of British aim in the middle east for the duration of the war.

.

 

[parsifal]

19 October 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Rescue Tug DILIGENT , ASW Trawler SALTARELO

Losses
Battles For SC-7 continues, Battle for HX 79 Begins

SC-7
The post action report of HMS LEITH commander shows how busy these ships were and how hard their task was:
"00:09 – Sighted Fowey and ordered her to join me stationing her 1′ on port beam, speed 14. She stated she had picked up survivors of Convallaria, Hurunui, Shekatika and Boekelo. [The British Hurunui was from the westbound Convoy OB 227, sunk by U-93 Oct. 15]
00:28 – Saw flashes on starboard bow on horizon. Turned towards to investigate.
00:50 – Sighted ship which proved to be Blairspey.
01:00 – Master stated that ship had ben torpedoed but that he considered she would keep afloat and that he could steam 6 knots. Detailed Fowey to escort her and reported to C-in-C W.A. (Signal 5 timed 01:26/19).
01:16 – Set course to rejoin convoy, speed 16 knots.
01:45 – Sighted and closed ship on port bow in position 57 10N 10 38W. Found the Commodore's ship Assyrian slowly sinking, having been torpedoed at 00:30, with the wreckage and survivors of two other ships in her immediate neighbourhood.
02:15 – Picked up survivors from Assyrian, Empire Brigade, Soesterberg amongst whom was the Commodore (Vice Admiral L.D. I. Mackinnan).
04:00 – Proceeded on course of convoy route (130°), speed 16 knots, searching for ships"

The battered Convoy SC-7 heading into Home waters

At 0122 hrs , U-101 fired three bow torpedoes at the convoy SC-7 about 102 miles NW of Barra Head, Outer Hebrides, and two minutes later the stern torpedo. Frauenheim reported four hits on four ships and claimed 21,000 grt sunk. However, only the ASSYRIAN was hit by a bow torpedo and the SOESTERBERG the stern torpedo.

MV ASSYRIAN (UK 2562 grt) Sunk by U-101 (Fritz Frauenheim) Crew:51 (17 dead and 34 survivors) Cargo: Grain Route: New Orleans - Sydney - Liverpool ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches;

The ASSYRIAN was the ship of the convoy commodore (Vice-Admiral Lachlan D.I. Mackinnon, CB, CVO, RN). 15 crew members and two naval staff members were lost. The master, the commodore, three naval staff members, 20 crew members and nine passengers were picked up by HMS LEITH and landed at Liverpool. The master, Reginald Sanderson Kearon, was awarded the Lloyd´s War Medal for bravery at sea.

MV SOESTERBERG (NL 1904 grt) Sunk by U-101 (Fritz Frauenheim) Crew: 25 (6 dead and 19 survivors) Cargo: Timber Route: Chatham, New Brunswick - Hull ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches; The explosion of the torpedo that hit SOESTERBERG blew four men overboard and wrecked the starboard lifeboat. While three gunners left the ship on a raft, the rest of the crew abandoned ship in the port lifeboat. After a headcount revealed that the men from the engine room were missing, the master and the first mate reboarded the vessel and unsuccessfully tried to locate them, but they apparently had been killed on watch below. The abandoned ship remained afloat and even grazed the stern of the ASSYRIAN nearby. Suddenly she came upright and sank shortly thereafter, bombarding the survivors of the ASSYRIAN with pit props that came loose from the cargo. It wrecked most of the life rafts, but in the other hand the props were then also used as lifesavers by the survivors. A stoker from SOESTERBERG was later picked up by a lifeboat from EMPIRE BRIGADE, which had been sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) at the same time like SOESTERBERG. The survivors were picked up by HMS LEITH and landed at Liverpool.

MV CLINTONIA (UK 3106 grt) Sunk by U-123 (Karl-Heinz Moehle) Crew: 36 (1 dead and 35 survivors) Cargo: Pulpwood Route: St. Francis, Nova Scotia - Sydney (5 Oct) - Manchester ;Convoy SC-7 (Straggler) ; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 0358 hrs the CLINTONIA in convoy SC-7 was hit by one torpedo from U-99 (Kretschmer) about 200 miles west of St. Kilda. The vessel remained afloat and was sunk by gunfire from U-123 at 0504 hrs. One crew member was lost. The master, 33 crew members and one gunner were picked up by HMS BLUEBELL and landed at Greenock.

MV SEDGEPOOL (UK 5556 grt) Sunk by U-123 (Karl-Heinz Moehle) Crew: 39 (3 dead and 36 survivors) Cargo: Wheat Route: Montreal - Sydney - Manchester ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 0155 hrs the SEDGEPOOL was hit by one torpedo from U-123 and sank in five minutes about 80 miles SW from St. Kilda. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo at 0135 hours. The master and two crew members were lost. 35 crew members and one gunner were picked up by the HMS SALVONIA and landed at Gourock.

MV EMPIRE BRIGADE (UK 5154 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 41 (6 dead and 35 survivors) Cargo: General cargo Route: Montreal - Sydney - Tyne - Leith ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches ; At 0138 hrs the EMPIRE BRIGADE was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 about 100 miles ESE of Rockall. The master and 34 crew members were picked up by HMS FOWEY and landed at Greenock.

MV THALIA (GK 5875 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 26 (22 dead and 4 survivors) Cargo: Lead, Steel and Zinc Route: Montreal - Garston ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. At 0155 hrs the THALIA was hit in the bow by a G7e torpedo from U-99 and sank in 40 seconds. .

MV SNEFJELD (Nor 1643 grt) Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) Crew: 21 (0 dead and 21 survivors) Cargo: Timber Route: Caraquet, New Brunswick - Sydney, CB - London ;Convoy SC-7; Sunk In the Western Approaches. On 19 October the SNEFJELD launched three boats to search survivors from the THALIA, which had been sunk by U-99 at 0155 hrs. They found four survivors and at 0302 hrs were just about to raise two lifeboats back on board, when SNEFJELD itself was hit by a torpedo from the same U-boat, which had missed the ship with two torpedoes at 0240 and 0255 hrs. Both lifeboats were destroyed, but a motor lifeboat was still on the water and saved those who had been in the boats, while the remaining crew abandoned ship in a dinghy. After one hr, the ship broke in two and sank.

The survivors in the motorboat and the dinghy started to row towards land because the motor was inoperable. The next day, they found an empty raft of the Greek ship and took supplies from it. Shortly thereafter they found an empty lifeboat from EMPIRE BRIGADE, which had also been sunk by U-99 and some of the men from the dinghy transferred to it. After one hr, a man standing on some debris was spotted and picked up, he came from FISCUS, , another victim of Kretschmer. On 21 October, the survivors met a lifeboat with 29 men from PORT GISBIRNE, which had been sunk by U-48 10 days earlier, but lost contact overnight. The following day, all survivors transferred to the lifeboat as the motorboat kept taking in water and then rowed eastwards until they were picked up by HMS CLAMATIS on 23 October.

HX-79
At 2213 hrs, U-38 fired a torpedo at the convoy HX-79 and missed the intended target but hit a vessel behind it, the MATHERAN. At 22.19 hours, U-38 fired another torpedo, which struck the BILDERDIJK. Liebe then prepared to attack the next ship in the column but had to evade U-47 (Prien), which had set its sights on the same ship, the UGANDA and sank her with one torpedo at 2227 hrs.

MV BILDERDIJK (NL 6856 grt) Sunk by U-38 (Heinrich Liebe) Crew: Cargo: Route: ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches; The master of the BILDERDIJK observed the hit on the MATHERAN and had to evade her to avoid a collision. Before the turn was completed, BILDERDIJK was also hit by the second torpedo from U-38. An inspection revealed that there was no hope of saving the vessel and the entire crew went into the lifeboats. They were picked up after 30 minutes by HMS JASON and landed at Methil five days later.

MV MATHERAN (UK 7653 grt) Sunk by U-38 (Heinrich Liebe) Crew: 81 (9 dead and 72 survivors) Cargo: Grain, iron, Machinery and General Cargo Route: New York - Halifax (8 Oct) - Liverpool ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches; The master and eight crew members from the MATHERAN were lost. 72 crew members were picked up by LOCH LOMOND from the same convoy, but the ship was sunk the next morning by U-100 (Schepke) as a straggler. All men from MATHERAN survived the second sinking and were picked up by HMS JASON and landed at Methil.

 

[parsifal]

19 October 1940 (Part II)
Losses [CONT'D]
HX-79[CONT'D]
MV RUPERRA (UK 4548 grt) Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass) Crew: 38 (31 dead and 7 survivors) Cargo:Steel, Scrap Iron and aircraft Route: New York - Greenock - Leith ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches. At 2347 hrs the RUPERRA in convoy HX-79 was hit by one torpedo from U-46 and sank about 90 miles SW of Rockall. The master, 29 crew members and one gunner were lost. Seven crew members were picked up by INDUNA and landed at Methil.

Tkr SHIRAK (UK 6023 grt) Sunk by U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) Crew: 37 (0 dead and 37 survivors) Cargo: POLs Route: Aruba - Halifax - London ;Convoy HX-79 (Straggler); Sunk In the Western Approaches
At 2331 hrs the SHIRAK, caught fire after being torpedoed by U-47. For a short time she fell behind the convoy, after a time the crew abandoned ship. At 0024 hrs on 20 October, the tker was hit again amidships by torpedo from U-48. She caught fire again before she sank about 90 miles SW of Rockall. The master and 36 crew members were picked up by HMS BLACKFLY and landed at Belfast.

MV UGANDA (UK 4966 grt) Sunk by U-47 (Gunther Prien) Crew: 40 (0 dead and 40 survivors) Cargo: Timber Steel Route: Montreal - Halifax - Milford Haven ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches ; At 2227 hrs, UGANDA was hit by a torpedo fired by U-47. The master and 39 crew members from the UGANDA were picked up by HMS JASON and landed at Methil.

MV WANDBY (UK 4947 grt) Sunk by U-47 (Gunther Prien) Crew: 34 (0 dead and 34 survivors) Cargo: Timber, Lead and Zinc Route: Victoria, British Columbia - Panama - Bermuda - Middlesbrough ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 2346 hrs , U-46 (Endrass) and U-47 each fired one torpedo at a ship in convoy HX-79 from the same side and both reported a hit, but it is likely that only the U-47 hit the WANDBY in station #16. The ship was on her maiden voyage and remained afloat on her cargo of lumber until she sank on 21 October. The master and 33 crew members were picked up by HMS ANGLE and landed at Belfast on 26 October.
[NO IMAGE OF THIS SHIP]

Other losses
DDs VENETIA, WALPOLE, GARTH departed Dover on the 18th patrol in the Straits of Dover. Returning on the 19th, V&W Class DD VENETIA (RN 1040 grt) was mined and sunk in the Thames Estuary near East Knob Buoy. 34 crew members were lost and 18 were wounded.

Steamer ARIDITY (UK 336 grt) was sunk on a mine forty yards NE of east Oaze Light Vessel (as far as i can tell, in the Channel).

FV VELIA (UK 290 grt) was sunk on a mine near Kentish Knock Light Vessel. Trawlers HEKLA and STELLA CARINA rescued the entire crew.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-103, U-138

Departures
Lorient: U-31

At Sea 19 October 1940
U-28, U-31, U-37, U-38, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-59, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-123, U-124.
15 boats at sea
Despite being shelled by an armed freighter, U-101 completed the launch of torpedoes in a final attack on convoy SC 7 north of Ireland. The shells missed, landing astern as U-101 was turning away and zig-zagging.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FN.312 departed Southend, escort DD WINCHESTER and sloop EGRET. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 21st.
FN.314 departed Southend, escort DD WOOLSTON and sloop BLACK SWAN. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 20th.
FS.314 departed Methil, escort DD WOLSEY and sloop LOWESTOFT. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 22nd.

Northern Waters
CLA CURACOA arrived at Scapa Flow after escorting convoy OA.231 from the vicinity of Buchanness. DD DUNCAN departed Scapa Flow for repairs at Liverpool. DD CLEVELAND departed Scapa Flow to escort the ML ATREUS from Kirkwall to Lerwick. On arrival, DD CLEVELAND returned to Kirkwall and escorted British steamer BEN MY CHREE to Aberdeen. ORP sub WILK attacked a Danish steamer, identified as NORGE, in Lister Fjord without result.

West Coast UK
OB.231 departed Liverpool escort DDs CASTLETON and WANDERER, corvettes ERICA and PICOTEE, ASW trawlers CAPE ARGONA, DRANGEY, PAYNTER. DD WANDERER and corvette PICOTEE were detached on the 22nd and the remainder of the escort the next day. OL.8 departed Liverpool escort DDs MARGAREE, HAVELOCK, RCN SKEENA, and HESPERUS on 19 to 21 October. The convoy dispersed on the 22nd. DD HAVELOCK was then detached to convoy HG.45.

Med- Biscay
DDs FAULKNOR, FORESTER, FURY, FORESIGHT arrived at Gibraltar from Freetown. British troopship REINA DEL PACIFICO departed Gibraltar for Liverpool, escort DD FORESIGHT and given local escort by DD WRESTLER, which returned to Gibraltar after dark on the 21st. From information found in RM sub DURBO, six DDs ( FORESTER, GALLANT, GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR, et al) departed Gibraltar to hunt for RM sub LAFOLE, known to be operating off Cape Tresforcas.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
RAN CL HOBART was refitting at Colombo from 19 October to 19 November 1940. On completion of this refit, HOBART relieved NZ manned CL LEANDER in the Red Sea Force.

Malta

No air raids.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 1940

AIR HQ Blenheim attached 431 Flight and Swordfish Fleet Air Arm patrolled Ionian Sea; nil reports.

 

[Njaco]

I love these small stories like Convoy SC 7 and the Durbo sinking.

 

[Njaco]

October 19 Saturday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post728481.html#post728481

WESTERN FRONT: Oblt. Josef 'Pips' Priller of 6./JG 51 is awarded the Ritterkreuz for achieving twenty victories.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarines U-38, U-46, U-47, and two others attacked Allied convoy HXZ-79 200 miles west of Ireland, sinking 5 ships and damaging tanker "Shirak". Convoy HXZ-79 of 49 ships loses 12 over the course of the day and tomorrow. Following the losses incurred during the last week or so, the British decide to increase their convoy escorts and this can only be done by dismantling some of the anti-invasion measures.

Convoy SC-7 from Nova Scotia begins arriving in Great Britain. Of 34 original ships, 20 were sunk, and a further two damaged. German submarines U-99, U-100, U-101, and U-123 continued to attack the convoy 100 miles northwest of Ireland. U-123 sank British ship "Shekatika" as "Shekatika" received her fifth torpedo hit. U-99 sank Norwegian ship "Snefjeld"; the entire crew of 21 survived.

British destroyer HMS "Venetia" hit a mine and sank in the Thames Estuary 10 miles north of Herne Bay, Kent in southern England; 35 were killed and 18 were wounded.

NORTH AMERICA: While escorting Romanian freighter "Ingener N. Vlassopol", Canadian auxiliary minesweeper HMCS "Bras d'Or" sank during a storm in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in northeastern Canada, killing the entire crew of 30.

SOUTH PACIFIC: 7th Division of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) sailed for the Middle East.

.

 

[Njaco]

October 20 Sunday
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/day-battle-britain-25360-post728730.html#post728730

Italian BR20 bombers, Z1007 bombers, G50 fighters, and CR42 fighters arrived in Belgium and began to prepare their missions against Britain.

WESTERN FRONT: Oblt. Helmut Wick of I./JG 2 is promoted to Major and appointed Kommodore of the "Richthofen" Geschwader replacing Major Wolfgang Schellmann. He comments;

"As long as I can shoot down the enemy, adding to the honor of the 'Richthofen' Geschwader and the success of the Fatherland, I will be a happy man. I want to fight and die fighting, taking with me as many of the enemy as possible."

German guns near Calais, France fired 50 shells at Dover, England. 15 of the shells detonated.

GERMANY: During the night 7 British Wellington bombers attacked battleship "Tirpitz" to little effect.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-46 and U-47 continue attacking convoy HX-79 50 miles Northwest of Ireland, joined by U-100 fresh from the attack on convoy SC-7, sinking 7 and damaging 1 between 0000 and 0720 hours. U-100 sank British ship "Loch Lomond"; 1 was killed. 111 survivors, including all 72 men rescued last night from SS "Matheran", are picked up by minesweeper HMS "Jason".

German submarine U-124 sank Norwegian ship "Cubano" (2 killed, 29 survived) and British ship "Sulaco" (65 killed, 1 survived) 200 miles west of Ireland.

MEDITERRANEAN: British destroyers HMS "Gallant", HMS "Griffin", and HMS "Hotspur" located Italian submarine "Lafole" off Mellila, Morocco in the Mediterranean Sea, using information captured from Italian submarine "Durbo" on 18 Oct. "Hotspur" sank "Lafole" by ramming; 37 Italians were killed and 9 survived and captured. "Hotspur's" bow was damaged, forcing her to be out of commission until 20 Feb 1941 for repairs.

Over Bahrain, Italian planes from bases in East Africa bomb oil refineries. The Italian bomber formation flew 4,506 km from Dodecanese Islands to Eritrea via Bahrain, making the abortive attack on oil installations. Italian aircraft drop bombs near Cairo.

.

 

[parsifal]

20 October 1940 (Part I)
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Flower Class Corvette HMS CROCUS

Commander Eric Tufnell RN (1888-1979). From a Watercolour signed and inscribed "HMS Crocus Winter 1940".

Losses
HX-79
At 0015 hrs on 20 Oct 1940, U-100 fired two torpedoes at two tkrs in convoy HX-79 from within the columns about 150 miles SW of Rockall and hit CAPRELLA and SITALA, which both caught fire after being torpedoed and sank later.

Tkr CAPRELLA (UK 8230 grt) Sunk by U-100 (Joachim Schepke) Crew: 53 (1 dead and 52 survivors) Cargo: 11.300 tons of fuel oil Route: Curaçao - Mersey ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches. The burning CAPRELLA was quickly abandoned by the crew. One crew member was lost, burnt to death. The master and 51 crew members were picked up by HMS LADY ELSAand landed at Belfast. On 22 October, the drifting wreck of the Caprella was sighted vertically submerged, showing only the bow 15 metres above water.

Tkr SITALA (UK 6218 grt) Sunk by U-100 (Joachim Schepke) Crew: 44 (1 dead and 43 survivors) Cargo: 8444 tons of crude oil Route: Curaçao - Manchester ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches; The burning SITALA was quickly abandoned and sank later after breaking in two. One crew member was lost. The master and 42 crew members were picked up by HMS LADY ELSA and landed at Belfast.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MV LOCH LOMOND (UK 5452 grt) Sunk by U-100 (Joachim Schepke) Crew: 112 (1 dead and 111 survivors) Cargo: Timber and steel Route: Halifax - Immingham ;Convoy HX-79 (Straggler); Sunk In the Western Approaches ; At 0720 hrs the LOCH LOMOND fell behind the main group after she had stopped to pick up survivors from the MATHERAN. She was torpedoed by U-100 SW of Rockall.
The U-boat began shelling the abandoned ship at 1415 hrs until she sank after 79 shells were fired. One crew member was lost. The master, 38 crew members and all 72 survivors that had been rescued from the MATHERAN were picked up by HMS JASON and landed at Methil.

Tkr JANUS (SD 9965 grt) Sunk by U-46 (Engelbert Endrass) Crew: 37 (4 dead and 33 survivors) Cargo: Fuel Oil Route: Curaçao - Halifax - Clyde ;Convoy HX-79 (Straggler); Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 0325 hrs the JANUS, a straggler from convoy HX-79, was hit amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-46 and broke in two in a big explosion. Both parts remained afloat for some time. The U-boat had unsuccessfully attacked the tkr with two torpedoes at 0244 hours. The survivors were picked up by HMS HIBISCUS and landed at Methil.

MV LA ESTANCIA (UK 5185 grt) Sunk by U-47 (Gunther Prien) Crew: 34 (1 dead and 33 survivors) Cargo: Sugar Route: Mackay, Qld - Panama - Halifax - Methil - Middlesbrough ;Convoy HX-79; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 0037 and 0043 hrs, U-47 fired two torpedoes at the convoy HX-79 and reported two ships sunk, but both torpedoes probably hit and sank the LA ESTANCIA . One crew member was lost. The master, 24 crew members and one passenger were picked up by the HMS COREOPSIS and landed at Gourock. Seven crew members were picked up by INDUNA and landed at Methil.

MV WHITFORD POINT (UK 5026 grt) Sunk by U-47 (Gunther Prien) Crew: 39 (36 dead and 3 survivors) Cargo: Steel Route: Baltimore - Halifax - London ;Convoy HX-79 ; Sunk In the Western Approaches; At 0148 hrs the WHITFORD POINT in convoy HX-79 was hit by one torpedo from U-47 and sank 90 miles SW of Rockall. Three crew members were picked up by HMS STURDY and landed at Londonderry.

Convoy OB-229
MV CUBANO (NW 5810 grt) Sunk by U-124 (Georg-Wilhelm Schulz) Crew: Cargo: Route: ;Convoy OB-229; Sunk In the Nth Atlantic. The escorts had detached late on the 18th at which time the outbound convoy steered for the dispersal point at 25W. CUBANO had not quite reached the dispersal position when she was torpedoed at 0142 hrs by U-124 (Schultz) (SW of Iceland), struck amidships. The engine promptly stopped (steam pipes between the boilers and engines were broken), steam came gushing up from the engine room and the ship started to list to port and sink, but the crew waited till she had slowed down before lowering the 2 starboard boats (the port boats were destroyed), with the 1st mate in charge of the forward boat and the 2nd mate of the aft boat.

The captain had remained on board, and once the steam had subsided somewhat he went down to the engine room to look for possible survivors, but found none. He then joined the boats, but assisted by an able seamen, the two gathered up some provisions and supplies before joining the 1st mate's boat which was waiting alongside. Due to the increasing winds and seas it was difficult to keep the boat along the side of the ship, and the captain fell in the water, but was quickly picked up by the boat. They rowed across to the 2nd mate's boat which had pulled further away, and the 2 boats remained about 1/2-1 mile in front of CUBANO through the night. 4 ships passed them not long after they had gotten away from the ship; one of which responded to the SOS they signalled with their aldis lamp, but the ship then decided to continue on its way.

The crew had hoped to re-board the ship at dawn but due to increasing winds and high seas it was considered inadvisable to reboard, fearing the lifeboats might get damaged. Both boats stayed in the vicinity for a while, and while waiting there, they heard a cry. When they rowed in that direction a small raft with the sole survivor from the British ship SULACO was found, (this ship, also from Convoy OB 229, had been torpedoed shortly after CUBANO had been hit, also by U-124). One other SULACO survivor (1st Mate Patterson) had also been clinging to the same raft for a while but was overcome by cold and exhaustion and had let go and drowned.

It had become clear by now the CUBANO would sink, so the boats set sail with a course for Scotland. They managed to stay together through the following, stormy night with the help of light signals, and the next morning, Oct. 21, they were finally rescued by the RCN DD SAGUENAY and landed at Greenock in the evening of Oct. 23. 2 had died, 31 survived (including the sole the survivor from SULACO)

MV SULACO (UK 5389 grt) Sunk by U-124 (Georg-Wilhelm Schulz) Crew:67 (66 dead and 1 survivor) Cargo: Empty Route: Avonmouth - Liverpool - Victoria, Cameroons ;Convoy OB-229 (Dispersed); Sunk In the Nth Atlantic; At 0229 hrs on 20 October 1940 U-124 fired one torpedo from within convoy OB-229 at SULACO, which was hit amidships and sank in about 1 min about 360 miles west of Rockall. The master, 63 crew members and two gunners were lost. The sole survivor, chief cook James Thompson Harvey, was picked up by initially by the CUBANO survivors then eventually by HMCS SAGUENAY and landed at Greenock on 23 October.

 

[parsifal]

I love these small stories like Convoy SC 7 and the Durbo sinking.

SC-7 was a slaughter by any standard, and very nearly succeeded in bringing Britain to its knees. All sides in this battle fought with courage, but for the moment at least, the skill , and luck, was firmly on the side of the uboats.

I enjoy the raw courage these guys posessed. I make no secret that Im a great admirer of them , regardless of nationality. It takes courage to go put to sea, knowing the chances are against your survival. Both sides, at different times in the war, possessed that quality.

Im using a number of sources to put this together. Uboat Net obviously, RN Day By Day, a site called "ship spotting", a couple of Battle of Atlantic sites, as well as several print sources. Uboat net is the main source, but I try not to plagiarise if I can help it.

20 October 1940 (Part II)
UBOATS
Arrivals
Kiel: U-59

At Sea 20 October 1940
U-28, U-31, U-37, U-38, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-101, U-123, U-124.
14 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
AA ship ALYNBANK departed Methil escorting convoy OA.232 to Duncansby Head. DDs FEARLESS, ELECTRA, BRILLIANT departed Rosyth escorting BC REPULSE to Rattray Head. DDs SOMALI, MASHONA, MATABELE departed Scapa at 1200 and relieved the REPULSE escort at 1630 at Rattray Hd

OA.232 departed Methil escort sloop WESTON and corvettes CAMPANULA and PEONY from 20 to 23 October. FN.315 departed Southend, escort DDs WALLACE and WESTMINSTER. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 21st. FS.315 departed Methil and arrived at Southend on the 23rd. British steamer CONAKRIAN from convoy OA.232 was damaged by the LW, nine miles 130° from Girdleness (off the Scottish east Coast). DD CLEVELAND took off the survivors from lifeboats and stood by the steamer. The steamer did not sink and was taken in tow and safely brought into port.
Steamer CONAKRIAN was repaired and returned to service. .

Northern Waters
DD CLEVELAND departed Kirkwall with British steamer BEN MY CHREE. They arrived at Aberdeen on the 20th. The DD then escorted Submarine L 23 from Dundee to Scapa. En route, the DD assisted damaged British steamer CONAKRIAN. DD ESKIMO docked at Scapa Flow to repair a fuel tank leak. ESKIMO was undocked on the 24th to accommodate damaged DD MENDIP. ESKIMO completed her repairs alongside depot ship MAIDSTONE completing on the 25th.

West Coast UK
British steamer CITY OF ROUBAIX was damaged by the LW at Alexandria Dock, Liverpool.

Channel
Sub URSULA departed Portsmouth for the Med. URSULA arrived at Gib on the 30th and was under repair through to the end of the year.

Nth Atlantic
RM sub MALASPINA attacked a British tkr from dispersed convoy OB.229, but no hits were recorded. HX.82 departed Halifax local escort RCN DDs ST CROIX and ST FRANCIS and aux PVs HUSKY and REINDEER. The DDs turned the convoy over to ocean escort, AMC ALAUNIA, which was also detached on the 31st. On 1 November, DDs CHELSEA, VERITY, VETERAN, and WITHERINGTON, corvettes CAMELLIA and HONEYSUCKLE of the OB.235 escort joined the convoy. Also joining on 1 November were DDs BROKE, MALCOLM, SARDONYX and corvettes ARABIS, GENTIAN, HELIOTROPE. On 3 November, DDs BROKE and MALCOLM and corvettes ARABIS, CAMELLIA, HELIOTROPE were detached. On 4 November, DDs CHELSEA, VERITY, VETERAN, WITHERINGTON and covette GENTIAN were detached. DD SARDONYX and corvette HONEYSUCKLE arrived with the convoy at Liverpool on 6 November.

Med- Biscay
DDs GALLANT, GRIFFIN, HOTSPUR sank Adua Class sub LAFOLE (RM 680 grt) off Mellila. The sub had fired a torpedo at DD FORESTER. DD HOTSPUR sustained considerable damage to her bow ramming the sub. She received temporary repairs at Gib from 22 October to 20 November. Then to Malta for repairs from 29 November to 20 February. DD GALLANT picked up one officer and one rating from the sub. Seven ratings were rescued by DD HOTSPUR.

CVL EAGLE departed Alexandria with DDs HASTY, HAVOCK, ILEX, DECOY, HEREWARD on exercises. All the ships arrived back at Alexandria on the 21st. CA KENT was undocked at Alexandria after emergency repairs for torpedo damage. The CA departed Alexandria on the 26th for Port Said.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
Troop convoy US 6 of British troopships QUEEN MARY and AQUITANIA departed Sydney (Aus) on the 20th. British troopship MAURETANIA departed Melbourne on the 21st and joined at sea. The convoy departed Fremantle on the 26th escorted by RAN CL PERTH. The CL was relieved on the 30th by RAN CA CANBERRA which continued with the convoy to Bombay. The convoy arrived safely at Bombay on 4 November and the troops went aboard four smaller ships, one of them the British steamer ROHNA. The four steamers arrived safely at Suez on 26/27 November.

Convoy BS.6B departed Port Sudan, escort DD KINGSTON and sloop FLAMINGO. The DD was detached on the 21st. Sloop INDUS joined on the 22nd. The convoy was dispersed off Aden on the 24th. Convoy BS.7 departed Suez. The convoy was joined on the 21st by sloop GRIMSBY and on the 22nd by sloop CLIVE. Both sloops were detached on the 24th when the convoy was joined by NZ manned CL LEANDER, CLA CARLISLE, destroyer KINGSTON, sloops AUCKLAND and RAN YARRA. The convoy dispersed off Aden on the 28th. Convoy BM.2 departed Bombay with steamers DUNERA , ISLAMI , JALAHOHAM , SANTHIA , TALMA , escorted by AMC HECTOR from 20 to 26 October and CL DANAE from 26 to 30 October when the convoy arrived at Penang. Steamer TALMA went on to Singapore and arrived on the 31st.

Malta

AIR RAIDS DAWN 20 OCTOBER TO DAWN 21 OCTOBER 1940

1125-1215 hrs Air raid alert for two enemy formations reported approaching the Island from the north. Six Hurricanes and two Gladiators are scrambled; air raid does not materialise.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER 1940

AIR HQ Reconnaissance Ionian Sea by Blenheim attached 431 Flight and Swordfish 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm (FAA): nil report. Glenn Martin 431 Flight reported at 1411 hrs one cruiser and one destroyer at sea. 0741-0917 hrs Swordfish 830 Sqn FAA despatched to locate a submarine off the north west coast of the Island; did not locate enemy.

KALAFRANA Plan to reconnoitre Ionian Sea for enemy surface craft. Easterly sector not patrolled as Sunderland unable to take off due to heavy swell.