September Flagship
of Home Fleet.
Flying the flag of Admiral Sir Charles L Forbes.
(Note: This ship
was to have been fitted with a prototype aircraft warning
radar
(Type 79) in 1938
but as one of its two aerial units would have been sited
in the position used for the Admiral's Flag, the equipment fit
was transferred to
HMS RODNEY!! See
RADAR AT SEA By D Howse).
3rd At sea deployed with the Home Fleet patrolling in the north
west approaches on interception
patrol to prevent German ships returning to North Sea.
6th 0700 hours returned to Scapa Flow.
7th 0730 hours sailed from Scapa Flow in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM
Battlecruiser
REPULSE,
HM Aircraft
Carrier
ARK ROYAL, HM Cruisers
AURORA,
SHEFFIELD, and HM Destroyers FAULKNOR,
FIREDRAKE, FORESIGHT, FORTUNE,
FURY, ASHANTI, BEDOUIN,
MASHONA, PUNJABI, SOMALI, TARTAR. To carry out
an interception patrol off the Norwegian coast to 63ºN.
8th ASHANTI, FORESIGHT and FURY detached.
12th Arrived back at Scapa Flow.
At 1915 hours departed
Scapa Flow for Loch Ewe in company with HM Battlecruiser
REPULSE, and HM Destroyers
SOMALI, BEDOUIN, MASHONA, PUNJABI, TARTAR of
the 6th DF.
En Route BEDOUIN,
PUNJABI, TARTAR were detached on anti-submarine patrol.
13th At 0730 hours arrived at Loch Ewe (the small port of Aultbrea, designated Port A for
security reasons) in company with REPULSE, MASHONA and SOMALI.
15th In
the evening departed Loch Ewe escorted by HM Destroyers SOMALI, MASHONA,
MATABELE.
16th In
the morning arrived at Scapa Flow.
17th Departed Scapa
Flow, unaccompanied, and arrived at Loch Ewe in the evening.
20th At
1915 hours departed Loch Ewe in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM
Battlecruisers
HOOD and
REPULSE, HM Aircraft Carrier ARK ROYAL, and HM
Destroyers FIREDRAKE, FORTUNE, TARTAR, PUNJABI.
En route the Force
was joined by HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, FURY,
FEARLESS, FORESTER and FORESIGHT.
21st Arrived
at Scapa Flow.
22nd Sailed
from Scapa Flow as cover for Operation SK in company with
HM Battleship RODNEY,
HM Aircraft Carrier ARK ROYAL, and HM Destroyers
FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, FEARLESS,
MATABELE,
MASHONA and SOMALI.
(Operation SK was
an operation to attack German shipping off the Norwegian coast but
following the collision between JAVELIN and JERSEY on 22/9/39 the operation was cancelled)
23rd Arrived
at Scapa Flow.
25th Departed Scapa Flow in company with
HM Battleship RODNEY, HM Aircraft Carrier ARK
ROYAL,
and HM Destroyers BEDOUIN, PUNJABI,
TARTAR and to cover the Humber Force
returning with HM
Submarine
SPEARFISH which could not dive.
HM Destroyers FAME and FORESIGHT joined the
NELSON force at sea.
HM Destroyers MASHONA
and MATABELE also later joined at sea.
The Fleet came under
German air attack, by Ju 88’s, at sea for the first time.
(See ENGAGE THE ENEMY
MORE CLOSELY by C Barnett).
26th Arrived at Scapa Flow.
October
1st Sailed from Scapa Flow for Loch Ewe in company
with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM
Battlecruisers HOOD and REPULSE,
HM Aircraft
Carrier ARK ROYAL, HM Cruiser
NEWCASTLE and HM Destroyers ASHANTI, MASHONA, MATABELE, SOMALI,
FAME, FORESIGHT,
FORTUNE and FIREDRAKE.
2nd At 0700 arrived at Loch Ewe.
5th Sailed from Loch Ewe for Scapa Flow in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM
Battlecruisers HOOD and REPULSE and HM Aircraft Carrier FURIOUS
and escorting
destroyers.
Arrived at Scapa Flow.
8th Over night the CinC Home Fleet was
made aware that the German Navy was about to launch a
sortie by heavy units.
At 1320 hours the
CinC Home Fleet received firm information from the RAF
when one of
Coastal Command’s
Hudson aircraft of 224 Sqdn. sighted the German Battlecruiser
GNEISENAU, light
cruiser KOLN and 9 destroyers off Lister
lighthouse (Lindesesnes LH
southern Norway) steaming north.
(The purpose of this
sortie was to sink any Allied shipping found and to entice out the Home
Fleet onto waiting
U-boats and to bring them into range of German bombers)
At 1840 hours sailed
from Scapa Flow in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM
Battlecruisers HOOD and REPULSE, HM Aircraft Carrier
FURIOUS, HM Cruisers
AURORA, SHEFFIELD, NEWCASTLE and HM Destroyers SOMALI,
MASHONA,
ASHANTI, ESKIMO, BEDOUIN, PUNJABI,
FAULKNOR, FURY, FORESTER, FAME,
FORESIGHT, FORTUNE and FIREDRAKE as Force F. They sailed northeast
into rapidly
worsening weather.
(The plan was to
set a trap for the German force, with Force F and Force E, that
had sailed
from Rosyth and the Humber, being the two halves of
the trap that was to close on the German
force. This failed to happen since
the Germans reversed course and arrived back at Kiel at
0100/10/10/39)
Soon after turning
NE, FORTUNE incurred weather damage and detached for the Clyde.
11th Arrived at Loch Ewe in company with Battleship RODNEY, HM Battlecruiser HOOD, and
HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, BEDOUIN, PUNJABI, FURY, FORESTER and FIREDRAKE.
15th Departed Loch Ewe in company with Battleship RODNEY, HM Battlecruiser HOOD,
HM Aircraft Carrier
FURIOUS, HM Cruisers
BELFAST, AURORA and
HM Destroyers
BEDOUIN, FEARLESS, FOXHOUND and FURY.
22nd At 0800 arrived back at Loch Ewe.
At 1830 hours sailed
from Loch Ewe in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM
Battlecruiser HOOD, and HM Destroyers INTREPID, IVANHOE, ICARUS,
KELLY and
KINGSTON to cover the movement of
convoy NV1 of twelve British iron ore ships from Narvik.
24th At 1200 hours off Muckle Flugga HM Cruiser
EDINBURGH
joined and KINGSTON detached.
26th At 0130 hours off the Norwegian coast an RV was made with convoy
NV1 and HM Cruiser
AURORA and HM Destroyers ASHANTI,
FAME, TARTAR and SOMALI joined
and took
over the close escort of the convoy.
29th When west of the Orkneys returning from the operation, the force,
comprising HM Battleships
NELSON and RODNEY,
HM Battlecruiser HOOD, and HM Destroyers ICARUS, IMPULSIVE,
IVANHOE, INTREPID and KELLY
ran into a line of 4 U-boats. U.56 fired three torpedoes at
NELSON and all three struck
the target, two broke upon hitting and the other failed to exploded.
The crew of NELSON were unaware
of the attack.
31st Arrived back at Loch Ewe.
She was then boarded
by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, and the First
Sea Lord, Admiral
Sir Dudley Pound. They came to discuss with the CinC the use of the main
fleet bases at Scapa Flow, Loch Ewe and Rosyth. A decision was taken to return to Scapa in
the spring of 1940 when all the new defences would be in place.
November Transferred with Home Fleet units to
Loch Ewe after HM Battleship ROYAL OAK
was torpedoed and sunk by U.47 in Scapa Flow.
(There was an ongoing
discussion between the Admiralty and the CinC Home Fleet
as to
where the Home Fleet should be based whilst the AA and anti-submarine
defences of Scapa
Flow were improved. See The War at Sea
by Captain S. W. Roskill)
2nd At 0930 hours sailed from Loch Ewe in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM Battlecruiser
HOOD, and HM Destroyers ICARUS, INTREPID, IVANHOE,
IMPULSIVE, FAULKNOR,
FORESIGHT, FORTUNE and PUNJABI to provide
cover for cruisers and destroyers that were
searching for the US freighter SS CITY of FLINT 4963 tons (captured
by the DEUTSCHLAND
and returning to Germany
manned by a prize crew) that was
known to be off the Norwegian
coast, and for convoy ON.1 which
departed Methil
at 1700/4/11/39.
Later HM Destroyers
FEARLESS and FOXHOUND joined the force at sea.
3rd At 1930 hours HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FORTUNE and INTREPID were
detached to
refuel at Sullum Voe.
5th HM Destroyers FEARLESS, FOXHOUND, IMPERIAL and KANDAHAR, after refuelling at
Scapa Flow on the 4th, joined the force at sea.
6th HM Destroyer FAME departed Scapa Flow on the 5th and joined the
force at sea.
7th HM Destroyers ICARUS and IMPULSIVE were detached for refuelling
at Kirkwall.
9th Very early east of the Orkneys HOOD was detached with FEARLESS.
At 0700 hours arrived
at Rosyth in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM Anti-
Aircraft Cruiser
CAIRO, and HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME, FORTUNE, FOXHOUND,
FORESIGHT,
FEARLESS, KINGSTON and IMPERIAL.
12th Sailed from Rosyth in company with HM
Battleship RODNEY, and HM Destroyers
FAULKNOR, FORTUNE,
FORESIGHT, FOXHOUND and FAME to carry out full calibre
firings
before proceeding on patrol between
the Faroes and Norway to cover convoys ON.2/HN.2.
17th Arrived at Loch Ewe in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, and
HM Destroyers
FAULKNOR, FORTUNE, FORESIGHT, FOXHOUND and FAME.
20th At 0730 hours sailed from Loch Ewe in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, and HM
Destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME, FIREDRAKE,
FORTUNE, FOXHOUND, SOMALI and
TARTAR.
21st Arrived in the Clyde.
23rd At 1551 hours the CinC Home Fleet received
a signal from HM Armed Merchant Cruiser
RAWLPINDI, patrolling
the Iceland Faroes gap, timed at 1545 hours stating she
had sighted
a German Battlecruiser, this was quickly
changed identifying the vessel as the Pocket
Battleship DEUTSCHLAND
(The first sighting report was in fact correct as she had
sighted SCHARNHORST with GNEISENAU in company)
At 1920 hours sailed
from the Clyde in company with battleship
RODNEY, HM Cruiser
DEVONSHIRE
and HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FORESTER, FORTUNE, FIREDRAKE
and FURY for a position off the Norwegian coast to intercept
the German ship, still believed
to be the DEUTSCHLAND, as it returned to Germany.
HM Destroyers FAME and FORESIGHT joined the
fleet at sea, off the Clyde.
Off the Mull of Kintyre HM Destroyers
ASHANTI, MASHONA, PUNJABI and SOMALI
joined the fleet.
24th In the afternoon as the force passed through the Pentland Firth, FAME, FORESIGHT and
FORTUNE detached with weather
damage.
25th At 1600 hours the fleet arrived at their interception position
at 62.30N approximately 120
miles off the Norwegian coast. For the next three days the fleet
patrolled in this area and the
destroyers were refuelled in relays at Sullum
Voe.
(However due to poor
weather with visibility reduced to 1 to 2 miles the German ships
evaded the various patrol lines of the Home Fleet and returned
to Wilhelmshaven at
1300/27/11/39
with weather damage)
28th MASHONA, PUNJABI and SOMALI detached to refuel, then joined HOOD. ASHANTI
detached with defects.
29th At 0800 hours off the Norwegian coast RODNEY developed a rudder
defect and detached
for the Clyde escorted by GURKHA and KANDAHAR.
30th At 2000 hours 250 miles NE of the Faeroes, and in company with
FAULKNOR, FIREDRAKE
FORESTER and FURY,
RODNEY turned south steering for the Clyde. En route they were joined
by DEVONSHIRE.
December
4th Because the destroyers were low on fuel the decision was taken
to enter Loch Ewe for them to
refuel.
At 0752 hours when
entering the Loch at 13 knots NELSON passed
over and detonated a
type TMB magnetic mine. Although
the massive explosion did not kill anyone, 73 were injured,
of which 52 suffered lacerating injuries to delicate parts of
their anatomies when ceramic
toilet pans shattered in the blast. She took a list of 3° to
starboard and drew 39ft forward.
Before she could
anchor in an appropriate position a cruiser fouling the berth had to move.
She finally anchored
at 1210 hours.
(The mine was one
of 18 laid by U.31 on the night of 27/28 October, each one of which
contained between 420 and 560 Kg of explosive)
She sustained serious
structural damage and flooding, her starboard outer bottom plating was
forced in by up to 4ft for a length of 70ft. Main armament equipment
was also damaged by
shock.
The destroyers FAULKNOR,
FORESTER and FURY remained with NELSON, at first
trapped due to the lack of magnetic minesweeping capability,
then to provide anti-submarine
patrols off the Loch entrance.
7th Anti-aircraft Cruiser CAIRO arrived at Loch Ewe to provide AA
cover while
temporary repairs were carried out.
(Note: For details
of naval operations in Home waters during 1939, see ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY).
1 9 4 0
January
4th Took passage to Portsmouth for repair, escorted by
HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME,
FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, ISIS and IMPULSIVE.
8th At 1050 hours arrived at Portsmouth and taken
in hand for repair.
February to May
Under repair
Prototype fire control
radar fitted for main armament (See RADAR AT SEA)
June
6th At 1700 hours sailed from Portsmouth for the Clyde to complete refit , She was
escorted by HM Destroyers AMAZON, WARWICH and WITCH.
(Note: As she set
course from Portsmouth, two minesweepers swept
the channel ahead. They
detonated two magnetic mines that were laid in her path)
8th 1115 hours arrived off Greenock.
On completion carried
out trials on fire control radar which were successful and allowed
work on Type 284 radar for use with main armament in battleships
and cruisers to be
developed for production. Radar equipment removed on completion.
29th Sailed from the Clyde for Scapa Flow escorted
by HM Destroyers FURY and FAME.
July
1st Rejoined Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.
Type 279 Aircraft
warning radar fitted.
August
Deployed with Fleet in preparation for interception of invasion craft.
September Transferred to Rosyth
in continuation of counter invasion requirements.
6th At 0900 hours departed Scapa Flow
on Operation DF in company with HM Aircraft Carrier
FURIOUS, HM Cruisers
NAIAD and
BONAVENTURE, and HM Destroyers SOMALI,
TARTAR, BEDOUIN, PUNJABI, ASHANTI, ESKIMO,
and MATABELE.
(Operation DF was
an attack on enemy shipping off Trondheim)
7th At 0500 hours in 62‑00N, 00‑50E, FURIOUS flew off
nine Skuas of 801 Squadron and
twelve Swordfish of 816 and 825 Squadrons. Two ships were sighted
and one was reported
sunk between Sognefjord and Grip Light,
but no confirmation exists for this claim.
At 2000 hours the
force arrived back at Scapa Flow.
13th At 1030 hours sailed from Scapa Flow to Rosyth
for anti-invasion duties in company with
HM Battlecruiser
HOOD, HM Cruisers NAIAD and BONAVENTURE and HM Destroyers
KASHMIR, KIPLING,
ZULU, SIKH, SOMALI (D.6), and ESKIMO.
HM Destroyers JACKAL
and ELECTRA joined at sea by, after refueling at Scapa Flow.
HM Anti-Aircraft
Cruiser CAIRO joined off Noss Head.
The force arrived
at Rosyth that same day.
October Home
Fleet deployment in continuation based at Rosyth.
November
4th At 1615 hours departed the Firth of Forth, wearing the flag of the
CinC Home Fleet in
company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM Cruisers NAIAD and BONAVENTURE
and
HM Destroyers COSSACK, MAORI, MATABELE, ELECTRA, and BRILLIANT.
HM Destroyer PUNJABI
joined the fleet off Bell Rock, having departed Scapa Flow at 0630
hours.
5th At 1400 hours arrived at Scapa Flow.
(At 1730 hours in
position 52.41N, 32.17W, the German Pocket Battleship ADMIRAL
SCHEER attacked the
Armed Merchant Cruiser JERVIS BAY which was the sole escort
of
Convoy HX.84 of thirty
seven ships. JERVIS BAY was sunk in 22 minutes)
6th At 0700 hours departed Scapa Flow
in company with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM Cruiser
SOUTHAMPTON and HM Destroyers COSSACK,
MAORI, BRILLIANT, DOUGLAS,
KEPPEL and VIMY to
cover the Iceland-Faroes Channel against a possible return
to
Germany by the
SCHEER.
7th RODNEY detached to join the escort of convoy SC11.
8th On patrol between Iceland the Faroes
in company with SOUTHAMPTON, COSSACK,
MAORI, BRILLIANT, DOUGLAS, KEPPEL
and VIMY.
13th At 1630 hours arrived at Scapa Flow in company with HM Destroyers
BEAGLE, MAORI,
BULLDOG and KEPPEL.
28th At 2310 hours departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth
escorted by HM Destroyers SOMALI,
MASHONA, MAORI and DOUGLAS.
29th At 1415 hours arrived at Rosyth.
December
3rd Sailed from Rosyth
escorted by HM Destroyers VIMY, DOUGLAS and KEPPEL.
4th At 6000 hours arrived at Scapa Flow and resumed Fleet duties.
18th Sailed from Scapa Flow with HM Battlecruiser REPULSE escorted by HM Destroyers
COSSACK, SIKH, TARTAR,
BRILLIANT, BULLDOG, BEAGLE, DOUGLAS,
ESCAPADE, ELECTRA
and ECLIPSE to carry out tactical exercises
west of the Orkneys.
20th At 0930 hours the force arrived back at Scapa Flow.
28th At 1415 hours sailed from Scapa Flow escorted by HM Destroyers
BEDOUIN, TARTAR,
SIKH and BEAGLE to patrol eastward of the Iceland-Faroes Channel.
29th At 1200 hours in 63N, 03-55W, HM Cruiser EDINBURGH joined the
force.
31st At 1100 hours returned to Scapa Flow.
19 4 1
January
On the 23/1/41 the Admiralty received a
report from agents in Denmark that two German
heavy units had passed Nyborg, in the
Great Belt. (These were the German Battlecruisers
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU)
The German ships commenced their breakout proper at
1100
hours on 25/1/41 when they sailed from Skagen in northern Demark heading north up
the Norwegian coast. RAF Coastal Command flew reconnaissance
missions but due to poor
weather, they failed to find the German ships.
25th At 2320 hours departed Scapa Flow for a position south of
Iceland to cover the Denmark
Strait and Iceland-Faroes gap in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM Battlecruiser
REPULSE, HM Cruisers
ARETHUSA,
GALATEA,
AURORA,
MAURITIUS,
NAIAD,
PHOEBE,
EDINBURGH and
BIRMINGHAM and HM Destroyers BEDOUIN,
MATABELE,
TARTAR, PUNJABI,
ESCAPADE, ECHO, ELECTRA, BEAGLE, BRILLIANT, KEPPEL
and the Polish ORP PIORUN.
27th South of Iceland, RODNEY, EDINBURGH, BIRMINGHAM, MAURITIUS, BEAGLE,
BRILLIANT, KEPPEL
and PIORUN were detached to return to Scapa Flow.
ARETHUSA, GALATEA,
AURORA, NAIAD and PHOEBE were detached
to set up patrol
lines.
28th At 0620 hours in about 62N, 21.30W, off southeast Iceland, SCHARNHORST picked up
a contact at 14400 metres. This was the cruiser NAIAD who at
0649 hours also saw the
German unit and transmitted
a sighting report. The German ships reversed course and
NAIAD
lost contact.
At 0738 hours REPULSE,
BEDOUIN, TARTAR, MATABELE and PUNJABI detached
with orders join NAIAD.
29th In the Northwest Approaches, in company with REPULSE, BEDOUIN,
MATABELE,
TARTAR, ESCAPADE,
ELECTRA, ECHO and PUNJABI , covered convoy
HX 103.
30th At 1700 hours the force arrived back at Scapa Flow.
February
8th At 0618 hours the German Battlecruiser
SCHARNHORST made radar contact at 17200
metres with convoy HX 106. On closing ,
SCHARNHORST at 0947 sighted a
battleship, which was
RAMILLIES.
On sighting her, the Germans broke off.
RAMILLIES had sighted
only one ship at long range and signalled the Admiralty that she had
sighted what was possibly a Hipper class cruiser.
At 1900 hours, NELSON
sailed from Scapa Flow in company with HM Cruisers MAURITIUS and
DIDO and HM Destroyers ELECTRA, ECLIPSE and
TARTAR for a position seventy miles
140° from 62.30N, 16.00W.
(This was the position
that HM Battlecruiser REPULSE, HM Cruisers
GALATEA,
NIGERIA, ARETHUSA and AURORA and HM Destroyers
MATABELE,
PUNJABI and ESKIMO, that had sailed from Scapa Flow at 1830
hours,
were making for)
The objective was
to set up a blocking position south of Iceland and provide distant cover
for the North Atlantic convoys.
11th At 1825hours arrived at Scapa Flow in company with HM Destroyers
ELECTRA, ECLIPSE
and TARTAR.
March
2nd Sailed from Scapa Flow in company with HM Battleship
KING GEORGE V, HM Cruisers
EDINBURGH and NIGERIA, and HM Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
ECHO, ECLIPSE,
MAORI, and PUNJABI to position 65.40N, 05.00E, approx 200 south
west of the entrance to
Vestfjorden, to provide
cover for ships carrying Commando units on the Lofoten Island raid.
(Operation CLAYMORE)
(Operation CLAYMORE
took place on 4/3/41. The objective was ostensibly
a diversionary
commando raid to destroy fish oil factories, German shipping
and provide a morale boost for
the home front. But there was a top secret mission to be carried
out by the RN. This was
achieved by HM Destroyer SOMALI when she boarded the German trawler
KREBS and
sized Enigma material. (See: ENIGMA - The Battle of the Code by Hugh Sebag-
Montefiore.)
3rd At 1700 hours EDINBURGH and NIGERIA were detached to stand off
the entrance to
Vestfjorden and provide close cover to the raiding force.
6th At 1400 hours arrived back at Scapa Flow in company with KING GEORGE
V,
EDINBURGH, NIGERIA, INGLEFIELD, ECHO, ECLIPSE, MAORI, and PUNJABI.
14th At 1903 departed Scapa Flow in company with HM Cruiser
NIGERIA, and HM Destroyers
BOADICEA, ESCAPADE, and ACTIVE to operate south of Iceland. This followed SIGINT
that indicated SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU mightbe
about to attempt a break-
back to Germany.
15th (Early in the morning 660 miles from Cape Race the tanker MV SAN CASIMIRO, from the
dispersed convoy OB.294, was sighted by GNEISENAU. The
tanker managed to get off a RRRR raider sighting report before
being captured. This
confirmed to the Admiralty to the location of SCHARNHORST and
GNEISENAU and
reinforced their belief of a break-back)
At 0900 hours the
NELSON force RVed with HM Destroyers COSSACK, ZULU, and
MAORI
which were submarine hunting after escorting convoy OB.297.
16th COSSACK, ZULU, and MAORI detached to refuel at Reykjavik.
At 2245 hours COSSACK,
ZULU, and MAORI sailed from Reykjavik.
17th At 0800 hours COSSACK, ZULU, and MAORI rejoined.
At 0900 hours BOADICEA,
ACTIVE, and ESCAPADE were detached to Reykjavik to
refuel.
18th At 1447 hours BOADICEA, ESCAPADE, and ACTIVE rejoined.
19th Provided cover for the 1st Minelaying
Squadron who was engaged in a minelay to the east
of Iceland in field SN69 of the Northern
Barrage.
(Operation SN69 -
For details of all minelaying operations see The Naval Staff History
(MINING).)
20th (At 1730 hours 600 miles WNW of Cape Finisterre
a Fulmar from ARK ROYAL sighted
SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU. On being sighted the German ships
changed course
from NE to north and after the plane left the scene they returned
to their course for Brest. The
Fulmar made a delayed
report stating they were sailing north. This caused the Admiralty
to believe that they were still going to use the northern passage)
21st The NELSON force was joined by HM Battleship QUEEN ELIZABETH,
HM Battlecruiser
HOOD, HM Cruiser
LONDON, and HM Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
ELECTRA, ARROW,
ECHO, ECLIPSE,
and ESKIMO.
Following the report from the Fulmar, the CinC
Home
Fleet in NELSON was
ordered to steer, with his force, due south at maximum speed.
LONDON was detached after radio
direction finding tests.
At 2000 hours a Hudson
of 220 Sqdn. RAF Coastal Command sighted the German force
200
miles from Brest. When this report was received
the Admiralty ordered the NELSON force
back to Scapa Flow.
23rd At 0031 hours arrived at Scapa Flow in company with HM Destroyers
ACTIVE,
BOADICEA, and ESCAPADE.
24th The CinC Home
Fleet struck his flag in NELSON.
At 1202 hours departed
Scapa Flow in company with HM Destroyers ARROW, ECLIPSE,
and ESKIMO to join the escort of convoy WS.7.
25th At noon south of Orsay joined the escort of convoy WS.7 to provide Ocean Escort
during
passage to Freetown.
27th In 54N, 21W HM Destroyers ARROW, ECLIPSE, and ESKIMO were detached
at the limit
of their endurance.
April
4th At 1230 hours arrived at Freetown with WS7.
7th At 1500 hours sailed from Freetown as Ocean Escort for WS.7
in company with local escort
of HM Destroyers DUNCAN, FOXHOUND, VIDETTE and WISHART.
8th HM Destroyers FOXHOUND and DUNCAN detached.
9th HM Destroyers VIDETTE and WISHART detached.
15th At 1430 hours 270 miles NW of Cape Town detached from WS7 on relief
by HM Cruiser
NEWCASTLE and proceeded to Cape Town to refuel.
Deployed for trade defence in South
Atlantic.
16th Sailed from Cape Town for Durban.
21st Arrived at Durban for docking
and refit.
May
10th Sailed from Durban for Cape Town.
13th Sailed from Cape Town with HM Aircraft Carrier
EAGLE, with 813 Sqdn of Swordfish
embarked, for Freetown. En route they were to search
for German commerce raider
ATLANTIS. (Known to the Admiralty as raider C)
18th At 0015 hours in 19.07S, 04.42W, approximately 226 miles south
of St
Helena
the raider
ATLANTIS, which at
the time was stationary, sighted two darkened vessels approaching at
speed. ATLANTIS identified them as warships and moved slowly
out of their path. The
vessels she sighted were NELSON and EAGLE, and they passed within
7000 metres of her
without either vessel sighting ATLANTIS.
At 1100 hours arrived
at St
Helena
to refuel.
At 2345 hours following
refuelling departed St Helena to proceed to Freetown in company
with EAGLE.
21st At 1600 hours in position 03.55S, 10.20W, HM Destroyers DUNCAN
and HIGHLANDER
joined from Freetown.
23rd HM Destroyers DUNCAN and HIGHLANDER detached to refuel at Freetown.
24th At 1400 hours in position 09.40N, 16.40W, HM Destroyers DUNCAN
and HIGHLANDER
rejoined.
25th At 0900 hours arrived at Freetown.
26th At 0600 hours sailed from Freetown for Gibraltar at best speed, escorted
by DUNCAN and
HIGHLANDER. (This deployment was to close the Straits of Gibraltar
to the German battleship
BISMARCK)
NELSON gave her ETA Gibraltar as 1600/31/5/41)
27th Following the sinking of the BISMARCK, NELSON’s
orders were changed several times,
but finally she was ordered to join convoy SL.75.
28th DUNCAN and HIGHLANDER detached to refuel at Bathurst.
June
1st Joined the AMC CATHAY escorting convoy
SL.75. (SL.75 had sailed from Freetown on 17/5/41)
4th A Swordfish of 825 Sqdn on anti-submarine
patrol from HM Aircraft Carrier VICTORIOUS,
which with HM Cruisers NEPTUNE and NORFOLK were escorting convoy WS.8X,
sighted
the German supply ship GONZENHEIM in position 43.32N, 23.56W.
(GONZENHEIM was
intended to support BISMARCK during her planned commerce
raiding operations) The
Swordfish’s report led to
the NEPTUNE being detached from WS.8X
to intercept the
GONZENHEIM.
NELSON also detached
from SL.75 to support NEPTUNE.
At 2030 hours NELSON
and NEPTUNE intercepted GONZENHEIM and NEPTUNE was
ordered to board. Before this could be achieved, GONZENHEIM scuttled
and NEPTUNE
picked up the 63 survivors.
Both vessels then returned to their respective convoys.
(See ENGAGE THE ENEMY
MORE CLOSELY).
6th In approximate 49N, 23W, convoy SL.75 was joined by HM Destroyers
ELECTRA,
IMPULSIVE, and ANTELOPE. Following which NELSON detached from
SL.75 for Scapa
Flow escorted by
ELECTRA, IMPULSIVE, and ANTELOPE.
8th At 0030 hours arrived at Scapa Flow escorted by ELECTRA, IMPULSIVE,
and ANTELOPE,
and rejoined the Home Fleet.
July
11th At 0830 hours sailed from Scapa Flow for the Clyde, escorted by HM Destroyer
LIGHTNING, and Polish Destroyers ORP KRAKOWIAK and KUJAWIAK.
12th At 1054 hours they arrived at Greenock.
13th At 0600 hours off the Mull of Kintyre convoy WS.9C formed at sea
from ships sailing from
Newport, Swansea, Liverpool, and the
Clyde. This was the SUBSTANCE convoy
for
Malta. Escorts were NELSON, HM
Cruisers MANCHESTER, ARETHUSA, EDINBURGH
and the Dutch Cruiser HNethMS JACOB
van HEEMSKERK, HM Minelayer MANXMAN and
HM
Destroyers COSSACK, GURKHA, MAORI, SIKH, NESTOR, LIGHTNING, VANOC,
WANDERER and Polish ORP GARLAND.
18th FEARLESS, FIREDRAKE, FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, FORESTER and FURY, from
Gibraltar, joined the escort of convoy
WS.9C.
20th Arrived at Gibraltar to refuel
and joined Force H.
21st At 0145 hours, convoy WS.9C passed through the Straits of Gibraltar
and became convoy
GM 1 for Malta.
(Operation SUBSTANCE
- For details of all the operations in Mediterranean see
THE BATTLE
FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN by D MacIntyre)
At 0300 hours Force
H comprising NELSON, HM Battlecruiser RENOWN, HM Aircraft
Carrier ARK ROYAL, HM Cruiser HERMIONE
and HM Destroyers FAULKNOR,
FEARLESS, FIREDRAKE,
FORESTER, FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, FURY, and DUNCAN
departed Gibraltar, to provide cover for the
passage of convoy GM 1 as far as the Sicilian
Narrows.
23rd At 0745 hours south of Sardinia Force H closed convoy GM 1 and
joined with Force X, the
close escort, to provide AA cover.
At 0915 hours air
attacks commenced and MANCHESTER was torpedoed and FIREDRAKE
bombed.
At 1730 hours at
the approaches to the Skerki Channel, Force H put about
and headed back to
Gibraltar.
24th Force H remained to the west of Sicilian Narrows providing air cover for
the damaged
MANCHESTER and FIREDRAKE, who were
returning slowly to Gibraltar. Also covered
passage of Convoy MG1 from Bizerta
area with ships of Force H.
(Note: Convoy MG1
comprised HM Store Carrier BRECONSHIRE and 4 mercantiles
returning to Gibraltar from Malta. These vessels were un-escorted
and were making for
Gibraltar at their best speed)
25th At 0130 hours ARK ROYAL flew off 6 Swordfish to Malta.
At 0830 hours north
west of Galita Island Force
X from Malta joined Force H, and the
combined
force proceeded at the best speed of 23 knots, NELSON’s top speed, for
Gibraltar.
26th At 0900 hours arrived at Gibraltar.
30th Sailed from Gibraltar as part of Force H in company
with HM Battlecruiser RENOWN, HM
Aircraft Carrier ARK ROYAL and HM Destroyers
COSSACK, MAORI, NESTOR,
FAULKNOR, FURY, FORESIGHT,
FORESTER, FOXHOUND, ENCOUNTER, and ERIDGE,
to cover the passage of personnel
convoy for Malta from Gibraltar to Sicilian Narrows,
Operation STYLE.
(Operation STYLE was necessary because troop
transport LEINSTER had gone aground
off Gibraltar and her troops, which included
RAF maintenance personnel, had been landed at
Gibraltar to await
onward transport to Malta. The troops were carried
in HM Cruisers
ARETHUSA, HERMIONE
and HM Minelayer MANXMAN and HM Destroyers
LIGHTNING and SIKH
who sailed from Gibraltar on 31/7/41)
August
1st Returned to westward when Force X entered
Sicilian Narrows.
3rd After meeting ships of Force X returned to Gibraltar with Force H ships.
4th Arrived back at Gibraltar. Retained in Mediterranean with Force H and relieved
HM
Battlecruiser RENOWN who was docked for repairs.
14th Sailed from Gibraltar in company with HM Aircraft
Carrier ARK ROYAL, HM Cruiser
HERMIONE and HM Destroyers
NESTOR, ENCOUNTER, FURY, FORESIGHT, and
FORESTER to the east for exercises.
16th NELSON, HERMIONE, and destroyer VIMY arrived
back at Gibraltar.
21st Deployed with HMS HERMIONE, HM Destroyers NESTOR (RAN), FORESTER,
FURY,
FORESIGHT and ENCOUNTER
to cover a demonstration sweep off Valencia as a
diversion during air attacks on Tempia
airfield, Sardinia by Swordfish from HMS ARK
ROYAL and a minelaying operation by HM Minelaying
Cruiser MANXMAN off Leghorn
(Operation MINCEMEAT).
26th Arrived back at Gibraltar.
September
10th At 2100 hours Force H comprising NELSON, HM Aircraft Carrier ARK ROYAL, HM
Cruiser HERMIONE,
and HM Destroyers ZULU, GURKHA, LANCE, and LIVELY sailed
from Gibraltar on Operation STATUS II.
At sea, Force H joined
with HM Aircraft Carrier FURIOUS and HM Destroyers LEGION,
FORESIGHT, and FORESTER
(Operation STATUS
II was an operation to supply Hurricanes to Malta)
12th By 0800 hours ARK ROYAL had flown off twenty six Hurricanes and
FURIOUS had flown
off nineteen Hurricanes. The Force then turned for Gibraltar steaming at 20 knots, FURIOUS’s
best speed.
14th At 0400 hours arrived back at Gibraltar.
20th At Gibraltar during an attack by 3 SLC Maiale
(Italian human torpedoes) from the Decima
Flottiglia MAS. The main Italian targets
were ARK ROYAL and NELSON. However due
to patrolling ML’s who randomly dropped explosives they were
unable to attack their
primary targets. But 3 merchant ships were attacked.
24th At 1815 hours departed Gibraltar in company with Dutch destroyer
HNethMS ISAAC
SWEERS and Polish destroyers ORP PIORUN and GARLAND on Operation
HALBERD.
(Operation HALBERD
was a convoy of 9 merchant ships for Malta)
25th At 0130 hours the convoy, which now became GM2, passed Europa Point following which
NELSON and her accompanying
destroyers joined the escort.
27th At 0820 hours the convoy was sighted by an Italian Cant Z506 float
plane reconnaissance
aircraft north of La Galite Island.
At 1300 hours the
convoy came under air attack.
At 1330 hours NW
of La Galite Island, NELSON was hit on the port bow by
an aerial
torpedo dropped by a Savoia SM 84 of
282 Squadriglia from Cagliari-
Elmas airfield
Sardinia. The torpedo struck the torpedo
room, which had only recently been evacuated. Her
speed was immediately reduced to 18 knots but she remained with
the convoy.
28th During the day NELSON’s difficulties
increased until she was 10 feet down at the bow and
speed reduced to 14 knots.
At 2100 hours she
detached from GM2 and escorted by HM Destroyer DUNCAN, Polish
Destroyers ORP GARLAND
and ORP PIORUN took passage to Gibraltar for repair.
29th HM Destroyer ROCKINGHAM and corvettes JONQUIL, FLEUR DE LYS, SAMPHIRE,
and
ARBUTUS
joined the escort from Gibraltar
(For details see
THE BATTLE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN by D. MacIntyre and
ENGAGE
THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY).
30th At 1100 hours, arrived at Gibraltar and taken
in hand for temporary repair.
Her draft forwards
was nearly 40 feet despite dragging all the heavy anchor cable aft to
improve the trim.
(Note: HMS RODNEY
was retained in Mediterranean as replacement in Force H.)
October
2nd Dry-docked to carry out temporary repairs
to enable her to return to the UK for full
repairs.
An examination of
the damage showed that it was worse than first thought. The hit had been on
the torpedo body room and smashed torpedoes were scattered around
the space.
November
5th Following temporary repairs she was un-docked.
16th Took passage to UK for permanent repair escorted
by HM Destroyers ZULU, SIKH, and
GURKHA. She sailed with 970 survivors from HM Aircraft Carrier
ARK ROYAL embarked.
HM Cruiser HERMIONE,
HM Aircraft Carrier ARGUS, and HM Destroyers LAFOREY,
LIGHTNING, LEGION,
and HMLMS ISAAC SWEERS sailed with the battleship to feint to
the east.
17th At 0001 hours a probable German supply ship was reported by a
submarine in 44-00N, 2-
00W. NELSON and light
cruiser HERMIONE proceeded to intercept, but no
contact was made.
At 1845 hours the
groups parted company.
20th GURKHA detached for Londonderry.
21st Off north west of Ireland HM Destroyers
FAULKNOR, ICARUS and HMAS NORMAN
RVed with NELSON following which ZULU and SIKH detached for
Londonderry.
22nd At 1100 hours arrived at Scapa Flow.
At 1830 hours sailed
from Scapa Flow escorted by FAULKNOR and ICARUS.
23rd At 1100 hours arrived at Rosyth and taken in hand by HM Dockyard.
December Under
repair.
Fire control radars
Type 284, 285 and 283 fitted for main and secondary armament
and barrage control fitted. (See RADAR AT SEA). Torpedo tubes removed.
1 9 4 2
January to March
Refit and repair work in continuation.
Radar Type 273 for surface
warning fitted.
April
20th Refit completed and commenced post refit trials and prepared for
operational service.
30th Rejoined Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.
May
Worked up for service with Home Fleet in NW Approaches.
Detached for escort of military convoy during Atlantic passage.
27th Sailed from Scapa Flow for Greenock.
28th Arrived at Greenock where
she embarked 600 RAF personnel for Freetown.
31st At 2300 hours sailed from Greenock in company with HM Aircraft
Carrier ARGUS
(Ferrying aircraft to Gibraltar) and HM
Destroyers BEAGLE and SALISBURY.
June
1st At 0600 hours off Orsay,
military convoy WS19P, including ARGUS, formed up. The escort
was NELSON and HM Destroyers SALISBURY, KEPPEL, LEAMINGTON, WELLS,
BEAGLE, DOUGLAS, BLACKMORE
and DERWENT.
At 0900 hours HM
Destroyer MANSFIELD joined.
3rd HM Destroyer BUXTON joined.
4th HM Destroyers KEPPEL, LEAMINGTON and WELLS detached from
WS19P and returned
to the UK.
5th At 0530 hours HM Destroyer WILD SWAN joined from Ponta Delgada.
At
0600 hours FURIOUS, BEAGLE and WILD SWAN detached from WS19P for Gibraltar.
At intervals BUXTON,
DOUGLAS, BLACKMORE and DERWENT detached for the Azores
to refuel. After refueling BLACKMORE
and DERWENT rejoined.
6th At 1200 hours HM Destroyer WIVERN joined from Gibraltar.
8th NELSON refueled WIVERN with 90 tons
of fuel.
11th HM Destroyer VELOX joined from Freetown.
NELSON refueled BLACKMORE and DERWENT.
13th NELSON detached early in the morning from WS19P and took independent
passage to Freetown
arriving in the morning ahead of the convoy.
19th Rejoined WS19P on departure from Freetown as Ocean Escort for Atlantic
passage
with HM Battleship RODNEY, HM Destroyers DERWENT, PATHFINDER,
PENN,
QUENTIN and VELOX.
21st 240 miles south west of Cape Palmas, VELOX detached from WS19P
to RV with HM Repair
Ship VINDICTIVE.
24th At 1400 hours 850 miles north east of St Helena DERWENT detached
from WS 19P to
refuel at St Helena.
26th At 1100 hours 330 miles west of Lobito, Portuguese West Africa
(now Angola), NELSON,
RODNEY, PATHFINDER,
PENN and QUINTIN detached from
WS19P when HM Cruiser
SHROPSHIRE joined as Ocean Escort and
returned to Freetown.
28th DERWENT rejoined the NELSON Force from St Helena.
July
1st Arrived at Freetown.
Deployed for Atlantic Trade defence.
17th Sailed from Freetown for Scapa Flow in company with RODNEY,
DERWENT,
PATHFINDER, PENN and QUINTIN
to rejoin Home Fleet.
26th Arrived at Scapa Flow
Nominated for detached service with Force H.
27th At Scapa Flow when Vice Admiral Edward
Neville Syfret hoisted his flag,.
This appointment
was the start of the run up to Operation PEDESTAL.
(Operation PEDESTAL
was a Malta convoy. This convoy is known
to the Maltese as the
SANTA MARIJA convoy)
During the following
week meetings were held to discuss the operation with many of the
CO’s of ships due
to take part. There was also a lot of activity with the ship storing up and
loading her maximum capacity of AA ammunition.
August
2nd At 1600 hours sailed from Scapa Flow
in company with HM Battleship RODNEY and HM
Destroyers ESKIMO, PATHFINDER, QUENTIN, TARTAR and SOMALI.
3rd At 0935 hours the NELSON Force joined convoy WS21S at sea off
the west of Ireland.
(WS21S was the designation
given to the PEDESTAL convoy in an attempt to keep the
convoy’s destination a secret)
9th At 2300 hours the convoy entered the Straits of Gibraltar. NELSON,
RODNEY,
HM Aircraft Carriers
EAGLE, INDOMITABLE and VICTORIOUS, HM Cruisers PHOEBE,
CHARYBDIS and SIRIUS
formed Force Z.
Force Z covered the
transit of the convoy to the Skerki Bank.
12th At 1900 hours Force Z detached from the convoy and turned west.
15th Arrived at Gibraltar.
(For details see
OPERATION PEDESTAL by P Smith, ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY by Corelli Barnett, and the Naval
Staff History.)
20th At 0246 hours sailed from Gibraltar with survivors from EAGLE
and MANCHESTER
embarked, and in company with HM Aircraft Carriers ARGUS and
FURIOUS and HM Cruiser
KENYA to rejoin
Home Fleet.
25th Arrived at Greenock.
September Under
repair at Rosyth.
Nominated for service in Force H on completion.
October
16th Arrived at Scapa Flow to carry
out post repair trials and work-up for service.
30th Sailed from Scapa Flow flying the flag of Vice
Admiral Edward Neville Syfret as part of
Force X in company
with HM Battleship DUKE of YORK, HM Battlecruiser
RENOWN,
HM Cruiser ARGONAUT
and HM Destroyers ASHANTI, ESKIMO, MARTIN, METEOR,
MILNE, TARTAR and HMAS QUIBERON for support of Allied landings in N. Africa.
(Operation TORCH)
(For Details see
ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY, RELUCTANT ENEMIES by
W Tute, and The
Naval Staff History).
31st Off northwest Ireland Force X RVed
with Force H comprising HM Aircraft Carriers
FORMIDABLE and VICTORIOUS
and HM Destroyers PATHFINDER, PARTRIDGE,
PORCUPINE, QUALITY, QUENTIN and HMAS QUIBERON. The combined force
was then
known as Force H.
November (Note: Arrived at Gibraltar after initial assault operations.)
Deployed east of
landing area to prevent interference by Vichy French warships from
Toulon.
5th As NELSON approached the Straits of Gibraltar,
she was joined by HNethMS ISAAC
SWEERS, who had detached from convoy KMF 1F.
6th Off Gibraltar NELSON was joined by HM Destroyers AVONDALE, BRILLIANT,
BOADICEA, CALPE, and PUCKERIDGE who had
detached from HM Aircraft Carriers
FORMIDABLE and VICTORIOUS.
At 0600 hours arrived
at Gibraltar in company with HM Destroyers
AVONDALE,
BRILLIANT, BOADICEA,
CALPE, PORCUPINE, PUCKERIDGE and
HNethMS ISAAC
SWEERS. When taking up her berth she was in collision with SS
EMPIRE GAWAIN and
HM
Minesweepers BRIXHAM and BUDE, causing damage to their stanchions and guard
rails. Following her arrival the ANCXF, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham,
transferred his
flag from HM Cruiser SCYLLA to NELSON.
15th The Vichy French under Admiral Darlan
surrendered and NELSON returned to her role as
flagship of Force H flying the flag of Vice Admiral Syfret.
21st Sailed from Mers-el-Kebir as Flagship
of Force H, in company with HM Battleship RODNEY,
HM Aircraft Carriers
FORMIDABLE and FURIOUS and HM Destroyers ASHANTI,
ESKIMO, TARTAR, PENN, PARTRIDGE, PATHFINDER,
PORCPINE, LOOKOUT,
METEOR, VANOC, PUCKERIDGE and CALPE, to cruise
south of the Balearic Islands.
22nd Force H arrived at Gibraltar.
December Gibraltar deployment
for support of military operations in continuation.
26th Arrived back at Gibraltar.
1 9 4 3
January
2nd Sailed from Gibraltar as part of Force H to provide
cover for military convoy KMF6 during
passage from Atlantic to Algiers.
3rd Arrived at Algiers.
4th Sailed from Algiers.
5th Arrived back at Gibraltar.
8th Force H comprising NELSON, HM Battleship RODNEY and HM Aircraft
Carrier
FORMIDABLE and 12
Destroyers transferred to Mers-el-Kebir for support role
of military
operations in North Africa.
22nd At Mers-el-Kebir with HM Destroyer ESKIMO
alongside when a fire broke out in one of
ESKIMO'S boiler rooms. Damage was chiefly confined to the main
electric cable runs.
February
Deployed in western Mediterranean for support
duties.
Force H generally covered the large
troop and supply convoys to prevent possible interference from
the Italian Fleet.
(The Italian Fleet
never showed any sign of activity as it was seriously handicapped by a
shortage of fuel)
March
1st At Gibraltar where
the new Flag Officer Force H, Vice Admiral Algernon U Willis hoisted his
flag.
7th The Admiralty ordered Force H to remain at Gibraltar as it was known the German
Battle
Cruiser SCHARNHORST
was about to attempt a breakout from the Baltic.
14th SCHARNHORST passed through the Kattegat she went north to join other
German units
in northern Norway.
Force H was then
released for a continuation of support duties.
April
Deployed in western Mediterranean for support
duties.
May .
4th At Algiers where
she was inspected by General Eisenhower and Admiral Cunningham.
Following the inspection
she returned to Gibraltar.
26th At Gibraltar where
HOWE replaced NELSON as the flagship of Force H.
NELSON
then sailed for Plymouth escorted by 3 Destroyers.
30th Arrived at Devonport for a dry-docking.
During her time at
Devonport she received a completely new radar outfit, the latest type 273,
a 284 main gunnery range set, a type 285 set for AA direction
on the HIACS (high angle
control stations) and type 286. The AA armament was also improved
by the addition of;
three 8 barrelled pom-poms, one on B gun and one either side
of the mainmast, an
additional 40 plus 20mm Oerlikons and
two US pattern quadruple 40mm Bofors guns.
June
7th Sailed from Plymouth escorted by HM Destroyers
METEOR, MATCHLESS and PANTHER
9th Arrived at Scapa Flow where
Vice Admiral Algernon U Willis again hoisted his flag.
In company with HM
Battleships RODNEY, VALIANT and WARSPITE they commenced a
series of bombardment and preparatory exercises off Cape Wrath in preparation for the
planned Allied landings in Sicily. The new radars proved to
be very effective for improving
the accuracy of the gunnery.
17th Sailed from Scapa Flow in company with HM Battleships
RODNEY, VALIANT and
WARSPITE,
HM Aircraft Carrier INDOMITABLE and HM Destroyers ECHO,
FAULKNOR, FURY, INGLEFIELD,
INTREPID, OFFA, PANTHER, PATHFINDER,
QUAIL, QUEENBOROUGH, QUILLIAM and ORP PIORUN.
23rd Arrived at Gibraltar and joined
Force H.
July
9th At 0600 hours In the Gulf of Sirte,
she RVed with HM Battleships RODNEY, VALIANT and
WARSPITE,
HM Aircraft Carriers FORMIDABLE and INDOMITABLE, HM Cruisers
AURORA, CLEOPATRA,
EURYALUS and PENELOPE and HM Destroyers ECHO,
ECLIPSE, FAULKNOR,
FURY, ILEX, INGLEFIELD, INTREPID, OFFA, PANTHER,
QUAIL, QUEENBOROUGH,
QUILLIAM, RAIDER, TROUBRIDGE, TUMULT and
TYRIAN, ORP PIORUN and HHelMS VASILISSA OLGA.
Force H then provided
distant cover for the combined convoys, MWF 36 (Ex Port Said
5/7/43) and MWS 36 (Ex Alexandria
3/7/43), SBS 1, SBM 1, SBF 1(Ex Sfax 8/7/43) and
MWS
36X (Ex Tripoli 8/7/43) consisting of MT freighters,
tankers, landing ships and
landing craft for the invasion of Sicily, Operation HUSKY.
At 0730 hours AURORA,
PENELOPE, INGLEFIELD and OFFA detached to carry out
Operation ARSENAL, a bombardment of Catania.
(Following the invasion
on the night of 9/10 July Force H was deployed in Ionian Sea as a
covering Force for the landing operations to prevent possible
interference from the Italian
Fleet)
10th AURORA, PENELOPE, INGLEFIELD and OFFA rejoined Force H.
13th 25 miles SE of Cape Spartivento ECHO and ILEX, who were part
of Force H screen, sank
Italian submarine NEREIDE.
14th Whilst patrolling the Ionian Sea, Force H was attacked by
Italian torpedo bombers, without
result, although CLEOPATRA and EURYALUS were near missed.
15th NELSON put into Malta to refuel.
16th Sailed from Malta and returned to the Ionian Sea patrol.
In the evening the
INDOMITABLE was torpedoed by a lone Ju 88. NELSON escorted
her
to Malta.
NELSON then returned
to the Ionian
Sea
patrol but later moved inshore to carry out a
bombardment of Catania in support of the British
VIII Corps.
17th Returned to Malta.
20th At Malta when the
port came under air attack by 30 bombers.
Whilst at Malta a major problem occurred
when one of her evaporators failed. With a crew
of 1,756 there was a severe shortage of fresh water.
August
Continued support
and convoy defence duty during Sicilian operations.
(For details of HUSKY
see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY, and Naval Staff
History.
27th to 29th
Force H carried out exercises off Malta in preparation for Operation
HAMMER.
(bombardment of coastal batteries northeast
of Reggio di Calabria.)
30th At 1900 hours sailed from Malta in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM Cruiser
ORION screened by
HM Destroyers OFFA, PETARD, QUAIL, QUEENBOROUGH,
QUILLIAM, TARTAR,
TROUBRIDGE, TUMULT and TYRIAN and ORP PIORUN to carry
out Operation HAMMER.
31st At 1000 hours in position 37,56N 15,25E at the southern entrance
of the Straits of Messina,
NELSON commenced
bombarding coastal batteries northeast of Reggio di
Calabria.
RODNEY commenced
firing at 1030 hours. Spotting aircraft reported the targets were well
covered and at least one gun was knocked out. (Operation HAMMER)
The bombardment was
in preparation for landings on Italian mainland by the 8th Army
(Operation BAYTOWN).
At 1200 hours the
bombardment, which had silenced the shore batteries for good, was
terminated and Force H set course for Malta.
At 2000 hours Force
H arrived back at Malta.
September Whilst at Malta the Flag Officer Force H
(Vice Admiral Wills) hosted planning conferences
on board
NELSON for Operation AVALANCHE, the landings at Salerno.
7th At 1530 hours sailed from Malta (As Division 1 of Force
H) in company with HM Battleship
RODNEY, HM Aircraft
Carrier ILLUSTRIOUS screened by HM Destroyers PETARD,
QUAIL, QUEENBOROUGH
and QUILLIAM (4th DF), OFFA, TROUBRIDGE, TUMULT,
TYRIAN and ORP PIORUN
(24th DF) and the French Destroyers FFS Le FANTASQUE and
Le TERRIBLE, to carry out Operation AVALANCHE. They proceeded
NW along the south
coast of Sicily.
At 2100 hours in
the Sicilian Channel, Division 1 was joined by Division 2 (which had sailed
from Malta at 1715 hours) comprising
HM Battleships WARSPITE and VALIANT, HM
Aircraft Carrier
FORMIDABLE and HM Destroyers ECHO, FAULKNOR, FURY, ILEX,
INGLEFIELD, INTREPID,
RAIDER and HHelMS VASILISSA OLGA (8th DF)
At 2400 hours Force
H turned north into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
8/9th From 2120 to 0045 hours off the north coast of Sicily en route to Salerno, Force H was under
heavy air attack from German aircraft. No damage was caused but
WARSPITE and
FORMIDABLE
were near-missed, and several of the attackers were shot down.
9th Covered assault landings at Salerno, Operation AVALANCHE, with
Force H ships
(For details of Operation
AVALANCHE see same references as HUSKY).
At 1330 hours WARSPITE,
VALIANT, ECHO, FAULKNOR, FURY, ILEX, INTREPID,
RAIDER, VASILISSA
OLGA and Le TERRIBLE detached from Force H to carry out
Operation GIBBON. (Operation GIBBON was the surrender of the
Italian Fleet)
In the evening the
Fleet was subjected to a heavy air attack in which NELSON using radar
control opened fire with every gun she had, including her main
armament of 16" guns firing
fused HE shells. During the night up to 300 rounds each were
fired by her 4.7" heavy AA
guns.
14th Survived several days of air attacks off Salerno, whilst deployed in support
of Allied forces.
15th Arrived back at Malta.
29th Whilst moored in Malta the Italian capitulation
was signed on board in the Admiral's cabin,
by General EISENHOWER and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio (the head of the Italian
Government) in the
presence of Admiral Cunningham, Vice Admiral Willis, General
Alexander and the Governor of Malta, Lord
Gort.
October
13th At Malta, where
the flag of Vice Admiral Willis was struck. The appointment of Flag
Officer
commanding Force H then lapsed.
Rear Admiral A W La Bisset moved his flag from RODNEY
to NELSON.
18th At Malta, when Rear Admiral A W La Bisset struck his flag and Force
H was disbanded.
(With the surrender
of the Italian Fleet the need for Force H had ceased)
28th Sailed from Malta for Scapa Flow with HMS
RODNEY escorted by HM Destroyer OFFA.
November
1st Sailed from Gibraltar in company
with RODNEY escorted by OFFA.
4th Arrived at Scapa Flow.
Rejoined Home Fleet.
6th Arrived at Rosyth
for a short refit.
Only absolutely essential
work was carried out as she was required to counter the possible
threat from German ships SCHARNHRST and TIRPITZ.
(See General Introduction
- planned full modernisation was never carried out - regarding decline
in availability)
December
3rd Sailed from Rosyth for Scapa Flow escorted by HM Destroyers
METEOR and OPPORTUNE.
Resumed Home Fleet deployment at Scapa Flow.
1 9 4 4
January to March
Following the sinking of the SCHARHORST,
the need for NELSON was less acute.
Her
next deployment was to the Clyde, based in the Gareloch
where she commenced three
months of intensive training
and exercises.
At the end of the
month she sailed for Rosyth.
April
1st Arrived at Rosyth
for essential repairs.
May
On completion of
repairs she was nominated to be held in Reserve at Milford Haven for
bombardment duties during Allied landings in Normandy.
Carried out bombardment exercises in NW Approaches in preparation.
June
2nd Sailed from Scapa Flow for Milford
Haven prior to landings.
(Operation NEPTUNE - For details see OPERATION NEPTUNE by K Edwards, ENGAGE
THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY, and LANDINGS IN NORMANDY (HMSO)).
4th Arrived at Milford Haven. Where she remained
in Reserve at Milford Haven for use as
required by either of the Task Force Commanders.
8th Sailed from Milford Haven escorted by minesweepers.
9th Arrived at Plymouth.
11th Arrived off GOLD beach and provided naval
gunfire support against selected targets
including the Houlgate Battery on the
Tournebridge Plateau in Eastern Task Force Area.
(The Houlgate Battery originally consisted of 6 x 155mm guns, two
of which were mounted
in casements. The RAF knocked out 2 and on D-day the two in the
casements were knocked
out by the combined fire of HM Monitor ROBERTS and HM Cruiser
ARETHUSA. The
remaining two were mobile and these were knocked out by NELSON
helped by the spotting
aircraft which reported fall of shot)
12th Bombarded
enemy concentrations around Caen with HMS RODNEY.
(Note: On this day
a US Navy destroyer USS NELSON was torpedoed in the US assault area
and gave rise to the rumour that HM Battleship NELSON was the
ship which had been
torpedoed).
During her 7 days
off the beach-head she fired nearly 1,000 16" shells.
18th At 1930 hours during passage to Portsmouth to re-ammunition she detonated
2 acoustic
mines.
(The two 1,500 lb
charges detonated together one 50 yards to starboard and the other under
the forward hull, causing serious damage to her bottom and flooding
forward. There were no
casualties)
She made for Stokes Bay, Gosport, with the USN Rescue Tug
ATR 3 in attendance.
19th 0005 hours arrived in Stokes Bay where temporary repairs
were carried out.
22nd Sailed from Portsmouth escorted
by HM Destroyers ULYSSES, VERULAM and VIRAGO.
23rd Off the Smalls in St. Georges Channel the escort detached and
she joined convoy UC 27 for
passage to USA for permanent repair.
July
4th Arrived off the American coast and anchored in the Delaware River.
5th Arrived at the League Island Navy Yard,
Philadelphia for repair
and refit.
At her time of
arrival HM Cruiser CLEOPATRA was also under repair at Philadelphia.
NELSON was nominated
for service in the India Ocean.
The refit was therefore
quite extensive involving improved ventilation and crew facilities.
Her turbines were
given a major overhaul. Firing efficiency was improved by fitting type
273,
284, 285 and 286 Radars plus improved AA capacity by fitting increased numbers of
small calibre weapons.
August to December
Under
repair.
1 9 4 5
January
14th Repairs completed she sailed for New York.
18th Sailed from New York as part
of convoy CU55.
28th Arrived at Portsmouth.
February Completion
of alterations not possible in US dockyard.
Prepared for work-up.
March Worked-up in Home Waters for
service with Eastern Fleet.
April Deployed in Home waters and
called at Plymouth.
29th Sailed
from Plymouth for Mediterranean.
May
5th Arrived at Malta.
Working up exercises
continued operating out of Malta.
June
14th Sailed from Malta for Port Said, and en route carried out
further exercises on the firing range
at Mersa Matruh.
27th Departed Suez in company with HM Cruisers SUSSEX and CLEOPATRA.
July
7th Arrived at Colombo.
10th Arrived at Trincomalee.
12th Joined Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee.
(Note: Relieved HMS
QUEEN ELIZABETH at Flagship of 3rd Battle Squadron.)
19th Sailed
from Trincomalee as Force 63, NELSON flying the flag of
Vice Admiral H T C
Walker, in company
with HM Escort Carriers EMPERESS and AMEER and HM Cruiser
SUSSEX screened by HM Destroyers
PALADIN, RACEHORSE, RAIDER and
ROTHERHAM. Escorted the 7th Minesweeping
Flotilla comprising PINCHER, PLUCKY,
RIFLEMAN, SQUIRREL and VESTAL, to carry out Operation LIVERY.
(Operation LIVERY
was a minesweeping operation to clear the north Malacca Channel off
Phuket Island and also carry out air attacks
on airfields in the Kra Isthmus)
24th Off
Phuket Island, minesweeping operations, bombardment of
shore installations and air
strikes commenced.
Force 63 came under
enemy air attack but no damage was caused.
SQUIRREL was mined
with the loss of 7crew. ROTHERHAM took off the survivors and
sank the wreck. The survivors were transferred to NELSON.
25th Minesweeping and air strikes continued.
26th Minesweeping
and air strikes continued.
At 1830 hours Force
63 was attacked by Kamikaze aircraft. A Mitsubishi Ki-51 ‘Sonia’ was
shot down and near missed the AMEER. An Aichi D3A, ‘Val’ was
shot down heading for the
SUSSEX but parts struck the SUSSEX without causing damage.
Another Aichi D3A, ‘Val’
which headed for the PLUCKY, turned at the last minute and hit
the VESTRAL exploding
amidships and setting the vessel on fire causing VESTRAL to immediately
heel over and
commence to sink. The crew abandoned ship, following which VESTRAL
blew up and sank
with the loss of 20 crew. ROTHERHAM picked up the survivors
and transferred them to
NELSON.
29th Force
63 arrived back at Trincomalee.
(During the operation
24 mines had been swept and 150 sorties flown destroying at least 30
aircraft on the ground)
(Note: Operation
LIVERY was the last offensive operation carried out by Eastern Fleet.)
August
15th Following the dropping of the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki the Japanese surrendered.
17th Sailed from Trincomalee in company with
HM Cruisers LONDON, CEYLON and NIGERIA,
HM Escort Carriers ATTACKER, HUNTER, SHAH and STALKER,
HM LSI
PRINCESS BEATRIX
and QUEEN EMMA escorted by destroyers. Their mission was to
implement Operation ZIPPER (Operation ZIPPER was the landing
of troops in Malaya), then
proceed to Penang to accept the surrender
of the Japanese forces in the area.
(Operation delayed
until after the Japanese surrender ceremonies in Tokyo had taken place at
the insistence of the US Government and delay in London due to demobilisation
arrangements for Service personnel in the Far East.)
20th Whilst the politics was finalised, the Force anchored off the
Nicobar Islands and provided
cover for minesweeping operations in Nicobar islands.
Later moved to Rangoon to await
start of ZIPPER.
27th Early hours, sailed from Rangoon flying the flag of Vice
Admiral Walker in company with
HM
Cruiser CEYLON, HM Escort Carriers ATTACKER
and HUNTER, HM LSI PRINCESS
BEATRIX and QUEEN
EMMA escorted by 3 destroyers.
28th Late in the day the Force arrived off Penang.
The first emissaries
of the Japanese forces were made to board the flagship by rope ladder.
September
2nd At Penang for the
official surrender of Japanese forces. The Japanese commander Rear
Admiral Uozomi was met by Captain Caslon and
the Chief of staff, Captain Abbott, and led
below to the Vice Admiral Walker’s cabin were the articles
of surrender where signed.
8th Took passage to Singapore, calling
at Port Swettenham en route.
10th Arrived at Singapore.
12th At Singapore when the
Japanese Forces in South East Asia officially
surrendered.
