destroyers

May

30

1941

Evacuation of Crete continues

An overview of British naval operations during the battle for Crete.

Many casualties were received amoungst these men but we did not receive any damage, and soon became known throughout the East Mediterranean as a ‘lucky ship’. On this trip especially the medical and supply branches of the ship worked night and day to look after this huge number of men.

May

29

1941

The evacuation from Crete

The destroyer HMS Imperial - her steering was damaged by a near miss during the evcauation from Crete and she had to sunk by torpedo after her crew had been taken off.

We were not really in favourable condition to evacuate some twenty-two thousand soldiers, most of them from an open beach, in the face of the Luftwaffe. But there was no alternative. The Army could not be left to its fate. The Navy must carry on.

Nov

20

1940

German ‘E Boat’ sunk off Southwold

A German 'Schnellboot' or fast boat is loaded with torpedoes - they were called 'E' boats by the British.

Prisoners stated that their vessel was hit on the port side seven or eight times. “S 38″ attempted to escape, tried to lay a smoke screen but, owing to the damaged steering-gear, could only go round in a curve. One engine was put out of action and a fire started in the fuel tank. Some men jumped overboard immediately the fire broke out. A seaman ran aft with the intention of dropping depth charges in the course of the pursuing destroyer, but a burst of machine-gun fire from the British discouraged this attempt.

Aug

5

1940

Condor aircraft join the Battle of the Atlantic

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 C Condor

The FW 200 Condor began patrols from Bordeaux-Merignac airfield in western France in August 1940. Flying in wide sweeps out over the Bay of Biscay and into the Atlantic west of Ireland it would continue round the north of Britain and land in Norway, a route that encompassed most of the possible convoy routes. It proved highly effective not only because of its bomb load, but also in its capacity as a reconnaissance aircraft capable of calling in U-Boat attacks.

Jul

25

1940

Convoy attacked off Dover

HMS Boreas, bombed and seriously damaged on the 25th July 1940. Image by former crew member Edward Walace

About 1630 on the 25th July, British aircraft on patrol sighted nine or ten enemy E-boats near Cape Gris Nez which were proceeding to attack the westbound Coastal Convoy, then approaching Dungeness and already being repeatedly attacked by enemy aircraft.

Jun

8

1940

HM Ships Glorious, Acasta and Ardent sunk

world war 2 aircraft carrier at sea - hms glorious

The escorting destroyer [HMS Ardent] on the port side of the battleships continued her torpedo attacks and tried, extremely skilfully, to avoid the effective defensive fire of the battleships’ medium armament by means of constant alterations of course. Finally this destroyer also opened fire on the battleships. She fought with outstanding resolution in a situation that was hopeless for her. The destroyer received numerous hits and finally went down, her bow armament firing to the last and her engines apparently in order and driving her at high speed. The final range was about 5 miles.

Jun

3

1940

The return from Dunkirk

Nearly 300,000 troops had been returned from Dunkirk by the 2nd May. This is one of the officially released photographs and as such does not reflect the state in which many of the men returned.

The soldiers and ship’s crew who had survived were disembarked and the wounded were removed and taken to hospital. Such were the conditions when our little party arrived at dockside. It was a beautiful summer morning, but there was an unnatural quietness hanging all around. Even the view from dockside brought a hushed feeling to all who looked.

May

29

1940

HMS Grafton sunk off Dunkirk

A salvo of bombs dropped by 107 Squadron can be seen falling towards a German transport column. The vehicles can just be discerned on the road in the middle of the image

I pushed my way out on deck. Someone said: ‘Keep down. They’re machine-gunnmg us.’ I huddled against a steel door and watched the fight. Two dark shapes in the middle distance turned out to be German M.T.B.’s. The destroyer and another British warship were giving them hell with shells and tracer-bullets. The M.T.B.’s were answering with machine-gun fire. But one by one they were hit. We saw them leap into the air and then settle down’ into the water and sink. Everyone sighed with relief….

May

9

1940

Mountbatten brings home HMS Kelly

HMS Kelly under tow in the North Sea, as seen by one of the Coastal Command aircraft that went to her assistance 11th May 1940

At 2242 I ordered speed to be reduced from 32 to 28 knots to allow the BULLDOG to catch up. At 2244 a blurred object was sighted by a number (including myself), about three to four cables on the port beam in the mist, and almost simultaneously I saw the track of a torpedo pass under the bridge. After an appreciable delay the torpedo exploded and the ship took up a list of some 12 to 13 degrees to starboard.

May

4

1940

Polish destroyer Grom sunk

The Polish Destroyer 'Grom' sunk on the 4th May 1940

In May 1940 the Grom was assisting with operations to land troops and supplies at Narvik when she was bombed by German planes, one bomb hitting one of her loaded torpedoes causing an explosion that broke her in two.

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