This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning (1 Viewer)

[Wurger]

The HMS Exmouth was the Royal Navy E-class destroyer. She was ordered on the 1st November 1932 from the Portsmouth Dockyard (Portsmouth, U.K.),Fairfield Shipbuilding Engineering Co., Govan in Scotland. Laid down on the 16th May 1933 and launched on the 7th February 1934. Her servicing started on the the 3rd October 1934.The Pennant H02. The loss position - 58° 18'N, 2° 25'W

Displacement: 1,495 long tons (1,519 t) (standard) 2,050 long tons (2,082.9 t) (deep)
Length: 343 ft (104.5 m) o/a
Beam: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Draught: 12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power: 38,000 shp (28,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2 × shafts, 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Speed: 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range: 6,350 nmi (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement: 175.

Sensors andprocessing systems: ASDIC

Armament: 5 × 4.7 in (120 mm) Mark IX guns, 2 × 4 - QF 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers Mark III anti-aircraft machine guns , 2 × 4 - 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes,
20 × depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers.

The U-22 was built as a type IIB submarine in 1936 by the Germaniawerft AG shipyard in Köln.

Displacement 279 t (275 long tons) surfaced, 328 t (323 long tons) submerged, 414 t (407 long tons) total.
Length: 42.70 m
Beam: 4.08 m
Draught: 3.9 m
Propulsion: Diesel-Electric
Cruise Speed: 8 knots.
Max. Speed: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced, 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged.
Armament/Other: 3 bow tubes, 0 stern tubes, 5 torpedos or 12 TMA, various 20mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun.
Max depth: 150m, 492ft
Range: 3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h) surfaced, 35–43 nmi (65–80 km; 40–49 mi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged.
Crew: 22-24.

 

[parsifal]

22 January 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
(RN) DD HESPERUS

HMS HESPERUS was a modified 'GHI' class ordered by the Brazilian Navy, taken over in 1939 by HM Govt. Differences with the GHIs were minor. Carried 8 x Mk X Torps as built (later changed to Mk IVs for standardization purposes). The type carried one less 4.7", which appear to be of the SP type. They later received 1 x 3in AA and about 10 x 20mm AA. The type emphasised ASW with stowage for 110 DCs,, though, like the GHIs, they lacked cruising turbines. Profiles are of HESPERUS in 1940 and 1943

(RN) MTB 25 (Motor Torpedo Boat of the Thornycroft 73 feet-type class)

MTB 25 was an early unit of the 72 Vosper Thornycroft type, which began to be received from early 1940 to mid 1941. Incorporated MTBs 24, 25, 28, 49-56. They were strong and well armed (many receiving a 20mm Oerlikon in exchange for some or all of their MGs) but were far too slow to be effective, with a sustained sea speed of only 25 knots.

Known Losses
MV GOTHIA (Sd 1,640 grt):Crew: 23 (12 dead and 11 survivors) :Cargo: Paper pulp and sulphate : Route: Uddevalla, (Sweden dep 17 Jan) - Genoa, Italy. The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk off the Outer Hebrides by U-51

MV SEGOVIA (Nor 1,387 grt):Crew;23 (23 dead - no survivors) : Cargo:750 tons of general cargo, including 140 tons of oil, 45 tons of cork, wine and almonds : Route: Lisbon (7 Jan) - Oporto (17 Jan) - Bergen - Oslo . On 20 Jan 1940 the neutral vessel passed Lands End and was reported missing thereafter, presumed lost on this day or the 21st. It is believed that she was sunk by U-55, which did not return from her patrol. One source discusses the possibility she struck a mine, which is a possibility

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MV SONGA (Nor 2,589 grt) Crew:Unknown (no casualties) : Cargo: barrels, sponges, motor tyres, copper, beans, coffee, cotton and tin : Route: Philadelphia to Rotterdam. Extract from Lloyd's War Losses, Vol I British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Vessels Sunk or Destroyed by War Causes", 1989 reprint says "she was on a voyage from Philadelphia to Rotterdam and Antwerp with a cargo of empty barrels, sponges, motor tyres, copper, beans, coffee, cotton and tin. No casualties.

[IMAGE NOT FOUNF] .

MV SYDFOLD (Nor 2,434 grt):Crew:24 (5 dead and 19 survivors) : Cargo: Ballast: Route: Kristiansand - Newcastle . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-61 . The survivors were rescued by MV RONA (Nor 1376 grt)

Steamer KIRKPOOL (UK 4842 grt) ran aground and was a total loss on the south coast of England. (note, a ship of the same name is recorded as a victim of one of the Disguised raiders about a year later)
Ahoy - Mac's Web Log - 6 Thor Second Cruise

Image of the KIRKPOOL as claimed by the AMC THOR approximately November 1941

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 32 entered port.She carried out her minelaying operation and also sank a steamer of 800-1,000 tons in the North Sea. The Commanding Officer's explanation of why he thought the minelay could not be carried out in the Clyde is not convincing. He pressed a long way forward and turned back when he was in the midst of anti-S/M forces and only a few miles from the position in which he was to lay the mines, although he himself did not think he had been detected. He did not make another attempt on another day. The operation was a difficult one - too difficult for this C.O. I shall arrange for another boat to carry it out.

Arrivals
U-9, U-32, U-59 (P/E uncertain)

At Sea 22 January 1940
(There are conflicts in my sources for Uboat movements on this day).
U-14, U-18, U-19, U-22, U-23, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-44, U-51, U-55, U-57, U-58, U-61.
14 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
DDs MAORI and TARTAR arrived at Rosyth. DDs JACKAL, JAGUAR and JAVELIN departed the Humber for ASW Sweeps following reports of increased Uboat activity. They arrived at Rosyth on the 23rd, but were ordered not to be used for convoy work. DD ECLIPSE escorted cable ship ROYAL SCOT from Leith. DDs SIKH and MOHAWK departed Rosyth to hunt for a submarine reported in the North Sea. On patrol in the North Sea, sube TRITON suffered damage to one of her valves and put into Lister for repairs, taking several days to complete. FN.78 departed Southend, escort sloops FLAMINGO and WESTON, and arrived in the Tyne on the 23rd.

Northern Waters
DDs ICARUS and IMPULSIVE arrived at Loch Ewe for refuelling. U.57 laid a minefield in Cromarty Firth during the night of the 21st/22nd, one which one merchant ship was lost.

Channel
Fr sloop AMIENS attacked a submarine contact off Calais.

UK - France
DD MONTROSE departed Quiberon Bay as escort for BC.22 on the 21st, and on the 22nd, was ordered to detach and carry out ASW Sweeps for a reported U-boat contact off Caldey Is (a small island off the northern coastline of the Bristol Channel) . She was joined by DD VANQUISHER, which did attack a submarine contact. MONTROSE then searched Carmarthen Bay and the approaches to Bristol Channel before relieving VANQUISHER at dawn on the 23rd at the location of her attacks. MONTROSE continued her searches further to the west, in the Irish Sea folowing further sightings by ASW BEDFORDSHIRE (RN 443 grt), and again joined by VANQUISHER. These searches progressed as far as the the Breaksea Light Vessel. MONTROSE returned to Milford Haven to refuel on the 24th, departing that afternoon to rejoin VANQUISHER searching in Barnstaple Bay, where the latter made an attack. Both DDs then patrolled between Bull Point and Helwick Sands the night of the 24th/25th, before MONTROSE proceeded to Milford Haven on the morning of the 25th.

Nth Atlantic
HX.17 departed Halifax escort RCN DDs FRASER and RESTIGOUCHE, and was joined by CL EMERALD, also from Halifax, as ocean escort the same day. The DDs turned over the convoy to her at noon on the 23rd. EMERALD then detached on 3 February and proceeded to England to refit - escort duty in the North Atlantic had damaged the main engines and strained and buckled her decks. She arrived at Portsmouth on 4 February and was refitting at Southampton from 15 February to 30 April. DDs VANESSA, VANSITTART, KEITH and WARWICK joined HX.17 on 7 February as escort until its arrival at Liverpool later that day.

Central Atlantic
DDs HARDY and HOSTILE departed Freetown on the 13th with SLF.16, and then Gib on the 22nd. HARDY reached Plymouth on the 25th for docking and repair, but was able to proceed in a few days and arrived at Greenock on 14 February for duty with the Home Flt. HOSTILE reached Dover on the 25th, before going on to Sheerness and then Chatham were she docked for repairs and refit lasting until 26 February when she also left and also joined the Home Flt.

Sth Atlantic
AO ALTMARK (DKM 10,850 grt) has been hiding in the far Sth. She begins her return to Germany and passed through the Faroes-Iceland Channel undetected on 11 February.
.
Med- Biscay
A minor fire started by a welding torch broke out on BB LITTORIO (Italy), under construction at the Ansaldo Yards at Genoa. CL GALATEA departed Malta on patrol, and arrived back on the 30th. DDs HERO and HASTY departed Freetown on the 22nd and arrived at Gib on the 29th.

Indian Ocean
Submarine OLYMPUS arrived at Colombo after patrolling the Seychelles area and in the Mozambique Channel.

Far East/Pacific/Australia
CL DAUNTLESS departed Singapore on patrol duties, and arrived at Penang on the 27th.

 

[parsifal]

21 January 1940 - Special Entry (Part I of II)
KTB BDU Special Report on Findings of Torpedo Failures
From Group West War Diary Dated 22 January 1940
Donitz gives a long diary entry on Uboat torpedo failures

The Director of the Torpedo Inspectorate telephoned me today. Trial shots have been made against T 123, which did not fire, and magnetic measurements have been made on torpedoes in store, with the result that the Torpedo Inspectorate considers the possibility of torpedoes not firing is proven. The fact that its main weapon, the torpedo, has to a large extent proved useless in operation has been the greatest difficulty with which the U-boat Arm has had to contend with since the beginning of the war and it has had a most serious effect on results. At least 25% of all shots fired have been torpedo failures. According to statistics covering all shots up to 6.1., 40.9% of unsuccessful shots were torpedo failures.
1) In August 1939, before the boats left port during the emergency period, a conference held in the Torpedo
Trials Department during which the doubts expressed by B.d.U. with regard to the proper functioning of the pistol were dismissed as unfounded by Rear Admiral Wehr, Director of Torpedo Trials Department.
2) On 14.9 U 29 reported by radio that 2 torpedoes had fired prematurely after covering the safety distance. The Torpedo Inspectorate first wished to make out that the U-boats had made an error in position of 30-60 miles. I would not accept this explanation. The Torpedo Inspectorate then recommended setting the pistol 2 zones lower, in order to lessen its sensitivity. This meant that they would not be certain to fire against merchant ships under 3,000 BRT if shot under and such ships would therefore have to be attacked with impact firing. An order was accordingly given to the U-boats by B.d.U. on 14.9.
3) Failures were not eliminated however. Further premature detonations were reported.(U 27 reported that the explosion caused slight damage to the boat). Until the cause was discovered, the Torpedo Inspectorate arranged for the torpedoes to be fitted with an "A" setting of the switch, which made it possible to cut out electric firing.
4) After the "A" setting of the switch had been fitted, B.d.U. ordered on 2.10 that only impact shots were to be fired. This meant that for the present the danger of premature detonation was eliminated. The step was taken for the sake of safety of the boats, until such time as the cause of premature detonation was discovered.
5) At the beginning of October the Torpedo Inspectorate stated that the cause of premature detonation in the G7e had been traced to a bad cable lay-out. The cables had now been laid differently and the G7e could once more be fired under. In the case of the G7a mechanical disturbances were causing premature detonation and the G7a could therefore still not be fired under until the question was finally cleared up. I expressed doubts on these different explanations for premature detonations, but as the Director of the Torpedo Inspectorate assured me that the G7e was now safe, I decided to try and I released the G7e for firing under with "MZ".
6) On 18.10 U 46 reported a premature detonation of a G7e in an attack on a convoy. It was therefore established beyond question that the pistol was not safe in the G7e despite the adaptation made. I again ordered impact firing only also for the G7e, with electric firing cut out (switch setting "A"). We were thus back where we were in 1914/18. But I had to make this difficult decision to abandon the much-vaunted, much-discussed magnetic firing in order to avoid losing boats, directly or indirectly, through our own weapons and in the interests of U-boat successes.
7) On 20.10 the Director of the Torpedo Inspectorate informed me by telephone that he had discovered that day that the torpedo (G7a and G7e) was keeping a depth 2 meters below that indicated. Numerous reports from boats, stating that the torpedoes had failed to fire with impact firing units despite good firing data, also indicated that the torpedoes were running deeper than their setting and therefore passing under the target. I therefore ordered on 20.10 that torpedoes with impact firing were to be set at a maximum depth of 4 meters. At the suggestion of the Torpedo Inspectorate, I ordered further that torpedoes with impact firing were to be set at 2 meters or less than the draft of the target. But in order to avoid surface breaking and consequent cold running the minimum depth setting had to be fixed at 3 meters, and 4 meters in an Atlantic swell. This meant that torpedoes could not be fires at targets with a draft of less than 5 or 6 meters, e.g. destroyers could not be attacked.
8) On 23.10 a conference was held in Wilhelmshaven between B.d.U., Director of Torpedo Inspectorate and Director of Torpedo Trials Department and Torpedo Experimental Command, in which the following points were confirmed:
a) variations in depth considerably greater than hitherto assumed were to be expected.
b) that the cause of premature detonation had not yet been established.
c) at B.d.U.'s request, it was agreed that at least the explosion at the end of the run which had also frequently occurred, should be eliminated in the near future.
It was thus established that the effective functioning of the torpedo was very limited indeed: with impact firing, danger of passing under with "MZ" shot, danger of premature detonation.

 

[parsifal]

21 January 1940 - Special Entry (Part II of II)

9) On 5.11 a new (adapted) pistol was brought out and it was hoped that, by stabilization of the needle, it would be proof against premature detonation. The pistol was designated Pi(A-B). With this pistol use of magnetic firing was again permitted. Depth was to be set at draft of target plus 1 meter. All our hopes were now centered on this pistol and further reports received of failures of the present pistol seemed less important.
10) U 28 and U 49 were the first boats to sail with Pi(A-B), on 8.11 and 9.11 respectively. On 19.11 U 49 reported one G7a premature detonator after the safety distance had been covered, one G7e probably failed to fire, 2 G7a detonated after covering 2000 meters. This was a bitter disappointment and our best hopes were dashed in one blow. Apparently there was no improvement on previous conditions. Further reports followed from other boats of premature detonations and failures to fire.
11) Some of the specialists in the Torpedo Inspectorate suggested that the pistols should be set 2 zones below the setting shown in the chart in order to reduce sensitivity and so avoid premature detonation. The depth setting should be the same as the draft of the target and the torpedo thus brought closer to the ship so that the firing field would be effective even at the reduced pistol sensitivity. I was against this and the Director of the Torpedo Inspectorate and the remaining specialists agreed with me.
12) Small alterations to the pistol (insulation of the copper cap, smoothing a thrust collar) did not bring any improvement. Every now and then premature detonations seemed to become fewer for a time and firing under was adhered to, because firing with impact firing units would again have meant many failures due to passing under.
13) Report of shots, in which the pistol failed to fire, despite certain firing data, became more and more numerous. The Torpedo Inspectorate believed that the pistol could not fail to fire if shot under and refused to accept any idea that failures could be caused by this section of the pistol. I had all shots, which the commanding officers believed to be failures to fire examined by the Torpedo Inspectorate. They thought that these must be due to misses or be regarded as unexplained. I can no longer accept this explanation. in view of the large number of reports of shots failing to fire with certain firing data. I consider that in many cases the failure of the pistol to fire is proven and I made this quite clear in a conference with Torpedo Experimental Command on 19.1 (see War Log of 17.1).
14) Experimental firing at T 123 afterwards showed that in fact several pistols failed to fire when shot under. The Torpedo Inspectorate now admits the possibility of failures to fire and issued the following instructions, to be passed on to the boats, on 21.1:
1. For targets under 4,000 BRT, destroyers and surfaced S/M's, depth setting 4 meters.
2. The pistol may fail to fire against targets under 1,000 BRT.
3. For all other targets, depth setting draft plus 1 meter, even in bad weather.
The results remain to be seen.
15) In addition to the negative results of trial firing at T 123, recent magnetic measurements of the body of the torpedo and the battery compartment have shown that these exercise an irregular, unstable magnetic effect on the pistol and may cause a strengthening (premature detonators) or a weakening (firing failures) of the magnetic unit. The torpedoes in store are to be demagnetized. The Torpedo Inspectorate doubts if this will be successful. The causes of the failures have therefore by no means been mastered.
16) The Commanding Officers' and crews' confidence in the torpedo is very much shaken. Again and again the boats have tried, in the face of strong enemy activity, to fire their torpedoes under the best possible conditions and often when they have made a daring attack they have beenrewarded with failures and even danger to themselves. At least 300,000 tons, which might have been sunk, can be reckoned lost through torpedo failures. I think it is certain, for instance, that U 47 Lieut.(s.g.) Prein's shot at the London class cruiser was a premature detonator. It is very bitter for Commanding Officers and the executive control to find that the U-boat Arm cannot achieve the success expected of it, in spite of a thorough peacetime training, because of torpedo failures.
I will continue to do all I can to keep up the fighting spirits of the U-boats in the face of all the setbacks. We must continue to fire torpedoes in order to discover the causes of the defects and remove them. But commanding officers and crews will only gradually regain full confidence in the torpedo if lasting technical improvements can be made.

 

[parsifal]

23 January 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Fr CH-5 Class SC CH-6 (est)

Known Losses
MV BISP (Nor 1000 grt) Crew:14 (14 dead - no survivors) : Cargo: Coal : Route: Sunderland - Andalsnes. At 07.01 hours on 23 Jan 1940, U-18 fired a G7e torpedo at a small steamer and observed a hit near the bridge and the sinking of the vessel in 30 seconds. The U-boat had spotted the ship at 00.50 hours that morning and missed her with a first torpedo at 06.49 hours. The unescorted and neutral BISP was reported missing en route from England to Norway. .
View attachment 282794

MV BALTANGLIA (UK 1,523 grt):Crew: 27 (0 dead and 27 survivors). : Cargo: 1930 tons of general cargo : Route: Hommelvik, Norway - Methil (23 Jan) - Tyne - Rochester : the cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off Lindisfarne by U-19
View attachment 282795

MV PLUTO (Nor 1,598 grt): Crew: 22 (0 dead and 22 survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Bergen - Methil (23 Jan) - Middlesbrough
In the morning of 23 Jan 1940, U-19 spotted about 20 single and unescorted steamers east of Longstone Island, apparently ships that had arrived at Methil the day before with HN-8 and were now heading south along the coast. During the mid morning, PLUTO was hit just aft of amidships by one G7e torpedo and sank by the stern within 6 minutes. BALTANGLIA (see above) steamed behind her and manoeuvered to rescue the crew, thinking the other ship had been mined. But a Finnish steamer already picked up the survivors and later landed them at Seahouses, Northumberland. At 08.55 hours, BALTANGLIA was then hit amidships and sank by the bow after 14 minutes southeast of the Farne Islands. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats, which were towed in by local fishing vessels from Seahouses.

MV ONTO (FN 1333 grt):Crew: 18 (0 dead and 18 survivors) : Cargo: Ballast : Route: Zeebrugge - Tyne : The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea The crew were rescued by HMS AUCKLAND.

MV VARILD (Nor 1085 grt): Crew:15 (15 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Drammen - Horten (22 Jan) - Sunderland. The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea north east of Kinnaird Head, Aberdeenshire by U-18 ( Kretschmer in comand) with the loss of all 15 crew

MV ITA (Nor 1500 grt(est)): The cargo ship came ashore on the south coast of England.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Trawler MULHAUSEN (Ger 327 grt): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea off Pillau, East Prussia.

[NO IMAGE FOUND}

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 34 and U 44 each reported a convoy in her operations area. At the moment there are so few boats in operations area - 2 off the coast of Portugal and 2 south of Ireland - that it will be a matter of great luck if these few boats, which are spread over a wide area, succeed in working together. But the attempt must be made.

In one case it was possible to achieve cooperation between boats which were at first 800 miles apart. The danger of the boat making beacon signals being D/F'd and the enemy taking action accordingly, by evasive maneuvers and anti-S/M hunts, must be regarded as much less considerable than was feared before the war. As far as it has been possible to carry out any investigations, the following has been established:

1) Bearing errors, dependent on the distance from the enemy coasts, average 60-80 miles at a range of 300 miles and often amount to much more. The best bearing known to B.d.U. was 30 miles out, and that in the immediate vicinity of the west coast of France. The largest error was 325 miles at a range of 600 miles.
2) So far it has not been observed that convoys alter their route when such warnings are received. It is doubtful whether this would be of any use as any detours made, unless they were very long, would be as likely to bring the convoy nearer to the U-boat DF'd as away from it.
3) There is some indication that the enemy sends anti-S/M forces into the area in which radio D/F bearings have been obtained. A direct attack is likely to be successful in only very rare cases, in view of the errors in fixing, but the anti-S/M forces are then in the vicinity and are able to strike more quickly and surely if reliable details of the U-boat's position are received (sinkings, sighting reports). The use of radio must therefore continue to be reduced to a minimum, but radio silence must not become an end in itself. Successes are not likely to be reduced by the use of radio. On the contrary, if it is correctly used, chances are increased, but it also means that anti-S/M activity will increase.

At present it is not possible to make the desired mass attacks on merchant shipping, as there are not enough boats available, but nevertheless the procedure for possible organized attacks must be studied and tried, so that, if the war should last for some time and when the numbers of U-boats have been increased to meet operational requirements, there will be plenty of well-trained tactical leaders and all technical questions of operational control will be cleared up. If in this war the effect of U-boats has been greater rather than smaller by comparison with the World War in spite of undoubtedly stronger opposition this must be ascribed at least in part to a more carefully planned and controlled disposition made possible by more extensive technical means of control than were available in the World War.

Departures
Helgoland: U-20
Wilhelmshaven: U-41

At Sea 23 January 1940
U-14, U-18, U-19, U-20, U-22, U-23, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-41, U-44, U-51, U-55, U-57, U-58, U-61.
16 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
CL NEWCASTLE departed Scapa Flow on Northern Patrol, but arrived back on the 29th with defects. CA NORFOLK arrived in the Clyde.

North Sea
DDs JUNO and JERVIS departed the Humber with Aux ML PRINCESS VICTORIA for operation LB, and returned on the 24th after the operation. Destroyers ZULU and COSSACK departed Rosyth, with ZULU proceeding to Leith for repairs and refit, and COSSACK to carry out exercises on the 24th. DDs JACKAL, JAGUAR, JAVELIN and ASHANTI departed Rosyth to carry an ASW Sweep for a submarine reported off Kinnaird Head. DDs ECHO and ECLIPSE attacked a submarine contact ENE of the isle of May. Later in the day, ECHO attacked a contact ENE of Montrose.

FN.79 departed Southend, escort sloops AUCKLAND and STORK, and arrived in the Tyne on the 24th.

West Coast UK
ASW trawler BEDFORDSHIRE (443grt), escorting cable ship MARIE LOUISE MACKAY as she was repairing cables west of Lundy Island, dropped depth charges on a submarine contact. DDs ICARUS and IMPULSIVE joined her, but the attack was unsuccessful.

Nth Atlantic
BB VALIANT, CL ENTERPRISE, and DDs HUNTER and HEREWARD departed Bermuda and arrived at Halifax on the 26th.

Med- Biscay
CAVALRY convoy departed Marseilles escort RAN DDs VOYAGER and VAMPIRE. Off Malta, they were relieved by RAN DD VENDETTA which escorted the convoy to Haifa.

 

[parsifal]

24 January 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Torpedo Boat T-5 (1935 Class)

Known Losses
MV ALSACIEN (Fr 3,819 grt): Crew: Unknown (4 crew lost) : Cargo: 3550 tons of phosphate : Route: Sfax, Tunisia - Algiers - Casablanca (21 Jan) - Brest - Rouen . Completed in May 1923 as British Quernmore for Furness, Withy Co Ltd, Liverpool. 1937 sold to France and renamed ALSACIEN: She was part of Fr Convoy KS 56 when lost. The ship was hit in the foreship by one torpedo from U-44 and sank west of Lisbon.

ALSACIEN as she appeared in British service

DD LJUBJANA (Yug 1685 grt), a Beograd Class DD (based on the Fr Simoun Class) , the ship, ran aground whilst entering Sebenico in a gale and was badly damaged. She was salved but was still under repair when Yugoslavia fell to the Germans in April 1941, who allocated her to the italians as war booty. She was effectively a loss for the Yugoslavs. She was rearmed and used in active service by the italians, eventually6 being sunk 1.4.43 by British a/c off Tunisia

Steamer NOTUNG (FN 1278 grt) was sunk by Soviet Naval Air Force (Morskaya Aviatsiya , translated to Naval Aviation) bombers between Abo and Aland Island.

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

Nothing to report.

Arrivals
Helgoland: U-41
Wilhelmshaven: U-22

Departures
Kiel: U-13, U-48

At Sea 24 January 1940
U-13, U-14, U-18, U-19, U-20, U-23, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55 (+), U-57, U-58, U-61.
16 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
Sub URSULA arrived at Rosyth after patrol. Sub H.34, ORP sub WILK and 2 DDs exercised in the Firth of Forth. Escort vessel/destroyer VEGA, her repairs completed, departed the Tay for Methil. DD JAVELIN arrived at Rosyth. DDs ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER departed the scene of their submarine search off Rattray Head at dusk for Rosyth.

Aux ML PRINCESS VICTORIA, left the Humber early on the 24th escort DDs JERVIS and JUNO, laid 240 mines in a defensive minefield, designated LB, about 50 miles NE of Spurn Point.

MSW SKIPJACK was in a collision with steamer RUTLAND (1437grt) and sustained minor damage.

ON.9 of 3 British, 5 Norwegian, 1 Swedish and 4 Finnish ships departed Methil escort DDs INGLEFIELD, ISIS, KASHMIR, TARTAR and sub SEAL. TARTAR was later replaced by DD KHARTOUM which was in turn relieved by DD IMOGEN. On the 25th, CL EDINBURGH and GLASGOW departed Rosyth to join the convoy as near cover. ON.9 arrived safely on the 27th at Bergen.
View attachment 282949
Tribal Class DDs were distinct from their predecessors n that their primary function were as gun armed fleet destroyers designed to tackle the large enemy fleet DDs in gunfights. They werfe relatively weak in Torpedo armament, AA and ASW DC capacity. The 4.7" guns were nominallyDP (with 40 deg elevation, but most shipped at least one 4.7 for a 4 in DP weapon, and the RCN types of 1944-5 were fully equiped with 4" guns

FN.79 A departed Southend, escort DD VIVIEN and sloop PELICAN, and arrived in the Tyne on the 25th. FS.79 departed the Tyne, escort DD WHITLEY and sloop LONDONDERRY, and arrived at Southend on the 25th. FS.80 departed the Tyne, escort sloops FLEETWOOD and BITTERN, and arrived at Southend on the 26th.

DDs JACKAL, JAGUAR and ASHANTI sweeping off Tod Head attacked a submarine contact. ASW trawler FIFESHIRE (540grt) relieved them and they continued on patrol. ASHANTI then headed for Cowes for repair and refit, while JACKAL and JAGUAR returned to the location at 0300/25th, continuing their patrol at 1800.

Northern Waters
BB WARSPITE and BC HOOD with DDs FURY, FAME, FORESIGHT, FOXHOUND, FEARLESS, FORESTER, FIREDRAKE, FORTUNE arrived in the Clyde from patrol. New sub TETRARCH (not yet commissioned) arrived in the Clyde for pre-acceptance trials.

Channel
DDs ICARUS and IMPULSIVE arrived at Portsmouth. Steamer AURA (FN 4763 grt) (has same name as a smaller vessel lost in the Baltic in November) went ashore near Start Point on the 31st, but was refloated and taken to Plymouth that day.

Central Atlantic
CV ARK ROYAL, BC RENOWN, and DDs DAINTY and DIAMOND departed Freetown, and rendezvoused on the 29th with the CA EXETER force, where they relieved these CAs as escorts.

SL.18 departed Freetown escort AMC BULOLO from 24 January to 9 February, and a day earlier, on the 8th, merged with SLF.18. DD WINDSOR relieved the AMC on the 9th February as the convoy entered home waters, and took the convoy on to Liverpool, arriving on the 12th.

Med- Biscay
Fr DD BOULONNAISE attacked a submarine contact east of Pointe de Barfleur and was later joined by ASWs LA NANTAISE and LA ORIENTAISE. HG.16 of 42 ships departed Gibraltar on the 24th, escorts: (24th) ASW trawler LEYLAND (detached the same day) as local escort, Fr Contre Torpilleurs DDs PANTHÈRE, TIGRE; 31st DDs WOLVERINE, and WALPOLE reinforced from OG.16; DDs PANTHÈRE, TIGRE, divereted to Brest on 1st and 3rd respectively. Convoy arrived on the 3rd February. Sloop FOLKESTONE departed Port Said for Malta, en route to England.

Fr BB PROVENCE, CAs COLBERT, DUQUESNE, and DDs VAUTOUR and ALBATROS departed Toulon and passed Oran on the 25th. The DDs detached on the 27th, reached Casablanca on the 28th, left there on the 31st and arrived back at Oran on 1 February. The heavy ships arrived at Dakar on the 30th.

 

[parsifal]

25 January 1940
Known Losses
Drifter RIANT (95grt) was lost in heavy weather off Gighm on the south coast of Jura Sound.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer BIARRITZ (Nor 1752 grt) Crew (57 passengers and crew persons aboard 38 lost): Cargo: General Cargo: Route: Antwerp - Oslo. The ship was was sunk by U.14 with the loss of 25 crew and 13 passengers. The survivors were picked up by Norwegian steamer BORGHOLM (1561grt) 36 miles NW of Ijmuiden.

MV EVERENE (Lat 4,434 grt): Crew:31 (1 dead and 30 survivors) : Cargo: General Cargo : Route: Blyth - Liepaja. The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the coast of Northumberland, United Kingdom by U-19 ( Schepke) with the loss of one of her 31 crew. Survivors were rescued by Dole ( Latvia) and the fishing vessel Evesham ( United Kingdom). Sloop PELICAN, escort ships VIVIEN, WOOLSTON, VEGA, and ASW trawlers of the 19th A/S Group were ordered into the area to investigate. WOOLSTON and VEGA made unsuccessful attacks east of Farne Island on the 26th. PELICAN and VIVIEN proceeded to the "20F" buoy to turn back all northbound shipping from the Tyne. The search for the submarine continued until the evening of the 26th when WOOLSTON and sloop GRIMSBY set off for the Tyne to escort FS.83. VEGA returned to Rosyth on the 26th to escort submarines WILK and H.34.

MV GUDVEIG (Nor 1300 grt): (Completed in May 1920 as Danish Robert Maersk for A.P. Moller, Copenhagen. 1935 sold to Norway and renamed GUDVEIG). Crew: 18 (10 dead and 8 survivors) : Cargo: Coal : Route: Tyne - Bergen. The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the Farne Islands, United Kingdom by U-19 (Schepke). The survivors were rescued by DOLE (Latvia), the Trawlers EVESHAM (UK) and VIM (Nor).

MV GLENEDEN (UK 4772 grt): The cargo ship struck a rock off Bardsey Island, Caernarvonshire and was damaged. She was beached off Puffin Island, Anglesey and declared a constructive total loss. All 60 crew were rescued

MV TOURNY (Fr 2769 grt): Crew: 17 (8 dead and 9 survivors): Cargo:General cargo : Route: French West Africa - Dakar - Bordeaux. The vessel became a straggler from 56-KS, and was was hit aft by one torpedo from U-44 west of Cape Mondego and sank after breaking in two. Since 00.55 hours, the U-boat was chasing another steamer which was missed with a torpedo at 01.11 hours. The TOURNY was spotted at 03.40 hours and the U-boat continued to follow the first steamer after sinking her, but was forced to break off the chase after five more hours when a destroyer showed up and dropped six depth charges nearby. The nine survivors were picked up by the Spanish steam merchant CASTILLO MONFORTE.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

No news of U 51 and U 55, both on their first patrol west of the English Channel.

Ice conditions are causing major delays in spite of all measures taken (see F.O. U/B West's War Log). Kiel boats can no longer be easily transferred. On some days even old battleships cannot pass the Elbe. There are delays and hold-ups a days on which many boats have to be taken in and out. In spite of ice escort, damage still occurs. U 48 damaged her propellers, even though she was being towed, and U 29 her bow caps. U 53's protective ice shoe on the bows broke and she had to turn back.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-57, U-58

At Sea 25 January 1940
U-13, U-14, U-18, U-19, U-20, U-23, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55, U-61.
14 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
AMCs SCOTSTOUN and FORFAR and CA SUFFOLK arrived in the Clyde after Northern Patrol.

North Sea
DD JAVELIN departed Rosyth to relieve DD JACKAL on ASW duties. DDs ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER arrived at Rosyth from ASW Sweeps, and after refuelling, left again on the 25th with cable ship ROYAL SCOT. DD ESCORT and sloop FLAMINGO departed the Tyne escorting FS.81. OA.79 departed Southend escort DD ANTELOPE from the 25th to 26th and DD VERITY from 26th to 28th, when the convoy was dispersed. Submarine H.33 was in the convoy on passage to Portsmouth. FS.81 departed the Tyne, escort DD ESCORT and sloop FLAMINGO, and arrived at Southend on the 27th

Northern Waters
CL DIOMEDE departed Scapa for Plymouth where she arrived on the 30th, and later sailed to join CruSqn 8 in the North America and West Indies Station. DDs ECHO and ECLIPSE departed Aberdeen escorting steamer RUTLAND (1437grt) to Scapa.

West Coast UK
Tng Sub Lt G . Williamson RNVR, ferrying a Swordfish of 819 Squadron from Silloth to Ford, was killed when his aircraft crashed near Leeds in the midlands.
New source; Jeff06-Taranto Raid : the Pearl Harbor raid model and the old "Stringbag" - Model Airplane Collectors

Image of Swordfish P4075 piloted by Lt W Morford and SubLt R Green 819 sqn, HMS ILLUSTRIOUS 11 November 1940

OB.79 departed Liverpool escort DDs WINCHELSEA and VOLUNTEER until the 28th, when they detached to HXF.17. DD VANQUISHER investigated a submarine contact SW of Nash Point, where she was joined by DD WAKEFUL in the early hours of the 26th and later still by DD KEITH. The DDs swept westward and returned to the attack location at daylight. VANQUISHER then proceeded to Liverpool. On the 28th, WAKEFUL and KEITH, still on patrol, attacked a submarine contact. This was later determined to be the wreck of steamer STANHOLME (2473grt) sunk by a mine on 25 December. At 2215, the destroyers attacked a contact SW of Milford Haven, then at 0020/27th, proceeded on patrol.

Channel

UK - France
SA.27 of two steamers departed Southampton, escorted by sloops FOXGLOVE and ROSEMARY, and arrived at Brest on the 27th, less steamer DIDO, which ran aground off Ouessant on the 27th. She was brought into Brest on the 30th.

Central Atlantic
CL NEPTUNE departed Freetown to join repair ship RESOURCE en route from Gibraltar. Both ships arrived at Freetown on the 29th.

Med- Biscay
Fr DDs FOUGUEUX attacked a submarine contact 70 miles west of Oporto, whilst Fr DD BASQUE and sloop ANNAMITE made attacks on a submarine contact northwest of Ferrol.

 

[parsifal]

January 22 Monday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Norwegian merchant vessel "Segovia", with 750 tons of general cargo (including 140 tons of oil) became missing off western Scotland; her crew of 23 was never seen again. She might had been attacked and sunk by German submarine U-55.

UNITED KINGDOM: The speech on Jan 20 by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churhill, imploring neutral countries to support Finland (a thinly veiled invitation to Norway and Sweden to allow Allied troops passage across their territory to Finland), rebounds on him. He is reprimanded by British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax for interfering with foreign policy. Also, he is ignored by Norway and Sweden, who realize that British access to Finland is a means to choke off supplies of Swedish iron ore to Germany. They rightly suspect that Hitler would react to any Allied presence by intervention of his own. French Prime Minister Daladier favors Churchill's plan as a way to fight the Germans away from French soil.

From today newsreels must be submitted to the ministry of information before they are exhibited. Newsreels were exempt from scrutiny by the British Board of Film Censors because they were produced to tight deadlines twice weekly. The ministry film division has appointed a liaison officer to convey guidelines for film propaganda to newsreel producers. An "editor" will view all newsreels before release. The word "censor" is not used in the announcement.

NORTHERN EUROPE: The Finns, with Swedes and Norwegians already fighting with them, announced the formation of a "Foreign Legion" which would include British volunteers.

In Salla sector, Russian army still is fighting a stubborn rearguard action. A new Russian offensive was started around Lake Ladoga. Russian attacks in Karelian Isthmus were repulsed.

Soviet aircraft made bombing raids over Northern Finland and were met by Swedish Volunteers in new fighter airplanes.

EASTERN EUROPE: Goring confiscates former Polish state property.

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[parsifal]

January 23 Tuesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-19 spots 20 unescorted steamers off Northumberland and sinks Norwegian SS "Pluto" (8.43 AM) British SS "Baltanglia" (8.55 AM) with one torpedo each. Finnish steamer picks up all SS "Pluto's" 22 crewmen. The 27 man crew of SS "Baltanglia" makes land in two lifeboats.

NORTHERN EUROPE: The battle of Taipale ends. Finnish forces have successfully resisted the Soviet attempt to break through the left flank of the Mannerheim Line in hand-to-hand fighting. Attempt to out flank Mannerheim Line by encircling movement from north of Lake Lagoda was also repulsed by Finns, with heavy loss to the enemy. Finnish 9th Division arrived at the village of Kuhmo to prepare for a planned attack on the Soviet 54th Division.

New Soviet commander Simyon Timoshenko completely revises plans for the invasion of Finland. He abandons Meretskov's strategy to fight along the entire frontier. He instead concentrates all his forces in a direct assault on the Karelian Isthmus to wear down the Mannerheim line in a battle of attrition; essentially Chief of Staff Shaposhnikov's original plan. There is no intention to continue offensives along the Northern frontier or reinforce the divisions already engaged in this region. Thousands of Soviet troops trapped North of Lake Lagoda are left to their fate, although 54th division will be supplied by airdrop.

UNITED KINGDOM: Britain lowered the road speed limit to 20 miles per hour at night time in populated area in response to the sharp rise in night time automobile accidents due to the blackout.

Britain was gripped in the coldest winter since 1894; Southampton docks and parts of the river Thames were frozen over.

MEDITERRANEAN: British carrier HMS "Illustrious" left Malta for Alexandria, Egypt.

WESTERN FRONT: M. Paderewski elected speaker of Polish National Council, first meeting of which was held in Paris instead of at Anvers. All Polish parties were represented.

Britain and France warn that they will attack German shipping encountered by their navies in the Pan-American neutral zone.

Following allegations by troop entertainers that ENSA's organization in France is in a "chaotic muddle," its officials are to report to the war office.

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[parsifal]

January 24 Wednesday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-44 torpedoed and sank French cargo ship "Alsacien" 4 miles off of Lisbon, Portugul at 1140 hours, killing 4. The cargo to phosphate from Africa, destined for France, was lost.

U-23 has been hunting Norwegian steamer SS "Varild" (in ballast between Norway and England) since 8 PM the day before. U-23, fires 2 torpedoes but the first jams in the tube the second runs off course, becoming a kreisläufer (circle runner). U-23's third torpedo sinks "Varild" at 7 PM off the East coast of Scotland (all 15 hands lost).

NORTHERN EUROPE: Force Talvela still holds Soviet 8th Army at Kolla, with attacks and counterattacks along Aittojoki (River Aitto; joki is river in Finnish). Fierce encounters on Salla front round Maerkaejaervi, where Russians are entrenched. Soviet air raiders bombed four Finnish hospitals, 19 persons being killed.

Unconfirmed report that 30 British aircraft had arrived in Helsinki.

ASIA: Chinese troops captured Dongyangguan Pass, Shanxi Province, China.

WESTERN FRONT: A Czechoslovakian branch of the French Army was established.

UNITED KINGDOM: Two German aircraft flew over Shetlands and dropped four bombs but did no damage.

Announced by Finnish authorities in London that two aeroplanes laden with medical supplies left London for Helsinki.

The King reviewed Canadian troops training at Aldershot.

With recurrent reports of an imminent invasion by Germany, Chamberlain reassures Belgium of Britain's pledge to assist the Belgians if they are attacked.


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[Njaco]

January 25 Thursday
WESTERN FRONT: At 1520 hours, Fw. Walter Scherer of 2./JGr. 102 gets his first kill of the war when he shoots down a British Blenheim south of Duisburg.

The Belgian Foreign Minister rejects Churchill's appeal to join the Allies (issued in a speech on January 20th).

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Germany tests Norwegian, Belgian and Dutch neutrality. U-14 sinks Norwegian SS "Biarritz", sailing from Antwerp (Belgium) to Oslo, 36 miles off the coast of Holland. 26 crew and 11 passengers (including women and several Norwegian sailors returning home) die. 21 survivors are picked up by Norwegian steamer "Borgholm". Despite this provocation, Norway remains steadfastly neutral, paralyzed by fear of German aggression.

German submarine U-19 sank Latvian ship "Everene" 5 miles off of the eastern coast of Britain; 1 man was killed and 30 were rescued by fishing boats "Dole" and "Evesham". Several hours later at 0930 hours, U-19 sank Norwegian ship "Gudveig"; 10 men were killed and 8 were rescued.

German submarine U-44 torpedoed and sank French ship "Tourny", which was a part of convoy 56-KS, 20 miles off of Porto, Portugal at 0411 hours. 8 men were killed and 9 were rescued by Spanish steamer "Castillo Monforte".

NORTH AMERICA: In Canada, Parliament is dissolved for an election on March 28th because of recent controversy over the alleged weakness of war preparations.

EASTERN EUROPE: In Occupied Poland, the "Goring-Frank Circular" is issued. It specifies that all material resources and manpower is to be ruthlessly exploited for the immediate benefit of the Reich. Copies of this top secret document are soon obtained by the Polish government-in-exile in France and widely publicized.

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[parsifal]

70th Anniversary of the liberation of that place on the 27th January 2015. it gives me bad dreams just reading about it

 

[parsifal]

26 January 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
CLA conversion of HMS CURACOA including the fitting of the first operational set of the Type 279 early warning radar.

In 1939, a few months before the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, she was selected for conversion to the CLA roler and underwent a refit at Chatham Dockyard. She then served with the Home Flt during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, until, on 24 April, she sustained heavy damage from aerial bombing and suffered 30 casualties. She returned to Chatham for repairs and resumed active duty in August, serving with the Nore Command convoy defence.

Known Losses
MV FU YUANG (Nor 3359 grt): The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank in the Pacific Ocean

Some sources say this ship was of Korean origin

Steamer KESSU (Est 295 grt) was seized in the Baltic by German naval forces and taken to Memel

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

The supply planned for U 44, under cover name "Moro" has had to be abandoned. The boat has been pursuing a convoy and has used so much fuel that if she makes the detour to the place of supply and then meets with difficulties which prevent her taking over supplies, she may not be able to reach home.

These unforeseen difficulties will continue to cruise until practical experiment has shown that the preparations made correspond to the requirements. U 25 has been ordered to supply instead of U 44.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-14 , U-18

At Sea 26 January 1940
U-13, U-19, U-20, U-23, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55, U-61.
12 boats at sea

OPERATIONS

Northern Patrol
CL DUNEDIN arrived at Scapa after Northern Patrol.

North Sea
DDs JACKAL, ECHO and ECLIPSE arrived at Rosyth. Sub TRUANT departed Rosyth on patrol. DD GREYHOUND and ORP DD BLYSKAWICA attacked a submarine contact off Great Yarmouth. FN.80 departed Southend, escort DD WHITLEY and sloop LONDONDERRY, and arrived in the Tyne on the 27th. FS.82 departed the Tyne, escort DDs WOOLSTON and VEGA and sloop GRIMSBY, and arrived at Southend on the 28th.

Northern Waters
DD SIKH arrived at Scapa and after refuelling departed with DD TARTAR to relieve the escort of HN.9. DDs JERVIS, JUNO, JUPITER and IMPERIAL were on a sweep off the SW of Norway. DDs JAVELIN and JAGUAR on an ASW Sweep, were ordered into Invergordon for shelter from the gale.

West Coast UK
DD WANDERER attacked a sub contact off Chicken Rock, Isle of Man. OA.78GF, departed Liverpool escort DDs BROKE from the 23rd to 24th and AMAZON from the 23rd to 25th. Meanwhile OB.78GF with 23 ships departed Liverpool on the 24th escort DDs WHITEHALL and VANOC. The two merged as OG.16F on the 26th and on the same day WHITEHALL and VANOC detached to join HG.16F. Sloop SANDWICH joined the OG escort on the 26th and left on the 31st, while DDs VELOX and WISHART joined on 1 February off Gib, and arrived later that day.

Channel
CL ARETHUSA departed Portsmouth for Scapa, and arrived on the 29th for duty with CruSqn 2, of the Home Flt.

UK - France
BC.24 6 steamers, including BARON GRAHAM and MARSLEW departed Bristol Channel escorted by DD MONTROSE, and arrived safely in the Loire. AXS 10 of 1 steamer escort DD VETERAN arrived at Brest from Fowey on the 26th.

Sth Atlantic
CA CORNWALL departed Capetown on escort duties and arrived back on the 30th. New Zealand CL ACHILLES arrived at Montevideo.

 

[parsifal]

27 January 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Kagero Class DD KUROSHIO

Allied
Sloop BLACK SWAN

Known Losses
MV ADAMANTIOS J PITHIS (Gk 4537 grt): Crew: Not Known; Cargo: Grain: Route: Rosario to Sharpness The cargo ship was wrecked on Cam Rocks, near St Ann's Head, Pembrokeshire, of the west coast.

Liner PRESIDENT QUEZON (Filipino 14187 grt): The ocean liner struck a reef in the Pacific Ocean off the Ryukyu Islands, Japan and sank with the loss of one life.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

U.20 sank the following steamers:

MV FARO (Nor 844 grt) Crew:15 (8 dead and 7 survivors) : Cargo: Ballast : Route: Sarpsborg, Norway - Methil .
The coaster was torpedoed and damaged in the North Sea 15 nautical miles (28 km) south east of
Copinsay, Orkney Islands. The wreck drifted ashore the next day in Taracliff Bay, Copinsay. Seven of the 15 crew were killed.

FARO photographed as she drifts helplessly ashore

MV FREDENSBURG (Den 2094 grt) Crew:20 (20 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Copenhagen - Blyth .
In the dusk light the ship was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-20 and sank in less than 10 seconds about 15 miles southeast of Copinsay, Orkneys. The ship was sailing together with the ENGLAND and were both sunk by the same U-boat when they tried to assist the torpedoed FARO in heavy weather.

FREDENSBURG was sunk as it tried to assist the already stricken FARO

MV ENGLAND (Den 2319 grt) Crew: 21 (20 dead and 1 survivor): Cargo: Ballast ; Route: Copenhagen - Blyth . Similar to the FREDENSBURG, he neutral ENGLAND was hit in the hull below the bridge by a G7e torpedo from U-20, broke in two and sank in less than 2 minutes about 15 miles southeast of Copinsay, Orkneys.

ENGLAND was also sunk as she also attempted to assist the already stricken FARO

MV HOSANGER (Nor 1591 grt): Crew: 18 (17 dead and 1 survivor): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Tananger (26 Jan) - Leith. In a slightly separate incident, some hours after the above, the neutral and unescorted vessel was hit in the stern by one G7a torpedo from U-20 southeast of Copinsay Light. The explosion broke the stern off and caused the ship to sink within two minutes. The only survivor, Magnus Sandvik, managed to reach a raft with four others, but his shipmates froze to death while he was picked up after about 15 hours by the armed boarding vessel HMS NORTHERN REWARD. A line was thrown down on him, but he was not able to fasten it around himself, so a sailor jumped overboard to assist. He was then transferred to HMS MAGRI and taken to a hospital in Kirkwall.

Air Attacks By FliegerKorps X
Trawler CAERPHILLY CASTLE (UK 374 grt)): The trawler was bombed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland by 7 He111s of LF X.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

Naval War Staff has extended the areas of "A" and "B" zones and delimited the new zone "C" in the North Sea. U 31 reported that she had carried out her minelaying operation in the position planned and was starting on her return passage.

Departures
Helgoland: U-41
Kiel: U-21, U-24, U-56
Wilhelmshaven: U-58

At Sea 27 January 1940
U-13, U-19, U-20, U-21, U-23, U-24, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-41 , U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55 , U-56, U-58, U-61.
17 boats at sea

OPERATIONS

Baltic
Eastern Baltic
Steamer CLIO (FN 996 grt) was seized in the Baltic by German warships, and taken to Pillau. She was eventually released.

Northern Patrol
Armed merchant cruiser SCOTSTOUN arrived in the Clyde.

North Sea
DD MAORI departed Rosyth escorting submarine TRITON to Scapa . After delivering her on the 28th, MAORI proceeded to search for a boat from the Norwegian steamer HOSANGER before proceeding to the Clyde, where she arrived on the 29th.

HM.9 A of 19 Norwegian, 9 Swedish, 4 Finnish, 4 Estonian and 1 Latvian ships departed Bergen escort DDs INGLEFIELD, ISIS, IMOGEN, KASHMIR (waitinng as always outside the territorial limits) and submarine SEAL. CLs GLASGOW and EDINBURGH departed Scapa on the 26th to provide a covering force for the the convoy. 12 ships in the convoy detached for ports on the west coast escorted by DDs INGLEFIELD and MOHAWK (MOHAWK joined the escort sometime later) before the remaining ships and escorts arrived at Methil on the 31st. ISIS then sailed for Falmouth for docking. Sloop AUCKLAND departed Rosyth for a refit at Dundee.

FN.81 departed Southend, escort sloops FLEETWOOD and BITTERN. Sloop EGRET joined en route and CLA CALCUTTA, which had departed the Humber, was on passage near the convoy, which arrived in the Tyne on the 28th. MSW SKIPJACK (Halycon Class)
was in a collision with Steamer KARIN THORDEN (FN 1789 grt) and sustained damage to her stern.

Northern Waters
BD RODNEY, BC REPULSE, and DesFlot 8 (less FORESTER still under repair), departed the Clyde to exercise west of the Shetlands. They returned on the 31st. CL MANCHESTER arrived at Scapa to clean boiler. CL DUNEDIN departed Scapa and arrived at Portsmouth on the 29th. DDs JAVELIN and JAGUAR departed Invergordon to rendezvous with tkr ATHELKNIGHT (UK 8940 grt) for Rosyth.

Nth Atlantic
DD HEREWARD was damaged by heavy weather, and repaired at Halifax until 28 February, when she left for England.

USN American CL TRENTON (CL.11), at sea with USN DDs DICKERSON (DD.157) and HERBERT (DD.160) en route from Madeira to Lisbon, made plain language reports to Fr DD CHEVALIER PAUL, which was escorting merchant ships south towards North Africa, of apparent preparations for a breakout by German steamers ARUCAS (3369grt), LA PLATA (8056grt), WANGONI (7848grt) from Vigo.

TRENTON was a unit of the old OMAHA Class CL whilst the DDs were variants to the Wilkes/Clemson DDs many of whom were later converted to AVP role

Med- Biscay
Fr CL JEANNE DE VIENNE (La Galissonniere Class)departed Malta after a visit by French Admiral Sud.

 

[Njaco]

January 26 Friday
PACIFIC OCEAN: American minesweeper "Quail" arrived at Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to construct a naval air station.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: HMS "Durham Castle" hits a mine, laid by U-57 on 21 Jan, and sinks 11 miles off the Northeast coast of Scotland. "Durham Castle", an 8,000 ton former passenger ship with Union-Castle Mail SS Co. and recently requisitioned by the Admiralty, is being towed to Scapa Flow for use as a stores and accommodation ship.

ASIA: The American-Japanese Treaty of Navigation and Commerce of 1911 is allowed to lapse because the US government refuses to negotiate in protest against Japanese aggression in China.

UNITED KINGDOM: Believing that Germany would not be able to directly attack Britain, about half of the 750,000 children evacuated from London, England, United Kingdom since Sep 1939 had returned to their homes in the city.

Roderick Carr was named the commanding officer of No. 61 Group RAF.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Fighting continues along the Taipale River at the eastern end of the Karelian Isthmus. Finnish 7th Division defending Taipale announces overall losses of 816 men killed and 2020 wounded, since the start of the war. Soviet losses are unknown but likely 10 times this, given the WWI-like slaughter that has taken place. Further North, the last units of Finnish 9th division arrive in the village of Kuhmo for the assault on Soviet 54th division. Russian attacks north-east of Lake Ladoga dies down after lasting six days. One estimate gave Russian casualties during this period as between 13,000 and 15,000. Marshal Voroshilov, War Minister and C-in-C of Soviet forces, was on his way to Finnish front.

WESTERN FRONT: Paul Ferdonnet, -- the "Radio Traitor" -- a Nazi sympathizer broadcasting in French from Stuttgart (in Germany), is tried in absentia by a French military tribunal.


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[parsifal]

28 January 1940
Known Losses
MV BAUTA (Nor 1657 grt): (ex- CANADIAN SEALER, sold 1925) The cargo ship collided with MALAGEN (Sd) in Oslofjord and sank in shallow water. Raised in 1942, repaired and returned to service for the Germans in September 1943. She was an effective loss for the Norwegians.

MV ELENI STATATOU (Gk 5,625 grt): Crew: 33 (12 dead) : Cargo: Ballast : Route: Newport - Gulf ports : The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 90 miles (140 km) south west of the Fastnet Rock by U-34 .

MV ESTON (UK 1487 grt): Crew: 18 (18 dead - no survivors) : Cargo: Ballast : Route: Hull (26 Jan) - Blyth. The ship became a straggler of FN 81: She then struck a mine believed to have been laid 20 December by U-22 and sank in the North Sea off Blyth.

MV FLORA NOMICOS (Gk 2,980 grt): Crew: 25 (25 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Coal : Route: Sunderland (20 Jan) - Argentina. The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of Figuera le Foz, Portugal by U-44. U-44s after action report states the ship sank within 8 minutes after being hit aft by a stern torpedo. The Uboat does not identify the vessel, however this must have been the Flora which was reported missing after leaving The Downs on 22 January.

Attacks By FliegerKorps X
FS.83 departed the Tyne, escort by DD VIVIEN and sloop PELICAN. The convoy was attacked 29th and 30th by FK X bombers off Cromer and later in the day off Whitby. There was no damage from either attack on the 29th, but on the 30th steamer VOREDA (UK 7216 grt) was hit and sunk by He111's of German X Air Corps. The whole crew was saved by VIVIEN, VOREDA went ashore on Winkerton Shoal, and the wreck was sunk on 5 February. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 30th.

Note: German X Air Corps flew He111's of KG26, Ju88's of KG30, and two reconnaissance squadrons flying He59's or Do17's.

Steamer VOREDA was sunk 30 January from attacks that commenced from the 28th

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
U 34 and U 44 reported that they were starting return passage.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-19

Departures
Kiel: U-10
Wilhelmshaven: U-37

At Sea 28 January 1940
U-10, U-13, U-20, U-21, U-23, U-24, U-25, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55, U-56, U-58, U-61.
18 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
CA NORFOLK departed the Clyde on Northern Patrol to relieve CA DEVONSHIRE, and arrived back at Greenock on 29 February

CA Norfolk Profile with radar fitted

North Sea
CLA CALCUTTA departed the Humber, and arrived back at Immingham on the 31st. DDs ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER with cable ship ROYAL SCOT returned to Rosyth after once again being frustrated from completing their repair mission by bad weather. DD JACKAL departed Rosyth to relieve DD JAGUAR, which then sailed for Scapa to relieve DD JAVELIN. JAGUAR arrived at Scapa on the 29th. OA.81 departed Southend escort sloop ROCHESTER and DD WREN from the 28th to 30th, when the convoy dispersed

West Coast UK
CL COLOMBO departed Devonport for Belfast where she arrived on the 29th, and then proceeded to the Med Flt. DDs KEITH and WAKEFUL, patrolling at the mouth to Bristol Channel, attacked a submarine contact south of Milford Haven. OB.81 departed Liverpool escorted by DDs VISCOUNT and WALKER until the 31st, when they detached to SL.17.

Channel
DD WHITSHED arrived at Plymouth on the 26th after escorting SL.16 to Dover. She and DDs ACASTA and ARDENT then left Plymouth on the 27th to provide escort BB REVENGE, which was carrying £10,000,000 sterling of gold, art treasures, and some passengers, from there to Halifax. Just after midnight on the 28th, the DDs met REVENGE off Plymouth and escorted her to 14W where they detached and were ordered to meet CL AJAX arriving from the Sth Atlantic.

Nth Atlantic
HXF.18 departed Halifax at 0800 escort RCN DDs SAGUENAY and SKEENA until the 29th and with ocean escort provided by AMC ALAUNIA, which left the convoy 6 February. The convoy was joined in Home Waters by DD ANTELOPE from convoy OA.84 and sloop DEPTFORD from OB.84, and arrived at Liverpool on the 8th.

Central Atlantic
SLF.18 departed Freetown escort AMC DUNVEGAN CASTLE, joined convoy SL.18 at sea on 8 February and arrived at Liverpool on the 12th.

Far East/Pacific/Australia
Light cruiser LIVERPOOL arrived at Hong Kong for repairs.

 

[Njaco]

January 27 Saturday
GERMANY: Hptm. Wilhelm Makrocki is appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./ZG 26 when Hptm. Karl Kaschka is transferred to II./ZG 26.

Adolf Hitler ordered Wilhelm Keitel to continue with the planning of an invasion of Norway. The German plans for invading Norway are put on a more formal basis with the allocation of the code name 'Weserubung'.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-20 destroys 4 small, empty, neutral steamers off the Orkneys. U-20 torpedoed and sank Danish ship "Fredensborg" (at 2052 hours, killing 20) and Danish ship "England" (at 2124 hours, killing 20) off the Orkneys. At 8 PM, Norwegian SS "Faro" is damaged by a torpedo explosion 20m away but does not sink. The crew of 15 takes to the lifeboats. 7 men in one boat reboard "Faro" at dawn and drift ashore in Taracliff Bay. The other lifeboat drifts away, coming ashore on Copinsay the following day with 1 man still alive (7 lives lost). At 11.13 PM, U-20 torpedoes Norwegian SS "Hosanger" (17 lives lost). The sole survivor, Magnus Sandvik, floats on a raft for 15 hours until he is rescued by HMS "Northern Reward". Sandvik is too frozen to attach a line to himself, so a sailor from HMS "Northern Reward" jumps overboard to fasten it to him. He is transferred to HMS "Maori" and hospitalised at Kirkwall.

NORTHERN EUROPE: At the "Motti meeting", General Hägglund orders Finnish IV Corps to attack the "Pieni-Kelivaara" and "Lemetti West" mottis to test various tactics.

AFRICA: The peace resolution introduced into the South African Parliament by the opposition leader General Hertzog is defeated by 81 votes to 59. In his speech to Parliament, Hertzog openly supported Hitler. The pro-British Prime Minister, General Jan Smuts, likens the speech, of his former Boer comrade-in-arms, to a chapter of Mein Kampf. He says,

"Goebbels could not have done it better."

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill (uneasy at the slow increase in war production) speaks at Free Trade Hall, Manchester:

"….each to our station... there is not a week, nor a day, nor an hour to be lost!"

He also says he is puzzled and worried about the "phoney war" and wonders why Britain has not been bombed yet. The speech is broadcast to the dominions and the United States.

.

 

[Njaco]

January 28 Sunday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-34 torpedoed Greek merchant ships "Eleni Stathatou" 100 miles off of Brest, France at 0252 hours. With "Eleni Stathatou" keeping afloat, U-34 remained to observe. At 0421 hours, after observing that the Greek ship was now moving once again, U-34 fired her last torpedo and sank the ship, killing 12.

German submarine U-44 torpedoed and sank Greek coal carrier "Flora" 20 miles off Portugal at 2000 hours.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Soviet shelling of Finnish defensive positions on the Karelian Isthmus continues, with increasing intensity. Fort Poppius and Million Fort in the Lähde sector near Summa are badly damaged by the bombardment, leading to defensive weakness in the Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Isthmus. Meanwhile, Finnish troops eliminate Soviet forces trapped in the Pieni-Kelivaara pocket on the north shore of Lake Lagoda, capturing 2 field guns, 2 anti-tank guns, 9 mortars, 9 machine guns, and 100 rifles. Dug in Soviet troops in the nearby West Lemetti motti resist a similar attack, leading to new tactics to gradually reduce mottis.

The Finnish 9th Division attacks the Soviet 54th Division near Kuhmo and succeeds in splitting the Soviet force into three separate groups. The Finns are not able to press their attacks home. They are further distracted by relief attempts by the Soviet 23rd Division.

ASIA: Chinese troops captured Lucheng, Shanxi Province, China while Japanese 26th Division attacked Wuyuan, Suiyuan Province, China.

WESTERN FRONT: Paris announced that patrol units had been out for first time for several days.

UNITED KINGDOM: The Director of Censorship permits newspapers to belatedly reveal details of Britain's coldest winter since 1894. Britain had experienced, during the month of January, the coldest spell of weather since 1894. At Brixton 33 degrees of frost were recorded. The Thames River and the Southampton Docks were frozen and temperatures of -18° C (-33° F) were recorded at Buxton (Derbys). London's reservoirs were covered in 12″ of ice. The Thames froze over at Kingston and for 8 miles between Teddington and Sunbury. Sea froze at many points on coast.

SS 'Eston' (1,487t a P and O steamship) left Hull on Friday 26th January 1940, a bitterly cold night bound for Blyth, and was last reported to be off Blyth on this day. Several days later the body of one of her seventeen man crew and a lifeboat were washed ashore. She had struck a mine laid by U- 22 on the 20th December 1939. She was built in 1919. SS 'Eston' was positively identified in 1978 and was found to be lying in 23 metres of water - east of Whitley Bay. Her bow section is still complete, 40 metres S of the bow section are the engine and boilers and the stern section can be found 70 metres SW of the boilers.

.

 

[parsifal]

29 January 1940
Known Losses
MV EIKA (Nor 1,503 grt): Crew: 18 (16 dead and 2 survivors). : Cargo: Salt: Route: Spain - Aalesund . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in St George's Channel by U-51. The Uboat skipper's Log (Kvtte Kptn Knorr) reports that the ship carried no neutrality markings and mistook the freighter with the engine aft as tanker (for which unrestricted attacks applied) . Only two men survived on a raft, the 16 y o mess boy Harald Stole and the stoker Alfred Johansen. They were taken prisoner by the U-boat and landed at Wilhelmshaven on 8 February. En route Harald Stole had his 17th birthday whilst aboard and on this occasion Knorr gave him a drink and some chocolate. Both survivors were sent home to Norway one week after arriving in Germany.
D/S Eika - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Coastal steamer NORA (Ne 298 grt) hit a mine one miles east of the Deal Coast Guard Station, and went ashore at Deal
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Coastal steamer SKUDE (Nor 481 grt): The wooden coaster (launched 1921) sprang a leak and sank in the North Sea off the Shipwash Lightship .
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MV BADJESTAN (UK 5573grt): The cargo ship ran aground off Clachaig Point, Isle of Arran, Bute. All crew were rescued by HMS Maori.

Air Attacks By FliegerKorps X

EAST DUDGEON LIGHTSHIP (UK 200 grt(est)): The lightship was bombed and sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of seven of her eight crew. This event was the subject of a wartimne feature film

MV STANBURN (UK 2981 grt):the ship was bombed and sunk by He111's of FK X, 10 miles SE by E, one half mile south of Flamborough Head. 25 crew were lost and 3 saved.

FS.83A departed the Tyne, escorted by sloops BITTERN and FLEETWOOD and was attacked by LW bombers on the 30th. One rating on minesweeper NIGER was killed by a near miss and steamer HIGH WAVE (UK 1178 grt) sunk one mile NNE of Kentish Knock. 18 survivors were picked up by Dutch trawler RIAN (232grt), and the convoy arrived at Southend on the 31st.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 55 reported a convoy southwest of Land's End. Later radio intelligence reports showed that a 5,000 ton steamer had been sunk. The boat lost contact towards the evening. Enemy radio traffic became very active, with U-boat warnings and orders for anti-S/M forces.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-23

Departures
Kiel: U-17
Wilhelmshaven: U-15, U-26, U-59

At Sea 29 January 1940
U-10, U-13, U-15 , U-17, U-20, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41 , U-44, U-48, U-51, U-55 , U-56, U-58, U-59, U-61.
21 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
AMC LETITIA and CA SUFFOLK departed the Clyde on Northern Patrol, the latter to relieve sister ship BERWICK.

North Sea
Repairs on DD ILEX, were completed at liverpool, and she put to sea for Rosyth. DDs KANDAHAR and KASHMIR departed Rosyth for the Clyde. HN.9B of 3 British, 8 Norwegian, 10 Swedish, 4 Finnish and 4 Estonian ships, delayed a day because of bad weather, departed Bergen escort DDs JERVIS, JUNO and JUPITER. DD IMPERIAL departed Rosyth on the 27th to join the escort. There was no west coast section and the convoy, less ships separated in a storm, arrived safely at Methil on 2 February. OA.82 departed Southend escort DDs VANESSA and WINDSOR from the 29th to 30th.

MV GRIPFAST (UK 1109 grt): The cargo ship was bombed and damaged in the North Sea by Luftwaffe aircraft off the coast of Yorkshire and beached at the mouth of Bridlington Harbour with the loss of one crew member. She was later repaired and returned to service.

After this attack, GRIPFAST was refloated and returned to service. She was eventually sunk by German Bombers in July 1942, off Portland Bill

Steamer TAUTMILA (Lat 3724 grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of German KG26 five miles NW of Smiths Knoll Light Vessel.
New source: John Readhead's Shipyard Page35

Model Of the TAUTMILA. She was originally the Highcliffe, but when sold to the Latvian state carrier, her name was changed

Steamer IMPERIAL MONARCH (UK 5831 grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of German KG26, 10 miles 62° from Scurdyness.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Northern Waters
CLs AURORA, ARETHUSA and NEWCASTLE arrived at Scapa.

West Coast UK
OB.82 departed Liverpool escort DDs MACKAY until the 30th and WARWICK to 1 February

Sth Atlantic
Cruiser HAWKINS relieved NZ CL ACHILLES as flagship of the Sth America Station. ACHILLES departed Montevideo for the Falklands where she arrived on 1 February, leaving there on the 2nd to return to NZ. Arriving at Auckland on 23 February, she was refitting and repairing until early June, and carried out trials in Hauraki Gulf from 14 June.
.
Med- Biscay
HG.17F departed Gibraltar with 25 ship, with a complex escort plan. She arrived at Liverpool 7th Feb. DDs DECOY and DEFENDER departed Gib on escort duties returning on 7 February. Both then sailed on the 8th for Freetown, arriving on the 15th and 18th respectively.

Far East/Pacific/Australia
CL DURBAN departed Singapore. Monitor TERROR departed Singapore on the 29th, proceeded via Penang, Colombo, Bombay and Aden, and arrived at Alexandria on 11 March and Malta on 4 April. She was to have gone on to Devonport to arrive in mid-April, but was retained in the Mediterranean.

 

[parsifal]

30 January 1940
Known Losses
Events leading to the olss of U-55:
Sloop FOWEY was escorting convoy segment OA.80G to join OG.16, and tkr VACLITE and steamer BEAVERBRAE (9956grt) were straggling.

U.55, on her first war patrol, torpedoed and sank Steamer VACLITE (UK 5026 grt): Crew: 35 (0 dead and 35 survivors) Cargo: Ballast : Route: London - New York . The ship was sunk at 0150, 100 miles west of Ushant. Italian steamer POLLENZO (Italy 6470 grt) rescued all of the crew.
New source:Vaclite - (1938-1940)

BEAVERBRAE quickly caught up with the convoy. Then at 1105 (late morning, some 9 hrs after the loss of VACLITE), U.55 struck again and sank Steamer KERAMIAI (Gk 5085 grt) Crew:28 (0 dead and 28 survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: London - Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). The survivors were rescued by FOWEY and tkr BRITISH UNITY (UK 8367 grt). DDDs WHITSHED, ACASTA and ARDENT were escorting CL AJAX to Plymouth, received the Greek steamer's distress signals, and while ACASTA remained with AJAX, WHITSHED and ARDENT detached to assist the convoy.

The battle moved closer to the convoy. One of the convoy escorts, Fr Contre Torpilleur DD VALMY, an a/c of RAF 228 Squadron and WHITSHED attacked the submarine, but without damaging her, but they coralled her which then led to her loss. U.55 was then damaged by DCs dropped by FOWEY, and she was scuttled SW of the Scillies. WHITSHED and FOWEY picked up the survivors - three officers and thirty eight ratings - all the crew, except the commanding officer Kptlt. Werner Heidel, who went down with his command.
New Source: Atlantic Convoy by Gerald Coulson. (GS) - MilitaryGallery.co.uk

Atlantic Convoy by Gerald Coulson Guepard Class DD

U-55 Type VIIB Uboat (DKM 843 grt) Sunk south-west of the Isles of Scilly (English Channel), by DC attacks from the DD WHITESHED, the sloop FOWEY, the Fr DDs VALMY and GUEPARD, and by depth charges from a British Sunderland a/c from 228 Sqn. 1 dead and 41 survivors.

U-15 Type IIB Uboat (DKM 324 grt) Sunk in the North Sea north of Heligoland, after a collision with the German TB ILTIS. 25 dead (all hands lost).

Ships sunk by airstrikes by FliegerKorps X
Steamer GIRALDA (UK 2178 grt) carrying coal for the Northern Patrol trawlers, was bombed and sunk by He111's three miles east of Grimness, S. Ronaldsay, Orkneys with the loss of all twenty three crew.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer BANCREST (UK 4450 grt) was bombed by He111's, and went ashore at Wick with the loss of one crewman. DD JAVELIN rescued the survivors.

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 51 reported that she was returning owing to a technical defect in the bow caps. The enemy news service announced the sinking of a U-boat. According to the description of the incident, which sounds genuine, it must be U 55. The boat is said to have been unable to dive and destroyed by A/C. Some of the crew were saved.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-61

At Sea 30 January 1940
U-10, U-13, U-17, U-20, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41 (+), U-44, U-48, U-51, U-56, U-58, U-59.
18 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
AMC CILICIA departed the Clyde for Northern Patrol.

North Sea
Sub SEAWOLF departed Lowestoft on patrol. MT.1 departed Methil with destroyer ECHO and escort vessel VEGA. MT.2 departed Methil with DDs ENCOUNTER and ESCAPADE, but the convoy returned to Methil. DD WESTMINSTER arrived at Rosyth.

Steamer ROYAL CROWN (UK 4364 grt) was bombed and damaged by HE111's of KG26, 15 miles south of Smiths Knoll Light Vessel.

This vessel was eventually sunk by gunfire from DKM BC GNEISENAU on the 16th March 1941

Steamer JERSEY QUEEN (UK 910 grt) was damaged by German bombing

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Northern Waters
DD INGLEFIELD arrived in the Clyde after escorting the west coast portion of HN.9A. DD MOHAWK returned to Scapa. DDs JAVELIN and SIKH arrived Scapa, but SIKH left the same day to assist ASW trawler SCOTTISH (558grt) which was being bombed.

Channel
CLA CURACOA departed Chatham to work up at Portland after conversion to an anti-aircraft ship. AMC WOLFE at Portland dragged her anchor and collided with steamer WESTERN COAST (1390 grt), which was not damaged. Both ships were operational almopst immediately.

UK - France
BC.23S of steamers BALTRAFFIC, BARON KINNAIRD, DUNKWA (Commodore) and FABIAN departed the Loire escort DD MONTROSE, and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 31st.

SW Approaches
DD WREN attacked a submarine contact SW of the Scillies.

Nth Atlantic
DDs HUNTER and the RCN DDs ST LAURENT, FRASER, OTTAWA and RESTIGOUCHE departed Halifax escorting convoy TC.3 of troopships EMPRESS OF BRITAIN (42,348grt, carrying 1588 troops), MONARCH OF BERMUDA (22,424grt, 1334), EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA (19,665grt, 1577), AQUITANIA (45,647grt, 2733) and Polish CHROBRY (11,442grt, civilian labourers). Ocean escort was BB VALIANT, and CL ENTERPRISE which returned to Halifax on 4 February. HUNTER arrived at Plymouth on 8 February and went on to Falmouth for docking and refit until 9 March prior to joining the Home Flt.

Med- Biscay
German tkr THALIA (1122grt) was in Cadiz Bay to refuel U.44 in Operation MORO. U.44 did not appear, but U.25 arrived at 2200/30th, taking four hours to refuel. As per the agreement with the Spanish govt, the operation was completed clandestinely. Fr CA TOURVILLE and DDs VAUBAN and AIGLE departed Beirut for patrol and arrived at Malta on 3 February

Indian Ocean

Far East/Pacific/Australia
RAN CA CANBERRA departed Fremantle for Eastern Australian waters where she carried out patrols until April.

Other
Admiralty report that as of 30 January 1940, 24 German vessels had been captured for 103,037 tons and 23 ships scuttled themselves for 139,236 tons.