This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

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6 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Losses
Sub STURGEON sank steamer DELFINUS (Ex-Nor 1293 grt) off Obrestad Light. DELFINUS was on a voyage from the nth of Norway to Hamburg with a cargo of, among other things, fish and codliver oil when she was torpedoed and sunk in the afternoon of Nov. 6 west of Varhaug, Jæren. There were no casualties. Rescue vessels and a/c were sent out from the Stavanger area. According to survivors' statements 2 torpedoes had been fired, one hitting DELFINUS aft, the other detonating on the beach.
(Photo uploaded from the Norwegian HomeFleet site, listed ultimate source "Bjorn Milde's postcard collection")

Liner NALON (UK 7222 grt) was sunk by the LW in the Western Approaches. The entire crew of the British steamer was rescued.

Whaler SEVRA (UK 253 grt) was mined and sunk e five and a half cables 154° from St Anthony Light off Falmouth. There were no casualties.

FV GIRL HELEN (UK 63 grt) was mined and sunk 10.75 cables 349° from Tyne North Pier Light. There are no details on casualties.

FV ELLY (SD 52 grt) was sunk on a mine twenty miles west of Paternoster (which is a small town near Capetown Sth Africa).
Five crew were lost on the Swedish vessel.

UBOATS
At Sea 6 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-47, U-65, U-99, U-124, U-137, U-138.
8 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
MSW ELGIN was mined near Sunk Light Vessel. Screened by MSWs NIGER and SPEEDWELL, the ELGIN was towed by MSW GOSSAMER to Harwich. British minefield BS.45 was laid by minelayers TEVIOTBANK and PLOVER and destroyer ICARUS and IMPULSIVE. FN.328 departed Southend, escort DDs WALLACEand WESTMINSTER. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 8th.
FS.329 departed Methil, escort DDs VANITY and WOLFHOUND. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 8th.

AA ship ALYNBANK transferred from convoy EN.19 to WN.31 in Pentland Firth. The Convoy was attacked by German bombers off Duncansby Head. Steamer CLAN MACKINLAY (UK 6365 grt) in convoy WN.31 was sunk by the LW, with 5 crew were lost from the British steamer.

British steamer HARBOROUGH also in convoy WN.31 was damaged by the LW in these attacks. She was taken in tow by tugs BUCCANEER, BANDIT and ABEILLE 21.

HM sub CLYDE arrived at Holy Loch. The sub proceeded on to Devonport, arriving on the 18th. Sub CLYDE was under repair at Devonport from 22 November to 31 March.

Northern Waters
DDs EXMOOR, CLEVELAND, PYTCHLEY departed Scapa Flow escorting CVL FURIOUS to Liverpool, and arrived on the 7th.

West Coast UK
DD CLEVELAND departed Liverpool later on the 7th and proceeded to Portsmouth, arriving during the morning of the 9th. DD BULLDOG departed Liverpool for Skaalefjord to refuel from tkr MONTENOL and await orders. She arrived during the morning of the 8th.

SW Approaches
RCN DD OTTAWA and DD HARVESTER aided British steamer MELROSE ABBEY which was being shelled by an RM submarine off the southern Irish Coast. The steamer escaped significant damage. OTTAWA fired five salvoes at the submarine before it dived. OTTAWA and HARVESTER then conducted ASW sweeps for the sub. Latest appraisals indicate the submarine was Marcello Class sub FAA DI BRUNO (RM 1043 grt) which was sunk.

Channel
HM Sub UNIQUE departed Portsmouth for patrol off Cherbourg, returning to Portsmouth on the 26th.

Med- Biscay
Operation COAT, a resupply operation for Malta (among other assignments), carrying troops and AA guns, and part of a much larger opn involving both Fce H and the Med Flt, and culminating in Operation Judgement (the attack into Taranto) saw the Med Flt with BBs WARSPITE and VALIANT, CV ILLUSTRIOUS with three of EAGLE's aircraft embarked, DDs HYPERION, HASTY, HERO, HEREWARD, HAVOCK, ILEX , DECOY and DEFENDER departed Alexandria in support of the convoy to Malta MB 8. BB MALAYA and RAMILLIES and DDs NUBIAN, MOHAWK, JERVIS, JANUS, JUNO departed Alexandria in Operation MB 8. This operation was to meet reinforcements coming from the Western basin. Cruisers YORK and GLOUCESTER also departed Alexandria in this operation. The Fleet also covered the movement of other convoys: Convoy ME 3 (comprising four MVs sailing in ballast from Malta to Alexandria, under escort of the BB HMS RAMILLIES, CLA Coventry, and two DDs. The convoy sailed from Malta on 10 November and arrived in Alexandria on 13 November), Convoy AN6 (Convoy AN 6; consisting of four slow tkrs bound for Greece from Egypt, in support of the British expedition there, escorted by an ASW trawler. Shaping a similar course were reinforcements for Crete, embarked in CLs AJAX and SYDNEY as Force B, while CL ORION - Vice Adml Pridham-Wippell's Force C- transported RAF supplies to Greece and inspected Suda Bay. All three would rejoin to form Force X for an 11/12 November raid on the Otranto Strait).

Of the DDs in the Med Flt, only RAN VENDETTA, STUART, and RN IMPERIAL repairing at Malta did not participate in COAT. CL ORION departed Alexandria for Pireaus to consult with the Greek authorities. The cruiser also carried ammunition, bombs, ground crews for 216 Sqn. The cruiser arrived during the morning of 7 November.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
Convoy BS.7 A departed Port Suden, escorted by sloop SHOREHAM. The convoy arrived at Aden on the 11th.

Pacific/Far East/Australia Station
Gunboat CRICKET departed Singapore escorted by CL CAPETOWN for Penang and Nancowry. On the 10th, the report of the OLE JACOB attack caused gunboat CRICKET to be ordered to Nancowry and CL CAPETOWN set off to search for the German raider.
On the 20th, both ships were able to depart Nancowry to return to Penang to await weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal to settle. On 5 December, gunboat TARANTULA and British steamer GURNA departed Singapore escorted by CL DAUNTLESS. These ships arrived at Penang on 7 December and departed the same day with gunboat CRICKET in company.

Late on the 6th and into 7 November, DKM Raider PINGUIN laid 40 mines in Spencer Strait near Melbourne. This concluded minelays by PINGUIN and her aux ML PASSAT.

Sunk on the 7th on the Bass Strait barrage laid by PASSAT was steamer CAMBRIDGE (UK 10,855 grt) six miles east of Wilson's Promontory, Bass Strait. One crewman was missing from the British steamer. The survivors were rescued by RAN aux MSW ORARA which first attempted to tow CAMBRIDGE, without success. RAN CL ADELAIDE departed Sydney to search for the German raider. The light cruiser arrived back at Sydney on the 10th.

Sunk on the 8th off Cape Otway on the Bass Strait barrage was steamer CITY OF RAYVILLE (US 5883 grt). One crewman was missing from the American steamer.

Sunk on 5 December was coastal steamer NIMBIN (Aus 1052 grt) in 33‑15S, 151‑47E. Seven crew were lost from the Australian steamer. It was on its way from Coffs Harbour back to Sydney, with a cargo of three-ply timber packed in bundles and a large number of pigs

Malta
Malta Command complains to the war office over poor security within the BBC which leaks the origins and strengths of the raids over Naples.

0843 hrs One Wellington bomber crashes on the edge of Luqa airfield.

 

[parsifal]

7 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIc U-551

Sunk on 23 March 1941 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland, by DCs from the British A/S trawler HMS VISENDA. All hands lost. n At the time of the Boat's loss it had not sunk any allied shipping

Neutral
Submarines of the M (Malyutka) class M-31 M-32

M-32 was lost 22 August 1942 in the Black Sea. M Class subs could be transported overland by rail

Allied
Bangor Class MSW HMS BANGOR (J 00)

Fairmile B ML 127

White 73 feet-type class MTB 41

Ive not found an image of the White 73' type. This is a 3d view of the similar 70' Vosper design

Losses
HM Sub SWORDFISH (RN 640 grt) departed Gosport on the 7th to relieve submarine USK on patrol off Ushant. SWORDFISH struck a mine sinking off Portsmouth and was declared lost on the 16th. There were no survivors. The wreck of SWORDFISH was found in 1983 putting to rest many theories as to her loss.

HMS SWORDFISH by JOHN PETTITT

Steamer HERLAND (or Fairland) (UK 2645 grt) was sunk on a mine two cables 146° from Nore Light Vessel. 18 crew were lost.

MSW trawler POULMIC ((FNFL 350 grt) was sunk on a mine near Plymouth. 11 crew were lost, but 7 survivors were rescued.

The LW attacked convoy FS.28 in Barrow Deep:

Steamer ASTROLOGER (UK 1673 grt) was sunk by the LW. The entire crew of the steamer was rescued. The ship was beached on the 7th, but was wrecked in a gale on the 15th.

British Steamer DAGO II was damaged by the LW . British steamer MEDEE was damaged by the LW .

Sloop EGRET shot down a Ju.88, but also sustained some casualties from a near miss.

MSW trawler WILLIAM WESNEY (RN 364 grt) was sunk on a mine off Orfordness. One rating was killed and four crew were missing on the British trawler. Two accompanying trawlers and sloop SHELDRAKE rescued the survivors.

Drifter REED (UK 99 grt) was sunk on a mine in the Thames Estuary. 14 crew were killed on the drifter, and a further crewman died of injuries 2 days later. .

UBOATS
Departures
Lorient: U-100
St. Nazaire: U-93

At Sea 7 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-99, U-100, U-124, U-137, U-138.
10 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
AA ship ALYNBANK transferred from convoy WN.31 to EN.20 in the vicinity of Aberdeen. ALYNBANK escorted convoy EN.20 to Pentland Firth. FS.330 departed Methil. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 9th.

DKM TBs T.1, T.4, T.9, T.10, T.6, T.7 and T.8 departed Trondheim to strike at a Convoy between Kinnaird Head and Smith Bank. however they aborted the mission after stumbling into a British minefield forty miles off Kinnaird Head and TB T.6 (DKM 1080 grt) was mined and sunk. German torpedo boats T.7 and T.8 rescued the survivors.

Northern Waters
Cruisers EDINBURGH and DIDO, the only available Home Flt units at Scapa, were placed on 1 hr's notice from 0800 to 1543 after D/F reports placed an enemy surface unit to the SE of Fair Isle Channel.

Central Atlantic
Free French troops on AKs FORT LAMY , CASAMANCE, and NEVADA were landed at Libreville. On 8 November, Redoutable Class submarine PONCELET (Vichy 1384 grt) torpedoed Sloop MILFORD at Port Gentil off Libreville, but the torpedo did not explode. The sub was damaged by sloop MILFORD assisted by the Walrus of CA DEVONSHIRE. PONCELET was scuttled and her crew was picked up by DDs FOXHOUND and FORTUNE. On 29 November, sloop MILFORD transferred the PONCELET crew to Light cruiser DELHI.

On 9 November, FNFL sloops SAVORGNAN DE BRAZZA and COMMANDANT DOMINE sank Bougainville Class sloop BOUGAINVILLE (Vichy 1969 grt) off Libreville.

On the 10th, Libreville fell to FNFL forces and on the 11th Port Gentil also fell. The RN force, which included CA DEVONSHIRE and CL DELHI, played no active role in the Libreville campaign, but did remain off the port to assure that Vichy units from Dakar did not intervene.

Med- Biscay
Force H.with CV ARK ROYAL. BB BARHAM, CA BERWICK, CLs SHEFFIELD and GLASGOW, DDs DUNCAN, GALLANT, GRIFFIN, FAULKNOR, FIREDRAKE, FORESTER, FURY, FORTUNE, FOXHOUND, GREYHOUND, ISIS departed Gibraltar for their part of operation COAT.

Force H had a number of objectives and organised its avaiable forces accordingly. Force F of BB BARHAM, CA BERWICK, CL GLASGOW, DDs GREYHOUND, GALLANT, GRIFFIN carried 2000 troops for Malta, then were to go on to the Med Flt for duty. The troops had been brought from the UK in liner PASTEUR.

DDs FAULKNOR, FORTUNE, FURY carried 150 troops to Malta and travelled with the BARHAM force. Following the disembarkation of the troops, these destroyers returned to Force H.

RM DDs VIVALDI, DA NOLI, MALOCELLO were sent to intercept the BARHAM force, but failed to locate them, which was able to reach Malta safely.

 

[parsifal]

8 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Neutral
Elco 70' type MTB PT 11

Allied
Type I Hunt Class Escort DD HMS SOUTHDOWN (L 25)

SOUTHDOWN arrived at Scapa for work up on the 17th. Following work up, DD SOUTHDOWN was assigned to DesFlot 21 operating in the Nore.

Losses
O-21 Class sub O.22 (NL 934 grt) , which departed Dundee on patrol on the 5th, was sunk by DKM aux SCs UJ.117 and UJ.1102 off Lindesnes. The last contact the submarine had with her base was at her departure from Dundee. 3 british observers and the entire Dutch crew of 55 were lost.

There is some doubt about this official explanation for her loss. at the time these DC attacks were carried out, there were no oil slicks or debris floating to the surface, but the real issue is that when the wreck was finally found in 1993, it nearly 60 miles away from the claimed sinking position. The Dutch Navy now believes the ship sucumbed to a minefield after having been damaged in these combats (there is some evidence from the ROV survey of DC damage, but not enough to explain the loss)

Whaler A. N. 2 (UK 221 grt) was sunk on a mine off Falmouth, 2950 yards 119° from Pendennis.

Tug MURIA (UK 192 grt) was sunk on a mine off North Foreland. There were no survivors from the tug.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-99

At Sea 8 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-124, U-137, U-138.
9 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FN.329 departed Southend, escort DDs WINCHESTER and EGLINTON and patrol sloop SHELDRAKE. Escort Vessel / DD WINCHESTER (a V&W class DD converted and optmised for AA defence) and sloop SHELDRAKE were detached on the 9th. DDs CATTISTOCK and WALLACE joined on the 9th. However, before this, on the 8th, the convoy was attacked by the LW in the Thames estuary. WINCHESTER shot down two Ju.87 bombers in successive air raids. WINCHESTER then suffered a mine strilke one mile NE of Swin Light Vessel and had to anchor to make emergency repairs. While anchored, she was targetted repeatedly, suffering damge from many near misses, but no fatal damage or casualties. WINCHESTER was under repair at London until 6 June.

Steamer AGAMEMNON (NL 1930 grt) was sunk seven cables 222° from Swin Light Vessel. Two crew were lost on the Dutch steamer.

British steamers FIREGLOW, EWELL and CATFORD were damaged by the LW at various points along the convoy's route. FS.331 departed Methil, escort DDs CATTISTOCK and VIVIEN and sloop LONDONDERRY. DD QUORN and patrol sloop SHELDRAKE joined on the 9th. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 10th.

Northern Waters
AA ship ALYNBANK arrived at Scapa after escorting convoy EN.20. The AA ship departed Scapa Flow at 1530 to cover convoy WN.33 eastbound from Pentland Firth. DD BEAGLE departed Liverpool for Skaalefjord. She arrived at 1500 on the 9th. After refuelling, the destroyer stood by to await orders.

West Coast UK
OB.240 departed Liverpool escort DDs AMAZON, ARROW, ORP BURZA, sloops ABERDEEN and ROCHESTER, corvettes CROCUS and HEARTEASE. Sloop ROCHESTER was detached later day and DDs AMAZON and BURZA ON 11 November, sloop ABERDEEN on 12 November, the remainder on the 13th.

Western Approaches
At 1347 hrs U-47 tried to stop the neutral GONCALO VELHO, a Portuguese merchanmen enroute to the Portuguese port of Oporto. U-47 fired a shot over the vessel with the deck gun. The ship slowed down and prepared to launch a boat, but steered towards the U-boat so they fired two more warning shots to force the ship to stop immediately. One of them hit the stem and damaged her slightly. The master boarded the U-boat with the papers of the ship. After one hour she was allowed to proceed because no contraband could be found.

RM submarine MARCONI was damaged by DD HAVELOCK off NW Ireland. Steamer VINGALAND (SD 2734 grt) of convoy HX.84 was damaged by FW 200 bombers of KG-40. The steamer was sunk on the 9th by RM MARCONI.

Steamer EMPIRE DORADO was damaged by FW 200 bombers of KG-40. ASW trawler MAN O'WAR assisted the steamer. MLs SOUTHERN PRINCE, PORT NAPIER, PORT QUEBEC, MENESTHEUS , joined by ML cruiser ADVENTURE, escort DDs BATH, ST ALBANS, and ST MARYS, departed Loch Alsh to lay defensive minefield SN.44 northwest of Ireland.

Channel
MSW ELGIN was damaged by the explosion of an acoustic mine off Sunk Light Vessel. The MSW was repaired at Lowestoft completing on 18 December.

Med- Biscay
Late on the 8th, CV ARK ROYAL, escort CA BERWICK and CL GLASGOW, launched an air raid on the Italian seaplane base at Elmas near Cagliari. This airstrike was given the operation name of CRACK. ARK ROYAL, CL SHEFFIELD, DDs DUNCAN, ISIS, FIREDRAKE, FOXHOUND, FORESTER returned to Gibraltar on the 11th.

Vichy BB PROVENCE, temporarily repaired of her Mer el Kebir damage, arrived at Toulon escort DD EPEE, FLEURET, HARDI, LANSQUENET, MAMELUCK. DD HARDI had arrived at Oran from Casablanca on 25 October. DDs EPEE, FLEURET, MAMELUCK, LANSQUENET arrived at Oran on the 5th from Casablanca, passing Gibraltar on the 4th. They were met in the local approaches by BC STRASBOURG, CAs ALGERIE, DUPLEIX, FOCH, CLs GALISSONIERE and MARSEILLAISE, DDs VOLTA, L'INDOMPTABLE, CASSARD, VAUTOUR, and ALBATROS.

Malta
Five Wellingtons from Malta carried out an air raid on the port of Brindisi, scoring a direct hit on the railway station. Four other Wellingtons attacked Naples, starting fires.

 

[Njaco]

November 7 Thursday
WESTERN FRONT: A take-off accident at the Cherbourg airbase of II./JG 2 results in a Bf 109E being written off as destroyed. The pilot is unhurt in the incident.

Wilhelm Müller with ten victories flying for JG 26 is shot down and killed.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Free French minesweeping trawler "Poulmic" hit a mine and sank off Plymouth, England; 11 were killed and 7 survived.

British submarine HMS "Swordfish" hit a mine and sank 7 miles south of the Isle of Wight, England killing the entire crew of 39. British minesweeping trawler HMT "William Wesney" hit a mine and sank in the North Sea 13 miles east of Harwich, England; 5 were killed and 7 survived.

Seven German torpedo boats were dispatched from Trondheim, Norway to attack an Allied convoy off northern Scotland. Torpedo boat T.6 hit a mine in an unexpected minefield and sank 40 miles north of the convoy, forcing the entire attack party to return to Trondheim without carrying out their mission.

Rammed by British destroyer HMS "Encounter" in an episode of misidentification on the previous day, the damaged British submarine HMS "Utmost" reached Gibraltar, where she would remain for repairs until 23 Nov 1940.

SOUTH PACIFIC: British ship "Cambridge" hit a naval mine laid by German ship "Passat" and sank 6 miles off Wilson's Promontory, South Australia; 1 was killed and 57 were rescued by Australian auxiliary minesweeper "Orara".

EAST AFRICA: The 10th Indian Brigade withdraws from Gallabat after losses to the supporting tanks and in the air. The Italians reoccupy the position.

GERMANY: The British Royal Air Force attacks the Krupp munitions works at Essen, Germany by 50 aircraft.

MEDITERRANEAN: RAF make surprise low-level attack on Valona air base, Albania.

WEST AFRICA: Ahead of landings at Libreville, Free French troops on cargo ships "Fort Lamy", "Casamance" and "Nevada" arrive off the coast of Gabon, escorted by British cruisers HMS "Devonshire" and HMS "Delhi" and sloop HMS "Milford". 50 miles Southwest of Libreville, Vichy French submarine "Poncelet" fires a torpedo which fails to explode at HMS "Milford". "Poncelet" is forced to the surface by depth charges from HMS "Milford" and bombed by 2 Supermarine Walrus biplanes from HMS "Devonshire". All but one of "Poncelet's" complement of 61 surrendered after scuttling the ship. Commanding officer Commander de Saussine decided to go down with the ship.

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[Njaco]

November 8 Friday
MEDITERRANEAN: Italians abandon the stalled invasion of Northern Greece and begin the retreat from the Kalamas River in Epirus. Italian troops in that region began to pull back. In the Pindus Mountains, remaining elements of the Italian Julia Division do not get the message but retreat anyway after learning of the coming Greek offensive from radio broadcasts from London. The Italian 3rd Alpini Division is trapped in the area of the Pindus Gorges by the Greek counterattacks. The Greeks take over 5000 prisoners by November 10th.

Operation Crack: Aircraft from British carrier HMS "Ark Royal", escorted by cruisers HMS "Berwick" and HMS "Glasgow", attack the Italian seaplane base at Elmas near Cagliari, Sardinia. This is part of complex movements of several convoys with warship escorts through the Mediterranean (Operation MB8), including troops and anti-aircraft guns for Malta. The raid is also designed to distract from the planned attack on the Italian naval base at Taranto (Operation Judgement).

RAF Station Takali was officially operational on Malta.

WESTERN FRONT: Lt. Heinz Bär of 1./JG 51 enjoys a rare double against the Western Allies when he shoots down two British Hurricanes.

GERMANY: RAF bombed Munich, Germany, narrowly missing Hitler.

WEST AFRICA: Koenig's mixed force of French Legionnaires, Senegalese and Cameroonian troops make a late night landing at Pointe La Mondah. They land north and south of Vichy-French-held Libreville, French Equitorial Africa. Heavy fighting began immediately.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British tug HMS "Muria" hit a mine and sank off the Isle of Thanet near Dover, England, killing the entire crew.

German bombers damaged Swedish ship "Vingaland" 300 miles west of Ireland.

Dutch submarine O-22 disappeared in the North Sea 40 miles southwest of Norway; 42 Dutch and 3 British sailors were missing and were presumed dead.

UNITED KINGDOM: German bombers attacked a convoy in the Thames Estuary in southern England, sinking or damaging several merchant ships. Two Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers were shot down by destroyer HMS "Winchester". HMS "Winchester" then hits a mine and, while anchored to make emergency repairs, she is bombed again and damaged by near misses (under repair in London until June 6 1941). Hurricane squadron drives off the raiders.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Port of Melbourne temporarily closed.

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[Njaco]

November 9 Saturday
NORTHERN EUROPE: The Bf 109s of 5./JG 77 and 6./JG 77 leave Stavanger airfield and join the Gruppe at the Brest airfield. The pilots and ground crew of 4./JG 77, based at Herdla and Mandal, also make the trip this day to join their comrades at Brest. With the reforming of I./JG 77 and the transfer of II./JG 77, this leaves only the III./JG 77 led by Major Alexander von Winterfeldt in Norway.

WESTERN FRONT: A British bomber attack on the III./JG 2 airfield at Le Havre results in one Bf 109 being destroyed.

UNITED KINGDOM: Neville Chamberlain passed away of cancer. Winston Churchill eulogized Chamberlain in the House of Commons, three days after his death;

"Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned."

WEST AFRICA: Battle of Libreville - Free French forces under General Koenig fight their way into the Vichy-held capital Libreville, engaging in street fighting with Vichy French forces. Koenig encounters heavy resistance from Vichyites during march on the city. Free French Westland Lysanders from Douala, Cameroon, bomb the airfield at Libreville allowing Koenig to overcome Vichy defenses and capture the airfield. Koenig's legionnaires break Vichy resistance at the aerodrome. D'Argenlieu accepts General Tetu's surrender.

Off Libreville, Free French sloop "Savorgnan de Brazza" sunk Vichy sloop "Bougainville" by gunfire (the two were sister ships of the same class), while Free French sloop "Commandant Domine" prevented Vichy armed merchant cruiser "Cap Des Palmes'" crew from scuttling the ship and captured her.

MEDITERRANEAN: Sebastiano Visconti Prasca is relieved as commander of Italian operations in Greece after the failure of the offensive and ongoing rout of the Alpine Julia Division in the Pindus Mountains. He was replaced by General Ubaldo Soddu who is no better and will be removed in a few weeks..

The Gibraltar based British Force H attacked Cagliari with aircraft from "Ark Royal".

INDIAN OCEAN: German armed merchant cruiser "Atlantis", disguised as British auxiliary cruiser HMS "Antenor" in the darkness before dawn, closed in on Norwegian tanker "Teddy" in the Bay of Bengal and captured the ship with a boarding party without firing a shot. "Atlantis" refueled from "Teddy's" cargo of 10,000 tons of fuel oil and captured the crew of 32.

SOUTH PACIFIC: American ship "City Of Rayville" hit a naval mine (laid by German ship "Passat") and sank 20 miles off Cape Otway, South Australia, Australia; 1 was killed and 39 survived.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Swedish ship "Vingaland", damaged on the previous day by German bombers west of Ireland, was sunk by Italian submarine "Marcon". The 19 survivors were picked up by British ship "Danae II".

The liner "Empress of Japan" (26,000 tons) is attacked by a German FW-200 Condor bomber but manages to reach port.

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[parsifal]

9 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Flower Class Corvette HMS COLUMBINE (K 94)

Bangor Class MSW HMS RHYL (J 36)

Fairmile B MLs 125 and 132

Fairmile B ML 120 pictured

Losses
Steamer BALTRADER (UK 1699 grt) was sunk on a mine in 51‑41N, 01‑18E. Two crew were lost on the British steamer. The mine was laid by DKM TBs on 29/30 October in minefield "Alfred. "

Trawler VIVI (Gk 489 grt) was sunk on a mine at Patras (in the Aegean)..

UBOATS
Departures
Lorient: U-103

At Sea 9 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-103, U-124, U-137, U-138.
10 boats at sea

U.65 refuelled at sea from DKM AO NORDMARK on 9 and 10 November.

OPERATIONS
Baltic
Western Baltic
Steamer MINERVA (FN 2039 grt) was sunk on a mine off the German North Sea coast, presumably whilst employed by the Germans. Wrecksite EU has a slightly different account of her loss...."MINERVA SS was a Finnish cargo steamer of 2,239grt that was damaged by a British air attack on the 9th November 1940 and wrecked at Borkum when on route from Jakobstad for Emden with a cargo of pit props".

North Sea
FN.330 departed Southend, escort DDs VANITY and WOLFHOUND. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 11th. FS.332 departed Methil, escort DDs VEGA and VIMIERA. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 11th.

The LW attacked FN.330/FS.331 off Harwich. Escort vessel VANITY was escorting the convoys at that time. There was no damage in the attacks.

Northern Waters
AA ship ALYNBANK arrived at Scapa after escorting convoy WN.33 to the area of Stonehaven

West Coast UK
DDs EXMOOR and PYTCHLEY departed Liverpool escorting British steamer ADDA to the Faroes. OB.241 departed Liverpool escort DDs HURRICANE, VETERAN, WITHERINGTON and corvettes CLEMATIS and PRIMROSE. DD VERITY joined on the 12th and DD HURRICANE was detached on the 12th. The remainder of the escort was detached on the 14th. The DD returned to Scapa on the 13th. British steamer BEAL was damaged by a mine off the river Tees.

Western Approaches
British troopship EMPRESS OF JAPAN was damaged by FW 200s of KG 40.

Channel
British tkr SHELBRIT II was damaged by LW attacks alongside Cleveland Wharf, Shoreham.

Nth Atlantic
SC.11 departed St Johns at 1200 escorted by Canadian armed yacht ELK and ocean escort, Sloop ENCHANTRESS. BB RODNEY covered the convoy on 12 to 15 November. On 21 November, RCN DDs OTTAWA, SAGUENAY, SKEENA, ST LAURENT joined the convoy. ST LAURENT was detached on the 24th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 26th.

Central Atlantic
After an unsuccessful attempt to scuttle herself, AMC CAP DES PALMES (Vichy 3081 grt) was captured off Libreville by FNFL sloop COMMANDANT DOMINE.

Med- Biscay
BB RAMILLIES with DDs ILEX, HYPERION, HAVOCK were detached with convoy MW.3 for Malta. The cruisers of the 3rd and 7th Cruiser Squadrons were detached to sweep to the northward during the day. A Swordfish of 815 Sqn forced landed near BB WARSPITE. The crew was picked up by destroyer JERVIS. This crash was later found to be due to contaminated fuel.
Free French liner PASTEUR departed Gibraltar, escort DD WISHART, to return to Liverpool.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
DKM Raider ATLANTIS, posing as AMC ANTENOR, captured tanker TEDDY (Nor 6750 grt) in the Bay of Bengal in 5‑35N, 88‑22E. The 32 man crew were landed in Japan on 5 December.

Malta
0730 hrs; 0831 hrs; 0900 hrs; 0930 hrs; 0938 hrs Wellington bombers land at Luqa.

1325-1409 hrs Air raid alert for twelve Italian CR42 fighters which approach the Island from the north east and fly over Grand Harbour, Luqa and Hal Far at 20000 feet. AA guns launch a heavy attack damaging one of the raiders. Malta fighters delay take-off following the report of a second enemy formation of bombers following behind but these turn back when still 35 miles from Malta.

0601-0650 hrs Air raid without prior warning by two CR42s which approach the Island and machine-gun Hal Far from a very low altitude, damaging one Swordfish aircraft on the ground. Defence posts at Kalafrana open fire: no claims.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER 1940

ROYAL NAVY HMS ABINGDON arrived to reinforce the Malta minesweeping flotilla. Convoy MW3 of five ships arrived.

MSW ABINGDON near Malta

AIR HQ Arrivals 5 Wellingtons. Departures 1 Sunderland.

 

[parsifal]

10 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
U Class Sub HMS UNBEATEN (N 93)

British U class submarine HMSM UNBEATEN moored alongside a dock in Malta

Losses
ASW trawler KINGSTON ALALITE (RN 550 grt) was sunk by a mine off Plymouth, 5.7 cables 242° from Plymouth Breakwater Light. Six ratings were lost on the trawler.

Boom defence vessel MARCELLE (RN 64 grt) was sunk on a mine in Bristol Channel, in 51-21-48N, 3-08W. One crewman of a crew of five were lost on the boom defence vessel.

UBOATS
Departures
Lorient: U-43

At Sea 10 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-43, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-103, U-124, U-137, U-138.
11 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Baltic
Eastern Baltic

Western Baltic

North Sea
CLA CURACOA departed Rosyth to cover convoy EN.22 from Methil to Pentland Firth. FN.331 departed Southend, escort DD WOOLSTON and sloop LOWESTOFT. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 12th.

Northern Waters
AA ship ALYNBANK departed Scapa to cover convoy WN.34 to the vicinity of Stonehaven.

West Coast UK
OB.239 had departed Liverpool on the 4th, but was recalled after the attacks by the SCHEERR and arrived at Oban, departed Oban on the 10th escorted by corvette LA MALOUINE. The escort was joined on the 11th by DDs BROKE, MALCOLMand SARDONYX and corvettes ANEMONE and ARABIS. On the 13th, DDs MALCOLM and SARDONYX were detached and the remainder of the escort of 14 November.

Channel
DD CATTISTOCK was damaged by splinters from LW attentions, whilst operating in the Channel, One man was was wounded, and it took 24 hrs to repair the damage. Enemy a/c were reported shot down in these attacks.

Nth Atlantic
HX.86, which had been recalled outside Halifax on the 5th due to the alarm raised by the SCHEERs activities, departed Halifax at 1430 escorted by RCN DDs ASSINIBOINE and RESTIGOUCHE and aux PV HUSKY. On the 11th, the convoy was turned over to the ocean escort, AMC VOLTAIRE, which was detached on the 21st. BHX.87 departed Bermuda on the 8th escorted by ocean escort AMC LACONIA. The convoy rendezvoused with convoy HX.86 on the 13th at which time the AMC was detached. DDs CASTLETON, SARDONYX, VISCOUNT, WHITEHALL and corvettes CYCLAMEN, HIBISCUS, RHODODENDRON joined the convoy. DD WHITEHALL was detached later that day. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 26th.

Med- Biscay
A Swordfish of 819 Sqn crashed shortly after taking off from CV ILLUSTRIOUS. Crew were rescued by DD NUBIAN. Cause of the loss was later found to be contaminated fuel. A second Swordfish of 819 Sqn also was lost on this date to contaminated fuel. This crew were also saved. I believe these crews were able to participate in Operation JUDGEMENT.

At 0715, the cruisers of the 3rd and 7th Cruiser Squadrons rejoined the Main Flt. At 0730, RAN DDs VAMPIRE, VOYAGER, WATERHEN, RN DDs DAINTY, DIAMOND, HYPERION, ILEX and HAVOCK rejoined the Main Flt. DDs MOHAWK, DEFENDER, JANUS, JUNO, DECOY, HASTY, NUBIAN, JERVIS were then detached to refuel at Malta. BB BARHAM, CA BERWICK, CL GLASGOW, DDs GRIFFIN, GREYHOUND, GALLANT, FAULKNOR, FORTUNE and FURY joined the Main Flt at 1015. DDs FORTUNE and FURY joined the screen and the rest of the ships proceeded to Malta to disembark troops and stores. Convoy ME.3 of steamers MEMNON, LANARKSHIRE, CLAN MACAULEY, CLAN FERGUSON departed Malta at 1330 escorted by BB RAMILLIES, CLA COVENTRY, DDs DECOY and DEFENDER. Monitor TERROR and RAN DD VENDETTA departed at 1400. DD MOHAWK rejoined the Main Flt at 1435 and DD HERO was detached at 1450 to Malta. BARHAM, BERWICK, GLASGOW, GRIFFIN, GREYHOUND and GALLANT departed Malta after landing troops and joined the Med Flt at sea.

RM sub CAPPONI attacked without success BB RAMILLIES at 40 miles SE of Malta. RM sub TOPAZIO on the 11th made two attacks on the convoy without success in the same locality.

Monitor TERROR proceeded to Suda Bay for duty as a guard ship, arriving on the 13th. ME.3 arrived Alexandria during the morning of 13 November. Convoy AS.5 of 8 steamers departed Piraeus for Port Said. On the 11th, armed boarding vessels CHAKLA and FIONA departed Suda Bay and joined this convoy. The convoy arrived at Port Said on the 15th, escorted by DD WRYNECK and ASW trawlers VICTORIAN and SINDONIS. Gunboat APHIS shelled a suspected Divisional HQ at Sidi Barrani during the night of 9/10 November.

HMS APHIS, another Insect Class Gunboat. A relic of WWI, this ship also proved its worth by its ability to operate close inshore

RM submarine BARBARIGO attacked a DD in 54N, 18W without success.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
DKM Raider ATLANTIS, still masquerading as AMC ANTENOR, captured the tkr OLE JACOB (Nor 8306 grt) in the Bay of Bengal. However, distress signals from OLE JACOB caused the dispatch of RAN CA CANBERRA, CLs CAPETOWN and DURBAN, AMC WESTRALIA, but none made any contact with the German ship.

Tkr OLE JACOB, a newly commissioned ship (in July 1940) was temporarily renamed BENNO for German use and was detached on the 16th. She arrived safely at Kobe on 6 December. Later on 19 July 1941, now using her original name again, OLE JACOB arrived at Bordeaux.

Malta
Weather Fine.

0945-1010 hrs Air raid alert for twelve Italian CR42 fighters which fly over Grand Harbour at 21000 feet. AA guns engage the raiders; no hits claimed. Malta fighters are held back for an expected formation of bombers which does not materialise.

0708 hrs Air raid alert for two formations of enemy a/c which circle the Island before turning away.

1615-1745 hrs Operation "Coat" Convoy enters Grand Harbour, including BB BARHAM, CAs NORFOLK, BERWICK and CL GLASGOW to disembark stores and personnel.

Enemy casualties in these battles included: Tenente Raffaele Brandi, 195a Squadriglia, 90o Gruppo, 30o Stormo, crewman of SM79 bomber missing in action; Sottotenente Umberto Gabrielli, Sottotenente, observer, missing in action.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1940

ROYAL NAVY Operation 'Coat' successfully completed with the sailing of Convoy ME3 of four ships and the refuelling of Fleet units. HERO and HEREWARD remained to refit.

KALAFRANA 229 Sqn permanently attached to Kalafrana; remainder of Squadron personnel arrived by sea from Middle East. A large draft of approximately 100 men arrived and were accommodated at Marsaxlokk pending disposal to units. These are the first personnel to occupy the buildings at the new station.

 

[Njaco]

November 10 Sunday
WESTERN FRONT: A crash-landing because of a technical fault destroys a BF 109 of III./JG 2 at the airfield at Le Havre. The pilot is not injured.

The Bf 109s and ground crew of Major Wolfgang Schnellmann's Stab./JG 27 transfer from Guines and join Hptm. Lippert's II Gruppe at Detmold airfield. Hptm. Max Dobislav's III Gruppe also leave the airbase at Guines and settle in at the airbase at Diepholz.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British anti-submarine trawler HMS "Kingston Alalite" hit a mine and sank off Plymouth, England, killing 6.

MEDITERRANEAN: In northern Greece, Greek troops continued to push Italian troops back toward the Albanian border in the coastal region. Further East, Greek 2nd Army Corps harries the retreating Italian Julia Division through the Pindus Mountains. Julia Division loses 5000 men killed or taken prisoner before escaping back to Albania.

British monitor HMS "Terror" departed Malta for Suda Bay, Crete, Greece to serve as a guard ship.

INDIAN OCEAN: German armed merchant cruiser "Atlantis", disguised as British auxiliary cruiser HMS "Antenor" in the darkness before dawn, closed in on Norwegian tanker "Ole Jacob" in the Bay of Bengal. After a tense stand-off, the Norwegian captain decided to surrender, fearing that a gunfight might ignite the cargo of 11,000 barrels of high-octane aviation fuel. "Ole Jacob" was captured as a prize ship and sent first to Japan and then to France, carrying a cargo of aviation fuel and the captured prisoners from "Ole Jacob" and "Teddy". "Ole Jacob's" distress signal would result in the dispatching of Australian cruisers "Canberra", "Capetown", and "Durban", but they would fail to catch "Atlantis".

NORTH AFRICA: British gunboat HMS "Aphis" shelled Italian positions at Sidi Barrani, Egypt overnight.

NORTH AMERICA: The Director of the US Marine Corps Reserve formally integrated his organization into the regular US Marine Corps.

UNITED KINGDOM: The first Avro Manchester Mk. 1 bomber to be delivered went to No. 207 Squadron RAF (Squadron Leader Noel Challis Hyde) based at RAF Waddington in the county of Lincolnshire, England.

The onset of winter weather significantly reduced the threat of a German invasion of Britain. But the British survived the worst of the Blitzkrieg as German air raids became increasingly sporadic. London is bombed by 170 aircraft.

EAST AFRICA: British forces recapture Gallabat in the Sudan.

GERMANY: RAF conducts numerous raids despite stormy weather and icing. RAF bomb Danzig, Dresden, Krupp's Works, Essen and many other targets in Germany and in the Occupied territory. A total of 5 aircraft are lost.

EASTERN EUROPE: In Romania an earthquake causes damage from Bucharest to the Ploesti oilfields. An estimated 400 people are killed.

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[parsifal]

11 November 1940
OPERATION JUDGEMENT (Part I)

Harbour Defences

Aerial detection
The Italian navy did not have radar, relying instead on electronic listening devices (airphonic stations) located at thirteen points along the Gulf of Taranto coastline. These devices could detect incoming aircraft at a range of several miles out to sea.

Searchlights
22 searchlights and their crews were installed on land and others on floating pontoons. Their function was to illuminate incoming aircraft for their own gunners while dazzling the pilots.

Anti aircraft
21 batteries armed with 102 mm guns.
84 37mm and 20mm cannon.
109 machine-guns of various calibres both in fixed and floating positions.
Plus hundreds more of all calibres aboard the warships.
27 anti aircraft balloons. There were originally 87, but a storm in early November destroyed of damaged 60 of them.

Anti-torpedo netting
4,200 metres of the scheduled 12,000 metres were installed. A full rectangular fence was to have been constructed around each ship, but Taranto's commander decided that laying any more netting would hamper the navy's own daily routine operations.

Defensive weaknesses
The anti-torpedo netting reached down only about 26ft, leaving a space of about 14ft between the bottom of the net and the bottom of the lagoon. These nets provided protection only for the sides of a ship against torpedoes armed with contact pistols. Because they did not prevent a torpedo passing beneath a ship, the netting provided no defence against deeper running torpedoes with proximity pistols. The Royal Navy had developed dual action pistols with both contact and proximity detonators, of which the Regia Marina were unaware.

It had been generally thought that torpedoes could not be launched in less than 100ft of water and Taranto, at 40ft, was safe. What the Italians did not know was that the Royal Navy had overcome the problem of a torpedo diving deep when launched from an aircraft, before running at its preset depth. Their lack of knowledge about modern torpedo warfare, instilled a misplaced confidence in the ability of the torpedo nets to provide an adequate defence for their ships.

The Final Plan

The Raid on Taranto, codename Operation JUDGEMENT, was to be the first aerial raid from the sea against a Fleet in a defended harbour. The operation was to be disguised by integrating it with a deliberately complex convoy supply operation (MB8) to confuse Italian intelligence. Separate convoys sailing from Gibraltar, Port Said and Alexandria were to supply Malta, Greece and Crete, while other movements were to return the empties – merchantmen which had unloaded their cargoes. In all, there were ten separate, but integrated, movements. Two of which were:-

Force A(To cover convoy MW3 from Alexandria to Malta.)
CV ILLUSTRIOUS, CVL EAGLE, BBs WARSPITE, MALAYA, VALIANT, RAMILLIES, CA YORK, CL GLOUCESTER, DDs NUBIAN, MOHAWK, JERVIS, JANUS, JUNO, HYPERION, HASTY, HERO, HEREWARD, HAVOCK, ILEX, DECOY and DEFENDER.

Force F (To transport troops and supplies from Gibraltar to Malta, and reinforce the Alexandria fleet.)
BBs BARHAM, CA BERWICK, CL GLASGOW, DDs GREYHOUND, GALLANT, GRIFFIN. DDs FAUKNOR, FORTUNE, FURY had been detached from Force H.

Force F, after leaving Malta, was to join up with Force A for their return to Alexandria, but detaching a Force X for Operation JUDGEMENT beforehand.


Actual Forces

Force X
CV - ILLUSTRIOUS, (24 Swordfish and 806 Sqn of Fulmars). EAGLE had pulled out of the attack due to damage but had transferred some aircraft and pilots and used some other a/c as a reserve for ILLUSTRIOUS. CAs - YORK, BERWICK, CLs - GLASGOW, GLOUCESTER, DDs HASTY, HAVOCK, HYPERION, ILEX.

Force X would detach from the combined Forces A and F, and arrive in the evening of the same day, 40 miles west of Kabbo Point on the coast of the island of Cephalonia, the initial launch point, from where two waves of aircraft would be launched for the night-time attack. The small number of attacking warplanes raised serious concerns by the operations planners that the operation would only alert the RM without achieving any significant results. Following which, the defences would be strengthened, making it more hazardous for future RAF bombing raids.

The Aircraft
The Fairey Swordfish first flew in April 1934, developed as a private venture by Fairey to meet Air Ministry specifications for a Spotter Reconnaissance aircraft (designated SR1). However, the specifications were later amended to include the torpedo dropping role, and the design modified accordingly, to become TSR2. So the Swordfish entered service in 1936 as a Torpedo Spotter Reconnaissance aircraft. It was a fabric covered, open cockpit biplane, an anachronism when other navies were bringing metal skinned monoplanes into service. At the start of WW2 it was already obsolete, intended to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore.

The apparent obsolescence of the "stringbag" (as it was affectionately known) belied its deadly capability. The Swordfish was rugged, reliable, a steady platform, able to operate in rough weather, and by dint of the crews, also operate accurately at night. Its slow speed actually assisted it in delivering ordinance more accurately. It was docile and well suited to carrier operations with an enviable safety record. but it was also agile and highly manoeuvrable as many attacking fighters discovered; Italian, German and British alike. Its weapon carrying capabilities included bombs, torpedoes, depth charges, mines and (later) rockets. It could e fitted with floats and used as a seaplane. Its nickname, the Stringbag was due to its appearance, and, , also named after the popular shopping bag of the time that could hold just about anything. later in 1941 it was fitted with ASV radar that was to improve even further to locate and attack targets under near blind conditions.......

The Swordfish normally had a complement of three aircrew, but for Operation Judgement 60 gallon extra fuel tanks were needed and, for the torpedo carriers, fitted into the central observer's cockpit and the observer moved into the rear Telegraphist Air Gunner's cockpit. The bomb carriers had an extra tank fitted externally underneath and between the wheels where a torpedo would normally be.

Its slowness did not matter as there were no Italian night fighters to worry about, and its fabric covering was an advantage as cannon fire just went through it without exploding.

The Torpedoes

The standard torpedo for the first half of WW2 was the 18 inch Mark XII weighing 1,548 lbs with a warhead of 388 pounds of TNT. The maximum range of the Mark XII was 1,500 yards at 40 knots and 3,500 yards at 27 knots.

The torpedoes used for Operation Judgement were fitted with a duplex pistol (contact and proximity) detonator, and were set to remain armed at the end of their run. This is the first time the duplex pistol was used in the Mediterranean. The torpedoes were set to run at 27 knots at a depth of 33 feet (the RN had good intelligence on the torpedo netting shortcomings). The minimum launch distances were set at 300 yards from the target, and only contact with the water was needed to start the motor running.

These depth and speed settings were obtained from the experience gained from the torpedoing of the RICHELIEU at Dakar. There, the water depth was 42ft, the torpedoes set to run at 40 knots at a depth of 38ft. Both these settings were too high for the Mar Grande where the water depth was only 40ft, so the torpedoes were adjusted to 27 knots at 33ft.

The torpedo was modified for launching in shallow water by fitting a wooden box 'air tail' (something the IJN copied almost exactly for their Pearl Operations), which added vertical planes to the ends of enlarged horizontal fins to improve its stability through the air so that it entered the water cleanly at the correct angle to run true. This prevented the torpedo diving too deeply before attaining its running depth; an essential requirement when launching in shallow waters. But testing had shown that, even with this 'air tail', the torpedo's excessive dive beyond depth setting was 18ft when set to 40 knots, and at 27 knots it was 6ft. But 6ft was still too much for the shallow (40ft) waters of Taranto.

To eliminate entirely the excessive dive, each torpedo was connected to the launching aircraft by a spool of fine wire, the length and breaking strain of which was precisely calculated. After releasing the torpedo, the pilot had to hold the aircraft straight and level for five seconds while the wire unwound and the torpedo stabilised. When it had completely unwound, the wire came off spool, the torpedo continued independently and the pilot could make his escape.

All this required the torpedo to be launched at low speed, at low altitude in level flight, a requirement that made the Swordfish's characteristics essential to the operations success.

The Bombs
These were the standard 250lb semi armour piercing types, unsuitable for bombing armoured ships, but usually adequate for cruisers and smaller ships, but were later shown to be unreliable.

The Flares
These were parachute flares with a 1,000ft time delay which, by the time they ignited, allowed the aircraft to be some distance away. They burned for three minutes and illuminated the target, balloons, cables, and helped the pilots judge their height above water.

 

[Njaco]

November 11 Monday
WESTERN FRONT: Operation Medium: Between 0333 and 0351 hours, British battleship "Revenge" and destroyers "Javelin", "Jaguar", "Jupiter", "Kashmir", "Kelvin", and "Kipling" bombarded Cherbourg, France. German torpedo boats attempted to interfere, but the attack was fought off.

Promotions for the day go to Hptm. Walter Oesau who is transferred from Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51 to Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 3. Hptm. Richard Leppla takes his place as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 51. Hptm. Oesau replaces Hptm. Wilhelm Balthasar, who was severely wounded in combat with Spitfires of RAF No. 222 Squadrons and taken off operations until healed. Hptm. Balthasar has thirty-one victories when he is relieved of his command.

There occurs the first anti-German demonstration in Paris.

Spanish Minister of the Navy submits to Franco a report indicating Germany must capture Suez Canal before an operation can be launched against Gibraltar.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Judgment. The British Mediterranean Fleet attacks the Italian base at Taranto. At 2300 hours, 21 Swordfish aircraft of British carrier HMS "Illustrious" escorted by 4 cruisers and 4 destroyers flew over Taranto Italy, where the Italian fleet was harbored. 6 Italian battleships and 3 cruisers lie at anchor in the outer harbour (Mar Grande). 2 cruisers, 21 destroyers and 16 submarines rest in the smaller inner harbour (Mar Piccolo), protected from torpedoes. 11 aircraft attacked with torpedoes. The aircraft attack in two waves and gain three torpedo hits on the brand new battleship "Littorio" and one each on "Caio Duilio" and "Conte di Cavour". Two other ships are damaged. However, bombing of the inner harbour is ineffective. 10 aircraft attacked the inner harbor, causing minor damage on shore facilities. 2 aircraft were shot down (2 killed, 2 captured). This brilliant attack will be studied by other navies and the potential for such an attack on an enemy fleet in harbor is clear to the Japanese. Italian Fleet subsequently leaves Taranto for Naples and Genoa.

Italian troops make minor gains around Elea in the Negrades sector while the Greek 1st Infantry Division continues attacking toward Albanian border in Pindos sector.

British Cruisers "Ajax", "Orion" and "Sydney" destroy an Italian convoy in the Strait of Otranto. 4 transports are sunk. Italian vessels "Antonio Locatelli", "Capo Vado", "Catalani" and "Premuda" are sunk by RN warships in the Strait of Otranto.

RAF conducts night raids on the Italian supply ports of Valona and Durazzo (Albania).

Regia Aeronautica forms its first Stuka dive-bomber group.

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[Njaco]

November 11 Monday (continued)
UNITED KINGDOM: At 1330 hours, British radar at Essex, England picked up incoming aircraft, which turned out to be 12 Corpo Aereo Italiano Fiat BR.20M bombers and 42 Fiat CR.42 biplane fighters (other fighters including German Bf109s abandon their escort duties due to bad weather) heading for Harwich. Hurricane fighters from No. 257, No. 46, and No. 17 Squadrons RAF were launched to intercept over the Thames Estuary, shooting down 3 bombers and 3 fighters, while damaging 2 bombers, without incurring any losses. Winston Churchill would later quip that the Italian aircraft;

"…might have found better employment defending the fleet at Taranto",

referring to the successful British raid to take place later on the same day. The Italians make other attacks, mostly by night, on east-coast ports during the next nine weeks.

Two large formations of Luftwaffe fighter-bombers attempt to reach London. A few aircraft drop bombs in three London districts. Stukas make an unsuccessful raid on a convoy off Kent. British vessels "Trebartha" and "Creemuir" are sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft.

During a dogfight against the British, Oblt. Georg Claus shoots down a British warplane for his eighteenth aerial kill. But Oblt. Claus is shot down soon after over the English Channel in the Thames estuary. Distraught and visibly sick, JG 51's Kommodore, Major Mölders issues impossible orders and demands that his pilots try to recover his friend. When nobody is able to find Oblt. Claus, Major Mölders climbs into his Bf 109 and takes to the air with his wingman, Lt. Eberle, to search for the downed pilot. They find nothing and finally return to base.

The pilots of JG 53 also lose Werner Kaufmann when he is listed as missing after action over England. He had seven victories.

British destroyer HMS "Vega" hit a mine and was badly damaged 5 miles north of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England while escorting a convoy; she would later be towed to Sheerness, Kent for repairs. On the same day, British minesweeping trawler HMT "Stella Orion" hit a mine and sank in the Thames Estuary without any casualties.

RAF No. 640 Squadron recorded the first Beaufighter "kill" when a German Ju 88A aircraft was shot down with the aid of the A.I.IV radar.

Sikorski representing the Polish government-in-exile and Benes for the Czech government-in-exile sign an agreement calling for post-war union of Poland and Czechoslovakia.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British corvette "Rhododendron" attacked German submarine U-103 with depth charges 200 miles northwest of Ireland; U-103 would be able to escape without any damage.

INDIAN OCEAN: German armed merchant cruiser "Atlantis" stopped British ship "Automedon" with gunfire in the Bay of Bengal, killing 7 crew and 1 gunner. The crew of "Atlantis" boarded "Automedon", capturing 87 survivors, cargos of food and cigarettes, and top secret Royal Navy documents including fleet orders, details of Naval and Royal Air Force deployment in the Far East, port defense layouts and Merchant Navy decoding tables and cipher pages.

NORTH AMERICA: The US army took delivery of its first Jeep. The origin of the name is still a mystery. Some say it is from the Army designation GP (General Purpose) but others prefer the reference to a character from the Popeye cartoon strip known as Eugene the Jeep. The character could walk through walls, climb trees, fly and go just about anywhere it wanted, and it is thought that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicle's versatility that they named it after the Jeep.

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[parsifal]

11 November 1940
OPERATION JUDGEMENT (Part II)
Intelligence Reports
Contrary to many otherwise reputable histories, the Italians navy's book ciphers were not compromised at this time, but RN intell on the condition of the defences at Taranto were still very detailed.

In 1940 the Italian Navy brought into use an improved version of the Enigma machine, which was broken by Bletchley in September 1940. However, it was rarely used and withdrawn in the summer of 1941. They relied instead on their naval book ciphers which were never broken except on a few isolated occasions. Operational intelligence was limited to what could be gleaned from low grade signal intelligence and air reconnaissance and espionage.

Intelligence for Operation Judgement relied extensively on photo reconnaissance (PR). This was performed by Flight 431 of the RAF from Malta using Martin Marylands (mostly) which had only recently arrived. On 10 November they brought back high definition photographs which confirmed the presence of the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto. But they also showed for the first time, anti-torpedo nets around the moored ships and barrage balloons anchored at various points in and around the outer harbour, protecting the ships in the Mar Grande. On the morning of the 11th, an aircraft from Illustrious was flown to Malta to collect these photographs. The photography was so good, the depth of the netting could be discerned.

To take account of these newly discovered features, the plan of attack had to be changed at the last minute, by changing the torpedo dropping points and modifying the bombing run-in routes, either to go round, through or over the balloons and their cables which, it was hoped, would be illuminated by the flares. In view of the perilous nature of the operation, the two Sqn Commanders (Lt-Cdr. Williamson and Lt-Cdr. Hale) were allowed to choose the method of attack for their sqns. Recon of the Gulf of Taranto continued until 2230 to ensure that the Italian Fleet did not leave harbour unobserved.

Prelude
The original plan was scheduled for 21 October 1940, the anniversary of Trafalgar, using 30 Swordfish bombers from two carriers, (ILLUSTRIOUS and EAGLE). However, while fitting one of the extra fuel tanks, a spark ignited some spilled fuel in the hangar deck of ILLUSTRIOUS which caused a serious hangar fire, destroying two a/c, the rest, having been saturated with sea water, had to be completely stripped down, necessitating the postponement of the operation until the night of 11-12 November, when next the moon was suitable.

More seriously, on 1 November while escorting a military convoy to Crete, EAGLE sustained bomb damage from near misses and contamination of her avgas tankage, and had to be withdrawn for repairs at Alexandria. Five of her a/c and 8 of her most experienced night capable aircrews, from 813 and 824 sqns, were transferred to ILLUSTRIOUS. Because of these changes, instead of having 30 attack a/c for the operation, only 24 could be mustered for the attack, mainly from 815 and 819 Sqns. More could not be accommodated because of the necessary presence of 806 Sqn's Fulmars for defence.

Force A left Alexandria on 6 November, but on 9, 10 and 11 November respectively, three Swordfish were lost from ILLUSTRIOUS when they suffered engine problems and had to ditch in the sea, thus further reducing the number available to 21. The problem was traced to contaminated fuel, necessitating all the remaining aircraft having their fuel systems hurriedly drained and refuelled.

Several times, Italian recon a/c approached but were shot down by the defending Fulmars. Force A rendezvoused with Force F, SE of Malta as scheduled.

The Attack

The first strike of 12 a/c would be flown off at 2030, and make their attack at about 2245. The second strike of 9 a/c would be flown off one hour later at 2130, making their attack at about 2345. The returning a/c would be landed on 20 miles west of Kabbo Point, Cephalonia.

Both attacks were to be carried out as follows:-
" The sqn of 12 aircraft to pass up the centre of the Gulf of Taranto and approach the harbour from the SW. The primary attack to be by six torpedo aircraft against the BBs in the Mar Grande. This attack to be immediately preceded by two a/c dropping flares (and bombs) along the eastern side of the Mar Grande in order to illuminate the targets and distract attention from the torpedo a/c, and by 4 a/c making a dive bomb attack on the attractive target presented by the line of cruisers and destroyers in the Mar Piccolo. It was expected that this attack would also distract attention from the torpedo attack."

This was classic torpedo attack tactics by a/c on warships. First, the bombers would attack from a high level then, while the attention of the defences were directed upwards, the torpedo bombers would attack from sea level. In rugby parlance it's the "up and under".

Force X detached at 1800, arriving at the flying off point, 40 miles west of Cephalonia, some 180 miles SE of Taranto, at 2030. ILLUSTRIOUS changed course to ENE and increased speed to 28 knots and the first wave flew off.

The First Wave

The Sqn Ldr, Lcdr Williamson had opted to split his six torpedo bombers into two sub-flights of three, approaching from the west at low altitude to delay detection. The first sub-flight would approach over San Pietro Island, fly through the balloons and attack the southernmost of the battleships, while the second sub-flight would simultaneously approach more to the nth, fly around the balloons and attack the northernmost BBs. By this method it was hoped to divide the defensive AA fire. It was left to individual pilots to select their own target. it was a good plan of attack.

The first wave of 12 Swordfish flew off at 2035 and formed up soon afterwards. At 2115 when at a height of 4,500 feet the squadron entered the base of cumulus cloud and 4 a/c became separated. These were L4M (torpedo), L4L, L4H, E5Q (bombs) which then made their way to the target independently. The squadron commander (Williamson) continued with the remaining eight, arriving at Taranto at 2250 to be greeted by heavy AA fire already in progress. (The defences had detected either the recon a/c or one of the detached Swordfish arriving early, or probably both).

At 2256 the flare droppers started to lay their flares along the eastern side of the harbour. The torpedo bombers split into their sub-flights and started their attack simultaneously with the illumination of the first flares. The first sub-flight of three, approaching over San Pietro Island attacked the southernmost of the BBs as planned, while the second sub-flight, approaching slightly more to the nth, attacked the northernmost. Meanwhile, the other 4 a/c having lost their leader, all made their attacks independently.

All aircraft met with intense AA fire virtually the whole time. The torpedo bombers came under almost continuous intense AA fire from both land, ships and moored positions. The fire from ships followed the a/c down to sea level, continuing until, in some cases, the Italians were firing on their own ships. Much damage was done to the town of Taranto by AA fire in the process.

 

[parsifal]

11 November 1940
OPERATION JUDGEMENT (Part III)
Results of Individual Attacks
L4A (815) Lt-Cdr. Williamson (Commander) and Lt. Scarlett.
Arriving at 2250, they flew over San Pietro Island at 4,000ft, making a slow decent, and flying almost straight across the bay through the Tarantola balloon barrage before launching their torpedo which passed between the destroyer FULMINE and the TB LAMPO striking BB CONTE DI CAVOUR (RM 29100 grt) between the bridge and B turret. Turning away after the attack, they dipped a wing tip in the water. The result being they crashed into the sea, survived, rescued and taken prisoner.

CONTE DI CAVOUR on the morning after the attack in 1940. She was raised, but disarmed for the remainder of the war

L4C (815) Sub-Lt. Sparke and Sub-Lt. Neale
They flew at 4,000ft over San Pietro Island and started to dive. The aircraft was down on the water about half way across the Mar Grande and crossed the Tarantola breakwater. Unable to identify BB LITTORIO, the BB CAVOUR was seen and attacked at a range of 700 yards. The torpedo missed its target.

L4R (815) Sub-Lt. Macaulay and Sub-Lt. Wray
They followed the same approach route taken by the previous aircraft, and again the target was the CAVOUR which they attacked from 600 yards. The torpedo missed its target.

L4K (815) Lt. Kemp and Sub-Lt. Bailey
They came in from the west, north of San Pietro Island at a height of 4,000ft. Passing north of the cruisers and their balloons they flattened out on a line for the BB LITTORIO. The torpedo was dropped at 2318 from 1,000 yards and struck the ship on her starboard bow.

L4M (815) Lt. Swayne and Sub-Lt. Buscall
Having become detached from the leader they waited off the harbour for 15 minutes for the arrival of the other aircraft. When the first flare was seen, they came in at 1,000 feet over the westerly breakwater. Flying easterly across the Mar Grande and losing height until reaching the end of the Tarantola breakwater they made a sharp turn to port so as to approach the LITTORIO from the east. The torpedo was dropped at about 2215 from 400 yards and they continued passing directly over the ship. The torpedo struck the Littorio abaft the funnels on the port quarter.

E4F (813) Lt. Maund and Sub-Lt. Bull The last of the torpedo bombers came in over Rondinella Point, nth of the cruisers and launched its torpedo from 1,300 yards at the BB VITTORIO VENETO, but the torpedo exploded upon contact with the bottom.

L4P (815) Lt. Kiggell and Lt. Janvrin (16 flares and 4x250lb bombs)
Their objective was to drop flares along the eastern shore and bomb any convenient target. They came in at 7,000ft over San Vito at 22.58 flying NE and commenced dropping a line of eight flares at half mile intervals from near the point where the Tarantola breakwater meets land. After the flares had been dropped, they turned to starboard looking for a target, and made a dive bombing attack on the most southerly oil storage depot. No results were observed.

L5B (819) Lt. Lamb and Lt. Grieve(16 flares and 4x250lb bombs)
They were the stand by flare droppers. Coming in astern of L4P (Kiggell and Janvrin), they saw that the first flares appeared to be illuminating satisfactorily, so no more flares were dropped. They then bombed the same oil storage tanks, but again no results were observed.

E5A(824) Capt. Patch and Lt. Goodwin ( 6x250lb bombs)
Their task was to bomb the line of cruisers and destroyers moored against the quay side on the sth of the Mar Piccolo. They came in at 8,500 feet over San Pietro Island at 2306, crossed the Mar Grande and the canal and to the middle of the western portion of the Mar Piccolo. Two minutes later the target was identified and a dive bombing attack was made from 1,500 feet obliquely across two cruisers from N.W. to S.E. at 2315. The DD LIBECCIO was hit but the bombs failed to explode.

L4L (815) Sub-Lt. Sarra; Sub-Lt. Bowker (6x250lb bombs)
Their initial objective was to attack the cruisers and destroyers in the Mar Piccolo. But coming in at 8,000ft over the western mainland and diving to 1,500 feet over the Mar Piccolo, they were unable to identify the target. Continuing along the southern shore of the Mar Piccolo they attacked the seaplane base from 500ft. They achieved several hits causing an explosion and fire in a hangar.

L4H (815) Sub-Lt. Forde and Sub-Lt. Mardel (6x250lb bombs)
They were separated from the leader and arrived as the first flare was dropped and came in east of Cape San Vito. On reaching te Mar Piccolo they turned, and flying at 1,500ft from NE to SW, delivered their attack on two cruisers. The first bomb hit the water short of the target but the remainder hit the cruiser although no immediate results were observed. Intense A.A. fire from the cruisers moored in the Mar Piccolo was met throughout the dive. They were uncertain whether their bombs had released and circled the western basin of the Mar Piccolo and repeated the attack.

E5Q (824) Lt. Murray and Sub-Lt. Paine (6x250lb bombs)
They came in east of Cape San Vito when the attack was already in progress and the flares were dropping. They continued until the eastern end of the Mar Piccolo was reached and turning to port flew along the southern shore. Their objective was the cruisers and destroyers, which they attacked from 3,000ft, the bombs dropping in a line running from E to W. commencing by the most eastern jetty and extending across four of the destroyers to the most westerly cruiser in the line, hitting the LIBECCIO but the bomb failed to detonate.

With their individual tasks completed, the last aircraft left Taranto 2335, landing on ILLUSTRIOUS 0155.

Second Wave
The second wave of 9 a/c started flying off at 2128 and 8 a/c were off by 2134. L5F was accidentally damaged before take off in a collision with L5Q and had to be struck down to the hangar for repairs to the wing fabric. It was eventually flown off at 2158. At 2205, L5Q, lost its external overload tank when it became detached, forcing the a/c to return to the CV which fired on it as it was not expected, but landed safely. That left only 8 a/c to take part in the 2nd strike. At 2250 the Sqn commenced to climb and at 2315 when 60 miles away sighted flares and AA fire , which continued until at 2350. When the NW shore of the Gulf of Taranto was sighted, the Sqn turned to the NE at 8,000ft and detached the flare droppers at 2355.

Lcdr Hale's plan was for the all his torpedo bombers to approach from the NW at high altitude. They were to pass nth of Rondinella Pt and, skirting the cruisers to the nth, fly over the balloons, turn sth and dive quickly to sea level and attack the BBs from the nth, as this gave them overlapping targets and a greater chance of hitting something.

L5A (819) Lcdr. Hale (Commander) and Lt. Carline
They came in a mile nth of Rondinella Point at 5,000ft, glided down over the commercial basin, and steering directly for the LITTORIO, dropped their torpedo from about 700 yards. [See note after L5K.]

L5K(819) Lt. Torrens-Spence and Lt. Sutton. Following the Flight Leader L5A (Hale and Carline), they came in over Rondinella Point, and glided down to a point south of the canal. Their torpedo was aimed at the Littorio but failed to release at first attempt, so they held their course, tried again and finally released the torpedo manually from 700 yards.

What is certain is that one torpedo from either L5A or L5K struck the LITTORIO on its starboard side. But what is not known is who to credit with the hit, as they both launched their torpedoes from similar positions at about the same time.

E4H (813) Lt. Bayly and Lt. Slaughter
As they approached, they were hit by intense AA fire and crashed into the harbour killing both crew. The body of SLt Bayly was found and buried with full military honours, while the body of Lt Slaughter was never found. They were the only aircrew fatalities during the course of the entire raid.

L5H(819) Lt. Lee and Sub-Lt. Jones
They came in astern of L5A (Hale and Carline) over Rondinella Pt, gliding down to a point sth of the canal, dropping their torpedo from about 800 yds at the BB DUILIO, striking the ship on the starboard side.

E5H (824) Lt. Wellham and Lt. Humphreys
They came in over Rondinella Point, over Mar Piccolo, and the Town of Taranto, and turned to starboard to the centre of the Mar Grande. Diving to attack, the a/c was hit by AA fire causing severe aileron damage, putting the a/c temporarily out of control. Regaining partial control, the torpedo was dropped from about 500 yards aimed at the VITTORIO VENETO which missed. After which they received further wing damage from AA fire and, heavily damaged, limped home.

L5B (819) Lt. Hamilton and Sub-Lt. Weeks (16 flares and 4x250lb bombs)
They came in over Cape San Vito at 7,500 feet, and dived to 5,000 feet, dropping a line of flares at intervals of 15 seconds to the east of the harbour. After dropping all flares successfully, they delivered a dive bombing attack from 2,500ft on the oil storage depot, starting a fire.

L4F(815) Lt. Skelton and SLt. Perkins (16 flares and 4x250lb bombs)
Their approach was similar to L5B (Hamilton and Weeks) except that the flares were dropped SE of the harbour, from between 6,500 feet and 5,000 feet. They then bombed the oil storage depot.

L5F(819) Lt. Clifford and Lt. Going (6x250lb bombs)
Due to their flight deck collision with L5Q, they started 25 mins late and arrived at Taranto when the second attack was already in progress. They came in over the land about 5 miles east of the harbour entrance, and steered straight over the dockyard to the far side of the Mar Piccolo. Turning to port an attack was made from 2,500 feet along the line of cruisers and destroyers from west to east. A stick of bombs was dropped across the cruisers TRENTO and MIRAGLIA. One bomb hit the TRENTO .

 

[parsifal]

11 November 1940
OPERATION JUDGEMENT (Part IV)

The Result

The BBs LITTORIO, CAIO DUILIO and CAVOUR were either sunk or beached to prevent them sinking. The CA TRENTO was hit by bombs , damaging a fuel tank. Two DDs (LIBECCIO PESSAGNO) had also sustained damage from bomb hits. Two fleet auxiliaries were damaged with their sterns seen to be under water. However of the 42 bombs dropped, a quarter failed to explode, which was later attributed to faulty manufacture.

The seaplane hangars had been hit several times causing a fire and the loss of seaplanes. This was the base from which these a/c conducted aerial recon. Damaged also were the docks, the oil fuel depot and the aqueduct.

The bombers had only attacked a handful of warships, the seaplane hangars and some of the oil depots, yet damage to the harbour and even to the city looked much more extensive. That was because many of the estimated 14,000 rounds of all calibres (two thirds of which were 3 inch or greater) fired by shore AA defences, and unrecorded numbers by warship defences, had landed on the merchantmen and in the city, causing severe damage to both ships and installations.

CONTE DI CAVOUR
The CAVOUR was the most seriously damaged. The torpedo had blown a hole of about 40 x 25 feet near the keel by the forward ammunition magazine. She was brought closer to shore, but not close enough to avoid partial sinking. After she had settled to the bottom, water reached the main deck submerging most of the hull.

She was not re-floated until July 1941. She was then sent to Monfalcone, Trieste where two years were necessary to fully repair the ship. When Italy surrendered, on 8 September 1943, she was still there. She was taken over by the Germans to be once again sunk, this time by USAAF heavy bombers in 1945. She was effectively a loss after the Taranto raid

CAIO DUILIO
The DUILIO suffered damage from a torpedo hit which caused a hole of about 35 x 24 feet in the starboard quarter. The ship was run aground to prevent sinking. In January she was re-floated and left Taranto for Genoa and entered dry dock. It took another six months for her to return to service, in July 1941, still requiring about 2 months of work up and shake down after that. She was effectively out of action for nearly a year.

LITTORIO
The Littorio was hit by 3 torpedoes, 2 to starboard, one under the second turret, and the second one aft of the first turret. The third hit the ship to port near the rudder control mechanism, causing the partial destruction of the primary rudder. Although not in danger of sinking, it was decided to let her rest on the muddy bottom of a shallow section of the harbour. Repair work was hampered by the presence of an unexploded torpedo underneath her keel. (Which apparently had hit her but did not explode. It was found in the mud under the stern with its striking cap impact damaged, and there was a dent in the Littorio's starboard quarter.) Repairs to her were given priority and were completed in five months. It took another month to complete work and shake down, she was effectively out of the fight for 7 months.

The Italian Foreign Minister (and Mussolini's son-in-law) Count Ciano wrote in his diary for 12 November 1940:
"A black day. The British without warning, have attacked the Italian Fleet at anchor in Taranto, and have sunk the Dreadnought Cavour and seriously damaged the battleships Littorio and Duilio. These ships will remain out of the fight for many months. I thought I would find the Duce downhearted. Instead he took the blows quite well and does not, at this moment seemed to have fully realised its gravity."

In Winston Churchill's speech to the House of Commons 13 November 1940:
"As the result of a determined and highly successful attack, which reflects the greatest honour on the Fleet Air Arm, only three Italian battleships now remain effective. This result, while it affects decisively the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean, also carries with it reactions upon the naval situation in every quarter of the globe."

Report from Captain Boyd (Illustrious) 13th November 1940:
"Although the proper function of the Fleet Air Arm may perhaps be the operation of aircraft against an enemy in open sea, it has been demonstrated before, and repeated in no uncertain fashion by this success that the ability to strike unexpectedly is conferred by the Fleet Air Arm.
It is often felt that this arm which has had a long struggle with adverse opinions and its unspectacular aircraft is underestimated in its power. It is hoped that this victory will be considered a suitable reward to those whose work and faith in the Fleet Air Arm has made it possible."

The German Naval Staff (Berlin) diarist:
"The English attack must be regarded as the greatest naval victory of the war. At a stroke, it has changed the strategic situation at sea in the entire Mediterranean decisively in England's favour. Even more than before, the enemy will move throughout the Mediterranean, taking no account of the Italian Fleet."

King George VI to Admiral Cunningham:
"The recent successful operations of the Fleet under your command have been a source of pride and gratification to all at home. Please convey my warm congratulations to the Mediterranean Fleet and, in particular, to Fleet Air Arm on their brilliant exploit against the Italian warships at Taranto. "

Cunningham's despatch to the Admiralty 16 January 1941:
"There can be little doubt that the crippling of half the Italian Battlefleet is having, and will continue to have, a marked effect on the course of the war. Without indulging in speculation as to the political repercussions, it is already evident that this successful attack has greatly increased our freedom of movement in the Mediterranean and has thus strengthened our control over the central area of this sea. It has enabled two battleships to be released for operations elsewhere, while the effect on the morale of the Italians must be considerable. As an example of "economy of force" it is probably unsurpassed."

Cunningham's further estimate that Italians would be unwilling to risk their remaining heavy units was quickly proven wrong. Only five days after Taranto, Campioni sortied with two BBs, six cruisers and 14 DDs to disrupt a supply convoy to Malta. The follow-up to this operation led to the Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November 1940.

Measured against its the critical objective of disrupting Axis convoys to Africa, the Taranto attack had very little effect. In fact, Italian shipping to Libya increased between the months of October 1940 – January 1941 to an average of 49,435 tons per month, up from the 37,204-ton average of the previous four months.

The IJN's staff carefully studied the Taranto raid during planning for the attack on Pearl Harbor because of the issues with a shallow harbour. Japanese Lieutenant Commander Takeshi Naito, the assistant naval attaché to Berlin, flew to Taranto to investigate the attack firsthand and wrote a report outlining the main elements of the attack. Naito subsequently had a lengthy conversation with Commander Mitsuo Fuchida about his observations in 1941. Fuchida led the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. More significant, perhaps, was a Japanese military mission to Italy in May 1941. Japanese Navy officers visited Taranto and had lengthy discussions with their Italian Navy opposite numbers. The IJNs success at Pearl allowed them to complete their conquest of SE Asia untroubled by USN interference.

 

[parsifal]

11 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Neutral
MSW USS RAVEN (AM 55)

Allied
RN Harbour Defence Motor Launch HDML 1030 (ML 1030)

Motor Anti-Submarine Boat MA/SB 60

Losses
The LW carried repeated strikes on convoy EN.23/WN 34 at 1352, 1745, 1751, 1802, 1834. AA ship ALYNBANK was attampting to provide air defence to both convoys.

Steamer TREBARTHA (UK 4597 grt) in EN.23 was sunk four miles SE of Aberdeen. Four crew were lost. The LW strikes set her afire forward so she was run ashore in Cove Bay, Kincardineshire, 3 miles sth of Aberdeen. She broke in two became a total loss. Her manifest shows she was on a voyage from London to Philadelphia in ballast.
(photo by Stuart Smith)

Steamer CREEMUIR (UK 3997 grt) in convoy EN.23 was sunk at 1751 by the LW, after she was torpedoed about 10 nm SE of Aberdeen. 26 crew and the naval gunner were lost with the steamer.

British steamer HARLAW in convoy WN.34 was damaged by the LW off Aberdeen.

MSW trawler STELLA ORION (RN 417 grt) was lost on a mine in the Thames Estuary, two cables 262° NW of Shingles Buoy.
There were no casualties on the trawler.

Steamer BALMORE (UK 1925 grt) was sunk by the LW in the SW Approaches, about 300 miles S.W. of Ireland. The entire crew of the British steamer was lost.

Steamer SKARV (UK 158 grt) was sunk by a mine in Bristol Channel.

Steamer ARDMORE (Eire 1023 grt) The Irish Channel cargo steamship ARDMORE , left Cork for Fishguard on November llth, 1940. On the day of her final voyage the weather had been particularly bad, with a severe southerly gale blowing, and many ships had remained in port as a consequence Nevertheless the ships Captain, Thomas Ford, made the decision to sail and she left her dock at Penrose Quay at 8 p.m. that evening with her crew of 24 men and a cargo of around 1000 cattle and pigs, and other agricultural produce. Nothing more was heard of the ship or her crew until the body of the captain and several other crew members were washed up some weeks later. The wreck was found in 1988 and lies 2.8 miles off Great Saltee Island, Co. Wexford.

Although it was generally accepted at the time that she had struck a mine, the mystery of her fate or her whereabouts would not be solved for another 58 years. It wasn't until 1998 that the wreck of the S.S. ARDMORE was officially identified, lying in around 83 feet of water with her mid-ship blown out, a couple of miles south of the Saltee Islands and just under six miles from the harbour at Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford. She had indeed struck a mine, most probably a magnetic mine, as a few months before her disappearance, on August 8th 1940, a German plane was spotted laying magnetic mines in that general area. It had been divers from Kilmore Quay who had originally discovered the wreck and following a lot of research by Dubliner Peter Mulvany, in conjunction with Eugene Kehoe, one of the divers, she was formally identified. Co-incidentally, her wreck lies not too far from the wreck of the first S.S. ARDMORE, which was lost 23 years before, almost to the day, also to German action.

UBOATS
At Sea 11 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-43, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-103, U-124, U-137, U-138.
11 boats at sea.

On 11 Nov, 1940, NW of Ireland in position, the British Flower Class corvette HMS RHODODENDRON depth charged a German U-boat. This attack at the time was thought to have sunk U-104, but the target was actually U-103, which escaped unscathed

OPERATIONS
Baltic
Eastern Baltic

Western Baltic

North Sea
DD VEGA, escorting FS.332, was mined off Sunk Head Buoy. She was taken in tow by British tug ST MELLONS and taken to Harwich. VEGA was taken to the Humber on the 17th for repair. She departed the Humber on 2 July 1941 by British tug STALWART for Sheerness arriving on 3 July. VEGA was repairing until 14 November 1942. DD SOMALI departed Scapa at midnight for boiler cleaning and repairs at Rosyth, arriving at Rosyth on the 12th.

FN.332 departed Southend, escort DD VIVIEN and sloop LONDONDERRY. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 14th. FS.333 departed Methil, escort DDs EGLINTON and WATCHMAN. The convoy arrived off Southend on the 13th.

German bombers attacked convoys FN.332 and FS.333.

Steamer RAVNANGER (Nor 3371 grt) was bombed and sunk by LW a/c (possibly He 115 of the 3./K. Fl. Gr. 906), 1-1.5 miles NE of No 20 Buoy, Tees Bay, when proceeding at half speed (in ballast) while awaiting a convoy to go back to Sydney, C.B.; she had left Middlesbrough the day before. The a/c had a green light underneath and was first thought to be British when it passed over at around 0025 hrs. But when it came back a second time a column of water was observed about 2-3 ship lengths off, and just as the aircraft passed over, an explosion occurred under RAVNANGER's foreship, and she started to sink by the bow. It was bright moonlight at the time. One of the lifeboats was caught and pulled under as the ship sank, but the 5 occupants in that boat were able to get onto rafts which drifted past. The 3rd engineer was last seen on his way to his cabin, and probably went down with the ship. 26 survived. As the motor lifeboat with the survivors headed for land the ship's bow was on the bottom while her stem was visible above water.

British steamers CORSEA, CORDUFF and COLONEL CROMPTON in a convoy were damaged by the LW in Barrow Deep off Middlesborough. Escorting escort vessel VIVIEN shot down one Junkers bomber, sloop LONDONDERRY shot down another Junkers bomber, tug ST MELLONS shot down a Messerschmitt. British steamer PITWINES (932grt) was damaged by the LW NE of Yarmouth.
British steamer GRIT was damaged by mine 200 yds SSW of Margate Buoy.

British trawler IWATE was damaged by the LW 35 miles SW of Old Head of Kinsale.
Northern Patrol

Northern Waters
CLA CURACOA arrived at Scapa after escorting convoy EN.22 to Pentland Firth.

West Coast UK
OB.242 departed Liverpool escort DDs WANDERER, WARWICK, WILD SWAN and corvettes CYCLAMEN and HIBISCUS. WANDERER and WILD SWAN and corvette CYCLAMEN were detached that day. On the 12th, DD CLARE joined the convoy and remained with it until 14 November when she was detached with DD WARWICK. The corvettes GARDENIA and NASTURTIUM were with the convoy on the 13th.

Nth Atlantic
HX.85, which had originally departed on the 1st and was recalled on the 5th, departed Sydney CB, escort RCN aux PV ELK. The convoy was given ocean escort by BB RODNEY and AMC RAJPUTANA, which were detached on the 21st. On 22 November, DDs MALCOLM and SABRE and ASW trawlerVIZALMA. The trawler was detached later that day. Corvette HELIOTROPE joined on the 23rd. Corvette CLARKIA joined on the 25th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 25th.

Med- Biscay
DDs WISHART and WRESTLER departed Gibraltar to rendezvous with CVE ARGUS and CL DESPATCH arriving from England. DDs DUNCAN and FORESTER departed Gibraltar to meet BC RENOWN returning to Gibraltar from escort duties in the Atlantic.

As an adjunct to Operation JUDGEMENT, CLs ORION, AJAX, RAN SYDNEY with DDs NUBIAN and MOHAWK were detached at 1310 to operate in the Otranto Strait. 12 miles 315° from Saseno they encountered an Italian convoy of merchant ships and sank all four.

At 1800 the cruisers left the main battle fleet in the direction of the Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania, to intercept naval traffic. After having entered the Adriatic Sea undetected, the British force was able to detect an Italian convoy enroute from Brindisi to Valona. The action took place between 0105 and 0150 on the 12th of November.

The action was swift; once they located the Italian convoy, the British sank all Italian cargo vessels, despite the heroic fight put up by the FABRIZI which, in the process, was seriously damaged. Less admirable was the behavior of the RAMB III, which, after the initial exchange of fire, abandoned the cargo ships to their fate.

Later that day, the RM TBs CURTATONE and SOLFERINO rescued a total of 140 sailors, while the casualties totaled 36 dead and 42 wounded, including the fallen aboard the FABRIZI. Commander Barbini, for the heroic perseverance shown during the action was awarded the Gold Medal for bravery.

MV ANTONIO LOCATELLI (FI 5691 grt), in ballast from Valona to Brindisi. All hands lost one body recovered

MV CAPO VADO (FI 4391 grt), No details found

Hybrid LINER/MV CATALANI (FI 2429 grt) No other ship details

MV PREMUDA (FI 4427 grt)

The badly damaged TB FABRIZI was badly damaged by gunfire in an engagement with DD MOHAWK. AMC RAMB III fired nineteen salvoes and then disengaged undamaged. RM TBs nth of Valona, CLs ATTENDOLO, EUGENIO, AOSTA, ABRUZZI and GARIBALDI, with and DDs, some from Taranto hastened to intercept the retreating RN forces in Otranto Straits but were unable to make contact.

 

[parsifal]

11 November 1940 (Part II)
OPERATIONS [CONT"D]
Med- Biscay
Vichy Contre Torpilleur DDs GUEPARD and VALMY arrived at Beirut.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
DKM Raider ATLANTIS captured steamer AUTOMEDON (UK 7528 grt). At around 0700 hrs , AUTOMEDON encountered the ATLANTIS about 250 mi (400 km) NW of Sumatra, approaching on a heading that would bring the two ships close together. At 0820, when AUTOMEDON was less than 5000 metres away, ATLANTIS ran up her Battle ensign and uncovered her guns. AUTOMEDON at once responded by transmitting a distress signal, but only managed to send "RRR – Automedon – 0416N" ("RRR" meant "under attack by armed raider") before the Germans jammed her transmissions.

ATLANTIS' gunners then opened fire from a range of 2000m, four salvos hitting AUTOMEDONs bridge and midsection. The first shells destroyed AUTOMEDONs bridge, killing everyone present there including her captain and all her officers. AUTOMEDON was still steaming at full speed and a crewman attempted to reach her stern gun to return fire. A final salvo was fired which hit the ship, killing the would-be gunner and stopping her.

When the ATLANTIS ' boarding party went on board AUTOMEDON they were met by the vessel's first mate. Ulrich Mohr of ATLANTIS later said that the ship was in the worst condition he had ever seen; the close-range shelling had destroyed virtually every structure above the hull, and nothing was left undamaged. Six crew members had been killed and 12 injured; six of the injured were at once transferred to ATLANTIS for medical assistance.

The freighter's cargo of crated a/c, motor cars, spare parts, liquor, cigarettes, and food bound for Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai was valuable but of little use to ATLANTIS, so no thought was given to salvaging any of it. A thorough search of the ship, however, found 15 bags of Top Secret mail for the British Far East Command, including a large quantity of decoding tables, Fleet orders, gunnery instructions, and Naval Intelligence reports. The most significant find was, however, a small green bag discovered in the chart room near the bridge. Marked "Highly Confidential" and equipped with holes to allow it to sink if it had to be thrown overboard, the bag contained an envelope addressed to Robert Brooke Popham, Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command. The envelope contained documents prepared by the British War Cabinet's Planning Division which included their evaluations of the strength and status of British land and naval forces in the Far East, a detailed report on Singapore's defenses, and information on the roles to be played by Australian and New Zealand forces in the Far East in the event that Japan entered the war on the Axis side. Captain Bernhard Rogge of ATLANTIS set a time limit of 3 hrs during which time 31 British and 56 Chinese crewmen, 3 passengers, their possessions, all the frozen meat and food and the ship's papers and mail bags were transferred.

AUTOMEDON was sunk by scuttling charges at 1507 after being judged too badly damaged to tow. Her survivors eventually reached Bordeaux, France, aboard the captured Norwegian tanker Storstad. Captain Rogge soon realised the importance of the intelligence material he had captured from AUTOMEDON and quickly transferred the documents onto the vessel OLE JACOB, captured earlier, ordering Lcdr Paul Kamenz and 6 of his crew to take charge of the vessel and convey the captured material to the German representatives in Japan.

After an uneventful voyage OLE JACOB arrived in Kobe, Japan, on 4 December, 1940. The mail reached the German embassy in Tokyo, on 5 December, and was then hand-carried to Berlin via the Trans-Siberian railway. A copy was given to the Japanese and it is likely that this played a prominent part in the Japanese planning for the invasion of Malaya Following Japan's entry into the war and the fall of Singapore, Capt. Rogge was presented with an ornate katana on 27 April 1943; Japan only ever presented three such swords, the other two being to Hermann Göring and Erwin Rommel

Malta
Weather Warm; clear and fine.
0808-0835 hrs Air raid alert; raid does not materialise.
KALAFRANA Sunderland on special moonlight patrol for naval co-operation in Taranto area.

While the attack on Taranto was proceeding, another force was attacking an Italian convoy in the Med. At just past midnight, CLs AJAX, ORION, and RAN SYDNEY, and two DDs, HMS NUBIAN and MOHAWK, engaged and damaged four Italian merchant ships and a torpedo boat; their accompanying cruiser fled the scene.

 

[Njaco]

November 12 Tuesday
MEDITERRANEAN: The 19 surviving Swordfish aircraft of the 21 sent to attack Taranto, Italy at 2300 hours on the previous day returned to the British carrier HMS "Illustrious". The 3 undamaged Italian battleships "Vittorio Veneto", "Andrea Doria" and "Giulio Cesare" and most of the cruisers depart Taranto for the safety of Naples further North. The British bombers plan to return to Taranto and follow up yesterday's attack but Admiral Cunningham cancels the raid at 1700 hours due to bad weather. Consequently, damage to the Italian fleet is not as decisive as hoped. Battleships "Littorio" and "Caio Duilio" will be repaired and returned to service by Spring 1941 and only "Conte di Cavour" is unsalvageable. https://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment...k-at-Taranto,-The--Tactical-Success,-Operatio

Greek forces begin advancing toward Igoumenitsa in Thesprotia sector as the Greek 1st Infantry Division attacked toward the Albanian border in Pindos sector.

WEST AFRICA: Vichy French forces in Gabon, French Equatorial Africa surrendered to Free French forces at Port Gentil 70 miles south of Libreville. Having successfully negotiated the surrender, Governor Georges Pierre Masson committed suicide shortly after the agreement was reached. On August 29, Masson had publicly declared loyalty to DeGaulle's Free French, only to switch back immediately to Vichy under pressure from the Naval commander at Libreville.

GERMANY: Adolf Hitler issued Directive 18 for the capture of Gibraltar, Azores Islands, Madeira, and Portugal. France is to be treated as a non-belligerent power, required to allow German war measures on French territory, and support these measures with her own forces. http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/18.html

Worried by the speedy German victory over France plus German moves into Romania and Finland, Stalin guesses (correctly) that Germany plans to invade USSR. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrived in Berlin, Germany for discussions about spheres of influence in the Balkan Peninsula and in Finland and to probe German intentions. In the morning, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop reassured Molotov that Germany had no further interest in eastern and southern Europe. In the afternoon, Molotov met with Adolf Hitler who assures Molotov that the war against Britain is going smoothly and that Germany has no interests in Soviet territory. As a distraction, Ribbentrop and Hitler encourage the USSR to invade Iran to gain access to the Persian Gulf and, thus, the Indian Ocean. Molotov relayed Joseph Stalin's request for Hitler to explain the recently formed German-Italian-Japanese military alliance and the recent German move into Romania. Before Hitler gave a concrete answer, he noted that as the hour was getting late, the risk of British bombing was getting greater, thus the meeting should be broken up.

Adolf Hitler issued a directive to the German army to be prepared in invade Greece so that the Luftwaffe could attack airfield from which the RAF might attack the oilfields of Romania.

Having realized that his staff made plans to move visiting Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov to bomb shelters in case Allied bombers attacked Berlin, Adolf Hitler realized that the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany did not have an adequate bunker, and immediate ordered for a plan to be drawn up. Digging would begin in the middle of the Chancellery garden in 1943, but the construction would never be finished.

RAF Bomber Command sends aircraft to attack Gelsenkirchen and other targets overnight.

UNITED KINGDOM: A captured German airman warned of a 'colossal raid' on Coventry or Birmingham by; "…every bomber in the Luftwaffe….will take place by moonlight between November 15 and 20". British intelligence officers thought the airman was fed incorrect information in case he was captured, and the actual target would be London. In fact, Churchill knew the truth from de-coded Ultra messages, that Coventry would be the target.

ASIA: In Batavia, agreements are concluded (today and tomorrow) between the Japanese and the principal oil companies whereby the Japanese are to receive 1,800,000 tons of oil annually from the Dutch East Indies.

NORTH AMERICA: In Canada, Colonel Burns again proposes a parachute force to the Chief of General Staff. The idea is shelved, and no action is taken.

WESTERN FRONT: Spanish General Staff submits to Franco a plan for full mobilization and doubling the size of the army if Germany will supply weapons and equipment.

.

.

 

[parsifal]

12 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Neutral
ELCO 70' MTB PT-12

Allied
M1 Class Minelayer HMS M 4 (M 68 )
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Dance Class ASW Trawler HMS RUMBA (T 122)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
Steamer ARGUS (UK 661 grt) was sunk on a mine three cables 199° from south Oaze Buoy. One gunner was lost on the steamer. 33 crew and one gunner were rescued.

Trawler LORD HALDANE (UK 91 grt) was lost in the vicinity of the Bristol Channel to unknown cause.

UBOATS
Departures
Kiel: U-104

At Sea 12 November 1940
U-28, U-29, U-43, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-103, U-104, U-124, U-137, U-138.
12 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FS.334 departed Methil, escort DDs VERDUN and WOLSEY. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 14th.

Northern Patrol
DDs EXMOOR and PYTCHLEY departed Skaalefjord. At 0906, the DDs were ordered to return to the Faroes and await the arrival of DD DOUGLAS to relieve them of the escort of steamer ADDA. On the arrival of DOUGLAS, they departed and DDs EXMOOR and PYTCHLEY arrived at Scapa on the morning of the 13th.

Northern Waters
AA ship ALYNBANK arrived at Scapa after escorting convoy EN.23 to the Pentland Firth. DDs BRILLIANT and VIMY arrived at Scapa Flow from the Faroes. MLs SOUTHERN PRINCE, PORT NAPIER, PORT QUEBEC, MENESTHEUS, AGAMEMNON (on her first duty), escorted by destroyers ST ALBANS, BATH, ST MARYS, laid minefield SN.43.

DD ELECTRA departed Scapa for Aberdeen. At 1500, the DD met British steamer BEN MY CHREE and escorted her to Lerwick arriving early on the 13th. DD ELECTRA returned to Scapa Flow arriving at midday on the 13th. ML cruiser ADVENTURE laid mines east of Inishtrahull.

West Coast UK
ORP DD PIORUN departed Greenock to work up at Scapa Flow. She arrived on the 13th.

Central Atlantic
SL.55 departed Freetown escorted by AMC MORETON BAY to 2 December. On 30 November, AMC CILICIA, DDs ACTIVE, ACHATES, ANTHONY from convoy OB.250, ASW trawler LADY MADELEINE joined. A German air attack on CILICIA caused no damage on the 30th, but one rating was killed and six wounded by two near misses. On 1 December, when RCN DD SAGUENAY was torpedoed in convoy HG.47, DDs ACHATES and ANTHONY joined HG.47 and were relieved in convoy SL.55 by DDs VANSITTART and VETERAN from convoy OB.252. On 2 December, all escorts were detached. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 2 December.

Sth Atlantic

Med- Biscay
A second strike on Taranto by aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS was cancelled at 1800/12th due to weather conditions in the Gulf of Taranto. Largely suppressed after the war, the crews were also suffering serious morale problems after the loss of one sqn ldr and the intensity of the flak defences at Taranto.

BB MALAYA, CL AJAX, DDs DAINTY, DIAMOND, GREYHOUND, GRIFFIN, GALLANT were detached at 1830 to refuel at Suda Bay, arriving at 1000/13th. The force, plus RAN DD VENDETTA, departed that afternoon for Alexandria. CAs YORK and BERWICK, both short on fuel, were sent directly to Alexandria, arriving on the 13th. As a result of the British raid on Taranto, the major warships were sent elsewhere. RM BBs VENETO, CESARE, DORIA with the 10th and 13th DesDivs left Taranto for Naples. RM CAs ZARA, FIUME, GORIZIA, POLA with the 9th and 11th DesDivs left Taranto also for Naples. RM CA TRIESTE and the 12th DesDiv left Taranto for Messina. Also, RM CL BANDE NERE was transferred from Brindisi to Palermo and CLs DI GUISSANO and DIAZ with 14 DDs were transferred from Augusta to Palermo.

BC RENOWN arrived back at Gibraltar after a sweep into the Atlantic, escorted by DUNCAN and FORESTER. AMC CILICIA departed Gibraltar, escort DD FOXHOUND as local escort, for the Western Patrol.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
BN.8B departed Bombay carrying the troops from convoy WS.3. Carrying troops were steamers ROHNA, RAJULA, EGRA, LANCASHIRE, INDRAPOERA, SLAMAT, DILWARA, NEVASA, TAKLIWA, PRESIDENT DOUMIER, CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS. Steamer KHEDIVE ISMAEL carried troops from convoy WS.3 C. Steamers CLAN CAMERON and RHESUS carried stores and ammunition. The convoy was escorted by AMCs RANCHI and HECTOR at the start. Cruiser RANCHI was detached on the 15th and cruiser HECTOR was detached on the 16th. CA SHROPSHIRE joined the convoy on the 16th. At Aden on the 18th, RAN sloop PARRAMATTA joined the convoy escort. The sloop was with the convoy until 21 November. CLA CARLISLE and sloop FLAMINGO joined the convoy on the 19th and remained until 21 and 20 November, respectively. The convoy arrived at Suez escorted by sloop GRIMSBY on the 23rd.

Convoy BS.8A departed Suez. The convoy was escorted by sloops AUCKLAND and PARRAMATTA until the convoy was dispersed on the 16th.

 

[parsifal]

13 November 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type IID U-149
[NO IMAGE FOUND]
Used almost entirely for crew training throughout the war

Allied
Fairmile B Motor Launch ML 124

Losses
MV CAPE ST ANDREW (UK 5094 grt) Sunk by U-137 (Herbert Wohlfarth) Crew: 68 (15 dead and 53 survivors) Cargo: Empty Route: Middlesbrough - Oban - Bombay ;Convoy OB-240 (Straggler); Sunk In the Western Approaches , At 2108 hrs the unescorted CAPE ST ANDREW , a straggler from convoy OB-240, was torpedoed by U-137 WNW of Aran Island. The ship was taken in tow by the rescue tug HMS SALVONIA and escorted by DD HURRICANE, but foundered the same night. The master, 13 crew members and one gunner were lost. 52 crew members and one gunner were picked up by the tug and landed at Greenock.

RN Sub TIGRIS sank trawler CHARLES EDMONDE (Vichy 201 grt) 60 miles west of the Gironde. TIGRIS attacked another trawler 100 miles west of Rochelle, without success.

Steamer EMPIRE WIND (UK 7459 grt) was sunk by the LW in 53‑48N, 15‑52W. The entire crew were picked up by DD ARROW

Tkr LEON MARTIN (UK 1951 grt) was sunk on a mine 5.2 cables 202° from St Anthony Point, near Falmouth. 16 crew were lost on the British tanker.

Steamer ANVERS (Belg 4398 grt) in convoy WN.35 was sunk by the LW 4-5 miles NE of Rattray Head, in 57-43N, 1-49W.
One crewman was killed on the Belgian steamer.

UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-124

At Sea 13 november 1940
U-28, U-29, U-43, U-47, U-65, U-93, U-100, U-103, U-104, U-137, U-138.
11 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
FN.333 departed Southend, escort DDs GARTH and VIMIERA. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 15th. CLA CURACOA departed Scapa Flow to cover convoy WN.35 to the Firth of Forth. She was in the escort for this convoy at the time of the attack.
British tanker BRITISH PRESTIGE was damaged by the LW off Humber Boom.

Northern Patrol
DD DOUGLAS departed the Faroes at 1500 escorting British steamer ADDA. DOUGLAS and the steamer arrived at Liverpool at 2207 on the 15th.

Northern Waters
BB REVENGE with DDs GARLAND, RCN DDs OTTAWA and ST LAURENT departed the Clyde and met DD HIGLANDER escorting liner LEOPOLDVILLE for Halifax. GARLAND whilst in the escort sustained heavy weather damage and lost two crew overboard as the weather continued to close in. The DD was repaired at Govan from 17 November, completing on 26 December. DD COSSACK departed Scapa Flow to raid Jan Mayan Island, however the DD was recalled and she returned to Scapa that evening.
The raid was later carried out by CLA NAIAD. DD MASHONA was detached from the BC REPULSE screen to return to Scapa Flow due to buckling of forecastle plates. The DD arrived at Scapa on the 14th. Next morning, the DD departed Scapa Flow for repairs at Rosyth. DD ESCAPADE departed Greenock at 0830 after repairs. ESCAPADE arrived at Scapa on the 14th.

West Coast UK
OB.243 departed Liverpool escort DDs ACHATES and ACTIVE, corvettes ASPHODEL and PICOTEE, ASW trawlers LADY MADELEINE and NORWICH CITY. The corvettes were detached on 17 November and the remainder of the escort on the 18th.

Western Approaches
MLs SOUTHERN PRINCE, PORT NAPIER, PORT QUEBEC, MENESTHEUS, AGAMEMNON laid minefield SN.45 off the NW coast off Ireland, escort DDs BATH, ST MARYS, ST ALBANS.

Channel
CL NEWCASTLE, initially escorted by DDs KELVIN and JERSEY, departed Plymouth for Force H. DD SOUTHDOWN departed Portsmouth for Scapa Flow to copmplete her work up. Due to heavy weather, the DD put into Dartmouth for shelter and to effect repairs, she was able to continue on the 14th for Scapa Flow.

Nth Atlantic
SC.12 departed at 1200 escort Sloop LEITH. On 27 November, DDs VERITY and WITHERINGTON, sloop FOLKESTONE, corvettes ARBUTUS and CAMELLIA joined the convoy. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 29th.

Med- Biscay
DD DECOY, which had just arrived from escorting convoy ME.3, was bombed by the RA in Alexandria Harbour and suffered heavy damage aft. S/Lt W. J. Hurst RNVR, P/T/Surgeon Lt J. Gilbertson RNVR, six ratings were killed and three ratings were wounded on the DD. DD DECOY departed Alexandria on the 25th for Malta arriving on the 28th for repairs. DECOY was under repair for 10 weeks.
DD DECOY was replaced in the 10th Flotilla by escort vessel WRYNECK.