Admiralty War Diaries World War 2

ADMIRALTY WAR DIARIES of WORLD WAR 2

April 1942 to 1945

Transcribed by Don Kindell

Edited by Gordon Smith, Naval-History.Net

HMS Whitehall, destroyer
(NavyPhotos, click photographs for enlargements)

British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day, Ship Movements, Actions, Losses by Don Kindell, is an amalgamation of many official sources, and ends at March 1942.

Thereafter, the series continues to the end of the war in outline only, mainly covering major Royal and Dominion Navy losses.

To complete the series in it entirety is a major, long term task. We are therefore making the individual Admiralty War Diaries available, one-by-one, so that researchers have access to them.

Contents

HOME FLEET, Commander-in-Chief		April-December 1942 January-December 1943 January-December 1944 January-July 1945 (including destroyers)

DESTROYER COMMAND, Home Fleet		April-December 1942 January-December 1943 January-December 1944

LEVANT COMMAND (Aegean area)		September-November 1943 *(new)*

EASTERN FLEET		Report of Proceedings 1942 (covers missing months) April-June, December (only) 1942 January-December 1943

Some comments by Don Kindell:

1. The formats of the War Diaries are different, but these differences have been retained e.g. Captain (D) Seventeenth Destroyer Flotilla, Captain (D) XVII Destroyer Flotilla, Captain (D) 17th Destroyer Flotilla, D 17, and the same for date headings.

2. June 1944 is divided into NEPTUNE and Scapa Flow, but page 1 of NEPTUNE covering 1 to 6 June is not available.

3. There does not appear to be a 1945 War Diary for the Home Fleet Destroyer Command. It is believed destroyer movements were incorporated into the main Home Fleet Diary

and one by Gordon Smith:

My apologies that columns often do not line up. Tabs in MS Word do not always work precisely in MS Frontpage

Abbreviations:

GS – Greek ship
FFS – Free French Ship
FS - French Ship
HMCS - Canadian Ship
HMRT – HM Rescue Tug
HNethMS - Dutch Ship
HS - Hospital Ship
MOMP – Mid-Ocean Meeting Point in Atlantic, so presumably also in Indian Ocean
NS or HNorMS - Norwegian Ship
ORP - Polish Ship
RAN - Royal Australian Navy
RCN - Royal Canadian Navy
RFA - Royal Fleet Auxiliary
RIN - Royal Indian Navy

and for those of us who have problems with Don's Latin:

q.v.: quod vide, which see: i.e. from Home Fleet War Diary (q.v.)

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revised 09/03/09